Living Without Meat

Ceres was the Roman goddess of growing plants and motherly love (see the theme, Mother’s Day?); daughter of Saturn and Ops; and wife and sister of Jupiter(guess that kind of thing was okay back then).

She is often depicted holding grain (shown here in a statue from the Louvre), wearing a wreath of wheat and barley grains, and carrying baskets of fresh fruit and cut flowers.

As an agricultural god, Ceres is linked in a trinity with her husband Liber and his other wife and their daughter Libera (okay, marrying relatives was definitely cool with Roman gods).

Ceres was a lucky lady - she had 12 minor gods whose job it was to help her with the farming: Vervactor turned the land; Reparator prepared it; Imporcitor plowed the land; Insitor sowed; Obarator plowed the surface; Occator harrowed; Sarritor weeded; Subruncinator thinned out the crops; Messor harvested; Conuector carried the goods; Conditor stored them; and Promitor distributed the crops to everyone. … Ceres had herself a nice little co-op going on!

To honor her work with grains and farming, the word “cereals” was derived from her name.

I bet she would be honored; however, I cannot see her appreciating that the dwarf planet Ceres was named for her, and thus the chemical element cerium. I see her more as an organic farmer than one who would use chemicals …

(So can I give my mom cereal for Mother’s Day?)

Mother’s Day is less than two weeks away, and despite many people’s false belief that it is a Hallmark-devised holiday, you’d be a fool not to take the time to tell the moms, grandmoms, aunts, etc. in your life that you appreciate them. Moms of pets count, too!

This year, you can get momma a gorgeous bouquet or some delectable yummies, while supporting organic farmers and the Humane Society.

Organic Bouquet is teaming up with the Humane Society of the United States to educate the public on the importance of buying organic, including: harvesting practices that “improve the quality of farm working conditions, minimizing damage to ecosystems, conserving biodiversity, and enhancing environmental quality for future generations.”

Plus, because they love and appreciate what the HSUS does for animals and people, 5 to 10 percent of your purchase at Organic Bouquet will be donated to the HSUS. In addition to bouquets, the online store features chocolates, other plants, wreaths, flowering teas, and gourmet baskets such as the wine lover’s collection.

Now, back to that myth about Hallmark conspiring Mother’s Day …

The tradition of reserving an entire day, once a year to worship mothers dates back to ancient Greece when an annual festival was held for Cybele, the mother of Greek deities.

Today’s American holiday for mommies comes from Britain, by means of social activist Julia Ward Howe, post-Civil War. She started a call for peace, writing the Mother’s Day Proclamation.

The Jarvis women (Ann, and daughter Anna) were also crusaders of Mother’s Day with their attempts to institute a Mother’s Work Day (Ann) and a Memorial Day for Mothers (Anna) who lost children in the war.

Today, Mother’s Day is the number one day for people to dine out, according to the National Restaurant Association. So, in addition to sending mom some organic flowers and goodies, take her out for a delicious vegan meal!

Check out Wikipedia’s Mother’s Day entry for more on the history of the holiday, including when and why it is held in countries worldwide.

I made a delicious whole wheat vegan pizza last month that I was so excited about.

Now, I come to find out that it wasn’t vegan.

I paid extra care when choosing my faux cheese, knowing that that is a common place to find whey casein (derived from milk). I used only the best, fresh, local, organic produce. I sprinkled TVP crumbles flavored with nothing from an animal.

But I didn’t thoroughly examine my Boboli whole wheat, pre-made crust: it was apparently baked with cheese sprinkled all over it. I had been so excited about the great sale (2 for $6) that I only scanned the nutritional info.

Just like Silk soymilk, Boboli’s Web site provides only nutritional information, and not lists of ingredients, for each of their products. (The site does however have a suggestion form on their front page …)

I only found reference to the cheese in their FAQ section:

What is that brown stuff on top of my BOBOLI?

That “brown stuff” is something we’re very proud of. It’s our delicious, oven-baked mozzarella cheese, one of the ingredients that gives BOBOLI its hearty flavor. Now that you know, perhaps you’ll think of it as “great stuff.”

This I find quite stinky. I do not want to make dough and my own crust whenever I want a vegan pizza pie. And I don’t want to order a tomato pie.

Anyone know of any vegan pre-made pizza crusts?

While listening to Farm Sanctuary President Gene Baur speak on his book tour, I learned something new about soy milk: Silk brand is the brain child of the dairy industry.

One day, Mr. Dairy Farmer said to himself … “hmm … people seem to be paying money for this soy milk stuff. I like to make money, so maybe I should make soy milk! I am so smart.”

Gene uses this story to prove that companies and farmers would not be hurt or offended if the entire world went vegan. They are not passionate about their products, per se, as much as they are about making money. Business folk will go where the money is - be it what they’ve always made or a new veganized version.

I love this theory and example, but I have never been a fan of Silk in particular. It was never my fave tasting soy milk, and it was by no means the most affordable brand.

Now I have new reasons to be anti-Silk: 1. Their products may contain milk and whey ingredients, and 2. These items are not always listed on the label.

The Stop & Shop convenient store chain in New Jersey just announced a voluntary recall of Silk’s single serving chocolate milk bottles because the company became aware that these drinks contained milk ingredients that were not provided on the label. (Read the recall press release).

What!? Labels are a vegan’s number one reading material … and now you are telling me that they might be wrong?!

I went to Silk’s Web site, and although each product has an adjacent link boasting “see nutritional information and ingredients,” none of them actually contain an ingredient list. None. Not one Silk product’s ingredients are provided online.

I contacted the company regarding this … let’s see what happens.

SIDE NOTE: The painting shown here is by Utah artist Natasha Lloyd. She is a molecular and cell biologist that paints, creates jewelry, works with glass, and follows many more creative ventures. Check her out - and her gorgeous animal and such paintings - on her homepage.

Top Chef had me on an veg*n emotional roller coaster last night!

After praising the Bravo! TV cooking contest for having a winning vegan dish a few weeks back, and pointing out that there has never been even a mention of tofu, I stand to edit my statement.

The newest episode, which aired April 23, had a tofu challenge.

Contestants were given their assignments based upon an audience participation portion of an improv show at Second City. Each pair of chefs was given a color, an ingredient, and an emotion.

Dale (who made the aforementioned vegan dish) and Richard were given the challenge of making a dish that represented “green,” “perplexed,” and … “TOFU!”

I was ecstatic; I sang: “They’re gonna cook me some tofu, they’re gonna cook me some tofu …”

First step of this - which would become the winner - dish? Render cow fat on a grill so that when the tofu is grilled it picks up the cow fat’s flavor.

Stunned. Frozen, then, as Gossip Girl would say: “OMFG!”

The judges praised their ingenuity. They worshiped the tofu for it’s beef-like flavor. They awarded this dish the winner, because they “would have been so angry” if they had had to cook tofu in a challenge like this.

I wanted to barf. I wanted to swear at the TV: “No sh*t it tastes like a steak, you freakin’ all but sewed it to a strip of animal fat!”

But, alas, Top Chef did finally have tofu on it. They gave me what I asked for … unfortunately, it came with a side of rendered cow fat.

I would now like to direct Dale, Richard, and all Top Chef people to Tofu Today, an entire site dedicated to loving tofu with recipes, history, how to make your own, tofu references in the news (including this episode of Top Chef), and so much more …. because (are you listening Tom Colicchio?) there are infinite numbers of people who do not cry when they are “forced” to cook with tofu.

Look out: in Austrian petri dishes, straight from the frog’s you-know-what …SUPER SPERM is here to save the dying species!

This is an actual headline from Plenty Magazine today: “Project aims to preserve endangered frogs — by freezing their sperm”
.

The research company that has been working on this concept had this headline: “Sperm ‘On the Rocks’ - Using Semen Cryopreservation to Protect Amphibian Species”.

It is definitely a different way of aproaching an ever-growing and changing problem in the animal world. But how do they get these “samples”?

Any hummus is delightful, really, but the satisfaction that comes when you make a truly delectable hummus from scratch is above and beyond anything else.

Here’s what went into the blender last night:

* 1/2 a can of chickpeas, rinsed
* 1/2 a can of kidney beans, rinsed
* 2-inch thick slice of soft tofu
* 2-3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
* 1/4 cup of water
* Sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper, and garlic powder

Here’s how lunch was served today:

* Two big spoon plops worth of deliciousness (a.k.a. the homemade hummus)
* 1 carrot, slicified
* 1 toasted, whole wheat pita pocket, sliced like pizza pie
* 1 celery stalk, cut length-wise only for maximum scooping
* 1/2 a green pepper, sliced but with a natural scooper created from the top curve of the pepper

It was heaven!

Celebrate your planet, Earthlings!

* Eat organic, vegan food today.

* Wear organic, recycled clothing.

* Catch every drop of extra water that you usually waste. Use it for pets, the garden, and more.

* Click on the pictures in this post to find a site with history and suggestions for Earth Day … but don’t dare print any of it out!

* Tell people “Happy Earth Day!” to spread the green cheer.

* Think before you throw each thing away - are you sure that there is no way to reuse and recycle it?

* Do less. Walk or bike, instead of driving. Turn off and unplug electronics; embrace your family or alone time. Don’t buy anything that you are 100 percent sure is earth-friendly.

* Take a walk. Enjoy fresh air, beautiful signs of spring, and … wait, is that trash over there on the ground? Go pick it up!

Believe it or not, not every celebrity turns to reality TV shows when they have a lag in their work schedule. Surprisingly, there are some who even find activities, hobbies, and jobs completely outside of the realm of Hollywood and into the world of doing good. Check out what these busy bees are up to …

* Cindy Crawford just started writing a blog for Vanity Fair. The topic? Environmentalism.

* Chloe Sevigny takes the New York City subway to get around town.

* Rachel McAdams hosts the enviro-friendly site Green Is Sexy with two of her friends.

* Zooey Deschanel teamed up with singer-songwriter M. Ward to create the band She & Him. Together, they released an album - Volume 1 - and are promoting a Barneys tee shirt recycling project.

* Kristen Bell raises money for children with autism.

* Ellen DeGeneres is producing her own pet food. She bought part of the all-natural company Halo, and is now a co-owner.

* Elizabeth Hurley bought an organic farm! She is loving life as a farmer so much that she has retired from show business.

Naked, showering PETA members Chloe Jo (left - a Farm Sanctuary worker)
and Ashley Lou (right - not of Whoville, not related to Cindy Lou) bathed in Times Square today to make a statement:

In short, the meat industry wastes water and creates greenhouse gases.

The “Clean Your Conscience: Go Vegetarian” campaign (these are the words on the unseen side of the curtain) wants people to make a connection … Just one pound of consumer-ready meat is the equivalent in anti-green waste as more than one year of showers.

I’m a little late to the game with appreciating the New York Times Bestseller Skinny Bitch, but I love it! During my morning commute today I learned about the evil sugar substitute aspartame (I take public transportation; I was not reading while driving!).

I love the comical, straight-forward way that Skinny Bitch is written - you should definitely check out the book. But for now, here are just the facts, incorporated from the vegan-in-disguise bestseller and my own additional research.

What is aspartame?

* It’s a chemical compound that is 180 times as sweet as sugar, but has no calories or “sugar rush.”

* It was accidentally discovered by a chemist who was working on an ulcer drug.

* Equal and NutraSweet are aspartame. Also, many products such as diet sodas contain it.

Why is aspartame bad?

* Once ingested, it turns to formaldehyde, a neurotoxin, that in turn preserves your fat.

* It’s method of being approved by the FDA was highly suspicious and controversial.

* There are over 92 known side effects, including headaches, weight gain, brain tumors, brain lesions, seizures, depression, and lymphoma.

* The FDA originally denied it eight times. After offering jobs to opposing parties, the aspartame team finally (sort of) won.

* There are aspartame victim support groups.

* The company has been blatantly misleading with consumers, advertising that it is “natural” when it is not.

* It alters your body’s natural PH balance.

* Although promoted as a great alternative for Diabetics, the health risks associated with it outweigh the benefits for people with Diabetes.

* Several lawsuits have been filed claiming that aspartame is poisoning the public.

What are the alternatives?

* Equally as bad alternatives include: refined sugar (hidden animal product alert: refined sugars are often processed with charred animal bones), Splenda, Sweet & Low, and high fructose corn syrup.

* Better alternatives are: Stevia, evaporated cane juice, raw sugar, beet sugar, date sugar, maple syrup, molasses (hidden animal product alert: syrups and molasses that are not 100 percent pure may contain lard), barley malt syrup … the list goes on and on.

Last night, I finished watching the first season of Amber Tamblyn’s Joan of Arcadia and found another reference to vegetarianism!

On disc 6 of season 1, in an episode titled Silence, Amber as Joan has a near-death experience. Lying in the hospital bed, she says:

“I don’t want to die. I haven’t had sex or my own apartment or anything yet. I wanted to try veganism. I had plans.”

Joan lives; Amber becomes vegetarian one year later.

I’m starting to think someone on the crew was a veggie head.

I could probably live off of homemade trail mix. Every time I make a batch, it includes something different but is always replete with only ingredients that I selected.

If getting to personalize your own trail mix isn’t enough reason to create it yourself rather than buying pre-blended, sodium-filled packages … then this realization might help:

While perusing the ingredients labels of several on-sale trail mix blends at Target the other day, I came across these non-vegetarian items:

Current TV, a cable channel that reports on what they think the masses actually want to hear about, will be airing an Earth Day (April 22) from April 19 through 22 and is asking you what you think.

Join the talk about the Earth on Current.com, and your answers may be seen airing this weekend.

Current is looking for your Webcam thoughts about being green and saving the environment. Here are my editorialized (because that’s how I roll: Sally doesn’t do Webcams) answers to Currents seven Earth Day questions:

1) Who needs a green makeover? Who or what organization do you want to see change and why? Soy products that continue to include animal ingredients such as whey protein. Veganism is an amazing way to help our planet, but it feels deceitful and pointless to me to make something that tricks and confuses vegans.

2) What is the most ridiculous excuse you have heard or given for why you aren’t living sustainable? “It’s too expensive” is a pretty pathetic one. How can be expensive to reuse things as much as possible before throwing them away?

3) Tell us the easiest way to save the world. Be conscious of everything that you do, every purchase you make, every food that you eat, etc.

4) Who is your eco hero, and why? Captain Planet, because he wanted to save the planet before all of the celebs were on board. Plus, he didn’t do it for fame or fortune, it was a mission that he felt burning from within.

5) What’s in the way of you making the change you want to make? I want to recycle more than I do but there are no bins near my apartment, and I don’t have a car to drive my recyclables somewhere.

6) When did you “turn”? When did you know that you were an environmentalist? I started to get the feeling when people started calling me a hippie that I might have a few green tendencies.

7) What gives you hope? Seeing a child pick up garbage, get excited over a plant, or act green without being prompted.

I did not purchase any Girl Scout cookies this year because there are only three kinds that are vegan - Thanks-A-Lot, Cinna-Spins, and Lemonades. None of these appealed to me. Turns out, I am not the only one who avoided Girl Scout cookies this year, and my reasoning is not the only reasoning for people not to buy them.

12-year-old Michigan Girl Scouts Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen chose not to sell cookies this year.

The middle school girls have been working on earning their Bronze Award (third highest Girl Scout honor), including researching endangered orangutans in Indonesia. Madison and Rhiannon soon learned that the production of an ingredient used in Girl Scout cookies - palm oil - was threatening the orangutans’ natural habitat. They were neither okay with thus, nor willing to just accept the situation quietly.

These are certainly to be some powerful advocates for animals and the environment when they grow up! They are already making such a huge impact having: chosen not to sell cookies this year, created education presentations and material, selected to continue with the topic for their Silver Award (second highest honor), and even started a petition that includes the signature of Jane Goodall.

You can read more about Madison and Rhiannon’s fight for the orangutans in their local paper - the Ann Arbor News, at the Web site of Orangutan Outreach, or by visiting the Web site dedicated to their project - Save the Orangutans.

Photo taken by LEISA THOMPSON, for THE ANN ARBOR NEWS.