Living Without Meat

It’s not just rare, it’s probably the first time ever that the two media networks that I keep up with - animal issues and fashion - are in agreement.

The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 is currently up for discussion - commonly referred to as the Farm Bill, or the $300 billion Farm Bill. It was passed in the House yesterday and received more than two-thirds pro votes, which is what they will need to maintain the bill if President Bush were to veto it.

Now, I’m not up on legal or farm speak, but both fashionistas and animal/vegan advocates are showng support for this act that sets to defend farmers and the environment.

For the fashion side: Women’s Wear Daily says that this “could potentially help retailers and apparel brands save millions of dollars.”

For the veggie side: There are food safety and labeling issues addressed, with country of origin becoming a mandatory label. Nutritional programs would get more funding and support. There would be tax deductions for farmers using renewable energy sources. There are positive implications for organic food, rural preservation, and general conservation of resources, too.

To read more, the House Committee on Agriculture has put together a one-page factsheet about the bill as a whole. Plus, there is a page dedicated to the bill where you can read a factsheet on each section, follow the legislative proceedings, and read statements from involved people.

I have not forgotten about Silk Soymilk being pulled from shelves because some products contained cow’s milk proteins.

I have contacted the company three times now asking for an explanation, especially since their Web site does not provide an ingredients list for any products. Once, I received a canned response thanking me for my interest in Silk. The other two times have yet to receive a response.

However, Silk has added a page to their site titled “Silk Is Soy” which is about the recall. Here is their statement:

WhiteWave Foods Company is voluntarily recalling 11-ounce plastic single serve bottles of Silk Soymilk Chocolate Flavor because it may contain undeclared milk protein.

Is anyone else starting to wonder why companies don’t explain recalls? I’d like to know how such a dump “oops” like putting milk in a vegan staple, and leaving it off of the ingredients list, happens. And why did they not ‘fess up to it until after Stop & Shop offered consumer refunds?

The product shown here is the one being recalled. Click on it to read more about the Silk recall.

Buy one get one free Boca Burgers at Johnny Rockets for the rest of May!

Click on the picture to get your coupon for a free Johnny Rockets Boca Burger.

Tomorrow, May 15, is a special day for Dunkin’ Donuts. It is the day when the company is going to realize that soy milk is in high demand with their customers.

Animal- and vegan-devotees over at Compassion Over Killing (COK) have been successful in getting two local (to them, in Washington, D.C.) Dunkin’ Donuts to start carrying soy milk. There is also one New York City branch that carries the healthier, vegan option to creamer and cow’s milk.

But now COK wants DD to know that people all over want soy milk. So they have deemed May 15 as “Ask for Soy Milk Day” at Dunkin’ Donuts.

Head on over tomorrow - or any and every day - to your local DD and ask: “Do you have soy milk?” This will let them start to see that there is market for soy milk at coffee shops.

Visit COK’s site for more on how to convince your branch to carry vegan options. Click on the picture to read Super Vegan’s announcement of the D.C. soy milk gain.

“The affected product may contain small pieces of hard plastic.”

That’s the reason Fairbank Farms is issuing a voluntary recall on their ground beef products.

Price Chopper, Shaw’s, BJ’s, Wilson Farms retail outlets, and C&S Wholesale distributor all received potentially contaminated meat.

So many thoughts… I’ll make a list:

1. Why does hunks of plastic in a food product not return a full recall, but only voluntary?

2. I suppose plastic falling into the grinder is better than entire sick horses. Yup - the imagined “glue factory” for sick horses is often actually “the beef industry.”

3. You’d think an apology or explanation would be issued as well. Leaving consumers to speculate on their own might lead to searching for answers on the Internet, which might in turn lead to meat eaters finding sites like this one, clicking on the picture to order their free vegan recipe book, and ultimately becoming vegetarian. Oh, I can dream.

Hopefully, you know you’re safe because you don’t purchase ground beef. But if you did, and would like more information on the Fairbank Farms beef recall including which “sell by” dates were effected, read the press release.

If Ryan Gosling has time to write a letter expressing his concern for animals, even while working abnormally long days on movie sets, then we should be able to find a few minutes to do the same.

Here’s a copy of the letter (click on it to see a readable size) and an excerpt of what the star from Lars and the Real Girl, Half Nelson, and *sigh* The Notebook had to say to John Bitove, Canada’s Kentucky Fried Chicken top dog.

The time is ripe to do the right thing. By adopting the basic recommendations made by PETA and scientific experts (including raising birds in a more natural manner and employing less cruel slaughter methods), you could dramatically improve the lives and deaths of chickens raised and killed for KFC Canada.

The letter was written by Ryan on behalf of PETA, which is why it is on PETA letterhead. The actor is originally from Canada, and wrote his country’s KFC executive to urge him to stop KFC suppliers’ worst abuses of chickens.

One of Ryan’s longtime passions has been educating the public on the issues of Darfur. He also has a rescued dog named “George.”

Sigh. As if I needed any more reasons to be smitten with Noah, er, I mean Ryan.

To find a letter-writing campaign that fits your passion check out PETA’s Get Active Center, the Humane Society’s campaigns, or any favorite organization’s Web site. Many will also send you local contacts and concerns - such as proposed legislations - if you sign up for their e-mail alerts. Like Horton the elephant says: every voice counts!

At church yesterday, of all places, I overheard and joined in on two high school boys conversation:

Boy 1: The pigs don’t even get it the worse, though.

Boy 2: What are you, PETA all of a sudden?

Me: I am. I’m a PETA member.

Boy 2: Oh. I better not say anything else then. I shouldn’t offend anyone; I could, but I won’t.

Boy 1: Yea, well I first saw it on YouTube. And when he picked up that pig and slammed it into the ground, that was hilarious! haha.

I walked away.

To me, my Christianity and veganism go hand in hand. I do not believe that it is a sin to kill and eat animals; however, when the life and killing of these animals involves evil torture, and you knowingly eat this flesh …

I’m not the only one that feels this connection between religion and diet. Did you know that there is Christian Vegetarian Association? Check it out, especially the FAQ section that talks about how the Bible supports vegetarianism without saying extremists points of view, twisting the Bible to fit their needs.

Click the photo to read more at EcoRazzi.

It’s all about the little joys in life for me, like hearing a reference to vegetarianism in a hit CBS drama.

On Numb3rs this Friday evening, in the new episode “Pay to Play,” there was a hilarious tofu mention:

Charlie discover that a group of rappers have created a mathematical algorhythym that analyzes music and determines how popular it will be. He uses the snacks that two different agents are eating to explain this theory.

Special Agent Liz: You lost me, Charlie.

Charlie: Ok, uh… candy bar, nice, and what is that?

Special Agent Liz: Flavored tofu chips.

Charlie: This is perfect. So I tested both rappers’ music. Hunter’s scored high marks; his raps are like candt bars. At least, according to the algorhythym they’re exactly what you’d expect people to want, they’re big sellers. However, Two-by-four’s songs scored significantly lower.

David: So according to the algorhythym Two-by-four’s stuff is like musical tofu?

Charlie: Ahhh… you stole my punchline.

Don: So why do they sell?

Special Agent Liz: Maybe some people like tofu.

You can watch the whole episode at CBS.com, this scene occurs at the 20 minute mark.

I haven’t been able to figure out which kind of soy chips were featured in the show - they were turned backwards so as not to offer a product placement ad. The backside had an image of cherry blossoms, but no Web sites show the back of their products. SO … if you are looking for some “flavored tofu chips,” Genisoy has a lot of soy snack options, Revival Soy has several flavors of chips - they even offer an 11 pack that lets you try one bag of each flavor, and Good Housekeeping magazine online has a taste test review of several brands of soy chips … because, “some people like tofu!”

**Side note: I love finding references like this so much that I have added a category (to the right and down a bit) called “Mentioned in the Media,” where you can find all posts like this one at once.

My father should get an award for being the most vegan-friendly non-vegan.

After cooking two phenomenal meals last weekend for my birthday, today he is helping me car shop. He sent me a list of used cars for sale on e-Bay that are in my price range, fuel-efficient, and sporty-cute (point for him understanding this is important to a girl).

I peruse the choices, and respond: “well, they all have cloth seats, not leather, so that’s good.”

He responds: “I know, I screened out the leather ones.”

See what I mean?

…literally.

A Scent of Scandal is an L.A.-based, brother-and-sister venture that creates all-soy wax candles with pure cotton wicks, making them better for the environment and you than the average candle. They are vegan; they are cruelty-free, and they support great organizations like PETA, Sea Shepherd, Compassionate
Cooks, and Farm Sanctuary.

But A Scent of Scandal doesn’t just give a portion of their proceeds to such non-profits, they create “Candles for a Cause” - scents in their honor! The two “Candles for a Cause” that just hit the market are: “A Roll in the Hay,” a grass-scented candle in a tin donning Farm Sanctuary’s logo; and “Rock the Boat,” an ocean-scented one with Sea Shepherd’s logo on the tin. For $15 each, with 15 percent going to charity whose candle you buy, you’ll get 30-35 hours minimum of good vibes and scents.

And as for the scandalous name? Perhaps a few of the other candles’ names and scents will help you figure that one out … “D-Cups” smells like melons; “One Night Stand,” margaritas; “Teacher’s Pet,” apple; “Tighty Whities,” fresh laundry; and “Knocked Up,” baby powder.

Choosing soy candles with metal-free wicks such as the ones from A Scent of Scandal produces no CO2 and 90 percent less soot than traditional candles. Click on the picture here - the Candles for a Cause logo - to check them out on A Scent of Scandal’s Web site, where you can order a few candles for yourself, or bulk amounts at wholesale.

I am not the type of vegan who starts lecturing people about their choices. Although I will gladly discuss my diet with anyone (unless I’m on the potty. Good grief why do people insist on talking to me while I pee? My bladder is shy, okay?), I won’t point at someone’s hamburger and tell them what was done to the cow and what that cow is now going to do to their body.

But, if you point at my food first all bets are off.

Enter my fave comeback to people questioning the health, nutrition, and even the taste of my plate full.

Boy: Ewww broccoli is so gross.

Me: (Silent restraint)

Boy: Do you even have any protein on that plate?

Me: Start talking about my food and I will start talking about yours.

Boy: It’s just that that doesn’t even look good.

Me: You know what doesn’t look good to me? The dead chicken on your plate that had to go through un-Godly lengths of torture just to get tossed into a deep fryer so that you could get fatter.

Boy: … okay.

Point Sally. Bring it.

When Morgan Spurlock’s documentary Super Size Me came out in 2004, and gained instant fame with it’s coveted win at the Sundance Film Festival, I thought: it’s a cool idea to film your demise while eating nothing but McDonald’s food for one month, but I don’t need to watch it because I don’t eat fast food.

Boy was I wrong! This movie was phenomenal!

To begin, I had no idea that his girlfriend was a vegan chef. Having been eating her healthy, delicious cooking for so long, it’s no wonder Morgan tosses his fries when trying to eat his first super-sized meal.

But here’s where the shamelessness comes into play. If my review of this movie gets the most “I Like this Review” clicks on the social/movie site Jaman, then I win $1,000 from Whole Foods!

So if you have a second, won’t you please head over to Jaman - an online, social, movie-interest community - and check out my review of Super Size Me? My username is “SallyAndersen” and my review is all about sex. Seriously.

First Natalie Portman teamed with Te Casan to create a line of vegan dress shoes. Now, Leona Lewis is joining the ranks.

Leona Lewis, that girl that won her season of the U.K.’s The X Factor, and who incessantly repeats “keep bleeding, keep, keep bleeding love,” has been vegetarian since she was 12, and doesn’t wear leather or fur (what about wool, Leona? Suede? Silk?…).

Now she is taking her interest in animal-free fashion to the next level: she is designing her own line.

Lewis has only just announced her plans to create a cruelty-free line of clothing, so we’ll have to wait a bit to judge the outcome.

Stella McCartney (who lost her luggage this week while traveling in the states) remains the leading vegan designer, and even has a $1,000 shopping spree contest going on through PETA.

But don’t enter, because that lessens my chances of winning.

I love you, Stella. Keep being awesome.

I sang that in elementary school, and remember it clearly to this day.

Upon starting a 9 to 5 office job I picked up a coffee habit, drinking a minimum of one large mug of coffee with soy milk per day. As I continue reading Skinny Bitch, I have had a maximum of one coffee drink per week for the last three weeks.

I feel great. Coffee really isn’t for me.