Living Without Meat

Singer Neko Case loves animal, thinks zoos are stupid, and hates PETA. In a recent interview with Spinner, fiery redhead Case shared her feelings:

“Those stories are so depressing,” she told Spinner. “And the animal is always the one who gets murdered at the end. I don’t know why people act so shocked. You got in the cage with the tiger, you were harassing it and then it f*ing killed you. It’s a f*ing tiger. What the f* were you thinking?”

“Then they shoot the tiger. That’s hardly fair. It’s a large predator. Or killer whales in zoos — those things are supposed to swim 200 miles a day. It’s like having a teenager and saying, ‘OK, I’m gonna feed and clothe you, but you have to live in this refrigerator.’ People say [zoos] are for the children, but why would you want your children to see sad, crazy animals?”

And she also talked about the Michael Vick dog-fighting case:

“Best Friends took the Michael Vick dogs,” Case points out. “That’s a big deal because a lot of supposed animal welfare organizations like PETA — who can blow me — said you should euthanize the dogs immediately. But it’s not the dogs’ fault that they were fighting dogs — they’ve been abused. Pit bulls are muscular and big, but they’re not man-eaters.”

So she has a foul mouth, and I have never heard of her or said publication; however, Case was so excited to learn about Best Friends that she talked to her label and worked it out so that anytime someone posts a link to her song, People Gotta Alot Of Nerve, they will donate $5 to the Best Friends Animal Society, now through February 3.

Three weeks ago on Bravo’s Top Chef, contestant Carla initially wanted to make a vegetarian dish when she was presented with the challenge to make anything that represents her style. But, afraid that the judges would scoff at her for not using meat, she went another direction. When she was nearly eliminated because the judges hated the dish anyway, she made a promise to viewers that she would make a vegetarian meal before the show was over.

Two episodes go by with no meat-free recipe. But this week, episode 10, Carla came through … sort of.

In the quick fire challenge, cheftestants had to create a dish using oats and a specific food category assigned to them. Carla got “nuts and grains” and made a phenomenal looking and sounding vegan “Pecan and Oat Crusted Tofu with Oat and Lentil Salad” that got her rave reviews. (Picture of this dish is shown here; click it for the recipe.) This is worlds better than what they did with tofu last season!

But in the main part of the show, Carla won the Super Bowl challenge by boiling live crawfish, after plenty of the other contestants harassed, poked, and teased them.

I am not sure why I continue to watch this show, but I am definitely hooked. I suppose I am a true foodie at heart, which, despite popular belief, vegans can be. I hope that in the future of Top Chef we see more meatless options, and I truly hope that this is the last time contestants act so inhumane.

One of my (many) favorite things about the green blog Ecorazzi is the writers’ impressive abilities to find celebrity quotes about vegetarianism and animal rights.

Here’s a sampling of some recent Razzi finds:

Michael Vick, on his “Developing Empathy for Animals” test administered by PETA: “This course has given me a different perspective + perception on animals and how to treat them. First starting off with the golden rule. Do onto others, as you want them to do on to u. To me it applies to humans + animals or any creature on this earth that breathes fresh air. In my life from now on I have to make decisions for me, my family, friend, neighbors, that will benefit everyone. My relationships with animals will forever be different. I have the upmost respect for all living creatures and I wish I could have took this course 5 years ago.”

Anjelica Huston, in a letter to Mummy director Stephen Sommers about his upcoming project, Tarzan: “Critics lauded King Kong in particular for the emotional depth that the giant ape displayed - without any real apes suffering in the process. Can I please hear that you similarly plan to use only creative alternatives to great apes in Tarzan?”

Pamela Anderson, in a letter to the Mumbai, India, high court: “Dogs cannot use condoms, but with the municipality’s help, they can be ‘fixed’ — painlessly, quickly and permanently.”

Ricky Gervais, in an interview with David Letterman, about providing animals as a gift to needy people in poor countries: “They’re 50 quid down, I’ve got nothing, the African family’s going, ‘Not another mouth to feed.’ It’s ridiculous. There’s nothing in it for the goat. The goat wakes up in barren land going, “Where am I? A week ago I was gamboling through the Cotswolds in glades and then someone just kidnapped me, put me on a boat, took me to Africa.’ It’s like Roots in reverse. I bet he didn’t want to go to Africa. I think the goat had no choice. …”

See what you’re missing out on if you don’t read Ecorazzi regularly?

Yesterday was my weekly Suzy Homemaker day, also known as Sunday. I managed to avoid tackling the large pile of laundry flowing out of my closet, and instead focused all of my energy into the kitchen. First, I scrubbed and put away and cleansed everything. Then, the cooking began.

For lunch, I made a white bean dip in my Vita-Mix by blending one can, drained and rinsed, of cannellini beans with some salt, oil, and water.

As an afternoon snack, I decided to try making my own peanut butter, an inspiration that came from the Vita-Mix recipe books. All I did was blend some nuts for a couple of minutes and - voila! - the most amazing PB ever. I used a combination of roasted, salted peanuts and walnuts. If the nuts are raw, you need to add some oil. I served it on a slice of toasted, homemade herb bread.

I barely paused before getting dinner started. I made whole wheat pizza dough in my bread machine, and turned it into a delicious vegan pizza topped with mushroom pasta sauce, Follow Your Heart mozzarella cheese, spinach, and Light Life’s Gimme Lean sausage.

To round my day out, I made a smoothie for dessert. Using my Vita-Mix for the third time that day, I whipped together one frozen banana, one cup of soy milk, and about one Tbsp. of Ah!laska organic hot chocolate mix. I drew a spiral of chocolate sauce on the inside of martini class before pouring the thick drink in.

William Blake is one of my favorite poets. Today I discovered a poem of his that I had not read before: “Auguries of Innocence.” Here’s the beginning of this poem; I’m sure you’ll see why I particularly like this one:

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.
A Robin Red breast in a Cage
Puts all heaven in a Rage.
A dove house fill’d with doves and Pigeons
Shudders Hell thro’ all its regions.
A dog starv’d at his Master’s Gate
Predicts the ruin of the State.
A Horse misus’d upon the Road
Calls to Heaven for Human blood.
Each outcry of the hunted Hare
A fibre from the Brain does tear.
A Skylark wounded in the wing,
A Cherubim does cease to sing.
The Game Cock clip’d and arm’d for fight
Does the Rising Sun affright.
Every Wolf’s and Lion’s howl
Raises from Hell a Human Soul.
The wild deer, wand’ring here and there,
Keeps the Human Soul from Care.
The Lamb misus’d breeds Public strife
And yet forgives the Butcher’s Knife.
The Bat that flits at close of Eve
Has left the Brain that won’t Believe.
The Owl that calls upon the Night
Speaks the Unbeliever’s fright.
He who shall hurt the little Wren
Shall never be belov’d by Men.
He who the Ox to wrath has mov’d
Shall never be by Woman lov’d.
The wanton Boy that kills the Fly
Shall feel the Spider’s enmity.
He who torments the Chafer’s sprite
Weaves a Bower in endless Night.

This is only about half of this poem;
click here to check out the full text of Blake’s “Auguries of Innocence.”

As most can probably guess, the dinner at the Inaugural Luncheon was far from vegetarian, let alone vegan. The evening started with a creamy seafood stew, then featured an “American” meal of either duck or pheasant. However, some of the courses were very close to being vegan! With a touch of vegan butter instead of a milk-based one, you can recreate some of the Inaugural Ball dishes, vegan style! And, of course, you will probably want to scale to amount down.

***

Molasses Whipped Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients
* 3 large sweet potatoes
* 2 Tbsps vegan butter
* 1 tsp kosher salt
* 1/4 cup orange juice
* 1/2 Tbsp of brown sugar
* 1 Tbsp of molasses
* 1 tsp of ground cumin
* 2 Tbsps maple syrup

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Roast potatoes on a baking sheet until easily pierced with a fork, about 1 hour.
3. Peel the skin off and smash the potatoes. Combine the potatoes and all other ingredients in a large bowl. Continue to mix.

Winter Vegetables

Ingredients
* 2 bunches asparagus, bottom of stem removed
* 2 lbs carrots, peeled, cut or diced
* 1 lb baby brussel sprouts
* 1 lb wax beans, ends snipped
* 2 oz vegan butter
* Orange zest
* 4 oz olive oil
* Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Asparagus: preheat grill or large sauté pan. Rub olive oil on and season with salt and pepper. Lay flat on grill or in pan until lightly browned. Rotate to brown other sides, 2 or 3 minutes per side.

Carrots: bring 3 qt salted water to a boil, add carrots and cook until tender. Drain the water and add 1 oz butter and zest of orange, mix until carrots are coated. Season with pinch of salt.

Brussel Sprouts: bring 3 qt salted water to a boil, cut into the stem of the sprout to create an X on the bottom if they are fresh. Place sprout in boiling water and cook until bottom of sprout is tender, or until thawed if frozen. Drain sprouts. Add 2 oz oil and sprouts to a heated sauté pan, season with salt and pepper while tossing.

Yellow Wax Beans: bring 3 qt salted water to boil, add snipped beans and allow to cook until
tender. Remove from water and toss with 1 oz butter, season with salt
and pepper.

Cinnamon Apple Sponge Cake

Ingredients
Apple Filling:
* 4 lbs Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
* 4 Tbsps unsalted, vegan butter
* 1/4 cup water
* 1/3 cup sugar
* 1/3 cup apple sauce
* 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
* 1/4 tsp salt
* Lemon zest
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
Bread Crust:
* 14 Tbsps unsalted, vegan butter, melt 10 of them
* 2 Tbsps sugar
* 34 slices brioche bread
Equipment:
* 10 Ceramic baking ramekins or metal molds (3” diameter)
Sauce:
* 2 cups caramel sauce, (click for recipe to make vegan caramel)
* 2 cups Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, diced
* Pinch sugar
* Pinch cinnamon
* 1 Tbsp butter
Ice Cream
* 1 quart vegan, vanilla ice cream

Directions
Click to read the complete directions to make this dessert.

***

These recipes have been edited; their full, original composition can be found, in PDF format, at Inaugural.Senate.gov.

After reviewing four animated animal-friendly movies this weekend - Home on the Range and Barnyard on Friday, and Open Season and Chicken Run on Saturday - I realized that my roommate owned a popular, recent one that I hadn’t watched yet. And so, Saturday night I stayed in and watched Bee Movie. Unfortunately, that’s 91 minutes of my life that I can never get back. Let me make sure that you don’t fall into the same trap: do not watch it.

Despite my longtime annoyance with Jerry Seinfeld, I went into Bee Movie with an open mind, respecting him for making a film that addresses the growing bee disappearance. Alas, I was sadly disappointed.

Seinfeld voices the main character, Barry B. Benson, a young honeybee on the brink of starting his life as a dedicated, hard worker. When faced with the decision of what bee career he wants for the rest of his life, Barry panics and flees the hive in search of something more. After befriending a human, Barry discovers that humans are stealing bees’ honey. He is outraged and decides to create change. So he sues the major honey companies on behalf of all bees.

Warning: spoilers ahead. The main flaw of this flick is its muddled message. First, the bees are happy working all day. But when they argue the class action lawsuit, they whine about humans abusing them and forcing them to toil away simply because they are the little guy. They win the case and can begin to relax. The message initially seems to be that humans are cruel, bees are defenseless, and we should back off. But part of the lawsuit was that all the honey be returned, so now there is no need for the bees to work at all. Thus, without pollination, plants begin dying and the world is bleak and gray. The bees start working again, Barry saves the day, and all is right once again.

I understand where the writers were going: we need bees, but we also need to respect them. It just didn’t work though. And the humor of Seinfeld, which is what I dislike about him, failed to save it.

Yesterday, I reviewed two animal rights-themed, feature-length, animated films: Barnyard and Home on the Range. Today, I have two more for you.

3. Open Season, as the name may suggest to you, takes an animal’s point-of-view look at hunting. However, it also incorporates the circus. Celebrity voices include Martin Lawrence, Ashton Kutcher, Debra Messing, Gary Sinise, and Jon Favreau.

The movie begins with Boog, a captive grizzly bear that lives with and performs shows for Park Ranger Beth. Boog is happy with his existence, but circumstances soon force Beth to release him into the forest. While getting used to the wild, Boog inspires his new friends to fight back against the crazed hunters that are after them. Out of these four movies, this one sticks out most in my mind. The characters were ridiculous and silly, but very likable.

4. Chicken Run is a creation of the same team that put together Wallace and Gromit. The big name behind the voices is Mel Gibson, who spoke for the head rooster, Rocky Rhodes.

Rocky, who recently escaped from the circus, lands in a hen-filled chicken coop and initially woos them all. But when the farm owners, the Tweedys, attempt to step up their output by slaughtering any hen that fails to meet egg-laying quota, Rocky’s lies and exaggerations are exposed. All the chickens go into double time, strategizing, plotting, and planning how to safely escape. This films remains the most successful - according to profit, reviews, and more - out of all four of the ones mentioned.

Recently, I’ve utilized Netflix to preview several animal-rights or -welfare related animated feature films: Chicken Run, Home on the Range (2003), Open Season (2006), and Barnyard (2006). Here’s my thoughts on two of them, and the other two will be featured tomorrow.

1. Home on the Range is a Disney film that featured voicework by actors such as Roseanne Barr, Judi Dench, and Cuba Gooding, Jr. The movie starts out with a harsh reality: Pearl Gesner is losing her small, idyllic farm called “Patch of Heaven” due to economic hardship and foreclosure. But three cows won’t stand for it. The comical bovine trio of Maggie, Grace, and Mrs. Calloway sent out to save their farm.

The highs of this flick were definitely the naive characters’ accidental one liner, such as when the animals learn about meat and one sweet hen thinks she’s in luck because “who would want to eat a chicken?” The film is not, however, a good one for younger kids. There is more adult humor than I thought necessary; word is the movie got its PG rating for a joke comparing udders to boobs. Overall, this short (76 mins.), action-packed cartoon does a good job depicting struggles that small time farmers face.

2. Barnyard is a Nickelodeon/Paramount collaboration, though it starts Disney style, with the death of a parent. Kevin James, Courteney Cox Arquette, Danny Glover, Wanda Sykes, and Andie MacDowell all lent their voices.

The animals of this farm all talk, walk on two legs, and party … but only when the humans aren’t looking. All different species, under leadership of the cows, band together to defend themselves against bratty kids that enjoy torturing animals and coyotes looking for a meal. The biggest let down of this movie is the stereotypical bratty kid: he’s a fat redhead with freckles. While I enjoyed the movie, I find the TV-spinoff version, Back at the Barnyard, more kid-friendly and parental death-free.

It is after much waiting and anticipation that I can make this exciting announcement: Beginning in February, I will be the projects director for the Humane League of Philadelphia.

Today, I put in my official two weeks notice and resignation letter at my current company, where I have been working as a puzzle editor - making word-finds, crosswords, etc. - for the last two years.

Under my new position, I will be working full time with a small but rapidly growing, Philadelphia-based, animal-rights nonprofit. My duties will include working on a restaurant campaign similar to Compassion Over Killing’s Veg DC, online promotion, outreach and canvassing, and more. And, of course, I’ll still be here at LWM.

Go check out HLP’s Web site and the related Veg PA one … if you click around a few pages you’ll find my bio and picture.

One of my favorite pieces of animal rights campaign paraphernalia is a small white sheet of paper, measuring 8 1/2″ by 8″, that comes include in some Humane Society mailings. The page is almost completely blank, save a short statement printed in bold, red ink in the middle of one side:

“Imagine a full grown chicken being raised for an entire lifetime in a space even smaller than this piece of paper.

My friend, I am not exaggerating when I tell you factory farms overcrowd hens in battery cages too small for them to even spread their wings.”

I love that it is a tangible, non-gory visual that proves a point and makes you think without playing up the shock factor. You don’t always have to show someone a starving, sickly mess of chickens crammed into cages to help them understand what life is like on factory farms.

Being a vegan has made me a kitchen appliance junky. First it was a juicer, then a smoothie maker. Soon I needed a electric tea pot, and a bread maker. And most recently, a Vita-Mix came my way.

My newest machine - a dehydrator - is in the mail right now, on its way to join the other appliances in my vegan health food haven.

I have wanted to try dehydrating my own fruit and other foodstuff for awhile. After reading a raw food book, I knew I had to have one. As money is tight, I could not run right out and buy one. However, lucky me stumbled into a $50 Amazon gift card, and so I picked out the Nesco American Harvest FD-61 Snackmaster Encore Dehydrator and Jerky Maker, which, with shipping and tax and whatnot, came to $66.

And thus I will soon be dehydrating like crazy in a machine that I paid just $16 for.

While watching The Duchess starring Keira Knightley, one quote in particular stood out to me:

Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire: I fail to comprehend how far we are fully committed to the concept of freedom.

Sir Peter Teazle: Freedom in moderation.

Georgiana: The concept of freedom is an absolute.

That statement is so powerful: freedom is absolute. There is no in between. There is no halfway point. There is no compromise. A being is either free or not. A man or animal can either choose to come and go as he pleases, or he cannot.

And in case you are not willing to take a movie quote as a truth, the dictionary defines freedom as “the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint; exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.; the power to determine action without restraint.”

For the first time ever, the government wants to know how many children are vegetarian. The recent federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study on kids that choose not to consume meat estimated that about 367,000, or 1 in 200, American children follow a meat-free diet. Other surveys suggest that those numbers may be even higher among teens and older children that have more control over what they eat. Previous surveys have found that vegetarians are most often female, from higher-income families, and living on the East or West coasts.

The CDC’s method included asking about 9,000 parents and other adults speaking on the behalf of those under 18 about their children’s eating habits.

Nicole Nightingale, 14, says she went online to read about chicken, but instead came across a video showing chickens being slaughtered. From there she visited PETA.org, and then decided to become vegan.

The Associated Press speculates that “adolescent vegetarianism seems to be rising, thanks in part to YouTube animal slaughter videos that shock the developing sensibilities of many U.S. children.”

“Compassion for animals is the major, major reason,” said Richard Schwartz, president of Jewish Vegetarians of North America, an organization with a newsletter mailing list of about 800. “When kids find out the things they are eating are living animals — and if they have a pet….”

The AP wrote up a great article about veggie kids which provided the information for this post: First U.S. Count Finds 1 in 200 Kids are Vegetarian. Here’s my favorite excerpt:

Eating vegetarian can be very healthy — nutritionists often push kids to eat more fruits and vegetables, of course. For growing children, however, it’s important to get sufficient amounts of protein, vitamins B12 and D, iron, calcium and other important nutrients that most people get from meat, eggs and dairy.

Also, vegetarian diets are not necessarily slimming. Some vegetarian kids cut out meat but fill up on doughnuts, french fries, soda or potato chips, experts said.

With the presidential inauguration just over a week away, the Obamas are all the chatter. Veggie blogger Elaine Vigneault pointed out two new animal campaigns that used Barack’s sayings and pictures as inspiration. Check them out:

From VegKit.org, comes the clear message of how to bring change - Go Vegan!

The text reads:

Change your diet. Change the world.
“We are the change that we seek.” ~ President Barack Obama
Great news! Each of us has a powerful tool for change if we choose to use it. At every meal, we have the opportunity to improve our health and make the world a better place. By ‘kicking the meat habit’ and transitioning toward a vegan diet, we take a bite out of some of the world’s biggest problems.

Less is more… we can:
- Reduce environmental pollution and waste, protecting our land, air, and water.
- Reduce global warming; animal agriculture is the #1 producer of greenhouse gasses.
- Reduce hunger by reducing the price of food, including corn, soy, rice, and grains.
- Reduce risk of top killers, including heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes.
- Reduce animal suffering by saving animals from slaughterhouse atrocities.

Find out more with your FREE Veg Starter Kit & Weekly e-mail recipes.

www.VegKit.org

888-FARM-USA

Next up, an AdoptaPet.com visual:

So regardless of who you voted for, next week should be a time to recognize what the new president means for animal welfare and the environment. To get involved supporting and holding accountable the new president, check out groups such as Animal Rights Advocates for Obama.