Living Without Meat

You can now earn your favorite organization a donation every time you shop or search online! Check out iGive to shop from 700 different online retailers, and iSearchiGive to search online.

Sign up now because for the entire month of February your choice organization gets 2 cents per search, instead of the normal 1 cent. After you become a member - for free! - place any size order with any retailer and your org will receive an additional $5 donation.

The iGive mall has stores where you can buy toys, clothes, shoes, food, purses, flowers, pet supplies, office needs, books, magazines, arts and crafts, computer products, travel related services, and much, much more. You can shop at Overstock, American Eagle, AT&T, eBay, Amazon, Netflix, Restaurant.com, Snapfish, Urban Outfitters, and hundreds more. You will even find great vegan options such as e.l.f. makeup and cosmetics!

To support the nonprofit that I work for, add the Humane League of Philadelphia as your cause.

I am just two weeks in to working with the Humane League and already can’t believe what an impact I am having! On my first day, I got the opportunity to hand out leaflets at my alma mater. The students were warm and welcoming of the information that I had to share.

I spend time each morning reaching out to teens and 20-somethings through MySpace. So far I have had eight people tell me that they are trying to become a vegetarian based on the videos and information that I shared with them. Plus, several more have expressed an interest in learning more about factory farming and vegetarianism. It has also been interesting to see how many people in this age group are already vegetarian. Many have been sending me encouraging words and thanks for doing what I am doing. We have received several requests for our Vegetarian Starter Pack from this MySpace outreach, as well as from my posting of ads on Craig’s List. After my initial postings, we received 25 requests and the numbers are going up daily.

By my second day, I was already contacting local and national vegan, vegetarian, “green,” and health-based companies about advertising in our upcoming Philadelphia Area Vegetarian Eating Guide. The response has been surprising – in a good way! I have three potential full-page advertisers, and a dozen others interested in a smaller ad. The money raised by selling these ads will help us pay for the printing of these brochures, so the more we sell, the more copies we can produce and distribute.

In between these larger projects, I have plenty to keep me busy! I am writing and submitting letters to editors and op-ed pieces. I have been contacting local public access networks about submitting programs on factory farming. One station has agreed to air one, and another has expressed interest in possibly setting up a regular time slot for us.

Yesterday I had my first meeting with a restaurant owner to talk to him about how and why he can make his menu vegan-friendly. He is excited to learn more and has agreed to include more options!

So far, this has been an incredibly positive experience for me and I know that it will only get better. Not only will my life change, but I will be creating change for animals.

Prepare yourself: a new - no, make that four new - all vegan candy bars are headed your way!

Go Max Go Foods has whipped up the most delicious sounding treats and will have them ready for our delight by April 2009. To begin, the candy bars will be available only in the Pacific Northwest United States and through online, vegan stores such as Food Fight, Pangea, Cosmos, and Vegan Essentials, but after reading these descriptions you will surely be willing to go to great lengths to get your hands on one. I know I will … especially the last one!

* Jokerz: caramel, peanuts, and nougat in a rice-milk chocolatey coating.

* Twilight: caramel and chocolatey nougat wrapped in a rice-milk chocolatey coating.

* Buccaneer: chocolatey nougat in a rice-milk chocolatey coating.

* Mahalo: coconuts and almonds covered in rice-milk chocolate.

The small, eco-friendly, vegan footwear and fashion accessories company Georgette, based in Belgium and working only with family-run companies in Italy and Spain, is sadly going out of business. But the good news is that boots in many styles, heels of every height, pumps, flats, sandals, and more are going quickly at around 50 to 75 percent off the original prices. Fine crafted European styles that were once 100 or more Euros are now in the 20 to 25 Euro range.

Georgette is an animal-friendly, high quality boutique that was founded and run by twin sisters. Their faux fine Italian leather and meticulous craftsmanship makes for a top-notch product.

I found this tip at the Swanky Veg. Keep up with this blog and you will be in the loop for blowout vegan sales like this all the time.

I started my new job this week as the projects director for the Humane League of Philadelphia and I am loving it! Each day I can say that I did something that may have directly influenced someone to think about what they were eating and where it came from.

I got an early jump on the job by volunteering to help leaflet in downtown Philadelphia one Saturday in January. It was a cold, but very rewarding experience. This week, I began training and dove right in to what is now my full time career. On Monday, I took advantage of the beautiful weather and handed out more fliers, this time on campus of my alma mater. Students were so receptive: many told me they were already vegetarian, while others asked for more information. Even the class clown frat boys opened the pamphlet and began reading some as they made fun of vegetarians. In total, three of us handed out just over 2,000 “Compassionate Choices” info packs. I spent the rest of the day in the small home office for the Humane League learning the ropes.

Today was only my second day, but I already headed out to talk to restaurants. For most of the day, I worked on online promotion of the organization through MySpace and print promotion by composing letters to the editors of newspapers both nationwide and locally - look for my name in your home newspaper! By the end of the day I had begun putting together information for restaurants about ad space that we are trying to sell in a new vegetarian eating guide for Philadelphia. I approached a small number of business and am ready to get the ball rolling first thing tomorrow.

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.

As 2008 comes to a close, I’ve taken some time to look back over what the year brought for Living Without Meat. This site is only about a year and a half old in total, so I’m still getting to see it grow and expand daily. As I peruse what readers enjoyed and responded to during the year, I decided to highlight a few popular posts from 2008.

Here are some of LWM’s highlights from the year:

* On January 25, I mentioned that TV reality star and tattoo artist Ami James posed for a PETA ad in “Miami Ink’s Ami James: Friend of Animals”. Maybe it’s because the post has been up for 11 months, or maybe it’s the fact that a topless photo of a sexy man was included, but either way this post had the most visitors.

* Ellen Degeneres garnered a lot of attention this year between her vegan wedding with Portia de Rossi and official coming out as a vegan.

* October was the busiest month thanks to the presidential election, Oprah’s animal rights shows, and World Vegan Day.

* I was honored to receive comments from staff members of well-known animal and vegan organizations: PETA’s Lianne responded to several posts, including “Oprah Named PETA’s 2008 Person of the Year,” “Hayden Panettiere: Animal - and Leather - Lover,” and “Nudity Rules: Opinions Vary on Naked PETA Ads.” VegNews left a gift for me in the comments of “Dear Santa: Presents for a Vegan” - a gift subscription to the magazine!

Happy New Year, everyone! Cheers to a good year past and one more to come!

Don’t miss Gene Baur, president and founder of Farm Sanctuary and author of Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food, and Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the U.S., on CNN’s Headline News show Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell tomorrow evening.

During the first half of the show, Velez-Mitchell discusses shelter-specific issues such as puppy mills, overcrowding, and adoption with Pacelle; Carole Davis, actress, animal advocate, and author of The Diary of Jinky: Dog of a Hollywood Wife; and Bill Smith, founder of Main Line Animal Rescue. The second half features Baur on the lives of animals raised for food.

The episode, titled Special Investigation: Animal Issues, originally aired on Christmas Day, but will air again tomorrow, New Year’s Day, at 7 p.m. EST in the U.S. Check your local listings ahead of time to ensure that you don’t miss it. A rough transcript of the show is available now on CNN.com.

PETA wants Oprah Winfrey to know that her outspoken compassion for animals has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated - the animal rights organization named the talk show maven their 2008 Person of the Year.

It all started when Oprah, a known dog lover, saw a billboard in Chicago that read “Oprah: Do a show on puppy mills. The dogs need you.” She took the hint and ran with it.

Over this past year, Oprah shared her pain with her audience when her beloved dog, Sophie, passed away. She went on to expose the cruel truth of puppy mills and factory farms. Then she took it one step further and educated her viewers about a vegan diet when she took author Kathy Freston’s 21-day vegan challenge.

With all that she has done over 2008, it is clear why PETA is honoring her. The nonprofit proudly stands behind the daytime queen stating that “Oprah uses her fame and listening audience to help the less fortunate, including animals.”

Congrats and thanks to Oprah!

The battle of fur as fashion has been going strong lately: Lindsay Lohan gets flour thrown on her and called a “fur hag.” Celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow pose with fur, but swear they were tricked and would never wear it. Even more celebs pose for PETA’s anti-fur ads, most recently, Khloe Kardashian. The Humane Society files a lawsuit against companies that falsely label real fur as faux. Kid Rock loves his fur and starts a war with PETA. …

But can’t we debate the topic in a friendlier manner, like maybe a fashion design competition highlighting budding designers that don’t use fur?

Born Free USA united with Animal Protection Institute and E Magazine have joined forces to do just that!

The contest, fffashion, is a fur-free fashion contest for designers 18 or older, with an April 1, 2009 deadline, and an inexpesive $25 entry fee. Judges include Sophie Uliano, green living guru and author of New York Times bestseller Gorgeously Green; Summer Rayne Oaks, eco-model, activist, spokesperson, and resident expert for Discovery Network’s Planet Green; and Brita Belli, editor of E Magazine. Premier online independent fashion Web site UsTrendy is also supporting the contest.

Learn more about Born Free USA’s stance and believes on their Fight Against Fur campaign page.

Want a chance to win your favorite animal charity a donation? Head over to TaxGirl’s “12 Days of Charitable Giving” and leave a comment about an organization that you personally donated to this year.

For 12 days in December, TaxGirl, with a panel of judges, will select one charity per day. The charity will receive a donation and will be featured on the blog.

Who will get your mention - Farm Sanctuary? Humane Society? PETA? Haven’t donated yet this year? No problem, donate today!

What are you waiting for? Go!

This time last year, the Humane Society announced to the public that many top designers and labels were using real animal fur in products labeled as faux, and were selling raccoon dog fur under the false label of raccoon. The time line of their investigation from winter 2006 to December 2007 can be read by clicking here.

And now there’s a new development: the Humane Society is suing, on our, the consumers, behalf, retailers that allegedly knowingly sold or advertised mislabeled fur. The lawsuit was filed in Washington, D.C., Superior Court under the Consumer Protection Procedures Act and is specifically going after Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy’s (which owns Bloomingdale’s), Dillard’s, Lord & Taylor, Neiman Marcus, and the parent company of Andrew Marc. The lawsuit also alleges that these six retailers are in violation of the federal Fur Products Labeling Act and Federal Trade Commission Act.

Rebecca Judd, senior attorney with the Humane Society noted that these six offenders were all sent letters alerting them that some of their products were found to be incorrectly labeled in regards to fur. All six continue to sell mislabeled fur.

The only one that responded to the Wall Street Journal was Julia Bentley, senior vice president of investor relations and communications at Saks. Bentley assured that the one jacket sold online through Saks.com that tested positive for mislabeling, was promptly removed. In 2007, Charles Jayson, chief executive of Andrew Marc, stated that the accusations were false, and that all Andrew Marc clothing was and is correctly labeled.

The lawsuit was filed Monday, November 24, and the named companies have 20 days to respond.

Read the full story as written by the Associated Press.

Read the Humane Society’s opinion and statements at President Wayne Pacelle’s blog.

When the news hit yesterday that Alicia Silverstone is writing a book about veganism called The Kind Diet, I could not have been more excited. I did not think it was possible for me to be disappointed related to this publishing announcement. However, I am.

While the book sounds phenomenal - read more about the theory and recipe book at Ecorazzi - it is being published by Rodale, which is where my disappointment enters.

I work by day as an editor, and have considered applying for a job at Rodale numerous times. As a job with this healthly lifestyle-based publishing company would mean a move away from the city of Philadelphia, I have not applied (yet). But just think! If I had applied, and they had hired me, I could be working on Alicia Silverstone’s vegan book!

Alas, I must wait with the rest of the world for The Kind Diet to release next fall to catch a glimpse of the knowledge this once Clueless beauty has to offer.

“The book explores the connection between what we put in our bodies and what we’re doing to the planet, and how choosing the right foods in the kitchen can help you feeling lighter, sexier, and more alive than you ever thought possible,” according to Rodale’s press release. “The book will include a three-step diet program and 75 vegan and macrobiotic recipes.”

Rodale has been a strong force in healthy books and magazines. In the past, the company turned out Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth and Eat This, Not That! by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding. Rodale’s magazines include Men’s Health, Prevention, Women’s Health, Runner’s World, Best Life, Bicycling, Running Times, and Organic Gardening.

Maybe one day, when my current apartment’s lease is nearing an end, I’ll man up and send Rodale my resume and then I too can get a sneak peak editing awesome vegan books.

Well, it seems today is just a Gene Baur/Farm Sanctuary kind of day here on Living Without Meat. First with an empowering quote from him, and now a freebie!

In celebration of the passing of California’s groundbreaking Proposition 2, and the paperback release of his book - Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food, Gene Baur is offering a one day only special: you can download his book for free!

Today, Friday November 7 only, you can download the Farm Sanctuary eBook for free at Sony’s eBookstore. You can read the book without a Sony Reader by downloading the reader software to your computer.

Gene Baur concluded the e-mail about this free eBook offer with a bit of gratitude: “Thank you for all you do for the animals and please join me as we keep this momentum going and educate millions more about the plight of farm animals!”

After the conclusion of America’s election season, congratulations are in order … to Californian farm animals!

Although still destined to be mass bred, raised, and slaughtered in a factory-style setting, Cali chickens, pigs, and baby cows can thank the voters of their state for starting to make changes.

California ballot proposal, Proposition 2, passed last night with an early lead showing at least 60 percent of voters supporting the measure. From here, the process begins for removal of all battery cages (for chickens), veal crates (for baby cows), and gestation crates (for pregnant pigs).

The passing of Prop 2 means a ban on these three forms of cruel confinement in the state of California. It is a phasing out process: 2015 is the deadline for 100 percent cage- and crate- free farms.

Read more about what this means for the future of California farm animals by clicking on either of the victory pictures shown here. The red banner is Farm Sanctuary’s and will redirect you to their Prop 2 page; the “We did it!” chickens are from the Humane Society and will take you to President Wayne Pacelle’s blog.