Living Without Meat

I spent my entire day today at the American Vegan Society’s Garden Party. There was veg food, live music, new friends - and a few old ones too, speakers, coupons, and the part that took up the most of my time: a book room.

The Vegan Society’s book room is just a rinky dink, narrow building with two rooms lined with tall metal shelves, each filled with vegan health, nutrition, animal rights, poem, and recipe books, and much more too. But it was heaven to me! With a copy of the New York Times’ best-selling book When Elephants Weep by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson already on route to me from Paperback Swap I passed that one by. But I still had another three dozen books that I wanted to buy! Making a decision was hard, but I narrowed it down to three (plus a dozen old Vegetarian Times and Natural Health magazines and a few other free pamphlets):

* Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People by Jennifer Cornbleet, a beginner raw foods prep book that gives a lot of very basic ideas and concepts as well as some more creative creations using the basics.

* The Tofu Cookbook by Leah Leneman, a collection of over 150 meals, desserts, drinks, and more that you can make using the soy veg staple.

* Quantum Wellness: A Practical and Spiritual Guide to Health and Happiness by Kathy Freston, the highly talked and raved about health guide that was featured on both Oprah Winfrey’s and Ellen DeGeneres’ daytime talk show.

It’s destined to be another veg-tastic weekend for me … and a very busy one!

I spent most of my working day Friday hand writing and addressing personal thank you cards to people who attend the Humane Leagues’s walkathon on May 2. After work, I had dinner with a number of friends as we welcomed Jon Camp of Vegan Outreach into town. We ate at Govinda’s, an all-veg restaurant. I shared a chicken cheese steak, french fries, and ice cream with my roommate.

Tomorrow, Saturday, I am headed back to the Seventh-day Adventist church that I recently discovered for their Sabbath service and a potluck lunch.

Sunday is the biggest day - I will be heading up to New York City for the Veggie Pride Parade!

On top of all this, I have decided that my 5K race was so successful that I am going to start training for a half marathon - that’s 13.1 miles! After reading an awesome book - The Nonrunner’s Marathon Guide for Women: Get Off Your Butt and On with Your Training by Dawn Dais - I started my training today with a 35 minute run around a local, hilly neighborhood. Tomorrow, I am scheduled for another 35 minutes, and Sunday for a rest day.

From there, I will slowly increase the time that I run four days a week, with two rest days and one day for cross training. Eventually, I will start tracking my runs by number of miles. Looking ahead and seeing a six mile run in just ten weeks doesn’t intimidate. Instead, I look at it and think: “In ten weeks I’ll be able to run six miles!”

Have a great weekend; I look forward to telling you all about my many veg-ventures!

What a vegan-filled weekend I have had!

Friday evening began my mega veg weekend as I went to the Fall Out Boy and Cobra Starship concert for work. We printed special “go veg” postcards with a quote and picture from a vegetarian member of each band that included. In about half an hour, we handed out 1,000 of these cards to the teens waiting to go into to the concert. On my way home, I grabbed falafel takeout from Maoz for my roommate and me.

The next morning I woke up early for the Humane League’s fund-raising walkathon. Over 250 had registered and most of those people showed up even though the weather was spotty. Many came having raised over $100 for the animals, and some brought much more. One walker that I checked-in at the registration table had raised $525!

After the walk, and subsequent festival, I headed back to my apartment with my parents, roommate, and a good friend - all of whom had participated in the walk. We all met up with my sister and her two kids at Adobe, a local Tex Mex Restaurant with endless vegan options because … it was my birthday! We celebrated my 27th with good veg food; I had seitan and mixed vegetable quesadilla with soy cheese, soy sour cream, and guacamole.

Today, Sunday, I lounged around in the morning with my kitties, who were in dire need of snuggles after my busy weekend. In the evening I had a wonderful, all-vegan, multi-course dinner at a local Seventh Day Adventist church. I ate cream of asparagus and tomato bisque soups, a make-your-own wrap with apricot glazed seitan, and plenty of cookies and fruit.

It was a fun-filled - and filling - veggie birthday weekend … but I’m still waiting for my cake and candles!

A few weeks ago I attended the Go Green Expo in Philadelphia (which was also hosted in Los Angeles, and is upcoming in New York City April 17-19 and in Atlanta June 26-28) where I got to sample lots of great vegan, organic, earth- and animal-friendly products. Some were new to me; others, I was familiar with but happy to get samples from.

Check out some of these great products that I saw there:

* The organic,fair-trade sweets from Theo Chocolate tempted my taste buds. And when I asked if any of their products were vegan the presenter quickly knew which ones were, and mentioned that they sell even more vegan confections online. All of the brand’s Origin bars are vegan. There is also a special section for vegan confections and additional ones in the other product lines, even though they’re not labeled so.

* Eden Organix had a lot of different natural beauty product lines available to test but all of my attention went to Stript, a vegan collection that is free of paraben, fragrances, talc, oils, dyes … basically, it’s completely pure and natural with nothing artificial. Shop Eden Organix and enter the promo code “green” to receive 10 percent of your order. If you’re not convinced yet - 10 percent of Eden’s profits go to organizations that help women, kids, and the environment.

* For all of your organic baby, body, house and home, and pet needs, Organic Life is a great source. All of their soaps, lotions, toys, candles, dish towels, and more are purely organic.

* And the ever delicious LARABAR rounded out my Go Green Expo experience.

The economy may be struggling, but people are not giving up supporting nonprofits; they are just getting more creative about how they raise funds. At work the other day, we had a woman call to say that she threw a party for her dog and asked people to make a donation instead of buying a gift. She brought in $100 with this party!

Another supporter of ours is also a yoga instructor, so she is hosting a special compassionately inspired yoga workshop. Instead of charging for this class, she is asking that attendees make a minimal $25 donation to the Humane League. (If you’re in Philly, check out more about this upcoming event at the end of this post).

So if you want to donate, but can’t personally afford to, figure out what talent you have that can be used to fund-raise. Are you good with kids? Baby-sit, or host a children’s Easter party. Crafty? Sell your goods. Good at cooking? Host a dinner party or bake sale. Have lots of books, movies, or clothes that you no longer use? Host a swap party, where everyone brings what they want to trade and leaves with new stuff.

It is possible to raise funds during a time where finances are tight - you just have to get creative!

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Hey, Philadelphians! Join the Humane League at Peace to All Beings: A Special Yoga Workshop for Animal Advocates and Their Friends this Saturday, April 4, from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at Dhyana Yoga in Old City. Find all the details at www.thehumaneleague.com/yoga or e-mail info@thehumaneleague.com.

This past weekend Reading Terminal Market hosted ScrappleFest 2009. I will never understand this city’s obsession with a “meat” made by grinding up all of the unusable pieces of the pig (eyes, ears, snouts, bones …), but I have become obsessed with the results of the contest.

Coming in second out of eight competitors, Vrapple, a vegan scrapple imitation, was the talk of the day. Vrapple creator Sarah Cain, owner of Fair Food Farmstand in the Market, and chef John Blanche created a maple-roasted pumpkin dish using the faux scrapple for the (second)prize-winning. I must confess, despite my feelings about scrapple, I may have to go try a bite. Especially after Cain left me a comment on my post about this on VEGdaily:

“You really should try it! Vrapple has it’s own unique flavor and texture,” commented Cain. “I always tell people who are squeamish about it being ‘too much like scrapple’ that it’s like polenta, with different seasoning - because what is scrapple, but a cornmeal mush with pork, set into a loaf pan. Vrapple is a cornmeal mush with wheat gluten, set into a loaf pan. Try it, you may just love it!”

Unfortunately, it seems as if there will not be a Farm Sanctuary Gala this year. There is one in the works for 2010, potentially in Los Angeles, California, but for 2009 we will just have to find another way to get our Farm fix. Living less than a day’s drive from the Watkins Glen, New York shelter, I am contemplating a northward vegan road trip with friends. Those Farm fans that are not able to work in a tour-season trip (and those that can, too) can and should check out the goods up for auction at Charity Buzz to benefit Farm Sanctuary, open now through April 1.

As always, there are a lot of top-name vegan celebrities and brands offering autographs, meet-and-greets, fashions, and more. The most popular lots right now include exclusive meet ups with Kelly Clarkson, Ali McGraw, Joan Jett, Gene Baur, Kevin Nealon, and Amy Smart. There are also yoga classes, raw and vegan nutritional counseling, an audition with an agent, tickets, salon and spa treatments, and so much more.

There are a lot of things happening tomorrow, March 20, the first day of spring. The Twilight movie will be released on DVD. It’s the 20th anniversary of Eric Carle’s classic picture book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It is also National AIDS/HIV Awareness Day. And, of course, it’s the day when Rita’s give out free water ice!

But more relevantly … it’s Meatout!

Meatout day has been an international celebration since 1985 and is held annually to “expose the public to the joys and benefits of a plant-based diet, while promoting the availability and selection alternatives to meat and dairy in mainstream grocery stores, restaurants, and catering operations.”

What will you to tomorrow to share the veg love? There are thousands of events already planned worldwide that you can join. Invite all of your friends out to dinner, and talk to the restaurant ahead of time about having vegan options available. Hand out pamphlets on the street. Send your friends a Meatout e-card. Tell random people that you don’t eat meat. Shout “Happy Meatout Day!” from the roof. Wear a veg shirt and carry a reusable veg tote. Donate to an animal charity. If you’re not veg, refrain from eating any meat!

And, of course, order a vegan water ice for free at Rita’s!

******

My plans for the day, after getting some work done and my hair cut, are to grab my free Rita’s, and then meet up with Humane League members and volunteers to leaflet in the heart of the city. After, we’ll be having dinner at a tiny little restaurant that has agreed to add more vegan options to their menu and will be offering a special three-course, all-vegan dinner for the evening. And then I’ll need to find another Rita’s and get another free one!

I hope you haven’t forgotten about Price Is Right’s original host, the animal-loving Bob Barker, because he certainly hasn’t forgotten about the animals! He may have retired from his TV gig, but he’s not just kicking back and relaxing in his retirement years. In fact he’s found a new hosting gig, at least for this weekend.

On Saturday, March 14th, Bob “spay your pets” Barker will be hosting the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida’s (ARFF) star-studded, $250 per ticket, 20th Anniversary Gala in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Also attending the gala are well-known, outspoken animal lovers including Pamela Anderson, PETA President and Co-founder Ingrid Newkirk, and PCRM President and Founder Dr. Neal Barnard.

ARFF has been “promoting and protecting the rights of animals in Florida” since 1989 and are always in need of more volunteer activists.

Friday afternoon I walked around the city, hanging up fliers for an upcoming walk and festival for animals for four hours. Afterward, I took a much needed vegan-filled break with my roommate and a new friend that I met two weeks ago at a vegan happy hour.

We first headed to a tiny place called the Snack Bar. Afraid that we weren’t ordering because we thought the place unvegan, the manager personally put together a tasting dish with two bites each of six different appetizers and sides.

Next, we ate dinner at the Smile Cafe, a tiny Thai eatery with an art gallery upstairs. The fried tofu and salad with peanut dressing appetizers were beyond phenomenal … which meant we were a little disappointed with the average tofu pad thai, peanut noodles, and mock duck for dinner.

Our final course, preceded by a 15-block walk in a gorgeous, historical area of the city, was dessert at Govinda’s. We shared a peanut butter chocolate pie, raspberry cheesecake, and nutty almond cake with creamy icing (half of which is in my kitchen waiting to be eaten).

On the way to bus stop to head home, I handed out the two leftover containers of Thai to homeless people asking for help. I mention this because I hate that people assume that animal rights activist don’t care about human suffering.

As Abraham Lincoln said, “I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being.”

I am also in favor of more fun, yummy, three-course, traveling vegan meals like this one!

The Brat Pack, a family of happy rescue dogs that blog, are hosting a online blogging party on Friday, March 20 (which also happens to be National Meat Out Day) to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Best Friends Animal Society.

RSVP for the social event dubbed Pawty for a Purpose to be eligible for some great giveaways and prizes, and to receive a party favor! Then join the party March 20 from 7 to 10 p.m. central time at FiveHappyHounds.com to play along in trivia games, see who wins the different door prizes, socialize with other animal lovers, and learn all about Best Friends.

To be eligible for the big loot of the night, you have to be a Best Friends member. So sign up now for just $25 and be in it to win it!

Last night I attended the first (and hopefully now monthly) Vegan Drinks Philly. About 70 vegans, vegetarians, and veg-inclined people packed into the small bar room at the local vegan go-to restaurant Horizons. It was a fun, social, easy going, friendly atmosphere. And the most popular question of the evening was how did I get a job in the animal rights field. So in case anyone else is interested, here’s the path that I followed …

Almost two years ago I started writing for this site. I would say that having this on my resume, and being something that potential employers could easily review, was a major benefit. I was particularly complimented on interviews over the professional nature of my writing.

So that’s my first suggestion: take up a hobby that relates to animals or veganism and then present yourself in a professional manner while doing so. Volunteer with local shelters or rescues and always show up when you say that you will. Start a blog, but keep it more informative than personal, more article like than diary. And in everything that you do watch your language. Consider everyone that you interact with a potential employer and therefore offer them respect.

Once I decided that I was ready to move on to a full-time job benefiting animals, I began looking around online. There are some animal-based job searches, such as the Humane Society’s Humane Career Toolbox, but I found the most fruitful search to be going directly to the source. If you are willing to move, head to the Web sites of Farm Sanctuary, PETA, and HSUS. Check out what job openings they have. But don’t be discouraged if you don’t get a response. HSUS didn’t respond to me at all. PETA considered me, but said “no thanks.” Farm Sanctuary interviewed me in person, but went with someone that had more experience.

So my second big tip is to look for smaller, growing organizations, and be ready to work for pennies! Growing companies will not be able to pay as much but will also be willing to let you learn on the job - as long as you have the passion, professionalism, and at least some skills.

And finally, as with any job search, keep at it. It never hurts to send your resume, even you think you are not quite qualified.

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.

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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.

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

There are aspects of leading a vegan lifestyle that you might never realize unless you are a vegan. This weekend, I attended a benefit Masquerade Ball. My ticket cost $75 for dinner and open bar. As I don’t drink and don’t eat meat or cheese, I paid thinking of it as strictly a donation.

In preparing for the event, I looked around at different mask options. Unfortunately, most pre-made decorated masks seem to include feathers. Sure, some of them might have been fake, but they weren’t often labeled either way. Plus, as an outspoken vegan I would get flack even if I wore fake ones.

So making my own mask was the best option. And it was a big hit! I got lots of compliments on how my mask matched my dress. My mask only cost about $5 in total to make, and many other attendees mentioned paying $30 or more for theirs. In the photo here, I am on the right and my roommate - a vegetarian who also made her mask - is on the left.

And as for the food? A vegan girl could not have been more satisfied! There was a carving station, but that was the only meat anywhere. There was a make your own salad table with lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, croutons, dressings, parmesan cheese, and more fresh veggies. There was another make your own set-up: a pasta bar. You could select from seven different fresh vegetables - red pepper, onion, olives, asparagus, zucchini, broccoli rabe, mushrooms - and either red sauce or garlic-infused oil, and a chef cooked it for you, tossing it with some penne pasta.

All around the event was fun and extremely vegan friendly. I had a blast!

I’m not one to ever knock someone’s art. It’s a piece of them, an expression of their feelings and beliefs. So to each of these artists and their current galleries and exhibits I simply say: to each his own.

* Currently showing at New York City’s Daneyal Mahmood Gallery is the exhibit “Meat After Meat Joy” where 17 artists have fashioned pieces out of meat. The artwork ranges from carefully sculpted animal flesh to an entire set of male parts hanging on a hook. This comes a follow up to Carolee Schneemann’s 1964 feminist “Meat Joy.”

Participating artist Adam Brandejs said that, “if the flesh disturbs you, then the reality behind the issue would disturb you far more if we opened our eyes long enough to see it.”

“This is not a show about meat as spectacle but about meat as signification,” reads the online description of the show, “precisely because meat does not signify a body but its very annihilation.”

There are definite undertones of animal rights, but the fact is that dozens of animals died for this show.

* The Village Petstore and Charcoal Grill is also on display in New York City and also uses meat. This show, however, specifically sets out to comment on the way we as a society exploit animals. Banksy, the artist behind the Petstore, turned chicken nuggets into baby chicks, an old fur coat into a leopard, and fishsticks into swimming fish in a bowl.

* And the winner for weirdest meat art … the Russians. Six artists got together to celebrate the centenary of a meat-processing factory in southern Russia by recreating historic, well-known paintings (such as the Mona Lisa, which was painted by Da Vinci, who was a vegetarian!) out of edible sausage. Guests of the show were invited to take a bite. Gross. I wish someone were able to sue on behalf of Leonardo.

Read more at Russian Today and see more pictures at English Russia.