Living Without Meat

I was sitting around my complex’s pool eating dinner the other night. It was steak night which is surprisingly the themed food night where I have the most options (sauteed mushrooms, corn, asparagus, salad greens, potatoes …).

Sitting at the table next to me was a woman with five girls, all about age 10. The girls were all settled with their meals when - horror! - it was noticed that one girl had not gotten a steak!

Observant Girl: You don’t have a steak on your plate.

Steak-free Girl: Um … I don’t really eat meat.

Mob Mentality Girl: But why don’t you have a steak?

Steak-free Girl: I just don’t eat meat.

Finally, they were all okay with this girl’s decision not to eat a steak. The poor girl was shy, and noticeably upset at having her food choices questioned.

I was noticeably excited to watch a budding vegetarian, though I was sorry that she is already meeting opposition.

Stay strong, Steak-free Girl! Make your healthy, cruelty-free diet choices!

Every time a vegan child passes away, or is found to be quite sick, the diet “forced” on them by their parents is blamed in the newspapers and by the law.

With previous headlines like “Death by Veganism,” and current quotes like, “the dangers of forcing children to follow a strict vegan diet needed to be highlighted,” the media’s point of view on this subject is fairly clear.

The most recent case takes place in Scotland, with a 12-year-old girl and her vegan parents.

The girl was taken to the hospital recently, and found to have severe bone issues - rickets, degenerative spine, and several that had been broken over her life. Her health problems were decided to connect to a lack of Vitamin D, which you can get your daily dose of just spending time in the sun.

But her “strict meat and dairy-free diet” is getting the blame.

If she had not been vegan, the conclusion would have been different, not blamed on diet at all. Lack of sun and broken bones? Sounds more like a physical abuse case to me. Or, perhaps the girl has a illness that effects her bones.

Regardless of what’s to blame, there is a 12-year-old girl in bad health and the doctors can’t look past her diet, which may or may not have anything to do with it all.

I just sat down to watch The Last Mimzy and not 20 minutes into the movie … we have a veg reference!

Sitting around the dinner table, with Iron Chef playing on the TV, Noah and Emma begin to eat with their mom. A clip of the show that they are watching shows a live crab (or could have been a lobster) being held down, and whacked with a mallot.

Emma jumps. Questioning why they had to do that, why would they kill him when he didn’t do anything to them.

“What about that chopped-up cow?” Noah teases.

A hesitant Emma, with a bite of hamburger in her mouth, asks, “What chopped-up cow?”

“What do you think hamburger is?”

She thoroughly spits out every ounce of meat in her mouth.

From there, it’s just your basic plot of a young girl saving the planet and securing the future of mankind through a time traveling stuffed bunny rabbit.

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.

With tomorrow being my birthday (26!), I am headed home for the weekend to celebrate with my family. It was a tradition growing up that you got to choose the meal on your birthday, so that’s what I did this year.

As a child, I chose one of the same two dishes every year: scalloped potatoes topped with ham, or shish kebabs featuring peppers, onions, pineapple … and some meat.

So this year things are not to be quite the same as childhood birthdays; it will be better!

I am one of the lucky vegetarians whose family not only supports my diet, but goes to lengths to make sure that I have something to eat - be it with a home-cooked dinner or out at the restaurant.

For lunch on Saturday, my sister and her crew (niece and nephew time!) are bringing up a vegan cake. For our meal, Dad is fixing up some vegan kebabs - complete with the peppers, onions, and pineapple of my youth, but now also including tofu, potatoes, squash, and more.

Remember that I’m lucky … because Dad is also cooking up a yummy vegan dinner consisting of spaghetti, fresh veggies, and a sauce (to be determined based on what Dad sees that looks good, because my family doesn’t do recipes … except my sister, but she’s weird like that). I’m also psyched about having vegan crab cake appetizers from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch, the follow-up recipe-filled book to my current commute read Skinny Bitch.

Going home also means stocking up at my mom’s local co-op: Newark Natural Foods, a.k.a. the Newark Co-op.

It will be a good birthday weekend!

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.

If you bit your nails in Mr. Schick’s metal shop class at North East Middle School he attempted to use the gross-out factor to break you of your habit.

“You know you are chewing crushed beetles right now. That’s what they make nail polish out of,” he would tell us impressionable ‘tweens.

Now the Museum of Science in Boston - with their Cosmetic Chemistry class - and the New York Times - who reported on it - are going with the same strategy.

Whale puke, skunk oil, pulverized fish scales, crushed bugs, and pig fat were some of the ingredients dissected from perfume, lipstick, lip gloss and other makeup products by the museum’s students.

Dr. Chi-Ting Huang, a museum volunteer, leads the class with a purpose of spiking these youths’ interests in chemistry and science. After discovering that cosmetics contain some weird, Fear Factor-ish by-products, Dr. Huang helps the participants create their own vegan lip gloss!

So it seems the tidbit of icky-ness that my former metal shop teacher stuck in my brain is true: chewing on painted nails could mean that you are chewing on crushed beetles. When the cochineal beetle is crushed, it creates a carmine red that is approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a color additive. But a point that Mr. Schick missed - these beetles are not only in your polish, but also lipstick, sports drinks, and other fake red products.

Good to note: animal testing is not the only reason to buy from vegan beauty product companies.

This is the second year now that I have had to decide whether or not to dye Easter eggs in the arts and crafts class that I teach at my community center.

Last year, I chose not to, but did not address the issue either. I did not mention why we were not coloring eggs. I did not really find another Easter craft to take its place either.

This year, however, we made lots of fun Easter and spring-themed crafts. Plus, I talked to everybody about why I am not comfortable dying eggs! They all listened, quite interested in what I had to say.

So if you are not comfortable with the facts of mass-produced eggs (i.e. if baby males hatch they are suffocated, ground alive, or otherwise disposed of since they are useless and it is considered more cost-effective just to get rid of them), and don’t have a local farmer to buy from, here are some great egg dying alternatives:

* Boo-Boo Bunny: I already gave all of mine away so I can’t show photos, but they work great in baskets or alone. Use permanent markers to draw whiskers, mouth, and nose, and in place of googly eyes for younger kids. An ice cube fits in the bunny’s belly area and it becomes an ice pack for boo-boos.

* Easter Cards: cut two identical, big ovals (eggs) out of construction paper. Leave one solid, and cut one in half with a zig-zag, cracked egg-looking line. Decorate the solid one with a greeting, a chick, etc. Then glue just the top and bottom edges of the split oval pieces to the solid one. The card opens like cracking an egg!

* Spring Animals from Jars. Plus, anything that you find on Summer’s site will be animal-friendly!

* Fill Easter Baskets: Make it a group event. Fill them to give to friends, each other, or to donate - women’s shelters and long term care facilities both love receiving this kind of thing!

* Pom-pom Friends: Glue felt feet and beaks, googly eyes, yarn hair, pipe cleaner arms, etc. onto pom-poms. Try making your own pom-poms, too!

* Two Words: Styrofoam Eggs

* Memory Game!!: This was my favorite game as a kid; I think I loved it because I could honestly beat adults. Why not make your own set of cards? Make spring and Easter drawings, then cover the backs with all the same paper, fabric, felt, foam, etc.

* Wreath: Picture to come of my new door decoration! Dollar Tree - and other stores - sells twisted, wooden, plain wreaths of varying sizes. You can also get faux flowers, fabric ribbon, plastic eggs, and more. Add some palm leaves or a cross. I change mine every season!

How much fun we are having today: it’s another guessing game!

Can you figure out what celebrity said this:

In America they are looking for the next president and I’ve listened to everybody and, nothing against them, but they are talking about jobs, houses, developments, money, money and more money and there is nothing about conservation. I haven’t heard anything about that. We really do need to start doing something - we can’t eat money in the long run.

Here’s a few hints…

It’s a she.

She’s on television regularly with her own TV show.

Her own organic clothing line will be coming out soon, from which all profits will benefit animal-friendly and green non-profit organizations.

…

Click below to find out the identity of this earth heroine.

(more…)

With opening weekend sales of $45.1 million ($10 of which is mine), the latest Dr. Seuss book turned into a movie is a quickly becoming a blockbuster hit!

Horton Hears a Who!, as originally penned by Seuss in 1954, already held several human rights and moral implications - as do many other of his stories. When turning the 70-page book into a screenplay, however, the movie’s writers really took these implications and ran with them.

The movie version of Horton Hears a Who! - featuring the voices of Jim Carrey and Steve Carrell, and taglined “One Elephant One World One Story” - includes touches of human rights, mob mentality, helping one another, a higher power or being, intolerance of differences, and even has an emo/punk kid that is misunderstood by his father.

Of course, there are also plenty of animal rights issues that can be deduced from the story as well, though they are not the main focal point.

If you have a sensitive child, I would recommend screening the movie first or waiting for it to be released as a rental because there is a mean mother kangaroo and a scary vulture. Plus, the issues addressed will undoubtedly bring up a lot of questions that you may want to discuss as the movie runs.

I do highly recommend this movie!

Adults will love it; kids will love it. Men, women, boys, and girls will love it. People who want to think and have important issues brought to mind will love it.

Here are a few brief headlining articles that work their magic as PR for animals, vegetarianism, and healthy goodness in general.

Enjoy! (Links are in the bold text)

* CNN Living provides a great look at both sides of the declawing debate, speaking to PETA, Humane Society, and a pet owner who recently declawed her cats.

* CNN Money was in on the game, too, with an announcement of a new soy milk product put out by Canada’s best-selling soy brand, So Good.

* Michigan , Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio faces a 2,000+-pound chicken recall, reports All Headline News. Meijer Inc. recalled their Discovery Cuisine Red Curry Chicken and Jasmine Rice after the U.S.D.A. reported suspecting listeria (a harmful bacteria) in the product.

* redOrbit takes from a BBC News report and studies at University of Minnesota to conclude that eating breakfast every day gives you a slimming edge over your peers. But my mom already knew this.

* Yahoo! News covers medical studies about, and one mother’s direct experience with, the ability for diet to impact - both positively and negatively - hyperactivity and ADHD.

I went back and forth, weighing whether I would want to be this girl or an onlooker. I finally decided that I want her to be my daughter (or my future daughter to be just like her).

This photo is from KCzarzasty’s Flickr - online, shared photography album. He has some great shots in a range of categories, but the farms and livestock album is not to be missed by animal lovers.

Here is the photographer’s own explanation of this peaceful moment that speaks wonders to the human-animal bond, and the capacity for a cow to feel: “While visiting the Goshen Agricultural Fair my wife brought this picture to my attention. So overwhelmed by everything going on I would have missed this picture of this young girl and her cow taking an afternoon nap.”

Children who are wise beyond their years, accomplishing amazing things that some adults never even aspire to, fascinate me. I’m not referring to child stars by any respect. I mean those young ones who step out for something that they already believe so strongly for or against. I mean children and teens who are willing to put their popularity status on the line to speak out when they feel jilted.

Haley Ham, an 11-year-old Tennessee animal-lover is the latest in this long line of impressive youth.

Last April, Haley’s two dogs got into a bottle of antifreeze. As the substance has a natural sweet taste, they ate enough (as little as a teaspoon) to suffer fatal poisoning.

“Sam and Jessie suffered so much, I couldn’t believe something so deadly was just sold at nearly every store,” Haley wrote to the Humane Society.

According to the Doris Day Animal League, “the veterinary school at Washington State University estimates that as many as 10,000 dogs and cats ingest antifreeze each year.”

Something can and should be done to prevent this.

Five states have passed laws requiring a bittering agent be added to antifreeze, thus making it unappealing to animals and children (who also mistakenly die from it). Haley’s home state was not one of these, so she set out on a campaign to bring the legislation to Tennessee.

Haley wrote to state legislators; gathered signatures at her county fair; received backing from State Sen. Raymond Finney; held meetings to plan the law; and even spoke before the Senate, serving as a page for the day.

Read more about Haley’s amazing drive to see change happen at Humane Society President and CEO Wayne Pacelle’s blog - A Humane Nation.

amazing kids, antifreeze poisoning, humane society haley ham

Writing a double death announcement for two 20-something fathers really got to me yesterday. Even attending an hour-long weightlifting exercise class couldn’t lift my spirits. Of course, it didn’t help that I was feeling tired and unmotivated to begin with.

But then, after watching a ho-hum movie and getting only a few rows of knitting done, something finally managed to put a smile on my face.

I was getting ready for bed. Honestly, I had been ready to go to sleep for hours, but now I was actually heading to dreamland. I decided it was time for a new toothbrush: so I tossed the old one and opened the cabinet.

It was then that I gripped a forgotten Christmas present - a scented, pink, Strawberry Shortcake toothbrush. My sister’s friend had seen it and thought of me (I openly love pink and Miss Shortcake).

As I brushed my teeth I began to smile. Not only was the fruity aromatherapy cheering me up, but the realization that someone thought of me brightened my evening.

I went to bed in a much better mood. I went to bed reassured of my belief that every little thing that you do makes a difference. I went to bed motivated.

Guess who realizes that we (vegans) love their soy desserts and would truly appreciate some more dairy-free yogurt options? Turtle Mountain, that’s who!

The makers of delectable organic, soy, and sugar-free lines of desserts have now come out with five flavors of rich and creamy, vegan yogurt in their soy line - So Delicious.

With tastes of blueberry, raspberry, peach, cinnamon, and vanilla, So Delicious Dairy Free Yogurt brags:

# Dairy Free and Lactose Free
# Certified made with Organic Ingredients
# Excellent source of Vitamin B12 (vegetarian friendly)
# All natural, made with organic soy milk
# Formulated for maximum calcium absorption
# Contains Pre- and Probiotics for enhanced intestinal health
# Cholesterol Free
# No Trans Fats
# Certified Vegan

Be sure to check out the Web site for offers and fun that you will not want to miss! Get coupons. Fill out a survey and win a year’s supply of Turtle Mountain goodness. Join the Farm Sanctuary Kidz Club (okay, I’ve found something that I don’t like about the Sanctuary … they spell kids with a “z”).