Living Without Meat

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.

This is a photograph of the last moments of the life of Kentucy Derby second-place winner Eight Belles.

The young filly finished the race, despite being repeatedly, mercilessly whipped by her 20-year-old jockey Gabriel Saez. At the end, she appeared fine. Then, Saez galloped her out (a sort of cool down and celebration) for a quarter of mile.

She collapsed, having broken both front ankles.

Fighting, no doubt, to calm concern in the crowd, vets and officials rushed to Eight Belles’ side. And immediately euthanized her.

Saez won $400,000; Eight Belles was murdered in front of all the Kentucky Derby attendees - but, I guess if you are one to attend and bet on any animal sport, you are not one to be bothered by a needless killing of the animal. I mean, if you bet on her to win, she still finished and got you a decent return, right?

Of course every animal rights group is quickly throwing punches at the event, but PETA’s voice is strongest, making CNN headlines today for lobbying the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority for further investigation (i.e. Did Saez know the horse was injured?).

Death by electrocution … it’s how many animals in the fur industry end their short, pitiful lives. And not just your average electrocution means, but disgusting, up-the-rear prodding and shocking.

In New York, however, fur traders and farmers will no longer be allowed to use anal electrocution as a means for offing animals, whilst preserving as much fur as possible. If they do so, they will face up to one year in prison.

That’s right: the home state of a great fashion capital has placed a legal ban on killing chinchillas, rabbits, mink, foxes, by anal (and genital) electrocution.

New York was the first state in the U.S. to make such legislation, and although no others have such a law in any state of the process, it is hopeful and likely that more will soon follow.

Something notable about a senator behind this animal rights law? He’s republican!

Said Republican Sen. Frank Padavan in the Associated Press article about this new legislation: “I draw a very strong correlation between how we treat domestic animals and all animals and how we treat each other.”

Well, there you go. Republicans can be bleeding hearts too.

Whoops! According to the AP, the law was actually signed into act back in March, but was headed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer, the man who has since retired after being implicated in a prostitution ring. He’s a Democrat. Conversely, the Humane Society featured a press release on the law being enacted back in August, 2007.

So the facts and dates are somewhat iffy, but there is no denying the fact that it is now illegal and prosecutable by law to ram a rod up a furry creature’s bum and shock him to death in the state of New York.

Top Chef had me on an veg*n emotional roller coaster last night!

After praising the Bravo! TV cooking contest for having a winning vegan dish a few weeks back, and pointing out that there has never been even a mention of tofu, I stand to edit my statement.

The newest episode, which aired April 23, had a tofu challenge.

Contestants were given their assignments based upon an audience participation portion of an improv show at Second City. Each pair of chefs was given a color, an ingredient, and an emotion.

Dale (who made the aforementioned vegan dish) and Richard were given the challenge of making a dish that represented “green,” “perplexed,” and … “TOFU!”

I was ecstatic; I sang: “They’re gonna cook me some tofu, they’re gonna cook me some tofu …”

First step of this - which would become the winner - dish? Render cow fat on a grill so that when the tofu is grilled it picks up the cow fat’s flavor.

Stunned. Frozen, then, as Gossip Girl would say: “OMFG!”

The judges praised their ingenuity. They worshiped the tofu for it’s beef-like flavor. They awarded this dish the winner, because they “would have been so angry” if they had had to cook tofu in a challenge like this.

I wanted to barf. I wanted to swear at the TV: “No sh*t it tastes like a steak, you freakin’ all but sewed it to a strip of animal fat!”

But, alas, Top Chef did finally have tofu on it. They gave me what I asked for … unfortunately, it came with a side of rendered cow fat.

I would now like to direct Dale, Richard, and all Top Chef people to Tofu Today, an entire site dedicated to loving tofu with recipes, history, how to make your own, tofu references in the news (including this episode of Top Chef), and so much more …. because (are you listening Tom Colicchio?) there are infinite numbers of people who do not cry when they are “forced” to cook with tofu.

Current TV, a cable channel that reports on what they think the masses actually want to hear about, will be airing an Earth Day (April 22) from April 19 through 22 and is asking you what you think.

Join the talk about the Earth on Current.com, and your answers may be seen airing this weekend.

Current is looking for your Webcam thoughts about being green and saving the environment. Here are my editorialized (because that’s how I roll: Sally doesn’t do Webcams) answers to Currents seven Earth Day questions:

1) Who needs a green makeover? Who or what organization do you want to see change and why? Soy products that continue to include animal ingredients such as whey protein. Veganism is an amazing way to help our planet, but it feels deceitful and pointless to me to make something that tricks and confuses vegans.

2) What is the most ridiculous excuse you have heard or given for why you aren’t living sustainable? “It’s too expensive” is a pretty pathetic one. How can be expensive to reuse things as much as possible before throwing them away?

3) Tell us the easiest way to save the world. Be conscious of everything that you do, every purchase you make, every food that you eat, etc.

4) Who is your eco hero, and why? Captain Planet, because he wanted to save the planet before all of the celebs were on board. Plus, he didn’t do it for fame or fortune, it was a mission that he felt burning from within.

5) What’s in the way of you making the change you want to make? I want to recycle more than I do but there are no bins near my apartment, and I don’t have a car to drive my recyclables somewhere.

6) When did you “turn”? When did you know that you were an environmentalist? I started to get the feeling when people started calling me a hippie that I might have a few green tendencies.

7) What gives you hope? Seeing a child pick up garbage, get excited over a plant, or act green without being prompted.

There’s a famous vegetarian - my favorite one - on the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine for the May issue, which is on stands now. Check it out!

Click on the cover to find out more about the dress that she is wearing.

I fear that, in order to tell you about what had me jumping with glee on the couch this evening, I must first admit that I love watching the least vegetarian-friendly show ever: Top Chef.

I understand that the cooking business calls meat protein, but everytime a Top Chef challenge lays out tables of animal meat and refers to it as “the protein” - never a bean, soy product, or other such protein in sight - the myth that vegetarians cannot get sufficient protein is perpetuated. But still, I watch the cooks battle it out in the kitchen each week.

Two weeks ago, the “Zoo Food” episode brought what I thought would be an inspirational challenge, breaking the vegetarian barrier. Teams of the competing chefs were assigned an animal - bear, gorilla, penguin, vulture, or lion - and had to pay homage to their creature’s natural diet for a zookeepers’ cocktail party. But even though they had a veggie-loving beast, team gorilla added meat. Boo.

Tonight, however, a vegan dish won the quickfire challenge, earning the meal’s creator Dale immunity. It was a vegan take on sushi; it was beautiful. He used shaved cucumbers as a wrap and delicately cut veggies for a filling, and won me - and the judges - over.

So stay tuned for the recipe … and watch Top Chef to cheer on Dale!

To be fair, I just noticed that both Richard and Ryan made vegetarian tacos last week during the quickfire challenge. Richard’s won; Ryan’s were in the bottom. Richard’s are seen here in the first picture; Ryan’s in the second. Click on either picture to go to that taco’s recipes.

It always seems to happen that once you are thinking or aware of something, it pops up everywhere. Whether this is a coincidence of timing or that you are noticing it now because it is on your mind, I can’t say. But vegetarian and vegan references are everywhere!

1. On the front page of today’s free newspaper the Metro, the “Did you know” section read: “Some lipsticks contain fish scales? The substance pearl essence is obtained primarily from herring and is a by-product of large-scale commercial fish processing. It’s used o give some beauty products their shimmer.”

2. I rented the cancelled FOX TV show Kitchen Confidential because it starred Bradley Cooper (yummy!). Turns out, on disc 1 of the first (and only) season, there was an episode about Bradley - who plays a head chef - dating a vegan, or “level five salary killer” as he first calls her.

3. Year of the Dog is Molly Shannon’s quirky new movie that Netflix recommended to me. It is promoted as a “canine-themed comedy” where Shannon’s secretary character’s “life takes a temporary nosedive when her beloved dog, Pencil, suddenly dies.” Apparently, from there she becomes engaged in the animal rights movement. Mom saw it already and says that it is a must watch; that I will relate to it fully!

4. Fashionista is not a vegan Web site, but recently posted a great read called Is Your Makeup Vegan?

5. The Bag Lady told readers about vegan designers Matt & Nat, displaying one of their latest chic purses available at Alternative Outfitters vegan boutique.

How about you? Do you bump into animal and vegetarian references in your life? Do they still catch you off guard? Do they still excite you?

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.

Animal Planet is not always my taste in television programming. I have a hard time watching the predators take down the prey, even though I know that it is a natural process in life. Tonight, however, I watched Awesome Pawsome, and loved it.

Animal Planet describes the show from 2000 that tells a tale of four tiger cubs born on Australia’s Tiger Island:

Follow the first year in the lives of four Bengal tiger cubs as they explore a surprising environment. These cubs are bottle-fed, take baths, meet children and play with the family dog–so interacting with adult tigers may not be such a walk in the park.

Yahoo! sums it up a little better:

Documentary special that chronicles the first year of four Bengal tiger cubs — Sita (shown, second photo), Rama, Taj and Sultan (shown, first photo). Born at Tiger Island at Dreamworld, on Australia’s Gold Coast and raised in captivity to help preserve the species, the program captures the unpredictable moments of their infancy, from birth to feeding, living with their handlers, getting their first bath and even meeting dogs, children and learning to be adult tigers.

The best summary, however, is to say that it is a must-see for all animal lovers!

PETA might hate it for the simple fact that the tigers are living in captivity, but one trainer eases these concerns quite well near the end of the program. He says: of course their ideal home is the wild, and he hopes all those out there survive. But with the species headed downward this scenario needs to happen to save them. Just before a wonderful play scene, he concludes that all he can do is make their life the best that it can be.

I get excited when I see an animal-rights or vegetarian article in a public newspaper or magazine, such as the Wall Street Journal did last week with its headline: The 247 lb. Vegan.

The press is catching on, and the animals are being given a voice!

So imagine my excitement over the past week when all of these articles fell into my e-mail inbox:

* From a delicacy, a delicate situation: Foie gras on Baltimore menus spurs protests made the front page of the Baltimore Sun, Monday, January 28.

* Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler was in the week in review, in the world section, of the January 27 Sunday New York Times.

* Last Sunday, January 20, one of my hometown papers - the Philadelphia Inquirer - featured Learning to eat, and like, his veggies by a regular columnist. A recipe is included for Walnut-Mushroom Pate.

* CNN reported that Chips could put lab rats out of work with an Associate Press-written science article this Monday, January 28.

* Lansing State Journal answered a reader’s concern with Weigh benefits of vegan diet for kids, also on this Monday.

vegetarian news, vegan news, vegetarian newspaper coverage, animals in the news

If you have not yet heard, Marshall “Eminem” Mathers was hospitalized over the holidays in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan. Gossip columnists have been aflutter with reports of the pneumonia and chest pains that sent him rushing to the hospital.

Stay with me, I can connect this to LWM.

Though he is now safely recovering at home, all reports have felt the need to add that his “weight has ballooned” recently.

I decided to address this for a couple of reasons. First, I have an undying love for the man. But because I named one of my cats Marshall (shown here with his namesake) after him, and have previously introduced my kitty-babies on this site, lots of people are finding my site while searching for things such as: “eminem is fat,” “eminem is dead,” or other similar phrases. For that reason, and because vegetarians are oft linked with weight-related stereotypes, I feel justified in highlighting this gross aspect of humanity.

eminem pneumonia, eminem hospital, slim shady weight gain, marshall mathers sick, lindsay lohan, jennifer love hewitt, fat celebrities, too skinny

Have you been hanging on in utter and total suspense, clinging to the edge of your seats in anticipation of the number one vegetarian/animal-related TV moment in 2007? First, if you have not yet checked out the rest of this top ten list, check out numbers ten down to six and then numbers 5 through 2. Of course my fave TV spot is in those that didn’t quite make the list, but definitely deserve an honorable mention.

Now, for the final installment of this seemingly endless, super drawn out list.

*1.* Coming from the American version of workplace comedy - The Office. It also comes from a hot tip from Lira, who writes Watching The Office.

Not only is worker Angela a vegetarian and cat lover, but the first episode of season 4 focused on this matter. When her beloved pet Sprinkles becomes ill at the same time that a coworker is injured (*cough* run over by Dwight), Angela asks boyfriend Dwight to watch over Sprinkles. Standard Office insanity ensues resulting in hilarious quotes (”There were claw marks in the frozen peas!”), Angela breaking up with Dwight, and vegetarianism and the rights of animals being given a comical platform.

This was not my Project Blog entry, but I am still in the competition! Click Here to vote and check out all the contest-ual goodness!

On Monday we counted down from 10 to 6.

Come Wednesday we kept the ball rolling with numbers 5 through 2.

And today … drum roll … we have a few runners up who deserve honorable mention while we await the announcement of Living Without Meat’s selection for the numero uno, top banana of all vegetarian and animal-friendly moments to grace the TV airways in 2007.

Yes, it is true: I am making you wait at least one more day before I reveal number one on my year-end, Veg-related TV list.

* Kristen Bell - once known as Veronica Mars, former recipient of PETA’s elite status title Sexiest Vegetarian, and object of my heterosexual affection - was cast in lead, recurring role on Heroes. The superstar (in my eyes at least) was such a hot item after V.Mars ended, that she actually had to choose between offers. TV series Lost also lusted after K.Bell. Since her phenomenal episode with Mars Investigation didn’t occur in 2007, I had to find some way to work her into my list, right?

* Bob Barker’s retirement from The Price Is Right seemingly ironically makes this list of almost listers because as he stepped down, his vegetarianism, animal rights work, and constant reminder to “spay and neuter your pets” made headlines across the nation.

* One you may not have noticed, but deserves your attention is Nickelodeon’s Back at the Barnyard, a new, animated, talking animal show that picked up where the movie Barnyard left off. Word is that animal rights issue are never far from the farm.

* Margie reminds us that Lisa Simpson is still a vegetarian. Unfortunately her “coming out” episode wasn’t this year. But Margie had another great runner up as well: Days of Our Lives. “Sami and Lucas had a green wedding … using eggs from free range chickens in their cake and and all sorts of stuff.” Plus, people used to tell me that Sami looks like me.

This was not my Project Blog entry, but I am still in the competition! Click Here to vote and check out all the contest-ual goodness!

days of our lives, sami and lucas wedding, days green wedding, kristen bell on heroes

For the first post of 2008 here on Living Without Meat, I bring you the second half of the Top 10 TV References to Vegetarianism and Animal Rights as seen on the tube in 2007.

5. The Next Food Network star had a challenge to cater a wedding for a vegetarian bride and non-veggie groom. What a disaster! One team put chicken stock in the “vegetarian” polenta, and the cake is questionable as it used fondant which usually contains gelatin.

4. Ranking so high because it received so much coverage, is the little animal friends of Kid Nation. To kill or not to kill the chicken was the hot debate (click photo for episode recap) - some cried; some showed signs of evil torture; and others declared that they were only okay with killing the ugly ones, not the cute ones. Worst of all, the producers actually started this whole debate. The journal that the kids were given read: “You brought chickens with you, right? Truth is: they’re good for more than eggs.”

3. From the blogger at Watching Bionic Woman: “There was a GREAT episode of King of the Hill where Hank goes in search of good beef and ends up working for a farmer’s coop where they massage the cows every day, and talk about how the vegetables they buy there actually have taste.”

2. A fellow writer at Watching Pushing Daisies points out the number two moment of the year: “There was a whole episode of Pushing Daisies on dogs in which the murder of the week was actually a disagreement over who gets to keep/protect the “super dog” (cross breed) which a puppy mill was planning to clone and sell for big profit.” My friend over at Limited Edition Foods concurs: “It really was the best … the way the polygamist dog trainer had the four wives whose personalities resembled those of the dogs they trained? It was great stuff!”

And … the number one veggie-friendly moment on TV in 2007 … will be posted tomorrow!

Think you know what it might be? Think I’ve missed a key feature? Leave a comment and let me know!