Happy World Vegetarian Day!

Now get out there and spread the vegetarian message!

Can what you eat help prevent cancer?

The American Institute for Cancer Research provides "Nutrition Notes" for MSNBC.com, so it's no surprise that this article points out that high consumption of vegetables reduces risk of cancer by a profound percentage, and that high dairy consumption increases risk. That noted, fish still comes out ahead, along with the following foods that fight disease:

• Apples
• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Fish
• Garlic and onions
• Kale
• Legumes
• Multi-grain breads
• Raspberries
• Red wine
• Soy beans
• Tomatoes

Tags: health | nutrition | cancer

OrganicAthlete Vegan Cycling Team

Cycling News

Talk about a great way to raise vegan awareness!:

The World Vegetarian Day celebration in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park on Sunday, October 1, will see the official launch of OrganicAthlete, an all-vegan elite cycling team. The team will race a full road season next year with a strong emphasis on California-based events, culminating in the Elite National Championships in July, 2007.

The team’s roster consists of one woman, professional mountain bike and cyclo-cross racer Sami Fournier, and three elite men, Bradley Saul, Justin Lucke and Benjamin Lyon. Fournier will also be representing the team as an elite rider on the road. The team’s major sponsors include a number of green companies including Tour d’Organics, New Harvest Organics and VegNews. The team’s bicycles will be serviced by Mill Valley Cycleworks, an all-vegan bike shop.

Thanks to all the sponsors, and best wishes to the team.

Tags: athletics | sports

Vegetarian diet can lead to iron and zinc deficiency

Just when you thought all the veg stories were getting rosy... Along comes this article from Germany's The Raw Story.

I won't deny that iron and zinc deficiencies are common among some vegetarians. Dr. Michael A. Klaper's Vegan Health Study makes that clear. In fact, Iodine is even more commonly deficient than iron or zinc in vegan diets. The VHS points out the other common nutritional concerns vegans ought to be aware of and smart about, so you'd be wise to print it out and clip it to your fridge or something. There's nothing in it that a conscientious vegan can't properly manage with an appropriate diet.

But this is the kind of backward-thinking notion that supports industry claims without any basis in reality:

Wisker stressed that it was nutritionally harmful to avoid an entire food group. "A person who stops consuming dairy products altogether, for example, will soon have a calcium deficiency.

It makes you wonder how long ago Professor Elisabeth Wisker studied nutrition, and what influenced her education.

Let's not forget that most humans have still not mutated to be drinking the lactation of any species as adults. Does this nutritional scientist have any clue that people drinking milk still have calcium deficiencies, and are thus taking supplements? Many people who eat animal products take all sorts of supplements, and for good reason. Is she aware that calcium can also be found in plant-based foods, all without the imbalancing pH of animal foods?

What about the health benefits of vegetarianism? Totally ignored. At least she acknowledges that "Eating meat isn't essential." If even someone as backward as she can recognize that meat-eating is unnecessary, then we may well be on the road to radically reducing and even eliminating its consumption.

Tags: iron | zinc | nutrition | health

09/22 Downtime

VB has slowed to the point where it is sometimes unavailable. We'll be looking at it in a few minutes. Not sure how long it'll take to get it up and running again. It was nice not having to worry about it the last few days but I knew the fix wasn't permanent. Hopefully we'll figure something out soon.

WIC proposal shells out less for eggs

DesMoinesRegister.com

In a shocking move (well, at least to skeptical vegans like me), the USDA has dealt a blow to egg and dairy producers with its new plan, which will assist low-income moms and kids with getting more fruits and veggies through the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition assistance program:

The USDA is specifically proposing:
• Cutting the amount of eggs to 1 dozen a month per person, down from the 2 dozen to 2 1/2 dozen allowed now.
• Women would be given $8 a month worth of fruits and vegetables. A child would get $6 worth.
• Soy milk and tofu could be substituted for dairy products.

It's nice to some positive movement on this front.

Tags: WIC | USDA | nutrition

Vegan Challenges Professor to Triathlon

Scoop (NZ Vegetarian Society press release)

This is priceless:

Christchurch vegan Ella Soryl (11) has challenged Professor Robert Pickard to prove his claims that her diet is lacking.

Ella, a life vegan who has never eaten animal products, won her school triathlon this year, and was a finalist in the Vegan Triathlon in 2006 and 2005. Ella has challenged Professor Pickard to compete with her in a one on one triathlon.

“If you’re going to say silly things like children must eat animal products, you have to be prepared to put your money where your mouth is’ says Ella. “I challenge Professor Pickard to meet me on the sports field and run, swim and bike it out with me.”

Ha-ha! Go, Ella!

Professor Pickard, whose trip to New Zealand has been financed by the animal foods industry, has been unable to provide references as proof for his claims when asked by vegetarian organisations in the UK. His claims contradict the position of the New Zealand Dieticians association that a vegan diet is appropriate for all stages of the human life cycle.

“Pro meat ‘experts’ sponsored by animal industries are as credible as tobacco industry ‘experts’ who promote smoking,” says New Zealand Vegetarian Society (Christchurch Centre) spokesperson Yolanda Soryl.

I had to laugh. Hearty congrats to the Soryls! Especially the parents for putting out four healthy, life-long vegans.

Tags: vegan | health | fitness

Turning the other cheek

Following up that fur posting from the other day, here's the anti-fur poster of naked actress Sadie Frost. The picture was taken by no less than that gravel-voiced balladeer Bryan Adams. Now I wonder why he volunteered his services?

A plate full of issues: Food expert tries to raise consciousness about what we eat

More on ethical eating, this time from Ruth Reichl, a woman who's made a career of examining our food choices as individuals and as a society. While she's no vegetarian, she is working to raise consciousness on food justice issues as well as drawing attention to food issues that aren't receiving enough attention, such as modern pig farming, the National Food Uniformity Bill (a frightening fascist bill that would wipe out local food laws in favor of often weaker federal standards, allegedly to make life easier for "everyone"), and of course

...there's the 2007 Farm Bill, which 'may be the single most important piece of legislation impacting our lives,' since 'it subsidizes the wrong kind of food,' such as corn, which is used to produce high-fructose corn syrup, a common sweetener, and milk loaded with hormones and antibiotics.

It's sickening to think that our own government would subsidize the foods that are harming us so fundamentally, but does not subsidize to any major degree the wholesome foods and will make us healthy and save taxpayers countless dollars on those items, as well as healthcare bills associated with eating all the wrong foods.

Tags: health | nutrition | food justice

Let's meat up again

Here we go again...

The Telegraph delivers a big "screw you" to vegetarians. Pointing out the celebrities who have gone from being proclaimed vegetarians to meat-eaters once again, the writer describes her own return to meat (accompanied by a disgusting photo of her enjoying beef noodles in Vietnam after being vegetarian for 30 years). It's like getting sandbagged.

Need I ask you to write the editors regarding this piece? Do what you can to not sound defensive or otherwise unpleasant, otherwise vegetarians won't come out looking any better than they do in this sandbagging job

Tags: lapsed vegetarian

Fur christ's sakes

Unfortunately, it looks like fur is making a comeback in the fickle, some might say "sick", world of high (some maight say "low") fashion. In Britain, and I'm sure elsewhere, there is, at least, some mainstream resistance, but it seems to be fighting a losing battle.

What is wrong with these fur-wearering people? I mean, the designer Julien MacDonald (any relation to the golden arched burger chain, I wonder?) has made a coat with a row of foxes' heads dangling from it. Either, a) these people just don't care, b) the thought that it's wrong just doesn't enter their dim heads, c) they rationalise it somehow, saying that foxes are pests and need to be killed, or it was dead anyway - was it? or some other twisted reasoning that they convince themselves with, or, worst of all d) they actually like the fact that animals have been so pointlessly killed (it gives them a sense of power). Can anyone explain it? Does anyone know anyone who wears fur? What do they say?

Anyway, if you're outraged by it all, furisdead.com is a good anti-fur site with lots of links and ways to get involved. Although, I guess if we wear leather shoes and are appalled at fur wearers, we're being hypocritical - so check your feet first.

Bodybuilder puts a new face on veganism

Marin Independent Journal

Bodybuilder Kenneth Williams rocks. I mean, he could have acknowledged other vegan bodybuilders more directly but, regardless, he's a great representative of a vegan way of life, persuasively countering the myth that you need meat, dairy and eggs to be "a real man."

Tags: fitness

09/15 Downtime

As some of you know we've been having performance issues on VB - running slow, unreachable, etc. We're not exactly sure how to resolve the issue, the server should be more than adequate, so it may take some time.

Since the blog is hosted by Blogger it will be available even when VB is down. So if the site is down this is the best place to check for information.

We're currently updating the database so you may experience database errors and/or have trouble accessing posts. We expect this to be resolved within the next hour.

I assure you this is a high priority and appreciate your patience.

ETA: I see we currently have an SQL error. If this doesn't resolve itself within the next hour the site may be down for a while. I would say at least a few hours and possibly well into the weekend. The person who was helping me is unavailable and will need to look at it when they get back.

Banana Nut Bread

I could have sworn that I just posted this, but it seems to have disappeared.

We made a delicious banana nut bread a few days ago from a veganized recipe in a cookbook that was lying around the house.

Banana Nut Bread
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 flax eggs (2 T ground flax + 6 T water)
1 cup mashed banana (about two ripe bananas)
1 3/4 cup flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/4 cup coarsely chopped nuts

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix together the sugar and flax eggs. Mix the mashed bananas, oil and nuts into the sugar mixture. At the flour mixture and combine. Pour into a 9x5 greased pan and bake at 325°F for one hour.

Modified from "Banana Nut Loaf", page 166 of Mother Earth's Hassle-Free Vegetable Cookbook by Joel Rapp

My only picture is from my lunch today. The banana bread is in the upper right corner:


Tags: vegan recipes

New Blogger

I would like to welcome a new blogger to the VB blog. He's a lifelong vegetarian and currently runs his own blog at http://www.bornveggie.blogspot.com/.

Please join me in welcoming bornveggie.

If you're interested in writing for the VB blog or know someone who may be please feel free to contact me!

Curry Roasted Vegetables

I was at a loss for what to make for dinner tonight so I decided to roast some vegetables with my favorite condiment, curry paste. I took all the leftover vegetables floating around in the refrigerator and came up with the following easy recipe:

Curry Roasted Veggies

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato, cut into wedges
1 onion, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 carrot, sliced into rounds
1 shiitake mushroom, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 Chinese eggplant (or most of a regular-sized eggplant)
2-4 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1 bell pepper (any color), cut into large chunks
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons curry paste (adjust to tastes)
1/4 cup apple cider or juice

Mix the cut vegetables in a large pan. In a bowl mix the rest of the ingredients with a fork until the curry paste is dissolved. Pour the mixture over the vegetables and mix. Ideally, let vegetables sit for 1-2 hours, but if you don't have the time you can skip this step. Cook at 375°F for one hour, turning once. If you don't have the time, just put the oven on broil and cook for about 10 minutes or until the veggies start to brown. Make sure you watch it if you are broiling because things can burn quickly.

Serve over rice or in a sandwich.

Serves 3-4 people.

Tags: vegan cooking | vegan recipes | roasted vegetables

Milk: It does a body bad

A reader of An Animal-Friendly Life reminded me this morning of a story I had seen at another blog that I wasn't planning to write about, but it kinda fits over here, and reading up on lactose intolerance convinced me that more people need to know about it. The story basically covered a study by the dairy industry that ultimately encourages lactose intolerant people to continue to eat as much as they can handle.

The link I give you is for a site where the story initially alerted the AAFL reader, though it's since moved off the main page. It's a free dictionary/thesaurus/encyclopedia that also draws on Wikipedia. The entry reinforces what we already know about milk: it's meant for babies.

The normal mammalian condition is for the young of a species to lose the ability to digest milk sugar (lactose) effectively after the end of the weaning period (a species-specific length of time often equal to roughly 3% of lifespan). In humans, lactase production usually drops about 90% during the first four years of life, although the exact drop over time varies widely. However, certain human populations have undergone a mutation on chromosome 2 which results in a bypass of the common shutdown in lactase production, allowing members of these populations to continue consumption of fresh milk and other milk products throughout their lives.

It really is astounding how few people have actually mutated to better digest milk, and yet it's crammed down our throats every day by the dairy industry. As the U.S. and other Western civilizations skew more heavily toward traditionally lactose-intolerant cultures, this will grate even further.

What's truly annoying is that doctors try to help patients find a way to bypass their genetic predisposition against dairy, which is a little like finding a way to allow a person to find a way to safely roll around in poison ivy.

Tags: dairy | lactose intolerance

Salad Days: Becoming a Vegetarian to Remember Grandma

Here's an unusual vegetarian story with roots in Vietnam.

Tags: tradition

Living a vegetarian's life: Many invite questions about their choice

The Marietta Times

Another pleasant find. It seems lately that I'm mainly posting stories meant to appeal to non-vegetarians, but which have a pro-vegetarian point of view. I'm stumbling across these from all over the U.S.:

A vegetarian or vegan may be your hair stylist, lawyer, mechanic, music teacher, dentist, newspaper carrier, optometrist — best friend.

Indeed! Just read through the various occupations held by members of VeggieBoards...

The paper goes on to highlight four veg stories as well, and those include some weird bits, like the vegan who occasionally steps away from it to increase her weight by consuming dairy or organic meat. Um, whatever. Calories, girl. Calories. These vegans who don't eat healthy are making it look impossible.

Back the original story for a moment. I'm not so sure about these numbers:

A Time/CNN published in July 2002 found that 4 percent of American adults consider themselves vegetarians and 5 percent of that group, consider themselves vegans.

I obviously don't know how many of the 300 million Americans are adults, but I'd imagine it's most of them. Let's be easy on ourselves and call it only 200 million (any population experts reading this?). If 4 percent of those are vegetarian, that comes out to 8 million vegetarian adults. 5 percent of that means only 400,000 consider themselves vegan. Can that be right? I suppose a large number of vegans are younger, say, in high school, and that might put the number up to half a million (then again, with numbers this small, my guess at a starting number create a huge margin of error). I just can't believe that this is anywhere near an accurate number. Anyone for 750,000? Do I hear a million?

Tags: vegan

Pizza

Whenever I mention eating pizza people always act surprised: they don't think vegans can eat pizza. Ahh, how wrong they are. The best part of pizza is finding weird toppings that you never thought would belong. The fridge was a bit bare tonight so I topped my pizza with jarred marinara sauce, a potato (sliced on the mandolin), an eggplant from our garden (also on the mandolin), and a little bit of leftover bell pepper. I just broiled the pizza for a couple minutes after it was done cooking to get the potato nice and brown.

Tags: pizza| vegan cooking

Yay for vegan brick & mortar!

Whittier Daily News: Store grows with vegan culture

Nice article.

This new Alternative Outfitters location isn't too terribly far from where my wife and I live. We're starting to see more vegan retailers pop up around the Los Angeles area, and that's something to be excited about. Let's get out there and support the local vegan retailers in your area!

Alternative Outfitters at MySpace.

Tags: Alternative Outfitters | vegan clothing | vegan accessories | vegan shopping

Wake up, America! Pay attention to what you eat!

(Originally posted at An Animal-Friendly Life)

The Nation has a new issue dated September 11, 2006 (the 100th anniversary of Gandhi's Satyagraha) that you should run out buy immediately. The entire issue is devoted to food, particularly the problems inherent in industrial agriculture and our fast food nation. As Eric Schlosser points out, it's also been a hundred years since Upton Sinclair's The Jungle made waves. You can read that piece, along with numerous other important and free articles by Alice Waters, Frances Moore Lappé, and a host of others in a sort of forum style piece until you can find your own hard copy.

The magazine also publishes a number of letters from its readers praising "their most beloved food institutions," with a few good words going to animal-friendly options.

Special thanks to reader Christopher Jones for making sure I was aware of this issue.

Tags: industrial agriculture