The Fridge, Currently

October 26, 2008 | 6 Comments

Let’s see, we’ve got some tasty stuff in there. Start from the top left and moving across then down:

soy cheeses
apple juice
fruit salad (apples, strawberries, grapes, lime juice, agave)
salsa
peanut butter
kimchi
mustard
margarine
Thai peanut sauce
spicy vegan mayo
vegenaise
leftover potato-leek soup
agave
canned diced tomatoes
green beans
vegan cream cheese
bean dip
seltzer
lime juice
salad dressings
spinach
leftover cajun bastard casserole
pumpkin pie
beer
soy creamer
juice boxes (for the nephew)
bell peppers
asparagus
kale
celery
carrots
tomatoes
orange juice
cranberry juice
soy whip cream
tofu
tofurky lunch “meats”
vegan sausages
soy milk (silk and west soy)
frozen veggies
frozen fruit
frozen leftovers (spinach soup)
veggie burgers

Not shown: pantry, countertops.

(PS - Don’t give me any of that privileged vegan crap: Yes, I’m privileged. Yes I’m vegan, but they’re not necessarily related. And appearances aren’t always what they seem. For example, I bought this fridge used from Craigslist.)

Posted by Elaine Vigneault | Filed Under Food
6 Comments to "The Fridge, Currently"

Losing Weight Vegan Style

October 19, 2008 | 9 Comments

A while back I did a vlog wherein I said I went vegan and didn’t lose any weight. I only lose weight when I TRY to lose weight, not when I try to save animals’ lives. The reason, I surmise, that I didn’t lose weight was because:

I was already vegetarian and relatively healthy. A switch from vegetarianism to veganism isn’t nearly as dramatic as a switch from omnivorism to veganism.
I was and still am a bit of a convenient vegan. I eat convenience foods more often than I should. I’m not truly a “junk-food vegan” but I have nothing against junk-food veganism :)
I drink alcohol, I drink coffee, and I consume sugar.
I tend to over-eat, regardless of what kind of food I eat.

That said, I didn’t gain any weight when I went vegan. In fact, it’s easier now to maintain my current weight as a vegan than it was as a vegetarian.

HOWEVER, I know what it’s like to lose weight. I lost about 40 pounds once and I’ve kept that weight off. I was vegetarian pre weight loss and vegetarian post weight loss. It wasn’t about vegetarianism. It was about getting control of my eating and about exercising more. In that time I learned lot about weight loss. I share some of those tips here:

How to lose weight healthily & happily:

Eat foods that are nutrient-dense. Eat a variety of healthful, whole foods.
Avoid nutrient deficient foods, like many processed foods. Avoid dangerous foods: meat, dairy and eggs.
Exercise regularly, preferably an hour a day.

Counting calories is a tried and true method for weight loss. But in order to stay healthy, those calories should come from healthy, whole foods. And in order for your heart and lungs to stay healthy and your body to look toned, you need to exercise, too.

I know this from experience and research. I recommend reading:

The China Study
The Thrive Diet
Eat More, Weigh Less
Fit or Fat

Mentioned in the above video:

Diet Power ( http://dietpower.com/ )
DietMinder Personal Food & Fitness Journal
Vega Complete Whole Food Health Optimizer
Deva Vegan Multivitamin & Mineral Supplement

More resources for vegan weight loss:

Posted by Elaine Vigneault | Filed Under Food, Health, Fitness, & Beauty, veganism
9 Comments to "Losing Weight Vegan Style"

Comments Regarding ‘Humane’ Meat

October 18, 2008 | 2 Comments

This is blog filler… sort of…

I left this comment at Feministe in a discussion about Prop 2, slightly edited:

Oprah did a show about Prop 2.
http://www.oprah.com/dated/oprahshow/oprahshow_20081008_animals

She displayed a sow gestation crate (a small, cruel cage for pregnant pigs that is currently the industry standard) and a veal crate (a small cage for baby bulls, who are a product of the dairy industry). Lisa Ling toured some farms - not the most horrific farms because they won’t allow video cameras inside, but even she was dismayed by the “nice” factory farms.

One of the guests was Nicholas Kristof, who recounted:

When it was time to slaughter one of the geese, young Nicholas was given the task of rushing into the barn to grab a goose for the chopping block. “Then I’d be walking out to the door, and out of that panicked flock one goose would emerge and walk toward me absolutely terrified, but sort of protesting in a very ‘goosian’ way. It would be the mate of the one that I was holding,” he says. “And boy, that is a kind of courage—and it sounds funny to say it, but courage and humanity, if you will—that I have just never seen since. That has haunted me ever since.”

The fact is, animal agriculture is about profit. It’s not about human health, it’s not about animal welfare, it’s not about protecting the environment. And so long as regulations on animal agriculture remain as lax as they are today, we’ll continue to have more and more abuse of animals, more outbreaks of bacterial contamination, more diet-related preventable disease, and more pollution. Prop 2 won’t stop all those things, but it’s a beginning.

I’m urging all my friends and family members who live in California to vote YES ON PROP 2. And NO on prop 8. They’re both about basic rights. For animals it’s the basic right to lie down, turn around, and stretch out one’s limbs. For people, it’s the basic right to wed who you love.

I left this comment at Pandagon in a discussion about PETA, veganism, and animal rights. I’ve edited it slightly:

Some omnis think: “These are things that most people who are of the opinion that Everyone Should Be Vegan And Nobody Should Ever Eat Any Animal Products, EVAR usually do not pursue. Because if you give people butter from happy cows, they won’t be vegan anymore, will they? And we can’t have that, can we? “

1) No, we oppose ‘happy meat’ (and ‘happy butter’ etc) for animal rights reasons, not to control you. It’s not about you. Get over yourself.

2) Moreover, happy meat is not sustainable. The rapidly growing population simply can’t consume animal products in a sustainable manner, period. As a society, we can choose to go vegan or we can sterilize everyone. I vote vegan.
Details here: http://www.humanemyth.org/faq/1127.htm

3) Lastly, there is NO possible way to absolutely ensure humane slaughter. Some number of sick people will abuse animals. If you care about animals, the only humane choice is to stop eating them.

Posted by Elaine Vigneault | Filed Under Animals, Food, Lifestyle, veganism
2 Comments to "Comments Regarding ‘Humane’ Meat"

Veal Comes From A Grieving Mother

October 9, 2008 | 3 Comments

And dairy is the major industry. Veal is just a bi-product of the dairy industry.

Anyway… Three Indian River County men charged with stealing and killing a cow.

Three men remained in jail Sunday night on charges associated with killing and dismembering of a 400-pound calf [...]

[One man was] charged with a felony for trespassing on property while armed and a misdemeanor for disposing of a dead animal. [Two others] had additional charges including two misdemeanors for trespassing on private property and for disposing of a dead animal. [...] The 6-month-old calf was one of about 90 head of cattle on the property [...]

[The property owner] said he found the calf’s head Sunday morning near a ditch where the three men reportedly killed it in front of its mother.

“The mother cow was looking in the ditch,” Holman said. “She stayed there for 24 hours. They killed the calf right in front of the mother cow. I want to see them punished to the fullest extent of the law.”

The property owner essentially argues that:
a) the slaughter of this calf wasn’t humane
b) he had more right to slaughter this calf

Mary Martin sums it up:

it’s unthinkably vicious to tear one individual calf from his or her mother in the dead of night, but it’s perfectly acceptable to do it on a mass scale, on a schedule, in the light of day.