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Vegan Potluck!

We volunteer at Animal Place, a non-profit farmed animal sanctuary. Founded in 1989, Animal Place is a safe haven to over 300 chickens, turkeys, cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and rabbits. Animal Place is both farmed animal sanctuary and education center, promoting a compassionate lifestyle through tours, cooking classes, volunteer opportunities, internships, tabling, outreach programs and educational materials.

About once a month there's a volunteer work party where all the volunteers come out for a Saturday. We do chicken and rabbit health checks, clean the barns, prepare and distribute produce for the pigs, etc. It's fun and we get a lot of work done with so many people helping out at the same time. One of the best parts is a vegan potluck which we break for at noon. This Saturday I will be bringing a "classic" macaroni salad, cornbread and watermelon agua fresca. oishi!

Classic Macaroni Salad (for 10)
(Ok, so the dressing is traditional in a sense since it's vegenaise-based. The pasta isn't quite classic because I couldn't find macaroni at Trader Joe's. WTF TJ's?! Fusili will have to do.)

1 and 1/2 packages fusili pasta (or 24 oz)
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 red & 1 yellow pepper, finely chopped
1/2 an onion, finely diced
1 cup vegenaise
1/4 cup white vinegar
3 tablespoons mustard
1/3 cup sugar
salt & pepper to taste

Once the pasta is done drain and rinse under cold water. You don't want it be warm when mixing in with the dressing. Now comes the hard part... Mix everything together in a massive, and I mean massive bowl. Mix well. That's it. Done. Fini. Let it chill preferably overnight. It tastes so much better the next day. Perfect for a Saturday potluck.

Trader Joe's Cornbread Mix
Follow the directions. Incredibly easy. It called for one egg so I replaced that with a quarter cup plain soy yogurt. I like using the PPK Baking Guide for tips on egg substitutes and measurements.

Watermelon Agua Fresca
I chopped up the watermelon into manageable pieces and threw them in the blender. Once smooth, I poured the liquid through a sieve to catch the remaining pulp and seeds. Next I combined the watermelon liquid with 2 cups of water, a couple tablespoons of sugar and the juice from two limes. This is perfect for a hot day.

Posted by: chickpea

Painting Meets Veganism

Robert Farmer might be my new favorite painter.  The Savannah College of Art and Design has featured his work on their website.  You can find the article here.  The author Ally Hughes writes:

Farmer’s paintings graphically illustrate his concerns about speciesism and hypocrisy in omnivorous diets. He questions why people care for some animals and consume others, implicating the animal farming and harvesting community in the United States of barbaric acts for profit — against human and animal welfare.

A few of his pieces, such as the large-scale “Because All Meat,” are inspired by publications by the controversial animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. While doing his ongoing research, Farmer saw a video that showed cats and dogs being farmed for human needs.

“There was nothing really out of the ordinary going on here except that they were potentially people’s pets,” said Farmer. “I was thinking — why not? If you are going to eat meat, why not eat all meat? The argument is that [pigs, chickens, fish, etc.] are intelligent creatures. Pigs have been proven [to have equal] cognitive abilities to that of a 3-year-old child, so accordingly that should put them above dogs. Should we only eat stupid animals? To me, it seems that if one should eat meat, one should eat all meat — one is as viable as the other.”

He also said that animals have the same human capacity as humans to understand and feel; thus, eating these sentient beings is unconscionable.

“The animals we kill every day for our food and clothing are living creatures that share with us the same capacity to feel love, joy, misery, fear and pain,” Farmer explained in his artist statement. “Animals raised on factory farms know only desperation and sorrow before their short, agonized existences are ended. We know that it happens, but turn an indifferent eye in favor of convenience.”

I personally think it's fantastic for artists to express their ideology on speciesism and animal treatment in all ways.  I'm sure he receives very mixed responses to his work, but, if he can make people think about their eating habits/choices he's doing a good job.

Posted by: The String Bean

Random Article About Veganism

I stumbled upon this article about being vegetarian and vegan....and the health aspects.  I'll cherry-pick the best paragraphs for you:

Many bodybuilders scoff at the notion that you can build quality muscle while avoiding meat and whey protein shakes. Individuals like Roy Hilligenn (1951 Mr. America), Steve Holt (a top-ranking natural bodybuilder) and Mike Mahler (a vegan strength training coach) have proven that this is a myth. You can live a healthy, productive lifestyle and yes, even gain muscle, by following a completely vegan nutrition plan. The key is to know what foods to include....

It is popular to assume that vegans and vegetarians lack adequate protein in their diet. This is not true......

Fortunately, protein does not come from animal sources. In fact, all amino acids from animal sources come from plant sources. Animals consume plants and integrate those amino acids into their own tissue. Of course, other animals are more highly adapted to extract the amino acids from plants. However, there remains an impressive number of high protein sources available to vegetarians. Eggs and dairy are the highest sources and are considered complete proteins (see below). Vegan sources include soy products (tempeh, tofu, and soybeans), lentils, black beans, kidney beans, chickpeas (garbanzo beans), baked beans, pinto beans, black-eyed peas, lima beans, and quinoa. By consuming a few meals with large portions of these items you can easily meet your daily requirements....

Vitamin B12 is important for many reasons. It is involved mainly in cellular division and blood formation. Animals and plants do not produce their own Vitamin B12. Bacteria produce Vitamin B12. Animals consume foods with colonies of these bacteria and therefore become a source of B12. Due to the dangers of eating contaminated foods, our produce is sterilized and cleaned of these bacteria. While vegetarians can obtain adequate Vitamin B12 from dairy and eggs, vegans do not consume these foods. Fortunately, only very small amounts are required and can be stored in the body for a very long time. The only natural vegetable sources of Vitamin B12 are specific yeasts. Therefore, vegans should either consume foods that are fortified with Vitamin B12 or take a supplement containing Vitamin B12.

Posted by: The String Bean

Another Vegan Mom In The News

Well, the beat goes on for parents raising vegan children.  Chicago Tribune's Julie Deardorff writes about a mother whose husband is divorcing her and trying to take her kids away - for being controlling and obsessively vegan.  Now, I think there is a line you can cross...but raising a child as a healthy vegan is not crossing that line.  You can read the article here.  My favorite piece is where Julie writes:

We have no idea just how strictly the mother followed the diet, or imposed it on her children. Maybe she does have some control issues over food.

Or maybe she wants what is best for her kids and believes that feeding children food that is considered “normal” such as hamburgers or ice cream, isn’t the healthiest way to live. Maybe, like most vegans, she objects to the way animals are treated before they are slaughtered for food and she wants to teach her children kindness and compassion.

Maybe she has read T. Colin Campbell’s excellent health and nutrition book, “The China Study,” and believes that a plant-based diet isn’t just good for children, it’s superior to those that include animal products.

Thank you Julie for a great article.

Posted by: The String Bean