Archive for vegan meanderings

Jammin Josie’s Blog Has Moved

September 7, 2009 at 2:54 am · Filed under vegan meanderings ·Tagged , , ,

As many of you know I have become quite a passionate animal advocate over the past several years. A little less than a year ago I started this blog to chronicle my transition to living a vegan life and to inspire others to do so as well. Well it’s working. People have been telling me how I convinced them to give up milk, stop eating pork, or to go vegetarian. For some people, the blog has not convinced them to become vegetarian but it has put the issue on their mind. Anything that raises awareness is alright in my book!

Since this blog has become quite popular amongst people I know and because I like doing it so much, I decided to catapult my advocacy efforts to the next level in the following ways.

1. The blog has moved! Please update your readers. The new location is www.hungryherbivores.com. Aside from a smashing new look, there are great new features like the ability to subscribe via e-mail, better search categories, and the ability to share links via social media like Twitter and Facebook. I look forward to your insightful (and respectful) comments. The discussions are great for everyone.

2. I’m extending my animal advocacy outside of the blog! Yes, I’m going for the whole shebang here. I will be hosting tables at various events around the valley (primarily dog/cat animal rescue events) spreading the word about factory farming. I’m making some really cool T-shirts, a banner, samples of vegan food, and little cards that tell people why being vegan is cool.

3. I’m looking for speaking opportunities at local events (and even Toastmasters … thanks for listening TM friends!) to help spread the word.

These advocacy efforts will remain positive, peaceful, and encouraging! All of this in my spare time … yes, I am busy with a thriving business, but we all must follow the fuel that lights our fire, right? So this is mine and thank you for your support. Now get over to www.hungryherbivores.com and subscribe to the blog by e-mail or RSS by clicking on the little icons at the top of the page.

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There’s something in the vegan water

August 28, 2009 at 7:07 pm · Filed under vegan meanderings ·Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

There’s something in the water. It’s veganism. And it’s contagious. Last night I went to a “meeting of the minds” with a group of animal advocates at Green: New American Vegetarian. The food is always AMAZING! But what really has me pumped up today are the people I met. Sometimes I feel alone in the advocacy land. Thank goodness for podcasters like Colleen Patrick-Goudreau from Compassionate Cooks and Jess from Vegan a Go-Go for keeping us grounded and feeling … well … not so alone. However rare is the occasion that I actually get to sit down at a table with 15 other people just as passionate and just as committed to animal advocacy as I am.

I met:

  • Veronica who runs Animal Advocates of Arizona. Her group holds demonstrations and leafleting campaigns.
  • Lori who told her boss where he could stick it after partnering with Covance – the much despised and unfortunately brand new – animal research laboratory here in town.
  • Alicia who is a beautiful vegan that should model cruelty-free clothes. Move over Chloé Jo.
  • Lisa K. who is passionate about enlightening our rescue friends.
  • Lisa B. who writes curriculum for animal advocacy courses – which I will be taking starting next week.
  • Anthony and his mum who just wanted some inspiration to revive their advocacy efforts.
  • And the whole shebang was put on by Jeff who runs the Vegan Arizona meet up group. Thank you Jeff. You rock.

There were so many other people there that I didn’t have a chance to talk with but I’m sure they were equally as talented and passionate. I’m so excited at what the future holds for us out there. I know we can get bogged down with the doom and gloom and the rising number of animals in slaughterhouses and pounds but I truly believe we are on the cusp of a revolution.

I mean have you seen Food, Inc? If you haven’t, get your butt out there and watch it. This movie depicts the corporate take over of our food. While some of the scenes may not be new to some of us – like cows being skinned in a slaughterhouse or pigs squealing horrifically before being killed – they offer an inside look at chicken farming and who’s who in Washington. The filmmakers also seem to favor this one farmer who runs a small, quality operation and actually gives a dam about his animals. It seems this is the route they want to drive people. Yet, to me that’s still not the solution. I mean even that farmer’s chickens were screaming when he cut their throats. Yeah they lived better lives but they still ended up on a kitchen table when they didn’t have to. Why, why, dear film makers, could you not encourage vegetarianism? Regardless, it’s worth seeing. And take your non-veg friends with you … they need to see it more than we do.

The real cost of cheap food

The real cost of cheap food

Did you read this weeks Time magazine? A big fat piece of ground beef sits on the cover with the title “The Real Cost of Cheap Food”. Mostly this article follows suit with Food Inc.’s position in that what “we” Americans need are more small farms. Has everybody forgotten Upton Sinclair’s book The Jungle? That small farm, small slaughterhouse process didn’t work so well either. Time also shows a “happy” cow roaming freely. As if their freedom during life means we can still take it whenever we want a steak. No thank you. I don’t think the cow would appreciate that concept. There is one little caption about sustainable farming on page 37 (you have to look for it) but they do say “EAT MORE GREENS, LESS MEAT”. Thank you Time. That’s better than nothing.

So back to my original point. There’s something in the water. And it’s veganism. While Food Inc. and Time’s article may seem not extreme enough since they are not directly advocating a vegetarian diet, they are a step in the right direction. By golly, I think people may be waking up. We’ll just have to see if individuals can actually get up or if they hit the snooze button.

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Experts at Johns Hopkins suggest drinking milk to combat milk allergies

August 24, 2009 at 5:44 pm · Filed under vegan meanderings ·Tagged , , , , , ,

This past weekend The Baltimore Sun and probably several other media outlets reported on a research study detailed in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The really smart people over at Johns Hopkins, a well-respected university research center and teaching hospital, think the way to combat milk allergies is to give kids more milk. Come again? I wasn’t quite sure I read that right. But yes, it’s true. These well-paid, smart people conducted a “study” over 17 months to help children with sever milk allergies overcome them BY DRINKING MORE MILK.

The 18 children were given small amounts of milk on a regular basis to see if their bodies would begin to tolerate the beverage – which of course is not meant for them to drink in the first place. Hmmm … now I’m not a researcher but I do consider myself a somewhat intelligent person. And when I went to graduate school they motivated us to ask the tough questions like “Why do we exist?” I beg these researchers and this reporter to start over at the beginning, “Why do humans drink milk?” That might be a much more difficult question to answer than how can we make kids who are naturally intolerant to another species byproduct overcome their allergies by giving them more of the same byproducts?

What did the researchers, who were “encouraged” by the findings, discover? That “regular dairy use could help children become more tolerant and remain so”. Oh goodie! That means kids can drink more milk meant for calves not humans and the dairy industry can keep making lots of money. Yet all is not well with this scenario. Many of us are aware that cow’s milk does not come without cost. The raising of cows in this country is creating an environmental disaster. The cows are treated horribly, their babies are used for worse things like veal, and all of them eventually land in a slaughter house for a disrespectful end of life. Furthermore, the very smart researchers found that “for some children the allergies returned after they stop drinking milk”.

Now can I stand by and let this go without remarks? Not so much.

Dear miss reporter Kelly Brewington might I share with you my comments:

“Wow, I am shocked at this study. Did the very intelligent, well-educated, well-paid researchers ever consider that humans were not meant to drink the milk of cows? Cows milk is supposed to be for their calves not for us humans and our children. I won’t go into details about the  horrific conditions these cows tolerate to create milk that humans consume or how study after study shows that animal products lead to heart disease and cancer.

There are so many great alternatives to animal milk such as almond milk, soy milk, hemp milk, and rice milk. Why would the researchers put  children through this testing? Was this study funded by the dairy industry? Or could it be that even the smartest people in our society have forgotten to ask the simple questions like why is it that we drink milk in the first place?”

Please send your comments to Kelly kelly.brewington@baltsun.com and/or Dr. Robert A. Wood, lead investigator on the study http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/staffDetail.aspx?id=3152.

Sources:

The Baltimore Sun, August 2009, http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/health/2009/08/children_milk_allergies.html

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Lets Kill Cows to Save Dogs and Cats

August 18, 2009 at 3:26 am · Filed under vegan meanderings ·Tagged , , , , , ,

I don’t discriminate between animals. If it lives, breaths, feels pain, and has eyes to stare back at me, then in my opinion it deserves my respect. Sadly this is not so with many so-called animal lovers that like to put their animals into categories.

Let’s start with the most common … people who swear they love their dogs and cats but happily throw cow’s flesh or chicken’s flesh on their grill for dinner. Now if you’re one of these people, what gives? I mean really. Do you look into the eyes of your dog or cat and tell them that you love them? Do you let them sleep in your bed? Do you think about them when you’re away? Do you think they are capable of loving you back? Then why wouldn’t a cow, pig or chicken be just as capable? The reality is that they ARE just as capable. And yet, we force them into torturous, confining conditions and kill them just so we can eat their flesh and steal their body’s byproducts. Would you do that to your dog or cat? Would you hang Fluffy by her hind legs, blow a hole in her head, strip off her skin and eat her belly? Um, I don’t think so. Come on … let’s start making the connections.

Now let’s talk about another group of people who are under my skin recently. These are the folks who call themselves “rescuers”. I must preface by saying that I have a lot of rescue friends. I am a self proclaimed “rescuer”. Many of these people are well intentioned. I do not pass judgment on them individually but on a general principal as a group of people, I do find some “rescue” behavior odd.

On the surface, rescue people seem very kind. They spend every weekend and many hours of every day springing dogs and cats from the pound or scooping them up off the dangerous streets where they may be running stray,  injured and homeless. They bring these dogs and cats into their houses. They treat them like children. They love them, buy them great food, give them toys, and worry about their well being. They spend enormous amounts of money caring for these animals. And then they sit down to dinner to gnaw on the hind legs of a cow or a chicken’s breast. Do these folks think that perhaps that cow liked it’s hind leg attached to it’s body? Or that that chicken needed its breast to keep it’s lungs and heart safe? Probably not. But why not?

And why is it that when I challenge these ideals, these groups of people get incredibly angry and defensive? I am at a loss here and finding myself a bit frustrated. I have been working hard here in the Phoenix area to bring ideals of veganism to the forefront of people’s minds. Over the past few weeks I have been working with a local rescue group to purchase booth space at a very large upcoming event. The rescue’s event coordinator was so excited to have vegan booth at this popular animal event. We had everything settled and I was prepared to have a booth with literature about factory farming with delicious vegan food samples. But just this past weekend, the event coordinator took my information to the board for approval and they denied me! Yes, the board denied me! Do you want to know why? Because there is a hamburger-slinging vendor that attends these animal rescue events and this hamburger-slinging vendor shares its profit with the animal rescue.

You see my booth was going to offer free samples of delectable vegan food and apparently this was too much of a threat to their bottom line. So I ask you, does the death of one animal justify the means of another? Does killing cows for money to save dogs really make a difference in the overall health and welfare of animals on this planet?

This rescue is not the only one. There are rescues that sell animal products like leather hand bags or shoes at auctions to raise money for their dogs and cats. Then several others have fancy banquet events where they serve up cows, chickens and pigs to celebrate their great achievements in rescue-land. They justify it by saying that people pay a lot of money to attend these black tie events and they need to feel that they are getting their money’s worth. Again, selling out the cows to save the dogs and cats.

To me, this is so upsetting. If you can’t tell by my unusual and unapologetic tone tonight. I’m at a loss of understanding as to where these folks come from. Is it too difficult to make the correlation between the animals your hug and kiss every day and the animals on your plate?

According to popular podcaster Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, the average 75-year-old meat eater that resides in the United States is responsible (in their life time) for the death of:

  • 10 cows,
  • 34 pigs, and
  • 2,535 turkeys, ducks, and chickens.

Now I ask you … if the average rescuer saves 10 animals a year and continues to eat as most Americans do, they will have killed more lives than they would have saved. Yes, that is correct. They would have KILLED MORE LIVES THAN THEY SAVED.

All I’m saying to the rescue that denied me for the hamburger-slinging vendor … open your minds. Buck conventionalism. Ask the deep questions of yourself and the world around you. Is this how you want to live? Killing more than you’re saving? At the very least, can’t you accept the mere presence of a peaceful and compassionate vegan in the midst of a hamburger-eating crowd? I think the cows would appreciate it. Heck, I’ll even bring vegan treats for the dogs!

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Do animals have souls?

July 13, 2009 at 5:09 am · Filed under vegan meanderings ·Tagged , , , , ,

Do animals have souls?

I know this is a strange question coming from a vegan. And yet I’m not sure I have the answer. I believe we have to answer his question with yet another question.

What do you consider a soul?

I have found people who call themselves Christians or some derivative thereof define a being with a soul as someone possessing the ability to be forgiven by the “grace of God” so that they may live for eternity in heaven. Typically this means that Christian people, who quite often have not though this through in my opinion, believe that animals can not be forgiven and therefore do not possess a soul. This gives many (not all) the freedom to defend their meat-eating ways. It might lead to a statement like, “animals have no souls so it doesn’t matter how we treat them.” In this case it would not matter to this type of person that pigs suffer great physical and emotional torture in gestational crates having repeated pregnancies where their babies are robbed from them each and every time to make bacon.

For someone that may not be religious or perhaps is religious but has spent time bonding with any type of animal, they might find this viewpoint hard to swallow as I do. To me, any sentient being that has the ability to feel pain, sorrow, love, loss, joy, or happiness embodies a soul. If you can look into the eyes of your cat or dog and see that they love you, that they want you to be happy, that their chief goal in life is to please you each and every day, how can you not believe that there is something more there than just flesh and bones? Personally I do not need a book to define the meaning of a soul. To me it is a feeling, a knowing that goes deeper than words, of kinship with other living beings.

How to respond to people who say animals have no souls

Response #1: I think if any sentient being has the ability to feel pain, sorrow, love, loss, joy, happiness then they have a soul. And that we each as sentient beings have the ability (and responsibility) to show empathy and compassion for one another. Just because and animal can’t say, “I hate this flipping cage”, it doesn’t give us the right to keep her in there solely for human benefit, profit, food or any thing else.

Response #2: I know I won’t be able to convince you that animals have souls in the way you define someone with a soul as one who can be redeemed before your God. Regardless of whether or not you think animals have souls, why do you want to intentionally cause pain and suffering to animals that have done absolutely nothing to harm you when you don’t have to?

Response #3: I think if you take a closer look at your bible, you may find that there are passages that do in fact suggest animals can seek redemption just as you believe humans can. You may want to look into these passages:

  • “And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” (Revelation 5:8-13)
  • “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.” (Romans 8:19)
  • “Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” (Romans 8:21)

What do you think

Obviously this is somewhat of a controversial topic. I’m sure each person has their own ideas of what defines a soul to them. What do you think? And how do you respond to people who say animals have no souls?

Resources:
Do Animals Have Souls?, Bert Thompson, Ph.D. and Sam Estabrook, http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/448

Good News for All Creation: Vegetarianism As Christian Stewardship, Stephen R. Kaufman and Nathan Braun, Vegetarian Advocates Press, 2004.

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Animal Advocacy Speech

June 21, 2009 at 8:42 pm · Filed under vegan meanderings ·Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

A few days ago, I gave a speech to 20 people about what it takes to get meat on their table. It was an nerve-wracking and exhilarating experience all at the same time.

I have been a member of Toastmasters for a little less than a year. What a great organization! I joined because my brother asked me to officiate his wedding. Toastmasters helped me sail through that with flying colors and I liked the group so much I kept going to meetings. Over time I realized that perfecting my speaking skills could take me to new places and open doors. Not only will polished speaking skills help me in my Web development business … (light bulb!) I can actually have a platform with which to talk about animal advocacy. I don’t know why it took me so long to realize this. I think it’s because I was a bit afraid to put myself and my vegan values out there in such a “loud” way. I love talking to people 1 on 1 and I love writing about veganism but speaking to groups of people puts my animal advocacy on a whole different level.

The whole purpose of my speech was to inspire the audience to go vegetarian just one day a week. I know that doesn’t seem like a lot to many of you who read this blog but to people who have never considered a vegetarian diet, it’s a place to start. During the speech, I told two stories.

What Happens to Beef Cows in the United States?

I started with Whitaker, who was once considered a typical beef cow. He was found – just days old – on the side of a road in California. It’s likely that he fell off a transport truck as some farm animals do. Our friends at Farm Sanctuary saved him and now he lives a happy life on their farm. I had a beautiful picture of Whitaker blown up and mounted on an 11×14 foam board. I passed his picture around the audience. I mean seriously, who wouldn’t think this cow is cute?

whitaker-to-print

Then I began to explain what happens every year in the United States to the other 35 million1 beef cows that are not as lucky as Whitaker. I described their filthy feedlot conditions and details of the slaughter process. The cows are first shot in the head with a captive bolt gun. Then they are hung by their feet. Their necks are slit and they die piece by piece to make steaks and hamburgers. Because this process happens so fast often times the cows are still conscious. I showed a picture of a feed lot and passed it around.

feedlot

At this point in the speech, I think people were shocked. I actually heard a gasp when I revealed the number of cows slaughtered each year.

What Happens to Pigs Raised for Food in the United States?

Next I told the story of a pig named Socks. Socks was found wandering the streets in Springfield, Massachusetts after he wiggled out of a transport truck passing through town. He too was saved by the nice people at Farm Sanctuary. At first Socks was scared stiff around people. He would cower and run as far away from humans as possible. After a while at Farm Sanctuary, Socks made friends with both humans and other pigs. I showed an adorable picture of Socks.

socks

Then I described the conditions for the other, not-so-lucky, 105 million2 pigs that are raised and slaughtered in the United States every year. Breeding sows are piglet-making machines. Once a sow is impregnated, she is put in a gestation crate – a small metal pen, just two feet wide. She cannot turn around or even lie down comfortably. She lives in this gestation crate for four months until she is ready to give birth. Then she is moved to a farrowing crate – which is not much bigger. After nursing her babies for 2-3 weeks, they are taken away and she goes through the whole process all over again. Once a pig reaches 250 pounds, their fate is to die in the same way cows are slaughtered.

gestation-crate-2

The Crowd’s Reaction

It was interesting for me to see the crowd’s reaction. This is the first time I have ever given a speech like this. There have been many talks about Web development, camping, dog rescue, etc. but never a speech so honest and adamant about inspiring people to change. I think the audience really didn’t know what to make of all the information. My evaluator was complimentary on my delivery but asked me to back up my figures with citations which was a helpful tip. I have done that for you here in this post.

The most interesting thing to me is that the words of my speech seemed to have staying power with the audience. It has been well over a week and I continue to get Facebook messages from audience members asking me for recipes and telling me that they have been thinking about their food ever since my speech. At our last Toastmasters meeting two members said they used to be vegetarian but had moved away from it in the last few years. My speech inspired them to cook vegetarian one night a week. These are amazing things!

I can’t believe how effective it can be for just one person to take a stand and share knowledge with others. If I can speak to groups even just a few times a year and inspire people to make a change, so can you. If you’d like a copy of the speech with the images to display, just send me a comment and I’ll get them to you. One person at a time, we can make a difference for the animals.

Many thanks to Farm Sanctuary for providing the information and imagery needed to help each one of us advocate on behalf of the animals in a meaningful way.

Stay tuned … my new revelations have inspired me to make many changes to this blog and my advocacy work in general.

References

1. Farm Sanctuary, Factory Beef Production, http://www.farmsanctuary.org/issues/factoryfarming/beef/

2. Farm Sanctuary, Factory Pork Production, http://www.farmsanctuary.org/issues/factoryfarming/pork/

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Vegan Dog Foster Hard at Work

June 5, 2009 at 3:05 pm · Filed under vegan meanderings ·Tagged , ,

I am quite embarrassed that it has been over a month since my last post! I have been busy with my dog rescue work. Our latest foster dog, Sundae, consumed all of my time and attention outside of running our Web development business. She recently moved on to another foster so now I actually have time to tell you her story.

Sundae was spotted cruising the streets of southwest Phoenix for several days. Finally some rescue people were alerted and one brave woman in particular, Mary, came to Sundae’s rescue. You see Sundae had a belly full of pups, a prolapsed uterus and an umbilical hernia. Um, ouch! She was quite a mess to say the least. What does all that mean? Well the hernia (intestines pushing through her abdominal wall) was so big Mary couldn’t tell for sure if Sundae was pregnant. The prolapsed uterus was likely because she was trying to give birth but the pups and they were not coming out. Basically her uterus (which normally resides happily in a female’s body) was hanging out her back end. Gross!

Lucky for Sundae, after hours of searching and talking with neighbors, Mary found her. She was taken to a vet where her wounds were fixed up and out came four pups via c-section. Four pups! Honestly we thought the pups would be dead. But they weren’t! Four precious pups, 3 girls and 1 boy. Check out their story in this awesome 3 minute video. Mom and pups are all available for adoption at www.mixedupmutts.net.

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An Inspiring Friend and A Movie to See

April 21, 2009 at 4:39 pm · Filed under vegan meanderings ·Tagged , , ,

An Inspiring Friend

Nearly every day I seem to be inspired by people. I know that’s so contrary to how the media wants us to feel. The media wants us to stay in our houses, be scared of people, and buy stuff to make ourselves feel better. I really think people are starting to stand up and say “enough”!

Last week I was so incredibly inspired by my dear friend Mireille. You see Mireille and I have differing views on many things including religion and animals. Mireille is not what I would call an animal lover in the same way that I am. She has a dog and a cat. She likes them and provides them with food, water, shelter, etc. I on the other hand spend much of my time advocating for animal rights, helping stray animals, and volunteering at local rescues. You get the idea.

One thing Mireille loves to do is watch documentaries. So I told her about Earthlings and I warned her of its graphic nature but she rose to the occasion out of her love for honest film. She watched the entire thing (I still have not gone past part 4) and in just a few hours completely changed her perspective on food animals. She said “enough” of this horrible treatment of animals and decided to go vegetarian. I was so surprised, I thought surely it would not last more than a day or two. But I was wrong. And I could not be happier! Mireille has now been vegetarian for two weeks! I am so excited and proud of her. We had a nutrition discussion and I introduced her to some new foods. Now she is on her way to a healthier, more compassionate lifestyle.

A Move to See

Food, Inc.

Food, Inc.

There’s another film coming out in June called Food, Inc. It is more in keeping with Fast Food Nation and Super Size Me than with Earthlings but inspiring nevertheless. I am so excited to see it because I love these films that don’t necessarily promote a vegan lifestyle but their depiction of the food industry leaves you thinking it is the best way to live. Here’s the movie description. I hope you go see it and we can talk about its influence over people’s eating habits.

“In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation’s food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that’s been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government’s regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation’s food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. Food, Inc. reveals surprising — and often shocking truths — about what we eat, how it’s produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.”

Just for Kicks (an education too)

Another inspiring person in my life is Kari. She’s the Arizona director for the United States Humane Society. This week she enlightened me with this great (not horribly graphic) app from Animal Visuals that shows the rate at which animals are slaughtered in the United States every second. It is staggering to watch as the animals fly by: 287 chickens per second, 3.68 pigs per second, and 1.12 cows per second. It just boggles my mind.

Rate of Slaughter of Chickens, Pigs, and Cows in the United States, 2008

Rate of Slaughter of Chickens, Pigs, and Cows in the United States, 2008

I hope this post about my inspiring friends and movie makers inspires you to go out and make a difference in the lives of animals today. I know that’s a lot of inspiring … but would you rather talk about taxes? No thanks. :)

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Shearing My Winter Coat

April 4, 2009 at 3:30 am · Filed under vegan meanderings ·Tagged , , , , ,

Obviously I don’t have a wool coat in the same way that sheep have a wool coat but before today I did have a number of wool sweaters. I know, I know. You’re asking ….”why do you have wool sweaters if you’re vegan?”

A farm sanctuary lamb rescued.

A farm sanctuary lamb rescued.

My vegan life began a little over a year ago when I heard Gene Baur speak about Farm Sanctuary. After that talk, I went home and decided not to eat any animal products after finishing the ones that remained in my pantry and my refrigerator. It didn’t take long to eat the little dairy I had in the fridge but it did take me a couple months to finish all the cookies and other dried pantry products that had dairy or eggs in them. Since then I have not purposefully consumed food that comes from an animal in any way.

I guess I looked at my closet in the same light. Just as I didn’t feel that it was right to throw away a block of cheese the day I decided to become vegan (because that would mean the cow had suffered for nothing) I did not feel right about throwing away my wool and leather clothes. So I continued to wear the ones I had and consciously made a decision not to buy any new clothes made of animal products. But I think the time has come for me to take one greater step into this vegan world free from animal torture. It helps that it’s spring and in Arizona that means we are living in beautiful, balmy 70-to-80-degree temperatures! I will have no need for wool or leather for several months … or in fact a lifetime. I have a case of spring fever and one of spring fever’s symptoms is a urgent desire to clean out every closet in the house!

Early this week I decided to medicate my spring fever by attacking my closet. It is big and packed to the brim. Cleaning it out is not a task to be taken lightly. Clearly parting with clothes is difficult to me. I don’t know why. I attach memories and emotions to my clothes. In my 20s I traveled to many parts of the world. In each place I stopped, I bought a local souvenir, usually some clothing like Alpaca sweaters from Cusco, Peru. Those sweaters remind me of the people in Peru, the good times I spent with my friends, and living in a naive world not knowing the suffering of animals used for clothing. Things were less complicated then.

A sheep after mulesing.

A sheep after mulesing.

That’s the thing about opening your eyes to animal cruelty. You can never go back. You can never not know that most sheep used for wool have their tails docked and their balls chopped off without anesthesia. You can never not know that sheep undergo mulesing, a painful process where the “shepherd” cuts a four by six-inch piece of skin from their tails and backside. You can never not know that sheep used for wool eventually don’t produce enough and end up in the slaughterhouse just like ever other animal used for human consumption. For these reasons I can no longer look at my wool sweaters without seeing beautiful sheep that have suffered for my warmth and frivolous fashion desires. It is time for me to let them go.

So I am. They are all packed up in paper bags to be donated to a charity. I hope that someone else finds use for them because they are still valuable. While I feel that I am taking a giant leap forward by shearing my winter coat of wool, I can’t help but feel slightly sad as if I’m sending some sheep off to slaughter one more time beause they are of no use to me. And yet I know that’s not true. What matters more is that I am now committed to living the rest of my life as a smarter consumer who chooses clothing that has nothing to do with animal suffering.

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Saturated Fats Come From Animals

January 7, 2009 at 5:01 am · Filed under vegan meanderings ·Tagged , , ,

I have to admit, I never gave much thought to saturated fats. I guess I knew in the back of my mind that they were no good but I didn’t really know why. Now I know … most saturated fats come from animals.

Saturated fats also raise total blood cholesterol as well as LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol). Here’s the kicker, saturated fats are correlated with an increased incidence of heart disease, blocked arteries and stroke. As you probably know, heart disease is the number one killer of men and women in the United States. The American Heart Association even goes as far to claim that “saturated fat is the main dietary cause of high blood cholesterol.”1

What does this tell us? Relying on a diet that comes from animal products eventually leads to our own demise.

Mostly found in animal products, saturated fats stem from beef, poultry, pork, lamb, milk, butter, eggs, seafood, suet, tallow, lard and prepared foods. These are not the only animal products containing saturated fats. Most foods from animals contain saturated fats.

Often saturated fats will also be used in packaged goods to prolong shelf life. Some packaged products with saturated fats that you might mistake for vegan include: popcorn, granola bars, cookies, french fries, potato chips, and I could go on and on.

Saturated fat can also be found in some truly vegan foods like coconut oil, soybean oil, palm oil and cashews. When you look at a food label, you can tell if a product has saturated fat by looking at the nutritional label. If a product has saturated fat, it will be listed directly below “total fat” towards the top.

The lesson here is that if you’re vegan, make sure to dig a little deeper into a product’s ingredient list if the nutritional label discloses saturated fat. As a vegan, relying on coconut oil, soybean oil and cashews as the main staples of your diet, is not the best idea for your health. I don’t think this is a problem for most vegans since we rely mostly on leafy greens, grains and beans as diet staples. Yet people that rely on an animal-based diet likely eat large amounts of saturated fats on a daily basis and they may not even know it.

Sometimes it can seem disheartening to discover that funny little words on packaging at the grocery store can be incognito labels for animal by-products. But the more we know, the better advocates we become for ourselves and the animals.

1. American Heart Association, http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=532

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