Top Ten Fresh Vegan Victories

This week, pack your brain with Meatless Monday knowledge courtesy of Kathy Freston. Pass along the latest vegan news by tweeting this article with our handy tweet button at the end of the post…

On Thanksgiving, I spent some time taking stock of my life and the world around me and, as we’re supposed to do over the holiday, giving thanks for all the joys — little and big — in my life. One of the larger joys for which I am giving thanks is all of the recent attention that has been lavished on a topic that is near and dear to my heart — the cruelty and environmental harm involved in raising animals for food.

I struggled to cohesively construct an article about some of the many recent and important developments on this topic, but there is just too much. Instead, I decided on a top 10 list (a tip of the hat to David Letterman) — the 10 most interesting articles on the farmed animal welfare front.

So without further ado:

1. World Bank scientists conclude that eating meat causes more than half of global warming (conservatively).

World Bank agricultural scientists Robert Goodland, who spent 23 years as the Bank’s lead environmental advisor, and Jeff Anhang, a research officer and environmental specialist for the Bank, argue convincingly that more than half of all greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to our desire to eat chicken, pigs, and other farmed animals. That’s right: Add up all the causes of climate change, and you find that eating meat causes more than everything else combined.

Honestly, this was the biggest point for me: How can I possibly take the environment seriously if I’m still participating in what is — by far — the biggest contributor to warming?

Which might explain:

2. Prominent Stanford biochemist pledges to focus all his energy on promoting veganism.

Most of us have heard of Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. RK Pachauri from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and his lectures all over the world promoting vegetarianism. Now along comes Dr. Patrick O. Brown who, as reported in (of all places) Forbes, will spend the next 18 months focused on “put[ting] an end to animal farming.” Explains Dr. Brown, “There’s absolutely no possibility that 50 years from now this system will be operating as it does now… I want to approach this as a solvable problem. Solution: ‘Eliminate animal farming on planet Earth.’”

3. Al Gore is taking notice.

Although Gore’s Global Warming Survival Handbook noted that “refusing meat” is the “single most effective thing you can do to reduce your carbon footprint” (emphasis in original), Gore had not spoken publically about the issue. Now he has — repeatedly. For example, on Larry King recently, Gore explained that “the impact of meat-intensive diet is a significant factor” in warming the planet, that “the growing meat intensity of diets around the world is bad for the planet,” and that “the more meals I’ve substituted with more fruits and vegetables, the better I feel about it…” The truth is becoming less inconvenient, thankfully.

4. Celebrated author of Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close publishes Eating Animals a riveting book based on a three-year investigation of factory farming.

Jonathan Safran Foer has been widely hailed as one of the greatest novelists of his generation, was one of Rolling Stone’s “People of the Year,” and Esquire’s “Best and Brightest” — and after just two extraordinary works. As Nobel Prize-winning novelist J.M. Coetzee puts it about Foer’s latest work, “The everyday horrors of factory farming are evoked so vividly, and the case against the people who run the system presented so convincingly, that anyone who, after reading Foer’s book, continues to consume the industry’s products must be without a heart, or impervious to reason, or both.”

In his interview with Mother Jones Magazine (the entire interview is worth reading), Foer points out that Americans “now eat 150 times as much chicken as we did 80 years ago,” and that it “takes between 6 and 26 calories to make one calorie of meat. It is an incredibly inefficient protein because we are cycling through all of these other grains that humans could eat.”

5. Actor Alicia Silverstone and Chef Tal Ronnen on the New York Times bestseller list.

For some weeks now, Chef Tal Ronnen’s Conscious Cook and actress Alicia Silverstone’s Kind Diet have joined Foer and former model agent Rory Freedman (whose book convinced home run slugger Prince Fielder to adopt a vegan diet) on the list with books that make the case for vegetarian eating. You may recall Ronnen from his appearances on Oprah, which caused Oprah to exclaim, “Wow, wow, wow! I never imagined meatless meals could be so satisfying.”

6. Martha Stewart promotes a vegetarian Thanksgiving.

As my friends at Ecorazzi put it, “Martha Stewart has proved once again why she’s a pioneer in the kitchen. Having someone with as much sway as the famous host show people that the big feast doesn’t have to include meat to be successful is huge. Even better, she took the opportunity to educate her audience on factory farming industry — with help from author Jonathan Safran Foer (of Eating Animals) and filmmaker Robert Kenner (Food, INC.).”

7. Egyptian mummy heart disease in LA Times

I’m not sure it belongs in my top 10 list, but I found it extremely interesting that “CT scans of Egyptian mummies, some as much as 3,500 years old, show evidence of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, which is normally thought of as a disease caused by modern lifestyles…” What on earth could have caused it? I think I know: “The high-status Egyptians ate a diet high in meat from cattle, ducks and geese, all fatty.” If only the ancient Egyptians had the wisdom of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn!

8. Honesty at the Turkey Pardoning

First Obama talks about factory farming and animal rights as a candidate. Then he puts in a garden at the White House. Now he’s adding some honesty to the annual turkey pardoning — talking about the fate of other birds, the fact that it’s a fairly new ceremony, etc.

Might he have celebrated a vegetarian Thanksgiving? The White House isn’t saying, according to Gail Collins of the New York Times in her delightful Thanksgiving Day contemplation of the turkey pardoning. Okay, I’m kidding a bit (could he really get away with having a veggie Thanksgiving, given the power of Agribusiness — as documented in this sad piece on FoodConsumer.org), as was Collins of course, but the honesty at the event is refreshing, and we do have the first president who understands the harms of factory farming and who is taking global warming seriously.

9. Cargill launches dairy-free cheese!

The largest privately held company in the United States (six times the size of McDonald’s) has just launched “a 100 percent non-dairy cheese analogue for pizza and other prepared food applications” that “replicates the functionality of dairy protein and replaces it fully at an outstanding cost advantage for the manufacturer.” According to Cargill, “its appearance, taste and texture perfectly match those of processed cheese” and it “also offers health advantages as it contains reduced calories (less fat and no saturated fats) and… a unique opportunity for vegans to enjoy a product that has the characteristics and taste of cheese but without any animal-derived ingredients.” It’s also Halal and Kosher.

10. Yet another study is exposing the horrid treatment of workers by the all-powerful meat industry.

A recent six-part piece in the Lincoln Journal-Star documents the horrid conditions endured by slaughterhouse workers. Sadly, nothing has changed since Human Rights Watch released their report on the industry, “Blood, Sweat, and Fear,” six years ago. Then and now, researchers have documented “systematic human rights violations embedded in meat and poultry industry employment.” It’s becoming all too obvious that if we care about worker rights, it makes sense to go vegan.

Originally posted at HuffingtonPost.com

No Thanks, Turkey Day

For many of us, Thanksgiving is about indulgence. Around this time of year, I’m usually flying down to visit my parents in Florida, where we prepare a feast and eat much more than we typically would. Thanksgiving, not unlike the other major holidays, has become more about buying certain things assigned to that holiday and subscribing to a ritual that makes us feel good (indulging in the company of friends and family) under the guise of goodwill. And maybe that goodwill isn’t just a guise, but as we all try to act out that famous Norman Rockwell painting, accurate history just doesn’t seem to matter.

Consider what historians have recently discovered – that Spanish-speaking, Catholic settlers dined on bean soup with the Timucua Indians almost a half-century prior to the famed 1621 Plymouth celebration (which incidentally did not have a single factory farmed Turkey at the table – and no cranberry or potatoes). So how is it that 500 years later, this holiday has become a showcase of nothing but Turkey? It is know as “Turkey Day.”

Last Thanksgiving I warned, “It’s Me or the Turkey,” vowing to never again sit at a table where the body of an individual whose existence was thankless is set out on display. A bird whose morbidly engineered body: painfully detoed and debeaked without anesthesia, forced to live in one sq-foot of space, pumped full of drugs and hormones – is somehow turned into the centerpiece of gratitude. An individual whose life is not considered valid. How is it that this abstinence I have asserted is seen as “radical”, yet the processes by which this dead body arrived is not? How is it that talking about the truth of turkey farming is avoided like the plague, yet putting the product of that truth in our mouths is so enthusiastically embraced?

Every year almost 300 million turkeys are slaughtered in the US. Of that, 46 million are specifically killed for Thanksgiving. Having been bred to grow at alarming rates (twice as fast and twice as large as their ancestors, often causing heart attacks), commercial turkeys are slaughtered after only 14-18 weeks. Many of them die of exposure during transport to the slaughterhouse, and when they arrive, many are not properly stunned prior to slaughter. Turkeys and other poultry are specifically excluded from the Humane Slaughter Act, which requires that animals be stunned prior to slaughter. Finally, as the birds who have not been stunned avoid the automated blades slitting their throats, they are often boiled alive in scalding tanks. Even “free-range” turkeys are no better off. In an industry where maximum output and profit are king, it is no surprise that suffering by individuals who fall between the cracks is so easily overlooked. As much as we’d like them to be true, our delusions of these birds having come from peaceful, Utopian farms must be shattered.

Please take a look at these undercover investigations in turkey facilities from our friends at Compassion Over Killing and Peta.

As Johnathan Safran Foer says in Eating Animals, “We can not plead ignorance, only indifference.” Given what we now know about food production and factory farms, where 99% of animal products come from, it’s difficult to rationalize eating turkeys in a symbolic gesture of thankfulness. The scientific community recently re-wrote the book on bird-brains, revealing how incredibly intelligent turkeys and chickens actually are, shaming the community that capitalized on their perceived stupidity. We also know that the environmental consequences of raising animals for food is greater than the entire transportation sector. We know that we don’t need to eat a Turkey any more than a Twinkie, yet the sentimentality of tradition persists, and so many of us purchase the anonymous, plastic-wrapped, frozen body of a creature and gather with our families around it like some sort of shrine that we are entitled to, never giving a second thought to who he or she was, and what his or her perception and experience of this world was like.

Please take a moment to watch the short video I produced for Farm Sanctuary featuring actress Ginnifer Goodwin as she considers this “tradition based on cruelty” while hanging out with some rescued Turkeys at the sanctuary in Orlan, California.

So what’s the alternative? Can Thanksgiving be Thanksgiving without turkey? Here are a couple tips on a conscientious celebration and ideas for a truly thankful holiday:

-Check out my recipe for Pumpkin Pockets with Smoky Seitan, Mushroom Mousse, & Braised Apple, or check out my recipe page for other ideas!
-Try Celebration Roast, Tofurky, or Unturkey as the new centerpiece!

Health: From Our Plates to Our Planet

Photo by Mimi Giboin

It is such an honor to be a voice among the powerful and compassionate individuals in the blog posse. As I share my experiences with you, my hope is that we can grow together (pun intended) and enlighten countless others to join in our “effort” to make this a healthier planet for each and every human being and the millions of creatures, domesticated and wild, with which we share the land, air, and water. The impact of our food choices is profound and we have an opportunity to make a difference.

Bart Potenza, my partner, inspired and shared my passion for nutritious food. From the beginning, we were committed to growing and sharing our knowledge, mission and cuisine. Providence provided the seed money to open Candle Cafe when on Friday the 13th, 1993 we won $53,000 in the New York State Lottery.

I am continuously inspired by miracles and crazy sexy people like Kris Carr and Kathy Freston who show that compassion, veganism and health are truly SEXY. Kathy’s commitment, writings (must reads) and ongoing support inspires and motivates us to raise the vegan bar as she lights the way to conscious living. The Candle Family inspire me daily by bringing their passion, commitment and love to work. I am truly grateful for their continued inspiration and love that keeps the candle burning brightly.

Photos by Rob Branch-Dasch (left) & Mimi Giboin (right)

Food, fresh from farm to table. The Candle’s Mantra since 1993 is now an ideology whose time has come. It is a movement growing in recognition as people begin to understand the benefits and the necessity of eating healthy, seasonal, sustainable foods. Not only is it a commitment, but it is my privilege to offer nutritious options to those that embrace this shift and know that they are “voting with their forks” through the culinary choices.

On these brisk days of late Autumn, I walk the city streets of New York towards Candle to meet Farmer Mark Duneau of Mountain Dell Farm. He greets me with beautiful pumpkins and a vibrant array of fall produce picked overnight and driven down as the sun rises. Wow, how I love the freshness factor and the knowledge that Mark is tending to the land so we can feed you all, body, mind and spirit. His dedication to sustainable farming allows me to share the joy of his farm and the fresh air of the country to my loyal clientele in the city. The tastes of the season are expressed in a salad with multi-colored cauliflower, beets, roasted carrots, and a creamy pumpkin dressing. Straight from the vine, picked less than 24 hours prior, a butternut squash becomes soup, a vitamin-packed love potion…or as I often call it, nectar of the gods!

Holiday-time is near…the time when we gather together, friends and family to prepare and share delicious meals. At Candle Cafe and Candle 79, Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year. The chefs and I are so excited about the organic, plant-based meals we are planning for our guests. Chef Angel’s Pecan-Walnut Crusted Seitan is a compassionate replacement for more traditional Thanksgiving entrees. Chef Jorge’s Apple Cranberry Crumb Pie, well, even Grandma would ask for seconds!

Ironically, our restaurants are so busy that Bart and I eat at home rather than occupy a table. Of course, some of these dishes will definitely hitch a ride back to our place!

We spend the day with family, my favorite part being time spent in the kitchen cooking (and cleaning) with my niece and nephew. Every year there is hesitation and a bit of protest from my nephew that this not a “traditional” Thanksgiving. But year after year, as the brussels sprouts find their way to the cutting board, his anxiety is replaced with anticipation. Yes, brussels sprouts! I have my grandmother’s family recipes written on index cards, and each year I introduce a new one to my niece and nephew, sharing stories about our ancestors. Yes, Aunt Joy and Uncle Bart host a politically correct feast, freeing the bird, and incorporating delicious plant-based dishes that have become our tradition. Ultimately, everyone is satisfied.

In just a few weeks, I will gather around this table to enjoy the bountiful harvest of the season. A sustainable and compassionate celebration that marks our commitment to educating those around us by sharing delicious, nutritious, plant-based cuisine. I’m thankful for people like Farmer Mark who grow the food and take care of the land so that generations to come can enjoy; for my chefs who are inspired to dream up innovative dishes with love and creativity every day; for the Candles’ staff who so graciously welcome and care for our guests; for my family and friends, that through the years have supported Bart and me in this mission, and finally, for our devoted customers…without you, this dream would not be possible.

Food, fresh from farm to table…Enjoy!

Photo by Kate Mathis

Here’s a recipe from Joy and Bart’s Candle Cafe Cookbook. It’s perfect for the holidays!

Maple-Cinnamon Squash Ringlets
Serves 4-6

We are mad for all types of squash. Joy’s mom’s favorite way to prepare squash was to halve and seed butternut squash, rub it with cinnamon, then fill the cavities with chutney just before baking. We like to make something similar with sweet and succulent kabocha squash. They look and taste great as a side with Grilled Tofu and sautéed greens. The squash can also be cooked on the grill, basted with the maple-cinnamon mixture, about 3 minutes per side. Happy eating!

2 kabocha squash
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch crushed pepper
Pinch sea salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. With a sharp paring or vegetable knife, carefully cut the squash into 1-inch circles, then halve into semi-cir-cles Lay them side by side on baking sheet. Whisk the olive oil, maple syrup, cinnamon, pepper and salt together in a small bowl. Brush the oil over the squash rings and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the squash is just tender.

Serve at once.

Hey, Thanks.

This time of year, we hear about being thankful more than ever. Generally speaking, right as all 48 family members sit down to enjoy the Thanksgiving feast is actually not the most appropriate time to have everyone individually ponder why thanks should be given—unless of course you want to be thankful that you managed to survive. But, sometime before the intoxicating aroma of Mom’s phenomenal stuffing and the tantalizing mountains of (dairy-free, duh) mashed potatoes take over your brain function completely, now’s not a bad time to think about thanks.

Sure, you can go the standard route and ponder the people, events, and presences in your life that you’d be lost without. Recognizing the community of family and friends who gather at your table this T-Day is a part of the tradition for a reason: it strengthens and solidifies bonds that often have a tendency to break down in our regular, busy schedules. But there’s something else to think about when we think about thanks this year: non-holidays.

It would be just about impossible to go a full day without having some experience worthy of thanks, but they might not always be the things you expect. Of course, if a stranger holds a door open for you or your best friend happens to bring you flowers or something of that ilk, those are the big-ticket items. But what about the other, not-so-obvious times when saying a simple “thanks” can really make a difference? Whether you go for a very quick “thank you!” or an Elvis-inspired “thank you, thank you very much,” here are a few of my top t.y.v.m. times:

1. In the office. Thanking your colleagues for all their hard work at the end of the day is something I picked up from VegNews’ Associate Publisher, Colleen Holland. A considerate, kind working environment is pretty much worth its weight in gold. When you figure out how to calculate the weight of an environment, call me, and I’ll do the math on how much gold is coming your way.

2. In public. Maybe someone lets you into their lane while driving. Maybe someone lets you go ahead of them at the grocery store, or maybe someone lets you cross the street in front of them while you’re walking your dog. It doesn’t have to be a verbal “thank you” complete with handshake and exchange of phone numbers, but a quick, simple wave can do the trick. Unless you want to get the person’s number, then by all means, ask away.

3. In conversation. Ok, this might seem like the “no sh*t, Sherlock” option, but stick with me here. Yes, of course it’s easiest to say “thanks” when you’re literally speaking with someone already, but the trick is when to do it. Especially for those of us who live a vegan lifestyle, Thanksgiving can be a holiday fraught with overheard conversations about how yummy the animal-derived dishes at the meal are (unless you’re fortunate enough to celebrate a totally vegan T-Day). Nobody likes a Proselytizing Patty, but these conversations really can be a great opportunity to stand up for the animals. If you find yourself in a conversation that turns veg-friendly, don’t forget to thank whomever you’re speaking with for their curiosity about leading a compassionate, vegan life.

Of course, saying thanks is the baseline. You can take it up a notch with fantastic note cards, or go all out and make cookies. Whether you’re vegan or not, the animals will thank you for making vegan cookies, and if you need some inspiration, VegNews just put out our first-ever cookbook, our Holiday Cookie Collection. Maybe we’ve made and eaten more cookies than any non-bakery staff should. However and whomever you thank this season, say it early, and say it often. Oh, and thanks for reading.

Advocacy & Gratitude

Meg Wolff

Over the past 10 years, I’ve become a pretty good advocate for myself. Because of the health challenges I’ve had (I’ve survived bone cancer and breast cancer), I’ve gradually learned to speak up for myself, and push myself harder than I had ever felt comfortable doing before.

That’s why when I recently heard a macrobiotic counselor speak about having gratitude for our hardships, I totally got what he was talking about. I felt it to be my truth because I felt it on a cellular level – my whole body relaxed, and I felt happy to have this truth confirmed. It’s a whole shift in how we look at things, and it’s a freeing shift at that.

“I’m not walking yet and I’ve had three surgeries. And there are so many other amputees on TV who are running, jumping and dancing. I’ve worked so hard and I’m not even walking. I feel so inadequate – I feel like a failure.” That’s how I felt before recently hearing the counselor. He changed my perspective.

For me, it helped to look at my leg situation more as a spiritual journey than as a failure. A journey of continual learning for me (and eventually one that others will learn from, too.) Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not inviting these challenges, but I’m aware that life and hardships can be an opening … that if I shift my attitude, or change the lens that I’m viewing through, I can see that a hardship can be a growing experience. An experience I can even be thankful for.

I can choose to be grateful, regardless. Instead of losing hope (or asking “Why me?”), I’m aware that I can look at my situation and ask, “What am I learning?”

I’m learning the ins and outs of advocacy. How to help myself and how to ask for and get help. I’ve learned over the years how to be my own advocate, to push beyond the easy answers and to seek beyond for the best possible outcome. What did I gain by doing this? A lot! I saved my life. The lesson I’m learning now is that when I’ve gotten as far as I can go being my own advocate, I have to ask for help.

“Find. An. Advocate.” Thank. You. Oprah. (And Maria Shriver!)

On a recent show, Oprah talked about how great she felt at age 50, and then how over the next couple of years her health took a turn for the worse. She didn’t go into too much detail about the health problems she experienced – only mentioning a thyroid problem and the fact that she was on lots of medications. Still, things were getting worse instead of better for her. Her friend and trainer, Bob Greene, remarked that the light had just gone out of her. When Oprah discussed this with her friend, Maria Shriver, Maria said that she’d had a similar situation with her mother, (Eunice Kennedy Shriver), and that she found an advocate to help them. She encouraged Oprah to do the same.

Oprah asked her friend, Dr. Michael Roizen, to be her advocate. He became her team leader, coordinating a meeting between doctors Oprah had seen over a few years. Together, they came up with a plan. Today, Oprah is drug-free and no longer has a thyroid problem.

When I heard her story, I knew that I needed to follow her advice. Like Oprah, I had reached a stone wall. I’m still in this process of changing my perspective, and I’ve decided to write about this experience as I go through it. I’ll use it as a learning tool for myself (and hopefully for others). If you have any thoughts or experience with this process, please feel free to share your successes or suggestions with me.

I’ve come to the conclusion that, as Albert Einstein wrote, “ The consciousness that created the problem is not the same consciousness that is going to solve it,” or something to that effect. Meaning to me: I cannot do this alone anymore, I’m going around in circles, I need some help to get a fresh perspective to help solve this problem of mine.

I’m in the middle of my journey, but I’ve found a doc friend who shares my love of plant-based foods to be my advocate. Basically, he’s helping me to connect to other doctors who have experience with amputees, surgeries, pain, prosthetics and with following amputees after their surgeries to see long-term results. He wasn’t the first person I chose, so don’t be discouraged if you’re turned down at first. My first choice was a woman friend (a doc and an amputee). This seemed the perfect fit, but it turned out that it wasn’t. My doc friend advocate had his own experience with numerous failed surgeries, so could relate to me on this level. His ninth surgery was successful.

How am I doing my part? I’m traveling to amputee support groups to talk with other amputees, and talking to some of their doctors. I’m asking questions of people who have had success and getting names. Then I’m setting up appointments for consultations. I’m gathering information that might help me. I’m finding doctors who are willing to work as a team with other professionals, something I hadn’t found in the past for whatever reason. Maybe I wasn’t looking for it, but I think it’s important for a successful outcome.

Communication. Teamwork. Time. I’m doing my homework in a different way. Not always easy, but necessary. I’ve learned that there aren’t any shortcuts for me. This time, I’m digging in deeper, I’m being grateful for this hardship and I’m enlisting the help of God, myself and my advocate(s).

Meg Wolff is a two-time cancer survivor who teaches people about the vital link between health and a plant-based diet. Meg lives in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, and has a popular blog where she is building a community of people who believe in a healthy lifestyle.  She is the author of Becoming Whole. You can learn more about Meg at www.megwolff.com and www.becoming-whole.com.