Here at Farm Sanctuary, we rescue and protect farm animals from cruelty, inspire change in the way society views and treats farm animals, and promote compassionate vegan living. Over this past weekend, I attended our annual Celebration FOR the Turkeys events at our Orland, Calif., and Watkins Glen, N.Y., shelters, where we provide lifelong sanctuary for nearly 1,000 rescued farm animals, including dozens of turkeys who have been rescued from factory farms.
Our Celebration FOR the Turkeys events were started in 1986. These are fun, light-hearted gatherings, yet they also serve a more serious purpose—they encourage people begin kinder traditions that are an expression of gratitude and compassion toward all living creatures.
Thanksgiving is a cherished, family oriented time we all enjoy. But, at the center of this holiday is a turkey – a living individual who goes unacknowledged from birth to death and is treated as a mere commodity in our food system. Each year, nearly 300 million turkeys are raised and slaughtered in the United States, including almost 50 million for the Thanksgiving holiday alone. The vast majority of turkeys are raised on factory farms and their lives are merciless and short.
Turkeys are crammed by the thousands into windowless sheds and denied basic humane consideration. Each turkey is typically allotted only 3 square feet of space, making natural behaviors nearly impossible. As you can imagine, in such crowded conditions the turkeys become stressed, and fighting is common. To limit their capacity to injure each other, parts of turkeys’ beaks and toes are routinely amputated without anesthesia, making it difficult for the birds to eat and walk. Injured or sick birds typically don’t receive medical care, as it is more cost-effective for agribusiness to accept the loss of a certain number of birds rather than providing them with appropriate attention. They are, however, regularly fed a diet of antibiotics, which provides some protection from infection and helps them to grow quickly—larger birds mean more meat and more meat means more money. The cruelty continues during transport and slaughter and then they reach the grocery store shelves.
When people attend one of our Celebration FOR the Turkeys events, the turkeys are our honored guests. The birds are served an elaborate meal, which includes many of their favorite foods: squash, cranberries, pumpkin and more. At these events, people truly have a chance to meet and experience turkeys as emotional, intelligent individuals. Whenever we have an opportunity to get to know animals—be they cats, dogs, turkeys or other farm animals—it becomes clear that each one has a personality all his or her own and a great joy and will to live.
These events symbolize for us that the cruelty inherent in factory farming does not have to exist. We can easily forge new traditions. Traditions that are equally enjoyable and family oriented, and express our gratitude with compassion and kindness. Here, we acknowledge other living creatures and celebrate life.
The holiday season can be very jolly, merry and all that uplifting jazz. It can also make you want to drink whiskey like a friggin’ sailor! Family gatherings (when Aunt Bessie doesn’t talk to Uncle Jack – possibly because she screwed his brother), 5,000 office parties (frequented by people who tell you how great you are then steal your ideas) and big shopping lists on small budgets (aren’t there enough snow globes and gloves in the world?) can leave you wanting to put a mob hit on Santa. Am I being too Scroogie or can you relate?
Several of our stellar bloggers have given us tools for getting through the next few weeks. I wish I could add more wisdom to the pot. Truth is, I’m learning from them! I too get wigged out from mid-December through about January 3rd.
This year, it’s even more fabulous/freaky-deeky because I leave for a four-week book tour on January 16th. Psst, I’ll be sharing more on all things Crazy Sexy Diet this Friday. Between us, I’ve been dying to tawk about my new book, but have had a strict gag order to keep my mouth shut till the official launch. Though my baby is in stores now, she’s waiting for a good home during the New Year, New You push. Ya know, the “crap, I have to get my shit together, and I really wanna feel better, look better, be better in 2011″ shoppers. So if you haven’t bought Crazy Sexy Diet already, WAIT till the week of January 16! More on that soon … I digress.
So, since I’ve come clean and fessed up that I too get caught up in the ho ho holiday stress, here’s my way of dealing with anxiety: funny videos on You Tube!
Here are a few of my current giggle releases du jour. I swear they get me every time. Just yesterday I was getting cranky about work, and the kitty video put me right in my place. I hate it when I take life too seriously!
If any of these offend you in any way, please forgive moi!
Do you have any funny videos you’d like to share? I’m sure we could all use a laugh and possibly even share them around a fire this holiday season.
P.S. There were some REALLY inappropriate ones I wanted to share with you, but my team thought we’d lose half our readership if I had my way!
1. Don’t Overcommit. Many people overcommit, try to please everyone, rush around and do too much. Sort of like too much total load. So decrease your load and enjoy the fewer commitments you make.
2. Stay Present, or Be in the Moment. The more you are in the moment with awareness, the less you are caught up in your mind and all the things you still have to do or haven’t done yet. Be aware of your breathing. If it becomes short and shallow, you know you are getting anxious. Stop what you are doing and take a breathing break. You will enjoy the time much more.
3. Take Breathing Breaks. Whenever you get a chance, take breathing breaks – not only when you feel yourself getting anxious. Make the time for them, even if it is only 5 minutes at a time; it will re-invigorate you. You can do it anywhere, just find a quiet spot. It will get you back into the present and out of your head and will help you let go of worries and tension.
4. Do Some Restorative Yoga. When you get home in the evening, do a restorative yoga pose for 15 minutes to rejuvenate you. Or do a restorative yoga pose if you feel the need during the day to help recharge your energy. It really does restore you.
5. Use Those Tennis Balls. After running around all day, do the ultimate foot massage and feel the relief in your feet. Or do the neck and shoulder release with tennis balls to let go of some tension there.
6. Move. Try walking as much as you can. Take your dog for a walk. Take a walk with a family member or friend and combine walking with connecting. If the weather prevents walking outdoors, combine a shopping trip with your exercise. Indoor malls are great places to walk. Get there early before the crowds get too heavy. If you are driving to a store, park at the opposite end of the parking lot and walk to the store. When you are home, if you are up to it, turn the music up and dance.
7. Have Your Smoothie in the Morning. The more you fill yourself with good nutrients in the morning (with good protein, fat and phytonutrients), the less space and craving you will have for junk food.
8. Fill Up with Vegetables. If you are at a party with a lot of tempting food, try to start with healthy vegetables and salads. These will fill you up and reduce the temptation to overindulge on the junk. Just a taste of your holiday favorites should satisfy your taste buds. The worst thing you can do is start your meal or eating with sugary snacks or junk food.
9. Don’t Overindulge. Alcohol in moderation, cake and cookies in moderation, sweets in moderation.
11. Be Thankful. It is always good to put things in perspective and realize how lucky you are that your basic needs are being met and that you are actually able to celebrate the way you can. Add up all the things you are grateful for: family, friends, loved ones, the fact that you can celebrate, etc. It will put you in a good mood.
12. Get Good Sleep. Holiday celebrations can often disrupt regular sleep patterns. Try to get to sleep at the same time every night. Avoid heavy foods, sugary sweets and alcohol before bedtime as these can disturb your sleep.
13. Have Fun, Laugh and Commit to Enjoying the Holidays.
14. Give in a Way that Gives You Joy, Instead of Out of Obligation.
15. Practice Ubuntu, which is a Xhosa concept that means: “I am because you are.” As Bishop Tutu says, “My humanity is caught up in your humanity, and when your humanity is enhanced mine is enhanced as well.”
Here’s another holiday gift idea from Gabrielle Bernstein!
One aerobic workout ignites my inner light like no other. It’s called IntenSati. Founded by fitness guru Patricia Moreno, this workout is a combination of a hardcore cardio dance workout and positive affirmations. “Inten” means intention and “Sati” means mindfulness. IntenSati is designed to ignite the fire that lives deep inside you – also known as your inspiration or, as I like to say, your ~ing! The combination of powerful movements and positive affirmations creates miraculous shifts in your core and blasts your inner light through you. If I’m ever in a foul mood or over-thinking a problem, I can hop into an intenSati class and my whole mindset shifts within an hour. The beauty is that it’s accessible to you at home via Patricia’s numerous DVDs, which you can buy at http://www.satilife.com/
You can check out more of my favorite things here!
Holiday traditions are deep and rich enough to be considered articles of faith. They transcend physical experiences, often creating memories that grow beyond the proportion of the actual occasions being remembered.
I embrace this phenomenon at will, choosing the traditions that I will keep active and the memories I will nurture into legend. This creative myth-making offers a lot of room for new ideas, but there is one thing that I don’t have to invent: my connection to food.
My family’s food heritage runs deep. I have direct experience with four generations of growers and preservers, and I know it goes back further than that. It should be a surprise to no one that I’m working as a chef these days.
As I prepare for the upcoming holidays, I find myself taking inventory of the foods that I’ve enjoyed almost my entire life: pecans, corn, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, greens, chiles.
These foods were on display, in one form or another, at so many family holiday gatherings. Pecan pies were de rigueur and celebrated, with the nuts often coming from my great-uncle’s trees in Navarro County, Texas. Gardens, usually dormant by November, still offered their bounty through the miracle of food preservation.
Thanksgiving dinner was a monstrous affair: a potluck invasion of my great-grandmother’s home, with no room for even one more dish. The dining table provided no room for our sizable extended family to sit, so the house became a labyrinth of card tables. Dominoes clattered above the chatter, then reluctantly yielded to dinner.
There was no convocation significant enough for me to remember, and only a simple prayer of thanks was offered by one of the several patriarchs. After the “amen” we lined up as if we were boarding a plane: women with small children first, then the elders, on down to the youthful and unruly.
As I mark time and changes this Thanksgiving, I wish to nurture these memories into present and future lore. The joy contained in them is sufficient for sustaining faith in the family bond. The associated traditions are still dear to me, as I love to delight others with my food, and I work to be at home during the holidays.
Faith would be nothing without a bit of iconoclasm, however, so I deviate as I recreate. Now all my food is plant-based, markedly animal-free. No animal is sacrificed as I give thanks. They might not be aware of my actions, but perhaps somewhere one life was spared because of my choice. That’s another reason to give thanks.
Being “home for the holidays” is still important for me. But since I’ve lived so far from home most of my adult life, I frequently spend the holidays in my own dwelling. I use the day for quiet and purposeful reclusion. It has become a very personal tradition that I work hard to preserve, and for which I ask the indulgence of family and friends.
Thankfulness is paramount, however. My giving of thanks runs through my daily existence, but I offer focused appreciation on Thanksgiving for many things: the peaceful presence of my family in my life, a simple and compact existence, the loving and supportive people that have befriended me, and the many other good people that I know. Above it all, there are the ever-appearing lessons of life.
Just as inflexibility can kill one’s faith, traditions will die if they do not progress. In this spirit, I offer up these ideas for your holiday meal. Perhaps we can share them virtually while offering up universal thanks.
SPROUTED QUINOA WITH TAMARIND
-4 tablespoons tamarind paste
-2 teaspoons lime juice
-1/2 cup raisins
-1/2 teaspoon ginger, grated
-1/8 teaspoon sea salt
-3 cups quinoa, sprouted
Mix vigorously the tamarind paste and lime juice, making sure there are no lumps. Add the raisins, ginger, and sea salt, mixing well.
Add the quinoa and mix well.
Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Note: You can substitute cooked quinoa for the sprouted quinoa.
WINTER SQUASH TART
-3 pounds butternut, acorn or other winter squash
-olive oil
-sage, dried
-8 ounces firm tofu
-1 cup coconut milk
-1 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/2 teaspoon mace or nutmeg
-1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
-1/2 teaspoon onion powder
-1/4 teaspoon white pepper
-1 teaspoon sea salt
-One 10-inch tart shell
-Maple Currant Glaze (see recipe below)
Preheat oven to 450° F.
Cut squash in half and scoop out seeds. Coat lightly with oil and dried sage. Roast for 45 minutes or until soft.
Reduce oven to 375° F.
Scoop squash out of peel. Place into food processor with tofu, coconut milk, cinnamon, mace or nutmeg, garlic powder, onion
powder, white pepper, and salt. Process until very smooth.
Fill tart shell with squash and smooth the top.
Spread Maple Currant Glaze evenly over the squash filling.
Bake at 375° F for 30 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.
MAPLE CURRANT GLAZE
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup currants
1/2 cup water
Warm the olive oil in a sauté pan over low flame. Add the diced onion and sauté gently until clear. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, place the maple syrup, currants and water. Simmer for 15 minutes. Blend.
