So I have been having some very strong fruit cravings the past few weeks.  I make these giant bowls of mixed fruit slads (grapes, apples, strawberries, raspberries, whatever I have on hand) and I throw in a soy yogurt and mix it all up.  There was a week where I basically ate toast with peanut butter for breakfast and then this fruit salad in the late afternoon, and that was it.  Every day.  That's all my body wanted.  And I try to just listen to my body and eat what it wants because I figure that it knows me better than I do.  Is this normal?  Is my body just really excited to have all this wonderful summer fruit?  Am I low on vitamins?  I normally get really fed up of eating the same thing after about two days, but this is going on like four weeks now.  I am back to eating three meals now.  I ahve the fruit salad for breakfast and then a very small lunch and usually a decent dinner.  I'm just not as hungry anymore.  Food just doesn't sound as good as it used to.  I'll feel hungry and I'll sit down to think about what to eat for dinner, but thining about food makes me feel all like I just don't want to eat any of it.  And then i don't feel hungry anymore.  It's very strange.

Any thoughts?

This is great (if what she says is true; I wish she would cite the shoe companies)- the vegan shoes you bought or might think of buying might not be vegan.

http://veganshoelady.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/when-trends-cause-hypocrisy/
Whenever a non-vegan shoe company starts making vegan shoes, I can’t help cheering.

At the same time, part of me twitches nervously.

When non-vegan shoe companies decide to introduce vegan styles, things don’t always go smoothly. There are some common hiccups:( Read on about some cruddy companies and  )

Found this article this morning on AlterNet:

http://www.alternet.org/environment/141134/why_silk_soy_milk's_parent_company_is_throwing_american_farmers_and_consumers_under_the_bus

Why Silk Soy Milk's Parent Company Is Throwing American Farmers and Consumers Under the Bus
By Ari LeVaux, AlterNet. Posted July 9, 2009.
Since Dean Foods acquired Silk it has ditched support of domestic organic farms.

Even as demand for organic food continues to explode, organic farmers in America are getting thrown under the beet cart they helped build.

The Chinese are taking over market share, especially of vegetables and agricultural commodities like soy, thanks to several American-based multinational food corporations that have hijacked the organic bandwagon they only recently jumped onto.

( Rest of article under the cut )

PLEASE REPOST THIS EVERYWHERE YOU CAN - WE CAN NOT STRESS HOW URGENT THE SITUATION IS

Hello all,

As many of you are aware, we are all furiously jumping hurdles, tackling obstacles, and tirelessly working day and night to make sure that the Win Animal Rights presence at the 2009 National Animal Rights Conference is strong, and we are able to reach as many activists and animal lovers as possible. Unfortunately, things never go as planned and there have been unforeseen and unavoidable setbacks that have us now facing real challenges to making the conference a success.

The national Animal Rights Conference is absolutely crucial in WAR's contribution to the struggle for animal liberation, as the funds raised from merchandise sales enable the campaign to charge ahead full steam and the new activists who are reached and inspired spark new life to the cause of ending animal cruelty and exploitation. The conference, and all that it brings to the campaign, is crucial to WAR's survival and the continued fight against the heinous abusers who are hellbent on brutalizing the defenseless and silencing our outrage.

That being said, we've run into financial hurdles that have made very necessary elements for WAR's presence at AR2009 challenging. With all of our best efforts, we are still just not able to bring together enough money to fund everything that is so important to the campaign.

All who struggle for animal rights gladly pay a huge personal toll for bringing justice for the voiceless : we pour our hearts and our souls into the cause, we empty our wallets for campaign materials, we pound the streets week after week until our feet scream in agony, to speak out against the abuse. We face unjust legal repression for having the courage to stand up to the corrupt financial giants of big pharma, the furriers, and factory farmers.

We spend nearly every waking moment driven to action by the images burned in our minds of beagle puppies punched in the face at Huntingdon Life Sciences, animals stomped and skinned alive for their fur, baby calves torn from their mothers to become veal, seals viciously clubbed by barbarians on the ice floes of Canada, geese writhing in agony as they're force fed for foie gras... we push on through every challenge that arises because we can NOT turn our backs on their screams. We are dedicated, we are driven, our cause is just and we will WIN.

Win Animal Rights needs your help today. Today. Not in a few days, not when you get paid next - sacrifice your morning lattes or beer and send that money so WAR can keep fighting animal abuse

Financial donations, small and large, will go miles in making this endeavor a success, providing our campaigners with the vital and necessary outreach tools to reach thousands of activists at the conference, and to continue WAR's contribution to the global campaign to once and for all shut down that hellhole animal death laboratory Huntingdon Life Sciences.

Won't you please make a donation today? We are in desperate need of help and the time for action is NOW.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE SECURELY BY PAYPAL - YOU DO NOT NEED A PAYPAL ACCOUNT TO DONATE

Oh noes, he has no color! Summer (pictured) and Freedom are both doing really well. Freedom actually has a nice buddha-belly going on, while Summer is still filling in his skin. They can no longer be hand-weighed because they are so fat (in a very good calf way).



You can see:
- Summer's very stylish tail here
- Another black and white of Summer here
- Freedom in a field of gold here
- Bonus shot of Olivia the potbellied pig and Matt the rooster here.

It appears my Google-fu has left me.

Do any of you fine people have either: a tried-and-true recipe for vegan tattoo balm OR a website recommendation for such?

So far I'm finding Merry Hempsters chapstick-like balm, but I am looking for something more along the lines of an A&D sub.

Thank you!

a picture from elyse sewell's livejournal,




freedumb indeed.

http://elysesewell.livejournal.com/110519.html

EDIT: I deleted the thing about The Onion newspaper now! I know it was just satire now, thanks guys!

The second thing is a question about an unfortunate thing I witnessed last night. WARNING: Read no further if talk of animals getting hurt upsets you.

( More detail under this cut... )

Theres a great documentary on Netflix instant right now called The Beautiful Truth that I HIGHLY recommend watching. It's done through the eyes of a 15 year old boy from Alaska whose grown up on a wild life rescue farm. He's being homeschooled and he was asked to write an essay on Dr. Gerson (who was a naturalist) so his father takes him across the country to meet Gersons daughter (whose the longest living survivor of  bone tuberculosis; her father healed her when she was a child when majority of people with TB died) and some other family members and then a bunch of survivors that used the Gerson therapy and they also talk about the dental association, the FDA, MSG and aspertane, etc. What's amazing is the base of the Gerson therapy is a VEGAN DIET!  This guy is from WWII era and he realized the power of plants. I'm having all of my family members watch it because it sheds light on the truth behind MSG/Aspertame/genetically modified food/mercury being used in fillings and root canals/chemical companies trying to take hold of the agricultural world,etc. It was amazing to see people that were given a few months to live  that went on the gerson therapy instead of chemo and now have been living for years..it just gives me some hope that there IS an alternative, you dont HAVE to take a pill. I also ordered the book on Amazon (found it for $10 new) that should come today.  what's amazing is there's thousands of people that recieved treatment for Cancer the Gerson way over 50 years ago and are still living today cancer FREE. This doc sheds light that there may be a cure that the medical community doesnt want anyone to know about, and why would they? All of that money that goes into Cancer treatment. THe doc. also goes into how the american cancer society started by Rockefeller is the wealthiest non profit organization and yet is rated as one of the WORST non profit organizations. When it showed the survivor ratings based on different types of cancers most were around .1 to .5 ish. What was a bit frightening was this woman who went to the Mayo Clinic in Florida for cancer treatment and they told her ther was nothing left to do, so she went home and basically was going to get ready to die when she found out about Dr. Gerson's treatment and decided to try that. She's now CANCER FREE. She went back to the Mayo Clinic and her doctor was in shock. She asekd if he'd go on record saying that the Gerson treatment cured her and he said yes bt the Mayo Clinic would not let him and called the police on her and had her escorted out! The doctor ended up quitting the Mayo Clinic so he could practice with less restrictions. Another thing that shocked me was the fact that Mercury's in some fillings and root canals (I've never had either so I'm not too knowledgable on the subject). One dentist was saying how the ADA tried to pull his license because he refused to preform those types of fillings b/c he realized how dangerous it was for himself, his staff and his patients. He also wrote a book about it and then he started recieving threats and they tried to take everything away from him. He also said how whether or not dentists believe the mercury is safe doesn't matter because they're told to tell patients it is.

Just wanted to give this recommendation since i ts base is an organic vegan diet. And for anyone that's seen it, what'd you think about it?

This is pretty disgusting.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2008/05/lobster-claw-game-at-convenience-stores.html

What is wrong with people?

EDIT: For those who don't like clicking on links. It is one of those machines that you can grab stuffed animals, except you grab live lobsters at a restaurant. I didn't read it in detail enough to find out of the restaurant will cook them for you or if you bring them home, but either way it is grosstown.

I will be up near Assonet, MA for a wedding in 2 weekends and was looking for suggestions. I Happy Cow'd the area and it seems most of my options are actually in Providence, RI.

anyone have any experiences with the following places:

Garden Grille Cafe, Nice Slice or Louis Restaurant?

How did you get into it? Did you go to college and major in something non-cooking related, but ended up helping you out? Did you go to a culinary school/classes? Were you required to work with non-vegan ingredients? What environment do you work in (restaurant, cafe, etc)?
+ anything else! I've been thinking about it a lot.

So I just got my yearly lipid panel done and while my bad cholesterol levels are now down (it was 265+ last time, wtf), my doctor is concerned because my GOOD cholesterol went and took a nose dive with it.

The only recommendation I can find online for increasing my HDL cholesterol is to, "exercise, lose weight and quit smoking." These are not adequate to my needs! I am very physically active, maintain a careful vegan/low processed diet and certainly do not smoke.

To the other wonky cholesterol vegans in this group: suggestions?

Thanks!

I've seen lots of questions lately about inexpensive vegan sunscreen and whether or not sunscreen can get an SPF rating without animal testing.  I'm always on the lookout for something good myself, so I was very excited to find a tutorial for making your own, including a chart on how much of the active ingredient to use in order to get specific SPF protection. 

http://www.instructables.com/id/Homemade-Sunscreen/

I can't post the text of the entire tutorial, but there is this helpful hint in there:

If you want your sunscreen NOW, and you don't want to mess around with making your own lotion, just buy your favorite lotion from the store, and add your zinc oxide or titanium dioxide to that!
This means you can make sunscreen that's sensitive enough to use on delicate skin, or is already your favorite scent or creaminess.

• 8oz lotion
• Zinc oxide or titanium dioxide (see shopping link above) - follow chart below for appropriate portions, and following the remaining directions

That would put the price of vegan sunscreen at the cost of the active ingredients + price of the cheapest vegan lotion you can find.  The full instructions include making your own (vegan) lotion.  The directions seem a bit tedious (gloves and mask?!), but I'm willing to try it for the sake of knowing for sure that my product is cruelty free. 

Please guys, help save Stu, a non-aggressive dog being held by Los Angeled animal services for 4 years. They plan to kill him in two and a half weeks.

7/5/09: UPDATE - Stu Dies July 23. Stop Them. Act Before 7/13/09.


Kinship Circle's 6/18 Stu alert asked you to flood Los Angeles offices with
pleas for the dog's life. Now, a 6/23/09 court decision leaves Stu with a
July 23 execution date -- despite testimony from acclaimed animal experts
that Stu poses no threat to humans.( Read more... )

x-posted

Hey all,
Just wondering if anyone from this comm was going to be attending this conference: www.mindinganimals.com/
I realise this is probably a long shot, but I thought I might throw it out there anyways. This conference is happening on my local university campus and if anyone at all from here is attending, please hit me up in comments or private message if you'd like to meet for coffee or whatever while you're in town. Otherwise, feel free to read the conference programme and WEEP my friends. lolz.

Peter Singer AND Carol Adams both presenting (among many other lovely peeps).

=)

I'm starting a new cruelty free website that will include interviews, recommendations and more. Although I only bought the domain name yesterday (took me a while to think of a name that hadn't already been taken! All the best ones have been bought already!) I'm planning on hopefully getting the first incarnation of the site up within the next couple of weeks. I'm interested in getting in touch with anyone who is involved in a vegan company of any sort, organisation, a vegan/vegetarian musician, anyone who has any vegan products they may want to be recommended etc, etc.

The website will be called Save A Scream (and will be found at SaveAScream.com) - the concept for the name being that I hope to inspire people to save a scream - the scream being that of an animal being either murdered for food or fur or other product, tortured in a laboratory etc. If I can help save a scream and convince others to try the vegan lifestyle or to be more considerate to animals that would be awesome.

If anyone has recommendations of who to feature on the site feel free to post a reply - or if as I said you have a product or are involved yourself in an enterprise, get in touch. I'm open to suggestions.

Hello~
I'm Sylvia, 18 years old, and currently living in Wisconsin, more specifically the Milwaukee area.
I'm mostly looking for like-minded people to chat with and make friends.
I was also intrested in finding out about the A.R. scene in the area?
Is there even one?
I'm really interested in activism, I just don't know where to start.
It would be awesome if there was already a group or something set up.

If anyone has any info or just wants to chat (even if you're not from my area!) feel free to message me.


x-posted.

Hey everyone! Ive been in this community for quite a while (maybe youve seen my comments every now and then). Ive never posted an entry until now, but Im kinda freaking out.

While walking to the grocery store with my boyfriend yesterday, he suddenly said he hadnt seen the neighbors puppies in a few days (they had/have 3 puppies and 2 older dogs). He then explained to me that the other night while I was visiting family, he heard the puppies barking in the middle of the night, one of the neighbors go outside and 3 heartbreaking yelps, one by one, until all the puppies were quiet. Since then, no sound from them.

Of course, that freaked me out, but I dont have a way of proving the neighbors were abusing them. I just have Wayne's word.

About 15 minutes ago, I took my beagle outside and was cuddling with him. I hear the female neighbor in her backyard along with the older dog who is barking. I hear a muffled stomping sound and a yelp. The dog's quiet for a while, until it barks one more time. The lady says something in Spanish with an angry tone that anyone would interpret as rage and I hear another horrible yelp, even worse than the first. At this point, Max (my beagle) who is sitting on my lap, jumps off towards the fence separating us from them, barks and starts growling. I pretty much yelled, "Yeah Max, thats how I feel about people abusing their pets too!" I heard a "Hmmm" and then a door close.

Is there anything I can do? I got a chair to peek over the fence with to see if I could find any evidence of whatever happened, but I cant see anything. Could it be nothing?? Im trembling in frustration and anger right now >_<

I've asked a question similar to this one, regarding cosmetic items, and now I'm curious to know what people's thoughts are, when it comes to something edible.

If you bought a product and you thought it was vegan, but then you found out it contains non-vegan ingredients, but you already bought it...would you simply finnish it, since it's already been purchased, or would you throw it away? it's the option of...do i waste food for the sake of being vegan, or do i sacrifice veganism for the sake of making use of what's already there?

(EDIT:) the product has already been opened, there's no way to return it, so that wouldn't be an option.

also: thanks to everyone for the great feedback on whipped cream! sounds like its worth a try - i'm going to get some tomorrow and try it with some fresh fruit, mmm. =)

Hey so before I became vegan I ate ranch all the time, hidden valley brand. Does anyone know of a vegan recipe or brand that tastes similar? Thanks :)

I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR A SOY FREE, AVOCADO FREE RAW VEGAN CHOCOLATE MOUSSE RECIPE!

I HAD SOME JUST NOW THAT I GOT AT THE CO-OP AND WOULD LOVE TO MAKE IT MYSELF!
ingredients: fresh, young coconut milk; virgin coconut oil; dates; raw cacao

what are everyone's favourite vegan treats to accompany their cup of coffee or tea? i prefer soft-baked, rather than crunchy.

Also, just curious to know - has anyone tried soy whipped cream? I saw this product the other day at Whole Foods and considered getting it, but wanted to hear if others had experiences with it.

I'm moving to Clemson, SC in a month, and can't find any vegan groups, really vegan-friendly eateries (i.e., more than a salad), etc in the area through Google.

Greenville (45 minutes away) has several places, but that's a bit of a haul. Anyone on here live near Clemson and have any recommendations?

I'm trying to incorporate more dark leafy greens into my diet.
What are your favorites?
Delicious ways to prepare them?

x-posted.

Any suggestions on places with vegan options within walking distance of the Convention Center in downtown LA? From a quick Google+Yelp search, it looked like the only places in walking distance were Shojin, Tiara Cafe, and Tierre Cafe -- is there anything else?

I'm going to be heading to Otakon 2009 with two of my friends. I have no idea what the eating arrangements will be as the website was of no help, but does anyone know if they do serve food and if it's possibly vegan? It's hinted that they serve food but it just seems pretty unclear to me.

Also, we maybe going out to eat. Is there any good recommendations of a vegan restaurants/veg friendly in the downtown area we could go to? My two friends are omnis, one is not so picky and open to trying new things and the other..well he eats nothing but spaghetti with meatballs and chicken tenders. I'm not so worried about the former as I am the latter.

Do any of you go through periods of 'revival' in your ethics? I find I go through periods of feeling pretty quiet, and not too active - especially if there's a lot going on in my life - then suddenly I'll have an upswing and burst into much more activity/conversations on the topic of AR.

If you do experience this, what triggers it for you? I'm curious.

So I won Eastern Maine Idol here in Maine and am being flown down to audition for one of the producers of American Idol! Who knows; first vegan Idol might happen? I have auditioned many times before but I think this time I have a slightly better chance. Anyway, I looked up Orlando vegan restaurants, but I was wondering if anyone had any particular recommendations for which ones are best?

I'm heading to NYC in August to visit friends, and I'd like to take a fairly substantial British food parcel over there with me to say thank you for letting me stay. Trouble is, I'm having a bit of a mental block when it comes to ideas of what to take, and all they can offer for inspiration is "STARBURST!!" :P So, USA vegans who have visited the UK, which (if any) British vegan foods would you appreciate being brought over for you? And any British expats, can you think of any British vegan food that you miss?

Thanks in advance! :)