Thanksgiving Thoughts

I spent Thanksgiving 2009 at a vegan potluck. It was great!

Mentioned in the video:
Tofurkey - http://www.tofurky.com/
Celebration Roast (by Field Roast) - http://www.fieldroast.com/
Seitan - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seitan

Find a vegan potluck near you:
http://vegan.meetup.com/

Turkey info: http://eatinganimals.com/site/turkey/

Want vegan holiday recipes? Here are some links:
http://www.vegansoapbox.com/thanksgiv...
http://www.vegansoapbox.com/four-veg-...

THANK YOU FOR WATCHING!

PS - Are you vegan or vegetarian? Please make videos. Talk about what you like to eat, where you go out to eat, why you don't eat animals, how to cook, etc.

Health Benefits of Veganism

the best part is at the end

Here come the links...
ADA statement about veganism: http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/...
Vegan Food Pyramid: http://www.veganfoodpyramid.com/
Plant Based Nutrition: http://www.plantbasednutrition.org/pl...
Vegan Health: http://www.veganhealth.org/

How Vegan?
http://www.tryveg.com/ guide and recipes
http://www.vegkit.org/ how-to guide
http://www.goveg.com/ veg starter kit and more
http://www.chooseveg.com/ recipes and information

THANKS FOR WATCHING!

Taste Preferences - why bacon tastes "good"

If you think bacon tastes good, that probably says more about you than about the taste of dead pigs.

Biases in taste (orange juice and sausages): http://www.livescience.com/health/080...

Pork production: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDiSR0...

Boar taint: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boar_taint
Animal agriculture research on "boar taint": http://aasp.org/shap/issues/v5n4/v5n4...

Slaves to the taste of bacon (would we tolerate cruelty for any other kind of preference? why do we tolerate it in the name of taste?):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/ma...
http://www.vegansoapbox.com/larry-kin...

Oppression (sexism & speciesism): http://www.vegansoapbox.com/if-it-loo...

Ready to go vegan? Get recipes here:
http://www.vegansoapbox.com/recipes/

THANK YOU FOR WATCHING!

Eating Animals

Vegan Soapbox: http://vegansoapbox.com/

Eating Animals: http://eatinganimals.com/ and http://www.youtube.com/user/eatingani...

The demand for "humane meat" already exceeds the supply.

Thus, even from an animal welfarist's perspective or environmentalist's perspective, there is no need for a larger demand for so-called "humane" products. Right now, what we can all agree on is that there is a need for less demand for ALL animal products. That is the ONLY way we'll get close to preventing climate change, reducing human health threats, and improving animal welfare.

STOP EATING ANIMALS!

A quote from Bruce Friedrich's essay as it appears in the book, Eating Animals, on page 214:

The decision to eat any meat at all (even if the meat is from producers that are less abusive) will cause others you know to eat factory-farmed meat where they might otherwise not have. What does it say that the leaders of the ethical meat charge, like my friends Eric Schlosser and Michael Pollan and even the Niman Ranch farmers, regularly pull money out of their pockets and send it off to the factory farms? To me, it say s that the ethical carnivore is a failed idea; even the most prominent advocates don't do it full-time. I have met countless people who were moved by Eric's and Michael's arguments, but none of them now eat exclusively Niman-type meat. They are either vegetarians or they continue to eat at least some factory-farmed animals.

Jonathan Safran Foer's own words on page 256-257:

We shouldn't kid ourselves about the number of ethical eating options available to most of us. There isn't enough nonfactory chicken produced in America to feed the population of Staten Island and not enough nonfactory pork to serve New York City, let alone the country. Ethical meat is a promissory note, not a reality. Any ethical-meat advocate who is serious is going to be eating a lot of vegetarian fare.
A good number of people seem to be tempted to continue supporting factory farms while also buying meat outside that system when it is available. That's nice. But if it is as far as our moral imaginations can stretch, then its hard to be optimistic about the future. Any plan that involves funneling money to the factory farm wont end factory farming.

My words: Regardless of where you stand on animal rights or animal welfare, the reality of the current systems of animal agriculture DEMAND veganism. Do it for the animals, do it for the planet, do it for human health, or do it for any reason whatsoever just go vegan!

More inspiration:
http://veganvideo.org/
http://meat.org/

Thank you for watching.

Beef. Dairy. Veal.

Beef. Dairy. Veal.
A recipe for cruelty.

Go vegan: http://veganvideo.org/

Inspired by Bea's blog post:
http://beaelliott.blogspot.com/2009/1...

Resources for info about beef, dairy, and veal production:
http://farmsanctuary.org/issues/facto...
http://www.idausa.org/facts/factoryfa...
http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/c...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factory_...

Resources for health information:
http://www.saveantibiotics.org/
http://www.veganhealth.org/
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/

Books I recommend:
Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer
Diet for a New America by John Robbins
The China Study by Campbell T. Colin

My vlog website:
http://kangarooelaine.blogspot.com/

My other vegan website:
http://www.vegansoapbox.com/

Are you vegan? Please make videos. Make any kind of video that represents your idea of veganism. Speak up and make a difference!

THANKS FOR WATCHING!!!

First, do no harm.

Primum non nocere...
First, do no harm.

The ethical argument against animal testing:
a) it's wrong to be unnecessarily cruel, animal testing is unnecessarily cruel
b) animals have rights, animal testing violates those rights

The scientific argument against animal experimentation:
a) animals and humans are different,
b) animal experimentation artificially sickens or injures healthy animals, which can influence the experiment,
c) better alternatives exist, such as tests on human cells,
d) science and medicine must first do no harm.

Resources:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfr...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_Pn0l...
http://www.vegansoapbox.com/topics/vi...
http://www.vivisectioninfo.org/
http://www.navs.org/
http://www.aavs.org/
http://www.neavs.org/
http://www.all-creatures.org/saen/res...
http://www.nocompromise.org/issues/15...
http://www.primatelabs.com/labs.php
http://www.stopanimalpatents.org/
http://www.ohsukillsprimates.com/CAAT...

THANKS FOR WATCHING!

How I Went Vegan - first draft

http://www.worldveganday.info/

This is my first draft of my vegan story video. I will post another one on Nov. 1st, 2009.

Basically, my story timeline is this:
age 6: went vegetarian/ pescetarian
age 8: went vegetarian for real
age 13: went vegan
age 14: went back to lacto-ovo vegetarian
age 30/31: went vegan
age 33 (now): went vlogging!

THANKS FOR WATCHING

3 Vegan Activism Resources

Three Methods... do one or all three!

1. World Vegan Day
Speak up for animals by telling your vegan story on Nov 1, 2009.
Details: http://www.worldveganday.info/

2. VegFund
This nonprofit reimburses you for vegan outreach.
http://www.vegfund.org/

3. The Vegas Billboard Project
Please donate to help us get compassionate billboards in Vegas.
Learn more here: http://www.vegasveg.com/billboard-pro...
Please, please, please donate today!

Other stuff...
Vegas Veg: http://www.vegasveg.com/
Mercy For Animals: http://www.mercyforanimals.org/
Choose Veg: http://www.chooseveg.com/
VegNews Magazine: http://vegnews.com/

THANK YOU FOR WATCHING

Ten Tips for Vegetarians (and Vegans)

http://www.mypyramid.gov/downloads/TenTips/VegetarianTipsheet.pdf

This is a video about the USDA's tip sheet for vegetarians, found at the link above.

Specific tips include:
1. Protein - "your protein needs can easily be met by eating a variety of plant-based foods." Sources: beans, nuts, peas, and soy
2. Calcium sources: fortified foods & dar leafy vegetables
3. Make simple changes like bean burritos instead of beef, vegetable lasagna instead of meaty lasagna...
4. BBQ - veggie burgers, veggie hot dogs, and veggie kabobs
5. Beans and Peas - everyone should eat them, not just vegetarians
6. Try the veggie sausages, patties, burgers, etc. They're usually lower in saturated fat and they don't have cholesterol.
7. restaurants - ask for substitutions
8. nuts for snacks and salads - "add walnuts or pecans to a green salad instead of cheese or meat."
9. Vitamin E sources: sunflower seeds, almonds, hazelnuts
10. choose fats wisely - walnuts and flax seeds for omega 3s

Meat-Free BBQ Pulled Shreds

The brand is Gardein: http://www.gardein.com/
The product is BBQ pulled shreds: http://www.gardein.com/products.php?p=8

I also have tried and like these products of theirs:
Santa Fe Good Stuff: http://www.gardein.com/products.php?p=7
BBQ Skewers: http://www.gardein.com/products.php?p=9
and
Chick'n Strips: http://www.gardein.com/products.php?p=13
(But the strips I like in salads with dressing because they're a tad bland by themselves.)

OMG... I ate that whole plate... I have to take a nap now.