Inside the Mind of a Vegan

Will Tuttle brings World Peace Diet to Sarasota

2009-03-24T20:14:00.006-04:00

This past Saturday at Veggie Magic/Vibe Cuisine, author, pianist, and Zen monk Will Tuttle gave an enlightening address to a group of 40 local residents. The talk centered around the spiritual connections humans regularly and systematically suppress simply to follow misguided cultural habits. He explained how, especially in the United States , from an early age most of us are taught to minimize our capacity for compassion. As part of this we are conditioned to separate our feelings in two. On the one hand we exhibit love and caring for our family and companion animals. On the other hand we repress feelings about the suffering that 75 million ‘farm’ animals go through every day in the US alone.

He illustrated the irony that indoctrinated people will exhibit when faced with the harsh realities of animal agriculture. Feeling threatened by knowledge, many people will feign oppression and say “Don’t tell me what to eat.” When in fact, they have been forced into a system of eating exactly what society has ordered them to, with no regard to personal choice based on facts. Another example I’ve heard when exposing people to new foods, which often seem exotic to them, is “I won’t eat that, I don’t know what’s in it.” When turned on it’s head this statement is void of basis, for the majority of people are ignorant of what is “really” in their food.

He illustrated several aspects and some telling statistics with regard to animal agriculture. Chief among these was the concept that “Animal agriculture is a system that maximizes environmental destruction, health problems, and contributes heavily to cultural violence.”
Also, he pointed out that of all the land used for agriculture over 85% of it is used to grow animal feed in the form of corn, soy, hay, and wheat. Less than 4% is used to grow fresh produce, fruits, and nuts for human consumption.

One of the main themes of this dialogue was that ’Change has to come from us, not to us.’ In describing the transformation of deeply entrenched habits that we all have, I’ll relay one more analogy that Will shared with the group. – It’s like a rocket ship which expends 80-90% of its fuel just to break the gravitational pull of the earth. Once it’s up there, it can maneuver and sustain its mission on that sliver of fuel. – So it is with habits. Most of the work is in that initial thrust, which requires solid commitment to our highest principles and values. Once we form new patterns of thought and shed the mentality of exclusion we are able to act in ways that are more non-violent, live lighter on the planet, and move forward recognizing opportunities for being more connected to the wonderful world that sustains us.

We highly recommend Dr. Tuttle’s book ‘The World Peace Diet Eating For Spiritual Health And Social Harmony’. Also, visit his website http://worldpeacediet.org/ and sign up for a daily inspiration. There you will also find links to his myspace, facebook, and twitter pages. While there, you can also easily pass a message to the White House encouraging president Obama to read the copy of Dr. Tuttle’s book that was placed in his hands just before the inauguration.

To see the rest of the photos please visit the VegSarasota.com meetup group. Thanks to Veggie Magic/Vibe Cuisine for hosting and to VMB Graphics for the photos.

Awesome Vegan 'Sheese' now in Sarasota

2009-02-12T12:45:00.003-05:00

Vegsarasota just got an email from a fellow vegan at Whole Foods Sarasota. They have a shipment of Sheese! This is HUGE. Ever since we discovered this cruelty free option we have been trying to get our hands on more. Occasionally we will come across a few blocks here and there, but now it will be for sale, we are told starting Friday, in our local Whole Foods. This is the kind of product you can eat right out of the package on crackers and it has a deep rich flavor. Along with the Follow Your Heart line which we like for melting on pizzas and other italian dishes, the Sheese is the best vegan cheese we've ever had.

We're excited, because as the Sheese website says:
One of the most common reasons given for not giving up dairy produce used to be that there wasn’t an acceptable dairy-free alternative to cheese, that really tasted of cheese.

So go snag some of this stuff for an at-home taste test and then let Whole Foods know that you liked it!

Hopefully this will give just one more really tasty reason to give up the cruelty and cholesterol laden dairy cheese that many have a hard time doing without.

Vote for Vegan School Lunches Now!

2009-01-14T20:06:00.002-05:00

Please add your voice right now by following this link and promoting healthy, cruelty free options for our nations children.

http://www.change.org/ideas/view/vegan_school_lunch_options

Healthful school lunch options

Require USDA to facilitate healthful plant-based (vegan) school lunch options to promote public health, freedom from hunger, environmental quality, nonviolence, and kindness to animals.

The Problem

Under the mandate from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National School Lunch Program, school cafeterias routinely serve highly processed meals laden with saturated fat, cholesterol, hormones, and salt. Common entrees include chicken nuggets, pizza, cheeseburgers, and hot dogs. This diet flouts U.S. Dietary Guidelines and promotes obesity, diabetes, hypertension, other chronic conditions, and food poisoning.

Consider the following:

• Fewer than 2% of children eat in accordance with the U.S. Dietary Guidelines on a given day.
• School lunches contain 33% of calories from fat, including 12% from saturated fat, while U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend 30% and 10%, respectively.
• More than 30% of children are overweight or obese.
• 25% of children ages 5 to 10 suffer from high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure, or other chronic conditions.

The Solution

A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains is largely free of these problems and essential to good health. It supplies nearly all essential nutrients, contains little fat, fewer pesticides, and no cholesterol, hormones, antibiotics, or heavy metals. It also provides special nutrients that reduce the risk of cancer. It is conducive to more energy and improved academic performance.

A healthy diet for children is a critical indicator of future health, because children's bodies are still developing, because their dietary choices are still being formed, and because their poor eating habits become lifelong addictions.

In addition to its obvious health benefits, a plant-based diet offers the only long-term solution to the world hunger epidemic. It avoids the massive deforestation, water pollution, and global warming caused by the meat and dairy industries. Last, but not least, it spares billions of cows, pigs, and other innocent sentient animals from the atrocities of factory farms and slaughterhouses.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has the ability and the obligation to provide a wholesome food supply for our nation, starting with our children. It should use the school lunch and other national feeding programs to improve the nation's health, rather than to susidize the meat and dairy agribusiness.

EPA Under-Resourced, Endangering Public

2008-12-23T22:13:00.002-05:00

EPA Veils Hazardous Substances
December 22nd, 2008 By Susanne Rust and Meg Kissinger in Space & Earth science / Environment

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency routinely allows companies to keep new information about their chemicals secret, including compounds that have been shown to cause cancer and respiratory problems, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has found.

The newspaper examined more than 2,000 filings in the EPA's registry of dangerous chemicals for the past three years. In more than half the cases, the EPA agreed to keep the chemical name a secret. In hundreds of other cases, it allowed the company filing the report to keep its name and address confidential.

This is despite a federal law calling for public notice of any new information through the EPA's program monitoring chemicals that pose substantial risk. The whole idea of the program is to warn the public of newfound dangers.
The EPA's rules are supposed to allow confidentiality only "under very limited circumstances."

Legal experts and environmental advocates say the practice of "sanitizing," or blacking out, this information not only strips vital information from the public, it violates the agency's own law.

Section 14 of the Toxic Substances Control Act, the foundation for all the EPA's toxic and chemical regulations, stipulates that chemical producers may not be granted confidentiality when it comes to health and safety data.
"The EPA has chosen to ignore that," said Wendy Wagner, a law professor at the University of Texas-Austin.

The newspaper's findings are just the latest example of how EPA administrators more often than not put company interests above the needs of consumers. Over the past 18 months, the Journal Sentinel has reported on numerous EPA programs that bow to corporate pressure, frustrating health and environmental advocates and disregarding the agency's own mission to inform the public of potentially dangerous chemicals.
The EPA has the authority to fine companies that fail to fully disclose information about dangerous chemicals. And, in at least one instance, it has done so. But critics say the program has been allowed to flounder, and the agency rarely challenges a company's request for confidentiality.

It's been frustrating to see the program "starved of resources and generally abandoned," said Myra Karstadt, a toxicologist who worked on the EPA's program from 1998 to 2005. "It's a very worthwhile program but only if it's given a chance to work."

The program began 30 years ago as a way to help the public avoid contact with dangerous chemicals. The law requires companies that make chemicals to submit any information of potential hazards about their products to the EPA. The EPA, in turn, is supposed to make that information available to communities and consumers.
Companies can claim confidentiality if they are worried that their disclosures will reveal trade secrets. They have to answer 14 questions, including specifics on why disclosing the information would harm the company.

EPA administrators then decide which ones are granted confidentiality.
EPA spokesman Dale Kemery said the agency realizes the claims of confidentiality "do in some instances limit the public's ability to understand the specifics of a particular filing." In those cases, the agency works with the companies to get them to provide more information, which many do, he said.

But the Journal Sentinel examination of the agency's substantial risk program found that large information gaps remain. More than half of the 32 submissions for March 2004, for example, are still missing information necessary for the public to connect the name of the chemical with the information submitted.

Some have no information at all.

Consider File No. 8EHQ-0308-17103A.

The EPA document, filed in March, marks as confidential the names of the chemical and the company that makes it. Even the generic class of chemical has been removed.
What is the information that this unnamed company is submitting about this unnamed chemical so the public can see if it poses a substantial risk? Anxious consumers have no way of knowing.

"No information is provided in the sanitized copy of the submission," the EPA Web site entry reads.
One report, posted by an unnamed company about an unnamed chemical, shows that if the substance is inhaled, it produces "foamy macrophages" or diseased cells, in the lungs of rats. The report also indicates the chemical may cause pulmonary fibrosis - a deadly and irreversible disease in people.

There is no way to know if this is a chemical coming out of a smokestack in some town or a concern for workers at a factory. The write-up does not say where the chemical is produced or used.

Nor is there any indication in the description of what this chemical is or how it works.

Another filing in May refers to a study that shows a chemical had caused liver abnormalities consistent with cancer. Again, the chemical name and any identifying information are blacked out.

"The public is being denied useful and sometimes critical information on chemical-related health and environmental hazards," said Karstadt, the former EPA toxicologist.

Karstadt said the whole point of the program was to provide the public with information about dangerous chemicals.

"By law, health and safety data is supposed to be kept open," she said.
The EPA's own Web site indicates that studies, letters and accident reports are intended to be viewed by the public so citizens can "understand potential human health and environmental risks associated with exposure to chemical substances."
The EPA posts all reports, redacted or not, on its Web site.

The law that requires companies to report data on dangerous chemicals is just one of 10 laws that the EPA is supposed to enforce. The office oversees 28 programs that address air pollution, water pollution, hazardous waste, toxic substances and pesticides, among other things.

The EPA is an enormous agency with three headquarters in the Washington, D.C., area and 10 regional offices all over the country. The office that administers the dangerous chemicals program has eight divisions. The overview describing their responsibilities fills 41 pages.

Even Kemery, the spokesman, could not say exactly who or how many people decide what information is allowed to be kept confidential. Nor did he know how many claims of confidentiality have been submitted and how many were granted.

The Environmental Working Group, a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., reports that less than 1 percent of the EPA's enforcement and compliance budget is spent on the Toxic Substances Control Act.

Renee Sharpe, a senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group, spent more than a year trying to get information from the EPA about some of the chemicals under the program, only to be denied at every turn.

"It's pretty outrageous, isn't it," she said.

The EPA advises companies on how to keep information confidential. It is less helpful to consumers.

The information on its Web site is difficult to access. You can't look up the chemical by name or by the name of the company that makes it. So, you have to go through the filings month by month to see if there is any information listed on that particular chemical.

There are huge gaps in reporting. The Web site does not have any information on chemicals before 2004. For reasons the EPA does not explain, the Web site does not include the second half of 2004.

That means there is no information at all about more than 16,000 entries.
Sometimes, the program works.

In 2004, the EPA fined DuPont de Nemours and Co. $10.25 million for not reporting data on Teflon. The chemical, used as nonstick coating in cookware, was found to be toxic and had been linked to birth defects. The EPA alleged that DuPont had information for more than 20 years that the chemical was harmful but did not disclose the risks.

The company agreed to settle and pay the penalty. It was the largest civil administrative penalty the EPA had ever obtained under any federal environmental statute.

Other times the EPA has encouraged companies to withdraw chemicals found to be dangerous. In 1999, 3M agreed to phase out its use of perfluorinated chemicals after discussions with the EPA. The chemicals, used in furniture coatings and to waterproof clothing, were found to cause reproductive and developmental toxicity in rats.
Still, critics including Karstadt and Wagner say the agency's policies have grown too lax.

The real problem with the program "is a complete lack of commitment," Karstadt said.
Even when companies say they understand the need for transparency, they aren't always willing to provide it, the Journal Sentinel found.

Adam Bickel, manager of the Product Regulatory Center of Expertise at BASF, a major German-based chemical producer, said his company recognizes that toxic law is a "key chemical control and chemical management statute to protect human health and the environment."

BASF is one of the companies that files the most reports to the EPA under the program. Bickel said his company takes its obligations "seriously and complies with the reporting."

BASF submitted 101 reports to the EPA in 2008. It blacked out the chemical name in 85 of those entries.
___
© 2008, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Visit JSOnline, the Journal Sentinel's World Wide Web site, at http://www.jsonline.com/

Sarasota Walks for Farm Animals

2008-10-06T20:34:00.008-04:00

The weather was cool and sunny, the people and puppies were happy and smiling, the kids were cute, and the vegan donuts and Silk Mocha were oh-so-tasty!! You didn't know dogs can smile? Well now you do :)

Once again VegSarasota members turn out in force to shed some much needed exposure on animal abuse in agriculture. In honor of World Farm Animals Day which is on 10/2 we got together this past Saturday for a 3 mile walk followed by yummy snacks, drinks, and a product giveaway. All those mundane Saturday morning drivers just going about their robot-like commutes got an eyeful as about 50 happy smiling people and non-human animals carved a path over the beautiful new John Ringling bridge in support of Farm Sanctuary, signs and banners in-tow (see pics below). We got a bunch of supportive waves and honks from passing runners, bicyclists, and drivers.

Farm Sanctuary is the nation's leading farm animal protection organization. Since incorporating in 1986, Farm Sanctuary has worked to expose and stop cruel practices of the "food animal" industry through research and investigations, legal reforms, public awareness, education, and direct rescue efforts.

Our good friend Michele Mician really did a great job organizing the walk this year and deserves special thanks. So....thanks!

Here are a few of the photos:

The entire photo album can be viewed HERE

After the walk, we all enjoyed some nice shade and breeze, sitting on the grass, and getting re-hydrated. We ate snacks like vegan yogurt, fresh fruit, granola, Silk Mocha and vegan donuts. We handed out tickets and gave away a LOT of Bear Naked Granola and Soymilk, as well as a gorgeous gift basket with a cookbook, snacks, and hand blended tea.

VegSarasota would like to thank our sponsors for this event, Buddha Belly Donuts (makers of Sarasota's only vegan donuts) and Bear Naked Granola. Also thanks to our benefactors Terry, Judson V., Ruth Z, Kent P., Diane T. and all our members who collected donations leading up to the event, you guys & gals totally rock!

UN Climate Chief says SHUN MEAT

2008-09-08T12:26:00.003-04:00

Shun meat, says UN climate chief

By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website

Livestock production has a bigger climate impact than transport, the UN believes

People should consider eating less meat as a way of combating global warming, says the UN's top climate scientist.

Rajendra Pachauri, who chairs the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), will make the call at a speech in London on Monday evening.

UN figures suggest that meat production puts more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than transport.

But a spokeswoman for the UK's National Farmers' Union (NFU) said methane emissions from farms were declining.

Dr Pachauri has just been re-appointed for a second six-year term as chairman of the Nobel Prize-winning IPCC, the body that collates and evaluates climate data for the world's governments.

"The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has estimated that direct emissions from meat production account for about 18% of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions," he told BBC News.

"So I want to highlight the fact that among options for mitigating climate change, changing diets is something one should consider."

Climate of persuasion

The FAO figure of 18% includes greenhouse gases released in every part of the meat production cycle - clearing forested land, making and transporting fertiliser, burning fossil fuels in farm vehicles, and the front and rear end emissions of cattle and sheep.

The contributions of the three main greenhouse gases - carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide - are roughly equivalent, the FAO calculates.

Transport, by contrast, accounts for just 13% of humankind's greenhouse gas footprint, according to the IPCC.

Dr Pachauri will be speaking at a meeting organised by Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), whose main reason for suggesting people lower their consumption of meat is to reduce the number of animals in factory farms.

CIWF's ambassador Joyce D'Silva said that thinking about climate change could spur people to change their habits.

"The climate change angle could be quite persuasive," she said.

"Surveys show people are anxious about their personal carbon footprints and cutting back on car journeys and so on; but they may not realise that changing what's on their plate could have an even bigger effect."

Side benefits

There are various possibilities for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with farming animals.

They range from scientific approaches, such as genetically engineering strains of cattle that produce less methane flatus, to reducing the amount of transport involved through eating locally reared animals.

"The NFU is committed to ensuring farming is part of the solution to climate change, rather than being part of the problem," an NFU spokeswoman told BBC News.

"We strongly support research aimed at reducing methane emissions from livestock farming by, for example, changing diets and using anaerobic digestion."

Methane emissions from UK farms have fallen by 13% since 1990.

But the biggest source globally of carbon dioxide from meat production is land clearance, particularly of tropical forest, which is set to continue as long as demand for meat rises.

Ms D'Silva believes that governments negotiating a successor to the Kyoto Protocol ought to take these factors into account.

"I would like governments to set targets for reduction in meat production and consumption," she said.

"That's something that should probably happen at a global level as part of a negotiated climate change treaty, and it would be done fairly, so that people with little meat at the moment such as in sub-Saharan Africa would be able to eat more, and we in the west would eat less."

Dr Pachauri, however, sees it more as an issue of personal choice.

"I'm not in favour of mandating things like this, but if there were a (global) price on carbon perhaps the price of meat would go up and people would eat less," he said.

"But if we're honest, less meat is also good for the health, and would also at the same time reduce emissions of greenhouse gases."

Vegan Dinner Parties!

2008-08-26T07:10:00.000-04:00

Well this recap is a bit overdue, ok a LOT overdue, but why spend time focusing on my faults? Let's just let bygones be bygones. You're here, you're reading lets just put the past behind us agreed? Good? Good. Yes I do talk to myself, but thats another story...

VegSarasota has had a storm of events over the last ~~couple~~ few months so I thought I’d jam multiple reviews into this Blog. Our restaurant events are always some of the most fun, as the work is mostly done ahead of time coordinating, planning, taking the phone calls, answering questions and emails. The night of, we show up, sit down with a big group of friends, and enjoy a delicious meal while connecting with new people in the spirit. We like to stress that, as with all of our events, it is really the atmosphere, conversation, and community building that is important at these events. The great food is just a bonus :)

April 27th was a sight to see, a pack of veggies stormed the local mall restaurant/bar Cosimo’s Brick Oven for a vegan dinner party. The fun began well before the event as we had to keep asking the restaurant to add more seating capacity for us. Eventually they just took the lid off by moving us from the veranda 'outside' to the main dining room inside, which we absolutely filled. Our good friend Cynthia did most of the coordination with the staff, and it turned out really well. We educated them about vegan alternatives like Follow Your Heart Mozzarella Cheese Alternative and Tofurky brand Italian sausage links. The kitchen staff used the ingredients just like their cruelty filled analogs and made several fantastic dishes for our group to choose from.

Check out the gallery on the meetup.com website for all the rest from this event!

A little more recently, Taste of Asia hosted us on a Sunday evening (6-22-08) during a time when they’re normally closed. We did an event here at the end of January that got good reviews. With the slow summer season we were glad to partner with this award winning veg friendly restaurant to do another event, which turned out even better than the first! They responded well to some feedback about the dishes last time and provided each guest two appetizers and a choice of four delicious entrees, all served with an exceptional brown rice.

They were kind enough to donate a couple of gift certificates and two bottles of wine for a 50/50 (raffle) which helped raise some additional money for our volunteer vegan/vegetarian community group VegSarasota. Congrats to Mary on winning the Cosimo’s gift certificate, and Julia on winning both bottles of wine! If you can attend our next restaurant event, we have a $25 gift certificate for Taste of Asia which we’ll be giving away.

Check out the photo gallery for more pics like this!

A big thank you to Celina, her husband, and their staff for making great food, and providing great customer service.

In the last couple of months, we've held a couple of our meetups at local restaurants on a more casual basis. These worked out great because the more intimate gathering provided more opportunity for mingling amongst the members.

July 24th was our first experience at Island Time Grill in Sarasota, and they did a great job hosting us. The chef made a few special vegan selections, and offered them along with the couple basic vegan offerings on their standard menu. The ambiance was good, and the company and food were very pleasing (as you can see in these photos)

For the rest of the pics, check out the photo gallery

Veggie Magic, Sarasota's only all raw/vegan cafe teamed up with us for a happy hour on August 1st. There was a sampling of raw food and healthy drinks, John was on piano, and we got to spend some time getting to know the staff and enjoying very tasty food. Thanks to Jenna, Natalia and her very friendly co-workers for making the partnership a fun evening. It was a BYO wine event, and as you can tell by the second pic, the message was received :)

Raylon & Robert were just 'guarding' the wine

Then recently, on 8/17 we launched yet another partnership with a new restaurant. Cynthia coordinated a great menu at Broccolini's in Southgate. This proved to be a quaint spot with a good sized dining room and good wine. Vegan Italian is not easy to come by in this town, but Chef Luca has a great interpretation of the genre incorporating wine reductions, stuffed mushrooms, and polenta into the selection of dishes for our group.

Steve from My Green Buildings enjoying dinner with the fam, veggie style!

Daniel knows the right table to sit at

Well that brings us up to speed, thanks for checking out this jam-packed blog, and if you haven't checked out a VegSarasota event yet, please join us soon!

Thanks to our very special friends; Restaurant Coordinator Cynthia P. and Staff Photographer Laura Marie who provided most of the photos and photo galleries linked here.

Check out the vegsarasota.com restaurant page for more info on these and other vegan friendly restaurants in our area. We encourage you to support these restaurants and try the products we mention in the blog. Please leave comments and feedback we love to hear from you!

Foie Gras an Industry of Shame

2008-07-21T10:56:00.001-04:00

California and more than a dozen countries have banned its production. Public figures from the pope to Pat Buchanan have condemned it. Wolfgang Puck has removed it from his menus. And now Minnesota is beginning to discuss the issue, as well.

At first blush, the subject of so much controversy is a mere table treat a heavy cracker spread consumed only by the most elite foodies. It’s called foie gras, French for "fatty liver."
It’s also the deliberately diseased liver of a factory-farmed duck, and Minnesota is home to one of only four producers in the United States.

Minnesota’s foie gras producer may be smaller than its three domestic competitors, but it uses the same method forcing birds to ingest far more than they would normally consume to produce the enlarged livers it markets.

Foie gras has a well-deserved notoriety. It’s one of the most abusive factory farm products, since workers shove tubes down birds’ throats in order to make them consume a grossly large amount of food multiple times each day for the last couple weeks prior to their slaughter. This unnatural process does not mimic anything in nature, and it causes the birds’ livers to become diseased and expand multiple times their normal size.

New York is a larger foie gras producer than Minnesota, with two factory farms in the state that force-feed birds. Even there, experts condemn the practice. Dr. Ward Stone, the state’s wildlife pathologist, opposes foie gras production, stating that it leads to "short tortured lives" for these animals.

The Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare is the European Union’s most authoritative scientific body on farm animal welfare. Not surprisingly, after a thorough investigation, the committee concluded that force-feeding to produce foie gras "is detrimental to the welfare of the birds."

And the prestigious Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production recently recommended that force-feeding birds for foie gras be phased out.

While describing the effects of force-feeding, poultry scientist Dr. Ian Duncan states: "In my view, it is completely unethical to deliberately promote a diseased state in an animal. The birds’ obesity will lead to myriad other problems from skeletal disorders to difficulties in coping with heat stress, and all of which are accompanied by feelings of malaise."

It’s also no surprise that a new study identifies a potential human health risk associated with eating foie gras.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that foie gras consumption may trigger the development of a serious disease that can cause a multitude of human health problems, including extensive organ damage, kidney failure and even death.

Of course, most people probably don’t want to eat any part of a diseased animal, yet in the case of foie gras, it’s the diseased organ itself that diners consume.

More people are refusing to swallow foie gras and its inherent cruelty. Nearly 80 percent of Americans believe the practice of force-feeding ducks and geese for foie gras should be banned, according to a Zogby poll. As a result, governments are looking at the issue and scores of restaurants are taking it off the menu.

Forcing animals to endure such extreme cruelty and disease for something as trivial as a high-priced snack is something no civilized society should support. Mere common decency requires us to treat animals mercifully, and little could be less merciful than foie gras production.

We’d all be wise to simply leave this product off our plates.

- Paul Shapiro is the senior director of the Humane Society of the United States’ fac-tory farming campaign.

****************
Several restaurants here in Sarasota still serve this death delicacy. Ask them to stop!

Albertson's Doesn't Care About Your Health

2008-07-21T00:43:00.004-04:00

Ten thirty at night and this hungry vegan wandered into Albertson's to pick up a few things to make a late night dinner. Sensory overload isle after isle of stuff I'd never even want to consider putting in my body. I'd rather stave then eat most anything from this store. A selection of like 4 sad organic vegetables, live lobsters tied up in the tank and not a single "non-dairy" dairy product to be found. The "healthy" foods section is stashed at the end of the baking isle and are all haphazardly thrown together, half of which aren't even slightly "healthy".

Every single product in this store contains meat, dairy, food coloring, pesticides, high-fructose corn syrup, trans fats, managers and employees are all overweight, you know the usual every other grocery store kinda crap but here there is an over abundance of choices of death in a box. Don't worry they can solve your ails with their HUGE pharmacy. Toxic air freshener blasting through the meat section to get rid of the stench of blood baths and a seafood dept that look like red tide just rolled in.

What is wrong with our society? Why are there ten times as many products of just plain toxic crap then there are decent ones? The manufacturers of these products don't care about your health or the planet, nor does Albertson's when they buy this stuff up and fill their shelves. Wake up people and take notice, if you don't care about your own health don't count on corporate agenda to do it for you. Oh yeah I thought I'd pick up some napkins, what could go wrong there but of course they didn't have even one of the 50 selections that had any recycled materials. Figures.

I did end up buying a non organic avocado, a tomato, and some Dr Praegers Veggie Patties for a late night sandwich.

Albertson's I'm scoring you an "F" in corporate responsibility. I'm guessing the employees eat the food here cause they all look like zombies.

How Walkable is Your Neighborhood?

2008-07-18T00:14:00.004-04:00

Here's the top 10 most walkable cities in America, surprise surprise Portland makes the list:

San Francisco, CA
New York, NY
Boston, MA
Chicago, IL
Philadelphia, PA
Seattle, WA
Washington D.C.
Long Beach, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Portland, OR

But what makes a neighborhood walkable?

A center: Walkable neighborhoods have a discernable center, whether it's a shopping district, a main street, or a public space.

Density: The neighborhood is compact enough for local businesses to flourish and for public transportation to run frequently.

Mixed income, mixed use: Housing is provided for everyone who works in the neighborhood: young and old, singles and families, rich and poor. Businesses and residences are located near each other.

Parks and public space: There are plenty of public places to gather and play.

Pedestrian-centric design: Buildings are placed close to the street to cater to foot traffic, with parking lots relegated to the back.

Nearby schools and workplaces: Schools and workplaces are close enough that most residents can walk from their homes.

Test your neighborhood here: http://www.walkscore.com/

The 2009 Transportation Bill is a once-in-a-decade opportunity. Walk Score will hand-deliver the list of supporters to Congress on foot, on bike, on bus, and on subway. http://www.walkscore.com/transportation-bill.shtml

Vegan Donuts Main St Sarasota - Buddha's Belly Donuts

2008-07-11T09:54:00.003-04:00

WOW! Yessssss! Ok so this isn't the healthiest vegan thing you can eat but heck I am thankful for that sweet sin delight when the mood strikes. Glazed, Chocolate Glazed, Powered Jelly filled. The point is vegan living is getting more and more convenient.

Buddha Belly Donuts - 1990 Main Street (At the corner of 301 & Main Street) call ahead for large orders 941-952-0700
Hours: Sunday-Wed 7am-3pm
Thurs-Saturday 7am-8pm

Moby's New video Disco Lies, Illustrates KFC's Lies

2008-07-11T09:40:00.000-04:00

Moby's never been one to be afraid of using his popularity to expose truths about animal suffering. Thanks Moby awesome song too!!

Two Entire Bookcases of Veggie Books at Borders

2008-07-02T20:56:00.003-04:00

WHOA!! I turned the corner and my heart skipped a beat. Two years ago there were four vegetarian cookbooks and 1 vegan book. Now, over 50 vegetarian title and at least 30 vegan ones. A couple dozen Raw recipe books as well. Good thing I had this 25% off coupon. Good till July 6, 2008.
25% Off Any Regular Price Item

Check it out for yourself! Get a great cookbook, make tasty food, be happy :)

’30 Days’ A Hunter Goes Vegan

2008-06-23T17:45:00.001-04:00

Recently having watched a really great episode of the show on FX called “30 Days” we wanted to throw some ideas out there, some tidbits for thought, conversation, and feedback.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the show, it is narrated by Morgan Spurlock, of “Supersize Me” fame. The concept of the show echoes that of the film. It pairs up polar opposite people for and entire month, and allows each side to understand more about the other’s viewpoints. The latest episode has a hunter living with a PETA activist and her family, where he participates in all manner of animal rights activism. I have to say this was the best 42 minutes of television I’ve seen in a long time. FYI - this episode was Season 3, Episode 3, entitled “Animal Rights” and available as a download on iTunes and Amazon.com (Windows only) for $1.99.

The star of the show was definitely the hard-headed hunter George Snedeker, 42 from North Carolina. For almost two full weeks George refused to compromise his beliefs in the slightest just for the sake of the show, or for the sake of peace. Despite the uncomfortable environment he must have been in due to his alternate understanding of the way things work in animal agriculture, he didn’t budge an inch....Until he actually knew and believed of his own accord that the “extreme” examples that animal rights advocates cite are not the exception, they are indeed the rule when it comes to the ever expanding drive for these corporations to go after maximum profits at all cost.

This episode raised several questions with us that we wanted to share and discuss with our readers. Things such as what factors do you feel join forces such that in our modern day society millions of individuals come to believe so different about even the most fundamental facts, like killing is wrong or that animals have feelings and rights, regardless if they’re cats, dogs, cows, chickens etc...

Is it our global society that seems to choose competition over cooperation every time that does it? If so, how do you overcome those barriers and get someone to listen.

We obviously can’t give every person out there who’s interested in compassionate living the same experience as George got. Short of that, what will it really take to get the facts and information through to people in a way that they will accept? Activism, videos, and books work to change the thoughts of many, but for some that is just not enough. What steps can activists take, and is it worth the time that those steps take to try and relate these heavy concepts to individuals, 1 person at a time?

We welcome your feedback and thoughts on these concepts. Comment below or email us if you have something to share. And please visit goveg.com today for a free starter kit.

2-1/2 Year Study Condemns Factory Farming

2008-05-03T21:55:00.005-04:00

The prestigious Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production just concluded its 2.5-year study of American animal agriculture with unanimous findings from its 15 members. The Commission was chaired by former Kansas governor John Carlin and included, among others, former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman, former Dean of the Univ. of Tennessee's College of Veterinary Medicine Dr. Michael Blackwell, and more.

The panel concluded that factory farms pose unacceptable risks to public health, the environment and animal welfare. It also issued a series of recommendations, including a phase-out of battery cages, gestation crates, veal crates, foie gras, and tail-docking of dairy cows, along with inclusion of poultry under the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act. The Commission even put out a press release in which it cites the pending California anti-cruelty ballot measure as one of “the types of modest animal welfare public policy improvements that the Commissioners recommend implementing.”

The Washington Post published a great story on page A2 today entitled, “Report Targets Cost of Factory Farming.” USA Today’s story begins, “The way America produces meat, milk and eggs is unsustainable, creates significant risks to public health from antibiotic resistance and disease, damages the environment and unnecessarily harms animals, a report released Tuesday says.” The Wall Street Journal’s coverage focuses both on the problems caused by factory farming and the Commission’s conclusion that the “agriculture industry is exerting ‘significant influence’ on academic research.” And the Des Moines Register’s piece highlights the fact that the Commission is accusing “some livestock interests of trying to disrupt a wide-ranging study of the industry by threatening to yank financing for scientists and universities.”

Both the Associated Press and Reuters have national stories on it, as well.

Thanks to our friend Paul Shapiro of the HSUS for sharing the news and links.

Vegan Ice Cream and Sausages help the Earth!

2008-04-26T15:46:00.005-04:00

VegSarasota is happy to be celebrating our 3 year anniversary. We're still going strong and sending love and compassion into our community. We had a great opportunity for Earth Day this year at New Gate Montessori school. We participated in a great Earth Day event organized by Vanessa Stafford and held at the schools beautiful east campus on Saturday April 19th. It is especially important to think of the impact that food choices have on the environment. This is a fact we highlight on Earth Day especially.

Some quick facts (click the link for more) from goveg.com to help connect these dots.

A major 2006 report by the United Nations summarized the devastation caused by the meat industry. Raising animals for food, the report said, is “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global... Livestock’s contribution to environmental problems is on a massive scale.

Growing all the crops to feed farmed animals requires massive amounts of water and land—in fact, nearly half of the water and 80 percent of the agricultural land in the United States are used to raise animals for food. Our taste for meat is also taking a toll on our supply of fuel and other nonrenewable resources—about one-third of the raw materials used in America each year is consumed by the farmed animal industry.

So now that you're educated, look at these happy pics!

Some of the crew smiling while setting up

We were glad to partner with a great activist friend of ours, Lisa Wilson, which allowed us to run a brand new kind of booth for us, a vegan food booth. We had Popsicles, Fudgesicles, Soy Delicious ice cream sandwiches, Tofutti cuties, and Tofurky italian sausage links.

This is the start of any good Party!

A happy customer ready to chow down!

A friend of ours keeping cool with a yummy fudgesicle!

Aurelia, Dill, and Kris showing their smiles.

If you wanna see more photos, please visit our meetup page. While you're there, join up to be in the loop and RSVP for our fun and compassionate events!!

VegSarasota would like to thank our sponsors for this event: Sami's Bakery, Whole Foods Market, Richard's Whole Foods, and The Good Earth.

And remember, a vegan driving a Hummer uses less resources than a meat eater walking 1 mile!

Save an Artistic Landmark in SRQ

2008-03-02T00:24:00.006-05:00

Read below to help us promote a great cause to keep a classic, wonderfully sustainable building in Sarasota! A brand new Riverview High School is being built near the existing site, but don't let a work of art be demolished! Let's re-use this historical and sustainable structure. Sarasota Architectural Foundation (SAF) is helping to spearhead a move to restore the building and use it for generations to come.

THE RIVERVIEW MUSIC QUADRANGLE is a plan for the reinvigoration and preservation of the Paul Rudolph building at Riverview High School. The design creates a space for Sarasota musical arts groups to study and perform. It presents the Sarasota community with a creative, practical use for this exceptional building

Your participation is needed!

Please send letters before March 15 to the members of the School board of Sarasota County, (addressing them by name) and include your address if possible. By using the links below you just have to fill in the details of the letter, it couldn't be easier! A copy will be sent to SAF.

Mr Frank Kovach : Frank_Kovach@sarasota.k12.fl.us

Dr. Kathy Kleinlein: Kathy_Kleinlein@sarasota.k12.fl.us

Mrs. Shirley Brown: Shirley_Brown@sarasota.k12.fl.us

Dr. Carol Todd: Carol_Todd@sarasota.k12.fl.us

Mrs. Caroline Zucker: Caroline_Zucker@sarasota.k12.fl.us

Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Gary Norris: Superintendent@sarasota.k12.fl.us

VegSarasota wants the school board to understand that taking positive action toward keeping the sustainable history of Sarasota is more important than just saying they want to "Green Up" our wonderful city.

Read more about the project on SAF's website

Thanks to our friend Lenore for giving us the background and contact info.

Baseball All Star Goes Veg!

2008-02-23T08:59:00.003-05:00

Well the awesome-tastic book Skinny Bitch does it again! Yes, the stealth book by Rory Freedman which is part pop culture, part hard truth has once again enabled an iconoclastic sports star to give up all meat!

You can read the article :HERE:

A quote from the article
"That 6-foot, 260-pound build is powered by wheatgrass, soy and tofu nowadays. No meat. Not even fish."

I find it a bit strange the way they say that, as if fish is not a meat. It's great to give up poultry and beef - no question. However the inference that sea animals are not self aware and alive just as much as chickens or pigs is ludicrous.

However the article redeems itself a bit by including this insightful quote from Fielder, the youngest player ever to hit 50 home runs in a single season last year.

"After reading that, (meat) just didn't sound good to me anymore. It grossed me out a little bit. It's not a diet thing or anything like that. I don't miss it at all."

Thats the key idea which many people don't understand about compassionate living. It's not a diet that you embark on, cheating when you feel sad or if it doesn't work the way you want. It is a lifestyle chosen because of our ability to relate to other living beings.

Incidentally, an old friend also informed us this week that she read the book and has been vegan ever since!

Major kudos to Rory Freedman and Kim Barnoun for putting together a powerhouse reader that joins the ranks of tell-it-like-it-is books such as Animal Liberation (Singer), The China Study (Campbell), Meat Market (Marcus), and World Peace Diet (Tuttle)

Read reviews and buy Skinny Bitch through their website linked above, or at Amazon

We'd love to hear your comments if you've read Skinny Bitch or another book which has enabled you to think differently about your eating habits :)

USDA recalls 143 million pounds of beef

2008-02-19T06:29:00.003-05:00

read full article here http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23212514/

Yesterday, the USDA issued the largest recall of beef in U.S. history, the latest action in response to The Humane Society of the United States’ groundbreaking undercover investigation of a dairy cow slaughter plant in Southern California.

The recall of 143 million pounds of beef came two days after San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael Ramos filed criminal charges against slaughter plant workers caught on video torturing crippled cattle, and two weeks after USDA shut down that slaughter plant.

The recall and cruelty charges show that the public will not stand for such abuses of farm animals, nor for the health risks that come with using "downed" cows for food. But the outrage has not yet prompted a change in federal policies related to the inhumane handling of downer cows and other farm animals.

So today, please take the next step and ask your legislators to co-sponsor the Downed Animal and Food Safety Protection Act, which would ban any slaughtering of downed animals for human consumption.

The response to the investigation has been felt across the nation -- and millions of people have now witnessed the animal abuse that our undercover investigator so bravely documented. While the exposure is important, the long term goal is for the federal government to step up and meet its responsibility to ensure both food safety and animal welfare. A recall of this staggering scale proves that it's past time for Congress and the USDA to strengthen our laws for the sake of people and animals.

Blog Research - Your Feedback Needed

2008-01-29T11:33:00.001-05:00

I am doing some research for blog I'm writing blog entitled: "5 Things Healthy Diners Don't Want in Their Food". I'm looking for some feedback of stuff you try to avoid when dining out. I am going to poll 100 people and write a summary of my findings.

Please help me get started by making your top 5 list. Thanks!

peace & love,
Dill <3

Results from Taste of Asia Dinner

2008-01-29T10:11:00.001-05:00

Sunday dinner always feels like family dinner to me. That's just what VegSarasota is, a community family of conscious consumers.

We packed the house and raised $150 toward the VegSarasota annual budget! Taste of Asia generously donated to our raffle 6 bottles of wine. Owner Selina says their new two-page vegan menu has been very popular. If you haven't been there yet be sure to check em out. My favorite dish is the eggplant with fresh basil & brown rice or the noodle bowl loaded with fresh veggies. YUM!

(here's my cutie husband)

more pictures here meetup pictures
Till next time,

peace & love,
Dill

What Each Country Eats in A Week, Compare Families

2008-01-07T20:49:00.000-05:00

What is eaten in each country around the world (compare one family to another) WOW! (Thanks Vincent!)

Japan : The Ukita family of Kodaira City
Food expenditure for one week: 37,699 Yen or $317.25

Italy : The Manzo family of Sicily
Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11

Germany : The Melander family of Bargteheide
Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07

United States : The Revis family of North Carolina
Food expenditure for one week: $341.98

Mexico : The Casales family of Cuernavaca
Food expenditure for one week: 1,862..78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09

Poland : The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna
Food expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27

Egypt : The Ahmed family of Cairo
Food expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53

Ecuador : The Ayme family of Tingo
Food expenditure for one week: $31.55

Bhutan : The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village
Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03

Chad : The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp
Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23

One Gross Meat Picture Too Many.How to Stop Junk Mail

2008-01-02T21:06:00.000-05:00

Yet another packet of junk mail arrived today, every page lined with gross pictures of meat cuts (Omaha Steaks is their biggest client), KFC and Cheese Pizzas. Every week these come and they go right in the recycle bin. This week I decided I've had enough and needed to take action.

Our area receives this junk mail by a company called Advo also known as Valassis. I found a link to "remove me from your mailing list" on their website and I intend to tell everyone I know.

Stop the junk mail insanity!

http://www.advo.com/consumersupport.html

Bill Maher asks Bush to Pardon All The Turkeys

2007-12-06T01:46:00.000-05:00

Politically Incorrect comedian, best-selling author, and HBO star Bill Maher wrote this forthright piece before Thanksgiving titled:

Bush Should Pardon All of the Turkeys

Quote: New Rule: The president can't pardon just one or two turkeys this Thanksgiving. He's got to let them all go.

Bill writes an excellent piece calling out ironies in our society while sticking up for the welfare of turkeys.

Read the full humorous story here, and smile proudly for Bill speaking up.
www.huffingtonpost.com

My Vegan Pizza Rocks So Hard

2007-12-06T01:35:00.000-05:00

Yeah it's oozing with everything but cow puss. Complete with homemade dough in the bread machine. Sweet' lovin! Get yo'self some soy cheese :) My favorite kind is Follow Your Heart brand found at Whole Foods. (see picture of packaging below)

It's so good it gives me goosebumps. Now if ONLY Sarasota was cool enough that you could actually go somewhere and order a cruelty-free pizza like in real cities.

Why is cheese so cruel?? Don't be naive, it comes from milk which comes from a cow.

A dairy cow's life is a continuous cycle of impragna-tion, birth, and milking to provide one thing only -- a constant supply of milk for human consumption and profit. She will be milked for 10 months out of the year, including seven months of each of her consecutive nine-month pregnancies. Two to three times a day, seven days a week, she will be attached to an electric milking machine, like just another cog in a factory. Then she will be returned to her cramped, narrow, concrete stall to do nothing but await the next milking.

Within hours after giving birth, the cow's calf will be forcibly taken from her. Male calves will be sold for pet food, killed at just a few days old to make "bob veal", or raised for beef. Others will be auctioned to producers of "formula-fed veal". On veal farms, male calves are confined in tiny crates to restrict their movement in order to keep their muscles tender. They are fed an iron-deficient diet which causes severe anima but which keeps their flesh white, making it more valuable when they are sold for meat. Subjected to total sensory deprivation and stripped of any measure of joy, 20% of veal calves will die before even reaching the typical slaughtering age of 16 weeks.

The female calves will be sequestered in tiny stalls in preparation for their enslavement to the dairy industry. When they are old enough to be artificially inseminated, they will begin the drudgery of a dairy cow. Their mother will be promptly put back into intensive milk production, where she will remain at risk for numerous stress related illnesses, infections, and diseases, many of which can be fatal.

A dairy cow will survive a mere four years of this cruel, hollow life, whereas under natural conditions, she might live up to 25 years. At the end of her days, when she can no longer keep up the demanded level of milk production, drained and exhausted, she will be packed onto a crowded truck for transport to her final destination -- the slaughterhouse. After a life of slavery and servitude, her retirement gift will be to end up like her fellow "food animals" -- on somebody's plate. All vegetarians, especially those who continue to drink milk while unwittingly clinging to the myth that it is benignly begotten, should be outraged to know that 40% of America's hamburger is made from "spent" dairy cows.

Consider that the next time you consume dairy. Don't be lame and selfish. Give it up.... you'll live.... trust me.

peace & love,
Dill

Will Tuttle Makes World Peace Diet a Free Download

2007-11-30T00:28:00.000-05:00

That's right... as many of you know, Dr Will Tuttle is my one of my personal veg heros. As if spreading his knowledge with the world when he wrote his book "The World Peace Diet" wasn't enough, he's now decided to make it available to everyone FREE! That's right.... for a limited time only, you can download the entire book here.

Check out some of his other cool merchandise at http://willtuttle.com/

He will be here in Sarasota speaking on Thursday December 20th. Be sure to check him out!

~ Dill

Food Courts: Fattening Americans as They Shop

2007-11-29T02:33:00.000-05:00

CSPI Newsroom

WASHINGTON - Where can you find an order of french fries with almost 1,000 calories, a slice of pizza with a day’s worth of artery-clogging fat, or a cup of coffee with 600 calories?

At just about any shopping mall, airport, sports arena, or other “food court” in the country, according to the April issue of Nutrition Action Healthletter published by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). CSPI gained notoriety as the “Food Police” for revealing the high calorie and fat content of theater popcorn and many other restaurant meals.

The report surveyed a sampling of menu items served at a baker’s dozen leading food-court chains, including Sbarro, The Great Steak & Potato Company, Panda Express, Starbucks Coffee, Mrs. Fields, and TCBY. Their foods are similar to what’s served at many malls around the country. (CSPI obtained most of the nutrition information from the chains themselves, though it analyzed several items.) Some of the offerings are excellent, but others would make a cardiologist’s cash register light up:

Schlotzsky’s Deli’s Large Original sandwich (made with three types each of meat and cheese) has about 1,300 calories, 50 grams of fat (25 of them saturated), and 4,400 milligrams of sodium. For most people, that’s two-thirds of a day’s calories, one day’s artery-clogging saturated fat, and two days’ sodium. Think of it as three McDonald’s Quarter Pounders.

Starbucks’ venti (20-ounce) White Chocolate Mocha made with whole milk has 600 calories and three-quarters of a day’s saturated fat. It’s a milk shake, not a cup of coffee.

Sbarro’s Baked Ziti or one slice of Sausage & Pepperoni Stuffed Pizza has more than 800 calories and an entire day’s worth of saturated fat.

The Great Steak & Potato Company’s large Fresh Cut Fries has more than 900 calories. Add a large Great Steak sandwich and your meal would contain over 2,000 calories, 100 grams (23 teaspoons) of fat, and a day-and-a-half’s worth of saturated fat.

Mrs. Fields’ Peanut Butter Dreambar will give you 670 calories, 21 grams of saturated fat, and 12 teaspoons of sugar. A single Milk Chocolate Chip Cookie with Walnuts has about 300 calories and nine grams of saturated fat — about as much as a 12-ounce sirloin steak.

At TCBY, a large Waffle Cone with yogurt, hot fudge, and M&M’s has 700 calories—about the same as a McDonald’s Big Mac and a small Coke. Gulping down a king-size Strawberry Hulk at Smoothie King will add a whole day’s worth of calories (1,910) and fat (58 grams).
“It’s no wonder that more than half of all Americans are overweight,” says Jayne Hurley, senior nutritionist at CSPI. “You can walk into a food court looking for a snack and walk out with a meal’s worth of saturated fat and calories. Most people don’t need an extra 1,000 calories hugging their hips. And all that saturated fat and sodium promote heart disease.

“But if you carefully step through the nutritional mine field, you can actually find some delicious and pretty healthful foods,” Hurley said. Among the best:

Au Bon Pain’s Thai Chicken Sandwich, Honey Smoked Turkey Wrap Sandwich, Pesto Chicken Salad, and Yogurt with Fresh Berries or (or with Granola)

Smoothie King’s small Slim & Trim Smoothies or a Starbucks’ Cappuccino or Caffe Latte with skim milk

Panda Express’ single entree of Chicken with Mushrooms, Chicken with String Beans, or Black Pepper Chicken served with steamed rice

Schlotzsky’s line of Light and Flavorful sandwiches, such as the Pesto Chicken or Dijon Chicken

TCBY’s small cups or cones of frozen yogurt
Hurley said, “Many chains know what’s in the foods they serve. If the menu boards would only list calories next to the price for each item, Americans would have a fighting chance of getting home without gaining pounds.”

Searching for Vegan Brownies Leads me to Veggie Magic, Raw Organic Cafe

2007-11-13T08:13:00.000-05:00

Chocolate cravings led me to the new Veggie Magic, Sarasota's only, raw, organic cafe.

Yesterday, I sent out an announcement that Metro would be carrying vegan brownies. Later in the day I was informed "not until Wednesday." With my chocolate hopes high, I was let down to have to wait. Fortunately for me, Jenna Norwood and her super tech savvy self, responded to my plea from her iphone with a heads up that Veggie Magic not only had vegan brownies, but raw vegan brownies. I have to admit this excited me, so I grabbed Raylon and we headed over there.

Although already in their 3rd week open, this was my first visit to the magic land of raw goodness. Since dessert got me out, but dinner was still a priority we decided to buy lots of items to get a real taste for it. We tried the Mediterranean Cous Cous, Carrot Salad, Magic Patties, Chocolate Fudge Cookies, Brownies, and Carrot Cake. Whew!!! Though visually small in size, each item was totally packed with nutrition and flavor. The prices were unbelievably low. It's the kind of meal you can't help but smile the whole time you are eating it. Must be the boys in the back I saw laboring away prepping the next few days food. I asked them if they were putting love in the food, and they said absolutely. I doubt anyone in town cares as much about your nutrition as these folks.

Put this spot on your radar for the quick hunger fix. They have to-go cases, you could run in and run out, if you don't get caught up just standing there smiling. Is Sarasota finally getting hip?

Veggie Magic - 4428 Bee Ridge Road, Sarasota, FL 34233
Open Mon-Saturday 11am-8pm 941-377-6209

2007-11-06T13:49:00.000-05:00

Cenral Florida VegFest Review

2007-11-02T22:30:00.000-04:00

On November 17th 2007, in honor of World Farm Animals Day, the Vegetarians of Central Florida put on a massive community sponsored event – Veg Fest 2007. Among the supporters participants were big organizations like Whole Foods Market and Vegetarian Times, community groups like Animal Activists of Central Florida and Florida Voices for Animals, and local businesses like Dandelion Communitea Café, and the Girls Gone Green.

With speakers, cooking demos, food, and live music all day it promised to be a day full of information, education, entertainment, and most importantly, compassion.

To see if it delivered, roving reporters and sneaky insiders from VegSarasota attended, and with complete lack of discretion we made ourselves known to all. With the cloud cover threatening early on, there was no time to delay in absorbing lots of good vibes (and vegan brownies).

First up to speak was expert nutritionist and registered dietician George Eisman. Eisman is considered one of the nation's
foremost educators on vegetarian nutrition.

Eisman spoke about the effects of food choices on health. Including books by Jane Plant, and a revised version of his Vegetarian Nutrition course book which has the tests removed and a new 10-page section added

After taking a brief break during the Q & A to dash over to the Crystal Springs booth for a refill on water and to the Dandelion booth for some breakfast, which was hearty Chili with vegan cheddar and chips, we got back to hear Paul Shapiro speak.

Campaign Director for Humane Society of United States, Paul Shapiro.

Even without his projector, Shapiro was able to share a fresh and optimistic view on the status of farmed animals in the US. citing recent successes in legislation in Arizona & Florida.

Paul is currently working on a major campaign in California to ban Gestation Crates and Battery Cages.

It’s about that time that brain says “Chili breakfast is over, must find more vegan treats! Let’s move!”

But before we could get very far, a friend pointed out this interesting T-shirt.

Lots of interesting activist clothing was spotted throughout the day. Our favorite Vegan T-shirt, many types of group oriented shirts, and definitely the most bold one we’ve ever seen, pictured here.

Ok, back to the food finding - are you detecting a theme here? Vegans love to eat! After all, what would any festival be without indulging on some cruelty free junk food? Luckily, we found a group which seemed to be solely dedicated to helping us achieve this aim. After grabbing a great cup of freshly roasted coffee at the Z-Café booth (where they were also serving hot food including vegan crab cakes) we found the mecca.

Food Not Bombs of Orlando was there giving away all kinds of free food, including some of the drippiest chocolatiest brownies in town. They also had soups & stews, but who wants that when you can have free peanut butter cookies?

Notice the cool shirt as well!

As we roamed around we encountered a plethora of friendly faces, holistic practitioners, and dedicated activists. Several prominent figures from the movement were in attendance as well. Some, like Gene Baur and Lauren Ornelas were there to speak. It was great to see people opening their hearts and minds to animals in new ways. At the same time it was great seeing the light bulb come on as folks connected issues such as environmental protection to the overall issues of veganism and animal rights.

Many vendors were there donating body work including yoga, cranial release, massage, and reflexology. VegSarasota couldn’t resist the temptation of free reflexology of the feet, especially after walking around for a couple of hours. We chose the booth of Alternatives Gateway after getting a recommendation by another Sarasota resident in attendance. They got an A+ and got us back on our feet, literally. It was gracious of them to donate all of their services for a great cause. Although there was no mandatory fee, we were glad to donate some money to them for a wonderfully refreshing and rejuvenating foot massage.

We stopped by a few other booths as we continued to stroll around the beautiful park setting. Some worth mentioning are the Girls Gone Green, who supplied delightful Emcee services to the event, Larabar who was giving out handfuls of free samples, and ARFF where we got to meet and chat with Nick Atwood, another speaker of the day. Fortuitously and by chance alone, VegSarasota ended up at the amplified music stage just in time to catch some music. This terrific trio was composed simply of a violinist, cellist, and a guitarist. From these seemingly simple youngsters sprang a set of music that was immediately impressive. Turns out, this was none other than the group The String Theory. We’d heard of them, but until today, hadn’t heard them, but we are glad we did. The trio on stage, lead by a pretty amazing and passionate vocalist delivered several songs to a captivated audience. The only way it could have been better is if they’d had a CD for sale. It was after this, in the early afternoon, that it began to sprinkle. We took the opportune shade of the speakers tent to catch some of Gene Baur’s talk.

Gene Baur – President and Co-founder of Farm Sanctuary.

Definitely the heavy hitter of presenters, this goliath in the animal activism arena from San Jose delivered an articulate speech on changing hearts and minds about animals and food. His talk was punctuated by extremely graphic depictions of the horrific conditions and processing which farmed animals routinely experience. He covered deeply connected topics like workers rights, war and violence, compassion, and awakening understanding. Take away activist tip – ‘The best way to start a discussion with someone regarding animal welfare is to ask them a question that is nonthreatening’.

So as promised, tasty smelling cooking demonstrations, great reflexology and massage, environmentally friendly vendors of all varieties, good live music (acoustic, amplified, and spoken word), good crowd energy, and mostly good weather made the event a tremendous success. With any luck, a small portion of the people who attended will begin to make some changes in their lifestyles, having learned a truth or two that is new to them. Unfortunately, the afternoon showers continued dampen the crowd, but all in all it was fortunate that the day was so packed with passion. Please check out some of the links and use the concept displayed in this photo as an indication that no matter where you are in life and on your educational journey, there is room for growth.

Special thanks to Larry Rumbough the rest of the hardworking team.

Event at Taste of Asia Huge Success!

2007-10-22T03:01:00.000-04:00

Tonight's kickoff to Taste of Asia's new 2 page vegan menu was a huge success! Pad Thai & Green Curry were a hit! We packed the house with the cutest, friendliest veggie peeps around.

Look closely at the window of the restaurant.... that's right it says V E G A N along side the 2 page vegan menu!! We also hung our banner out front on Main Street. Wahoo!

This dish is called "Amazing" which is peanut sauce with vegetables, fried tofu, and brown rice.

I was so impressed with Tammy who was feeding her daughter the best baby food ever. A fresh organic avocado. Could we all have been so lucky?

Kucinich: Why I'm A Vegan

2007-10-04T09:32:00.000-04:00

Here's a great interview with presidential candidate Rep Dennis Kucinich on CNN Live. He discusses the many reasons he's a vegan.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2007/08/27/kucinich.cancer.forum.msnbc

Vegan Teacher - Please support!

2007-09-17T21:39:00.000-04:00

A recent story in the media about a teacher who has been suspended from his classes for encouraging students to learn about Veganism. I will repeat, suspended for encouraging students to learn. Please help make sure this doesn't stand, read on to find out how. Just copy & send the letters below the news articles.

Background story from: the Daily Herald

Fox River Grove Middle School art teacher Dave Warwak has been suspended with pay for urging school officials and students to learn more about veganism.

Warwak said he received a letter from the school district on Thursday instructing him to stay away from school grounds "except to return (school) materials to the district office."

The brief letter does not mention the length of Warwak's suspension or how officials plan to handle his future tenure with the school district.

The letter also makes no explicit mention of pay. Warwak said he was told by school officials he would be suspended with pay.

"I had my check deposited last night, so they're still paying me," Warwak said. "This letter is their way of saying, 'We're in control.' Now they're looking at ways to defend themselves or smear me, and they're coming up empty on both fronts."

Tim Mahaffy, the school's principal, confirmed Warwak is still an employee of the district, and the school district is conducting an "investigation" into Warwak's tenure. Mahaffy declined to comment further on the art teacher's tenure.

Warwak threatened to sue school officials earlier this week after he was removed from his classroom for teaching his students about the benefits of a vegan lifestyle.

The dispute between Warwak and school officials stemmed from concerns Warwak had with lunchroom posters promoting the health benefits of drinking milk.

Warwak, who excludes all animal products from his diet, said he urged school officials to remove the posters because he believed it promoted an unhealthy dietary choice.

Warwak told school officials on Monday that unless the middle school served exclusively vegan lunches, which contain no animal products, he would pursue a case against the school for violation of the Illinois school code.

Another story from Fox News

Dave Warwak has been a teacher at Fox River Grove Middle School for eight years.

The 44-year-old became a vegan in January and believes the school is "feeding poison" to students. He also believes the school's posters featuring milk are wrong.

Warwak won't return until the posters are removed, he said. He's looked into filing child-endangerment charges because he claims it's wrong to promote animal products as part of healthy diet.

Warwak was asked to leave the school last week because he talked about animal-cruelty issues, he said.

The school's superintendent, Jacqueline Krause, said Warwak wasn't fired.

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Teacher Info:
Name: Dave Warwak
City of residence: Williams Bay, WI
Dave@inslide.comEmail Dave here

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Support Mr. Warwak by sending the following letters to him and to the media

Thank you letter to Dave Warwak

Dear Mr. Warwak,

I am sending you this letter of gratitude for your recently taking a stand to educate children about the various positive reasons for considering Veganism as a lifestyle. It is a special, if rare, occurrence to see in the mainstream media someone who is passionate and well versed about this issue. It's great to see others covering such realities as the truth about factory farming, animal agriculture, the ensuing environmental destruction, and the stripping of compassion from the hearts of our citizens, especially children.

I support your motion to shed light on the facts about living compassionately. While there are many reasons to go Veg, the horrible and cruel conditions of the so-called animal 'production' industry are the closest ones to the hearts of children.

I encourage you to continue to speak out whenever possible. And to continue use the current wave of attention to tactfully communicate the shared position of those who have been enlightened about these issues.

Kind regards,
(Your Name)

School Name: Fox River Grove Middle School
Email the school principal & superindendent, Tim Mahaffy & Dr. Jackie Krause

Letter to the School Principal

Dear Mr. Mahaffy,

On behalf of concerned citizens, I'm writing to express concern over the recent disciplinary actions taken against Dave Warwak, an art teacher at your school. According to news reports, Mr. Warwak was disciplined for informing children about the cruelty of the meat industry and the enormous health benefits of going vegetarian.

It's a sad day when a teacher is punished for telling students the truth: that by going vegetarian, they will dramatically improve their health while saving animals from cruelty so extreme that it would warrant felony cruelty-to-animals charges in the state of Illinois if the victims were dogs and cats rather than chickens, pigs, and cows. In a time of growing violence in schools, a teacher who is bringing a message of compassion should be applauded, not punished. Students in every school should have teachers like Mr. Warwak to tell them that the "chicken nuggets" they consume in the cafeteria were once living, breathing animals who were crammed into filthy sheds and pumped full of drugs before having their throats slit while they're still conscious.

Mr. Warwak was also apparently distributing copies of John Robbins' book The Food Revolution, which documents not only the cruelty of the meat industry but also the environmental and health benefits of a vegetarian diet. In these days of skyrocketing childhood obesity, we hope that Mr. Warwak's students will take the book's message to heart: According to the American Dietetic Association, a vegan diet is appropriate for all ages and vegans have lower rates of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity than meat-eaters do.

Sincerely,

(Your Name)

(Credit to Bruce Friedrich for the letter to T. Mahaffy)

Also watch these news videos:
FOX News Video

And this WGN Interview from Youtube (first 45 seconds)

To summarize: Although Mr. Warwak may not be the best candidate for a vegan media campaign, given his very passionate methods of speaking his mind, I hope folks will see through the tactics to the issues. I feel the core problem is our educational system partnering with animal agriculture and thereby creating less healthy children who are more detached from other living beings.

Thanks from VegSarasota!

VeganTeachers.com will be coming soon!

Free Stuff Here! + Party!

2007-09-17T12:31:00.000-04:00

VegSRQ In L.A. pt 2

So after our mind-blowing vegan meal, we went straight on over to the Beverly Hills Hotel to meet up with The Gala organizers and volunteers. We ended up diving right in to help stuff bags upon bags upon bags (500 in all) with all kinds of vegan goodies. There literally was a room full of donated magazines, cookbooks, body products, wearables, candies, cookies, and other food products. To help you get the schwag vibe, here's a couple of pictures of the assembly line process.

Here is the room full of goodies as was delivered.

And a shot of some really great cookies donated by Liz Lovely. Check out this great company that supports independent groups like VegSarasota and big organizations like Farm Sanctuary

Here's one of the workers smiling as she goes (she's pretty cute eh?)

And 4 hours later, the room full of the finished product!

The group of great volunteers and organizers, ready for the big party.

All in all it was a crazy, hectic, and fun process. The volunteers were all working very hard to make things go as smoothly as possible, but everyone was still enjoying the teamwork. I guess it helps keep people smiling when your in a room full of free stuff - sorta feels like a shopping spree, but one where you get to give away all the stuff.

All that bag-stuffing action made us a bit hungry again, so we decided to head over to a little place called 'The Vegan Joint'. I'm pretty sure they call it that because whenever you go there you have to get 'rolled' - right out the door cause you're so full. The dinner was great Thai food, fresh spring rolls, mushroom soup, red curry, and brown rice. They also had a tasty looking breakfast menu so we went there for breakfast the next day for their tropical pancakes & country style hash browns.

The following day was the Gala itself. It was an amazingly well organized production of stars, speakers, awards, and entertainment held at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Dill & were asked to be celebrity handlers, so as part of the VIP/Press reception we generally helped out and watched over things. I was glad to meet Daniela Sea from Showtime's "The L-Word" (pictured below). Also, glad to run into our friend Paul Shapiro(pictured below), founder of Compassion Over Killing, and currently doing great things over at the Humane Society of the US. Other attendees included (among others) U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, Loretta Swit, Nancy Sinatra, David Silverman, Maggie Q, Jennifer Coolidge, Alicia Silverstone, and the evenings hostess, Emily Deschanel. I'm sure that Farm Sanctuary will soon update their 2007 Gala Page with photos and a much better recap of the event than I could spit out. And since you're getting winded reading this already, I'll try and wrap it up.

The next morning, we were fortunate enough to be invited to pop in on a brunch (which went from 11a-5pm) at the home of one of the movement's great activists, Karen Dawn. Our pals Dan Piraro & his wife Ashley Smith (also phoenomenal activists) invited us and proved to be great conversation (the Mimosa's may have helped). Also I was glad to chat with Laban Pheidias, an extremely smart ex-pro skater with a couple of shows on the Fuel Network.

That's Dill & Dan. Isn't that setting gorgeous? It's on the terrace of the lovely and talented Karen Dawn of Dawnwatch.com, who was gracious enough to host a delicious vegan brunch a a gaggle of Farm Sanctuary 2007 Gala attendees. Quack Quack.

That concludes this chapter, I'll try and get back with a quick post covering some of the other great restaurants we ate at.

VegSarasota in Los Angeles

2007-09-14T07:01:00.000-04:00

Dill & I were glad to be able to get to Los Angeles the weekend of Sep. 8th '07 for the 2007 Farm Sanctuary Gala.

First thing we did when we got off the plane was to go downtown to a highly recommended restaurant called 'Real Food Daily'. Yes, the chance at tasty vegan food - sans begging waiters to make special accommodations - is that appealing as to make it priority numero uno :)

Once we got there, we had a short wait until they opened at 11am, so we scanned the menu outside. Strangely (or so I thought) there were about 10 people waiting by the time they opened the doors. It's rare to see a dedicated group of people hoovering about as the wait staff scurries about inside like Target employees prpepping for the Playstation 3 release. Oh, so back to the food - Things like "Scrambled tofu with onions, tomatoes and cashew cheddar cheese, two pancakes or French toast, tempeh bacon & hash browns" and "Tortilla filled with scrambled tofu, onions and peppers, guacamole & pico de gallo, topped w/ ranchero sauce & melted cashew cheddar cheese w/ hash browns or fruit" caught my eye, but alas, it was Friday and that was the Sunday Brunch menu. So we turned our attention to the rest of the huge menu. Dill decided to go with the monthly special, entitled 'French Connection' which was roasted polenta with walnut pesto tofu cheese, vegetables and portabella mushrooms on a saffron fennel tomato coulis w/ grilled vegetables. I opted for the 'RFD Burger' Tempeh vegetable patty, grilled onions, rustic roll, onions. lettuce, tomato" w/the works which added "avocado, tempeh bacon, cashew cheese.

The portions were huge, each coming with a side. Needless to say we were stuffed, but' thankfully the lattes we ordered magically created room for us to share a 'Coconut Moon Pie'. Which, upon tasting, caused my storage of endorphins to be dumped directly into my blood stream. This tasty delight was cool on the pallette, totally succulent, fluffy, and sweet but not too rich. Knowing that an innocent animal didn't have to spend days in a confined cage or be hooked up to a machine to make this dessert made my heart feel as good as my taste buds. I barely hesitate to admit that this tasty treat alone was reason enough for us to buy the RFD Cookbook:

In order to not make this one huge entry, I'm going to break up the adventure into distinct areas of significance - so stay tuned for our "Fun with Freebies".

Yahoo! News Links Meat & Climate Change

2007-09-13T08:30:00.000-04:00

Yahoo News! Actually had on their home page an article linking climate change & meat consumption.

While the story does make it sound like this news is hot-off-the-press, which it's not, at least they're covering it and publishing yet another mainstream account of the facts behind factory farming.

"If people knew that they were threatening the environment by eating more meat, they might think twice before ordering a burger," Brewster said.

Other ways of reducing greenhouse gases from farming practices, like feeding animals higher-quality grains, would only have a limited impact on cutting emissions. Gases from animals destined for dinner plates account for nearly a quarter of all emissions worldwide.

"That leaves reducing demand for meat as the only real option," said Dr. John Powles, a public health expert at Cambridge University, one of the study's authors.

The only disappointing quote was from Dr. Maria Neira of the WHO - implying that this "theory" is brand new and uncertain. I guess she doesn't pay attention to things like the United Nations or even the Huffington Post both of whom who have already acknowledged this undeniable link.

By the time I could even draft this short blog the story got bumped from the home page. So if you have a yahoo login, please rate this story 5 stars so that it will stay at the top of the list!

Farm Sanctuary 2007 Gala in LA

2007-08-09T20:42:00.000-04:00

How many times in your life do you have the opportunity to hob nob with your favorite celebutantes, eat the most gourmet food, watch legendary performers, and help the animals at the same time?? You can at this years Farm Sanctuary black tie Gala.

That said, just fresh off the plane from India I'm dreaming up ways I can go to this spectacular event.

The benefit will be chaired by:
Ellen DeGeneres
Emily Deschanel
David Duchovny
Forest Whitaker
True Whitaker.

Confirmed guests and committee members include:
Joaquin Phoenix (oh my gosh!!), Travis Barker, Amber Valletta, Alicia Silverstone, Lili Taylor, Joan Jett, Martha Stewart, Radha Mitchell, Robin Williams, Ashley Judd, Kevin Nealon, Peaches, Melissa Rivers, Aly Sheedy, Piper Perabo, Margaret Cho, Casey Affleck, The Dittybops, The Indigo Girls, JD Sampson, Peter Beard, Alice Walker, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Walker, Emily Deschanel, Jennifer Coolidge, Kristen Bell, Ed Begley, Jr. , Fred Willard, David Boreanaz, Daniela Sea, Aly Landry, Rory Freedman, Lisa Edelstein, Shelley Morrison, & Persia White.

See full lists here: http://farmsanctuary.org/gala/2007 & http://farmsanctuary.org/gala/2007/honorary.htm

The evening:
Magnificent, compassionate, and legendary animal lovers will come together in their finest black tie gowns n’ tuxedo’s to enjoy:

A three-course gourmet vegan dining experience, farm animal-inspired silent auction featuring the work of noted artists, a program of award presentations, guest speakers, and special performances (let’s just say prior years performers were Chrissie Hynde and The B52’s!) This inspiring evening will bring celebrity supporters, key legislators and animal advocates together to honor the beautiful animals and promote compassion. Click here to view photos from past Farm Sanctuary Gala events with special guests Daryl Hannah, Kim Basinger, Moby, Chrissie Hynde, Noah Wyle, Mary Tyler Moore and many more!

To review – easy ways to help the animals:

· Purchase tickets! You can spend a beautiful weekend in LA for the animals. The Farm Sanctuary Benefit Gala is on September 8th 2007 at the Beverly Hills Hotel. I know this a cause which is very close to my readers hearts – one thing is for sure – you guys love animals. It promises to be a very special evening for the animals. Buy your tickets here.

· Purchase an ad in the gorgeous Gala Journal to get the word out about your fabulous company, or in honor/memory of a special person/animal.

· Donate what you can. If you can’t attend, I encourage you to make a special donation to support this important evening honoring farm animals.

For more information:
FARM SANCTUARY Gala@Farmsanctuary.org WWW.FARMSANCTUARY.ORG

Going Green Means Eating Vegan

2007-07-31T22:04:00.000-04:00

Regardless of how you look at it, all the buzz about going green is giving many people reason to pause and think about their lifestyle choices and how they impact other people, animals, and the planet.

A friend of mine over at the Humane Society of the United States just sent me this great news story from the Washington DC area linking the facts about environmental friendliness and compassionate eating.

It is a short news video that is full of great facts, but be warned, it may make you hungry! But likely you'll be craving to try something new...

http://video.nbc4.com/player/?id=136474

Please take a moment to thank them at: goinggreen@nbc4.com

If you've been to Java Green please comment on this blog and let me know how you liked it!

Reusuable Water Containers & Why You Need One

2007-07-01T16:22:00.000-04:00

It dawned me recently when I looked in my recycle bin how many water bottles we've been throwing away. At first I was proud of myself for being a "recycler" but then recognized how much waste I was creating in the process.

I was wandering around Whole Foods as we sometimes do on a lazy afternoon and I came across some of their "fancy metal water bottles." Intrigued with creating a long term solution to my water drinking habit, I purchased one. I have to say it has really encouraged me to drink more water. I refill it at home with my filtered water cooler and carry it everywhere. Even inside restaurants. I think I knew this but was grossed out to see restaurants provide free water straight from the tap. Anyway... save the earth and reduce the risk of ingesting leeched chemicals from those pesky water bottles.

Here's a great site with tons of options. Let's make it cool and trendy to care about not creating so much unnecessary waste.

www.reusablebags.com

Vegan Thai Food in Sarasota

2007-06-21T22:55:00.000-04:00

Our first event at Siam Orchid was such a fantastic success we were encouraged to make it the first restaurant repeat for VegSarasota diners. It had been about 10 months, and we were astounded to gather approximately 60 people for this wonderful dinner.

On Sunday, June 10, 2007 Siam Orchid hosted all of us in style with family style service. It was universally agreed that this was a step up from the last event, which was great. They served a huge bowl of hearty brown rice to every table, vegan spring rolls, cucumber salad, large bowls of coconut curry, and more!

I was glad to be filling out the name tags, as it gave me a chance to greet all the friendly faces. I enjoyed meeting David and Senkeya (sorry if I misspelled that!) and hearing about their travels through Egypt and Turkey. Also, sitting with Zelena and hearing about her recent trip to India was extremely fascinating. She even had photos!

Also, I'd like to share a couple of comments we got on the event:

It was a fantastic event -- thank you so much for introducing me to this wonderful restaurant. --Andrea

Wonderful food, great ambiance and entertaining hostess. Would definitely attend another dinner here. We also had lovely dining companions! --Dusty

I think almost everyone would agree with Dusty - we all had lovely dining companions. And like I said last time - "As usual with these kinds of events, the most important things that happen are the inter-personal connections that get made. " So I hope that any readers of this blog who attended got the chance to make a new connection or two!

Thanks again to the owner Nissy for helping us put this together and also demonstrating the traditional Thai Candle Dance, which was truly a beautiful experience. Here's a photo of Nissy and Malai participating in one of these great performances.

Foie Gras - Deadly?

2007-06-21T13:53:00.000-04:00

Ok, maybe the title is sensationalist, but you're reading this right? Don't deny it, you probably saw the title and thought "I knew it!" and now you want to read this to see just how your suspicions have proven true. Well allow me...

Not that I agree with the methods of testing on mice, but researchers have discovered that a little-known disease called amyloidosis can be triggered by eating Foie Gras. And as the linked MSNBC article says - "That would suggest that amyloidosis can be transmitted via food in a way akin to brain diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or CJD, which can cause a rare version of mad cow disease in some people who eat affected meat products or brains."

To read more on what Foie Gras is, and how it is produced (see picture below), click here.

I for one don't want to risk the health of my heart, kidneys, nervous system and gastrointestinal tract, and blood system just for a glorified condiment!

Green Door Organics Vegetable Co-Op

2007-06-09T21:39:00.000-04:00

I ran into Deborah Meyers today from Green Door Organics and I remembered I wanted to let you know about opportunity to get involved with a weekly organic fruit & vegtable co-op.

from the green door website:

Green Door Organics distributes once a week on Mondays in downtown Sarasota and also in South Sarasota near Swift and Stickney Point Rd*. Pick-up times are between 11:00am and 6:00pm for the Downtown location. 1pm - 5:30pm for the South Sarasota location.

There are two bag sizes to choose from - large bags and small bags. A large bag is $21 a week and you get approximately 1 bushel of certified organic fruit and vegetables (that is a small laundry basket worth.) The small bags are about 2/3 of a regular bag and cost $14 a week.

The order is split up approximately 1/3 leafy, 1/3 non-leafy, and 1/3 fruit with an herb thrown in from time to time, like garlic, ginger, parsley, etc. Be sure to check out our Weekly Order page each week to see what is on order for the following Monday. It is usually updated by Saturday.

Every week you will get what is in season at the best prices, so there is a lot of variety. Many people have said it is like Christmas once a week because it is always a pleasant surprise.

Our members also receive e-mails every week detailing that week's order, along with delicious and easy recipes.

We accept payment by cash, check, or credit card and members are encouraged to pay by the month to keep down administrative costs.

For more information please contact us
Email: info@organicveggies.net
(941) 378-9036

Vegan Dessert Party

2007-06-04T23:17:00.000-04:00

When you hear the phrase Vegan dessert some people may make a face resembling one they would make if they just sucked on a lemon. However, if you break it down it's really not that strange or exotic at all. Nearly every common dessert is vegetarian (except for grandmas rhubarb and pork pie). So all we're talkin about here is taking the 1 tablespoon of egg and finding any other suitable binding agent like applesauce or a commercial egg replacer like this egg replacer by Ener-G. Soy milk or Rice milk are no brainer substitutes for the liquid and help cut way down on the fat and cholesterol content without sacrificing any of the taste.

So now you know, a vegan dessert is just flesh free - per internationally accepted 'dessert' guidelines - and egg/dairy free. Tons of awesome and decadent products are on the market like this tasty treat from Turtle Mountain

Pomegranate Chip

So with this brief background you can imagine the extent to which cruelty free eaters dig on some dessert! That's part of the motivation behind last Saturday's Vegan Dessert Party hosted by VegSarasota and our friend Michelle. It was no surprise that almost 60 people turned out to enjoy some delectable dishes such as key lime, chocolate, apple and peach pies, tiramisu, dark chocolate coconut macaroons, ginger crinkle cookies, peanut butter chocolate cakes, and even a stellar raw chocolate ice cream. Not to mention and all the dairy free ice cream and frozen treats you could imagine like ice cream sandwiches and creamy fruit bars. Here are some of the happy customers.

Rachelle, and Vincent line up!

Incoming! Vincent and Patrice

One of the party favorites for sure!

Of course what makes any event like this the most fun is not the body buzz from eating your weight in sugar and chardonnay, but the people!

So thanks again to everyone who attended and participated in some vegan baking, lovely conversation, and dancing.

Special thanks to Michelle for hosting and to Turtle Mountain for voluntarily donating several pints and boxes of their fabulous treats! What a nice surprise that was.

Now go run a couple blocks to work off the calories you just absorbed by looking at these awesome treats!

Liz Lovely supports VegSarasota

2007-05-11T23:13:00.000-04:00

"C" is for Cookie, and "V" is for Vegan

Ok, it shouldn't shock you to read that I like cookies, how can you not? All that yummy-ness and childhood recollections of sneaking sweet treats till it hurts. As one who avoids products based on cruelty to animals though, I usually don't get to indulge unless someone I know cooks some animal free cookies. But boy oh boy is it easy to love on some vegan cookie goodness.

So am I glad to report that we've found some of the best vegan cookies on the planet!

They're cookies made by Liz Lovely - all Vegan, all the time. The company is a small and eco friendly company that uses only fair trade chocolate and organic ingredients. They are Vegan Certified and these extra large cookies even have a really great message with each package:

Each pack has 2 big cookies (Liz calls this soul-mating) so you can share the love and make a friend

Their awesome flavors include:

Cowboy Cookies

Cowgirl Cookies

Peanut Butter Classics

Ginger Snapdragons

Mochadamia Mountains

All Products Are:
Dairy free
Egg free
Cholesterol free
Mostly Organic
Trans fat free
Low sodium
Use fair trade coffee & chocolate

Special thanks to Dan at Liz Lovely for sponsoring VegSarasota and sending us several samples of cookies to share with our compassionate sweet tooth'd community!

Visit them on the web for more feel good info http://www.lizlovely.com/

Nutritionist Eisman Talks to Sarasota

2007-05-01T08:38:00.000-04:00

George Eisman is considered one of the nation's foremost educators on vegetarian nutrition. That's what the first line of his intro says, but when VegSarasota hosted him on Monday April 30th, you quickly realize he doesn't slant his views to vegetarianism. He simply talks about what is healthy to eat, and what is not. It just so happens that all animal products, especially dairy, are extremely unhealthy to consume. George explained this very well and cited many facts and references to back explain this fact to the audience of about 60 interested attendees.

One interesting item a lot of people learned last night was that people can and have cured themselves of the now #1 Killer in the country: Cancer. This great book by Jane Plant is one that George recommended:
Your Life In Your Hands: Understanding, Preventing, and Overcoming Breast Cancer

Ironically, this is in fact the same exact book:
The No-Dairy Breast Cancer Prevention Program

But (not to my surprise) the wealthy agribusiness industry suppresses any attempt to publicize the fact that animal products are bad for you, so the book was retitled for American distribution.

Also referenced was the China Study in which it's revealed that the incidence of Breast Cancer in Women and Prostate Cancer in men is approximately 1 in 5,000 for those in areas where animal products (esp dairy) are not consumed, and it is about 1 in 30 in the United States.

Another cited source was even this great Food Chart put out by the USDA (no longer a pyramid in the traditional sense) showing the meat group is now titled the 'meat and beans' group because protein from beans is the same (actually better if you look into it) as protein from animal flesh. Given that even the most active adult actually needs less than 25g of protein per day, I'd say it is time for the "Protein Myth" to be dismantled, as excess protein leads to (among other things) calcium being leeched from the bones.

Although this does have dairy on it as a group you can see the trend from the old "4 food groups" is to de-emphasize animal products in favor of whole foods like whole grains, fruits, and veggies. Lots of plant foods, especially those wonderful dark green ones have loads of calcium, with NO fat or bad cholesterol.

Everything discussed was so empowering and informative I could make this entry really long, but I can see your mouse hand getting twitchy, so let me sum this all up - Animal products bad, greens and plant foods good.

Thanks to everyone for attending, to George for speaking, and to Richard's Whole Foods for the food.

One final quote from George:
"Most nutrition professionals agree that moving away from an animal product-based diet to a plant-based diet is the single most important improvement Americans (and others who eat similarly) can do to improve their well-being. I personally have eaten vegan (totally vegetarian) for over 15 years and have raised my two children that way since birth."

Victoria, George, Raylon, Dill, Melanie

And the rest of his bio for those interested:
George Eisman has served as a faculty member in Dietetics and Nutrition at several universities and colleges and created the first accredited program in Vegetarian Studies. He has worked in a children's hospital, a nursing home and for public health agencies in four states. Eisman has spoken at numerous events and conferences and is the author of two books, The Most Noble Diet (1994) and A Basic Course in Vegetarian and Vegan Nutrition (2003). Purchase George Eisman's books online from Farm Sanctuary.

Grand Opening of Cooper Creek Richard's Whole Foods

2007-04-17T23:07:00.000-04:00

GRAND OPENING OF RICHARD’S SET STAGE FOR FUTURE PLANS
Newly remodeled store a warm and memorable experience

Owner of Richard’s, John Rorer, is finally seeing his vision become a reality. Rorer has been waiting to develop a prototype store since taking over Richard’s Whole Foods in 2005. In 2006 he acquired the 11th store location which would become that prototype. After months of planning and renovation, the new face of Richard’s is complete and plans for remodels at other store locations are in the works.

Walking into the new store you will experience a nostalgic country market feeling accented with antique and rustic décor, large vintage photographs, and decorative iron and wooden signs hanging over each section. The original essence of Richard’s is still present with an extensive bulk section, a vitamin and supplement department, and natural and specialty products. The focus is on natural foods and solutions, but customers will still find childhood favorites such as chocolates, candies, halvah, Jordan almonds, and licorice bites.

"At Richard's, we want to help customers transition into a healthier lifestyle, without making them feel overwhelmed by choices or guilty about their indulgences. We are extremely competitive with pricing and strive to provide exceptional customer service, all of which combine for a very positive shopping experience," says John Rorer, proprietor.

Richard’s Whole Foods
8207 Cooper Creek Blvd, University Park, FL 34201
Store phone: 941-358-8011

Company Info:
History: In 1979, Richard's Whole Foods opened its first store in Sarasota, Fla. From the beginning, Richard's mission is to offer natural and specialty products at affordable prices to our neighbors through a convenient and intimate shopping experience.

The Definition of Animal Cruelty

2007-04-05T22:17:00.000-04:00

I received a notification today from the Humane Society of the United States about this years Canadian seal hunt. It has officially started and is gearing up to be the biggest ever. This unthinkably cruel practice dating back more than 50 years centers around literally beating these defenseless animals to death with a club so that the pelt is not damaged by other, less cruel methods of slaughter.

Any way you look at it, the practice of killing animals for their fur is archaic, barbaric, and disgusting. However, the methods employed in this so called hunt have got to be some of the most horrific.

HSUS asked me "Will you help me save these beautiful creatures?" and my answer was YES. There are many causes that are worthy of financial support, such as purchasing books written by activist authors to help them spread the word or contributing directly to organizations like HSUS, COK, or PETA who have been instrumental in passing legislation in many states banning the most cruel forms of animal oppression.

This particular campaign just struck me as so incredibly brutal and ridiculous that I decided to make a $50 contribution in the hopes that this will be the last year ever that this precious animal life is systematically eradicated in such a cruel way. Thanks to IFAW.org for the image. They have a great page set up where you can learn more details about the history of this important campaign.

If you can please visit HSUS' secure link to donate $5, $25, $50 or more . It will be good for your heart and good for the animals. It will also help send the message that compassionate eyes are watching....and we don't like what we see.

Film Screening: Peaceable Kingdom

2007-03-29T08:09:00.000-04:00

Last night, VegSarasota held a free screening of the compassionate film, Peaceable Kingdom

We had a brief meet and greet before the film with refreshments and snacks. Many new faces attended this event, so special thanks to them and those who made donations to help cover our costs. The theater room accommodated 25 people, and it was full to capacity. During the 110 minute film, it was great to hear the occasional laughs from the audience, because there were plenty of sad moments. Although this film is certainly mild by animal rights film standards, looking into the faces of so many beautiful creatures, and realizing that the cages they're showed living in is their home until death can be very difficult. This is especially true for those whom have not been exposed to such imagery.

After the film, we had a discussion of how this is merely one element of the overall movement, and encouraged people to be open and curious about their daily consumption. There were many wonderful comments from the audience. That was was great because to witness the sparks of compassion igniting a fire of change is truly inspiring.

We broke out to the kitchen area for some more refreshments, and many folks stayed to participate in further discussion, as well as to get to know some of the other attendees a little better. A couple of highlights were discussion of the new Discovery Channel series, Planet Earth, a heart warming story from Dennis about how he met his wife, a wonderful interview with Liz that may turn into a PSA, and of course the vegan cookies!

I would like to thank anyone reading this who attended, you are each appreciated and we are thankful to have met you.

Special thanks to Daniel for the space, Marie for the spices, Liz for the time & passion, and Lisa for the filming and dedication.

Urban Outfitters Sells Vegetarian Tees

2007-03-19T05:18:00.000-04:00

It is great to see the topic of vegetarian hitting the mainstream with these cute tees from Urban Outfitters. Buy one today, start an interesting conversation wearing it.

Everyone Loves a Vegetarian

Vegetarians Have More Fun

Activism Debate: A Review

2007-03-11T09:34:00.000-04:00

Recently, on the web podcast Vegan Diner by author and activist Erik Marcus he had a two part debate with Rutgers professor Gary Francione. The debate centered on welfare vs abolition in the compassionate living movement. That is to say, the common approach to compassionate activism — which typically supports incremental improvements — vs outright 'conversion' from a meat centered diet directly to veganism where anything in between is just as unethical.

Francione says repeatedly (but never mentions any evidence or studies) that it is MORE cost effective and efficient to campaign for 100% abolition and veganism than it is to continue to seek incremental change. That is the key I think. While getting 50,000 hits on your website (as Francione says his has) is not trivial, I would need to see some statistics before I believe the claim that given a sample of people you can do better for animals by accepting only direct conversion to a vegan lifestyle as progress.

I do agree with Francione’s point though that some of the incremental changes serve to make people comfortable with consuming animals. In a subsequent follow up to the debate, Paul Shapiro from HSUS tried to rebut that by saying “That’s like telling people not to drive hybrid cars because it still pollutes the environment. If Francione thinks that small welfare improvements make people more comfortable eating more animal products then he would be campaigning against animal welfare, and trying to make conditions worse.” — The latter which is an excellent point. But neither Marcus nor Shapiro really answered or fully addresses those folks who are more satisfied being vegetarians because they eat stuff labeled ‘free range’, ‘organic’, or ‘cage free’. So I emailed Paul asking him to respond more directly to this point with standalone facts. If I hear from him I may do another blog entry. My view is that though some will be more comfortable clinging to food labels like free range or cage free, there are many more who will take the gradual approach to veganism, regardless of how it starts.

On one point of Francione’s I strongly disagree. He says that organizations like HSUS should essentially deplete their financial resources “now” to save or stop the suffering of animals immediately. He condemns them for essentially being a good business. Obviously that is ridiculous because if they spent all that money today - even except for what it takes to pay their employees and have operating expenses -then were for example, sued by some animal agriculture operation (or one of a thousand other things that could happen) they wouldn’t be able to afford a lawyer, and they’d go out of business tomorrow. Then by next week no more animals are being helped either by the reduction of suffering OR by the abolishment of the ‘property paradigm’. So that entire line of criticism is just wildly ignorant coming from an obviously intelligent guy like Gary Francione.

Marcus, while remaining much more polite, does not exhibit the debating skills to match. This is unfortunate, as for the first part of the discussion meant it was fairly one-sided. Marcus seems to drop back to some of the same points repeatedly which reduces the effectiveness of his argument, but this may just be a result of him not getting a word in edgewise for much of the discussion.

I think there are certainly valid points Francione made that Marcus didn’t want to face up to, such as the ‘comfort level’ thing. But there are also certain things Marcus said that Francione didn’t face up to, such that by stating abolition is completely different than welfare reform, and anyone who fights for welfare is wasting their time or essentially lying to people. Marcus rightly asserts that by not being inclusive to other segments of the movement, the result is a divisiveness among activists. While Marcus states that the abolition movement is a great additional tool for animals in addition to the existing ones of welfare reform and animal rights, Francione refuses to merge these two aspects of the movement. This would serve to exclude many activists, which seems counterproductive. On the second point Marcus argues that in fact, welfare advances have made the lives of untold billions better, not worse. He states it does more good than harm to enlighten the masses on the outrageous cruelties in animal agriculture (which are too numerous to mention here), a point I personally agree with.

I would be interested in what Francione considers ‘abolition activism’ most activists I have met always know veganism is the goal, but by his definition we’re in the “new welfare” camp churning out ‘happy meat’ eaters. Francione bases his arguments on the fundamental concepts of peace and non-violence, however much of the material I’ve read by him thus far seems to be based on aggression, negativity, and disagreement with other activists and animal rights groups. Aggression always reduces credibility of someone advocating peace. I admit though that I am new to Francione and have not read much of his work to date.

Some notable concepts brought to light from this discussion:
“Rights” is not the same thing as “Welfare” (you wouldn't advocate slaves welfare, but rights)
PETA has given an award to a designer of a slaughterhouse (presumably because it is “less cruel”.
We need to end the Property Paradigm homosapiens exact over non-human animals (G.F.)

Francione is the author of several books, including 'Rain Without Thunder’

Marcus is the author of Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating and more recently, Meat Market: Animals, Ethics, and Money

My appreciation to each of the gentleman who participated in this discussion for allowing me to consider another aspect of compassionate living.

Ethanol, it's a win win!

2007-03-09T12:16:00.000-05:00

Well it may not be the electric car of the future that was killed by GM and oil exec's in the 80's, but any alternative fuel that reduces the need for oil is ok by me. And if that same fuel source can be a thorn in the side of animal agriculture and those who support them by consuming and buying meat products... well that's just icing on the vegan cake!!

So it is with much glee (and trust me, I usually don't have glee) that I inform my readers (yes, both of you) that....

Ethanol Demand is Driving Up Meat Prices

Some notable highlights:
"The average price of corn...is $3.20 a bushel, up from $2 last year."
"Meat and poultry production will fall as producers face higher feed costs" (ed- production? really?... are they 'manufacturing' meat?)

Here's to the upward trend continuing!

Dinner at Moe's was a Blast!

2007-03-01T10:25:00.000-05:00

Thanks everyone who came out tonight for Veggie Burrito Night. Approx 30-40 people showed up, and we took over the place.

I love easy events where can all just hang out and get to know each other on a more personal level. It was great to see Bryan & Jen's new baby (our youngest member), and Sam & Patrick have announced their engagement. Lot's of new folks came out too which is great! New people are ALWAYS welcome. Thanks again everyone, I'm still smiling.

peace & love,
Dill

Rolling Stones Magazine Publishes Article About Pork Production

2007-02-27T08:08:00.000-05:00

Wow! A bigtime magazine addresses the issues of Pig Slaughter!
Read all about it here: Rolling Stones

Here's a snippet of the article:
"America's top pork producer churns out a sea of waste that has destroyed rivers, killed millions of fish and generated one of the largest fines in EPA history. Welcome to the dark side of the other white meat."

Giving Gifts with Compassion and Thoughtfulness

2007-02-14T16:36:00.000-05:00

Wahooooo I just got the greatest Valentine's gift ever! I'm officially the proud sponsor parent of a handsome rooster named Nightshade.

I got this great Adoption Certificate describing him as "Mysterious & Aloof." Yep, that's my boy! I couldn't be a more proud parent.

This is part of Farm Sanctuary's Adopt-A-Farm Animal Project.
You can find out more about becoming a sponsor here:
http://www.farmsanctuary.org/adopt/sponsor.htm

Thanks Raylon!

- Dill

Extremely Inhumane Foie Gras Served at Least 5 Restaurants in Sarasota!!

2007-02-08T00:36:00.000-05:00

Foie gras, considered by some to be a delicacy, is produced by forcing a long metal pipe down the throats of ducks and geese and force-feeding them massive amounts of grain, resulting in their livers swelling to up to 10 times their normal size.

Two to three times a day, a worker grabs each bird, shoves a long, thick metal tube all the way down his throat, and an air pump shoots up to two pounds of corn mush into his esophagus. The industry always refers to the dry weight of the feed, which is about one pound per feeding. Adding oil and water doubles this weight, making it 20-30% of the bird's healthy body weight. Picture 30 one pound boxes of dry pasta and then add water. This is proportionally how much a 150 pound human would be force fed using this formula.

A duck's liver naturally weighs around 50 grams. However, to qualify as foie gras, the industry's own regulations require ducks' livers to weigh an absolute minimum of 300 grams.

The vast amounts of feed pumped down the ducks' throats causes enormous internal pressure, and the pipe sometimes punctures the esophagus, causing many to die from choking on the blood that fills their lungs. Some birds literally burst, choke to death on their own vomit, or become so weak that they are unable to fend off rats from eating them alive (click to see footage from Sonoma Foie gras--requires Windows Media Player). Other ducks die a slow, painful, and premature death by suffocation from inhalation of regurgitated feed. In fact, because of the massive toll taken on the birds during the force-feeding process, the average pre-slaughter mortality rate is up to twenty times higher than on other duck factory farms, according to the European Union's Scientific Report on the subject.

According to the ASPCA, "The birds' livers become so enlarged…that according to documentation by veterinarians, the animals must experience unspeakable pain and suffering. Birds have literally exploded from these forced feedings. The results of necropsies on dead birds that have been force-fed reveal ruptured livers, throat damage, esophageal trauma, and food spilling from the dead animals' throats and out of their nostrils."

What Restaurants DON'T WANT YOU TO SEE.

Already banned in California & Chicago and soon to be NYC, let's add Sarasota to the list. These restaurants think they are so upscale, how trendy is birds laying in their own vomit, bleeding to death from the inside, physically bursting?

Let these restaurants know what you think about them supporting these practices and serving Foie Gras:

Derek's Culinary & Casual
www.dereks-sarasota.com
514 Central Ave
Sarasota, FL 34236
(941) 366-6565

Summerhouse Restaurant
6101 Midnight Pass Road
Sarasota, FL 34242-2212
941-349-1100,
www.theplacetoeat.com

Maureen's Palm Grille
Unverified listing
5350 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key, FL
(941) 383-7774

Ophelia's Restaurant
www.opheliasonthebay.net
9105 Midnight Pass Rd
Sarasota, FL 34242
(941) 349-2212

Fred's
www.fredsrestaurant.com
1917 S Osprey Ave
Sarasota, 34239
(941) 364-5811

Support Erik... Spread The Word

2007-02-05T11:33:00.000-05:00

Greetings readers, because I fully support Erik Marcus' activism, I hope that Dreena Burton from Vive Le Vegan will not mind me re-appropriating (ok stealing) her recent blog entry about the book Meat Market. I changed it only a fraction to indicate I was purchasing 3 copies, but I like the idea of offering those copies to anyone interested enough to leave a comment. So without further blabbing, the post:

If you listened to Erik's recent podcast (1/26), you'll know that he has requested some support. Erik Marcus doesn't ask for donations (though I'm sure he would get much help from the vegan community if he did). What he asks is that we support him through sales of Meat Market. That way, we are not only helping him financially, but we can also get his important message out there!

Do you have an office where you can put a copy of Meat Market in a reading room, waiting area, or LUNCH room?! Imagine, someone picks up Meat Market and after 10 minutes of reading, starts to examine their lifestyle and food choices. Maybe they cut out meat, maybe they go further and cut out all animal products. Maybe they buy the book and give it to a friend. This is how we have to spread the word. So, I am buying 3 more copies to share with anyone I think could benefit by reading it.

In case you're worried that this book is too 'gory' to read, it's not. But, within those pages is powerful information that can initiate change.

Erik says in Meat Market (p.118) "When I was a teenager, my greatest ambition was to one day become a millionaire. In my twenties, as my primary ambition shifted away from making money and toward protecting animals, I adapted the millionaire concept for purposes of activism. I decided that I still wanted to be a millionaire, but not in terms of earning a million dollars. I wanted to be a millionaire in terms of keeping a million animals out of slaughterhouses."

I think you'll agree that this is remarkably admirable, and also, with our help... achievable. Most of us have $11 to spare. Imagine if that $11 translated into even just one other person turning vegetarian, or even better, vegan. If copies of Meat Market are put in front of enough people, this is more than possible.

Personally, I'd love to see Erik reach both goals - a million for him, and a million for the animals, because I know the more resources Erik had at his disposal, he could reach more people and have an even greater impact.

I will also add that I have read this book and find the arguments it makes very compelling and reading it has helped me speak more eloquently on behalf of animals. It is not a difficult read, as Eric has made it very straight forward.

Leave a comment if you think you should be the recipient of a copy of Meat Market that I am ordering. Tell me where you can put the books so that they can be read by others. And, if you can, order a copy of Meat Market yourself.

Recap January Veg Meetup

2007-01-31T22:18:00.000-05:00

Well folks we had a great beginning to the new year (that's 2007 but who's counting).

After a long holiday break and a slight mental rest from the veg scene to relax during the holidays and spend time with friends, we had a powerful meeting this month on Jan 25th. We hadn't promoted it heavily, so we had only about 12 people, but the quality of the interaction was top notch! Everyone obviously brought their thinking caps and ewe had a group discussion about where the group should be pointed for 2007.

Dill solicited feedback from the group about our restaurant events and how to connect the conscious community in the Sarasota area. Dill discussed compiling a conscious community professional guide, and Mary Lou suggested that someone volunteer to bring a collection of vegan related books and videos to the meeting. We've long discussed having this "lending library" but having it available at the meeting and having someone track the ins and outs would be really helpful. We have the goods, we just need the help. Let us know if you are interested!

Karen informed us that she had a friend who's thesis was on starting a vegetarian cafe, she said she would try and get a copy, as we were really interested in reading it!

Mary Lou also brought up a great idea on a group activity that we really would like to start. She suggested we collect names of people within the group that would like to attend small gatherings of 5-8 people for a veg dinner, perhaps once a month. She called this idea circle suppers and has already submitted some structural ideas and forms to help us get it started - thanks Mary Lou! We'll start taking peoples names who are interested in joining or hosting so that we can get a chance to know other people in our group a little better. Then the names will be selected randomly for the get togethers. I look forward to attending my first one soon!

Also, Dill & I told everyone how excited we were to be attending the Compassion for Animals Action Symposium 1/26 - 1/28. I will blog more about that soon, it was amazing!

Lastly, a cool upcoming event:
Lisa W. is having a huge Yard Sale this Friday and Saturday. Here's the scoop:
2718 Bay Shore Road
Indian Beach/Ringling Museum Area
Feb 2-3
8am-5pm on the Bay in Indian Beach
Something for everyone's budget: furniture, desks, TV, tools, drums, funky stuff, nice clothing,
shoes, office supplies, kitchen gadgets, world music etc...!

See you there!

It's smart to not eat animals.

2006-12-16T14:06:00.000-05:00

Yes folks, it seems that THIS ARTICLE concludes what I've long suspected - Smart people don't eat meat. Yep, it's true. And you would think it's enough that eating animals contributes to the suffering of thousands of innocent earthlings. But they actually make all kinds of correlations with something called "statistics". These "statistics" indicate that higher IQ scores in youngsters turn into higher percentages of vegetarians as they get to adulthood. But it is true that any study could be interpreted in a variety of ways and have doubt cast on its validity. Thats why I have always believed that educating yourself about the topic is the most likely motivation that people have for choosing not to eat animals.

But if someone wants to do a study to tell me that my fellow veggies are smart, then so be it! Although, I'd rather not be in the class of 'smart' people that identify themselves as vegetarians that eat fish or chicken sometimes. That's where this whole "IQ" thing kind of breaks down.

The overall tone, the up-swing, the bright side though is that the researchers, and doctors agree that eating a vegetarian/vegan diet is wise, regardless of the reason you get there.

Uva Rara Dinner Party A Great Success

2006-12-04T00:27:00.000-05:00

Tonight's dinner event was at the upscale and classy Burns Court restaurant, Uva Rara. Approx 50 people were in attendance amongst the beautiful under the tree setting, and perfect weather. The vegan buffet was fantastic with items such as risotto, creamy cannellini, rigatoni, potato salad and more. The chef took pride crafting with substitute products like soy milk & soy butter to make the dishes absolutely delicious!

The night was so glorious we couldn't end it there, so the remaining crew walked a few blocks through downtown for an after dinner drink.

[jud, michele, barry, aurelia, dill, vincent, raylon, spring, alyson]

Peace & Love,
Dill

New Coffee Lounge FourGees Serves Vegan Options and REALLY Good Coffee

2006-12-03T23:42:00.000-05:00

[bryan, jen, dill, raylon, louise, jim, chris, kris]

Saturday night several of us romped over to the new FourGees Coffee Lounge on Beneva & Webber for their secret "almost grand opening" party. We had the opportunity to meet the vegetarian owners Louise & Jim McKenzie and their four beautiful children.

If you've been in Sarasota long you know there's not a lot happening this part of town. Jim tells me they fell in love with the fact that the building was kinda run down and wanted to breathe new life to it. It's tastefully designed with the cafe on one side and the lounge on the other. Complete with rich wood floors, faux painted walls, sexy wall sconces and a classy granite counter top at the coffee bar. The perfect place to start the day with a morning cup of coffee or end it by meeting a friend for a glass of wine and a veggie sandwich. Put it on you radar, FourGees intends to add culture to this town by incorporating their british style and the large upstairs community room.

They will be adding vegan options in the upcoming week, as they are still stocking the kitchen. If you stop in, tell them VegSarasota sent you. ;)

Peace & Love,
Dill

Vegan Thanksgiving Dinner with the Tampa Group (recap)

2006-11-23T20:53:00.000-05:00

Today we spent Thanksgiving day in a non-traditional way with the vegetarian group of Tampa. It was a beautiful day of sharing and mingling amongst happy veggie peeps.

The buffet was huge!! Yes, I ate too much!

Our new friend Clint, Don, Luke, and Raylon

Here's me with the organizer of the event, Michelle LaFleur of Food For Life Now, Pasco Vegetarian Society, Tampa Vegetarian Meetup Group and VegTampaBay.com

Giving Holiday Gifts? Try Sustainable Stationery & Gift Wrap

2006-11-21T11:43:00.000-05:00

This year, let's not get sucked in by the consumerism of the holidays. Consider for a moment all of the waste created by gift giving. Check out these cool recycled alternatives PAPOrganics

Sustainability means living in a way that will create a future for all people to flourish while keeping the planet balanced and healthy.

Stationery is only one small piece of the picture. Even so, approximately 7 billion greeting cards are purchased annually by consumers. Think of the impact of producing those cards on 100% recycled paper and other organic agricultural fibers, and then keeping them in the paper stream by recycling them again. Now expand that vision to encompass the entire paper industry. Now we're going somewhere!

VegSarasota Thanksgiving Event Recap

2006-11-20T22:22:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, November 19th VegSarasota hosted their 2nd Annual Thanksgiving Dinner Party. Last year we had about 45 people due to limited seating at the venue. So after all the people who expressed their desire to attend this year's soirée, Dill & I decided we really had to do it up. So we went and rented out a gorgeous meeting hall at the South Gate Community Center, and signed up a great band Radio Free Carmela & The Transmitters to provide the entertainment. And entertain they did! In the short 45 minutes we had to set everything up and decorate, they set themselves up and had music going when we opened the doors to the public.

They had everyone dancing, I took a breather to take this photo

We had people crashing the gate even before we were done decorating, and we had to add an extra table for all the food that people brought. I saw so much good food going by me at the front desk I felt like I gained weight just watching it. All in all we had over 150 people in attendance, including folks from Tampa, St. Pete, Venice, Cape Coral and beyond! We had a lot of kids come out as well, and the beautiful park setting and extra room to run really made it enjoyable for them.

I'd be here all day if I listed all the Vegan food people brought, and you'd be running to the kitchen to get yourself something to eat. There there were some standout items though: Somosas (thanks Ted & Shikha!), Fruit bundt Cake with caramel icing, photo-perfect sweet potato pie, many kinds of cookies & pies, veggie loaf, fresh fruit combinations, celebration loaves, and all kinds of fresh steamed veggies like Asparagus, Garlic, squash, carrots and more! The best part about all of the food is that it was completely cruelty free! Folks were very accommodating when Judson & I asked each person if their dish happened to contain any animal products.

This is just a small section of 1 of the tables.

Also during all the fun, Michele & Aurelia had everyone mixing and mingling with the fun party game they brought, which involved finding a matching note card to the one you were given. I spent most of the evening looking around only to discover that Dill had my match! I think it was a setup.

Thanks to everyone for coming, and especially those who contributed food and energy!

Michele, Raylon, Dill, Carmela, Aurelia & Barry

VegSarasota would like to thank our many sponsors without whom this event would have not been the outstanding success it was:
Guest speaker Kimberly Braun, M.A. of Urthdance, LLC Minister and Reiki Master
Better World Media
East-West College of Natural Medicine
Jessica's Organic Farm
Center of Integrated Medicine
Webber Appraisal & Consulting
Two Amigos
Uva Rara
Artists Daniel Bilodeau & Beth Holder
Whole Foods Market
Siam Orchid Thai Restaurant
Two Amigo's Mexican Restaurant
Michele Mician, Yoga Instructor
Aurelia Webber, Yoga Instructor
Lisa Wilson, Photographer
Trance Hands Massage
Biotica EcoTours
Good Earth
and of course Barry

Hooray for higher meat prices!

2006-11-20T14:36:00.000-05:00

Due to the vast majority of low-grade corn that animal agriculture uses to keep meat prices low, they are very sensitive to its cost.

That's why I am glad to repeat this story I found out about from the 11/14 episode of vegan diner. The story describes how as the ethanol created for alternative fuels ramps up, so does the demand (and therefore price) of low-grade corn. That is causing major animal abusers like Tyson Foods Inc. to post quarter after quarter of fiscal losses.

And since a company used to raking in profits like they are will only withstand so much bludgeoning by the market, they are faced with having to raise the prices of meat. And if meat becomes 25-50% more expensive, Americans will consume much much less of it. Then all the subsidies that animal agriculture receives which has been allowing them to keep meat prices low for the last few decades will not be enough to sustain the ridiculously low prices.

The only problem with the article is that they allow Tyson CEO to make the following misleading statement. "I believe the American consumer is going to have to pay more for protein." And as most people know, you can easily get plenty of protein from non-animal sources, so his statement is not factual.

Hopefully the trend in meat prices will look something like this

The original article can be found here:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0611140231nov14,1,3934157.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

Gimme Shelter, Cool TV Show, Promotes Local Shelter Adoption

2006-11-17T09:05:00.000-05:00

I just spoke to the show's Executive Producer, Michelle Sampson, and am pleased to announce Gimme Shelter, a show dedicated to promoting local shelter adoption for cats & dogs. Airing Monday & Tuesday Nights at 5:30pm on Comcast channel 21, and Friday at 10:30pm, Channel 21. They film a new episode every two weeks picking a different local shelter. Tivo it!

Dill

Vegetarian Festival of Sarasota Recap

2006-11-07T17:58:00.000-05:00

Hey folks, this was a big event for us this year, so the blog entry is correspondingly large (and belated) - enjoy!

On Sunday November 5th, VegSarasota participated in it's second annual Vegetarian Cookout & Compassionate Living Festival, Sponsored by Sarasota in Defense of Animals, from noon to 3:30 pm. The location was the beautiful grounds of the Edison Keith Mansion at Phillippi Estate Park. Over 300 people came out to enjoy the food, music, and educational opportunity.

The VegSarasota booth was once again gorgeous and sprawling, even after having to pull a McGyver to get our banner to stay up (the rules state nothing may be affixed to the walls). I've decided that binder clips are the new duck tape! We had starter kits, pamphlets on poultry factory farming and "Why Vegan", magazines & books on display, and plenty of smiling faces to talk to. Here's a picture of the booth, Raylon & Dill cheery & smiling as always.

The best thing about these types of events is the people. It was really a pleasure to share that mind-expanding interaction with so many people while meeting them for the first time. It is always satisfying to help people gain knowledge that they seek out. Coming to this type of event shows a spark of interest, and that's all that's needed to plant the seed when the truth is so glaring. We sold several veggie buttons that we made and a couple Vegan Planet (or as I call it the Vegan Bible) cookbooks to help us cover our costs. We also got to talk to many people about the Thanksgiving Potluck and invited everyone we could to join us for this spectacular event.

Of course, it wouldn't be a great event without some great music & food as well. I didn't get the name of the band because I was working the booth all day, but they were phenomenal! I had just enough time to snap this photo, so here they are, followed by a shot of some folks enjoying themselves on the terrace under a perfect Florida sky.

And here's some of our friends enjoying the veggie dogs & Dill's special potato salad, which we had at the VegSarasota booth (along with Newman O's vegan cookies). This apparently made the potato salad a commodity to be envied, and if you knew where to find this magical food, it made you a quasi-celebrity.

(Michele, Aurelia, Barry, Jud)
Of course our good friends at Biotica Ecotours were there renting Kayaks by the hour. They were so popular due to the good weather, they actually ran out of Kayaks about half way through the day. Congrats guys! Here is Kris & Chris happy with the turnout.

I would like to extend special thanks to Michele for being a wonderful meeter & greeter, Judson for helping to talk to interested persons, his mother Bonita & Dill's mom Brenda for helping us distribute flyers for the Thanksgiving event.

A Very Veggie Halloween Party at Kris & Chris's House (Pictures)

2006-10-30T09:08:00.000-05:00

(Aurelia, Lisa, Dill, Michele)

(Barry, Aurelia, George, Raylon, Michele)

(Dimitria, Peter)

(Kris)

(Joe, Brenda)

(Sandra, Mike)

(Bri, not the cheese)

(Kris & Chris)

(Andreas, Mike, Sandra, Joe, Brenda, Lisa)

VegSarasota October Meetup at Whole Foods

2006-10-26T23:44:00.000-04:00

So another month, and another great meetup at Whole Foods Market in Sarasota. About 25 people came out on a nice cool Florida evening to hang out and have a good time meeting and socializing with members of their community.

Raylon started out by welcoming a couple of first timers like Don, Brian, and Donald, re-iterating how thankful we always are for folks just taking the time to come and connect. Since Halloween is right around the corner, Raylon mentioned a list of vegan Halloween candies to fill the bowls of all the little ghouls & goblins this weekend. My personal favs are the chick-o-sticks, which until this week I never realized were vegan. Raylon also mentioned an article by Mary Martin that he found through Erik's Diner that had a really unique way to think about supply & demand and how your dollar is your vote.

Dill then lead off talking about all the great events that are just around the corner. Sunday November 5th will be the 4th annual Vegetarian & Compassionate Living festival starting at 1pm. We had a wonderful showing last year giving out food samples and spreading love into the community. This year it will be particularly interesting as it is held in the location of our wedding just this May - sweet!

Also just around the corner is VegSarasota.com's 2nd annual Thanksgiving celebration. Last year we held it in a smaller location and catered food for a limited number of people, mostly using self-funding. This year we're glad to have sponsors like Better World Media, the East West College of Natural Medicine, Jessica's Organic Farm, Center of Integrated Medicine as well as local restaurants, and another great speaking engagement - Reiki master Kimberly Braun of Urthdance LLC. We're really stepping it up with entertainment by Radio Free Carmela, raffle prizes, and more excellent food than you can imagine!

Dill gave a very impassioned and impromptu talk about how labeling people and products and branding and marketing really serve in a lot of cases to get people into a rut and reduce the act of actually thinking about where their consumed goods come from.

Brittany mentioned a new play coming up at the Booker VPA, and we talked about the importance of Voting NO on amendment 3 this November 7th. (Early voting has begun!)

Things wrapped up with new attendee Brian mentioning his wife is ready to give birth and that they would like to raise their child veggie (congrats Brian!). Also Donald revealed that he drove all the way down from Orlando to attend the meeting, what a trooper! He is a great fellow and a member / youth organizer at an Orlando Buddhist Temple named the Guang Ming Temple. They have weekly service at noon on Sundays and afterwards offer a vegetarian meal free of charge to anyone who wishes to attend. They're almost completed building their new location, and from the pictures he showed me it looks amazing.

That's Brian on the left, Donald (lifetime vegetarian) in the middle, and the thing that looks like giant candy corn is my back :)

Everyone kindly agreed to organize themselves to closely resemble the new wall Bush approved for the Mexican-American border and Dill snapped this shot. Neat eh?

Thanks again everyone!

E. coli strain traced to ranch near spinach fields

2006-10-13T08:23:00.000-04:00

Well in a totally un-shocking chain of events, the now famous spinach e. coli bacteria was all but proven to be caused by animal agriculture. Yes, if it were not for the raising of animals destined to become food this could never have happened.

Read the whole article here:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/10/12/tainted.spinach.ap/index.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- -- The same strain of deadly bacteria that sickened dozens of people nationwide has been found at a cattle ranch in California's Salinas Valley within a mile of spinach fields, investigators said Thursday.

"We do not have a smoking cow at this point," said Dr. Kevin Reilly, deputy director of the Prevention Services Division of the California Department of Health Services. Nevertheless, Reilly called the match an important finding.

Investigators still do not know how the feces could have contaminated the spinach implicated in the bacterial outbreak. They also do not know whether the ranch used manure from the cattle to fertilize its fields. Nor is there evidence that livestock entered the spinach fields on the ranch. However, wild pigs roamed the property, they said.

"There's lots of wildlife and lots of potential for breakdown in the fencing," Reilly told reporters.

The strain of pathogenic E. coli O157:H7 was found in three cattle fecal samples collected at the ranch, one of four under investigation, the officials said. It matched the strain found in sick patients and in bags of recalled spinach.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.

etc... etc...

Now do you think that they've found the root cause of the outbreak it will be broadcast on every media outlet like it was when it was first detected? No way in hell. If the same thing happened with beef, you would NEVER hear about this, it's freakin ridiculous. Thanks to my friend Chris for linking me this article.

I love these Tings!

2006-09-27T23:45:00.000-04:00

Yes, I have been turned on to another great vegan snack! Thanks to our good friend Aurelia for having a recent potluck prior to veggie bowling night I was exposed to 'vegan cheetos'. They are Robert's American Gourmet "Tings". As a vegan, it's been quite some time since I've had Cheetos, so as you can see from this first picture, I was not quite sure how to use them.

But after I got the hang of the chewing part I found out these things are freakin' awesome and delicious. They use a mix of salt and nutritional yeast (which is a very nutritious ingredient packed with protein & B vitamins) atop the familiar crunchy corn stick to produce a highly addictive substance which likely should be controlled under the FDA pharmaceutical legislation.

As you can see from my zoned out look, and 'elbow deep in the bag' stance in the following picture, when my wife Dill brought a partial bag of these home I polished it off before I could put it down.

Our mutual friend Judson is also apparently hooked on these, but what he doesn't know is that after I demolished the bag he started (shown in the photos) I bought 2 more and took 1 to work, which is now gone, and have another bag sitting on my counter at home. I hope the infatuation passes before I myself turn into the asexual cartoon character on the front of the bag, who I've got to say, is no Chester.

(Robert's representative please contact me for promotional opportunities)

31 States Record Increases in Adult Obesity

2006-09-26T09:47:00.000-04:00

Well as most of us know, the Standard American Diet (S.A.D) is contributing to expansion of wastelines (Yes I spelled that properly - putting waste into your body causes your waistline to transform into a "waste-line"). Adding fuel to the fire is the ever increasing marketing of unhealthy, trans-fat laden, preservative and sugar heavy foods being constantly crammed with every animal derivative you can think of. It's as if animal agriculture just keeps finding new ways to sell their by-products off to industry for all kinds of un-imaginable uses.

31 States Record Increases in Adult Obesity

Another article points out the obvious (which the media is so good at making seem like news) which is that excercise helps! A good quote from this article follows:

"After a fatty meal, arteries lose their ability to expand in response to an increase in blood flow. The effect peaks four to six hours after eating -- usually just in time for your next meal. So, four hours after a fatty meal, your arteries look like those of a person with heart disease, said.

This sets up a chain of events that eventually and commonly lead to obesity. You are consuming animal products, so eventually you begin to literally wear the animals fat. Picture that for a moment. There's a pig, he's cute and chubby. Let's eat the pig and see his chubby belly go into yours, then see your belly become chubby, but somehow, not so cute.

Another great tidbit: Next, Wallace hopes to study the effect of exercise before a high-fat meal.

Gee, I wonder how that will turn out??

I find it highly interesting that neither of these articles even contains the words "fruit" or "vegetable". Once again overlooking the most effective way to combat obesity and get gains from excercise - eating a plant based diet. So each time you eat animals, not only are you effectively paying someone else to oppress other living things before cruelly killing them, but you are clogging your system with toxins and, as the one article says, increasing your chance of death (but don't worry, it's just DEATH)

Sarasota Earthdance Dance Party

2006-09-17T00:45:00.000-04:00

post edited: pics added

We just rolled in (it's 1am) from this great event held for the 3rd year here in
Sarasota - the EarthDance festival.

Dill, Raylon, Judson, Aurelia, Barry, Daniel, Chris, Kris, Shane and many others spent the day helping out and showing their activist colors talking all about VegSarasota and the vegetarian lifestyle, today at the Powel Crosley Mansion on the bay. The weather was great and very cooperative, with just a light shower early on and then beautiful skies all day long. In addition, the red tide held back so the breathing was easy. That is fortunate, as we spent the day talking to dozens and dozens of people about what it means to be conscious and live with compassion.

Here's Dill setting up the booth and Angelo our volunteer helping out.

We handed out starter kits, pamphlets, sold vegan cookbooks, displayed vegan grocery products, and collected e-mail addresses from many people interested in elevating the level of compassion in their lives. It was great to see people that haven't been able to come to recent events, and to meet new people as well. We met a whole group of 7 or 8 people who were all friends or related and vegan

This is Rita and Dill sharing a smile at this love-filled event!

The dance for peace was fantastic and so was the music all day and all night. I'll post some pictures on the blog tomorrow.

This is one of the shots of the dance for peace with the beautiful sunset over the bay. The photo doesn't do it justice.

Vegsarasota on the Radio & TV

2006-09-12T11:24:00.000-04:00

That's right folks, in late-breaking news Dill will be on Sunny 1220 AM tonight, Tuesday September 12th in the 6pm-7pm hour talking with LeeAnne Hansard on her Radio show "The Butterfly Effect". LeeAnne is a great person and we're honored to have the opportunity to share the airwaves with her this evening.

Click HERE to Listen Live

Also, Raylon will be appearing tonight, Tuesday September 12th from 7-7:30pm on Blab TV -Sarasota Channel 21- for the show 'It's All About Health' hosted by Rochelle Herman of SuperValue Nutrition

Both Dill & Raylon will be talking all about VegSarasota and the upcoming EarthDance festival, which this Saturday 9/16 at the Powel Crosley Mansion across from the Sarasota Airport.

PLEASE Tune in if you can, either by radio, internet, or TV. And if given the chance, please call in, we'd love to hear from some of our friends in the community!

FDA Says Viruses Safe For Treating Meat

2006-09-11T10:34:00.000-04:00

Source: Barbara Loe Fisher of National Vaccine Information Center.

"In yet another stunning demonstration of callous disregard for the health of American citizens, a pathetically weak and useless Food and Drug Administration has given the green light to industry microbe hunters to spray cold cuts, poultry and other meats with a mix of viruses that are supposed to eat bacteria contaminating the meat without hurting anyone in the process. Right.

And the best part? Meat producers won't have to tell consumers which meats have been bathed in the viruses so everyone gets a dose eating a hot dog at a baseball game or frying up some ham and eggs for breakfast - whether they want it or not. And when Uncle Leo in the Bronx drops dead from a mysterious infection after eating an italian sub at a neighborhood picnic, the story will be: it wasn't the virus infected sausage that did it, it was - A COINCIDENCE. (But if enough people drop dead after eating virus infected meat, an enterprising drug company will probably develop a food vaccine and convince the CDC to mandate it).

In America, apparently the only way consumers will be able to protect themselves from FDA-sponsored contaminated meat is to become a vegan or go organic. It's an expensive alternative but a small price to pay to keep viruses, chemicals and hormones that don't belong in the food we eat out of our bodies."

Read More

Encourage variety in teen vegan's diet

2006-09-05T22:14:00.000-04:00

Find creative ways to add protein, other nutrients to menu

Question: My teenage daughter has become a vegan and won't eat any animal products, including meat, seafood, eggs and dairy. What strategies can I use to make sure she's getting the protein she needs?

Answer: Not to worry - it can be done, says Prudence Athearn Levy, a registered dietitian at Cherry Creek Nutrition.

"With a little extra work, a teen's protein needs are usually met even with very strict vegan diets," she says.

Depending on your daughter's age, weight, height and activity level, her minimum requirements for protein range from 46 to 56 grams, more if she's also an athlete.

Look for protein-rich foods such as soy milk, soy or almond cheese, beans, lentils, whole grains such as quinoa, cereals - especially high-protein cereals such as Kashi Go Lean - nuts and nut butters, seeds, soy or brown rice protein powder for smoothies, tofu, tempeh and textured vegetable protein.

"Encouraging variety is the best way to ensure she meets her protein needs," the dietitian says. "A great way to start is to visit a vegan or vegetarian restaurant and try some new dishes together."

Read more....

Fast-Food Ice Dirtier Than Toilet Water

2006-09-01T08:28:00.000-04:00

And to think we've spent all this time worrying about how bad the "food" is for you at fast-food joints. Now it's the ice cubes we have to worry about too? I have a solution, don't eat at fast restaurants period. In a science project by a 7th grader it was concluded that ice cubes in self serve machines & drive-thru windows 70% of the time had more bacteria than the same restaurant's toilet water. Ewwww.

Read more.... ABC News

Drink Up!

Peace & Love
-Dill

The 2006 Veggie Awards, Vote!

2006-08-29T22:37:00.000-04:00

Just 7 Days Left to Vote in the 2006 Veggie Awards!

VegNews is just 7 days away from closing the 2006 Veggie Award polls, so now is the time to get out the vote! Some of the categories are very close, so let your voice be heard and vote for your favorite vegetarian people, places and products today.

All ballots are entered into a Grand Prize Drawing for a chance to win these great prizes:

Grand Prize: BED & BREAKFAST FANTASY GETAWAY
Second Prize: VEGAN VICE PACKAGE
Third Prize: $100 VEGAN ESSENTIALS SHOPPING SPREE
Plus, Weekly Giveaways! VEGAN UNLIMITED SPA BASKETS

Vote Here

After you vote, put in our comments, your favorite thing you voted for.

Siam Orchid Thai Restaurant goes Vegan!

2006-08-27T20:46:00.000-04:00

Well at least for one evening. We just had a huge Thai dinner at Siam Orchid in Sarasota. They provided a delightful vegan spread including veggie spring rolls, curry puffs, coconut curry, and a delicious peanut tofu stir fry dish.

Yes, just this evening (August 27th, 2006) VegSarasota organized a Thai vegan buffet for about 55 people.

Here's Dill & Raylon joyful for the turnout!

We were able to pull together a really wonderful group of people for this event. Everyone was so friendly and a real joy to talk to. Some group members brought their parents, and there were a few kids in attendance as well. Chris helped us set up our microphone which allowed us to speak to the group without having to stand on chairs and shout :) We had a 2 place raffle in which we gave away a CD by pianist and activist Will Tuttle, and 2 tickets to the upcoming Earthdance Festival.

Lenore won the CD, and Dimitria won the tickets - congratulations ladies!

The owner Nissy even did a traditional Thai dance for us.

As usual with these kinds of events, the most important things that happen are the inter-personal connections that get made. Several of us took time afterwords to engage in discussions with each other. As I bounced around to the different tables, I heard and joined in discussions of art, music, meditation, healing, compassion, and economics. After we cleared out, we snapped this shot to celebrate the few folks who stayed to learn something from each other.

Left to right thats Peter, Dimitria, Beth, Shane, Kimberly, Daniel, Dill, Chris, and Kris. Yours truly had his finger on the shutter.

Thanks to everyone that came out to help us show another Sarasota Restaurant that there IS a demand for tasty cruelty free food!

Vegetarian Vegan Sarasota August Meetup 8-24-06

2006-08-25T08:53:00.000-04:00

Last night we had our 18th monthly meetup and boy was it successful!

VegSarasota.com has been at it since last March and I'm proud to see so many people come out (just as the clouds parted for us) to enjoy the company of like minded friends. A group of over 50 people descended upon Whole Foods Market in Sarasota for this event. I got to meet some really great people like Stacy, Andy, & Krystin the nutritionist for the first time. Plenty of good food and a few good drinks were enjoyed before we started the meeting at 7:30pm.

Raylon (that'd be me) started things off by welcoming everyone giving a little background on the group. Dill picked things up by introducing us and reminding everyone why we're doing what we're doing. She then talked about the recent Vegan Day at Whole Foods, and the upcoming Thai vegan buffet at Siam Orchid on 8/27. Then Lisa came up to talk a bit about the upcoming Earthdance festival and describe how buying a ticket from VegSarasota (which you can do with the click of a mouse) not only saves you $5 off the $15 the ticket price, but also helps out the group finances a smidge.

Kris told us all about Biotica Ecotours and their upcoming schedule, including an October veggie outing. Stay tuned for more info on that, these are always really fun and educational. She also said some new photos are up from past events, so check out their site! After Kris spoke, Beth (our girl on the inside) told us about some tasty raw 'burgers' that she had tried that earlier day and provided samples for anyone interested. Slim had a couple of articles to share discussing the recent federal ruling that the FDA cannot prohibit experimental drugs from being used by terminal patients, and 2 other articles by physicians stating that a plant based diet is the healthiest way to go. Then Becky talked about the need for volunteers at the Bee Ridge extension animal shelter, and Karen talked about the upcoming walk in St. Pete for Farm Sanctuary. Brittany talked about an upcoming play series at Booker high in early October. Some free Neem plant was given out along with a bag of mixed tea's provided by Judson (thanks Jud!). Then Andy from Bamboo Grove talked about the organic gardens and most-monthly potlucks on the first Saturday of the month in Arcadia. What a great sounding place!

Lastly, Raylon (ahem) talked about his work with the Outreach Coordinator team and their efforts to effect change through writing letters, emails, and editorials.

With that, we concluded the meeting and were able to get into smaller group conversations and really connect with each other while we all still had our 'veggie buzz' going.

If you want more detail on any of these events, please visit our calendar for dates, times, places, and contact information.

McDonald's giving out Hummers in Happy Meals

2006-08-25T08:51:00.000-04:00

Yes it's true - Apparently, instead of opting for candy cigarrettes, McDonald's has decided on this as their new promotion for kids: A free toy hummer with each happy meal - yeay! Can you hear the dripping sarcasm? I thought when I heard this I was having some sort of nightmare about combining the 2 most terrible things in the world, but it's happening. You can read more about the promotion here.

Most people in their right mind could not defend McDonald's food or their mode of operation involving selling the most cruelly mass produced and unhealthy food on the face of this fast-food earth. And most people in their right mind will agree that the Hummer represents the apex of gas guzzling, eco-stomping vehicles. But when you put these 2 things together I cannot imagine what is going through the minds of people who think this is in some way a good marketing campaign. What are we trying to teach children? On top of teaching them it's ok to hurt animals while slowly poisoning their bodies, do we also need to teach them to idealize giant environment harming vehicles as something which should be desired?

Well I'm glad the Environmental Working Group has done something to provide a fun way to speak out against this public insanity. They've created one of the funnest sites I've seen in a while. Check out
Ronald McHummer.com. Their main page has a form letter you can send to Ralph Alvarez, McDonalds USA President. But while your there you can have some fun too! Make your very own sign like the ones below and download the jpeg for fun. I think they look very much like an actual photo, what do you think?

This is one I made up quickly with the added veg message.

And this is one of my favorites from the archive of slogans.

Thanks to Eric Marcus and vegan.com for covering this in his most recent edition of his 'Vegan Diner' podcast.

I talked about it at our meetup last night and everyone was quite amused, but amused in that way where you can't believe the insanity in the world so you just have to laugh at it. Help take a stand by sending the letter, or at least have fun making a sign!

Since I initially wrote this last night I realized a TON of people are speaking out against this. Everyone from Vegan Porn to WIRED Magazine, countless blogs, the NY Times and of course, groups like the Sierra Club. That should tell you something.

VegSarasota named Best Web site for local event listings

2006-08-13T23:08:00.000-04:00

VegSarasota named Best Web site for local event listings under "Vegetarian Lifestyle" in the Herald Tribune in an article for college newbies guide to Sarasota. Click here to read all about it.

Love & Peace,

- Dill

Vegetarians of Sarasota & Outreach

2006-08-05T07:43:00.000-04:00

Well we recently had our first informal meeting of the VegSarasota outreach coordinators. Thanks to Lisa W. for the title, it fit well. I've been wanting to apply my talent for writing to something I care about for some time, and while I know you are thinking "What could be better than this blog?", I found yet another a great way, and a topic - food! More specifically, getting healthy and tasty cruelty free food options expanded for veggies in this area and of course other (and more important) good causes that we as vegetarians/vegans are empowered to speak out about due to our special brand of enlightenment.

So Thursday, I gathered the top minds (if that's saying much) of VegSarasota who have inspired me and whom I know to be talented in the ways of communication and very intelligent (ok we're a little strange too, but that helps!). So we have Chris O. & Kris F., Sam H. and Lisa W. I provided the Indian food (mild for public consumption), and they provided a sounding board and valuable feedback to this new wing...ok I don’t like wing that's an animal reference... to this new branch of our veg group (yes much better).

We outlined our goals for the task force, namely to leverage our and other members talents and distribute the product of our work to a wider audience within our community. By doing this we can empower our members to help make Sarasota and the world a better, greener, more veg friendly city. We discussed how best to structure different letter and email campaigns, how to effectively reach out to businesses local and national, and how to engage members of our group so that we can have a real impact. Then we (and this is where I need you to pay attention) discussed several institutional targets that we wish to praise and thank for their efforts, others that we would like to see set up shop in the Sarasota area, and yet others that need nudging in the right direction. The reason I asked you to pay attention (you did, didn't you?) is that we want you to submit your good causes to us for consideration. I think a lot of company directors just sit around wanting to know if anyone is paying attention, so they concoct the most ludicrous stuff to see if anyone will react. Things such as media statements that are on the verge of stupidity or business promotions that illustrate the fractured nature of our thinking as a society. So we want help in finding these societal 'areas for improvement'. Please submit or forward any campaigns you come across or think of to raylon@vegsarasota.c om for consideration. We're going to be creating initiatives on several fronts, and I would like to thank the team thus far for really getting involved and each being motivating & inspirational factor in their own way.

Vegetarian & Vegan news reporters - a couple folks working hard

2006-08-02T09:34:00.000-04:00

While surfing I came across this really great blog, http://veganworldwidenews.blogspot.com/ where a gentleman from the UK has been blogging the Veg way for some time. Tony has an interesting collection of entertaining and newsworthy articles there, so check him out! As soon as I figure out how to put a links bar I will certainly have a link to this blog up there.

Also, I've been wondering what Eric Marcus is up to over at http://vegan.com/. Since backing off from doing 30+minute podcast and downloadable audio segments of his news roundup 'Vegan Diner', he started producing shorter, more compact segments. However, he has not produced one since July 12th. He did talk about this great article covering an event called Summerfest that sounded really awesome. At any rate, I hope the machine of the meat industry didn't catch up and consume him. That would be terrible if he ended up in someone's burger. I highly recommend his book, Meat Market: Animals, Ethics, and Money for veggies of all persuasion and especially for meat eaters who wonder why a person would take up this cause. Eric was kind enough to visit us for a Vegan Thanksgiving talk last year, I only hope we can out do ourselves this year. The family atmosphere of coming together as veggies on a holiday was truly worth all the effort.

Vegan Day at Whole Foods a Huge Success!

2006-07-29T03:18:00.000-04:00

Ray, Jud, Brenda & I had a blast tabling today at the Sarasota Whole Foods for Vegan Day. There were vegan samples all throughout the store in every department.

Ray & I got our picture taken for the Sarasota Observer in front of the Kopali Organics Eco-Bus. The bus is made of all sustainable resources and runs completely on vegetable oil. Find out more about their great idea and products on their website.

There was a vegan cooking class and a store full of cool happy people. I even got to eat a vegan fluffenutter. Good golly.

Love & Peace
-Dill

Metro Coffee & Wine Carries Vegan Mocha Cheesecake With Cherries

2006-07-28T00:01:00.000-04:00

Simply Scrumptous! Metro Coffee & Wine has been experimenting with new vegan pastries. First the "Tree Hugger" cookie and now the "Mocha Cheesecake with Cherries". Metro's secret weapon, Anastasia Maracle's craftmanship in the kitchen. Let the smooth creamy texture and perfectly lightly sweetened goodness satisfy your cravings on many different levels. Be sure to stop in, grab a coffee and a slice of cruelty-free heaven.

Love & Peace
- Dill

VegSarasota July Meetup at Whole Foods

2006-07-27T23:39:00.000-04:00

We had our 16th successful veggie meetup tonight. Approx 22 people braved the stormy weather to meet up with their favorite veggie pals. Even though the weather brought us inside the Whole Foods cafe we still had a blast. Some highlights: Kris of Biotica Ecotours spoke about their new kayak rentals and upcoming trips. Dates to be posted soon. Raylon spoke about a new "letter writing group" forming. This would consist of getting together, picking a topic and each writing a letter to an organization with a specific goal in mind. It will start out with giving praise to restaurants/businesses/organizations who are offering veggie options, doing things "green" and overall doing a good job. To get involved please contact raylon@vegsarasota.com Michele announced a veggie Beach Party at Siesta Key Pavillion this Saturday at 2pm. Chris spoke about an alternative bug repellent called Cutter Advanced Picaridin. Here's a picture so you can find it in the store. It's way better than that nasty DEET crap! :)

Love & Peace
- Dill

Vegan diet shows promising results for Type 2 Diabetes

2006-07-26T16:47:00.000-04:00

Link to CBSNews.com Article

Great to see at least one instance where the mainstream media recognizes the benefits of eating vegan. From everything I've read and the people I've met who have had life-changing effects from trying a vegan or raw diet, this study on diabetes is typical of the kind of results and posiffects (that'd be positive effects) people can gain by eating vegan.

-Raylon

Whole Foods Carries Soy Whip in a Can!

2006-07-24T19:22:00.000-04:00

So we're wandering into our local Whole Foods yesterday and lo and behold what do we see? Vegan Whipped Cream in a can, ready for the squirtin! Sure this has been on the market for a while, and I've come across from time to time a vegan version in the tub, but how much more handy do you get than the old school canned version? Now I have something to pile onto that vegan apple pie sitting in my fridge hehe. Provided of course I burned enough calories cutting the grass today...

Here I am, ready to toss the Soyatoo! Soy Whip into my shopping cart, without missing a beat! My brain seemed to handle this decision automagically.

And you better believe it tastes every bit as good as that fatty animal puss they pass off for dessert topping-in-a-can filled with gas best used in the dentist chair! It's light, fluffy, sweet and ultra-creamy just like you'd expect. Even straight out of the can (hey, I'd be remiss in my duties of referral if I didn't try that!). Why cage and torture an animal for these kinds of products if you can just have something this good and cruelty free instead? Tonight, I'm all about dessert!

Rustic Grill Highlights Chef vs Cook Distinction

2006-07-21T23:23:00.000-04:00

A good friend of mine recently threw a surprise birthday party for her husband, and in the process introduced me to a potential haven, if only we could get the chefs on board.

This gathering was held at an extremely unique and elegant establishment called The Rustic Grill. Anastasia Maracle decided this would be a great spot to surprise Billy with a 25-strong group of his friends, and in the balcony we launched one of the best surprise attacks he's ever been glad to receive.

I could go on and on about the one of a kind antiques adorning the place, or the welcoming and warm feeling of the structure, or the sheer elegance this combination exudes. What I want to focus on though is the food. I mean, that's what would keep me coming back, right? Since we were early to arrive we spoke with the waiter and had him relay our meal criteria to the chef. We simply explained we were vegan, and would like the chef to prepare us a cruelty free meal without the use of any animal products. This is the key to my little rave, the difference between a Chef and a cook. A Chef knows how to combine ingredients based on their individual characteristics such as texture, color, nutritional content, and taste. A cook makes a dish the same way every time because that's what management told him to do. So by giving the Chef as much flexibility as we did, we allowed him the opportunity use his creativity in preparing our meal. This is probably not something that Chef's in general get to do very much, but by what we were served, I could tell the situation was appreciated. I should note at this time that although there is a head Chef, our later discussion with Clint informed us that they actually employ a team of Chefs in their meal preparation.

The dish consisting of a large onion ring filled with cubed spiced sweet potatoes, grilled organic enoki mushrooms, and rosemary roasted peppers topped with steamed asparagus all drizzled with a balsamic glaze was a pleasure for all the senses and we enjoyed it very very much. This is something they should put on the menu we thought, which is why we would like to encourage others to try out the The Rustic Grill, and ask for something special from the chef, and oh by the way make it vegan. You'll not only get a great meal, you'll be doing something good for your body and helping to raise awareness in the community that us 'veg-folk' really enjoy the art of dining.

-Raylon

VegSarasota Shows Super Size Me

2006-07-21T23:14:00.001-04:00

Tonight VegSarasota got 26 people together for a casual vegan potluck and a free screening of Super Size Me. Afterwards there was a brain storm about the film and almost everyone agreed no more McDonalds for them.

Beth's Surprise Party at Marko's Grill

2006-07-20T23:39:00.000-04:00

So tonight Lisa Wilson ::Better World Media:: & I threw a surprise birthday party for Beth Holder at Marko's Grill. (41 and Myrtle). Executive chef Rich Defelice threw together another amazing vegan buffet dinner. Daniella at Morton's Gourmet Market created another delicious vegan carrot cake. The Schmitz Brothers came out and performed all evening. Artist Daniel Bilodeau stopped by to show us his latest painting. Norm & Matt were there spreading love and info about the upcoming Earthdance (Sept 16th Crosley Estates). About 40 people were in attendance for this spectacular evening. There are a lot of special people in our community. I love Sarasota.

Love & Peace
- Dill

New Crops of the Americas Stamp

2006-07-20T09:09:00.000-04:00

I think this is great! These stamps depict th 1970s indigenous agricultural methods in the southwestern United States.

The stamp art includes ears of corn (Zea mays); red and green chilies (Capsicum annuum); lima beans (Phaseolus lunatus), scarlet runner beans (P. coccineus), and pintos and other common beans (P. vulgaris); various squashes (Cucurbita spp.); and a sunflower and seeds (Helianthus annuus).

Check them out for yourself. www.USPS.com

Welcome to our Blog

2006-07-19T22:56:00.000-04:00

Face it, the first post is always lame. Sorry :(

Washington DC VegStyle Adventure

2005-08-22T15:05:00.002-04:00

Full Picture Gallery Here

Hi everyone, just got back from short vacation to DC and wanted to recap some of the vegginess we experienced. First stop after leaving the airport was straight to Adams Morgan area to check out the legendary Sticky Fingers Bakery (all vegan). I can sum it up with Y-U-M! They have brownies, big huge cinnamon buns, cake, cheesecake, oatmeal creme pie cake and so much more. To our delight they even had Silk Coffee Creamer on hand. Why haven't other establishments including Starbucks realized yet that people who drink coffee don't want soy milk they want soy creamer! Sorry for the rant. Back to the goodness.... Another great thing is we picked up a copy of "The Vegetarian Guide to Washington DC." Nice.

Overall Rating Food & Price A-

Dinner found us still in Adams Morgan and in front of Amersterdam Falafel Shop. For $5.00 you get a huge pita filled with falafel and you get to dress it with as much fixins as you want. This includes hummus, tabouli, baba ganoush, salsa and so much more. So filling and so good.

Overall Rating Food & Price A

Along our travels we also happened to notice a "I'm not a nugget" PETA sticker on a roadside water pipe. I yelled "Score!" and took a picture. We also came upon a vegetarian starter kit stand right next to the newspaper. Wahoo!

The second day of the journey the destination was PCRM headquarters (Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine), birthplace of the Vegetarian Starter Kits, and other wonderful literature, media, and scientific research promoting our cause. We met up with Vanessa Jones in the elevator and she was kind enough to take us around. She brought us to the fun media room where we scored a huge handful of starter kits and other materials.

A quick metro ride back had us back downtown and on our site-seeing adventure. I couldn't help but stopping by the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture.) Naturally, I was disappointed as even the lobby is compromised by corporate sponsors (see photo) and the factsheets they were giving out were touting the grades of beef. It was like a billion degrees out so I was greatful for the free water cooler but yet another disappointment by the styrofoam cups. And to think the EPA is just down the street. Don't these people talk? grrr...

After a long day playing tourist we headed on the outskirts of the city to a town called Vienna. There we visited the Whole Foods to load up on snacks for the next day's long bus trip. There weren't many vegan options on the buffet so we headed to a vegan restaurant called, Sunflower, we found in our "DC Guide."

It was quiet and it smelled good and there were literally sunflowers everywhere you looked. Sunflower nightlight on the table, sunflower tablecloth and draping from the ceiling. Very cute and fun. I was so impressed with the menu and so starving at the same time. As vegetarians we are use to having literally no options. Give us a hundred different choices on a menu and it's nearly overwhelming. I settled on the "fried chicken appetizer" and the Eggplant Medley with brown rice. Yay for gourmet vegan food!

Overall rating of the food and service A+

We took some pictures of another vegetarian restaurant up the street called Amma Vegetarian Kitchen. We ran in to grab a menu and it sure smelled good. Indian fare and fast food style dining room.

That was all we could squeeze in the 2 days we were in DC before we headed up to NJ. Not a lot to report vegwise there except for one amazing meal we had at a vegetarian place in Red Bank.

Down To Earth was the name, gone to heaven is how I felt when we rolled out of there. The menu there was so gourmet I'd have to say I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. There was an extensive selection for the raw folks too. We had the "Live Lemonade" to drink and the "Live Leaf Wraps" as an appetizer. (Sundried tomato, black olive nut pate, guacamole, tomato and shredded lettuce with a sprinkling of cheesy raw nut topping filling a green leaf wrap.) Ummmm WOW? I dunno does life get better then this? Yes, it did... it just kept going. We had another appetizer, the Raw Maki (Nori filled with a creamy brazil nut pate, layered fresh veggies and a sprinkling of sundried black olives. Served with wasabi miso dipping sauce.) On to the entree, the Seitan Bordalaise served with mushroom red wine sauce, garlic mashed potatoes and sauteed kale. And if that wasn't enough to make me bust we proceeded onto desert which may have been the best dessert I've ever tasted. The amazing chocolate banana cake with hempseed. The waitstaff was so friendly we wanted to invite them to join us for dinner. Haha...Yeah I couldn't move for a few hours afterwards, but it was pure bliss.

Overall Rating, Food, Price, Service A++++

Last but not least I couldn't resist taking a photo of this shirt we saw in one of the shops. Hey it's me! hahaha... well that's it folks...
It's a dilly!

Dill

More info of places mentioned:

Amma Vegetarian Kitchen
344-A Maple Ave East - Vienna, VA 22180
703-938-5328

Amsterdam Falafel Shop

2425 18th St., NW DC 20009 - Adams Morgan
www.FalafelShop.com.com

Down to Earth
7 Broad Street - Red Bank, NJ
732-747-4542

Sticky Fingers Bakery
1904 18th ST NW DC
202-299-9700
www.stickyfingersbakery.com

Sunflower Vegetarian Restaurant
2531 Chain Bridge Road - Vienna, VA 22181
www.crystalsunflower.com