Update, 5/14/09:

Yay! We’re winners! Thanks for the copy of Veganomicon, Vegan Soapbox!

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On March 1st, Convenient Vegan @ Vegan Soapbox issued the following challenge:

The rules:

1. Go into any convenience store with ten bucks.
2. Choose vegan food.
3. Take it back to your house or motel room, add water, spices, herbs, or nutritional yeast if you like, to make a meal that serves one or more.
4. Add nothing else.

That’s it. The meal does not have to be super-healthy, low-fat, low-sugar or anything like that. It does need to be something that most of us would recognize as a meal, not a snack.

Post your pictures or at least your description of what you got and what you made here and tell us what convenience store you bought from. OR post your meal on your blog and give us the link here. [edited Mar 2, 2009: can post your meal on your blog and put the link here]

Deadline: March 31, 2009

Shane and I were out and about on Thursday, so we decided to give it a try. We stopped for gas at a Shell station along our route, then popped into the store – without any luck. There were precious few non-snack grocery goods to be found, and most of the canned stuff contained meat. So we went across the street to a Pour Boys store, and…same story. On our way home, we decided to give it one last try, this time at a Quik Trip. Success!

We actually came up with a few different meal plans*, but ultimately decided to go with Shane’s idea: spaghetti, topped with salsa, corn and Spanish olives, with a small bag of Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos (yes, they’re vegan!) for dessert.

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Today marks the first day of spring – and the beginning of a weekend’s worth of Meatout festivities!

What is “Meatout,” you ask?

On (or around) March 20 — the first day of spring — thousands of caring people in all 50 U.S. states and two dozen other countries get active to host educational Meatout events. Activities include colorful festivals, lectures, public dinners, feed-ins, cooking demos, food samplings, leafleting, information tables and more.

The occasion is Meatout, the world’s largest and oldest annual grassroots diet education campaign. This year is the 25th annual observance! Every spring, thousands of caring Meatout supporters educate their communities and ask their friends, families, and neighbors to pledge to “kick the meat habit (at least for a day) and explore a wholesome, compassionate diet of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.”

This year’s theme is “Change Your Diet – Change the World!”

You can find a very lengthy (*smiles*) list of events here; register and/or plan for an event here (hint: it’s never too late to download your materials!); find a list of suggested activities here; download banners here; and send your family and friends some way cute ecards (such as the one above) here. Oh, and t-shirts – don’t forget the t-shirts!

If you’re not (yet!?) a vegetarian, please consider ordering a free vegetarian starter guide in celebration of the holiday. Use the Google to unearth the many options available. Meatout.org has plenty of recipes online, too, including a 7-day meal plan; check it here.

For a list of my favorite and to-make-soon meals, click on over to my delicious account, where I’ve tagged 216 (and counting) recipes. Delicious is a handy way to keep track of recipes; you can tag each link with the ingredients, meal type, etc., and then work backwards on a whim, searching for the perfect recipe in which to use all those squash you’ve got languishing in the garage (or wevs). Use the ‘notes’ field to comment on a recipe after you’re tried it. Say buh-bye to those stained index cards!

As for moi, as long as the weather holds, I’ll be outside, getting my garden ready for spring. This year, we’re converting two large planters along the driveway from flowerbeds to V-gardens (where the “V” stands for Victory and Vegan, naturally). It’s going to be a ton of work, but hopefully worth it. In addition to last year’s tomatoes, peppers, jalapenos, pumpkins, spaghetti squash, green and yellow squash, watermelon, cantaloupe and pumpkins, we hope to plant some blueberries, strawberries and raspberries this season. And of course, can’t forget all those apples, pears and apricots! I’m making myself hungry just thinking about it.

Now, who says vegans are deprived, hmmmm?

* Dave Coulier, anyone? Ugh. I just totally dated myself there.

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Action Alerts

ACORN: Sheriff Joe is at it again
“Sheriff Joe is at it again. This week he raided a Phoenix, Arizona painting company — detaining eight painters and tearing apart their families. This raid, just days after the Department of Justice launched an investigation into his abuses, is more proof of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s contempt for the citizens of Maricopa County and the rule of law. Fortunately, there’s one person who can put an end to these inhumane raids. Secretary Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security can suspend Arpaio’s 287g agreement that allows him to enforce Federal immigration laws.”

Best Friends: Discrimination in the Military?
“An animal welfare organization is calling on the U.S. military to reverse a wholesale ban on certain breeds of dogs which is tearing apart families and their dogs at bases across the country. Best Friends Animal Society is adamantly opposed to wholesale profiling of any breed of dog and is urging Americans to get involved.” (See also: BSL & the U.S. Military.)

Common Cause: Demand your Senators make bailout accountability the law!
“The TARP Reform and Accountability Act would require bailout recipients to provide information about how taxpayer money is used, helping to ensure bailout funds are used as they were intended: to stimulate the economy and help struggling Americans. The bill passed through the House in January, but months later it still has not been introduced in the Senate, and the longer it stalls, the more likely it becomes that we will face another AIG-like instance of bailout fund misuse.”

Dogs Deserve Better (DDB): Pennsylvania’s Wall of Shame: Chained Dogs Still Waiting for a Law
“Pennsylvania dog advocates are on our 3rd year fighting for a law limiting chaining in Pennsylvania. Rep. Scavello has sent out the memo asking for co-sponsors of the new tethering bill, so far there are 30 sponsors, up from last year. We will let you know ASAP when the bill is introduced and a number is assigned. This year, as part of a much larger push to get this bill through to a law, we have created a Pennsylvania Wall of Shame: Chained Dogs Still Waiting for a Law. This Wall features photos of chained dogs in every county who are still out there living chained today, still waiting for help, and still waiting for YOU. If you can get us photos of chained dogs in your Pennsylvania county, please e-mail them to us at photos [at] dogsdeservebetter.org with the county location. Ask your local Rep to get behind this bill.”

Farm Sanctuary: Pigs Eating Pigs. Is That Funny to You?
“Boost Mobile has recently aired a commercial that is as offensive as it is disturbing. The commercial depicts two pigs sitting at a table in a restaurant eating a large, pink ham. One pig speaks to the camera and says, “I like a nice ham. You think that’s wrong? We’re just enjoying the flavors of a fallen friend.” You can watch the full “Pigs, Unwronged” commercial here. For whatever reason, Boost Mobile finds humor in the idea of pigs being eaten, and eating each other. As any compassionate person can understand, this image is grossly negative and demands a response from us.”

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Via the latest issue of Dog’s Life e-newsletter, I found a link to this alarming story, by Steve Dale at www.goodnewsforpets.com: Dump the Dog is Military’s Message to Families with Targeted ‘Bad’ Breeds.

That’s right, folks: breed specific legislation, coming soon to military housing near you:

Lots of dog breeds will no longer be allowed on military housing property, according to new policy announced in a memo stamped January 5 from the United States Department of the Army. According to sources, the directive was approved by the Pentagon just prior to President George W. Bush leaving office.

The subject line of the memo reads: “Pet Policy for Privatized Housing Under the Army’s Residential Communities Initiative Privatization Program. Pit Bulls (American Staffordshire Bull Terriers and English Staffordshire Bull Terriers), Rottweilers, Doberman Pinschers, Chow Chows and wolf hybrids are now banned.” [...]

According to the ruling, dogs of any type who currently live on base can be grandfathered in. However, Lynde points out that families are frequently being asked to re-locate. When they do, they can no longer bring their banned dogs with them. Similarly, new enlistees must leave their dogs at home if they’re indentified as a banned breed.

Then what happens to any banned dogs identified and then forcibly relinquished by transferring military? Lynde says, “No one seems to have that answer.”

With morale already low on military bases, according to Lynde, she believes the ruling has already begun to further impact morale. “What kind of family support is this? I tried to communicate with the Garrison Comander’s Office (at Fort Bragg), but I got nowhere,” she says.

Military families whose members include so-called “dangerous” dog breeds, such as pit bulls, rottweilers, doberman pinschers, chow chows and wolf hybrids (!?) – or any mutt whose lineage includes or even resembles these breeds – may, under the new housing policy, be forced to relinquish their canines. If they’re unable to find a trusted friend or family member to take the animals, presumably they’ll have no choice but to surrender their beloved dogs to animal shelters, where many will be killed for lack of homes.

Simply put, this is a travesty. We already demand far too much of our military members and their families – we send them overseas, to fight and die in capricious, pointless wars; we deny them proper physical and psychological care, both in the battlefield and here at home; we ignore the high rates of sexual assault perpetrated against women in the military; we actively discriminate against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered persons who want nothing more than to serve their country; we fail to provide care for the non-human members of military families when the caregivers are deployed or on active duty; and now, the U.S. government is attempting to eradicate a targeted segment of their non-human family members, based on nothing other than naked prejudice, stereotypes and hysteria. Shameful, just shameful.

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I know I offered a semi-review of The Pig Who Sang to the Moon a few weeks ago, but I wanted to write something more appropriate for Amazon, Library Thing and the like. Posting positive reviews of animal-friendly books, television shows and films is a good way to help such media garner more exposure and business – and support the team, too! As is voting for positive review of animal-friendly materials – hint, hint, wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

A beautifully tragic look at “food” animals

My first introduction to Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson’s work was in high school, when I read his 1996 book, When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals. At the time, I was a newbie vegetarian, just becoming involved in animal advocacy. When Elephants Weep helped validate my decision to go veg, and reinforced my resolve to stay that way.

Fast-forward thirteen years. I picked up Masson’s latest ethology tome, The Pig Who Sang to the Moon: The Emotional World of Farm Animals, on a whim. Remembering his earlier work, I expected a beautiful, brilliant, touching look at the inner lives and experiences of farmed animals. I was not disappointed.

In The Pig Who Sang to the Moon, Masson lays out the evidence – from the highly scientific to the folksy anecdotal – which points to a wide range of emotional experiences in farmed animals, including love, grief, sorrow, joy, empathy, altruism, fear, trust, friendship, contentment and the like. Far from being unfeeling brutes, the billions of animals bred, farmed and slaughtered for human consumption (10 billion annually in the U.S. alone) have complex emotional and intellectual lives. Some of their emotions – such as the strong maternal instinct – mirror our own, while other emotions and intellectual abilities far surpass those of humans. For example, when suffering egregious cruelties (such as those found on modern factory farms), non-human animals can’t always identify the source of or reason for their pain and abuse. This serves to heighten their fear, such that some species of non-human animals may actually have a greater capacity for suffering than humans. Clearly, this could – should – have profound implications vis-à-vis our treatment of non-human animals, particularly those of the “farmed” variety.

Masson structures the book so that each chapter covers a different species of farmed animals: pigs, chickens, sheep, goats, cows and ducks, in that order. He juxtaposes information about the animals’ emotional lives – thoughts, feelings, sentience, capacity for joy and sorrow, etc. – with the brutal reality for the vast majority of these “owned” animals. Treated like milk and meat machines, dehumanized and objectified, their individuality obscured and their needs ignored, farmed animals suffer the worst of humanity’s whims and wants.

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Last night’s episode of The Colbert Report included a segment on PETA’s $1 million reward for the successful development and marketing of in vitro meat.
 

 
Though The Colbert Report is usually animal-friendly in its coverage, I was more than a little disappointed by this particular segment. Throughout the report, Stephen appears to be mocking the idea of in vitro meat as both disgusting and infeasible, rather than mocking, say, meat-eaters who might think cultured meat is disgusting and infeasible – when, in reality, the “meat” on their plates is cobbled together from the parts of many previously living animals, crowded together in filthy factory farms and pumped full of antibiotics, then slaughtered, sometimes while fully conscious, by the billions, and that such a system is environmentally destructive and unsustainable. Instead, the ick factor is reserved for the “bloody egg yolk,” without any sort of follow-up “gotcha!” moment aimed at the meat-eating culture Stephen introduces the segment with. Or am I missing something? Thoughts?

On the plus side, the Mr. noticed a “chill” come over the crowd when a slaughterhouse worker was shown “shaving” (for lack of a better word) the top layer of skin (fat?) from a raw, hanging animal corpse. Perhaps Stephen managed to convert a new vegetarian?

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Action Alerts

Amnesty International: Justice for the Women of Atenco!
“We are alarmed at reports that Mexican police officers physically and sexually assaulted more than two dozen women in San Salvador Atenco in May 2006 following a public protest in support of local flower sellers. At least 26 women filed complaints alleging they had been subjected to torture, including sexual violence, by police officers. We are appalled that authorities have failed to adequately address these grave abuses.”

Defenders of Wildlife: Urge President Obama to Stand Up for Wolves
“On March 6th, 2009, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar approved the Bush Administration’s discredited plan to eliminate Endangered Species Act protections for wolves in Idaho and Montana — a decision that could lead to the deaths of more than 1,000 wolves! Help us save these wolves! Fill out the form below to urge President Obama (Secretary Salazar’s boss) to stop Salazar’s plan and maintain Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in Idaho and Montana.”

PETA: Urge Florida Fish and Wildlife to Confiscate Elephant Traveling With Liebel Family Circus!
“When PETA discovered that the Liebel Family Circus recently used Nosey, a female African elephant, to give elephant rides to children in Mount Dora, Fla., without having the required state permit, we immediately contacted the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Among other things, we asked the agency to immediately confiscate Nosey, as Liebel has apparently committed numerous violations of Florida laws—including putting the public in danger by using an elephant with a history of aggressive behavior. In 2004, Nosey attacked a circus worker in Iowa, lifting him off his feet and propelling him down an incline. The worker was rushed to the hospital by ambulance and was treated for a head injury. [...] Please send a message to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Urge the agency to confiscate Nosey and revoke Liebel’s license to possess elephants.”

PETA: URGENT: Ask Richmond, Va., Middle School to Halt Its Alleged Use of Cruel Glue Traps!
“Horrified Virginia residents recently contacted PETA about the alleged use of glue traps to trap and kill mice in classrooms at Pocahontas Middle School in Richmond. PETA contacted school officials to inform them of the inherent and extreme cruelty of these devices and to ask that they remove the traps immediately and explore the use of humane pest-control methods. School officials have not responded to PETA’s calls, and we have not yet received any information indicating that the traps have been removed.”

PETA UK: Urge the European Parliament to Help Millions of Animals in Laboratories
“In November 2008, the European Commission proposed a new law intended to control animal experiments across the 27 countries of the European Union. Now, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and EU governments will spend several months considering this proposal before it is finalised. Around 12 million animals are used and killed in laboratories across Europe each year, and this law will be critical in deciding the fate of tens of millions of animals in the years after it is introduced. The politicians can change the proposal so that it is better or worse, so PETA urgently needs your help to get the best possible outcome for animals before it becomes law.”

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The (d)evolution of animal agriculture sounds so much more insidious (and comical, natch!) when applied to human vs. non-human animals!

(Cue fetus frenzy at 1:10.)
 

 
If only they could grow in vitro embryos. Oh, wait.

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This is extent of interaction allowed between piglets and their mothers “living” on modern factory farms:

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———- Forwarded message ———-
From: United Poultry Concerns – news [at] upc-online.org
Date: Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 2:20 PM
Subject: [UPC] Call for Entries: CHICKEN RUN RESCUE PHOTO CONTEST!

United Poultry Concerns
17 March 2009

Call for Entries: CHICKEN RUN RESCUE PHOTO CONTEST!

Submissions are being accepted for this year’s Chicken Run Rescue Photo Contest.

To view entries so far and vote for your favorite – visit and vote often:

www.brittonclouse.com/chickenrunrescue/photos09/index.php?x=browse

You will join Chicken Run Rescue and United Poultry Concerns in recognizing May as International Respect for Chickens Month by capturing the beauty, joy, intelligence, dignity, agility and zany exuberance of your birds in a photograph. Each year, twelve winning photos will be published in a calendar and winners will receive a free calendar. An exhibit of the winning photos will also be shown at the Justice for Animals Exhibition Space in Minneapolis, Minnesota. All calendar sales proceeds will enable Chicken Run Rescue to continue helping chickens for another year.

TO ENTER:

CONTEST RULES

Photograph everyday activities that are natural for your birds – no costumes, staged stunts or props. Chicken Run Rescue reserves the right to decline any images that conflict with our mission to promote the adoption of homeless chickens as companion animals and discourage breeding or buying. There are never enough homes for displaced animals.

Submission Deadline: May 15
Voting: Ongoing thru May 15
Winners Announced: June 4

Send HIGH RESOLUTION DIGITAL PHOTOS to chickenrunrescue [at] comcast.net. Include your name, title or bird’s name, address, phone number and email address.

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