Here's an interesting opportunity for vegan outreach.  Compassion4Animals is organizing a world-wide vegan bake sale.  From June 20th to June 28th various vegan groups will hold bake sales.  This purpose is to show the general public that vegan baked goods can be just as tasty (or more) as those baked goods prepared with animal products.  Jane loves to bake, and since it's just the two of us at home, I often bring things in to work with me.  At first, if I mentioned they were vegan goodies, people would pass them up.  If I didn't mention it, they would gobble things up and ask for more.  Then I'd say, oh those were vegan muffins, and people would be incredulous.  Now, everyone knows they're vegan goodies, and everyone knows they taste great.

So I think this bake sale can do wonders.  You can find more details at WorldWide Vegan Bake Sale.com.

If you are planning on doing some baking, but aren't sure what to make, we recommend the vegan brownies and vegan banana nut chip muffins from The Joy of Vegan Baking. And apple pie is always an easy sale.   These are the three desserts Jane makes most frequently.

If you can't or don't want to organize an event, but do want to participate, here's where the bakes sales are scheduled.  This page will continue to be updated as more events are scheduled, so keep checking back to find something in your area.  Or get together with your vegan friends and hold a bake sale of your own.  Don't forget to register!

I'm attending the Milken Conference this week.  Much of it is very interesting, some of it not so much.  Eating there is always a bit of a challenge.  Steak and chicken tend to be the usual offerings.  The snack bars they put out have milk in (no pun intended) them.  But I come prepared.  I bring my own food and ask for a simple salad at lunch.  I've learned to always be prepared.  But that isn't what I'd planned on writing about tonight.

One of the panels I attended today was called "Living Longer and Better Through Science, Nutrition and Lifestyle Choices'  The speakers were:

• Scott Berns, Co-Founder, Progeria Research Foundation Inc.; Senior Vice President of Chapter Programs, March of Dimes
• Pinchas Cohen, Pediatric Endocrinology Specialist, UCLA Children's Health Center
• Luigi Fontana, Research Associate Professor of Medicine and Associate Director of the Longevity Research Program, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine

Dr. Fontana's portion of the panel was most interesting to me.  He  spoke about calorie restriction and longevity.  He is currently leading a study which is testing the effects of calorie restriction to find the optimal nutrition for human lifespan. The diet his patients follow consists primarily of a plant-based,  low-fat dairy, whole grains, vegetables and other energy-intensive foods.  According to Dr. Fontana, the calorie-restricted diet improves all biomarkers for cardiovascular disease compared to a typical American diet. Fontana stressed that calorie-restricted diets must be carefully administered to assure that they are nutritious and meet daily requirements for vitamins and minerals.  By this he means that all the refined and processed foods like soft drinks, and sugar, candies, white bread and foods that are packed with partially hydrogenated fat should be avoided.

This to me is the key for anyone.  It is important to eat well.  Eat the best food you can afford to eat.  Eat foods that are nutritionally beneficial.  Avoid junk food.  And of course, we advocate eating vegan.

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time you'll know that I tend to get on my soapbox about the global warming thing. I find it incredibly ridiculous, that for the most part, the media is ignoring meat production as a prime contributor to the problem. (See: Reduce Your Carbon Footprint, Vegan Eating Trumps Eating Locally, Reducing Your Carbon Footprint, etc.)

Imagine my shock today, when I saw a commercial on the Sci Fi channel for Let's Act Now. The commercial came right out and said your SUV causes less impact to the planet than eating meat. Woo Hoo! Someone came right out and said it on a national television! I'm not sure who is the target demographic for the Sci Fi channel, but we watch it in our home.

Here's their commercial (Thank You Red One for passing it along!)

As I mentioned, Jane's mom was here for a visit recently. While she was here, she mostly ate vegan.  But she couldn't give up milk for her coffee.  She tried, but she wasn't enamored with the soy milk or almond milk alternatives we had for her.  When she left, we had a bit of milk leftover that she hadn't consumed.  In the interest of "science" I decided to try it and see if it still tasted great to me.  Remember, we really loved cow's milk.  Not only did it taste weird to me.  I would have to say I didn't like it at all.  I know plenty of people who are omnivores who don't like milk, but I used to drink it all the time.

I found it very interesting that after two years I've grown to actually dislike something I used to love.  How quickly our tastes can change.  It makes me wonder how I would react to a meat-based meal?   Would it taste odd to me?  Would it be bad?  Not that I'm planning on experimenting here.

But what is even more exciting to me is that I can now say, in all honesty, that you can easily learn to adapt to a vegan diet.  And after a few short months, eating vegan will be the norm.