Yesterday, Jane and I were in the Little Tokyo section of Los Angeles at the Gyoza Eating Competition.  Gyoza, if you don't already know, are Japanese dumplings.  They are usually vegetable or pork based, but I think I heard the commentator mention something about vegetables.

So here's a little known tidbit about me.  I cannot tear myself away from the television when Food Network, or one of the Discovery channels is airing something about competitive eating.  No, I have no interest in putting my skills to the test.  Actually, I have no idea how these people can actually eat this quantity of food in the period of time allotted. (Someone actually ate 8 pounds of mayonnaise in 10 minutes, and Sonya "The Black Widow" choked down 552 oysters in 10 minutes!)  Regardless of the foods they're eating, I am mesmerized.  I liken it to a car crash.  Most people can't look away.  Competitive eating is my car crash, I have to watch.

Joey Chestnut, one of the more famous competitive eaters on the circuit, was the star of the show.  He was trying to break his previous record of 231 Gyoza in 10 minutes.  Unfortunately for him, he started having some real trouble around minute 7, and only managed a paltry 181 Gyoza.  But hey, it was enough to win the competition.

Here's some footage of his technique.  Joey "Jaws" Chestnut, the reigning hot dog eating champion,  is the left most male competitor (top row).  Jaws ate 68 Nathans dogs this past 4th of July beating out Kobayashi for a third straight year.  No, the hot dogs are not vegan.  Regardless, vegan or otherwise, who in their right mind is choking down 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes?!  The guy on the right in the blue baseball cap was disqualified.  He hurled.  (No it's not on the video!)   And the amateur eaters are in the bottom row.  If you compare their techniques, you can definitely tell who trains for this event!

For Christmas this year, Jane received a subscription to bon appetit magazine.  She received the gift because the giver knew that she was always cooking and looking at recipes.  Unfortunately, the giver did not pay particular attention to the kind of recipes that Jane was looking at, but it's the thought that counts, eh?

So every month, before passing it along to a friend who does appreciate this kind of cooking,  Jane's been looking through bon appetit for ideas.  Clearly, the magazine is not geared towards vegans, but there are some interesting spice combinations and some hints of ideas of things that could be veganized.  There is even the occasional article that we'll read.  But overall, the magazine is definitely slanted towards omnivores.  So you can imagine our shock, when Jane found a clearly marked vegan recipe in the June issue. It's on page 40 and the recipe is for "Grilled Veggie and Tofu Stack with Balsamic and Mint."  And right above the recipe, highlighted in green, it reads "vegan main dish."  You could have just knocked me over with a feather!  It even sounds good!

They also promote the recipe by indicating  that it "isn't just vegan -- the main course is also high in fiber and low in calories and cholesterol.  Of course, the recipe immediately following is for grilled lamb chops.  But still... bon appetit featured a vegan recipe.

A Reminder of Where Your Meat Comes From

While Jane's mom was here we did a few "touristy" things. One of the things we hadn't done with her yet was to visit Farmer's Market. It's a tourist attraction that pulls them in by the busload, and where there are people, there is food. This is someplace to grab a bite to eat and people watch. So we went on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

One of the restaurants had this in their display. I'm left wondering who their target demographic is? You're not going to pull in any vegans or vegetarians by showing pig-shaped sausage meats, and most omnivores don't seem to really want to know where their meat comes from.

So I'm watching CNN as I'm getting ready for work, and across the bottom of the screen, the scrolling news goes by.... PETA urges Ben & Jerry's to replace cow's milk with... (at this point, I'm expecting to see soy millk. aren't you?) human breast milk. Jane loudly exclaimed "ew," and we looked at each other in disbelief.

Now after a few moments, I thought to myself, "really what's the difference between cow's milk and human milk? And why is the thought of drinking human milk so repulsive?" But it is. I'm sure the point of the campaign is to drive home how badly cows are treated, and that cow's milk isn't all that healthy for us, but I'm not sure this is the most effective way to do that. In my opinion, this is exactly the kind of thing PETA does that makes the rest of the vegan community look insane. Are they kidding? Or is it simply a matter of "any press is good press?" If you don't believe my eyes, here's PETA's press release.

One final thought, if you're using the argument "adults consuming dairy products made from milk that was meant for a baby cow just doesn't make sense," does it make sense to for an adult to consume a product that was designed for a baby, even if it's a baby of the same species? It would seem to me the answer should be a resounding "no" as the nutritional needs for a growing infant are different than those of an adult. (For a comprehensive study on the dangers of dairy, and eating meat in general, I highly recommend The China Study, if you haven't read it already!)

In any event, I wish PETA would change their direction a bit. I applaud their efforts to get the word out there, but perhaps they could do it in a manner that might be a little less histrionic.