Vegan Activism
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has a petition going on Facebook that is worth signing (or at least taking a look at)! They are trying to get Congress to include more vegetables, fruits, vegetarian foods, and healthful nondairy beverages in school lunches. Congress is currently revising the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act, which helps determine what foods are served in school lunches.
You can view more information about the petition and sign here. Or you can sign on their Facebook page.
Where The Farms Are
Earlier last week, the New York times published "The Hot Spots for Organic Food" in which they provided maps of farms in the United States. The data was compiled for the 2007 agricultural census.
I've published the map of all vegetable farms, as a vegan that is the most interesting to me. The rest of the short article has maps of all farms, the organic farms, orchards, and dairy farms. It's an interesting look at where our food comes from. You may even be surprized.
Vegetable Farms as of 2008
Fight Cancer – Eat Vegan
The American Institute for Cancer Research states:
Scientists estimate that if everyone ate a healthy diet, was physically active every day and maintained a healthy weight, the number of cancer cases would be reduced by about one-third.
Their recommendations for the prevention of cancer include the following:
- Eat more of a variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes such as beans.
- Limit consumption of red meats (such as beef, pork and lamb) and avoid processed meats.
Recently the National Cancer Institute published a study in the Public Library of Science showing a link between eating red meat and a statistically higher risk of certain cancers at multiple sites including: lung, liver, esophogus. The researchers in the study stated "Statistically significant elevated risks (ranging from 20 percent to 60 percent) were evident for esophageal, colorectal, liver, and lung cancer, comparing individuals in the highest with those in the lowest quintile of red meat intake." (See Public Library of Science - Study of Meat Intake in Relation to Cancer Risk)
For further reading:
Revel With A Cause
If you live in the Los Angeles area and you're looking for something fun to do this weekend, you may want to consider heading over to Santa Monica on Saturday, May 9th. The Santa Monica Festival: Revel With A Cause will be held from 11am - 6 pm on 5/9/9 at Clover Park. Although the festival isn't vegan, they're serving meat, there will be plenty of other eco-friendly activities and attractions.
If you are interested, here is a link to the Revel With A Cause site. It doesn't look like they're promoting a vegan/vegetarian agenda (why doesn't the green movement get on this bandwagon yet?!?!), so there may be an opportunity for some vegans to start a discussion. If not, there's always the Los Angeles Vegan Bake Sale (more details coming).
Vegans and Omega-3s
You've probably heard that eating fish, especially oily fish (Salmon, etc.) helps improve your brain function and decreases the risk of dementia. This is one of the things that gets pointed out to us frequently when we tell people we are vegan. Our doctor, as a practice, recommends an overall vitamin supplement, baby aspirin, and fish oil for all his patients over 40. Since we're vegans, we skip the fish oil and take a flaxseed supplement instead. (You should consult your nutritionist for advice on what supplements may be right for you.)
Data from a trial of more than 800 older people initially showed that those who eat plenty of oily fish seem to have better cognitive function. But factors such as education and mood explained most of the link.
Neil Hunt, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society, said: "One of the best ways to reduce your risk of dementia is by eating a Mediterranean diet rich in fruit, vegetables, grains, fish and poultry. "However, we still do not know which components of this sort of diet help the most.
~ Source: BBC News
So, the jury is still out on fish oil. We'll be watching to see what the data shows in the next round of testing. Until then, there is no reason to consider looking to fish to improve your brain power in your later years.
Thanks to Gary at Compassion4Animals.org for pointing us to this study.
Vegan Bake Sale
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
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!
Kosher Doesn’t Mean Vegan
Sometimes we forget that food labels are important. It gets a little tiring reading labels for all our grocery store purchases. After a period of time, we feel we've come to know certain products and feel comfortable buying them, but manufacturers often change their recipes, and the packaging doesn't necessarily reflect this. Luckily many companies are including allergy information in bold at the bottom of their ingredient lists. It usually looks something like this:
Contains: Milk, Peanuts (or wheat, or soy).
So that is our first benchmark. We also rely heavily on the V that stands for Vegan on many food products. We used to look for Kosher or Parve when we first went vegan, but subsequently found out that Kosher ? Vegan... or vegetarian for that matter. If fish is less that 1 2/3% of the finished product, then it is considered "nullified." and not necessarily indicated on the label. Also:
Kosher Parve products are allowed to contain, according to Jewish laws, eggs, honey, and fish. So you still need to READ THE LABEL! In this matter, Jews Kosher does not concur with Hindu and Jain Ahimsa. But still it is a good help for buying processed food. ~ Source: Jiv Daya
Living Longer and Better
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.
Free Food At Veggie Grill
If you're in the Los Angeles / Orange County area, Veggie Grill is giving away free sweetheart (sweet potato) fries today, Wednesday, April 22nd, in honor of earth day. Just mention you heard it on KTLA. I heard about it on the news this morning and wanted to get the message out quickly.
We love the Veggie Grill. We've been about four times since discovering it last year. It's a little far from our home, so we don't go that often. Also, it's "fast food" -- but when you're in the mood for that kind of meal, it rocks! Even the omni's we've gone with have really enjoyed the food there.
Here's a link to the Veggie Grill Locations. They have three stores at the moment, two in Irvine and one in El Segundo - close to LAX (with plans to open another store in West Hollywood soon).
And happy Earth Day everyone.
Vegan Eating Advocated On Commercial!
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!)
