VegWorcester.com

Today’s Telegram & Gazette has an article called No after-Thanksgiving rest for weary turkey farmers, which laments the poor lives of local turkey farmers who barely get any time to rest after Thanksgiving. They spend the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving killing thousands of turkeys, only to have the Christmas rush hanging over their heads. Boohoo!

Ok, it’s not as though the plight of the working person does not elicit any empathy from me. Yes, farmers are over-worked, but it’s not the farmers who get the worst of it, it’s the turkeys. It is the turkeys who are crowded into pens all year, only to meet a grizzly death when November rolls around. Afterall, the farmer is getting paid!

Oftentimes it’s factory farms and large agribusiness that come under fire from animal advocates, but family-owned farms like the one in this T&G article are no paradise for animals either. Even small operations kill over 10,000 every year. There’s no way that a farm that houses 20,000 birds can provide each animal an sort of individual attention. As many people found out when Sarah Palin held an interview in front of a Turkey slaughter operation (video below), the turkeys who are killed in family-owned farms recieve greusome deaths. The birds are hung upside down, have their throats slit and slowly bleed to death.

Here’s an idea, how about we let both the turkey farmers and the turkeys have a nice holiday this year? How about we all buy Tofuries instead?

No Comments yet »

I know I’m a little behind on this, but…

For World Vegan Day this year Time Magazine published a Brief History of Veganism. It’s not perfect, they say some weird things like “veganism is an extreme form of vegetarianism”. I certainly don’t think it’s very extreme. But perhaps even more interesting is Time’s article, Should We All Be Vegetarians? Despite the snarky jokes, I think it’s a pretty good.

No Comments yet »

Everyone keeps asking me for my gravy recipe. Well, sorry but I just don’t have it written down yet. I do it from memory and, for the most part, I just guess at the measurements. I’ll document my vegan gravy recipe some day, but if you need to make gravy for your Thanksgiving dinner tonight to go with the Tofury that you bought from the Artichoke yesterday, try this one. It’s a good recipe to get you started.

Alternatively, you could just buy a packet of insta-gravy, like Hain’s. They probably have them at Price Chopper or Shaw’s. They definitely have it at the Living Earth on Chandler Street.

No Comments yet »

Tonight I spent 20 or 30 minutes outside of the DCU center giving out Why Vegan booklets as people went into the venue. I probably gave out 60 or so. It was cold as heck, but people were nice enough. There were are a lot of scalpers out tonight. It was a little strange. One of the scalpers came over and asked me if he could have a flyer. It turns out his daughter’s vegan. Another one took a flyer and started reading it. He seemed interested.

Another observation: There were a lot of couples, not too many young people. I don’t know why. I’m 22, but I like Hotel California. I was just listening to it this afternoon while I was working. You know, to get myself excited to leaflet.

2 Comments »

Thanksgiving is tomorrow! Do you have your Torfurky yet? If not, swing by the Artichoke food coop at 800 Main Street. The Artichoke has a whole Tofurkies for only $11, the cheapest in town. (Trust me, I’ve been shopping around.) They still have plenty left.

And what better way to avoid the awkward moments at Thanksgiving than to bring a tasty, roasted Tofurky? The fam will love you for bringing a dish and you can avoid (some) of silly questions about being vegetarian by showing that there are plenty of alternatives. That’s why I’m picking one up!

The Artichoke is open until 7pm today, but closed tomorrow. So today is your last chance! Well, if you don’t make it in time today, I guess you could try the Living Earth (232 Chandler Street).

4 Comments »

Today there are two neat vegan food events going on in our part of world. Aren’t we lucky? In Boston today from 4pm to 5pm there’s a seminar on vegetable oil powered cars followed by an all-you-can-eat vegan Chinese buffet at 5pm. This’ll take place at the Grasshopper restaurant located at 1 North Beacon Street in Allston, MA (map)

But if you don’t want to leave Worcester today, instead you can swing by the One Love Cafe from 11:30am to 3:30pm for a vegan brunch and live music. One Love is a cute little Jamacain place that sits right next door to the Artichoke Food Cooperative at 800 Main Street (map). It’s a vegetarian joint, but it has a good amount of veg options. See the facebook event for more info about the brunch.

Rumor has it that the One Love Cafe now also has vegan cakes and pastries from Worcester’s suavest vegan baking company, Barely Legal Treats.

No Comments yet »

Question 3, the ballot initiative that bans greyhound racing by Jan 1, 2010 passed last night. This is great news!

Check out the Telegram & Gazette article.

No Comments yet »

Today Starbucks has a promotion running for election day where they’ll give you a free coffee if you vote. Since Starbucks has soymilk at all of its locations, I recommend you opt for a soy latte.

Or if you’d prefer to get a sweet vegan cookie with your coffee and don’t mind paying for it, you could support a local business and visit the Bean Counter at 113 Highland Street. In any case, make sure you reward yourself for schleping out to the polls to vote for animal rights today.

Why vote yes on question 3?

Greyhound racing is cruel and unnecessary. If question 3 passes this year, Massachusetts would end all greyhound racing. The dogs who are bred for racing live in terrible conditions and oftentimes suffer painful injuries as a result of being forced to compete. There are plenty of reasons why we should end greyhound racing in Massachusetts, Steve Baer wrote a stellar article on the bill in the last issue of InCity Times.

So after you click the button, punch in the hole, or color in the little bubble next to yes on question 3, go out to a coffee shop and get a tall soy-whatever-you-want. Go to Starbucks, there’s no need for a coupon or anything, just tell them you voted and want your free coffee.

There are a few Starbucks locations in the Worcester area, check the Starbucks store locator to find the one closest to your polling station.

Even if you’re not registered ahead of time, you can still vote today. Just bring a valid ID and proof of address (a recent bill, credit card statement, a letter, etc, etc), they can’t turn you away if you’re an eligable voter. Just look up your polling station and go.

No Comments yet »

This Sunday, November 9, from 4pm-5pm at the Grasshopper restaurant in Allston, the Boston Vegetarian Society is hosting a free seminar on vegetable-oil-powered cars led by Worcester locals Colin McCullough and his son Carrick. They’ll be discussing their upcoming cross-country, vegetable-oil powered road trip.

The seminar is free and entitled Eco-video Travel Project in a Veg-Oil Powered VW Beetle. Right afterward is an all-you-can-eat vegan Chinese buffet. Unfortunately the buffet is not free, but it is pretty cheap. It’s only $10 and definitely worth it.

Grasshopper is located at 1 North Beacon Street in Allston, MA (map).

From BVS’s email list:

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2008

4 PM - Speaker/Seminar (FREE)
5:15 PM - Vegan Buffet Dinner

4 PM SEMINAR (Free)

“Eco-video Travel Project in a Veg-Oil Powered Beetle”

Two years ago Colin McCullough gave a very popular talk at BVS about his used vegetable oil powered VW Beetle (still working great!)   Since then he has been busy making eco-videos with his son and posting them online; the videos have won several awards and have been viewed by over 200,000 people.

For their next eco-video project, Colin’s family of four will crisscross the country in their Beetle visiting large-scale sites like wind and solar farms, as well as new companies with potentially game-changing technologies that will be key to a sustainable future. They will also interview people whose ideas and actions have inspired many to live more sustainably. They will produce all their videos into a documentary/DVD narrated by nine year old Carrick that will be distributed to schools, libraries, organizations, individuals, and to online media. Their mission is to empower children to create a more renewable, sustainable future.

Colin and his wife Jen have been vegan for 13 years and home school their two kids, Carrick (age 9) and Gareth (age 6).  They live a green lifestyle in Central MA, and on this two-month travel adventure will be carbon-neutral by feeding their Beetle filtered vegetable oil at $1 a gallon.  They will visit veg restaurants across the country and will likely produce a video profile on these restaurants.  On their list of destinations is Howard Lyman, who they will interview about the environmental impacts of the standard American diet vs. eating vegan.

No RSVP needed.  Just turnip!

5:15 PM - SOCIAL DINNER (optional) - let us get to know you!

Stay and enjoy Grasshopper’s delicious unlimited vegan buffet for only $9.50+ tax + tip
Includes appetizers, soups, salad, numerous entrees, and fresh melons.

LOCATION for seminar and dinner:

Grasshopper (an all-vegan restaurant)
1 North Beacon St.
Union Square, Allston (Boston)
617-254-8883

2 Comments »

To celebrate World Vegan Day today, all 824 retail staff at Lush stores in North America have agreed to eat vegan for the day. The soap company is already well-known for offering a huge selection of vegan, cruelty-free soaps and cosmetics. They boast that 2/3 of all their products are vegan and not one is tested on animals.

There aren’t any Lush stores in Worcester. The closest one is in the Natick mall, which is at 1245 Worcester Street.

Also they’re offering a free vegan bath bomb or soap on orders over $55. Expires November 3. Enter promo code: VEGAN08DAY

[via AnimalRightsFlorida]

No Comments yet »