October 19th 2008
Sweet! Next month’s vegan meetup is coinciding with Maple Farm Animal Sanctuary’s 3rd Annual Open House. This open house is sounding more and more like it’ll be a rocking good time.
Remember, it’s on November 2, from 1pm to 5pm.
October 18th 2008
Vegetarians are a pretty diverse group. Some people are vegetarian for animals, some for the environment, some for their health and some for religious or cultural reasons. It’s a diet and lifestyle with a long secular history, as well as a religious history and a number of ethnic groups have vegetarian traditions. There are Christian vegetarians, Jewish vegetarians, black vegetarians, gay vegetarians, conservative vegetarians, and so on, and so on, and so on.
It’s interesting to see how people from different ethnic backgrounds experience the world as vegans. Here’s a video of a young black woman venting about how other black people treat her when they discover that she’s a vegan.
[via Miami Vegan Blog]
October 17th 2008
Maple Farm Animal Sanctuary is having their 3rd annual open house pretty soon. It’s on November 2 at the farm in Mendon. That’s about a 20 minute drive from Worcester.
From MapleFarmSanctuary.org:
3rd Annual Open House
Sunday, November 2, 2008
1:00 - 5:00 pm
at Maple Farm Sanctuary, 101 North Ave Mendon, MAPlease join us for a day of fun on Sunday, November 2, 2008 to help support the Farm. It will be an afternoon to enjoy the beautiful farm, foliage, music, speakers, food, friends and of course the animals!
For a $10.00 donation per adult (children under 12 free) you can come and picnic in the fields behind the barn (bring your own lunch and blanket or chairs). There will be some sandwiches, drinks and desserts as well, but make sure you get there early as we may run out!
There will be scheduled barn tours every hour to meet the animals and hear their stories. Make sure you sign-up for a tour when you check in as they are limited to 10 people per tour!
Join the facebook event.
May 21st 2008
Oprah is going vegan! How do I know? This is 2008, it’s on her blog. I don’t usually read her blog, but a friend of mine who works for the Humane Society of the US sent me a link. Going vegan shouldn’t come as a complete surprise, this isn’t the first time Oprah has used her TV pulpit to talk about animals and vegetarianism.
From her blog:
“How can you say you’re trying to spiritually evolve, without even a thought about what happens to the animals whose lives are sacrificed in the name of gluttony?”
In 1996 Oprah was sued by a horde of Texan farmers after she hosted Howard Lyman on her show to talk about the problems with meat production and his personal transition from a fourth generation cattle rancher to vegan advocate. The Texan farmers argued that Oprah’s show resulted in millions of dollars of damages in the form of lost sales. Boohoo. Of course the lawsuit was thrown out of court. Lyman later wrote Mad Cowboy: Plain Truth from the Cattle Rancher Who Won’t Eat Meat
Back to Oprah going vegan… She promises to chronicle the whole month-long affair on her blog, starting today.
Again, from her blog:
So this first day wasn’t hard at all. For breakfast, I had steel-cut oatmeal with fresh blueberries, strawberries, chopped walnuts and a splash of soy milk and some agave nectar. For lunch, chunky mushroom soup with wild rice and pecans. As a snack, a handful of roasted almonds. And for dinner, a baked potato drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper with a salad of shredded lettuce, cranberries, pine nuts and tiny orange slices with a vinegar and oil dressing.
If you’re vegetarian, but not yet vegan and need some inspiration try taking the challenge along with Oprah’s for 21 days. Erik from Vegan.com is hosting a daily podcast geared at helping you do it.
May 20th 2008
This is coming a little late, but the 57th edition of Vegan Radio is now being served (mp3). Vegan Radio is broadcast live from ValleyFree Radio WXOJ-LP 103.3 FM in Northampton, Massachusetts. Shows are on alternate Thursdays at noon.
In this episode they talk about NYC’s first ever Veggie Pride Parade and Karen Dawn’s new book, Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way We Treat Animals.
From VeganRadio.com:
Our 57th show features interviews with two prominent animal rights activists who are involved in fun events happening in NYC on Sunday May 18th, 2008. The first is Pamela Rice who has put together the first ever Veggie Pride Parade which will march through the meat district and feature vegan rocker Cheryl Hill and a marriage ceremony officiated by Vegan Radio favorite Dave Warwak. Our second guest is Karen Dawn who is known in the vegan movement for her activist web site Dawn Watch. Karen has a new book called Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way We Treat Animals and is hosting a book release party after the parade. Karen regales us with stories of monkeys and pit bulls.
We also have news stories about the vegan diet being greener than eating locally grown meat, meat recalls including a recall of 406,000 pounds of cattle heads, and the influence of Asia’s growing animal agriculture industry on global warming.
You can also subscribe to the Vegan Radio podcast.
May 19th 2008
A giant chicken gets revenge on the Colonel in Moby’s new music video, Disco Lies:
May 18th 2008
The Orlando Sentinel says vegetarianism is hip. They say it’s getting more and more popular, especially among teenage girls. I happen to agree with them. Vegetarianism is hipper than ever. Yeah, hipper. Not hippier.
Patchouli, your days are numbered.
From the Orlando Sentinel:
…
The fastest growing segment of the vegetarian population is teenage girls. Eleven percent of girls ages 13 to 17 identify themselves as vegetarian or vegan, according to the American Dietetic Association. That’s compared with 7 percent of the adult female population who don’t eat meat.
But unlike the granola-crunching, hippie stereotypes once associated with non-meat eaters, being a vegetarian — or a vegan, which means also abstaining from dairy and eggs — is becoming increasingly popular among fashion-conscious girls such as Grissinger.
…
May 17th 2008
If you’re a regular reader of this blog you already know that meat grown in a lab (and not on an animal) may soon be a reality. PETA has even thrown it’s weight behind the idea by offering $1 Million to the anyone who can bring lab meat to market at a comparable price to factory-farmed chicken.
So here’s the big question, would you eat it?
May 16th 2008
Two years ago Pamela Rice asked why haven’t vegetarians and vegans jumped on the pride parade bandwagon and organized veggie pride parade and walks? Afterall, they’ve been doing it for seven years in Paris. So why not here in the USA?
Well, this Sunday Pamela’s wish will come true in New York City. They are having the first ever Veggie Pride Parade in New York City (and the US).
From SuperVegan:
The parade procession will begin at 12 Noon in the Old Meat District of Greenwich Village. The parade will then culminate in Washington Square Park, where a festival of rock music, speakers, and exhibitors will take place. The press release doesn’t mention anything about hook-ups, but if this is anything like Gay Pride, you can expect ample opportunity to spice up your love life.
For updates, check the Veggie Pride Parade Blog.
May 7th 2008
Johnny Rockets and PETA are teaming up for a Buy One Get One Free veggie burger giveaway to celebrate World Vegetarian Week (May 19-25).
Johnny Rockets has been offering their Steamliner veggie burger for a couple of years now. They’re good! Unfortunately, there aren’t any Johnny Rockets in Worcester but there’s one in the Natick Mall, just off of Route 9. Johnny Rocket’s website also lists ones in the Boston Logan Airport, the Burlington Mall in Burlington and at the South Shore Plaza in Braintree. So if you’re planning to be in any of those places, you should stop by the Johnny Rockets with a friend and get a couple of Steamliners.
Johnny Rockets is cool and all, but Worcester is the home of the diner. We have a ton of diners in Worcester and there are a handful that stock veggie burger. Ralph’s Diner at 148 Grove Street is good choice. Ralph’s also hosts shows pretty regularly, so if you go at the right time you might get some music to go with your burger.
