December 31, 2007

Resolutions/Becoming a Veg*an





Veg*an New Year Resolutions for 2008 & guide for becoming a vegan or vegetarian.

For those wanting to become vegan/vegetarian:

Try something new, become a vegetarian or vegan this new year and forever! A vegetarian diet excludes animal flesh, muscles, and bone; and a vegan is a diet and lifestyle that seeks to excludes the use and consumption all animal products such as meat, dairy, eggs, fur, leather, honey, etc. For more information and the types of vegetarian diets go here, and find which diet and lifestyle best suits you!

  • Reasons to go vegetarian or vegan are many including for your health, animal welfare, the environment, spiritual and inner peace, end world hunger, among more reasons read some here.


  • Learn about veg*an health. Becoming a veg*an is not only about eliminating meat or other animal products, you have to make sure you get all your nutrients. Check out vegan nutrition and the vegan food pyramid.


  • Foods that vegetarian and vegans eat are of wide variety and deliciousness. There are already a lot of foods that are already vegetarian and vegan that you might know of. There are also many substitutes/alternatives to animal based foods, such as meats, ice cream, and cheese. Also, there are plenty of vegan recipes, cookbooks, and food blogs out there.


  • Shopping, find local vegan and vegetarian friendly restaurants, grocery stores (such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe's), and co-ops/natural food stores, and farmers markets. As well as you can shop online!


  • Support, let your friends, family, and doctor know about your decision and ask for their support, maybe even help them become a veg too!


  • Meet other vegs! Meet other veg*ans online by going tovonline forums as well as groups on such sites as MySpace, Facebook, LiveJournal, Flickr, Yahoo, Google, Last.FM, StumbleUpon and many others! You can also get active in local vegan or vegetarian communities and meet-ups.


  • Have fun! Being a vegetarian and vegan can be the best thing you have done in your life, it can bring inner peace and happiness, as well as the joy of not being a part of the animal abuse and misuse process.


You can also use a search engine such as Google for more information on vegetarianism and veganism. As well as check out the links I have listed on the right panel and below.

Links:
Starter Kits
Veg*an Guides
Nutrition in a Nutshell
Making the Transition
1-2-3 Veggie, How to Successfully Become a Vegetarian
Make a New Year's Resolution to Help Animals!
wikiHow to Become a Vegan
Becoming Vegetarian
How to Become a Vegetarian, the Easy Way
Steps towards becoming a vegetarian
Going Vegetarian Tips, Links
Make It Meatless
Vegan Tips: Going & Staying Vegan

For those already vegan or vegetarian:
Get more active in the fight to help animals, the environment, and humans on earth.

  • Stay veg, for however long you have been a veg*an, for some it was difficult, for others it was really easy, which ever one it was, you should thrive to stay one. And, for vegetarians you might want to see about becoming a vegan!


  • Stay healthy, most vegetarians and vegans are healthier with the proper diet, than animal eaters. Being a veg*an you might have noticed your health got dramatically better! But, being a veg*an does not cure all health problems, so be sure to pay attention to your health, and have your regular doctor and dental visits. Also, be sure to drink plenty of water, continue to eat well, and make sure you are getting all of the nutrients you need. (you may read about this in the above section). Also, a healthy life requires you to be active; so try and exercise daily for at least 30 minutes twice a day!


  • Stay happy, hopefully being a veg*an has made you happy or happier! So stay happy by doing these resolutions, and whatever else makes you happy (as long as it does not involve harm to anybody!) Hobbies such as music, writing, dancing, sports, singing, instrument playing, playing games, work, being online, etc. And being with good friends and/or family!


  • Spread veganism/vegetarianism to your friends, family, and world and as much people as you can, show them this blog, and other vegan blogs and vegan sites (right side), have them watch Meet Your Meat and Earthlings. Have them read: The China Study, Eating Animals, and Skinny Bitch. Also cook for them, let them know they won't be missing much of anything by going veg!


  • Get active, get active in your local community, or online as stated above. Or you can join bigger organizations such as GoVeg, peta2, PETA, ALF, Farm Sanctuary, plus a lot more! MySpace and Facebook has ways to get active as well.


  • Adopt, there a many animals that are suffering without a home, food, love and care. So help them out and adopt one, two, or maybe more! You can find animals to adopt on sites such as PetFinder or go to your local animal shelter. (Do not buy pets from a shop or breeder due to the neglect and treatment of them and the animal's parents!)


  • Donate, there are many animal and vegan organizations you can donate to. As well on Facebook there are applications you can add to your profile such as Causes, I Am Vegan, and Awareness Ribbons.


  • Meet others, as stated in the section above meet other veg*ans on forums, online groups, and local communities.


  • Ideas/Goals/Dreams, that you might have that can help spread the vegan, vegetarian, and animal rights movement. Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream years ago that changed the rights for blacks, although there is still some ways to go, he really did a lot to blow the door open. Coretta Scott King and Dexter Scott King are both vegans and have done good for animals (Coretta was vegan in the last 10 years of her life). So whatever ideas you have to help animals of any & all kinds including humans try to put a plan of action together and do it!


I wish everyone a very Happy New Year, this 20__! And love, vegan and peace to you all!

November 21, 2007

Vegan Thanksgiving!

Vegan Thanksgiving meal ideas & recipies!
Thanksgiving is about giving thanks not murder!

Did you know that more than 300 million turkeys are slaughtered for meat every year?1 That's about one bird per American. They are hatched in incubators and never meet their mothers or live in nests, but are raised instead in huge windowless sheds called grow houses where they never see the sun. Factory farmers cut part of the birds' beaks and toes off, without anesthetic, and genetically breed them to grow so fast that often their legs actually break under their ballooning weight, and many young birds die from heart attacks because of the physical strain. Hopefully, the cruelty forced on innocent birds is enough to turn you off of turkey flesh for good. Here are some Thanksgiving vegan ideas!


tofurky
Tofurky Vegetarian Feast

Tofurky Vegetarian Feast for four that includes an organic soy Tofurky Roast, Cranberry Apple Potato Dumplings, Giblet and Mushroom Gravy, Wild Rice Stuffing, and Jurky Wishstix -- all of it 100% vegan, easy to prepare!


Adopt a turkey!

Since 1986, Farm Sanctuary's annual Adopt-A-Turkey Project has rescued over one thousand turkeys from a thankless fate at the dinner table and given thousands of people an opportunity to adopt a turkey for the holidays.

Vegan Thanksgiving Recipies & Turkey Alternatives!

Here is a list of vegan holiday recipies & links!





October 9, 2007

Quotes About Veganism

Quotes to live by


"A man of my spiritual intensity does not eat corpses." - George Bernard Shaw

"For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love." - Pythagoras

"The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men."- Leonardo da Vinci

"In their behavior toward creatures, all men are Nazis. Human beings see oppression vividly when they're the victims. Otherwise they victimize blindly and without a thought."- Isaac Bashevis Singer

"Our task must be to free ourselves . . . by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty."
"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of survival for life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." - Albert Einstein

"I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being." - Abraham Lincoln

"As long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields."
"What I think about vivisection is that if people admit that they have the right to take or endanger the life of living beings for the benefit of many, there will be no limit to their cruelty." - Leo Tolstoy

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
"To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being." - Mahatma Gandhi

"A vegetarian is a person who won't eat anything that can have children." - David Brenner

“Vegan food is soul food in its truest form. Soul food means to feed the soul. And, to me, your soul is your intent. If your intent is pure, you are pure.” - Erykah Badu

“Until one has loved an animal a part of one's soul remains unawakened” - Anatole France

More quotes at:
Vegetarian Quotes
Quote Garden
Famous Veggie
VeganUnerground Quotes
Veganism: Wikiquote
Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness
Vegetarianism: Wikiquote
SoVeg
VNG
Vegetarian Image
Vegan Outreach
Vegan For Life
Google Search Vegan Quotes

E-mail me if you know of any more veg*an or animal posotive quotes.



September 16, 2007

How Animal Milk Is Harmful

The truth about animal milk/dairy
Milk is generally an emulsion of protein and fat in a water-based liquid. An emulsion is when you mix one liquid into another that don't generally mix, like oil and water when you make salad dressing. They're not dissolving into each other, but the little molecules of one are suspended in the other. For dairy milk, it's an emulsion of animal protein, fats, lactose, etc. For plant milks (soy, rice, hemp, etc) it's the same but, now it's nut proteins and oils. But in all cases, the emulsion is where the creaminess comes from in "milk". If you have less water, you call it cream (either dairy cream or plant-nut creams). Plant based milk does is nutrious and tasty, it does not carry the harm and health problems associated with dairy and animal milk. Mammal milk is an opaque white liquid produced by the mammary glands of all female mammals (including humans and monotremes). The female ability to produce milk is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. It provides the primary source of nutrition for their newborns before they are able to digest other types of food.1 How is it that humans began drinking another mammals milk that was not produced for us but specifically produced for their offspring? The fact is many over the world drink milk thinking it is okay and natural and there is no harm, but the truth is, other animals milk is very harmful to our health. Animal milk allergies are the most common food allergy in America, 60% of Americans are allergic to milk.2
Milk and cheese are loaded with fat and cholesterol and are frequently contaminated with pesticides, dioxins, and drugs; are linked to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers, including prostate cancer and breast cancer; and may even cause osteoporosis—because the excess protein in dairy products leaches calcium from the bones.3 Lactose intolerant is the inability to digest significant amounts of lactose, the predominant sugar of milk, and is the most common food intolerance among Americans. In fact, 30-50 million Americans or at least one out of ten people are lactose intolerant. This inability to digest lactose results from a shortage of the enzyme lactose, which is normally produced by the cells that line the small intestine. Lactose breaks down milk sugar into simpler forms that can then be absorbed into the bloodstream. When there is not enough lactose to digest the amount of lactose consumed, the results, although not usually dangerous, can be uncomfortable and include symptoms such as: nausea, cramps, bloating, gas, and diarrhea – which begin about 30 minute to 2 hours after eating or drinking foods containing lactose. Lactose intolerance can be easily diagnosed on an outpatient basis at a hospital, clinic, or doctor’s office.4 Cow's milk is the number one source of allergies in children, and research links consumption of dairy products, including cow's milk, to colic (stomach cramps), autism, chronic ear infections, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (type 1 or "juvenile-onset" diabetes), acne, obesity, flatulence, constipation, mucus, and a variety of other ailments.5

Try a dairy free diet today! There are plenty of healthy, tasty dairy alternatives!

A list of dairy alternatives and info

Milk (such as soy, almond, rice, etc)
Ice Cream and Yogurt
Other Dairy Alternatives (such as cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, etc)

Links and more information on milk:
Truth About Milk
Milk Myths by Viva! (Also a guide to Dair-free living)
Six Reasons You Should Avoid Dairy at all Costs (VIDEO)
Dairy Ads May Dupe Dieters
GoDairyFree
MilkSucks
Dairy Free Guide (PDF)
Dump Dairy
Unhappy Cows
No Milk
Milk Suckers
Milk Allergies
Learn more on lactose intolerance
Cow’s Milk is Poison
List of alternatives by TryVeg
List of alternatives by VegCooking
Milk substitutes on Wikipedia
Vegan substitutions at WikiCookbooks (incluues dairty alternatives)
Vegan substitutions (includes dairy alternatives)
Milk on Wikipedia (keep in mind some of the things on here may not be factual)



September 13, 2007

Other Vegan Blogs

Vegan Blogs



E-mail me if you feel any blogs are missing, or if you want to add yours!