Short Video About How Pigs Are Killed In "Humane" Slaughterhouses

On my Facebook, my videos and statuses are fairly well-received.  But when I put a video like this one and urge people to watch it so they will know how animals are treated, there is never a comment or "like" or any clue that anyone watched the video. 

Think about the Holocaust and how those people died.  You can see by this video how they suffered.  I watched a longer version of this video, lasting 13 minutes, and the screams and suffering are continuous at these slaughterhouses. 

So sad.

Where Do Vegans Buy Their Food in Decatur - Part 2

When I first became a vegan, I had a bowl of Reece’s Puffs every day.  It was loaded with fat and sugar, but it was vegan!  After learning more about nutrition from attending Decatur Vegetarian Club meetings, I chose more natural cereals such as Barbara’s Multigrain Spoonfuls from Kroger.  Vegans have a “never eat” list and commonly increase their “try not to eat list” adding foods such as palm oil, processed foods, too much sugar, salt and oil. 

Another product besides sugar that has a mentally addictive quality for people is cheese, and many people are vegetarian instead of vegan because of this one food item. (Another reason is they probably want to eat donuts and cinnamon rolls that are brought into the office.)  I used to think I could not live without cheese, but now it seems more like Silly Putty than food to me.  Tastes do change, although sometimes it takes awhile!  I really enjoy non-dairy Daiya cheese in both mozzarella and cheddar which are available at Fairview Kroger and Country Nutrition.  

Note to readers:  “Go Veggie!” Cheese in the green wrapper is not vegan!  It has casein, milk and cream.  It is at all stores in our area in the health food section and fools many people who are trying to eat vegan.  Apparently, lactose free is not always dairy free!

Children of vegan parents are not to be pitied on Halloween.  Their goodie bag is not filled with apples!  Many Clif Bars and Larabars are vegan (read labels), and Skittles, Nerds, Smarties, most lollipops, Sour Patch Kids, Dots, Mike & Ike, Sour Punch Straws, and Swedish Fish are vegan.  My son prefers Swedish Fish over chocolate! 

Speaking of chocolate, there is a particular brand of chocolate I find irresistible:  Ghiradelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips!  It melts well and can be used in cakes, on soy ice cream, and in cookies, as well as just tossing in the mouth – all with no milk products!  See if you prefer it over the chocolate chips that have added milk.  It is sold at most stores.

What breads do vegans use?  Some make their own breads, but I take the easy route and read labels at the store.  Some of the French or Italian breads are vegan in the bakery department.  When reading labels, be on the look out for whey, casein, eggs or butter, animal products often found in bread.  I like Private Selection rye bread from Kroger or the 12 grain bread from Alde’s. 

To identify many other vegan foods you may already have in your pantry, search online for a site called “Accidentally Vegan.”  It lists brands that you may be eating that already are vegan. 

http://www.peta.org/living/food/accidentally-vegan/

With all these tempting treats available, it is simply a matter of choosing to select the non-animal brands when you shop.  Anyone can make these changes!

Response to Neil C. Reinhardt Who Sent me a Video about Lierre Keith and an ALL CAPPED MESSAGE

Neil,

First, I am very sorry I deleted your comment.  I tried putting all of this in my reply and it was not allowed, and in trying to delete my reply, I deleted your comment! 

Anyway, Lierre in the video is misinformed.  I debunked her awhile ago, and thus, your information is old.  I have simply copied and pasted my article here.  (Most of my information came from someone else's article, but I do not remember the source now, except it is Mark Messina's wife.)


Let's talk about the video: 

First, Lierre talks about big brains being attributed to eating meat, but even though that is all over the Internet, I see the brain growth coming from a mutation and all sorts of rewiring.  Hominids ate different foods depending upon their area, and some did not cook just meat, but also ate cooked tubers, and the amounts depended upon where they lived. Some just ate cooked tubers. They also had grains available.  Perhaps that is what spurred the brain growth since brains get energy from carbohydrates. Also, they do not have evidence of fire pits when the brains started growing!  So it is not proven.

Lierre has almost no research, and she gets her "facts" from the Weston A. Price Foundation, with their overweight leader, a woman who has taken over and offers very dangerous advice such as eating minerals by eating clay (too many minerals may lead to Alzheimers) and drinking raw milk and feeding it to babies and giving them organ meats (brain damage).  (Price died a long time ago but actually said a vegetarian diet was healthy.)

Lierre says things like "the archeological evidence is incontrovertible" when she does not back that up with any evidence! 

Dairy is an agriculture based food, and she mixes it up with a hunter-gatherer food.  The paleo diet allows dairy in creams and with raw milk, but both are really bad for a person.

She believes fat is needed to absorb nutrients, and thinks polyunsaturated fat is low fat!  She thinks there is a dietary need for cholesterol.  Cholesterol is made by the body – I believe by the liver, but I am not sure.  There is no need for saturated fat or cholesterol.  There are only two essential fatty acids required by humans – both unsaturated fats found in plant foods. 

Fat intake has increased in the world and she says it has dropped.  It’s at 33% of the calories of the average American diet. 

As far as environmentally, I have debunked any of the environmental articles out there that claim raising animals on grass land is better than raising crops for food for humans.   They all base their “evidence” on one paper and write papers off of that one.  Basically, they claim more animals are killed by harvesting crops than with raising cattle, but they include mice killed in and around silos who are poisoned by farmers – and there are other ways of deterring those animals without poisoning them.  Seal the dang silos up at the base!   As far as harvesting, people in our area raise their blades to avoid killing anything when they harvest corn and wait until after quails have finished raising their young.  Also, they fudge data by putting cows side by side and claiming you get more meat per some square footage amount than you get in weight of grain.  Of course!  That’s why they measured in poundage!  Cows need 2 acres each to graze, so this side by side comparison and comparison by weight is the only way they could come up with to try to make meat look better.

She talks about Polyface farming, but does not mention that there are more calories needed in feed for chickens than is produced in food.

She talks about the need for animal fertilizer, but does not know there are leguminous cover crops to fix soil nitrogen. 

E-coli comes from not only grain fed cattle but grass fed cattle.  Most people don’t know that.

She bases a lot on her own desire for meat and her food cravings, but she is wrong and all people are wrong who write that they immediately feel better when they take a bite of meat.  It takes awhile for the meat to be absorbed.  The authors where I got my information claim Lierre is sincere and thinks she is helping people – she is just totally wrong! 

In short, there is nothing to support her claim.

She talks about eating disorders and claims being vegan or vegetarian can lead to them. There are a few girls who will say they are vegan or use it to mask their behaviors, but there really is no connection between the two. I used to have an eating disorder, about 28 years ago, and I can tell you that there is a huge difference between being ashamed of yourself and being proud of yourself!

Lierre claims soy reduces testosterone, but there is no evidence for that. She claims soy formula causes early puberty, but again, there is no evidence for that. (She probably got that from Weston Price Foundation because they bash soy constantly and bash vegetarians.) Actually, the medical evidence says the chemicals in milk and animal protein cause early puberty.

Lierre claims Mark Messina said Japanese eat one tablespoon of soy a day. The author of the article where I got a lot of my information is married to Mark Messina and he says and has written in his 2006 study that they eat or drink 1 1/2 servings of soy a day.

Soy protein will not give men boobs. That is a rumor from people who do not understand phytoestrogens (plant estrogens).

"For men and boys, the phytoestrogens in soy do not appear to have any effect on hormone levels and have not been shown to affect sexual development or fertility. Research studies show that men consuming soy have less prostate cancer and better prostate cancer survival."

Now, Neil, being vegan is a moral issue for me.  I will not contribute to animals being killed when I do not need them for food.  It is morally wrong to eat meat, unless you are starving with no other source. 

Neil, look at my picture before you call me fellow. 

Bobbie

Where Do Vegans Buy Food In Our Town?

[This is hopefully going to be published in our town's online magazine.]

When most people picture in their minds what vegans eat for dinner, they envision a pile of beet greens, raw kale and spinach, maybe with some unshelled nuts on the side!  Although we do try to get our green leafy vegetables, our meals are quite varied and delicious.  Anyone can enjoy vegan meals, but most people have no idea what to put on the plate! 

Although I am not a great cook, I thought I would give some ideas that everyone can use to cut down on meat and dairy.  It just takes a little time to become familiar with how to substitute non-animal products in your cooking and baking.  You too, can help keep animals from being enslaved, tortured and killed.  The easiest way to cut down on meat and dairy is simply to eat more fruits, vegetables and starches.  Starches feed the brain and fill the belly!

I have more food articles planned – only so much will fit in this one post! Let's start with the basics:

First, a huge change is simply to change your milk.  There are many non-animal types of milk, such as soy milk, chocolate soy milk, almond milk, hemp milk (I did not like), and coconut milk. When I first went vegan I was not crazy about either soy or almond milk and worried I would not last as a vegan.  I had been almost addicted to skim milk, drinking four to six glasses a day, so liking the non-animal version of milk was important!  Well, it took me only three days to go from preferring the taste of skim milk to preferring the taste of soy milk and almond milk!  Now the idea of bitter, watery skim milk is revolting. I also cut down to two glasses total per day of non-animal milk, which just naturally happened.   Here is a picture of me loving my generic organic soy milk from Wal-Mart.  Reasonably priced!  [I decided to put my picture on here, because no one I know will find this blog anyway!]

Another change is to use either oils or Earth Balance margarine instead of butter.  Earth Balance is delicious!  It is a little more expensive than regular butter, but who wants too much butter or oil in their systems anyway!  I treat Earth Balance like a delicacy.   

Egg substitutions are trickier for the beginner.  There is a product called Ener-G Egg Replacer that is available at Kroger which is similar to a baking powder mix.  It is stirred with water to make an egg-like substance to take the place of the eggs for baking.







Many people also use applesauce or bananas as a substitute for eggs.  In fact, two of my favorite chocolate chip recipes have applesauce in them, and the great part is you don’t ever have to worry about a child “eating raw dough” when egg is not in the batter!   My son, who is not vegan, always requests the vegan chocolate chip cookies because he feels safer eating the dough!  One other egg mixture you may have heard about is ground flax seed.  I get my Omega 3s from fresh ground flax seeds that I sprinkle on my cereal each morning.  It can also be used as an egg mixture when some is stirred with water.  The amounts of water to flax are listed on recipes, so it is easy.

Another wonderful product is Vegenaise.  I buy the original Vegenaise (you may have guessed it is the vegan version of mayonnaise) at Country Nutrition in the refrigerated section.  It is more expensive than regular mayo, but most people who try it prefer the taste over mayonnaise, even if they are not vegan.  It is lighter in taste.  (This one is almost empty - from my fridge!)

I also depend on my Tofutti sour cream!  I get this non-dairy sour cream at Kroger along with Tofutti cream cheese.  Both are very tasty and if you put the sour cream on your potato, you will not know the difference between the non-dairy version and the dairy version.  I love a dab of Tofutti sour cream on soups and pastas!

Lastly I will list two vegan snacks that I love.  The first is Reduced Fat Wheat Thins.  I eat these in between meals or with some jelly or Tofutti cream cheese (or both).  I never tire of putting several in my mouth and taking a sip of coffee and having the crackers slowly melt in my mouth.  (Simple pleasures are the best, right?)  I prefer the taste of Reduced Fat to regular Wheat Thins.  Avoid the “flavored” varieties of crackers, because milk products are often added.  Vegans become experts at reading labels!  Reduced Fat Wheat Thins can be bought at just about any grocery store.  I like the family size at Wal-Mart.

(Sometimes I wonder what I am doing, giving away where I purchase my products, because I have noticed Reduced Fat Wheat Thins [Family Size] are often missing from the shelves!)

The other vegan snack is what I often have on a car trip (although it makes the steering wheel messy).  Cracker Jacks!  They actually have molasses and seem like a pretty healthy snack.

And just so you do not think I ever eat any fruits or vegetables, I love to cut up generic organic carrots I buy at Kroger (they nearly always taste the best), and slice them into little circles, and pop them in my mouth for a snack.  I go through about three carrots a day at work.  I also try to eat a fresh fruit like an apple, banana or orange, but because I am not huge on fruits, I will eat dried fruit as long as no fat is added (banana chips are loaded with fat).  I eat dried blueberries, cranberries, raisins, cherries and mangos.  The cranberries, cherries and blueberries can actually come in one package, and I buy extra blueberries in another package at Wal-Mart.  Those blueberries are yummy! 

This is enough information for now.  I will continue from time to time with specific ideas on how you can minimize the amount of animal products in your diet by making simple choices.

Note sent to the White House

Today I sent this to the White House.  Every once in awhile I send along a good idea, but they may think I am a crazy hippie with this one!  I sent it anyway. 

"We need to take Michelle Obama’s healthy eating plan a few steps further.  I figured this out:  The government pays farmers money in subsidies to abuse and kill animals so we can buy the meat cheaply, to become overweight and possibly sick from diseases due to animal overcrowding and waste, so we will need to buy medicines and make hospital visits, thereby supporting that industry and the health care industry; all the while causing more climate change.  I probably could think of more in this primitive cycle of feeding people via animal slavery.  I do not see anything right with it!  It fits the definition of “a racket” in that those who advocate for it pretend that it does good, when it is harmful.  
We must become more enlightened, more moral, and urge the country’s people to become as close to vegan as they can.  The government can implement this “change for good.”  You can urge farmers to grow grain crops for people’s consumption.  You can stop these subsidies for beef, pork, chicken, turkey and fish.  You can research Dr. McDougall’s many articles on his web site and other doctors who advocate a low fat,  plant based diet.  (We have known meat causes Cancer for 100 years!) 
Now I will throw the Founding Fathers at our present government:  our major Founding Fathers were visionaries who put their enlightenment thoughts into action.  They were bold and progressive, so doing the same ol’-same ol’ is not what our country is about. 
Please bring our country up to standards on morality.  Have them care outside of themselves, outside of their own species.  Teach them to look globally at health issues, food issues and environmental issues.  It will be obvious that meat and dairy must go."

Great New Video by Gary Yourofsky

This is an excellent video!  I am not sure if the interviewer was taking on the role she did on purpose, but she seemed pretty genuine.  Either way, it is effective!

For Christians Who Enjoy Philosophy! Ponder Jesus and God's Names and Images

How do you see Jesus in your head?  Long, wavy hair, pale skin, delicate features?  How about God?  Do you see the gray-white beard and angry look that was portrayed by Michelangelo, or do you have another image of God when you talk to him in your head?

I wonder why God and Jesus do not automatically put an accurate picture of themselves into our minds.  They are all powerful and, according to what most people believe, God made us, so you would think he could easily interject his correct looks into our brains.  While he is at it, perhaps he could divulge his and Jesus’ real names. Because God and Jesus are not right!  The earliest versions I heard in the Christian religion are Yahweh for God and Yeshua for Jesus.  But if you go back further, Yeshua disappears and Yahweh turns into a river god just named Yaw.  (To confuse matters, Jesus was supposed to be called Immanuel according to his mother!  But Mom had little influence on baby Jesus.)  For ease, and since we do not know their names for certain, we will call them God and Jesus the rest of the way through this blog, even though you would think God and Jesus would want to be called by their real names! 

I would hate for people to be praying to me, calling me Susie when my name is Bobbie! If people were praying to me but imagined that I looked like Lady Gaga instead of how I really look, I would be upset about it!  I would think Jesus would get really sick of people imagining him as a very pretty Jesus, when he most likely had a big nose, a short body, short curly black hair and dark skin.  It has to be so frustrating to constantly listen to all the prayers in the world when all the people are to the wrong person and using a wrong name! 

Yet Christians do not seem to mind that they have the names wrong, and will make up excuses in order to keep praying to whom they see in pictures.  Some Christians claim they actually hear God and Jesus’ voices in side their heads, answering them; much like when you mentally test a conversation by carrying it out in your head first.  Other Christians claim they do not actually hear a voice, but get “a feeling” while talking and praying. A feeling is an emotion that comes from the brain and chemicals in the body.  A feeling is manufactured by you, so I do not see that as evidence that anyone is listening. 

I recently saw a picture of an Asian Jesus counseling fellow Asians.  I wonder how many different concepts of Jesus and of God there are!  My mother thought God was “A Force for Good” so I always pictured some strong metal purple-brown sheet as the “Force” – I do not know why.  I wonder who she prayed to when she prayed?  Because she admitted she did pray, mostly as a way to center her thoughts.  Did she picture a purple-brown sheet too or did her “Force for Good” look different?  Would God be offended by being seen as a metal purple-brown sheet? 

My own image of God was a very happy fellow with a deep, slightly breathy voice, and a gentle Ho, Ho, Ho chuckle.  He looked kind of like Santa, with a very round face, and he often peeked from behind a cloud.  His speech patterns were just like mine – just slower and deeper – but the cadences were the same.  I think I combined Santa with the sun for my image of God, the image that followed me around for a good share of my life. 

 Where did you pick up your image of God?  Did you make him up yourself?  Does he look and sound like the typical image of God or do you have a variation?  Does your God have the same accent as you and the same pronunciation – just slower and deeper?   How about Jesus?  Does he look like the pictures you have seen or an actor you saw on T.V.? 

If you have such a personal relationship with God or Jesus, wouldn’t you think they both would share what they look like and what their names are with you? 

Why are all of our images of God and Jesus not consistent?  That is a big question right there.  Why does everyone have his/her own idea of what these two characters look like?  Since God and Jesus have not provided their “looks” to us and not spoken to us about their real names, and since we have developed our feelings toward them and developed their personalities based on what little we have read; we can see that everything about them has been created in our imaginations.  Perhaps they themselves were originally created in someone’s imagination!