Posted by: Debbie | June 14, 2012

Vegan Curious

Yesterday I attended a vegan cooking class in Portland. It was nice. The instructor talked about soaking nuts for sauces and vegan cheese (pretty much every week I am soaking cashews or almonds for one recipe or another), and that quinoa is a nutritional powerhouse (yep, learned that my first week as a vegan). The big thing that hit me was when she said that as long as she has been teaching the vegetarian/vegan cooking class she has never had a “real” vegan attend. I raised my hand and said I’m vegan. Her response was “Well there you go”. What the hell does that mean?

Anyway, at first I was a bit upset that no other vegans had ever taken the vegan class but then I thought, all these people in this room with me right now had the option of taking one of many classes offered and they chose the vegan cooking class. They freely chose a VEGAN class! During the evening several people talked to me about the health benefits of going vegan and how I did it. Bottom line is that while most people still think that going vegan is difficult or weird, a growing number are curious enough to take a cooking class and to talk about why going vegan is important.

I have hope…no new vegan cooking tips but hope which is much, much better.

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Posted in Health, Recipes for Vegans, The Vegan Life | Tags: , , ,

Posted by: Debbie | June 9, 2012

The Decay of Urban Decay

Several blogs have already posted about Urban Decay’s decision to sell in China thus ending the commitment to no animal testing. I’m not sure I can add much to the argument but because I feel so strongly about this I want to at least make a few comments and let you know what I am doing.

To begin with, the lame attempt to minimize accountability Urban Decay is using is very myopic. I’m sorry but claiming that “our brand does not test on animals, but the Chinese government might conduct a one-time test using our products” is a sorry rationalization for continuing to claim that they do not do animal testing. And then to further try to appear as a champion for animal rights is laughable.

Further, they claim that they are doing this because “we want to be there to encourage dialogue and provoke change”. Oh give me a break! If you want to provoke change then support originations that are able to make that happen! A for profit company giving in to China’s abuse of animals is not an avenue for opening dialogue. Urban Decay will always be judged by the fact that they allowed innocent beings (1 or 1,000 it doesn’t matter) to be tortured so they could make a profit. Even if they try to take a stand for animals in China they will always be hypocrites. Who listens to hypocrites?

This is really hard for me. When I went vegan over a year ago Urban Decay was one of the first products I found. I was thrilled and to be honest I loved the quality of what they sold. I feel betrayed.

So what am I doing? I wrote an email to them expressing my views but I don’t think they will care much. What they might care about is if those who allow them to advertise or sell Urban Decay products started to refuse. After all, they are going to China for profit; let them have the profit from China but give up everything else.

Please write to the following sources of advertising and sales to ask them to stop allowing Urban Decay to use them to push products that go against the fact that all sentient beings have value and deserve to live without torture, abuse, and forced death.

Amazon.com
Macy’s
Sephora
Ultra Beauty
VegNews
Veg.ca

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Posted by: Debbie | June 8, 2012

Vegans on the Run

Tomorrow I am running my first 10k. I have run a few 5k but never a 10k. So tonight I need to “carb up”. Actually, I don’t know that I really need to but it makes me feel like a real athlete to say it. I picked up a couple of packets of Vegan Sport Endurance Gel and tonight I’m focusing on making sure I am well hydrated. I’m ready.

Yes, you vegan runners I know a 10k is not as impressive as a marathon or anything like that but it is still exciting to me.

And for you non-vegan runners, yes it is true that vegans are capable of running more than a city block without collapsing from a lack of protein and iron. In fact, didn’t a vegan set world records in 100 meter and 200 meter relays? So believe it or not, vegans are actually not pale, weak and anemic. Well I’m a little pale but I live in Portland Oregon and we don’t see much sunshine. :)

So, for those who doubt the athletic abilities of vegans or for those who just enjoy reading about successful vegans, following is a few links to info on some vegan athlete superstars. I may never make this list but for today I’m happy with my 10k!

Carl Lewis: Olympic Gold Medal Winner
Mike Tyson: Former heavyweight champion
Rob Bigwood: Professional Arm Wrestlers currently ranked eighth in the United State
Brendan Brazier: Pro Ironman
Molly Cameron: Cyclocross Racer
Scott Jurek: Ultra-marathoner

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Posted by: Debbie | June 3, 2012

From Farmer’s Market to Happy Cows

Made my first trip of the year to the farmer’s market today! I just love that I can head out with $20 and come home with veggies for a week and a few extras. My extra for this visit was artisan bread. So yummy dipped in olive oil flavored with garlic as well as rosemary and basil from my garden.

I don’t know what it is about going to a farmer’s market but I always come home feeling like I am part of a community and that my participation matters. I had a great conversation with the people selling the bread about how it was made. I purchased some sunflower seed butter from one of my favorite local vendors whose mother started the business a few years ago. People were smiling, dogs were everywhere with wagging tails, and I ran into a few friends. Community.

So what does this have to do with being a vegan or animal rights? I think it is this feeling of a personal sense of community that the “humane meat” people are striving for. They want to convince the people who shop at Whole Foods or who want to justify eating animals that this is just part of the community working together to feed our families and support our farmers. The animals are happy the farmers are friendly and approachable. We are all in this together…we are a community.

However, the truth is that slaughter is slaughter no matter how it is packaged. I don’t feel all warm and fuzzy about free range anything or humane whatever. Is “humane meat” ever humane? No according to former Montana cattle rancher, Howard Lyman. Can slaughter ever be humane? Is that a serious question? How can taking the life of another against its will ever be humane? I know I would not feel that I was being treated humanely if someone killed me for no valid reason. Are dairy cows really happy? Would anyone be happy to be raped, have the child taken away almost at the point of birth, have a machine suck milk from them only to do it all over again when the milk starts to dry up?

So for me, I will reject the idea that eating “humane meat” is a viable option supporting our community needs. I will instead continue to go to my local farmer’s market for healthy, protein and calcium rich veggies with a side of great conversation with my real community.

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Posted by: Debbie | May 22, 2012

Remembering I Have a Voice

Getting ready to leave on a short business trip. I hate traveling for work. This trip is to meet with one of our vendors. We will be in day long meetings with the usual junk delivered for lunch.

But this time I didn’t just quietly try to let the person handling the logistics know I’m vegan, I brought it up in the last planning meeting with everyone who will be attending.

Over the past year I have worked very hard to not inconvenience any one or to make a big deal out of my being vegan. However, I was reading Somebody Give the Vegan Corndog a Handclap or the Art of Herbivore and in the introduction ran across an interesting perspective. The author was commenting on how a co-worker complemented him for not making a “big deal” out of not having anything to eat during an office lunch.
The author writes:

“I didn’t take this as a compliment at all. I went vegan because I learned how animals are treated and knew it was wrong. I want the rest of the world to go vegan, not because I have some self-righteous chip on my shoulder but because I don’t want animals to suffer anymore. And while I don’t have any real faith in the world waking up to the horrors involved in how we treat animals, I did feel some responsibility for trying to help them. If my co-worker was basically telling me that I was doing nothing to represent those animals, I was doing something wrong. If I was dodging every opportunity to inform people of the horrors, I was dodging opportunities to alleviate those horrors.”

I didn’t think of it that way. I always wanted to make sure I came off as a friendly, non-demanding vegan. But he is right. I have been passing up opportunities to help.

And so I spoke up in front of everyone and when they asked if anyone had anything else to discuss for the vendor site visit I spoke up. Yes my comment was followed by a short pause that felt uncomfortable but maybe only to me because I was stepping outside of what I have been comfortable with.

So anyway, I’m getting ready to leave for the airport. Tomorrow if anyone does say something about my request for vegan food I will look at it as an opportunity to speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves.

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Posted in For the Animals, Sharing with others, The Vegan Life | Tags: , , , ,

Posted by: Debbie | May 20, 2012

Vegan Gardening

I did it. I finally planted my own garden! I also set up a composting area in my backyard. I have a little composting pail in my kitchen and I am now shredding all the paper I get and saving my grass clippings. I don’t know why I waited so long. I am really enjoying this and I have spent more time in my backyard this spring than I have in the last few years combined. I love being outside and digging around in the dirt caring for my little plants. And as someone who sincerely cares about the world we live in I should have done this before now. Way before now.

However, one small problem I have is that I want to be completely organic but organic fertilizers contain…well…animal products. I really had no idea. Yes of course I knew about manure but animal blood and bones? Seriously? Is any part of our society not touched by the suffering or exportation of sentient life? Are my only two choices chemicals that are harmful to life or the use of animal products that come from a lack of respect for life?

So now I’m on a quest to learn how to be a vegan gardener before my kale and tomato plants die. So far I have found the following information. And so far my little plants and sprouting seeds seem to be doing just fine.

Links to information on vegan gardening:

  1. The Vegan Society: Vegan-Organic Gardening
  2. The Beginner’s Guide to Veganic Gardening
  3. Vegans and Veganic Agriculture (Great commentary on veganism)
  4. Vegan Organic Gardening

Happy gardening!

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Posted in For the Animals, For the Earth, The Vegan Life | Tags: , , ,

Posted by: Debbie | May 11, 2012

Animals as Property…even my little Chow Chow


My little Chow Chow, KC does the cutest thing when she asks for a snack. I always keep an assortment of snacks for the dogs. When KC asks for a snack she seems to have a specific snack in mind. If I don’t offer her the one she is looking for she turns her ahead away and waits for me to offer another kind. She does this until I offer the one she had in mind. I can never predict which one she will go for. It seems so funny to me that she could be hanging out on the patio watching over her backyard and then she thinks to herself, “you know, I could really go for a doggie cookie right about now”.

It isn’t that she just wants a treat, she wants a specific treat. So cute.

Lately I have been reading Making a Killing: The Political Economy of Animal Rights by Bob Torres. The writer really brings into focus just how pervasive the state of animals as property has become.

“We generally talk of this relationship in magnanimous terms, describing our “care” of animals, as “husbandry,” or as us being guardians of their “welfare,” yet, underneath these comfortable and bucolic notions of animal-human relations, there is a system of exploration that yields value for the producer while denying the animal her right to live fully (page 66).

No one who knows me would ever consider my dogs anything but loved and pampered. I would never sell or give away my dogs. The idea is as abhorrent to me as the thought of giving away a family member. However, as much as I try to respect my dogs and care for them the reality is that they are my property and I benefit from owning them. This wasn’t a choice they made.

KC’s routine of asking for snacks highlights this for me. Why is it that this seems so “cute” to me? Because in trying to make her own choice, my dog is doing something that I think is the inherent right of humans, and a little funny that a dog is acting like it has a choice? My dogs eat healthy food but it is the same food every breakfast and dinner and it is what I think they should have. Why? Because they are dogs and they don’t really care what they eat…or so I tell myself. How do I know? I leave them alone at home every day when I go to work, but believe it is ok because they are dogs and they have each other. How do I know what it is like for dogs to be alone all day? Why do I assume dogs are less lonely or less bored than anyone else with nothing to do for hours on end? They get baths when I say they should and they go to bed when I decide it is time. The only real choice KC gets to make is her choice of snack (of course within the limits of the snack selections I buy for her).

Before KC thinks to herself “I could really go for a doggie cookies right about now”, is she on the patio looking over her backyard dreaming of being able to run as far and fast as she wants? My dogs have been denied a right to live a full life because they have been made into property, my property. I get to have them live in my home and by my rules merely because it is what I want. I don’t like the idea that they are my “property” but it is a fact.

I’m not an idealist. I know that domesticated animals need to be cared for and I know that it isn’t possible to let them live free. Actually, it would be far, far more cruel to turn domesticated animals lose to live “free”. But that doesn’t mean I can claim that no part of me sees them as property or at least a little less than humans. I don’t want to. I try to deny it. But society is so filled with speciesism that I’m not sure how I completely eliminate it from my interaction with those who are not human.

But at least I’m aware and I’m trying.

Maybe I’ll go offer KC some snacking options.

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Posted by: Debbie | March 11, 2012

Welcome Mr. Bo! But what about all the others?

Bo has joined our family! He is a 10 year old pup who is as loving and energetic as any dog I have met. I was worried that KC would have a problem with a new family member but they became fast buddies in a matter of a few days. We are all very lucky. Bo is happy, safe and right now sleeping next to me with a full belly and tired paws from a long walk.

This process of adopting an animal in need has made me really think about all those animals that do not and never will have a forever home. The numbers overwhelm me and the magnitude of the suffering is more than I can allow myself to think about for long.


But I try to do my part.


Last week I went to Food Fight to donate money to the Emergency Turlock Hen Rescue Benefit Day. Over 4,000 hens were abandoned and starving. Thankfully several organizations stepped in to rescue those that could be saved. But what about those still suffering?

I sponsor a pig that lives at the Out To Pasture Animal Sanctuary. One pig. I sponsor the care for one pig, out of how many hundreds of thousands across the world who need someone to care for them?

Sometimes I think that the little I do is so insignificant that it doesn’t matter. But then I look at Bo next to me sleeping peacefully and I know it matters to him. It is hard to remind myself that I cannot save everyone but for those I can help it matters. It matters to them and I think that talking about it helps other people know that no matter how small the contribution, all help matters.

Maybe one person can’t save all those in need but all of us together doing what we can will.

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Posted by: Debbie | February 19, 2012

I’m starting to look into adopting another dog.

I’m a very blessed person. I still have my KC dog (see picture on right). I have a nice home with a big, well fenced backyard. I make enough money to care for an animal that may need medical care. And as I learned with Toni, I have no problem adjusting my life to care for the life of another. Therefore, I think it is important that I take in the animal others may overlook out of necessity or preference. I realize that not everyone can care for an older or ill animal but I can, so I should. The thought of a dog living out the remaining time he/she has, alone in a shelter is just too much for me to take. How lonely and painful must that be for them? (One dog I’m considering is Bo)

Not everyone agrees with what Gary Francione has to say about animal rights. Even I don’t. But I do like his reference to the dogs he and his partner care for as “refugees”. I’m not going to go into his argument against domestication (you can read his article). However, I do want to provide a few facts about the lives of domesticated animals, specifically dogs and cats in the United States. Sadly the statistics show that animals often end up as refugees seeking refuge not in a foreign country but in a foreign environment so they can avoid abusive, cruel or heartless lives.

Seven dogs & cats are born every day for each person born in the U.S. Of those, only 1 in 5 puppies and kittens stay in their original home for their natural lifetime. The remaining are often abandoned to the streets or end up at a shelter.

An estimated 5 million cats and dogs are killed in shelters each year. That’s one about every six and one half seconds. Millions more are abandoned, only to suffer from illness or injury before dying.

Five out of ten dogs in shelters and seven out of ten cats in shelters are destroyed simply because there is no one to adopt them.

Percentage of people who acquire animals that end up giving them away, abandoning them, or taking them to shelters: 70%

Animal Abuse Crime Database Statistics

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Posted by: Debbie | February 18, 2012

An Addiction? Really?

First, thank you so very, very much to everyone who posted comments over the loss of my Toni. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your support. Thank you! Sincerely, thank you.

Toni has been gone almost a month now and I feel like I’m almost back to joining my life. However, since Toni’s life starting going downhill, I have been eating far too much comfort food and stuff I know I shouldn’t. I mentioned that to a couple of friends who are not vegan and they both had the same reaction. They assumed that I meant I was eating animals again. WHAT!?!

Why would I, after the death of a being I loved more than almost all people, make me want to participate in the torture of animals and chew their flesh?

People seem to think that going vegan is like giving up drinking. It must be an addiction. “Hi, my name’s Debbie and I’m a dead animal flesh-aholic”. Yes I have read the articles about how cheese has an addictive quality. But really? An addiction to chew on animal cadavers?

Why does this bother me? Because as long as people believe that going vegan is like giving up an addition, or hard, or somehow not natural, we will never end the senseless torture of animals. It really is easy people.

My Toni is gone. I loved her and I know she loved me. Eating the flesh of other animals would only disrespect the relationship I had with her. I can’t say I love Toni and all that she was then turn around and order a Big Mac.

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