you’re probably already familiar with teenage baking sensation clara polito, who owns and operates her own vegan business in los angeles called clara’s cakes…after all we’ve posted two recipe videos with her in the past. clara went vegan at the age of 12, and frustrated with the animal-free dessert options in her area, she decided to learn how to make her own treats. four years later, she’s got her own bakery with a menu that wows all kinds of eaters. in today’s video, we sat down with clara at her home in LA and learned about her most delicious creations and why she went vegan in the first place.
to learn where you can find clara’s cakes in LA, check out her website, twitter feed, and facebook page. i know that right now, you can find her cupcakes at pizzanista which happens to make the best vegan pizza in town. so go get ‘em.
QG does it again! Laura’s in LA now and if she isn’t following quarrygirl’s exhaustive guides to the vegan shangri-la that is the city of angels, she’s not doing it right. Same goes for anyone else in SoCal.
The terrific cat-lives-saving Teal Cat Project has a new shirt, and it’s the fucking CUTEST SHIRT. Designed by the ridiculously talented vegan artist Lisa Congdon (we love her!), I’ll be wearing it every day this summer and then almost everyday in the fall and then over a thermal in the winter because I’m v. fashionable. BE JUST LIKE ME, OK??
Read Jasmine’s story on HuffPo
This is wonderful news. NYC is starting a pilot program to let domestic violence survivors and their pets stay in a shelter together. As I’ve read many times, whether they are trying to defend their owner from the abuser or just abused to hurt or manipulate the owner, pets are very often co-victims in domestic violence situations. So much so that many victims of domestic violence will stay in the abusive situation for fear of what would happen to their pet.
The program is a partnership between the Urban Research Institute and the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals.
National data show that more than 40% of domestic violence victims stay in abusive situations out of fear of what would happen if they left their pets behind. Plus, more than 70% of pet owners who enter shelter report that the abuser has threatened, injured or killed family pets.(*) Yet in New York City—the largest provider of domestic violence services in the country with more than 50 shelters—not one shelter currently allows pets in residence, until now.URI is filling this critical gap by becoming the first organization in New York City—and one of few nationwide—to welcome pets into domestic violence shelters. The Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals will be working closely with URI to provide staff training, pet safety education, pet food and supplies, and foster solutions for any pets PALS may be unable to accommodate.
Right now the program is only accepting cats and small animals like hamsters but they also work to find foster homes for other animals (here’s a great example about a cute pup who was fostered until his family found a safe situation).
The Mayor’s Alliance has more info about families with pets in crisis situations.
Can’t see the video? Watch it on Vegansaurus.com!
Here is a cute video to remind you that people can be good and nice to animals! But how did they ALL get down there?
I love the end, they can’t get back to mama fast enough.
YOU GUYS. I moved to LA just as quarrygirl left it, and that is very fucking sad. Come drown all the sorrows with me at the echo park vegan pizza crawl, where we will eat pizza until we sob.
heads up!! the echo park vegan pizza crawl is coming back this year on june 29th for vegan pizza day. don’t miss it!! same deal as time: there will be deals and specials at all your favorite echo park pizza spots including mohawk bend, masa, two boots, sunset beer co, and los angeles pizza company. join the facebook event here, and check out specifics after the jump ——->
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It’s Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use! Yay, Paul! Yay, Animals!
Huge news this week: The San Diego Unified School District Board of Education voted 4-1 to enact an exclusively vegetarian Meatless Monday policy at all K-8 schools in the district. Unsurprisingly, this was to the chagrin of the Animal Ag Alliance, which waged a losing campaign to defeat the measure.
If you liked that, you may also be impressed that Canada is poised to pass a national regulation curbing gestation crate use.
I’ve got a new piece on HuffPost about the increasing number of folks even within the ag industry who are starting to second-guess their ag-gag strategy. Feel free to leave a comment.
A number of papers, such as the Bakersfield Californian, are editorializing against Rep. Steve King’s (R-Iowa) nefarious attempt in the Farm Bill to erase numerous laws we’ve passed to protect farm animals. Meanwhile, King and his allies in the meat industry are also trying to kill federal legislation to ban barren battery cages for laying hens.
Finally, this week, a major story got a lot of media play announcing extensive new research showing that vegetarian diets are linked to longer lives. In that vein, influential UK members of Parliament are urging Britons to eat less meat as a way to increase food security.
P.S. Video of the week: HSUS’s future CEO?
P.P.S. Live in SoCal? Hope to see you at veg appetit next week!
A new Peacefood Cafe opened a few months ago and they totally deliver to my work in Gramercy! And let me tell you, their chickpea fries are out of control. Whatever this “house dipping sauce” is, it’s freaking solid gold. I highly recommend. They have great sandwiches too! But for real, chickpea fries, whoa.
[co-signed by Meave; they are AMAZING]
MooShoes and Raven + CrowStudio are running an Instagram contest that ends this Friday. They’re giving away a $50 MooShoes gift card to the person who submits the cutest awesomest photo of their companion animal and their favorite MooShoes purchase.
This is my entry of Mitsy and my super cute grey boots I got a MooShoes like 80 years ago. This is an old pic, the boots have since died. Mitsy is chilling though! Bad ass as ever.
To enter, post your pic on instagram with #mooshoescontest hashtagged and @mooshoes_nyc and @ravenandcrow tagged.
More info can be found on the Instagram post and their blog.
It’s Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use! Yay, Paul! Yay, Animals!
This year’s ag-gag fight has been a bruising one for the animal ag industry, with every single bill so far introduced failing, while generating enormous negative media attention for animal agribusiness. It’s gotten so bad that one dairy industry spokesperson just published a column with a revealing title: “Ag-gag bills do more harm than good.”
Speaking of ag-gag bills, what’s likely to be the final battle on this in 2013 is in full force. North Carolina had a hearing on its ag-gag bill this week, and you can watch HSUS’s TV commercial that we’re running across the state. The Fayetteville Observer—the hometown newspaper of the state Senator sponsoring the bill—condemned this ag-gag effort, summing it up well: “We hope [Sen. Wesley] Meredith will let this dreadful legislation die humanely in committee.”
NBC had a fascinating feature on a company making in vitro leather, calling it “The Company Leading the Future of Farming.”
Finally, here’s a very potent new TED talk by a former wildlife poacher turned vegetarian animal advocate.
P.S. Video of the week: Pig platform on which goats can play!