vegansaurus!

It’s happening! At Mission High School on Saturday, May 12 from 11am-3pm! There will be all sorts of food and vendors and good fun, so go and say it loud and proud and I don’t know where I’m going with this but I’m sleepy and just trying to get something down on paper over here. The first draft, if you will. A first draft I won’t revise because I write for a living (SURPRISED, RIGHT??) and my hands and brain AND SOUL are tired. So tired. But not too tired to eat everything this Saturday! See you there!

You guys! There’s some really exciting news from the East Bay Express about new vegan soul food place in Oakland’s Chinatown, Organic Soul Live! And it’s omnivore restaurant reviewer approved!

From the write-up:

Vegan readers, feel free to call me out on this cliché, but if Joy had told me the dish was made from real cheese — not a mix of commercial soy- and rice-based “cheeses,” plus a cream sauce he makes out of nutritional yeast — I wouldn’t have blinked. He had me fooled.

Sounds damn good! Here’s a photo from EBX!

Should we call him out? It IS a total cliché but it’s pretty great that he called out his own shit. I hate that the ultimate compliment for vegan food is that it, “you wouldn’t know it’s vegan!” You KNOW when plenty of stuff you eat is vegan, and it’s STILL hella good. No disclaimers or comparisons needed! Still, hard for me to get all up in arms about this shiz because I do it all the time FUCK IT I’M ONLY HUMAN. Just a vegan trying to hustle in an omnivore world!

Anyway, he loved the shiitake bacon and massaged collards and the whole thing sounds prettttty delicious. Let’s all go! It’s open every day from 12-9pm and is located inside the Tutti Frutti frozen yogurt shop at 388 9th Street in Oakland. Which means that you can eat VEGAN FRO-YO with your soul food. Seriously, life is getting pretty damn fancy for vegans in the East Bay. Something bad has to happen, right? It’s going too well! Oh wait, there’s the total collapse of the economy, looming environmental destruction and the fact that I STILL don’t have a network sitcom based on the double shenanigans of me and my dog.  

Lots of vegans were vegetarians before they went vegan. I was. I was vegetarian because I was pretty ignorant—I didn’t even know (or think) about factory farms, I just didn’t like the thought of eating animals. It’s gross, right? We all know one or two animals who we love or at least recognize as sentient beings. The thought of putting dead animals into your body kinda skeeves you out, and so you don’t do it.

Veganism, however, seems a bit extreme, and a little difficult. It’s for obnoxious activists and people who hate food, you’re not about to bomb a lab or eat a twig casserole! But here’s the thing: That’s not what veganism is about! It’s for you! It’s totally for you! You already love animals so that’s the first step, now it’s time to access that place of compassion and go vegan.

When you buy cow’s milk, or cheese, or chicken’s eggs, you are directly contributing to the slaughterhouse, and even worse, the constant suffering of billions of animals. Just because you’re not eating the actual carcass doesn’t mean that you didn’t directly contribute to that death. Female dairy cows live an unnatural life of horrendous pain to create milk and cheese—their babies are taken away and either suffer the same life, or are sold for veal. Purchasing dairy is basically like buying veal. It’s true. Even those organic, natural, happy dairy farms sell their male calves for veal, we’ve checked. And what happens to dairy cows when they can’t produce any longer? It’s straight to the slaughterhouse, and that’s true of ALL cows, no matter where they’re from. 

Egg-laying hens have it probably worst of all: Their lives are nightmares and then bam, it’s off to the slaughterhouse when they can’t produce any more. That’s true for those organic, free-range hens, too. And male chicks? Most likely destroyed in the easiest way possible. The only exception is maybe backyard hens, but those come with a whole other set of issues, and I wonder how many people are well equipped to keep them safely for their entire lives. 

Vegetarians should think about why they’re vegetarian, and today should be that day. You know, ‘cause sometimes you need a push! I know I did! If it’s for ethical reasons, you should go vegan right now. Or at least start working toward it, maybe with an end date in sight. You’ll most likely find that it’s so much easier than you imagine, especially if you live in an area where vegetarianism is possible. I know that’s not everywhere but I bet it’s the majority of the people reading this. Go vegan, be vegan! Check out our handy list of 11 tips for new vegans! Have a question? Ask a Vegansaur!

But really, go vegan. Make a real stand for animals by withholding your hard earned ca$hola from ALL of the evil industries that abuse animals because, in the words of Megan Rascal, “Being vegetarian isn’t very vegetarian.” From one former vegetarian to some others, today is the motherflipping day you go LEGIT. See you on the other side, friends! I’ve got a batch of vegan cookies in the oven for you, let’s EAT.

You all saw the Time cover story, right? It was basically the front page of the internet yesterday. Um, I don’t think my terrible Google Drawing fully demonstrates what I’m trying to say here but it’s basically: COWS! They love their babies, too! SOMETIMES A LITTLE TOO MUCH.

Don’t let this finger be a gun!! Photo by Furryscaly on flickr.com

Hunting: Not as terrible as factory farms on the spectrum of evil, but still not the favorite thing of we, the vegans. Hunting in National Parks where it’s been heretofore prohibited? SO NOT A GOOD IDEA.

But there’s a bill in the Senate right now that could open a bunch of national park lands (especially the weird ones, like “national historic parks”), to hunting. The National Parks Conservation Association is asking us citizens to contact our senators and tell them to fix it!

Here’s the thing: the NCPA is only worried about the national parks. They want the senators to just change a few words to make sure the parks are clearly excluded from this new hunting law. I’m on board with that, and it seems a battle they might actually win if they get enough people to call. 

But they’re not opposing the Sportsman Heritage Act as a whole. Which is something you might want to consider. It makes it OK to import dead polar bears from Canada, and helps support hunting on other federal land. Either way, give a call/write your leaders so they know not to let people kill squirrels at the Frederick Douglass Memorial, so f-ed up!

Hi guys! Welcome to my latest vegan skincare product review. I have some good skin stuff for you today! And a hair mask too. All these products are from CA Sunshine. CA Sunshine is an all-vegan company and they also support various ocean conservation efforts. They sent me some gratis samples to try and now I will tell you all about them! Plus, there’s a little Q&A at the end so stay tuned. 

The first product I tried was Sunny Day, a “dewy look enhancer.” It’s organic argon oil, which is all the rage, plus sunflower oil, jasmin oil, and citrus essential oils. Bonus: the argon oil is sourced from women’s cooperatives in Morocco. I really like Sunny Day and it does give you a dewy look. I did find that it made my nose a little too oily, but I’ve used argon oil in the past and the same thing happened. I think my nose and argon oil aren’t meant to be BFF. So I ended up using Sunny Day all over my face except on my nose and that worked super. 

The next product I used was Starry Night. It’s grape seed oil, jojoba, and lavender oil. This I used all over, nose included. It was also really nice. The bottles say to moisturize after you put on these products but I didn’t feel like I had to with Starry Night. The thing with both of these products is you really feel like you are doing something healthy for your skin. It feels like all natural and hippie. I can dig it!

The last product I used was the Radiant Beach hair mask. The hair mask is mostly organic coconut oil and organic ricinus communis oil. My sister was just telling me she occasionally puts olive oil on her hair for a half hour to keep it healthy so I thought coconut oil would be a similar idea. But unlike olive oil, Radiant Beach is thick and not oil consistency so it’s easier to apply.

So, Radiant Beach is totally nice! BUT DON’T put more in than they say. I put like half the jar in because my hair is so long I thought I would need more than suggested. That was super silly! It took a while to wash it out. Like two days. So just use the amount they tell you. 

I did a brief question and answer for you guys with the creator of CA Sunshine, Terra:

1. Was is important to you that your products were vegan?

Terra: Since I eat vegan or vegetarian most of the time and I love natural products, it was almost expected that my product line would be natural and cruelty free. I like how my vegan products are pure and literally give you a guilt-free glow.  

2. How did you get involved with Seafood Watch?

Terra: Several years ago The Monterey Bay Aquarium invited me to a conference about sustainable seafood, and I have been a proactive advocate of ocean conservation ever since. I love the Aquarium’s SeafoodWatch.com program because it empowers all of us to be conservationists as we grocery shop. It couldn’t be easier. Each of us can make a difference.

3. Do you plan on releasing any other products in the future? What?!

Terra: I am working on an avocado-based product but can’t say much yet. It will be fantastic! After that, I have a California-colors makeup palette in mind.

There you have it, pals! I’m super excited about an avocado-based product, right? Some of my favorite products are avocado-based, like guacamole and stuff with avocado.

My cat now eats lots of fish.

A couple months ago, in the wake of a late-night vet visit, I asked what kind of wet food I should be feeding my cat. Fifty-five comments, three emails, and several experiments later, I can report the following:

1. Vegansaurus readers are awesome! Thanks so much for all your thoughtful, insightful comments. I highly recommend anyone with or considering a cat read the thread.
2. Zuki is feeling much better.
3. Boulder, CO, where I am lucky enough to work, has two hippie pet stores in the same shopping center (Only Natural Pets and Whole Pets). Obviously there’s a Whole Foods and a bike shop there as well. It’s ridic, like the town’s trying to make fun of itself. How do these stores not put each other out of business? They’re 100 feet apart!!
4. My cat doesn’t like nice things. First, she rejected a fancy heated cat bed. Now, she won’t go anywhere near the lovely raindrop water fountain we got her (I think the low hum bugs her?). Luckily, the store has a fantastic return policy. Move four times in a summer and she comes out unfazed, but plug in a trickly water burble that every other pet on the planet goes ga-ga for and it’s like someone turned on a vacuum cleaner or something.
5. It’s really hard to find solid information about where the meat in pet food is sourced. Can labels? No way. Company websites? As if. The guy at Only Natural Pets (a vet tech at a holistic vet for 6 years, he claimed) was really informative and very nice when I told him I was a vegan on a mission, but I only trust him about 60% of the way. That said, his top brands for conscientious sourcing: Addiction, ZiwiPeak, Evangers.
6. My husband, my cat, and I have settled on what we think is our best option for feeding the cat wet food: Evangers Whole Mackerel with Gravy. We are now purchasing it by the case, and Zuki is a fishatarian. 

Here’s why we chose the Evangers:

• It’s all fish, and wild-caught at that (Evangers told me it comes from the Pacific Ocean). Thus the suffering packaged in our 100% recyclable steel cans is much less than say, food with factory-farmed pigs or even cows or chicken. Environmentally, mackerel is a “species of least concern” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species [Ed note: damn IUCN, you’re cold!].
• It’s produced in the USA. The foods from New Zealand seem to be the very most sustainable/responsible, but they’re from New Zealand. Not only is that a long-ass way to ship pet food, it makes it really, really expensive.*
• Zuki likes it. Obviously key. And because it’s whole fish, I like to pretend she’s having a fun cat experience getting to devour something. 

Anyway, there you have it. I still wish I could go back to the easy days of no-mess dry food, but I’m getting used to scooping out little fishes, and the cat seems much happier and healthier. 

Bizarre side effect: Now that she’s more hydrated, she drools when she’s happy. Drip, drip, drip. Weird. But cute. But also gross.

Thanks again to everyone for their thoughts, let me know what you think of our solution!

*Not that Evanger’s is cheap: It’s costing us about $1.13 a day to feed the cat now. It was WAY cheaper with dry food.

The first time I met my friends and former flatmates Jonathan and Ivory (of Vegan Myths Debunked fame) was over dimly-lit libations at SF Vegan Drinks. Jonathan and Ivory were both so good-looking and well-dressed, it was incredible! To break the ice, I asked the lovely pair how they got their B-12 [Ed note: haha best vegan pickup line]. This instigated a larger discussion among drinks-goers about whether they preferred to take the sublingual, the shot, liquid B-12, nutritional yeast, foods specially fortified with B-12, or the B-12 patch. Everybody does something different, but most people complained they forget to take it regularly. While unsurprising, that’s kind of disappointing from a vegan public health standpoint! 

It was great to have this B-12 discussion, not only because vegans tend to be overly shy about how and to what degree we supplement, but also because B-12 is undoubtedly a necessity of vegan living and we all need to be upfront about how crucial it is to get adequate doses. B-12 deficiency (hypocobalaminemia) can lead to serious, often irreversible neurological damage. Our bodies store B-12 in the liver, so don’t worry if you miss a day or even a week, but over time it’s crucial to stay on top of your B-12 intake! 

This is why the B-12 patch is so radical: you put the dime-sized, circular patch on your neck right by your ear for 24 hours, and then you’re set for the whole week. Remembering to take B-12 once a week is a lot easier than once daily, or even finding your way to a clinic to get a B-12 shot. 

The patch is painless and only causes mild itching side effects at the patch site in .01% of users. Vita Sciences sent me some of their patches to try for free, and my vegan brother Asher, his vegan lady friend Lola, my vegan lady friend Courtney and I tried it at the same time, right before last week’s episode of Glee. I figured doing it before Glee would remind me to take it every week on the same day! Since a spoonful of Kind Kreme makes the medicine go into your bloodstream, we ate some raw vegan chocolate superfood ice cream as we patched. Highly recommended way to take your B-12 patch!

My girlfriend said she’s full-on sold on switching to the patch. The other two also liked its convenience! I had no itchy side effects and although I’m want to always remember my supplements, this feels like a great option. I was however a bit frustrated that the patch only comes in one color: off-white. (Note: I confirmed with the company that this is the only color they manufacture). This feels discriminatory, and I urge them to consider using other skin tones to make the patch more accessible to diverse users.

The B-12 patch is overall a solid choice for getting your B-12 regularly and reliably. Whether you slap on a patch or slurp down a liquid or ensure to keep half a pound of nutritional yeast in your body at all times, you’re doing the right thing for your health and I salute you!

It’s Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use! Yay!

Greetings from Denver, where I just conducted one of three HSUS press conferences today announcing the results of our latest factory farm investigation (the fourth agribusiness facility HSUS has exposed in 2012 so far).

This investigation reveals truly appalling cruelty to pigs at a Wyoming gestation crate confinement operation that supplies Tyson Foods. Please watch and share this important new exposé.

This comes on the heels of the joint announcement by Safeway and HSUS just yesterday that the country’s second largest grocer is now formulating plans to eliminate gestation crates from its supply chain.

(And BTW, did you hear that? No? It sounded to me like the sound made when the legislative leadership in California delivers a smack-down to those who want to keep force-feeding ducks for foie gras legal in the state.)

You didn’t share that investigation link yet? Do me a favor and please do…pigs will thank you.

P.S. Video of the week: Yep, you guessed it.

I think that decadent, holiday fare is my forte. Living in San Francisco is great—with the weather being so mild, I can make it and eat it year round. Potluck to go to? Well, I know even in July the nights will be as cold as Chicago in the fall, so heavy vegan food it is!

For Easter at my family’s house, I made creamed spinach! My grandma loved it and I was pretty stoked with it as well. The rest of my fam—well, the whole eating vegan food thing is still a struggle, but they always make sure I have Vegenaise in the house! Gotta appreciate the support where I get it. Oh, and you can always lighten this recipe up by adding less cashew cream!

Ingredients:

For the cream:
1 1/2 cup cashew cream (I’m sure you can use the same amount unsweetened soy creamer instead)
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

For the creamed spinach:
Aforementioned cream
2 TBS oil
1 chopped onion, any variety (I myself used red)
1 pound of fresh spinach
4 cloves of chopped or minced garlic
1/4 cup white wine (optional)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
A dash of cayenne pepper (it won’t add heat, only a depth of flavor)
A dash of nutmeg

Directions:

Make your cream first! All you have to do is blend the cream ingredients together and you’re done. I made mine the night before putting this recipe together, because holidays can be a very stressful time in the kitchen, and I like as much prep work done beforehand as possible. Now, heat up a pan with the oil—you will know it’s ready when you flick water on it and it sizzles. Add your onion, and turn heat to medium. Cook until translucent or caramelized. Add garlic, making sure not to burn or brown it. Only cook until fragrant, about three minutes. Pour in the wine, as a means to deglaze your pan. Vegetable stock would work fine too, or you can leave out this step altogether. Now, it’s time for the spinach. I tore mine up, by hand, but you can chop it or leave it whole—totally up to you! Spinach doesn’t take very long to cook, also only a few minutes. So, put spinach in your pan, along with the salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and nutmeg. Once it’s cooked to your liking, add the cashew cream and cook until heated through and through!

Word on the street (and by street I mean the internet highway) is that Ellen and Portia’s SoCal vegan restaurant may not be happening after all! Oh no! I was looking forward to this collaboration of superstars—Ellen, Portia, Chrissy Hynde, Steven Bing, Tal Ronnen and Waldo Fernandez. I was also looking forward to hooking up with a Sugar Daddy, because I knew there was no way in hell I’d be able to afford eating at that joint, being a restaurant worker myself.

As excited as I may have been about a new vegan hotspot opening up, I did have my reservations. Everyone wants to open a restaurant. Everyone thinks they’ll be great at it, but the truth is, most new restaurants don’t make it in their first year.  It’s hard work. Nevermind that the people who can handle working in the restaurant industry are bat shit crazy. The turnover rate is astronomical. If you haven’t read Laura’s “Top 10 Reasons You Can’t Be a Professional Chef” for SF Weekly, get on that! She got some flack in the comments section that it was unrealistic, but those people are dead wrong.
My point is that working in this industry is my career, and I love it, but it has been both the best and worst experience of my life. It’s tough, mentally and physically. So if Ellen and Portia want to keep their sanity, maybe they should run the other way. Plus, I’d hate for them to be the jerk owners who show off their shiny new cars, while their staff juggles two jobs—because let me tell you, this industry does not pay well (that is a paraphrased sentiment from Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential, but also true of my own experience. You can love or hate that guy, but Kitchen Confidential is THE first-hand account of working in the industry, and I for one, really enjoyed its harsh honesty).

{Photo via Ecorazzi.com}

I know you guys are going to love Sprout! Why? All but one set of lip balms are vegan, plus: 

All of Sprout’s ingredients are either certified organic, Fair Trade, or sourced from small, family farms. We’re committed to creating the most effective products in the most responsible way, taking all of our ethical obligations into account.

Nice, right? I know you like organic, sustainable, fair trade stuff. Sprout sent me a bunch of samples to test out and now I will tell you all about them!

Overall, I love these products. I tried the vegan lip balm first and it’s nice. Not too heavy like you’ve got icky wax caked on. Then I tried the cleanser. It smells nice, but I don’t really understand it. It’s the consistency of water so I didn’t know how to rub it in exactly. But they say it is great for sensitive skin and I imagine it really is. It’s made with only rose water, vegetable glycerin, and tea tree oil. All of their products are like that—only a few ingredients and no gross chemicals! Like their signature cream is just shea butter, extra-virgin coconut oil, and extra-virgin olive oil. 

The cream is awesome! Very moisturizing. And I had weird patches of skin on my elbows when I got these products so I put the cream on them for a few days and it fixed it! Dang weird elbow skin. 

But the two products I really love are the exfoliant and the body scrub. They might be too rough for sensitive skin but I imagine sensitive skin people don’t exfoliate that often? But if you like exfoliants, you can’t get better than these. The face exfoliant makes your skin so nice and smooth. And the body scrub—that stuff rules. It’s cool because it moisturizes while you’re scrubbing. That seems like such a genius idea, right? Moisturizing while your scrubbing off dead skin, totes genius. 

OK, now that you have my recommendations, I have some good news for you!: Vegan Cuts, everyone’s favorite site for deals on vegan stuff, is having a sale on Sprout starting TODAY!* It’s only for three days so get on that more sooner than later. And get some of that exfoliant!

PS: who else loves the packaging? I’m totally into it!

*Someone pointed out that there’s a Vegan Cuts banner next to this post—they are part of our new vegan-friendly advertising push! That’s not why I linked though, I don’t make any money linking to them. I waited until there was a sale on Sprout to do my review because I know you guys like a sale and like instant gratification.