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Vegan Easter candy round-up!  »

Hey pals! Easter is coming up! How about a vegan Easter round-up? Don’t mind if I do!

“Speckles” Chocolate Rice Crispy Bunny and Flavored Solid Vegan Eggs from Allison’s Gourmet. This bun is too cute! And I love crispies in my chocolate. These chocolates are also gluten-free and made with fair-trade cocoa. 

White Rabbit Ostara Hare Easter Bunny Vegan White Chocolate from Realist Mermaid on Etsy. These are also gluten-free! Who likes white chocolate? Not me! But I know some people do and this actually sounds really good. It’s flavored with organic Tahitian vanilla bean. Yum!

Vegan Easter assortment from No Whey Candies on Etsy! This collection looks AHMAYZING. 

And don’t forget your vegan creme eggs from Queen Balch! You know we love vegan creme eggs up in this piece. 

Look at this little guy! This Sjaak’s chocolate bunny is filled with almond butter! My mom loves her some almond butter. And this is great for kids with peanut allergies! A special treat. And you know Sjaak’s uses fair-trade and organic ingredients. 

For those not that into chocolate (you crazy bastards), Vegan Essentials has these cute sugar chicks and bunnies!

Vegan large Easter bunny girl from Chocolate Decadence! Such a pretty lady! This 12” chocolate statue stands up. Good lord! That’s a big bunny.

For you Peeps fans, Sweet and Sara’s Easter Skippers and Sunnys! These are so cute!

Vegan marshmallow chicks covered in chocolate! Dang, son! These look yums. 

From Rose City Chocolatier, a super cute hat box filled with Easter chocolate! This is adorbs. Any kid would die if you got them this!

For another basket, Indie Candy has this great pack of Easter goodies! I love the carrot lollipops, so cute. 

There you go guys, I hope you have a happy Easter if having a happy Easter is something you want!

A Very Vegan Valentine Gift Round-Up!  »

Valentine’s Day is approaching! I may have touched on this in previous years but I’ll say it again: Don’t listen to anyone who tries to tell you Valentine’s Day is some made-up Hallmark holiday! It’s as old as dirt! Look it up, bros. 

Now, I don’t think Valentine’s Day has to be some crazy event, I think dinner and flowers is perfect! But if you want to step it up a little from flowers, here are some super gift ideas:

Here’s a sweet treat from Rescue Chocolates, “Wild at Heart” chocolate hearts filled with raspberry ganache! You can find some at Cosmo’s Vegan Shoppe! These are so simple and pretty and the proceeds go to great animal organizations so you’re sweetie will be all the more impressed!

Another sweet gift for a good cause, how much would your main squeeze love a heart full of chocolates from Farm Sanctuary?! SO MUCH! These special “milk” chocolates are fair trade, vegan and organic! Plus you are helping one of our favorite charities (it’s the one and only Eric the piglet’s home!)

This doesn’t need much commentary from me. You obviously need one. Get it from Chocolate Decadence!

Here’s a twist on the traditional candy gift, from Vegan Etsy Team member Feedyourface, Vegan Organic Valentine’s Day Caramels with raspberries, dark chocolate, vanilla balsamic, and white pepper! That sounds YUM with a capital DANG!

Another Etsy candy entry, cute vegan Valentine’s chocolates from MissVeganTreats! I’ve never tried these but they are adorable. I love the skulls! Because they are baddass AND romantic, just like me!

Ok, last Etsy treat gift! This is Iheartveg’s Vegan S’mores Kit: Valentine Edition! I like this because it’s sweets for your sweet but it’s also kind of an experiential gift! Because s’mores aren’t just a food, they are an activity! So you can give your sweetie the kit and then make them together! Ohhhhh, maybe over a campfire! Romantic! Jeez, you’ve outdone yourself. 

Now, here’s an idea! For all the freaks in the crowd, get some vegan whipped cream and chocolate sauce! Oooh la la. 

Lingerie, whether you plan on wearing it for your lovey or giving it to your lovey to wear, is a crowd-pleaser! And this set comes from vegan lingerie shop Purrfect Pineapples and has little white hearts on it. So romantic!

Don’t forget the appeal of an old-fashion card! Only old people give out cards any more and old people are the best so you should give out cards and be like an old person. This cutie cute cute one comes from Vegan Etsy Team member MyZoetrope. You know what would be cute? If a BOY got this for someone! Boys never give cards. That would be adorbs. You guys should do that.

Experiential gifts are all the rage in the past few years, simply because a lot of us just have too much stuff! And really, isn’t it memories that build a romance? At least that’s what I hear. So here’s an idea: get tickets to Urban Food Crawl’s “Suds & Sweets: An evening of beer and dessert pairings” in LA! There will be mini vegan cupcakes and truffles paired with a beer flight! So fun! And nothing stimulates a romance like beer. If you don’t live in LA, you should still totally get tickets to this AND get plane tickets to LA! That would be awesome. I would totally marry you if you did that for me. Or not marry you; Whatever you were going for, I’d be down!

That’s all for now, pals! Have a happy Valentine’s Day and hug your lovey for me.

Foie gras is cruel, even if you think it tastes good.   »

Scary video, very well made. If you don’t want to watch the whole thing, just check out the stats in the beginning. This is not a rare occurrence, this is where the majority of foie gras comes from in the U.S.

A reader alerted us to this post on Etsy gushing over foie gras and complaining about any measures to stop it. It’s just a sickening, confused bit of writing that attempts to justify and rationalize cruelty by identifying that there are other cruelties in the world. I know my response is long but there are so many terrible points to contend. Plus foie gras is just so disturbing, when people make light of it, we should give it the attention it deserves. Let’s jump in, shall we?

It may not be a taste for every palate, but I’m a staunch fan of this controversial delicacy, particularly when it arrives as a generously sliced, perfectly pan-seared portion, topped with nothing more than a dusting of fleur de sel. Needless to say, I’m more than a little flustered at California’s pending law forbidding the production and sale of foie gras, which takes effect this July.

She lands on the pro side of the foie gras controversy because it tastes good? Is that how we make decisions? Is that what we base our values on? I have to assume people just don’t realize how very vapid the “it tastes good” argument is. We’re talking about cruelty, morals, and values and they come back with their sensory response? It’s absurdly superficial and amoral.

The proponents of the law argue that foie gras needs to be banned because the “gavage,” or force-feeding of geese and ducks as a method of production, is “inhumane.” While I do not doubt the existence of farms that provide less than ideal conditions for their ducks and geese, I’m puzzled as to why this food item, with more than 45 centuries of history and tradition, is being singled out when other more “inhumane” food choices exist.

She’s acting like we’re discussing genocide or something. Singling out foie gras? It’s not the funny-looking kid that always gets picked on at recess, it’s an abhorrent practice that results in a ridiculously unnecessary food product.

Let’s consider the ubiquitous hamburger, that quarter-pound of ground beef made from factory-farmed cows. We are, by now, familiar with the contamination risks inherent in the production of factory-farmed meat. Yet there’s a conspicuous absence of voices to ban this product.

What does contamination risk have to do with inhumane practices? I know the inhumane conditions can lead to tainted meat, but I thought we were talking about actual suffering, not sanitation. Additionally, I’m here! Let’s ban it!

Considering its affordability (when compared with pasture-raised, grass-fed beef) and availability in grocery stores across the country, one would think that subjecting the American population to the constant threat of bacterial contamination is more inhumane than seeking to ban the production of a luxury food item like foie gras. And we haven’t even started to discuss the cramped living conditions of the poor cows destined to live in their own manure for the length of their sad, sorry lives.

Exposing people to bacteria is inhumane? Let’s get a definition: “Without compassion for misery or suffering; cruel.” Come on, get some perspective. But again, let’s not subsidize factory farms, I’m down with that! And how about we DON’T torture cows! It’s just such an odd viewpoint. She states how hamburgers come from disease and cruelty so the conclusion she draws is that we should continue to eat foie gras? I never get that rationale. She’s using shitty conditions for one kind of animal to justify continuing shitty treatment of another? Just because there’s a variety of bad stuff, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stop doing something bad.

Don’t eat meat? Well then, let’s take a look at where our fish comes from. Half of the seafood consumed in the U.S. is farmed, and that practice (aquaculture) is growing quickly to keep up with demand, with attendant consequences on the ocean’s health. Aquaculture has been found to rapidly deplete populations of wild fish in order to produce a pound of tuna or salmon and pollute ocean waters with fish waste, which has long-term environmental consequences for the world we live in. And yet there isn’t a peep to be heard about banning farmed salmon or tuna — or banning the practice of aquaculture altogether.

DUDE. First of all, what are you talking about? There is many a peep about this. This cool site “google” can help you learn more about it. Also, ask us! But really, that statement “Don’t eat meat? What about fish” is so bizarre too me. If a fish isn’t meat, what the fuck is it? It’s not a vegetable. It’s made out of dead animal. It’s not meat?

While it’s certainly important to pay attention to the welfare of animals that we depend on for food, there’s also a point where we need to recognize that an animal’s physiology renders it capable of certain physical conditions that would appear “inhumane” to the human experience.

OH MY GOD WATCH THE VIDEOS! Denying it’s inhumane is just blatant denial of reality.

Let me qualify that the notion of force-feeding an animal for food doesn’t sit comfortably with my foodie conscience. However, I’m also aware that part of that discomfort is a result of anthropomorphizing animals reared for consumption. The European Union’s Scientific Committee report about the welfare of ducks and geese involved in foie gras production found a lack of conclusive evidence on the aversive nature of force-feeding and its injurious effects. Wild waterfowl have also been found to produce foie gras after a feeding spree before the winter months. In fact, Eduardo Sousa produces “natural foie gras” using this method.

Is this article called “For the Love of Eduardo Sousa Foie Gras?” It’s not, is it. To be clear, I’ve heard of this dude and his story and I definitely prefer it to regular foie gras. Also to be clear, I still think it sucks anyway. Putting that aside, this post has nothing to do with this alternative foie gras. It’s about all foie gras, including the 99.99 percent of foie gras that Eduardo Sousa doesn’t produce.

Additionally, you guys read the study and tell me if you come to the same conclusion as she did. Here’s an excerpt from the study:

Birds, including ducks and geese, have a wide range of pain receptors and an elaborate pain recognition system. Most injuries caused by tissue damage during handling or tube insertion would result in pain. The oropharyngeal area is particularly sensitive and is physiologically adapted to perform a gag reflex in order to prevent fluids entering the trachea. Force feeding will have to overcome this reflex and hence the birds may initially find this distressing and injury may result. The beak of a duck is richly innervated and the insertion of a ring through the beak would cause pain during the operation and might cause neuroma formation, and hence prolonged pain, thereafter. Similarly, most injuries to the feet caused by inadequate flooring would be painful.

That doesn’t sound inconclusive. It actually sounds very painful. If you don’t feel like reading the whole study, just search for “pain” and tell me force-feeding doesn’t cause pain or injury. Back to the post:

What’s far more inhumane, in my view, is allowing easy access to food that’s produced and consumed in ways that have proven track records of destroying the environment and our health. Where are the bans on soda, high-fructose corn syrup, and factory-farmed animals? Why is it, despite everything we know today, that these food items still tend to be the cheapest, most affordable and accessible food items for those with limited budgets?

Whaaaat is she talking about? All kinds of people oppose soda, high-fructose corn syrup, and factory-farmed animals. And I thought we were talking about being inhumane to geese and now suddenly we’re talking about being inhumane to people again? And making shitty food affordable is a whole different kind of cruelty than shoving a metal pipe down an animal’s throat. Let’s be real.

The optimists out there may say that I’m over-reacting, and I certainly hope I am. Viewed from an alternate perspective, one could consider this ban as a significant step in the fight against Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). The idealist in me hopes that this is the case, because when you start to discuss livestock production in “humane/inhumane” terms, no real progress can be made until you talk about the elephant in the room: factory-farmed meat. Banning an expensive specialty food item isn’t going to advance animal welfare, so long as the majority of the population continues to consume (whether by choice or necessity) products that are bad for their health and the environment.

Again, just because factory farming is awful, that in no way means we shouldn’t ban another cruel practice. And of course Vegansaurus readers know that we speak out against factory farming all the time, and we’re certainly not the only ones. So one more time with feeling: join us in reality! Foie gras is a cruel “delicacy” that needs to go.

Last day to save at Boygirlparty and raise money for Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary!  »

It’s the last day! The sale/fundraiser at Boygirlparty is over tomorrow! So remember: When you use the coupon code “VEGANSAURUS” on Boygirlparty’s Etsy store, you will get 10 percent off your order AND Boygirlparty will donate an additional 10 percent of the sale to the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary! 

And remember, you can opt to forgo your discount and donate 20 percent of your purchase to the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary—just don’t use the coupon code and leave a note at checkout! You saintly bastard! 

Happy holidays!