Your Daily Vegan

American Burying Beetle - Pretty and Protected

• Another journalist that takes a huge, unplanned, misguided try of veganism.  Surprising no one, he fails on every level.  My so-called vegan life a diatribe of drivel.  Typical, boring, and uninspiring- with a bit of sighing, eye-rolling, and head shaking thrown in.

• Maine lobstermen harvested 94.7 million pounds of lobsters in 2010, worth roughly $313 million.  According to a paper by researchers, communities and the state of the economy are now caught in a trap, where the short term profit outweighs the long term social and environmental risks.  Lobsters are freaking cool and deserve better.

• Insects use antibacterial secretions to protect young. That’s amazing.  Burying beetles, named for their habitual burying of small animal carcasses to lay eggs in, use secretions from their anal glands to coat the fur or feathers (of the dead) to guarantee the carcass stays germ-free and fresh for their young to live on.  Without it, the beetle’s young would fail to gain weight and eventually die.

Fun fact: The American Burying Beetle are an endangered species.

• WTF is this?  What 40-year vegan breaks his fast with a McDonald’s cheeseburger? No seriously, WTF is this about?!

The new Huffington Post article, Healthy Vegan: How To Avoid 3 Common Pitfalls, is confusing me.  The article mentions three pitfalls; Highly Refined and Processed Oils, Hidden GMO Ingredients, and Sweeteners.  It’s this last one that I have questions on.

The Sweeteners section begins by telling you the dangers of highly refined and/or processed sugars- good stuff to know.  Then, strangely, it mentions honey as a “more unrefined sweetener option” over agave.  But the honey talk stops there.  The author doesn’t recommend you eat honey necessarily, it’s not listed under “more unrefined sugar options”- so why did honey make it in this article to begin with?

So confusing.  Is the author implying that honey is an appropriate “unrefined sweetener option” for vegans?

Side note: Life without agave would mean a life without my perfect margarita, since I only use lime, tequila, and agave in it.  That would be a tragedy.  I’m just sayin’.

The article ends with, “The healthiest vegan diets are simply those based on high quality, minimally processed, whole foods.”  I totally agree.

Sometimes things just don’t work out like I planned them to.  The past few days my life has gotten in the way of my life, and it’s damn inconvenient.  Regardless, I meant to have this post up earlier, like say- I don’t know, on Memorial Day. Happy Memorial Day, and also- sorry I suck!  I hope your day was filled with rainbows and unicorns, or at least some awesome vegan BBQ.

If my post had been up on time, you’d have seen this guy (not) smiling at you all day:

A young military man just starting out.

He is an United States Veteran, one who made it back from war in one piece- and he is also my brother.  (Hi! Shout out!  You’re Awesome!)  Memorial Day commemorates the men and women who have died while in military service to the United States, so I thought it was fitting to feature a veteran.

If this post was done properly, I’d have information about his twelve-year military career.  Like how he spent time in Al Asad, Korean Village, and Haditha, Iraq with the NMCB 24 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III, or how he completed projects for Special Forces and Security Forces.  I’d probably also have a blurry picture of him while deployed- maybe even something about how he (although not vegan) likes my vegan bean salad.  But it’s late, so all I will say is Thank You.

Meanwhile, unlike myself, other people had their Memorial Day shit together and posted some vegan recipes to help folks celebrate.  Here’s a few from the people who don’t suck…

Recipe Friday! Memorial Day Vegan BBQ! | Vegan Hope

Memorial Day Vegan BBQ | VegNews

Vegan Memorial Day Recipes | Miso Vegan

Memorial Day Recipes | Vegan Faith

Enjoy Memorial Day with a Vegan Menu | Foods For Long Life

Memorial Day Munchies | PETA

2o Vegan Barbecue Side Dishes | Fitsugar

Memorial Day Green Summer Wedge Salad | Healthy. Happy. Life.

Memorial Day: Grilled Red Pepper Potato Salad | Rollin’ Oats Market and Cafe

All I can say is that I’m jealous that I can’t go.

Find more information at http://veggieconquest.com/veggieprom

“QUEEN OF THE SUN: What Are the Bees Telling Us? is a profound, alternative look at the bee crisis. Taking us on a journey through the catastrophic disappearance of bees and the mysterious world of the beehive, this alarming and ultimately uplifting film weaves together an unusual and dramatic story of the heart-felt struggles of beekeepers, scientists and philosophers from around the world.”

Colony Collapse Disorder.  If you haven’t heard, this is how scientists are describing the phenomenon where bees from a hive or colony abruptly die or disappear.  That’s right.  They just disappear.  They leave the hive in search of nectar and never return.  While this is still being studied, evidence points to pesticide use, GM crops, mono-culture (un-diversified agriculture), pathogens, beekeeping, and electromagnetic radiation.  Whatever the cause, the fact is it’s happening, and because it’s happening, life world-wide is threatened- all animals rely on plants for survival- directly or indirectly.  Even from a purely selfish human perspective, we should be very worried because our food supply is directly dependent upon bees pollinating crops. Less crops equals less food, which equals a higher grocery bill.

A recent review by Roger Ebert of the new documentary film, Queen of the Sun, provides a stirring account of the movie.  I encourage you to read it.  He begins with this:

In the Central Valley of California, there are 500,000 acres of almond trees. All almond trees. Nothing but almond trees. This is wrong. It is not natural. For these trees to bear almonds, they must be pollinated. But bees cannot live there, for there is nothing to sustain them when the trees are not in blossom. So hives containing millions of bees must be trucked more than a thousand miles, and then trucked back again.

As a vegan, this rattled my conscience.  After all, almonds are a part of my diet.  We all know of the nutritional benefits of this plant.  But the fact is, the almond crop of the state of California is the size of Rhode Island- mono-culture at it’s finest.  Nothing but almond trees for miles, means nothing but almond trees.  No diversity leads to some serious pesticide use. Believe it.

Pesticides are one of man’s most insidious creations.  If you’re one of the few left who haven’t done so, please read Silent Spring by Rachel Carson.  It is the primer on environmental contaminants made by humans.  Although written nearly 50 years ago, it’s totally relevant today due, in part to the fact, it’s premise has been proven and re-proven but still conveniently ignored by governments and industry.  The book is a case study on DDT, a pesticide developed as a result of World War II.  Basically, DDT kills life, and not just the life it was intended to kill.  It, like most other pesticides, persists in the environment for years and builds up in the tissues of animals.  DDT has been banned by countries but is still used by others.  Humans have developed a slew of other chemical and biological agents to use on pests who destroy our mega-swaths of crops.  These pesticides often do to bees what they do to other animals including humans, and that is disrupt hormones.  This leads to health problems such as cancer and premature mortality.

This raises an ethical question for vegans, as well as non-vegans, to consider.  Should we be supporting the California almond industry, more specifically, the Blue Diamond Almond Cooperative?  You can bet that nearly every almond sliver and swig of almond milk you put in your mouth comes from the (world’s largest tree nut) company focused on, “expanding almond consumption worldwide.”

To quote Mr. Ebert again, “Would it kill a corporation to set aside some tracts of land for flowers and vegetables?”  I am going to see this film, and you should too.

Charleen Angle writes for Your Daily Vegan as the Resident Vegan Contributor. An unapologetic vegan, her writing reflects her strong and passionate voice for the billions of animals that die needlessly each year.

Wanna know more? Charleen’s bio. Tweet her @CharleenAngle.

Mercy For Animals released another undercover investigation, this time looking into E6 Cattle Co. in Hart, Texas.  Not surprisingly their investigation showed egregious abuses such as, workers bludgeoning calves with pickaxes and hammers, injured calves denied medical care, unsanitary and deplorable conditions for the animals to live in, and more.

From Mercy For Animals:

Upon reviewing the undercover footage, Temple Grandin, PhD, animal welfare advisor to USDA, declared: “It is obvious that both the management and the employees have no regard for animal welfare.”

Following the undercover investigation, MFA alerted law enforcement authorities to violations of Texas anti-cruelty law at E6 Cattle, and presented a detailed legal complaint and meticulously compiled evidence of such violations to the Castro County District Attorney and sheriff. The evidence demonstrated an ongoing pattern of torture, unjustifiable infliction of pain and suffering on animals, and a failure to provide necessary medical care. The case is currently under investigation.

Please think about the power of your choices and reject the use of sentient beings as food.

Also be advised that clicking on the link will take you to a Mercy for Animals website where the undercover video automatically plays.  Viewer discretion is advised and recommended.

Learn more about the animals used in every day items by visiting Commercial Street.  Commercial Street symbolizes the institutionalized use of animals in the human world, by showing what product labels would look like if they told the full truth.  A completely interactive experience, you can “walk” down Commercial Street located in Anytown, Anywhere, and “shop” for familiar items such as meat, dairy, clothing, over the counter medications, rugs, or even fish.  Each label will tell you more about the animals used in those items. It’s a powerful visual tool, one meant to reinforce how our choices impact the world around us, and the animals in it.

KD Traegner is an unapologetic vegan. She believes that animals besides us, and including us humans, have the fundamental right to a natural and free life. She is compassionate, believing that her choices matter, and she takes that power seriously. Her mission is simple: to bring the vegan evolution to the masses, connect vegans with other vegans, and support vegans in their own lives, as well as their advocacy work. She does that through the use of her website, Your Daily Vegan, and her big mouth.

• Washington Post writer, Carol Adams, dispels five common myths about vegans.  If you’ve ever heard such things as, “Where you get your protein,” “Why you have so many rules,” “Veganism is emasculating,” “Vegans care more about animals than humans,” “It’s too expensive to eat vegan,” then you should read this piece.

• Are you a vegan crafter?  Have you been a bit confused on what materials are vegan?  This article talks all about Vegan Crafting Made Easy: Knit and Crochet.

• Vegan Checklist for Pregnant Women covers some basics of optimal vegan nutrition for women who are expecting.  And strangely, it didn’t contain things like Dandies Marshmallows, Pickles, and So Delicious.  They would have made my list, that’s all I’m saying.

VegNews released a new statement today apologizing for their use of symbolic imagery. I’m digging the start of the letter, “We screwed up,” and encouraged that they listed their commitments in writing.  For me, that adds accountability.  As I said before, my hope was that VegNews would listen to the community with careful and thoughtful ears, then change current business practices.  I have also committed to supporting that effort.

And so, I will (and do).

Here is the whole letter (contact information contained in original letter was removed by me but can be found by clicking here):

Dear VegNews Community,

We screwed up.

With regard to our use of symbolic imagery in VegNews, our readers got it right. We
wholeheartedly apologize. We assure you that we will never again use non-vegan
photographs in VegNews.

Here’s our commitment to you:

• Recipes in VegNews will be represented only by custom vegan photography.
Count on it.
• All stock images used in the magazine and website will be vegan. We will make
sure so that you can be sure.
• VegNews will build and host a vegan photo bank to assure the availability of vegan
stock images. Look for details in the coming days.

We thank everyone for the invaluable feedback on this critical issue. We exist only to serve
you and the vegan cause, and are grateful that you care so passionately about our work.

The VegNews team is committed to restoring the trust we have earned for eleven years.
Together, let’s build a compassionate future.

With gratitude,
Joseph Connelly, Publisher
Colleen Holland, Associate Publisher
Sutton Long, Art Director
Elizabeth Castoria, Managing Editor