Vegan News Network

I signed up for membership at a site called SocialMedian.  What's cool about this is that you can create your own News Network using keywords and news feeds.  So I thought it would be cool to build a Vegan News Network and invite people to join in.  The news being aggregated from the networks looks really good.  So check it out.  Just go to Vegan News Network and let me know what you think.

Planet Green and Veganism

Perhaps my rants are becoming arduous, but I like to critique things and find out how something, say a television show or a network, relates or could relate to veganism.

On Planet Green I've noticed that very few programs talk about veganism or even vegetarianism.  So I wonder why, given the fact the veganism, which to me is synonymous with being green, is not given more attention on Planet Green.  Of course vegans may choose to not eat non-gmo and/or organic foods.  But the fact that vegans consume in anyway no products based on the remains of dead animals, their contribution to the environment is positive and thus green.  By not eating or wearing dead animals they are lowering the demand, even if only by a teeny tiny percent, for such products and I believe they are improving the overall carbon footprint.

Now, there are those who argue that if the demand for vegan foods increases while the demand of animal flesh decreases, we'll have to creat more farms, which means clear cutting large areas to make room for the increased demand of crops for food.  But I think that what people are forgetting (or perhaps they don't know) is that the demand for biofuels is really what is increasing the demand for crops of plants specific to making biofuels and is a larger factor in having to clear cut new areas to grow these crops.  I believe that if other alternatives are found, the need for biofuels would decrease and the land that we currently have can be used to create food crops and so diminishing the need for clear cutting.

This is my take on things. What do you think about such issues?

The Meaning of Strict

Today I was listening to Emril Lagasse's Emril Green, a green cooking show on Planet Green.  Because it's simply background noise as I sit here typing, communing and working, I miss a lot of what's happening.  But in the episode I was listening to I heard the words strict vegetarian.  I was intrigued because I was curious to know what the hell Emril was going to make for this "strict vegetarian."  As it turns out, although she and her mother consider her to be a strict vegetarian, she's not.  She eats seafood.   So to be pricise, then, she's a pesco-vegetarian.  So my question is this.  What is the meaning of strict vegetarian?

Yes, this is a blog about veganism.  So my contention is that she is not a strict vegetarian or for that matter a vegetarian.  But then I thought about vegetarianism as a concept.  Although there is debate, especially from vegans, about the kinds of vegetarianism--vegans would say that there is only one--I decided to examine these definitions.



The following is a list of the commonly known types of vegetarianism:

1. Vegetarian
2. Pesco-Vegetarian (or pescetarian)
3. Ovo-Lacto Vegetarian and these variants:
1. Ovo Vegetarian
2. Lacto Vegetarian
4. Strict Vegetarian
5. Vegan

Now we could state that there is no difference between a strict vegetarian and a vegan, but I make the distinction by describing a strict vegetarian as someone who consumes nothing whatsoever from an animal, and by consume I mean eat and drink.  This does not preclude wearing (or using in some other way than eating and drinking) things made from animals.  I don't actually know anyone in this category or if this is even a category of vegetarianism.

And of course we know that a vegan is a strict vegetarian is one that eschews anything made from animals, whether it be for health reasons and/or moral reasons.  Of course one could argue that a vegan for health reasons only is not a vegan, but rather simply a strict vegetarian.

So the point of all of this is that when one is describing herself as a vegetarian, she should qualify this so that we can be clear and then decide for ourselves whether her assertion is true or false given whatever meaning of vegetarian you choose.

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VegBlog: The Perfect Site for Finding the Best Vegan Blogs

While searching the web for vegan blogs that I could link to, I found a great site that has a large list of blogs, both food-centric and non-food centric.  It's called VegBlogs.  You can add you own vegan blog by joining the site, which I highly recommend.  Take a look at their site and read their about page to learn more.

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Living in a Non-Vegan Family

One thing I struggle with is how to cope with my non-vegan family, both my wife and puppies as well as my parents, brother and sister. My ideas on veganism and vegetarianism are probably not shared by those who are one or the other. In fact, if we look at the definition of each in the New Oxford American Dictionary, we find the following definitions:

Vegan
noun
a person who does not eat or use animal products : I'm a strict vegan | [as adj. ] a vegan diet.

Vegetarian
noun
a person who does not eat meat, and sometimes other animal products, esp. for moral, religious, or health reasons.

adjective
of or relating to the exclusion of meat or other animal products from the diet : a vegetarian restaurant.

I, however, consider veganism synonymous with activism, animal rights as well as a strict vegetarian diet. In other words, veganism is a much broader characterization of its meaning. But vegetarianism, in my opinion, has meaning that is much more specific. I think that it only has to do with one's diet. Thus the various categories in which it falls: strict, ovo-lacto, etc. As a vegan, when I say that mine is a vegetarian diet, I mean a strictly no-animal ingredients whatsoever diet, which is synonymous with what is termed a vegan diet.

So I've been pondering some questions and ideas, one of which has to do with the questions of living in a non-vegan home. I wonder to myself if being vegan means that if you cannot convince your family of its virtues then you let one another live as each wishes. But also, I wonder, does it mean that if you are the primary cook in the family, should you cook non-vegan dishes for them? That is, if my wife wants a "juicy" steak or fried chicken, should you have her make her own?

Now, given my definition of vegetarianism, whether or not you are a strict vegetarian, if you don't consider yourself a vegan, would there be a problem or some invalidation of your vegetarianism if you cook non-vegetarian dishes for your family? I think the key here is the fact that this kind of vegetarian does not consider themselves a vegan. If you don't hold to the definition of vegan, thus considering yourself, perhaps only for reasons of health and taste, a vegetarian, then perhaps it is okay to cook non-vegetarian for your family since you hold no notion, necessarily, of the cruelty to animals to which a non-vegetarian diet contributes.

So as a vegan, I might recommend to other vegans to try to find for yourself a vegan mate or accept your non-vegan mate and refuse to contribute to suffering by holding to your values and refusing to cook non-vegetarian them. This might cause some level of consternation between the two of you, but, as I am discovering, if you can talk your mate into enjoying with you every so often a vegan meal, things between you might be less of a headache.

Answers to Quesions on Veganism

As a new vegan I have a lot of questions and often I am searching the web for answers. I know about the International Vegetarian Union, which I go to often to find recipes, but I also found on that site an FAQ that has many good answers for a lot of questions, many of which are similar to the questions I have. In it there are answers to questions about such things as common foods, definitions, and ingredients such as "Is 'gum base' in chewing gum vegan?" I didn't know this, but apparently a majority of chewing gums might not be vegan which means that I'll need to throw away the three packs of Trident gum that are in my jacket pocket, and I'll happily do it, too. Then again, my gorgeous, non-vegetarian wife might balk at this and scold me for throwing away perfectly good gum. So here is a question, would giving my wife the gum be "vegan"? That is, would it be the vegan thing to do? For me this is a philosophical question, and I have many such questions about veganism. Perhaps in my next post I will attempt to answer some.

Veggie Stir-Fry

Stir Fried Green Beans with Carrots and Mushrooms

Equipment:
1.Wok
2.Wooden spoon or paddle.

Ingredients:
½ lb or a handful of green beans, washed and trimmed on the stem side
12 or so baby carrots sliced in ½ inch slices on a diagonal
10 to 12 white mushrooms, sliced thickly
1 medium onion, diced
2 to 3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
A small piece of ginger (about ¾ to 1 inch long), finely minced
1 tablespoon of Tamari (wheat-free soy sauce)
Splash of dry sherry or balsamic vinegar (optional)
1 tablespoon of peanut or canola oil for wok
Fresh cracked pepper
two tsp of corn starch and a 1 ½ cups of water
1 cup of cooked brown rice

Cooking:
Heat your wok on high heat and add the oil. When the oil begins to ripple, add the diced onions and fry for about two minutes or until onions become soft and translucent and season with pepper. Toss in garlic and ginger and stir-fry for about 30 seconds—don’t let it burn. Toss in the carrots and stir-fry for one to two minutes. You want the carrots to be not raw but not too soft. Add the green beans—if your wok is too small, you can slice the green beans in half, but I prefer them long. Stir-fry the green beans for a few minutes, then add the mushrooms, stir-frying for another minute or until the mushrooms start to get softer. Add the tamari or soy sauce and the sherry or balsamic vinegar, and keep stir-frying until the green beans become tender, but not wilted. Stir the cornstarch into the water until it is completely disolved. Pour the mixture into the wok a little at a time while continuing to stir. You'll notice that the cornstarch mixture begins to thicken into a nice brown sauce. Keep stirring until all the vegetables are coated. Serve with brown rice.

Temptation

One of things that I used to love to eat is cake. A really good cake from a bakery, not from a supermarket, is something I would enjoy during family birthdays and even my own. My favorite cake is chocolate cake with a chocolate fudge icing. Having been a vegan and now trying to be a vegan once again I was very disappointed in myself for recently succumbing to temptation. It was at my sister-in-law's birthday celebration just yesterday when it happened. There is a baker in the town of Bethel Park called Bethel Bakery--not very original. But in my opinion they bake the best cakes around. So it was yesterday when we celebrated that I was presented with a dilemma. Should I eat cake or should I not. Convincing myself that I could cheat because I am only at the beginning of my enlightened path, I decided to have a slice--a rather large slice. Of course, as with many things, this got me thinking. I tend to buy books, all sorts of books, and because I am on the path to veganism I've been buying a lot of vegan cookbooks, and one in particular, The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, was a very good purchase. Now, I did buy the book before I cheated, but now that I have cheated and admitted it, I am going to begin reading this book and trying my hand at baking, something I've yet to master.

Precocious Puppy

I often wonder how many vegans have animals as pets. Personally I think it ought to be a prerequisite for being vegan. Anyway, I wanted to share a picture of my Jack Russell puppy, Sydney. She was born May 19, 2007. Now how can you not love a face like this?


Here is a picture of my beautiful wife holding the puppy who is a few months older in this picture than she is in the one above.

My Vegan Logo

I spent some time in Corel Painter X and designed this as my vegan logo. Note that in the spirit of free software, this logo is free to anyone who would like to adopt it.

On Veganism

Veganism, as I like to explain, is an enlightened and compassionate way of life. It is a way of living passionately for the pure enjoyment and preservation of nature; it is a passion for the nourishment of the body and of the mind, and it is a passion for the world. Veganism is my passion, and it is my hope that one day this passion, this form of enlightenment, will spread, not just from one person to the next, but from one community to another, from culture to culture; it is my hope that one day Veganism will spread throughout the world, for if we ever wish to preserve this tiny, unique and precious planet of ours, we will, all of us, need to change.