Just a quick post: I asked my doctor to check my vitamin and mineral levels, after a friend expressed concern over my vegan diet and the supposed lack of nutrients.
Thus far, the test results have shown that my iron count is "within normal limits". That's right, people, you can get all the iron you need without any animal products!
And it says that my "complete blood count" is also "within normal limits", which means I have the right amount of red and white cells and platelets. [thanks, Wikipedia]
Full disclosure: I take a daily multivitamin to supplement the B12 that doesn't occur naturally in a plant-based diet. And taking a supplement does not make a person weak or indicate malnourishment: it's a smart thing to do no matter what type of diet you choose to follow. Taking a daily supplement is generally a good idea, especially since most Americans (meat-eating or not) don't get enough of the vitamins and minerals they need from their food. Just do your research and understand what you're ingesting: you don't want to overdo it on some minerals and vitamins, and if you're vegan you don't want to take pills that have animal products in them.
I'll keep you updated as more test results are reported. The other tests are for B12 and vitamin D levels.
Oh yeah, also, look at this healthy eating plate constructed by the geniuses at Harvard: it's better than the USDA eating plate, because it is non-political, and it allows for vegetarians and vegans to feel included. Plus it's basically an image of what we eat at Harvest House every night. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't eat so much great, healthy food if I didn't live there. HARVEST LUV 4-EVA
Monday, September 26, 2011
Retail Therapy
Do you love to shop? Do you like to do things to help save the planet? Luckily for you, and me, we can now combine our two passions in life by purchasing items from responsible, eco-friendly, sustainable sources. If you're like me, not just any old "green" shit will do, either. I don't want to buy something that looks heinous but saves the planet. Why bother saving the planet if you're going to look like shit doing it? I don't want to live on a planet where people wear fugly shoes in the name of environmentalism. I'd rather we spend a little more on products that are higher quality, beautifully made, and relatively fashionable. Here are a few places to get started, and feel free to add any of your favorites not mentioned here in the comments.
Econscious Market: on this website you can find many great options for whatever you might be in the market for, and a portion of each sale is donated to a charity of your choice.
ModCloth: here you can find cute vegan clothing, shoes, and accessories for affordable prices. They don't have the greatest number of sizes to offer, but if you fall within the usual S-XL spectrum, you'll find something that will fit.
Alternative Outfitters: the classic source for vegan shoes and accessories, for both men and women.
Etsy: NO FUCKING DUH. Here are a few of my favorite Etsy shops:
Homemade Soy Candles
Julep115 vegan jewelry (made from recycled materials, by a vegan!)
EmmyBean jewelry (ok so she's not vegan, but Emmy makes beautiful one-of-a-kind pieces, and she's my BFF's sister)
Fresh Words Market. paper goods made with recycled materials and printed with soy ink.
OlsenHaus: gorgeous, comfortable shoes, designed by a vegan, made with (vegan) recycled materials. Fret not, my friends: you can get them around 60% off list price on Amazon.
Cherry Berry: vegan designer handbags, which I love, but can't afford currently. But I want you all to realize that beautiful handbags need not be constructed from animal skins!
Herbivore Clothing: if you want to broadcast your environmentalism to the world, with words on your clothing, go here. You can also do that with PETA's catalog. There is nothing wrong with wearing your heart on your sleeve like this, but you don't always need everyone to know how you think meat is murder. For instance, you probably shouldn't wear this shirt while you're teaching a Latin class.
And speaking of PETA, if you want to see a comprehensive shopping guide for cruelty-free fashion, check out their Guide to Compassionate Clothing. You may be thinking, but I thought PETA wanted women to be naked all the time? This, sadly, is not true. They only do the naked stuff for the sake of publicity; too many people do not realize how much good they do for animals outside those campaigns.
If you want sweaters without animal products (hello, wool, cashmere, angora, mohair, alpaca, etc) try somewhere like Old Navy, which is affordable although their manufacturing processes might be questionable. It's hard to find a compromise between animal rights and human rights, but usually if a retailer is emphasizing animal rights, the human rights fall in line. Shit, if you can find a place that has cute, cotton sweaters and practices eco-friendly production, and does not have sweatshops, holla at your girl.
For outerwear, go with Patagonia. They use recycled and recyclable materials with a sustainable manufacturing process. Sure their clothes are a bit more expensive than like North Face, but come on. Fuck the North Face. Those assholes let the quality slip once they got popular about 8-10 yrs ago. Patagonia is the way to go for saving the planet and staying warm and dry.
Thrift stores: also, fucking duh. Find one near you and go nuts. If you must have leather and wool, at least buy it second-hand!
Zappos: yes, friends, your favorite shoe store can help you save the planet. Simply choose brands that are eco-friendly, like Stella McCartney for Adidas, Vans, KEEN, Simple, Chaco, Merrell, even Birkenstock and Puma. OK so some of these shoes are cuter than others, and some are downright fug. But it can't hurt to do a quick search for "vegan" or "eco-friendly" and see what's in season. Often a major brand, like saucony or adidas, will have one or two styles that are made for people like us, from recycled earth-friendly materials. And it's pretty easy to find vegan-friendly running/athletic shoes, as most of those are made of synthetic materials for the sake of ventilation and being light-weight.
And obviously VeganStore.com and VeganEssentials.com. duh.
And last but certainly not least: VEGAN CHOCOLATE. Buy it from this Brooklyn-based shop and all the net profits go to animal rescue organizations! You're helping homeless animals by feeding your addiction!
If you're not sure why you can't be an environmentalist if you still eat meat, start by looking at this article and this one too and maybe even this one. Even if you don't care about animal rights, you should at least care about the devastating effects of factory farming on the environment. After all, if the planet goes to shit, where are you going to keep your stuff?
Econscious Market: on this website you can find many great options for whatever you might be in the market for, and a portion of each sale is donated to a charity of your choice.
ModCloth: here you can find cute vegan clothing, shoes, and accessories for affordable prices. They don't have the greatest number of sizes to offer, but if you fall within the usual S-XL spectrum, you'll find something that will fit.
Alternative Outfitters: the classic source for vegan shoes and accessories, for both men and women.
Etsy: NO FUCKING DUH. Here are a few of my favorite Etsy shops:
Homemade Soy Candles
Julep115 vegan jewelry (made from recycled materials, by a vegan!)
EmmyBean jewelry (ok so she's not vegan, but Emmy makes beautiful one-of-a-kind pieces, and she's my BFF's sister)
Fresh Words Market. paper goods made with recycled materials and printed with soy ink.
OlsenHaus: gorgeous, comfortable shoes, designed by a vegan, made with (vegan) recycled materials. Fret not, my friends: you can get them around 60% off list price on Amazon.
Cherry Berry: vegan designer handbags, which I love, but can't afford currently. But I want you all to realize that beautiful handbags need not be constructed from animal skins!
Herbivore Clothing: if you want to broadcast your environmentalism to the world, with words on your clothing, go here. You can also do that with PETA's catalog. There is nothing wrong with wearing your heart on your sleeve like this, but you don't always need everyone to know how you think meat is murder. For instance, you probably shouldn't wear this shirt while you're teaching a Latin class.
And speaking of PETA, if you want to see a comprehensive shopping guide for cruelty-free fashion, check out their Guide to Compassionate Clothing. You may be thinking, but I thought PETA wanted women to be naked all the time? This, sadly, is not true. They only do the naked stuff for the sake of publicity; too many people do not realize how much good they do for animals outside those campaigns.
If you want sweaters without animal products (hello, wool, cashmere, angora, mohair, alpaca, etc) try somewhere like Old Navy, which is affordable although their manufacturing processes might be questionable. It's hard to find a compromise between animal rights and human rights, but usually if a retailer is emphasizing animal rights, the human rights fall in line. Shit, if you can find a place that has cute, cotton sweaters and practices eco-friendly production, and does not have sweatshops, holla at your girl.
For outerwear, go with Patagonia. They use recycled and recyclable materials with a sustainable manufacturing process. Sure their clothes are a bit more expensive than like North Face, but come on. Fuck the North Face. Those assholes let the quality slip once they got popular about 8-10 yrs ago. Patagonia is the way to go for saving the planet and staying warm and dry.
Thrift stores: also, fucking duh. Find one near you and go nuts. If you must have leather and wool, at least buy it second-hand!
Zappos: yes, friends, your favorite shoe store can help you save the planet. Simply choose brands that are eco-friendly, like Stella McCartney for Adidas, Vans, KEEN, Simple, Chaco, Merrell, even Birkenstock and Puma. OK so some of these shoes are cuter than others, and some are downright fug. But it can't hurt to do a quick search for "vegan" or "eco-friendly" and see what's in season. Often a major brand, like saucony or adidas, will have one or two styles that are made for people like us, from recycled earth-friendly materials. And it's pretty easy to find vegan-friendly running/athletic shoes, as most of those are made of synthetic materials for the sake of ventilation and being light-weight.
And obviously VeganStore.com and VeganEssentials.com. duh.
And last but certainly not least: VEGAN CHOCOLATE. Buy it from this Brooklyn-based shop and all the net profits go to animal rescue organizations! You're helping homeless animals by feeding your addiction!
If you're not sure why you can't be an environmentalist if you still eat meat, start by looking at this article and this one too and maybe even this one. Even if you don't care about animal rights, you should at least care about the devastating effects of factory farming on the environment. After all, if the planet goes to shit, where are you going to keep your stuff?
Monday, August 8, 2011
Ode to Garlic Bread
Oh Garlic Bread
How I cherish you
With your soft, savory middle
And your crispy, crumbly crust
Made with animal-friendly butter
And fresh pressed garlic
You go into the oven like any other bread
And come out as pieces of Heaven
Your delicious aroma floats through the house
And beckons me to dinner
You are the perfect compliment to minestrone
Or anything, really, with tomatoes
I love you in a grilled cheese
And with my spaghetti
I love you with my chili
And whenever the day ends in -y
Because you taste so good, Garlic Bread,
I will never stop loving you.
You complete me.
How I cherish you
With your soft, savory middle
And your crispy, crumbly crust
Made with animal-friendly butter
And fresh pressed garlic
You go into the oven like any other bread
And come out as pieces of Heaven
Your delicious aroma floats through the house
And beckons me to dinner
You are the perfect compliment to minestrone
Or anything, really, with tomatoes
I love you in a grilled cheese
And with my spaghetti
I love you with my chili
And whenever the day ends in -y
Because you taste so good, Garlic Bread,
I will never stop loving you.
You complete me.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Now With More Head
Beer: I love it, and so do you. If you're vegan like me, it can be difficult to keep straight which beers are vegan-friendly and which are not. And some of you may be wondering, how is beer not vegan? Look at this great blog post from STAY VEGAN! for all your answers.
Here I present to you a short list of what it's ok for you to sip out of a tall glass or chug out of a red plastic cup. The original, exhaustive, list is here. Also at that link you can find vegan-friendly wines and liquors. The good news is that being vegan will never, ever keep you from getting your drink on! With vegan onion rings too!
Aviator Brewing Co.
Bayern Brewing
Becks
Chimay
Corona
Dos Equis
Flying Dog Brewery
George Killian's Irish Red
Goose Island Beer
Harpoon Brewery
Heineken
Hofbrauhaus Pittsburg
Homer Brewing Co.
Landshark Lager
Lucky Labrador Brewing Co.
Mad River Brewing
Magic Hat Brewing Co.
Mike's Hard Lemonade
Miller Coors Brewing
New Belgium Brewery
Pabst Brewing
Paulaner Brewery
Pennsylvania Brewing Co.
Pilsner Urquell
Rolling Rock
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Smuttynose Brewing Co.
Straub Beer
The Amsterdam Brewing Co.
The Stroh Brewery Co.
Trappistes Rochefort
Weyerbacher Brewing Co.
Woodchuck Draft Cider
Yuengling Brewery
Here I present to you a short list of what it's ok for you to sip out of a tall glass or chug out of a red plastic cup. The original, exhaustive, list is here. Also at that link you can find vegan-friendly wines and liquors. The good news is that being vegan will never, ever keep you from getting your drink on! With vegan onion rings too!
Aviator Brewing Co.
Bayern Brewing
Becks
Chimay
Corona
Dos Equis
Flying Dog Brewery
George Killian's Irish Red
Goose Island Beer
Harpoon Brewery
Heineken
Hofbrauhaus Pittsburg
Homer Brewing Co.
Landshark Lager
Lucky Labrador Brewing Co.
Mad River Brewing
Magic Hat Brewing Co.
Mike's Hard Lemonade
Miller Coors Brewing
New Belgium Brewery
Pabst Brewing
Paulaner Brewery
Pennsylvania Brewing Co.
Pilsner Urquell
Rolling Rock
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.
Smuttynose Brewing Co.
Straub Beer
The Amsterdam Brewing Co.
The Stroh Brewery Co.
Trappistes Rochefort
Weyerbacher Brewing Co.
Woodchuck Draft Cider
Yuengling Brewery
Genesis.
And so it begins, dear friends. This initial post finds me at a bad spot in my life: my hopes and dreams were unceremoniously shattered yesterday, and I have been spending the past 24 hrs picking up the pieces. I have spent many hours weeping and asking "Why, God, why??" and crying some more, trying to imagine my life in this new direction from where it was supposed to be headed. Currently, however, you find me enjoying half a bottle of Kahlua on an empty stomach, trying to fend off the rage which has settled into my soul. I don't want to get into much detail about what happened, but it really fucking sucks, and I'm trying to make the best of it. Thus, the blog.
With this shiny new blog, I hope to reach out to some fellow vegans and maybe some cool non-vegans, and talk about how awesome it is to be vegan, and perhaps discuss how sometimes it can be not so awesome too. I want to talk about shit that I like, shit that I don't like, shit that irritates me, and all kinds of other shit too. I am not here to preach the word of anything, I'm not here to judge non-vegans, I find that it's more fun when judgment is laid aside and people just read something enjoyable. That said, though, I may occasionally post some rants about animal cruelty, but I'll warn you if there are graphic photos. And I think we can all agree that animal cruelty is fucked up. Unless you like to hunt or fish for fun, or you wear fur, but I don't think any of my readers do those things. I think most of my readers prefer things like this:
So sit back, relax, open a frosty beer, and enjoy my verbal diarrhea.
With this shiny new blog, I hope to reach out to some fellow vegans and maybe some cool non-vegans, and talk about how awesome it is to be vegan, and perhaps discuss how sometimes it can be not so awesome too. I want to talk about shit that I like, shit that I don't like, shit that irritates me, and all kinds of other shit too. I am not here to preach the word of anything, I'm not here to judge non-vegans, I find that it's more fun when judgment is laid aside and people just read something enjoyable. That said, though, I may occasionally post some rants about animal cruelty, but I'll warn you if there are graphic photos. And I think we can all agree that animal cruelty is fucked up. Unless you like to hunt or fish for fun, or you wear fur, but I don't think any of my readers do those things. I think most of my readers prefer things like this:
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