Archive for June, 2010

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Frankenfish June 30th, 2010

The FDA is eerily close to approving genetically modified salmon for human consumption.  These “AquAdvantage” fish, as the company that created them calls them, are Atlantic salmon that are genetically altered to contain a growth hormone gene from a Chinook salmon as well as a genetic “on-switch” from the ocean pout, a distant relative of the salmon. Normally, salmon do not make growth hormone in cold weather, but the pout’s “on-switch” keeps production of the hormone going year round. The result is salmon that can grow to market size in 16 to 18 months instead of three years. 

Two salmon of the same age, fed the same diet, one genetically modified, one not.

Two salmon of the same age, fed the same diet, one genetically modified, one not.

The company that created these mutants assures the FDA that they are the “identical in every measurable way” (no pun intended, one assumes) to traditional farmed Atlantic salmon, but this is one giant (pun intended)science experiment I’m NOT willing to be a participant in.

This growth-enhancing genetic modification is already approved in chickens and there are scientists working to develop other genetically engineered animals, like cattle resistant to mad cow disease, or pigs that could supply healthier bacon. Next in line behind the salmon for possible approval would probably be the “enviropig,” developed at a Canadian university, which has less phosphorus pollution in its manure.

 

Layer hen (front) and broiler [meat] hen (back), same age, one genetically modified, one not.

Layer hen (front) and broiler {meat} hen (back), same age, one genetically modified, one not.

Please tell me I’m not the only one that has issues with this! Why do we insist on trying to “fix” things (the environment, our health, billions and billions of years of evolution, giant corporations’ pocketbooks) by creating these difficult, dangerous, and quite frankly, creepy “solutions” instead of just reversing the thing we did in the first place to cause the problem?!

 We pump out millions of pigs per second; their massive amounts of crap are ruining our planet; so doesn’t the logical solution seem to be to stop pumping out so damn many pigs? No, apparently we think it’s better to genetically modify something that nature spent billions of years perfecting so that we can continue our gluttonous habits and possibly kill ourselves with the side effects in the future. (Or maybe we’ll just genetically modify ourselves to be resistant to the effects of digesting genetically modified pig. Because that’s the American way.)

There has not yet been a generation that’s eaten genetically modified (GM) foods for their entire life, so we have no research to show the long-term effects of this on our health (which is why 30 countries have already banned GM foods). American children are the guinea pigs.

It is likely that the GM salmon will not be labeled (no other GM foods are currently labeled), so you will have absolutely no way of avoiding the GM salmon, should you choose to eat salmon. One would assume that organic salmon guarantees no genetically modified organisms (as I’ve previously explained the strict regulations on organic labeling); however, the organic program does not currently have standards that pertain to seafood. “We may someday address aquatic species. It just hasn’t happened,” says Joan Shaffer, National Organics Program spokeswoman. Then why is there salmon with “organic” labels in our stores? The USDA regulates only the use of the organic seal, not the use of the word “organic,” so companies are free to place the word “organic” on their products whether or not they have been certified. Just another deceptive marketing tactic used by the food industry to mislead the public.

Plus, what happens when these unnatural fish get into the oceans? (And, yes, they inevitably will.) It is already speculated that they would out-compete wild fish for food and mates, spread their modified genes (which we do not know the effects of) throughout the population, and I imagine this could seriously alter some food chains.  (And surely we all know the dangers of altering seemingly unimportant food chains, right?)

How far will we take this? At what point does “playing God” become a bad idea?

____________________
Breakfast: Smoothie with banana, mixed berries (strawberry, raspberry, blackberry) and cauliflower (strange choice, I know, but I had some in the fridge & gave it a shot – it worked out well!)
Lunch: Tomato soup and crackers
Dinner: Spaghetti with meatless meatballs

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I Couldn’t Have Said It Better Myself: Ellen DeGeneres June 29th, 2010

Here’s a transcript for those that are at work without headphones (or whatever reason you can’t play the video):

Katie Couric: I know that you’re a vegan now and so you eat no meat, right? No eggs, no dairy products. You had a vegan wedding when you and Portia got married. Why did you decide to become a vegan and when did you decide? I know you care deeply about animal rights, and what changed in  you?

Ellen: Animal rights sounds like they’re about to get the right to vote (laughs).

Katie Couric: How should I say it? Animal welfare?

Ellen: Yes, animal welfare. The welfare of animals. I always hear ‘animal rights’ and I just think it’s a crazy thing ’cause it’s really just the right to be left alone.

Years ago, I read Diet for a New Americawhich is a book about, uh, his last name is Robbins, his father owned Baskin Robbins. He wrote this book about factory farming and I read it and was horrified and was a vegetarian, I still ate cheese and stuff, but I was a vegetarian for about 8 months or so. And then I just went back to eating meat. I used to love cheeseburgers and steak and I just did what most people do, I just had a disconnect. I just decided it’s more important for me to taste a cheeseburger and have a steak or have a turkey sandwich, and it’s easier and I just put it out of my mind.

And recently I read, not recently, it’s been about a year and 8 months or so that we’ve been vegan, but I read Skinny Bitch, first. And then, I forced myself to watch a documentary called Earthlings and it’s inside footage of factory farms and dairy farms. You just see that and you go, ‘I can’t participate in that. I can’t be a part of something that is suffering.’

It’s 50 billion animals a year that are killed. And I think we all fool ourselves that there is some kind of happy cow and that it’s a quick death and they just hit ‘em in the head and they’re out and they go through the whole… And it’s a very disturbing reality. And it happens every minute of the day and every commercial on the air has some kind of food product in it. Every mini-mall, every store. And you think about the consumption, and how fast they have to mass produce, and you can’t possibly put together in your head one healthy, happy animal. They’re all in pain. They’re all treated badly. They’re all diseased. And they’re all pumped with antibiotics.

I do it because I love animals and I saw the reality and I just couldn’t ignore it anymore. But a lot of people do it for other reasons and there’s many reasons to do it. I’m healthier for it, I’m happier for it. I really truly believe that we take in energy and our thoughts are important, and all that stuff. I believe in that kind of positive thinking and I can’t imagine that if you’re putting something in your body that’s filled with fear or anxiety or pain, that that isn’t going to somehow be inside of you. And I used to be a more anxious person and more edgy and everything was a little more jumpy and sad. And I think not putting that stuff in my body is…

And it’s hard to kinda live your life and know that that exists and watch people do it all around you and just go [shrug]. You gotta hope that one day that shift will happen.

Katie Couric: Did you see the documentary Food, Inc.? [Ellen nods.] So that probably just reinforced everything that you were feeling.

Ellen: Ya. Food, Inc. is a Disney movie compared to Earthlings. Food Inc. is nothing. I would like people to look at that, but it’s hard. It takes a lot. It takes a major shift in your life ’cause it’s easy to grab for something and it’s just there. But every time you think about what’s on your plate and what it was, you know, you just can’t do it.

____________________
Breakfast: English muffin with margarine
Lunch: Amy’s black bean burrito and grapes
Dinner: Subway Veggie Max sandwich (by the way, I kind of love the Veggie Max sandwich. Mmm.)

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Meatless Monday #36: Penne With Squash, Chickpeas, and Olives June 28th, 2010

Ziti

Ingredients:
8 oz ziti or penne pasta (whole wheat is best)
1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, drained
1 small squash or zucchini (or 1/2 of each)
4 tbsp kalamata (or your favorite type) olives, chopped
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with basil, garlic & oregano (or similar seasonings)
1 cup tomato puree
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tbsp Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.

2. In a large pan, combine chickpeas, squash, olives, tomatoes & their juices, tomato puree, tomato paste, garlic, and olive oil. Simmer until warm (5 minutes-ish)
ziti1

3. Add cooked ziti and toss.
ziti3

4. Top with breadcrumbs (and, optionally, nutritional yeast flakes for a bit of a cheesy flavor) and serve.
ziti6

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What The Heck Is… Saturated Fat? June 25th, 2010

Continuing the discussion on fats…

Unlike trans fats, saturated fats are naturally occurring fats. They are only found in animal products (meat, dairy, and eggs)*. Even though saturated fats are natural, the problem with them is that when they enter your body, they tend to do the same thing they did when they were in a pig’s or cow’s body: Rather than be burned for energy, they’re more likely to be stored as fat in your flanks, ribs, and loins. In fact, they have more of a “storage effect” than other fats.

Saturated fat is the main dietary cause of high blood cholesterol. Cholesterol is only found in animal products (meat, dairy, and eggs). Cholesterol is essential for metabolism but is not needed in the diet because our bodies can produce all that is needed. Raised blood cholesterol causes an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer.

A study from Johns Hopkins University suggest that the amount of saturated fat in your diet may be directly proportional to the amount of fat surrounding your abdominal muscles. Researchers analyzed the diets of 84 people and performed an MRI on each of them to measure fats. Those whose diets included the highest rates of saturated fat also had the most abdominal fat.

Here’s the fancy chemistry part

Fats can be classified as either saturated, monounsaturated, or polyunsaturated. This depends on the type of chemical bonds present in the fatty acid. If a fatty acid has all the hydrogen atoms it can hold, it is saturated. However, if some of the hydrogen atoms are absent and the usual single bond between carbon atoms has been replaced by a double bond, then it is unsaturated. If there is just one double bond then it is monounsaturated, and if there is more than one then it is polyunsaturated. Most fats actually contain a proportion of each of these three basic types of fatty acid, but are generally described according to which type predominates.

Recommended amounts

The American Heart Association recommends limiting the amount of saturated fats you eat to less than 7% of total daily calories. That means, for example, that if you eat about 2,000 calories a day, no more than 140 of them should come from saturated fats. That’s about 15 grams of saturated fats a day.

A single hamburger could easily put you over this limit: 8 g in the meat patty, 3 g in the cheese slice, 2 g in the mayonnaise, and 0.5 g in the bun = 13.5 g saturated fat. And if there’s any extras, like bacon, or a side of fries, you’re well over the limit! Now add in the ham sandwich you had a lunch (with cheese and mayo?) and you’ve blown the lid off the recommended 15 grams. We can just pretend that you didn’t have eggs or milk with your breakfast.

Avoid:
- Meat, especially red meat and fatty cuts
- Dairy, especially whole-milk dairy products
- Eggs, especially the yolk

*There are actually 3 vegan sources of saturated fat: coconut oil, palm oil, and cocoa butter. But none of these contain cholesterol.

____________________
Breakfast: Bagel with vegan cream cheese
Lunch: Chickenless nuggets and tortilla chips
Dinner: Soy chorizo tacos

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Reflections June 24th, 2010

I decided to go vegetarian over 2 years ago.  After first making the switch, I felt AMAZING.  (And I’ve never heard of anyone switching to vegetarianism who hasn’t said the exact same thing.)  Besides the proven health benefits of a vegetarian diet (rigorously documented in this blog), I simply became more conscious of what I was putting into my body and therefore stopped eating so much crap.  So, in addition to dropping meat, I also significantly cut back on processed foods and fast foods. I lost a few pounds, became more “regular,” had a high level of energy (I even completed my third marathon as a veggie), but most importantly, I was treating my body right.  And knowing that I was treating myself well just made me feel even better.

While I do attribute my increased well-being  partially to purely physical reasons, I think the significant shift to “feeling amazing” was mental. It is incredibly empowering to make a conscious decision to no longer contribute to unnecessary pain and suffering. I felt like a weight had been lifted.  I felt good about making compassionate choices.  I felt like a responsible human being and was proud of my decision. I simply felt really good about myself.

And as I read more about the benefits of a vegetarian diet to the environment, it only iced the already sweet cake.

With all of my new found knowledge on the countless benefits of vegetarianism (to ourselves, our fellow creatures, and our planet), I literally felt like I was enlightened, like I was “in the know,” like I had discovered an amazing secret that few people knew about, almost like I’d found a new religion.  And because I felt so fantastic, I couldn’t wait to share it with anyone and everyone who would listen.  And I did.  All the while, naively assuming that since the arguments for vegetarianism are so compelling, that there was no possible way that anyone would not choose to go vegetarian! Clearly, I was going to convert everyone I knew simply by telling them the truth about meat…

I now understand why it is so difficult to change known wrongs (smoking, pollution, slavery).  

I first chalked up the resistance to lack of information, but as I continued to flood my family, friends, and co-workers with information, I slowly began to realize that this was not the problem.  If the decision to go vegetarian were based on facts, there would not be a decision! It is so obvious, to any rational being, that vegetarianism is the best option for every living thing on the entire planet.  But humans are not often rational.

I then thought the resistance was due to habit. I thought that maybe people wanted to eat less meat, but they just had a hard time breaking out of their life-long meat-centric routine. So I shared recipes, and suggested meat substitutes, and recommended veggie dishes at restaurants. Habit is a very hard thing to break in humans, but it’s not impossible. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. This was not the problem.

I now know that the issue is selfishness. Plain & simple. Yes, I realize that word has a harsh connotation and I don’t intend to condemn, but let’s be honest here: If one knows that eating meat directly causes the brutal abuse and painful suffering of billions of animals, and one knows that the meat industry is responsible for the greatest amount of pollution on our dying planet, and one knows that they will be healthy (probably even healthier) on a vegetarian diet, then WHY would they continue to eat meat?! “Because I like the taste,” is the only answer I can seem to get from anyone.  You like the taste enough to kill billions of animals every year, kill our planet, and kill yourself in the process. That is truly selfish.

Vegetarianism isn’t merely something one does; it is how one is. It is easier, by far, to continue the apathy, complacency, self-interest, and “blissful” ignorance, but we should choose, instead, to exemplify the highest qualities of our species: conviction, integrity, self-discipline, and compassion.

I started this blog because I believe that, as humans, every one of us has the  fundamental desire to be our best selves (do I sound like Oprah yet?). I believe that each of us has the capacity to make a powerful difference in a world very much in need. Everyone is forced to take a side, by their action or inaction, and there is no such thing as moral neutrality. Which side are you choosing?

____________________
Breakfast: Smoothie with mango, pineapple, and almond milk
food 117
Lunch: Veggie wrap with lettuce, tomato, carrots, cucumber, avocado, sprouts, vinegar and oil
Dinner: Stir fry with broccoli, cauliflower, water chestnuts, tempeh, and soyaki sauce
austin 005

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The Onion News Network June 23rd, 2010

Great video on The Onion News Network today!


USDA Recalls 96,000 Pounds Of Tainted Beef From One Family

For those of you who live under a rock, The Onion is satirical fake news.

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Meatless Monday #35: Cheeseless Pizza June 21st, 2010

I know, you’re already groaning, “Cheeseless? Ugh.” But trust me, this is so delicious that you won’t even miss the cheese (or the fat, the calories, the cholesterol, and the growth hormones). I was sure that Ed would complain about the lack of cheese, but he didn’t say a word and, in fact, he enjoyed this one even more than I did!  Still not convinced? Just think of it as a savory veggie flatbread.

food 007 (3)

Ingredients:
-Pizza dough or pre-made crust
-Hummus
-Garlic
-Toppings of your choice. I used:
     -Sun-dried tomatoes
     -Artichoke hearts
     -Kalamata Olives
     -Capers

I used Trader Joe’s pizza dough, but a pre-made pizza crust would work as well.

food 001 food 003

Instructions:

1. Spread some of the olive oil from the sun-dried tomatoes over the crust.

food 004

2. If using raw dough, bake the crust according to package directions. (Skip this step if using a pre-made crust)

3. Mix hummus with crushed garlic (to taste) and spread garlic-hummus over crust.

4. Spread toppings (olives, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, etc.) over pizza.

5. Bake pizza at 350 for 10 minutes (or until crust is to your liking).

food 008 (2)

 

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Representing DC With Barackoli Obama June 16th, 2010

Fellow foodie blogger The Local Cook is hosting a Cookin’ Across America cooking contest. Recipe submissions should, in some way, represent your state. To represent DC, I’ve submitted this partisan piece.

*Please go to the contest site and vote for my recipe by leaving a comment!*

Barackoli Obama

food 125

Ingredients:
-Broccoli florets
-Cauliflower florets (optional)
-4 oz (1/2 of 8 oz. package) cream cheese
-1/4 cup milk
-1/2 cup sour cream
-1 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
-6 Ritz crackers, crushed
-Grated Parmesan cheese to taste

Instructions:
1. Steam broccoli and cauliflower.
2. Microwave cream cheese and milk until cream cheese is melted. Stir.
3. Add sour cream to mixture. Stir. Pour mixture over vegetables.
4. Sprinkle with cheddar. Microwave 2 min or until melted.
5. Top with cracker crumbs and Parmesan.

*Don’t forget to vote for my recipe by leaving a comment on the contest site!*

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Meat Industry’s Reaction To Meatless Monday June 15th, 2010

Recently, the front page of The Washington Post’s food section featured an article on the growing Meatless Monday movement and the meat industry’s reaction to it. Here are the highlights:

The Growing Movement
It’s probably no surprise that Sir Paul McCartney, a longtime vegetarian, banned all meat from staff meals on his current world tour. But when Mario Batali starts to push people to eat their vegetables, you know something is happening.

The famously rotund and infamously gluttonous chef-restaurateur is to pig what the Beatles are to rock-and-roll. Batali, a rock-star chef if there ever was one, has changed the way Americans eat pork, introducing us to cured lonza, guanciale and lardo, which he once described to the New Yorker magazine as “the best song sung in the key of pig.”

And yet this month, Batali announced that he would join the Meatless Monday campaign, a movement backed by a broad array of public-health advocates, animal welfare activists and environmentalists that asks carnivores to give up meat one day a week. Each of Batali’s 14 restaurants, which include the meatily named Bar Jamon in New York and Carnevino in Las Vegas, offers two vegetarian entrees on Mondays, highlighted with an “MM” logo.

Batali is one of the movement’s latest and most high-profile supporters. But on the vegetable front, he is hardly a pioneer. Baltimore City Public Schools launched meatless Mondays for its 82,000 students in October. Thirty-two U.S. hospitals have signed on to the Balanced Menu Challenge, a commitment to reduce meat purchases by 20 percent. This spring, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors approved a resolution calling on schools, restaurants and stores to offer meatless options, and the state of Michigan held a one-day “Meatout” during which residents were encouraged not to eat meat. A host of cookbooks that feature meatless or nearly meatless meals are either in bookstores (”The Conscious Cook,” by Tal Ronnen) or headed for the shelves (”The Meat Lover’s Meatless Cookbook,” by former Washington Post blogger Kim O’Donnel). The scheme has spread overseas. Last year, the city of Ghent in Belgium became the first European city to endorse a meat-free day.

The Meat Industry’s Reaction
It’s enough to make the meat industry nervous. Over the past year, lobbying groups including the American Meat Institute, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the National Pork Board and the Farm Bureau have launched a quiet campaign to try to reverse the momentum. They have fired off missives to institutions that embrace the call to reduce meat consumption, and they have posted talking points for meat producers on the Internet. They are also making a final push to ensure that the government recommendation of two servings of meat per day remains enshrined in the new dietary guidelines that the Department of Agriculture will release this fall.

Lobbying for the upcoming dietary guidelines is among the most urgent efforts. The guidelines are the basis for the USDA’s food pyramid, which recommends daily intakes for food groups including meat, grain and dairy products. In a letter to the committee, the American Meat Institute voiced concern that policymakers were overemphasizing plant-based food as the foundation of a “healthy” diet for Americans.

The Meat Industry’s History of Getting What It Wants
In case after case, policymakers have refrained from suggesting that Americans eat less meat. A 1977 Senate select committee led by Sen. George McGovern (D-S.D.) was forced to beat a hasty retreat after it initially recommended that Americans could cut their intake of saturated fat by reducing their consumption of red meat and dairy products. Its revised guidelines suggested choosing “meat, poultry and fish that will reduce saturated-fat intake.” (McGovern, whose constituents included many cattle ranchers, lost his seat in 1980.)

In 1992, when the USDA planned to recommend reduced meat intake in its new Food Pyramid, the industry howled again. It created a public-relations nightmare for the agency. Under intense media scrutiny, the USDA could not change its recommendations. It did, however, redesign the chart so that the two to three servings of meat that it had suggested as a maximum serving looked like a recommended amount.

Hope For The Future
Consumers have continued to deliver what the meat industry wants: sales. Per-capita meat consumption in the United States has increased by 8 percent since 1970. Even health crises, such as the mad-cow scare, hardly affected U.S. consumption: In 1997, the year after the disease erupted in Britain, U.S. beef consumption fell about 2 percent. The next year, consumption returned to its previous level. Americans remain firmly resistant to giving up meat.

An AP-NBC Universal telephone poll of 1,006 adults last November reported that 23 percent said they would be likely to make a special effort to give up meat as a way to protect the environment — well below the numbers who said they might recycle bottles and cans or take their own shopping bags to stores. Some 46 percent of respondents said they were not likely to give up meat at all.

Still, proponents of Meatless Monday say they are hopeful that institutions can help lessen demand. Healthcare Without Harm, which wants hospitals to reduce meat purchasing by 20 percent over a 12-month period, reports an average drop of 28 percent in its four-hospital San Francisco pilot project. Baltimore City Public Schools estimates it will buy 120,000 fewer pounds of meat per school year by eliminating it from Monday menus.

And now there’s Batali, who recently lost 45 pounds, flying the flag for meatless Mondays. “Mario still loves meat,” said Elizabeth Meltz, the chef’s director of sustainability. “But even he believes everything should be eaten in moderation.”

____________________
Breakfast: Mixed berry (strawberry, blueberry, raspberry) and hemp milk smoothie
food 115
Lunch: Veggie pizza
Dinner: A delicious salad, potatoes, and green beans

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Get Involved! June 11th, 2010

There are two bills going through Congress right now that can help reduce farm animal suffering and promote compassion. 

1) Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act (HR 4733)
Battery cages, gestation crates, and veal crates are considered the most inhumane confinement systems in the agriculture industry. Hens in battery cages have less than the space of one sheet of notebook paper each. They can not even extend their wings.  Pregnant pigs and veal calves that are kept in 2-foot-wide gestation crates can not turn around, lie down comfortably, nor extend their legs. 

battery-cages gestation crates veal4

Most Americans oppose the use of these cruel confinement systems. A 2003 Gallup poll found that nearly 2/3 of Americans “support passing strict laws concerning the treatment of farm animals.” A 2003 Zogby poll found that nearly 70% of Americans find it “unacceptable” that farm animals have no federal protection from abuse while on the farm.

Yet, currently, more than 95% of all eggs produced in the US come from hens kept in battery cages. Roughly 80% of breeding pigs and 66% of veal calves are kept in crates barely larger than their own bodies. And your tax dollars are being used to support these three systems! In fact, the federal government spends more than $1 billion a year on animal products for various federal programs (like the National School Lunch Program).

The Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act would prohibit the government from purchasing any animal products from animals raised in battery cages, gestation crates, or veal crates. If passed, this legislation could affect the lives of millions of animals.

2) Healthy School Meals Act (HR 4870)
Students in our public schools eat some of the unhealthiest meals day after day. Fed meals of cheap, processed, preservative and sodium laced foods, America’s children are denied access to the fresh, plant-based foods they need to stay healthy.

 school-lunch-1  school-lunch-2

*Update* I just read this on Fed Up With Lunch: The School Lunch Project:

The USDA guidelines are warped. Even after eating *almost* 100 school lunches, I still have a hard time understanding the strange regulations governing school lunches. For example, fries and tater tots count as vegetables (contrary to what you might have heard in the 1980’s, ketchup does not qualify as a vegetable). I realize that they do come from potatoes, but something seems to be wrong there. Because of rules like this, 46% of kids’ vegetable servings come from fries (Lunch Lessons, p. 74, Ann Cooper).

And what about fruit? The USDA thinks that a frozen juice bar (“icee”), a fruit cup, fruit jello cup, or a fruit juice cup equal a serving of fruit. Sorry to say but none of those options equal a piece of fresh fruit. When the kids see the fruit icees being served, they get excited. And with less than 20 minutes to eat (including lining up, getting your meal, sitting down and unwrapping packaging), kids have enough time to eat an “icee” and drink their milk. It’s no wonder that an hour after lunch the kids’ attention spans decline and they glaze over.

Additionally, the USDA requires more than five grains per week to be offered to students. That means that every week an extra package of pretzels, a cookie, or even an extra slice of bread is sitting on a lunch tray looking out of place. Because of this rule I eat odd combinations like yesterday’s rice with bread or a package of pretzels with a cheese sandwich. It doesn’t make sense.

The Healty School Meals Act would provide financial incentives to school districts that provide healthful plant-based foods and non-dairy beverages to students. If passed, this legislation would not only improve the health of school children, but would also affect countless farm animals and help reduce the environmental destruction caused by animal agriculture.

Get Involved!

Call or write your congressmen to let them know that these issues are important to you and urge them to support these two bills.

It’s really very easy! Look up your congressmen by zip code (if two representatives show up, this means your zip code is split between two districts and you’ll need to enter your full address on the right). Use the phone numbers and contact page links to tell your congressmen to support these bills.

Below are the emails I sent to my members of congress. Feel free to use them, but a personalized message will make more of an impact.

– Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act –
Dear Representative Norton, 

Please support HR 4733. This bill would prevent the use of federal funds to purchase animal products from animals suffering from some of the cruelest forms of confinement.

 Egg-laying hens kept in battery cages are confined to a space smaller than a sheet of notebook paper. They are unable to do something as natural as spread their wings. Breeding pigs and veal calves are kept in crates barely larger than the size of their bodies. They literally can not turn around or even roll over.

 The federal government spends roughly $1 billion each year to purchase animal products for various programs (like the National School Lunch Program) without any regard for the animals involved!

 HR 4733 is a modest measure, simply prohibiting the federal government from purchasing products from animals who are unable to turn around, lie down, fully stand up, or fully extend their legs or wings.

 In a 2003 Gallup poll, nearly 2/3 of Americans supported “strict laws concerning the treatment of farm animals.” In a 2003 Zogby poll, nearly 70% of Americans found it “unacceptable” that farm animals have no federal protection from abuse on the farm.

 Will you actively support this humane legislation? I look forward to your response.

 Sincerely,
Angie Chappell

– Healthy School Meals Act –
I’d like to ask Senator Hutchison to urge Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller to include the provisions of HR 4870, the Healthy Schools Meals Act, in the Child Nutrition Act reauthorization bill.

This bill would provide our children with the healthy food they need to grow and learn and promote foods that are environmentally sustainable and compassionate.

Thank you,
Angie Chappell

– Phone Call –
“Hello, my name is Angie Chappell and I’m a constituent. I’d like Ms. Norton to urge Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller to include the provisions of HR 4870, the Healthy Schools Meals Act, in the Child Nutrition Act reauthorization bill. This bill would provide our children with the healthy food they need to grow and learn. Thank you.”

Together we can make a difference!  I know, that’s so cheesy, but we really can.

____________________
Breakfast: Soy yogurt and applesauce
Lunch: Spaghetti
Dinner: Black truffle quesadilla and chilaquiles at Oyamel

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