I found this story via Once Upon A Vegan. “Why I am vegan” By Walter Bond In the winter of 1995, when I was 19 years old, I got a job with a company by the name of Dakota Mechanical. We built slaughter-houses in the Midwest, mainly in Iowa. The state of Iowa is the …
Aug
24
8 Reasons to Beware of Eggs
Half a Billion Eggs Recalled, And Counting… Over 500 million eggs have been recalled due to an outbreak of Salmonella that sickened thousands of people across the country (and many cases go unreported because Salmonella infections, which cause diarrhea and stomach cramps, often go undiagnosed). This is one of the country’s worst food safety recalls, …
Aug
19
The Power Of One
This post was inspired by a comment regarding someone who believes going vegan is useless because what difference can one person really make? A man walking on the beach after a storm comes upon a person picking up starfish on the sand and flinging them back into the ocean. The man looks around. Starfish litter the sand …
Aug
11
The Good Life Doesn’t Have to Cost the Planet
I’m still working on getting into a daily rhythm here in Austin. It’s been just over a week since I moved here, so between starting a new job, trying to unpack, and struggling to run in 100 degree heat, you’ll have to bear with me as I slowly ramp back up on the blogging habit. …
Aug
06
Meet Your Meat: Ducks And Geese
Back to the basics today: Meet Your Meat. Most people don’t think of ducks and geese when they think of cruelty to farmed animals, but over 25 million ducks are slaughtered each year on factory farms. Ducks and geese are both severely abused by the meat and foie gras industries. Kept in small cages, often …
Jul
14
Be Careful What You Fish For
Anyone who made it through Biology 101 knows that fish have nerves and brains that sense pain, just like all other animals. Scientists tell us that fish nervous systems closely resemble our own, even including neurotransmitters like endorphins that relieve suffering – of course, the only reason for a nervous system to produce pain killers …
Jun
29
I Couldn’t Have Said It Better Myself: Ellen DeGeneres
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 …
Jun
11
Get Involved!
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 …
May
26
This Is Your Milk On Drugs
I thought that by now nearly everyone had heard about hormones in milk. Yet, people continue to buy conventional milk! I’m baffled. Maybe more explanation will finally wake people up about this?! Bovine Growth Hormone Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH), or Bovine Somatotropin (BST), is a protein hormone that cattle naturally produce. Back in 1937, it …
May
20
By The Numbers
Travel for another wedding, immediately followed by illness, led to a lack of posts this week. Although I’m not fully recovered, I’m back to the grind today. — Sometimes numbers speak louder than words. I find these numbers absolutely shocking. And I am glad I no longer contribute to them. (All numbers below are from …
