It’s a good question. Well, Ribena belongs to Glaxo Smith Kline, who still test on animals. Hm, surely it’s only the pharmaceutical’s that still test on animals isn’t it. Hmm. No.

I am the first to admit being naive. I was prompted this weekend to know more about the companies to avoid. Now, I do actually get a bit annoyed when people challenge me about this. I am a vegan. I don’t buy stuff with animals in….and I wouldn’t use products tested on animals…would I?

Well, I have a Johnson and Johnson baby wash on the side of the bath, a L’oreal hair styling product in the bathroom, a Neutrogena lipbalm in my bag…. and I have found out that for all I do to try and protect the animals, I still buy into the cruelty. Well, no more.

On the plus side, I used to use Colgate toothpaste but changed to a holland and barratt bought natural one just last week on a hunch. It’s not difficult to avoid products which are produced by suffering, you just have to make the effort. If it was you with the burning eyes, you’d want someone to help, right?

Here’s a basic list, this is from the vegetarian site for a more detailed one click on the link at the bottom.

Many manufacturers of personal care and household items still test their products on animals, despite the growing number of alternative methods for evaluating product safety. The following list contains all such companies known and their associated brand names. This list originally was compiled from two primary references (cited at the bottom of this page). In addition, it is updated as new information is made available to us. We cannot fully guarantee its accuracy, so please use the list accordingly–and do let us know if you can offer any further updates. You may wish to print out the list and take it along next time you go shopping! Please also note that all over-the-counter medicines and/or their ingredients are extensively tested on animals, as currently required by the FDA.

Martha’s Article & Recipe

United nations researchers reveal us one basic route to lower our impact on the environment

Do you know the UN calculated that the combined climate change emissions of animals bred for their meat were more than cars, planes and other types of transport assembled?

In a recent article published in July 2010 by the Guardian.co.uk, leading journalist John Vidal reported how vegetarianism can help save the planet by eating less meat.

Behind the majority of the joints of beef or chicken on our plates is a phenomenally wasteful, land and power hungry process of farming that devastates nature, pollutes oceans, rivers, seas and atmosphere.

We mostly breed four species (chickens, cows, lambs and pigs) all of which need vast amounts of food and water, emit methane and other greenhouse gases and produce mountains of physical waste products.

In ‘09, the United nations calculated how the combined climate change emissions of animals bred for their meat were about 18% of the global total – a lot more than cars, planes and all other types of transport put together.

A Bangladeshi family living off rice, beans, vegetables and fruit may live on an acre of land or less, while the average American, who consumes around 270 pounds of meat per year, needs 20 times that.

Academics have calculated that if the grain fed to animals in western countries were consumed directly by people instead of animals, we could feed at least two times as many people – and possibly a lot more – as we do now.

Eating a steak or a chicken will point to an extreme water consumption, that the animal has needed to live and grow. Vegetarian author John Robbins calculates a pound of beef needs around 20,000lbs of water.

Farming, which uses 70% of water accessible to humans, is already in direct competition for water with cities.

Industrial scale agriculture now dominates the western livestock and poultry industries, and a single farm is now able to generate as much waste as a city.

Farming animals generate manure and urine which is funnelled into massive waste lagoons sometimes holding as many as 40m gallons. These cesspools often break, leak or overflow, polluting underground water supplies and rivers with nitrogen, phosphorus and nitrates.

A meat diet is normally considered twice as expensive as a vegetarian one. According to the Vegetarian Society, meat eaters get increased probabilities of obesity, cancer, heart diseases and other illnesses as well as a hole in the pocket.

So what now? How can we start contribute save our world?

Here a quick and simple recipe to get a good meat substitute, the Tofu and Green Onion Veggie Burger

This healthy tofu based veggie burger receive an added nutritional boost from wheat germ. This recipe is both vegetarian and vegan.

Ingredients:

* 1/2 container firm or extra firm tofu, mashed

* 1 onion, diced

* 3 green onions, diced

* 2 tbls wheat germ

* 2 tbs flour

* 2 tablespoons garlic powder

* 2 tbls soy sauce

* dash pepper

* oil for frying

Preparation:

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Form into patties.

Fry patties in oil in a skillet or frying pan until brown and crisp, about 10 minutes.

Now it’s all to you…

]]> http://shoutvegan.com/wordpress/2010/08/guest-article-great-tofu-burger-recipe/feed/ http://shoutvegan.com/wordpress/2010/08/acceptance/ http://shoutvegan.com/wordpress/2010/08/acceptance/#comments Sun, 01 Aug 2010 19:24:48 +0000 admin http://shoutvegan.com/wordpress/?p=659 I’ve had a good vegan week and thought I would share a few things in a short post. On Friday I took the children to a family wedding. My mum had dutifully informed the family that I am vegan and my children vegetarian. I was brought a fabulous meal, hollowed crisp aubergine with roasted mushrooms inside, roast potatoes and bread. The kids had pasta and garlic bread. I must say I got a few jealous looks off others too which made me smile. The day after on the way home we passed a McDonalds and Heidi laughed and said ‘that’s where people eat animals isn’t it. Old McDonalds animal farm’.

Today was Heidi’s 5th birthday and we had a party at the local hall. The usual games and activities and a completely vegetarian lunch. None of the parents batted an eye and the kids enjoyed the food. It makes me wonder if we are no longer considered weird! That will be a great shift change, people seeing that we are normal, we just choose not to eat dead bodies, this surely does well for a better understanding of vegans and vegetarians.

Being a vegan is amazing. When choosing a pic for this post I saw this and I quite like the idea of inviting you to join me in such an incredible experience.

Anyhow, that was all, have a good week!

PLEASE x

WDCS International (PLEASE CLICK BELOW LINK TO SEE WHAT YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW TO SHOW YOU ARE A DECENT HUMAN BEING)

https://secure2.wdcs.org/view_e_protest.php?e_protest_select=41&&select=611

I have adopted a complacent attitude. If I have stayed over with a friend and she has made me toast and butter for breakfast, I have eaten it, if I want a make-up product I see on a market stall, I have bought it. And I guess I have just had a wake-up moment. We probably all do things we shouldn’t do and on a grand scale a piece of toast and butter is not such a misdemenour. Yet to me it speaks volumes about how easy it is to forget what is important in life. Life, love, friends, values. We all know what it’s like. You’re in a long term relationship, you begin to care less about what you look like, listen less to what your partner is saying….You are in a steady job, you lose enthusiasm for your work, it becomes easy to slack off, take a a longer lunch, complain….You are a vegan and you forget about what the animals go through to produce milk, butter…. the suffering of a rabbit having mascara smeared on its naked eye, that animals are not objects and that perhaps a slightly less kept house for a day or two while you order ethical goods or a day without eyeliner is better than violence, cruelty and a society obsessed by animal torture and death.

That’s my point for today. Be aware always of who you are and what you can do. And if you are not who you want yourself to be, become it.

I feel at home again now and the fridge is nicely stocked. I bought way too much on the first weekly shop for the family. All the veg I had not seen for years went straight in the trolley, it’s odd to get excited about green beans, curly kale and beansprouts but I don’t mind admitting my curious pleasure.

The children starting school and preschool was also a great experience. School dinners, courtesy of their schools vegetarian cook took away a year or two’s worry about the kids diet. In Norway Heidi would only eat bread at nursery, despite efforts to take in food for her. So each night we had to try and get all the needed nutrients into one meal – not easy. Now I know they are eating healthily and well. Heidi has put on weight and Miller needs to be dragged from the lunch table. On the odd night it’s good to know they can have beans on toast for their dinner at home and not feel guilty about it.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still tough to get vegan options everywhere, yet people seem more open than I remember. A local cafe in the small place where I live, selling breakfasts, offered to get us vegan sausages, a fair-trade cafe has opened in my parents town, selling hummus and carrot baguettes. It seems a long way away from last year in a large Norwegian town where all I could find to eat after an extensive search was a dry bread roll.

So as you can tell, I am enjoying the culinary diversity I can get here and have a feeling things are changing for the better. It doesn’t stop my friends saying ‘Bloody hell, what can I feed you?’, but I don’t mind so much now I am in the knowledge I can travel with a pot of hummus and some pita bread in my bag. I guess I’ll have to cook for them soon, although after a month off, maybe I need some practice!

I’ve also been living with no internet since leaving Norway and the break has done me good. I’ve written 3 kids books and been keeping up the yoga practice. Maybe I just have to find a happy balance.

Have a peaceful Christmas and why not choose not to have a dead animal as a centrepiece.

Jill x

Yesterday I read the below article from the Telegraph with interest. I would have posted it up straight away had I not been in bed with the flu. However, upon dragging myself up today I thought  the first thing I wanted to do was highlight the hypocrisy yet again in our society.  Please read this article (and take note if it makes you angry or upset) and I will continue…

Up to a million Hindus gathered at a temple in southern Nepal on Tuesday to witness the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of animals in a mass sacrifice that has drawn widespread criticism.

By Our Foreign Staff
Published: 5:21PM GMT 24 Nov 2009

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A Hindu devotee slaughters a buffalo as an offering to the Hindu goddess Gadhimai in Bariyapur village, Bara district Photo: AFP/GETTY

Worshippers travelled long distances, many coming from neighbouring India, to attend the controversial ceremony at the in the jungles of Bara district, about 100 miles south of Katmandu. The two-day Gadhimai festival honouring the Hindu goddess of power takes place once every five years in southern Nepal.

A huge cry of “Long Live Gadhimai!” went up after the temple’s head priest launched the event with the sacrifice of two rats, two pigeons, a rooster, a lamb and a pig.

The crowd then rushed to a nearby field, where 250 sword-wielding butchers began the mass slaughter of around 20,000 buffalo, brought by devotees to be sacrificed near the holy temple.

Animal rights activists have held demonstrations in recent weeks in towns near the Gadhimai temple and in Nepal’s capital Katmandu, protesting against what one Nepalese minister said was the largest animal sacrifice in the world.

Critics say the killings - carried out by slitting the animals’ throats with swords - are barbaric and conducted in a cruel manner.

However, Hindu organisers refused to halt the slaughter, saying it is a centuries-old tradition. Participants believe sacrificing the animals for Gadhimai will end evil and bring prosperity. The slaughtered animals are taken back by devotees to their villages and eaten during a feast.  End of Article.

Here’s what we do.

Image courtesy of Temple Grandin.

There has been criticism of the methods of preparation, herding, and killing within some slaughterhouses, and in particular of the speed with which the slaughter is sometimes conducted. Investigations by animal welfare and animal rights groups have indicated that a proportion of these animals are being skinned or gutted while apparently still alive and conscious.^[5] There has also been criticism of the methods of transport of the animals, who are driven for hundreds of miles to slaughterhouses in conditions that often result in crush injuries and death en route. (Wikipedia)

Image Courtesy of animals-in-the-news.blogspot.

200.000 animals slaughtered in Nepal each year in a cruel way (not like dropping pigs into vats of boiling water whilst some are still conscious, that’s not cruel is it?) 200.000 is a large number isn’t it. Did you know over 1 million animals are slaughtered every hour just in the US? 1 million. I wondered how many animals were slaughtered each year worldwide for food we don’t actually need but can’t stop consuming because we are all stupid, ignorant and cruel. I googled it and here is the answer. 140 billion. All that death- Ah, but it’s humane. No, it’s bloody well not. Slaughter rules are often ignored, I will get responses saying that’s not the case but watch the youtube videos, do some reserach, live your life like you have an evolved brain. Even ‘humane slaughter’ is a contradiction. You are KILLING. TAKING A LIFE. AND THEN STUFFING A DEAD CORPSE INTO YOUR MOUTH. Think. Please. Is this really how we want to be?

I wish to finish with an extract from an essay, you can read it in its entirety at http://www.all-creatures.org/articles/ar-aninsidelook.html. Picture also courtesy of this site.

An Inside Look at Slaughter Houses
By Murtle (a school essay)

A wise woman named Linda McCartney once said, “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone in the world would be a vegetarian”.

This is one of the truest statements ever made. If people thought about or saw what really happens to animals in slaughterhouses for more than a second, it would get to them and they would not be able to bring themselves to still be a carnivore. Those animals endure some of the cruelest treatment and neglect. Also, slaughterhouses are kept in the most unsanitary conditions and violate more laws then almost any other business. The slaughter of animals for human consumption should be banned.

This is Jill Forrest with my pledge to the animals. I will not hurt you, I will not kill you and I will not eat you. I will fight for you. If I lose friends and if I am subject to criticism so be it. I see the face above looking out and I know that this way of life is wrong.

Here’s some of their information - for more go to www.foodincmovie.com

Food, Inc. exposes America’s industrialized food system and its effect on our environment, health, economy and workers’ rights. Learn about these issues and take action through the Hungry For Change cafeteria and check out the 10 Simple Tips for making positive changes in your eating habits. Learn more about these issues and how you can take action on Takepart.com.

Find organic, local foods

Sustainable foods can be found in your community by purchasing organic and/or locally grown produce and products. It’s easy to find farmers markets, Community Supported Agriculture programs, restaurants and more with the user-friendly Eat Well Guide. Simply type in your zip code to find out what’s in season near you.

Diabetes and Obesity

High calorie, sugar laden processed foods coupled with our sedentary lifestyles is growing our waistlines and contributing to serious health issues like diabetes, heart ailments and cancers. One-third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese. Tell Congress that kids should be served healthy meals, not soda and junk food.

Factory Farming

Approximately 10 billion animals (chickens, cattle, hogs, ducks, turkeys, lambs and sheep) are raised and killed in the US annually. Nearly all of them are raised on factory farms under inhumane conditions. These industrial farms are also dangerous for their workers, pollute surrounding communities, are unsafe to our food system and contribute significantly to global warming.

Pesticides

Cancers, autism and neurological disorders are associated with the use of pesticides especially amongst farm workers and their communities. Learn about what pesticides are in your food and their effects.

Environmental Impact

Did you know that the average food product travels about 1,500 miles to get to your grocery store? And that transporting food accounts for 30,800 tons of greenhouse gas emissions every year?

The Global Food Crisis

Approximately 1 billion people worldwide do not have secure access to food, including 36 million in the US. National and international food and agricultural policies have helped to create the global food crisis but can also help to fix the system.

Kevin’s Law: Foodborne Illness

In Food, Inc. we meet Barbara Kowalcyk, whose 2 year old son, Kevin, died from E.coli poisoning after eating a hamburger. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 76 million Americans are sickened, 325,000 are hospitalized and 5,000 die each year from foodborne illnesses. Although Kevin’s law is not pending in Congress right now, there are other important national food safety legislation pending now for you to support.

Put Nutritional Labels on Restaurant Food

Ever wondered how many calories are in your restaurant food? Most restaurants don’t list the actual nutritional value of their food. Listing calories on menus in chain restaurants is an easy way to educate consumers about calorie content to help them make the healthiest choice.

Genetic Engineering

Some of our most important staple foods have been fundamentally altered, and genetically engineered meat and produce have already invaded our grocery stores and our kitchen pantries.

Farm Worker Protection

Farm workers are the backbone of our agricultural industry, bringing fresh food everyday to our tables. They deserve basic workplace protections like good wages, access to shade and water.

Cloning

In January 2008, the FDA approved the sale of meat and milk from cloned livestock, despite the fact that Congress voted twice in 2007 to delay FDA’s decision on cloned animals until additional safety and economic studies could be completed.

Food, Inc.

Blu-ray™ and DVD available November 3rd!

Reauthorize the Child Nutrition Act

Support healthy food choices in schools