IDA Blog

Veganism

IDA would like to thank Ellen DeGeneres for launching a new educational website called Going Vegan with Ellen. The celebrated comedian and talk show host has turned her love for animals and a healthy lifestyle into a website that shares recipes, tips on getting started, and glimpses of other celebrities that are also vegan including her wife, actress Portia de Rossi. Some other famous vegans noted on her site are Joaquin Phoenix, Toby Maguire, Lea Michele of Glee, and Emily Deschanel who was IDA’s spokesperson for World Go Vegan Week last year.

DeGeneres went vegan in 2008 and has steadily increased her dedication to the diet, shunning Lady Gaga’s meat dress on her show and offering the musician a dress made of veggies instead.

We love Ellen and her passion for veganism, however, she is now the face of Cover Girl Cosmetics, a company notorious for testing their products on animals. We hope that she can make the connection that animals suffer in labs just as much as those that end up on our plates and either discontinue support of Cover Girl or use her celebrity power and get them to stop testing on animals- an even better option!

Order your own FREE Vegan Starter Kit by clicking here!

The IDA Team & Table!

The Animal Rights 2011 National Conference, the world’s largest and oldest animal rights gathering, was held July 21 – 25 in Los Angeles, California at the Westin LAX Hotel. This annual conference sponsored by Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM) and co-sponsored by In Defense of Animals (IDA) offered sessions on combating animal abuse, organizing, tactics, animal protection issues, and key campaigns. IDA enlightened newcomers and seasoned activists about our programs through extensive participation on panels. Our table in the main hall was brimming with information on IDA campaigns, plus fun t-shirts, buttons, travel mugs, and other animal-related merchandise.

Catherine Doyle, IDA’s Elephant Campaign Director, spoke on three panels, including Animals in Entertainment. She gave an overview of IDA’s work for elephants in zoos and circuses and described the welfare problems associations with each, and showed footage of abuse in circuses and a video about elephants in zoos. Catherine also spoke on the panel Animal Rescues about the unique nature of the elephant rescues IDA has facilitated.

At the Saturday night banquet, Catherine introduced the winner of the Young Animal Rights Activist Award, Juliette West, a “youth ambassador” for elephants in captivity and in the wild. She is featured in the documentary How I Became An Elephant, which tells the story of her efforts to rescue an elephant from the streets of Thailand. She uses the film to reach young audiences around the country and teach them about elephants in captivity.

Hope Animal Sanctuary's Doll Stanley

Our Hope Animal Sanctuary’s Director Doll Stanley introduced IDA at the opening plenary session. Doll also spoke on four panels: Vivisection, Companion Animal Campaigns, Running a Sanctuary, and Enforcing Protective Laws.

Hope Bohanec, IDA’s Grassroots Campaigns Director, offered her power point presentation Eco-Eating: A Cool Diet for a Hot Planet about environmental impacts of animal agriculture. She also spoke on the panel International Activism about IDA Africa, our chimpanzee sanctuary in Cameroon; IDA India, where we spay, neuter and offer emergency medical care for street animals in Mumbai; and our South Korean Dog and Cat campaign, exposing the horrors of dogs tortured and slaughtered for their meat and cats boiled for “medicinal elixirs” in South Korea. Hope also spoke on Language and Labels, introducing people to IDA’s unique Guardian Campaign, which encourages the use of non-objectifying and more accurate words when we discuss animals, such as “guardian” instead of “owner” and “he” or “she” instead of “it.”

We were even able to participate in the world’s biggest circus demo ever with 500 hundred protesters educating Ringling Bros. circus goers about the cruel and sad life of circus animals. We had a great time and I hope you can join us in Washington DC next July for the AR 2012 National Conference!

Get fancy with a Double Taco Burger! Photo Credit : MeetTheShannons.com

We’re in prime BBQ and potluck season right now and it seems like every night someone somewhere is lighting up their grills. For many of us this a great opportunity to experiment with a new recipe or better yet introduce our friends and family to how delicious and easy it is to be vegan. Food is a great form of outreach for the animals. There are a lot of folks that don’t want to hear about the suffering that is inherent to the meat industry but are intrigued by trying out new foods. Bringing a cruelty-free dish to a get together is lighthearted way to change hearts and minds and can even invite questions on how someone can lead a more compassionate lifestyle.

If you’re looking for some new recipes for classic favorites, here’s some of my favorite summery favorites. Don’t worry – these vegan recipes are BBQ and Potluck Tested and Approved.

Beer Can Tofurky
Caesar Salad Burger
Macaroni Salad with Peppered Tofu
Pink Lemonade Cupcakes
Crab Cakes with Tartar Sauce
Tuscan Lemon Cake
Spare Ribs with 3 Different Types of Glazes
Coleslaw
Three Beans Salad
Creamsicle Cupcakes
Mojito Bars
Antipasto Pasta Salad

If you’re looking for something even simpler, you can always just throw some veggie burgers, Portabella mushrooms and vegan sausages on the grill. There are so many great vegan product out there right now from Gardein Vegan Burgers, Tofurky Beer Brats and Field Roast Chipotle Sausages, it’s a great time to really bring the shock and awe. In case you’ve never tried to grill mock meat or veggies before, here are some of the tricks we’ve picked up over the years :

• Lightly brush your grill with olive oil before putting your mock meat or veggies on the grill to keep them from sticking. If you want to skip cleaning your grill, you can always lay down some aluminum foil and brush that with olive oil. You’ll get a little less smokiness in the flavor and those famous grill lines but it can save you time later.

• Make sure your mock meat is defrosted before putting it on the grill to make sure it cooks evenly.

• Mock meat and veggies cook a lot faster than meat so keep an eye on them and brush them with a mixture of equal parts tamari and olive oil to keep you food from drying out. You can always add some Jerk seasoning to your oil to add a little bit of a kick. Here’s a recipe for a Southwestern Rub you can use with any mock meat or vegetables :

1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon agave nectar
2 teaspoons green chilies (diced)
¼ teaspoon Bragg Liquid Amino Acids
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cloves of garlic (minced)

Mix all these goodie together in a small bowl. Nothing tricky here, just blend it all up. Then brush it on to your mock meat or Portabella mushrooms. Wrap in foil and chill for 1 hour before grilling. Keep any extra to brush on your food when it’s on the grill.

So start your grills and let’s make this summer fun for everyone… including the animals!

For more information on how to go vegan and vegan outreach check out our vegan campaign and order a vegan starter kit!

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Surgeon General unveiled a new food guide, MyPlate, that will replace the Food Pyramid that has been the standard nutrition guide since 1992. First Lady Michelle Obama, a champion of healthy eating and raising awareness about childhood obesity, spoke at the Agriculture Department in Washington DC to introduce the new, more visual guide.

The innovative plate shows four portions with vegetables and grains being the largest segments, fruit and “protein” making up the smaller sections. Not only is it very exciting that the vegetable and grain section are by far the largest slice of the plate, also noteworthy is that the actual food is listed for vegetables, fruits, and grains, however, the fourth section, “protein” is listed as a nutrient. Not as meat- not as meat/beans- just protein. The other sections could be listed as “carbohydrates” or “vitamins” but they are not. It is clear that they are specifically recommending eating vegetables, grains, and fruits, however, how you get your protein is optional. The clear message is that meat is no longer recommended or required in the diet. This is a true turning point in mainstream nutrition education. This is practically a vegan plate!

MyPlate shows the country what we in the vegan community have been excited about for years, plant-based diets ― including vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes ― offer an abundant, diverse selection of nutrient-rich foods to choose from, are high in fiber, phytochemicals, and antioxidants, and have no saturated fat (with the exception of coconuts and palm oil). According to numerous studies, plant-based diets have been shown to lower the risk of many diseases including heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and obesity.

The only disappointment with the new guide is the separate small circle to the upper right hand side of the plate, representing a glass of dairy. Dairy is completely unnecessary in the diet and is actually harmful with high saturated fat, cholesterol, and many people are allergic, especially in communities of color. Not to mention the very sad, miserable, and short life of a dairy cow and her calves who are usually slaughtered in the veal industry. It’s unfortunate that this was included, but this shouldn’t damper our celebration of this landmark new guide.

MyPlate is an important stage in the global shift to a plant-based diet, and IDA would like to give kudos to the USDA for educating the public on the importance of vegetables and grains on our plate.

For more information on how you can go vegan or promote veganism – Please check out IDA’s Vegan Campaign Pages and Resources!

2 Words – Vegan Treats. vegantreats.com Photo Credit : MeetTheShannons.com

This is it folks, vegan is headed for the big-time! Just in the last five years, the vegan diet is being recognized more and more in the mainstream. Famous celebrities and politicians have gone vegan like Emily Deschanel, James Cromwell, Bill Clinton, and Ellen DeGeneres, who recently “veganised” an average American family on her show. Dr. Oz got an overweight, diabetic cowboy to adopt a vegan diet to save his life and Oparh and Martha Stewart have each dedicated an entire show to the vegan lifestyle.

Even millionaire moguls are embracing the plant-based diet like Biz Stone, the founder of Twitter (recently a guest on Martha Stewart’s vegan show), Steve Wynn, Las Vegas casino tycoon and Hip-Hop music producer Russell Simmons whose new book is titled Super Rich: A Guide to Having It All. We know that vegans are smart, but some vegans are geniuses. Like George Church, a molecular biologist who helped map the human genome at Harvard and Stanford Biochemist Patrick Brown, who transformed genetic research with his invention of micro-array DNA.

Mega food retailers like 7-Eleven sell vegan options in six of their New York locations and Disney World kicked out McDonalds to make room for the all vegan bakery, Babycakes. Speaking of vegan baking, Animal Planet is rolling out a new reality TV show about Vegan Treats owner and founder, Danielle Konya delving into her animal activism.

Meatless Monday is taking hold across the nation with Baltimore and New York City schools adopting meat-free meals in their cafeterias on Mondays. Sodexo implemented Meatless Monday in its 900 hospital accounts and Oprah Winfrey’s company cafeterias are meat-free on Mondays. Celebrity chefs like Wolfgang Puck and Mario Batali have gotten on board offering a Meatless Monday menu in their restaurants. And San Francisco and Washington DC have Meat-Free Monday Resolutions signed by their board of supervisors.

All this awesome news is incredibly inspirational and I hope makes it even easier for people to adopt a compassionate diet. I also hope that it inspires activists to work even harder to help reduce farm animal suffering. We are winning, but we have to keep the pressure on and the energy up in this critical time.

Do you know of a new way vegan is going mainstream? Add it to the comments!

Earth Day is a great day to get the veg message out! Events will be happening on and around April 22 all over the world as we honor the Earth and learn about ways to reduce our impact on the environment. One of the best ways we can reduce our carbon footprint is by choosing to eat a plant-based diet. The United Nations, the EPA, environmental organizations, and countless scientific studies all worn of the detrimental environmental impact of animal agribusiness. In fact, meat and other animal by-products are responsible for 51% of the total human caused greenhouse gas emissions worldwide according to a study by two prominent World Bank environmental advisers. Learn more about the environmental impact of animal agriculture by clinking here.

Take Action for the Animals and the Earth-

Want an easy way to help animals and the environment? Find out where your local Earth Day event is being held, grab some brochures, and leaflet the crowds at the event. Get some friends together for support or just go solo and help educate your community on eating green. IDA can provide you with leaflets that explain the connection between animal products and global warming, water waste and pollution, deforestation, and more. We also have posters linking climate change with animals raised for food.

lf you would like any flyers, brochures and/or posters, or have any questions about leafleting please contact Hope at Hope@idausa.org or 415-448-0058 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 415-448-0058 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 415-448-0058 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 415-448-0058 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Ideas for Earth Day Activism:

• Apply for a table or leaflet at an Earth Day event.
• Leaflet on your local college or high school campus, or on the main street near the campus.
• Pass out flyers in front of a grocery store.
• Pass out flyers at concerts.
• Pass out flyers at your church.
• Distribute flyers to your friends and family.

IDA Staffer Hope Bohanec at MeatOut 2011

In Defense of Animals teamed up with Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM) for this year’s MeatOut to feed 1,000 people vegan Tofurky sandwiches! On Saturday, March 19th, we had a fun vegan feed-in at the annual San Francisco peace rally calling for an end to the wars. We served yummy, vegan sandwiches, leaflet IDA vegan brochures, and spread the message that peace begins on your plate!

The San Francisco event featured sandwiches made with Tofurky slices, lettuce, tomato, and a non-dairy cheese spread. With every sandwich, rally-goers received a brochure explaining how a vegan diet can reduce heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes, save animals from suffering on factory farms and in slaughterhouses, and conserve precious environmental resources. We got reports that the sandwiches were tasty and very appreciated.

Last year, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors signed a ground-breaking resolution and officially named every Monday to be Veg Day and encourage all San Francisco residents to consider cutting the meat habit one day a week. In this spirit, rally-goers got a taste of vegan versions of meat and cheese to reduce animal products in their diet.

Today we celebrate the Irish, guzzle a green beer, and wear a shamrock pin. But this year instead of just wearing green, why not go green! Animal agriculture is responsible for more than half the total human-caused greenhouse gas emissions and numerous other environmental impacts water waste and pollution, overgrazing, deforestation, loss of habitat and species, wasting of resources and energy, and overfishing. These dramatic and impactful problems are manageable and reversible with a global shift to a vegan diet. Eating a plant-based diet is one of the most powerful things you can do to reduce your own carbon footprint. Here’s some traditional Irish recipes, like Corned Beef-Less Tips & Cabbage and Irish Coffee Cupcakes – minus the animal products, to help you go green and celebrate St. Paddy’s Day

This time of year is also for the annual Meatout and the goal for 2011 is to serve vegan food to 20,000 people in the month of March. Be part of this historic effort and learn more here. IDA will be joining forces with FARM for this year’s Meatout to feed 1300 people vegan Tofurky sandwiches at a peace rally in San Francisco showing that peace begins on your plate!

A vegan diet is your lucky pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that will help preserve your health and the health of the planet. Happy St. Patty’s Day!

It’s Mardi Gras season! It’s that time of the year when people all over the world are partying like there is no tomorrow and loading up on all their vices before Lent or maybe they’re just enjoying a good party! Whatever the reason – folks everywhere are wishing they could hop on a plane to Brazil or the Big Easy to dance in the street and enjoy some fabulously flavorful food. But even if you’re stuck at home, you can have your own Homemade Vegan Mardi Gras! These vegan recipes have all the kick and fun of the original Southern, Cajun and Creole recipes with none of the guilt that comes with eating animals. Actually this might be the first Mardi Gras ever that leaves you with a clear conscience. You might want to make 2 pitchers of Margaritas to make up for it!

• Beighnets
• Bourbon Chik’n Po’Boys
• Creole Shrimp Po’Boys
• Hush Puppies
• Hoppin’ John
• Fried Pickles
• Creole Shrimp Gumbo
• Red Beans and Rice
• Jambalaya
• Deep Fried Cajun Tofurky
• Beer Can Tofurky
• Strawberry Margaritas
  

Now that Strawberry Margarita is what Our IDA Staffer Mike Winikoff  calls a “junk-food” Margarita. So he was nice enough to share his recipe for Prickly Pear Margaritas – for you folks that want to add a little class to your bash!

Prickly Pear Margarita

2 oz silver tequila

¾ oz Patron Citronge orange Liqueur (or any orange liqueur)

½ oz lime juice

4 oz Prickly Pear Cactus Syrup (available only from Cheri’s Desert Harvest in Arizona, www.cherisdesertharvest.com )

Crushed ice

Put all in blender, blend on low, pour in salt-rimmed margarita glass, enjoy, wake up humming “that’s what you get for waking up in Vegas.”

Going Vegan for Lent? Click here and get a FREE VEGAN STARTER KIT!

Recently, Oprah challenged her staff to join her and voluntarily go vegan for one week. Close to 400 Harpo Production employees agreed to the challenge and Oprah dedicated her show  to the results, so we had an Oprah watching party! About 75 delighted IDA and PETA employees, supporters, and other vegans packed into Harvey’s Bar in San Francisco to watch Oprah on the big screen TVs. Harvey’s recently added a few vegan items to their menu including tofu scramble, vegan chili, and vegan quesadillas, so we were well fed. They are also using vegan mayo for their entire menu. Famous vegan cookbook author, Colleen Patrick Goudreau co-organized the event with IDA and was on hand after for a discussion and Q & A about the show and mainstreaming veganism.

The show focused on a few employees and their adventures and struggles being vegan for a week. One of her staff lost 11 pounds in a week and many others reported feeling better with increased energy. Some said that they would continue the new lifestyle for a month, some said they were hooked!

Oprah’s guests were Kathy Freston, author of the new bestselling book Veganist and Michael Pollen, author and local food activist. There was also never before seen video of a slaughterhouse. They wouldn’t allow the cameras to film the actual killing of the cows, but the gruesome processing and grizzly skinning and dismembering was extremely disturbing. Kathy Freston said that she is vegan because horrors such as this footage didn’t sit right with her soul and she could not be part of it.

There was a segment of the show where one Harpo employee took everything out of her fridge that had animal products and to her surprise, it cleared out her refrigerator completely. So Freston took her to Whole Foods and introduced her to a variety of new vegan products including Tofurky,  Earth Balance, and Daiya Cheese . She said that her family learned a great deal about healthy eating and would continue to lean in this new, compassionate direction.

As for Oprah, she said that she is now “veganish” and will also continue to lean in this direction. She is implementing Meat-Free Mondays in the cafeterias at Harpo Productions as well as having a vegan option always available. IDA would like to thank Oprah for bringing veganism to the mainstream, exposing the graphic cruelty of the slaughterhouse, and showing people that there is a new, healthy and compassionate way to live and eat. Go Oprah!