IDA Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Children’

Vegan Sloppy Joes - Always a big hit! Recipe : MeetTheShannons.net

Now is the best time of year to make sure your school cafeteria has vegan options. Here’s how:

Step 1: Become Friends with Your School & Cafeteria

It is always easier to change a system from the inside. Just by stopping by and politely asking your Cafeteria’s food service coordinator for vegan options, you can make a personal statement on why these dishes are necessary and offer suggestions how they can make the changes. By building a relationship with your school’s food service coordinator you can help them locate the best recipes and resources so that these vegan changes can be successfully incorporated into the menu. If you’re too shy, send a kind e-mail or note to the head of your school’s cafeteria or dining hall requesting daily vegetarian and vegan options.

Of course, sometimes that doesn’t work. You can then move on to speaking to your school’s administration. Request a meeting with your school’s principal or, if you’re in college, your school’s Operations Director. Come to your meeting prepared to talk about why your school needs vegan options, what the benefits of a vegan diet are, suggestions for how they can veganize the cafeteria. Of course it doesn’t hurt to do a little research into how many of your classmates would want these options and if your school has had any issues with recalled meat or dairy products in the past (link to recent egg recall story) You can even contact other schools, such as Baltimore’s Public School System and Indiana University that have added vegan options to their cafeterias and get some statistics and suggestions to support your cause.

If you have any meetings, arrive on time, dressed nicely, and be polite. Don’t give them an excuse to ignore or disregard your request. Remember, you are there to advocate for the animals, so making a good impression is very important and, perhaps, this will be the beginning of a relationship with your school administration that could later help you also get dissection or circus field trips also removed from your school!

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As anyone who has done protests will tell you, circus demos can be the most difficult. Parents are on guard because they’re with their kids. They’re out for a day of fun and are suddenly confronted with protesters, perhaps where they’d least expect protesters to be. What could be more wholesome than the circus? Unfortunately, circuses with animals are far from wholesome. The animals who travel with these circuses are trucked or taken by train from city to city, spending the majority of their time in chains (elephants) or tight confinement (the other animals) when not being forced to perform completely unnatural and painful acts. So when we found out that Ringling Bros. Circus was heading to Portland for the Labor Day weekend, we were motivated to try and get as many compassionate folks out as we could to help educate Ringling’s patrons.

Ringling has a long history of animal abuse and neglect – everything from animal deaths to a list USDA violations a mile long. The most recent developments in Ringling’s long history of abuse are an undercover investigation  which showed Ringling beating elephants and other animals, and recently released, never before seen photos of Ringling abusing baby elephants.

Portland is a city of compassionate, animal-loving people. It’s a progressive town with no tolerance for abuse of any kind and this protest of circus animal abuse was certainly right in line with this city’s values. We mobilized through Facebook and e-mail and on opening night had the largest crowd ever at a circus demo in Portland – 80 people. It was inspiring. And we weren’t done there – all of the protests we held throughout the weekend were well attended – tripling the numbers of folks we had at last year’s demos.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to come out and help. Someone asked me on Sunday if I thought we were truly making a difference, and I responded that if we were absent, we certainly wouldn’t be, but I do believe these peaceful shows of force do make a difference and hopefully plant a seed of compassion in even the most hardened circus supporter.

IDA's Bill Dyer Leads Protesters at The Greatest Circus on Earth

History was made in Los Angeles last night. In the biggest circus demonstration the city has ever seen, 300 activists holding graphic signs and colorful banners and wearing elephant costumes and symbolic chains, encircled the Staples Center to protest the opening night of Ringling. Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

The mood was electric as energized activists handed out thousands of leaflets and stickers and educated the public about the suffering of animals in circuses, where they are chained and confined to cramped cages, shipped around the country for 50 weeks a year, and cruelly trained to perform unnatural tricks.

No matter what direction circus customers approached the venue from, they had to walk a gauntlet of protesters passing out descriptive flyers and telling them of the horrors animals endure for their “entertainment.” At least two families decided not to attend after learning the truth about the animals’ miserable lives with Ringling.

A mountain of evidence against Ringling Bros. Circus, including court transcripts, videos and still images, and the testimonies of former Ringling employees, clearly demonstrates that the cruelty has been going on for years and still continues today. The most recent video depicts Ringling workers hitting elephants in the face with bullhooks before performances and whipping tigers during training.

IDA and a variety of animal protection organizations were represented at the peaceful protest, and their message was united: It’s time to end the use of animals in circuses.

Sweet & Sara's Vegan Peeps

Every year, millions of people dress up in their best clothes, get together with their families and friends to give out baskets of treats, hunt Easter eggs and enjoy a big meal. It is a beautiful time of year, with the flowers blooming and trees turning green again. It is easy to see why people would love Easter and now it is easier than ever to celebrate with compassion. Here are some easy tips:

• Use Colorful Plastic Eggs filled with Vegan candy for your Easter Hunt! Not only will the hidden candy be more popular with your kids by avoiding using real eggs – you are not supporting an industry that remains indifferent to the unthinkable cruelties that have become common practice on their farms- including debeaking and confinement in filthy wire battery cages so small they can’t even spread their wings.
  
• Make your Easter Basket Kid & Animal friendly! Here are just a few suggestions of Vegan alternatives to classic Easter candy favorites:
  

Peeps
Creme Eggs
Chocolate Eggs
Jelly Beans
The Chocolate Bunnies
Gummy Bunnies ( OK not a classic BUT a must try )
Caramel Eggs

• Skip the Ham this Easter! Here’s a great compassionate alternative for Easter Dinner courtesy of Turtle Island Foods.:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, sliced very thin
1 cup dried sour cherries
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 tablespoons apple cider
1 Tofurky roast

Preparation:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil on medium heat. Add onion, cherries, brown sugar and vinegar and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft. Stir in mustard and apple cider, and simmer for two more minutes.
Place Tofurky roast on sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil, and spread with the onion mixture. Wrap roast snugly with the foil. Place in roasting pan, and place on center rack of oven. Bake for 45 minutes. Uncover roast for last 10 minutes of baking. Slice roast, and serve with some of the pan juices spooned over it.

For more Vegan recipes – Order a FREE Vegan Starter Kit!

For the past several weeks, Mr. William Spriggs and his amazing team of attorneys at Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney’s Washington, DC offices have been working tirelessly AND pro bono on our lawsuit to stop the Bureau of Land Management’s roundup of almost 3,000 horses in the Calico Mountains Complex in northwestern Nevada. Our case maintains that the BLM’s plan to remove 80-90 percent of the horses living in this protected area and stockpile them in government holding facilities is flatly illegal.

Some of the horses the BLM wants to round up in the Calico Complex contending that they are overpopulated and starving. These horses look healthy and sound, as is their range, according to local ecologists and wildlife biologists.

Just today, famed children’s author Terri Farley, officially joined IDA and Nevada ecologist Craig Dower as plaintiff’s in this important lawsuit.  Read IDA’s news release here. Ms. Farley’s beloved Phantom Stallion book series, which is set in the Calico Mountains and tells the stories of the horses living there. The wildly popular series with young readers has sold over a million copies.

Last week, Ms. Farley hand delivered more than 200 letters from young people to the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board at its meeting in Reno. She and her young readers are passionate advocates for America’s wild horses, and we are grateful to have her at our side in this fight.

Terri Farley presents letters from readers asking now Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to save America's wild horses.

Drawing sent by one of Terri's readers, Michelle Baehner.

A hearing on our motion for an injunction to stop the roundup, which was delayed until December 28, 2009 after we filed suit, will take place on Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before Judge Paul Friedman.  I’ll be there along with Ms. Farley, Mr. Downer, and IDA research director Eric Kleiman to watch our brilliant legal team do battle with the government over its destructive and devastating wild horse policies

Meanwhile, the horses at the BLM’s Palomino Valley Adoption Center outside Reno, Nevada spent the weekend in the middle of a blizzard and below freezing temperatures confined to pens with no shelter or way to escape the harsh elements.

Some of these horses had just arrived from the Buckhorn herd management area in California, where the BLM conducted a secret roundup without public notice due to an “internal communications” error.

Although the BLM’s guidelines require adopters of wild horses to provide them with shelter, the agency does not abide by its own rules.  Wild horse advocates who live near the facility report observing horses in direct, blistering sun in 105 degree heat and withstanding harsh windstorms without even a tree to block strong gusts and blowing dust. Although the Palomino Valley center is supposed to be a short-term holding facility, investigative reporter George Knapp of KTLA-TV in Las Vegas reports that some horses stay here for years. Mr. Knapp’s investigative series Stampede to Oblivion is a must watch for all who care about America’s wild horses.

Palomino Valley is where the Calico horses are destined to go if we are not successful in stopping the roundup. Wish our attorneys luck and stay tuned for more updates.