Link-o-mania! Events, posts, voting, etc.

Today I’ve got a roundup of links for everything that’s going on outside of MoFo. Support! Attend! Read! I’ve also got a squeaky space bar that’s annoying me, butyouwouldbeannoyedifiwroteeverythinglikethis so I will just have to deal with the annoyance so you don’t have to. You’re welcome.

She's Super Woman. What can't she do??

Firstly, peta2 is holding their 5th annual Libby Awards and the lovely Letecia Garcia is in the running for Street Teamer of the year! She is the president of KU’s Vegetarian Education Group, a longtime member of peta2′s youth advisory board, and an amazing activist both with existing organizations and in her everyday life. Vote for her! While you’re at it, might as well vote Vegan Treats as the best vegan bakery. Go Lehigh Valley!

And since I am the HumaneTeen to Letecia’s peta2, I am going to urge you to go vote for the HSUS to get $250K from the Pepsi Refresh project! HSUS will use this money to help animals in need. They are currently in first place, but we need YOUR vote to keep them there! You can vote twice daily until the end of the month. They even have a very handy daily voting reminder you can sign up for!

If you’re still in a voting mood and happen to be a Giant Food Stores bonuscard member, head on over to their site and vote for your favorite design for their next Earth Day reusable bag! You know your favorite is the one with the girl hugging the heart-shaped earth. Help a sista (er, a friend’s sista!) out and vote for that one.

Reading time. In lieu of Michael Vick’s recent victories on the football field, some people need reminding that he is an asshole. Do the dogs he destroyed emotionally as well as physically care that he’s doing wonderful now? Surprise, no.

And for a lighter note: hey students! Go check out this awesome list of 100 cooking blogs for students. I’m happy to be included in the list alongside some of my favorite blogs such as The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur and BitterSweet. By the by, both those vegan bloggers have cookbooks out. You should visit their blogs and buy their books. mmm, vegan baked goods. Young vegan authors rock!

You know who else rocks? for the Animals Sanctuary in Blairstown, NJ, who I wrote about a few weeks ago. They have a blog now! Also, they are holding a holiday lunch at Loving Hut in Ledgewood, NJ on December 4th, and the menu looks amazing. $35 per person, and funds raised go directly to the animals! Yum-azing!

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for the Animals Sanctuary!

As I write this, I’m eating a huge slice of Vegan Treats death by chocolate cake from yesterday’s work party & potluck at for the Animals Sanctuary in Blairstown, NJ. The top of the cake box simply said DEATH. How ironic.

I’ve been hearing about this farm animal sanctuary from my internet friends for about a year now. I met the founder, Debbie Kowalski, when I was at TAFA with Farm Sanctuary this past July. However, even though I’ve been home since August, I haven’t had the chance to actually get out to the sanctuary until yesterday.

Yesterday the lovely Letecia and I went to ftA for a work party followed by a potluck (all vegan, of course). We met their 30-some beautiful animals and then got quickly to work. One group cleaned out the barn, while the rest of us went down to load the old piles of compost into the spreader. With all of us pitching in (oh boy, the puns were endless but I’ll refrain from posting any others in order to keep this post family friendly), the work got done in no time (especially the A-team s*** shovelers, we BEASTED that compost pile)!

Of course we had worked ourselves up an appetite, so we all went inside to indulge in the food that everyone brought. There was SO MUCH food everywhere! I tried to get a little bit of everything, but everytime I turned around I was finding something new and I could only handle so much. There was pot pie, BBQ “meatballs,” millet, cauliflower, some sort of orzo salad, potato salad, Italian & “turkey” subs, cookies, muffins, cake, and so much more! Every single thing I had was amazing, even if I had no idea what it was.

After everyone was stuffed to the brim, Deb brought out the Death by Chocolate cake (AKA heaven). She looked like she wanted to eat the whole thing, but was kind enough to share.

For the Animals Sanctuary had a completely different feel from Farm Sanctuary, because it’s a much smaller organization. The people and animals are much more personable, the work much more manageable (their spreader looked like a toy compared to what they have at FS), and of course their budget much smaller. Which is where I call on you to help them out!

Right now, ftA is having an online auction to name the aforementioned piglets (link). The auction goes through Saturday. Basically, there is a separate bid for each pig and the winner gets to name that pig! As I write this, the bids are at $150 for the pink piglet and $225 for the pink and red piglet. Please consider bidding if you can! If you don’t have that much money to spend, definitely check out Debbie’s Etsy shop. She makes lots of beautiful vegan jewelry, and all the money she makes goes directly to the animals.

Overall we had a wonderful day, and I’m so happy we went! We met so many awesome people, and Deb & Steve (and the animals!) were super appreciative of all our hard work. There was so much vegan camaraderie and delicious food that I even started tearing up at one point. There’s absolutely nothing bad I could say about it, even if I tried.

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Philadelphia’s Walk for Farm Animals

As you may already know from my countless posts on Facebook and Twitter begging for donations, I had the pleasure of participating in Philadelphia’s Walk for Farm Animals today to raise money for Farm Sanctuary. After all the rain we had this week I was afraid the weather might not be favorable, but it was perfectly sunny and not too chilly.

We gathered at Rittenhouse Square and received our T-shirts, which I must say get better every year. I really liked the grassroots look of last year’s “Taking Compassion to the Streets” shirt (designed by Herbivore‘s Josh Hooten!), but love the classy blue & white “compassion for all” script on this year’s (by Leanne Hilgart of Vaute Couture!). This is definitely a shirt I will wear other places as well.

From Rittenhouse Square we walked down Walnut Street to Broad and up to City Square, then looped back to Rittenhouse. It was wonderful walking around the city with like-minded people, raising awareness and money for such a great cause. We passed people advocating Save the Children and bonded over the fact that we were all out there working for a good cause–lots of good karma in the City of Brotherly Love. We didn’t encounter any negativity towards the cause (that I noticed). The salesperson when we walked by LUSH tried to sell us all cosmetics, pointing out that they do not test on animals. Awesome marketing skills, but unfortunately we were on a mission!

After the walk, we went to the lobby of the Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre for free vegan refreshments. There was hummus & pita bread, banana cake, carrot cake, berry mango muffins, pasta salad, sandwich cookies, and tea sandwiches (eggless and cucumber) as well as coffee and iced tea. Everything was amazing. There was also a silent auction and a raffle to raise more money for Farm Sanctuary.

This is my first year participating in the walk, but from what I hear we had at least twice as many walkers as we had last year. The totals won’t be out until February, but I personally raised $345, surpassing my goal of $300. Much thanks to everyone who donated money for the walk, participated in it, and most importantly those who organized it!

If you haven’t donated, it’s not too late… Walk donations are open until December 30th. Please visit my FirstGiving page at www.firstgiving.com/louzilla ASAP to do so!

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Bill White writes about Walk for Farm Animals

Bill White, columnist for The Morning Call, is well known for being an animal lover. I’ve followed his countless articles about Almost Heaven Kennels, a puppy mill just down the street from me. So it wasn’t too surprising that he would be the one to write about Farm Sanctuary’s Walk for Farm Animals in the Call. I was very happy to see his article (entitled Hilda the Sheep rose from the dead), and didn’t hesitate to thank him for it (you should too! bill.white@mcall.com)

Except that not only is Bill an animal lover, he also loves to eat. A lot. Including lots of meat. He has a contest at Musikfest called “Eat Your Way through Musikfest.” He eats obscene amounts of food from vendors all over the festival on the first of ten days, and anyone else who eats everything on his card of favorites gets a prize bag full of Morning Call goodies and a Bill White t-shirt.

Let me make it clear that I am not writing to slam this contest. I am a huge fan of eating and have been known to eat obscene amounts of (vegan) food in the past (every time I visit Strong Hearts in Syracuse, NY for example). I just think that it would be a wonderful thing for veganism if Bill could bring his two loves together: eat lots of vegan food. For a week. And then write a column about it for The Morning Call. I think everyone would benefit from it.

On a vaguely related note, the next time the festival rolls around I plan on doing my own version of Eating Through Musikfest: on the first night, I’ll go around to all the vendors and eat every single vegan option available. Unfortunately, I may still be hungry when I’m finished.

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Sanctuary

Amidst all the chaos,
The feedings, the readings,
You were born
Into the hands of your savior.
Everyone took a break
From heavy workloads,
Gathering to admire you.
A love of life filled the air,
And yours will be
A lucky life of love.
As you lay with your mother
In the narrowing patch of sun
That shone into the barn,
Haloed like some heavenly being,
I was reminded of Bethlehem…
I felt like I was home.

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Know what’s coming up?

That’s right, Dr. Seuss’s birthday!

Which means it’s also my birthday, and I’m asking everybody to donate some money to Farm Sanctuary for my birthday because it’s such an unbelievably wonderful place for animals and they’re always in need of more money so they can keep up what they’re doing… especially in this economic recession.

I’m giving up 3 months of my life to work here for free, so obviously this is something I care really deeply about. Besides, the animals need this way more than I need presents on my birthday!!

Please click here to donate.

Thanks loves!
peace <3
Lou

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Some Days are Better than Others

Some days are dry, some days are leaky
Some days come clean, other days are sneaky
Some days take less, but most days take more
Some slip through your fingers and onto the floor
Some days you’re quick, but most days you’re speedy
Some days you use more force than is necessary
Some days just drop in on us
Some days are better than others. . .

 Some days begin with resentment, dead chickens, and sub-zero temperatures. A rooster attacks you, a pig bites you in the arse (albeit playfully). Your hands just about freeze to the metal of the gates, the sky is perpetually a dull grey, and no amount of coffee will perk you up.

Some days you forget to properly close the gate because Billy the calf scared you half to death, he just wanted to play but you know he’s much bigger and stronger than you are. So the pigs beat each other up and escape their pasture, causing an hour or two of frustration on your part but hey at least they’re enjoying themselves immensely as they run away up the hill, and that’s what this farm is about isn’t it: animals enjoying themselves.

And then some days the sun shines brightly down upon the hills, glinting off the snow like diamonds, the frost on the fences crystallized like rock candy. “Bad Cat” Greg follows you around as you do your rounds, he’s not really a bad cat at all, he’ll visit the birds but stays away from the pigs. Cinco and Sparkle and Guy Benedict and Orlo, the Lower Hospital chickens, enjoy their time outside in the sun and the fresh air, the mud beneath their feet (but Cinco has no feet), mud made from melted snow.

Some days as you pill Wallflower the rooster, you ask him “what are the Perks of Being a Wallflower, anyway?” and even though he dislikes being pilled it’s obvious that there are many perks of being him because he lives in a place of hope, of healing, of unconditional love, where everybody caters to his needs as a living being instead of viewing him as a commodity off which to make a profit.

Some days it seems nearly impossible to get out of your soft warm bed before dawn even breaks, but you realize the sunrise is even more beautiful than the sunset as that fiery orb comes up over the silvery white of the snow-covered trees, and the sky is so many pale shades of cotton candy. And anyway, you’re getting up for the animals who need you, not to go contribute to some mindless corporate system.

Some days you’re just counting down the time until you go home;
Some days you can’t believe how quickly the time has flown.

. . .Some days you feel ahead
You’re making sense of what she said
Some days are better than others. . .

But every single day I am grateful for the experience.

Note: All lyrics in italics are from the song “Some Days are Better than Others” by U2.

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Beautiful Day on the Farm: A Photo entry

It was so beautiful outside on my day off Wednesday that I took the opportunity to walk around and take pictures of the farm and some of the animals.

Waiting to be fed

Sun starting to go down over the top of the farm

Overlooking the Upper Hospital

“]”]

Guess what? (chickenbutt)

Feeding Time!

Old Rainbow Logo

Snow Bunny Buddies

Outside bunny shed

Circle of hay inside bunny shed

Hello little bunny!

Bunny nuzzles

The setting sun

Overlooking the cow pasture

Seeing the beauty here and the wonderful lives we give the animals is so wonderful after coming back from the dark, miserable stockyards yesterday. Most days on the farm the sky has just been a hazy shade of winter, but that just makes the days when the sun comes out so much better.

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Field Trips to the Stockyard

Today we went on a field trip to the stockyard where animals get auctioned off. We watched baby calves get pushed around a ring while people stood on bleachers bartering for their lives. All the calves were under a week old, some of them just born this morning, and none of them living to see the end of the day.

On the way to the stockyard, Don firmly lay down the rules as to how we were to behave while there:  No animal rights messages anywhere on our clothing/accessories. No recording devices of any kind, whether it be a tape recorder, camera, even camera phone. Don’t point out to the farmers if we see an injured animal. Don’t start up anything with anyone. We’re here for educational purposes only. We are to be the best advocates we can, but this is neither the time nor the place for that.

What we are about to see may be highly disturbing to us. People treating animals like commodities instead of beings. Children being desensitized to the suffering of animals at a young age — tales of an 8-year-old boy harshly prodding at cattle with a stick, being cheered on by his older brother, “atta boy!”  A family event, everyone going to see the animals auctioned off to their death sentences before they’ve had a chance to live. And this is just a small town livestock auction, nothing near the horrors hidden behind the walls of factory farms. It’s absolutely OK to cry, and if it got too intense for us we could always go back in the van.

By the time we got there, we were no longer sure we wanted go at all, but we were already there. We tentatively followed Don inside the building, feeling hugely out of place among the camoflauged hicks and deathmongers that filled the place. But today was a relatively quiet day, so we didn’t have to bear witness to the worst abuse or suffocatingly close quarters that might be at the stockyard. Don’t get me wrong, it was still vile.

If you’ve ever seen a baby calf you know just how adorable they are. If not, then you’re missing out big time. Their big brown eyes with the long eyelashes, their awkward walks and jumps around… the thought of taking something so wonderful right out of this world is almost too much to bear. One calf came over and started suckling on Tabitha’s finger, so starved for love and food. It’s heartbreaking to know that this was probably the only love he’d ever get in his entire lifetime, but at least we were there to give him that.

These calves, of course, are a byproduct of the dairy industry. What most people don’t understand is that even if you go vegetarian, you’re still supporting the slaughter of these animals because dairy cows must be impregnated once a year in order to keep producing milk. What happens to the calves? They aren’t needed, so they get sent straight to slaughter.

I am so proud to be here at Farm Sanctuary helping animals directly. The contrast between the short, uncared for lives at the stockyard and the long, loving, happy lives our animals get here is amazing, and I am so happy to be on the right side of the fence. I gladly get up early every morning and go out in the freezing cold to help these fortunate animals because they deserve it, and at the same time I am learning so much so that I can be the best advocate I can be. Because hearsay is nothing in an argument when put up against “I’ve been there. Have you??”

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Ed. Lunch & Billy the Calf

Yesterday we got an adorable little black calf named Billy at the farm.  He was born at a dairy farm and destined for slaughter because he was seen as a waste, not being a dairy cow, but Billy was saved by a Truxton farmer named Larry who couldn’t bear to think of a baby calf being killed without ever enjoying life. So Larry took Billy and ended up bringing him to Farm Sanctuary, where he will be able to live a long, happy life knowing he is safe from the factory farm practices to which he was almost destined to fall prey.

Photo by Karen Nalani Encarnacion

Read Billy’s press release here.

In other news, today was the first educational lunch (ed. lunch) for all the current interns here at Farm Sanctuary. Every Wednesday, we go down to the People Barn where Don Walker, the intern coordinator, cooks us an awesome vegan lunch and then we get to learn about different topics related to animal advocacy, veganism, the Farm, etc. Today’s lunch was broccoli and rice casserole, glazed carrots with a difference, and chocolate mousse pie (recipes below, except for the pie). Man, I am a long-time broccoli hater (I try to like it, honest!) but this casserole was so good, especially paired with the glazed carrots… salty paired with sweet, they complement each other so well! I’m glad I liked it so much, because Don serves it the first Wednesday of every month, and I’ll be here for three months so I get it three times.

Today’s ed. lunch topic was History of Farm Sanctuary and Veganism, which is the first ed. lunch of every month (meaning I’ll be getting the same schpiel February and March). We talked about how Farm Sanctuary was established, what Farm Sanctuary does, and briefly about veganism as a lifestyle. Although much of what we talked about was just reiterating stuff I already knew, I did learn a few new things as well.

For example, I knew that Burger Kings across the nation sold veggie burgers, but what I did not know was that that started at the Burger King in Watkins Glen as a result of pressure from everyone from and visiting Farm Sanctuary. The veggie burgers did so well, they tested it at more Burger Kings around New York and eventually it became a menu option nationwide. While I personally will never get a veggie burger at Burger King and therefore support the fast food industry, hooray for mainstream vegetarian options!

We also talked about ballot initiatives Farm Sanctuary has worked on, such as helping Florida to become the first state to have any sort of legislation against farm animal cruelty, and of course advocating the passage of Prop 2 in California in 2008. We also mentioned some major rescues Farm Sanctuary did, such as Hurricane Katrina, the Iowa floods, and Colombus, OH tornado rescues.

It was great learning about all the stuff Farm Sanctuary has done and is currently working on, and I look forward to learning about more topics at future ed. lunches and of course eating more of Don’s awesome cooking! Now time for the recipes (sorry, again, no pictures):

Broccoli and Rice Casserole (from The Compassionate Cook)

2-3 crowns of Broccoli

1 1/2 - 2 cups rice

1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine

1/2 cup all purpose flour

3 1/2 cups boiling water

2 tsp salt

1-2 Tbs soy sauce or tamari

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder or granules

1 tsp onion powder or granules

pinch of turmeric

1 cup nutritional yeast

pinch of paprika

Preheat oven to 350

1. Cook rice according to package instructions.

2. Steam broccoli to desired tenderness.

3. Bring 3 1/2 cups of water to boil.

4. In a medium-sized saucepan, melt the margarine over low heat.  When the margarine is melted, whisk in the flour then whisk in the boiling water (It should thicken and bubble).  Whisk in the salt, soy sauce or tamari, garlic and onion powder or granules, turmeric, then the nutritional yeast.

5. Spread the rice in a casserole dish and then spread the broccoli over the rice.  Pour the sauce over the rice and broccoli.  Sprinkle paprika over the top.

6. Bake at 350 for 15-30 minutes.

Glazed Carrots with a Difference

2 Tbs vegetable margarine

¼ Cup brown sugar

¼ – ½ tsp cinnamon

2 cups chopped carrots

1 medium onion, chopped

Melt margarine over low heat.  Add remaining ingredients and cook until desired consistency. 

Alternatively, you can steam the carrots and onion first.  Mix all ingredients over low heat until margarine and brown sugar is melted, then Serve immediately.

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