Chicago Bans Foie Gras">Chicago Bans Foie Gras

Great News.

The Chicago City Council today passed a law making it the first city in the nation to ban foie gras.

More than 100 Illinois restaurants had voluntarily signed pledges to stop selling foie gras.

Also, it’s probably worth noting that a ban on the sale of fois gras in the state of California goes into effect in 2012.

For more details on this cruel practice click here.

Update: Here’s the HSUS press release.

International Respect for Chickens Day

United Poultry Concerns was one of the first groups that I joined when I became aware of factory farming and wanted to support and work with organizations working against this. I found this recent email from them a great opportunity to share.

United Poultry Concerns urges activists to plan an action for chickens in honor of International Respect for Chickens Day May 4th or during that weekend. Write a letter to your local newspaper, set up a library display, leaflet at a busy street corner – do something!

Here are some Chicken Facts:

• Chickens come from the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia.
• Perched in the trees and sensitive to infrared light, chickens see the sun an hour before humans do.
• Despite domestication and genetic modifications, chickens are essentially the same as their wild relatives, the Red Jungle Fowl.
• Through crowing, every rooster in the forest knows where every other rooster and his family are at all times. Each rooster can recognize the crow of at least thirty other roosters.
• In nature, the hen and rooster find and create a ground nest together. They try out secluded places before settling on the site they both like.
• Embryonic chicks communicate with the mother hen and each other from inside the egg.
• The mother hen turns each egg 30 or more times a day in response to cues from the chick embryo.
• The mother hen helps her chicks break out of their shells.
• Roosters protect their families. Hens and roosters will fight to the death to protect their chicks from predators.
• Roosters are foragers, philanderers, and family men who seldom fight in their natural habitats.
• Chickens love bamboo seeds and figs.
• A touching example of human love for a chicken is told by the British humanitarian writer, Henry Salt, concerning an old woman he once met in a roadside cottage “who had for her companion, sitting in an armchair by the fire, a lame hen, named Tetty, whom she had saved and reared from chicken-hood.” A few years later, Salt met the woman again, and asked about Tetty, but learned that she was dead. “Ah, poor Tetty!” the woman said in tears; “she passed away several months ago, quite conscious to the end.”

United Poultry Concerns will send you brochures and posters for the specific event or action you plan for International Respect for Chickens Day. Donations to support our work are requested and gratefully received. Thank You.

United Poultry Concerns is a nonprofit organization that promotes the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl.
http://www.upc-online.org

Don’t just switch from beef to chicken. Go Vegan.

United Poultry Concerns
Karen Davis
President
PO Box 150
Machipongo, VA 23405
Phone: 757-678-7875
Fax: 757-678-5070

Review: Cha Ya – San Francisco">Review: Cha Ya – San Francisco

While the menu at the new Cha Ya in SF is the same as the original Cha Ya in Berkeley, the restaurant seating capacity is much larger. I had the impression there were about 15 tables. There are lots of food choices — 24 different items on the soup, salad, kozara (small dishes) and a la carte menu (two pages). And then there are about 2 pages of different combinations of sushi or sushi a la carte. A page of noodle dishes, and even dessert options which include japanese style desserts as well as chocolate mousse cake!

I could not pick just “one” item so I selected the $11.50 “Hosomaki Combo Dinner”, where I picked my choice of three hosomaki rolls and also received the house miso soup, and a small sunomono salad (cucumber vinaigrette salad). The 3 different sushi rolls I selected were cut into 6 pieces each – sea vegetable salad, shiitake mushroom, and avocado (all reverse rolled, with the rice on the outside) were particularly good. I really enjoy eating sushi .. The miso soup was also good. The sunomono salad was not too my taste (it thought it lacked flavor). Interestingly, the tea was served cold. But it was a pretty filling dinner.

I think the most difficult option about dining at Cha Ya is figuring out (based on the huge menu) what to get … I took a “to go” menu so I could figure out my next dinner (as the menu is complex when it comes to the many different available combinations you can order) ..I think next time I want to have the tempura or maybe a sushi tempura roll, like the Cha Ya roll — “tempura sushi filled with avocado, yam, and carrots. The entire roll is lightly battered and deep fried. Served with a special house sauce. ” Yumm!!

I loved what they printed at the bottom of the to go menu,

“Got vegan? Yes. Everything on the menu is vegetarian. It is also all vegan. What does this mean? It means we don’t use products dervied from animals of any kind. No dairy, no eggs, no gelatin, no fish, no poultry. Not even honey made by the hard-working bee. “

Given that they’ve only recently opened, I was happy to see the restaurant was busy and nearly full — I guess everyone reads SFBAVEG It’s also a good location in a busy area.

Overall, I’d definitely recommend everyone try Cha Ya! It is a wonderful addition to the veg scene in SF.

VegSanFrancisco.com">VegSanFrancisco.com

There’s a lot of websites out there for vegetarianism, and a lot deal deal with vegetarian food. Such as what to make with it, or as a growing number of websites are dedicated to — which restaurants serve it.

Restaurants are the basis for most of the business entries in our local San Francisco Bay Area guide, which we sometimes call the “Ultimate Guide to Vegetarian Living in the San Francisco Bay Area” but most frequently refer to as Ultimate Guide or for those really in the know, UG.

Folks familiar with veg web stuff may recognize a growing number of sites dedicated to helping folks find vegetarian restaurant food are using a vegCityName dot com nomenclature

We’ve got a bunch of the VegCity guides listed in our own Ultimate Guide:

VegAlbany, VegChicago, VegChico, VegDC, VegHawaii, VegKansasCity, VegMadison, VegOhio, VegPhilly, VegSanDiego, VegSeattle, VegSF, VegTampaBay, VegWorcester

Now what’s missing from this list?

VegSanFrancisco !

Right now this just links backs to Ultimate Guide, but we may tweak it abit in the future. But for now, hopefully this will make it a tad easier for all who enjoy veg foods to enjoy the convenience of what we think is the most comprehensive and current guide to vegetarian foods and services in the SF Bay Area — the Ultimate Guide to Vegetarian Living in the San Francisco Bay Area. (Hey, google search engine, did you get that??)

Sierra Club Director Resigns to Protest Hunting Prize">Sierra Club Director Resigns to Protest Hunting Prize

Sierra Club Director Paul Watson, one of the 15 national directors of the Sierra Club, resigned today to protest the use of Sierra Club resources to finance a sport hunting trip to encourage hunting.

“It appears to me that the Sierra Club should have better projects to spend $15,700 on than sending some nimrod to Alaska to shoot wildlife,” said Watson. “Last year they turned down my request for a $5,000 grant to assist the rangers in the Galapagos National Park deal with poachers.”

Watson last year protested the posting of pictures of Sierra Club leaders posing with their trophy kills on the Sierra Club website. Each year, he says, the environmental organization is spending over $200,000 on hunter outreach programs despite the fact that fewer than 20 percent of the Sierra Club membership are hunters.

His 3 year term was up next month, but it’s great that he’s taken another stand against the hypocrisy in the Sierra Club.

You can hear a recent interview with Paul in the Go Vegan Radio archives from March 5th 2006. Where he talks about his work with the Shepherd Society to protect the baby seals in Canada.

Veganism on TV more and more

I’m the first to admit that we watch way too much TV, especially me. I’m addicted to reality shows, like Survivor and Amazing Race, but equally like a good drama and politically incorrect cartoons. So we get our fair share of TV time in each week.

Has anyone else noticed more and more veg*n references on everyday TV shows lately? I don’t mean in your face digs at vegetarians, just subtle pro-veg messages or product placements.

Just last night Meadow Soprano (played by Jamie-Lynn Sigler) was wearing a PETA “Powered by Tofu” t-shirt. I know her on-screen mom played by Edie Falco is (in-real life) a PETA supporter and recently recorded a new anti-violence PSA for them.

And there’s always The Simpsons, who have a lot of thought-provoking veg/AR commentary. Just a few weeks ago we saw Lisa protesting bull fighting, and the week before that Homer made the observation about animals having feelings, too – and we all know Lisa’s a vegetarian, right?

And recently on NCIS the pathologists were joking about a burnt corpse smelling like fried chicken, and how vegetarianism is scientifically proven to be a more healthy diet – and maybe now is a time to change.

Lets not forget Denny Crane and his mad cow plug each week on Boston Legal.

One of Tammy’s favorite shows is The Apprentice, and one of the favorites to win this season is a vegetarian.

We have Tivo so avoid most of the normal advertisements which I know is dominated by the meat, drug and fast food companies – but product placement is starting to play a bigger roll and it’s interesting to see veggie companies play their part. On last season’s King of Queens, Doug was proudly eating a large quart of Soy Delicious and as the camera panned he made sure the label was clearly visible in the whole scene. I’m sure 99.9% of the viewers missed it, but we got a kick out of spotting it.

I’m sure many of these actors are vegetarian or vegan in real life, or at least support the cause – but it’s interesting to see this spill over into their on-air personas more and more.

More tofu power to them

Nestlé set to buy McCartney Veg Food line">Nestlé set to buy McCartney Veg Food line

Nestlé, not content with with buying The Body Shop last month (via its L’Oreal subsidiary), has now set its sights on swallowing up the vegetarian trailblazer Linda McCartney from Heinz.

Heinz, which has owned the range for seven years, is thought to be preparing to sell it and other frozen foods lines, which are suffering a slump as consumers turn to chilled, ready-prepared microwave meals.

Nestlé owns 50.1 per cent of Israel’s Ossem, whose subsidiary Tivall is understood to be preparing an offer for the McCartney range. Tivall already sells similar products to the British supermarkets Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury and Tesco.

This is really sad news. we love the vegan McCartney pies and they’ve always been a favorite on our trips to the UK. Fingers crossed they’ll not reformulate them or phase them out entirely.

No news what will happen to the US non-vegan McCartney line.

Incidentally, Nestlé was named today in the top 10 most “unethical” multinational companies.

[via]

Fast Food Feeding Frenzy">Fast Food Feeding Frenzy

“McDonald’s marketing generals have convened a war council and are hatching a strategy to combat a new attack,” reports Advertising Age. The “threat” they face is journalist and author Eric Schlosser. A movie based on Schlosser’s 2001 best-seller “Fast Food Nation” comes out later this year, as will his new book, which is aimed at younger readers, “Chew on This: Everything You Don’t Want to Know About Fast Food.” McDonald’s is “worried about a backlash,” reports AdAge. The fast food giant has “told franchisees that its communications will play up the company’s menu variety, new products, and community involvement to remind consumers of the chain’s more admirable activities.” The company is also involving “public relations, marketing, legal and advertising and PR agencies” in an “action plan to combat the obesity and trust issues that the Schlosser projects could raise to another level.” Schlosser told AdAge that he’s also “been attacked by people from the National Restaurant Association and the Center for Consumer Freedom.”

Vegan Bubble has Burst!

Well, with the closure of Hwy 1, which is our easy access to San Francisco and its veggie restaurant treasures, we feel as if our vegan bubble has burst.

While we’ve lived on the coast for nearly a decade, we haven’t dined on the coast in over five years. We’ve preferred to support exclusively vegetarian (preferably vegan) restaurants who have fewer diners than those businesses that serve cuttings of animal corpses.

The only road open to us is south on Hwy 1, towards Half Moon Bay. We took a short road trip from Montara to HMB to scout out the vegan food offerings on the coast.

And while there were some options available, for the most part, they were upscale and expensive dining options. Half Moon Bay Inn offers a vegan veggie burger for $10. No mention was made whether that included a side salad or fries or anything else besides condiments.

So far, the most reasonable option we found was a small restaurant close to home in Montara called Fog City Pizza and Indian Food. The pizza menu contains one vegetarian pizza (which is vegan if ordered cheeseless, or you can build one to your topping specifications) and the Indian food menu contains a few entrees that are vegetarian and can be requested vegan. We found they don’t use ghee, and were helpful in answering our questions.

It was originally a to-go place that added on an enclosed patio seating area. Only a few tables, but if your chair faces the right direction, you’ve got a beautiful ocean view.

We couldn’t decide whether to try the Indian Food or the pizza, so went for one of each: a curry, Aloo Gobi ($6), cauliflower, carrots, and potatoes with herbs and spices, over basmati rice ($3) with a side order of Garlic Nan ($3) and the 12″ Montara Veggie ($17 and completely covered with red onions, bell peppers mushrooms, corn, olives, artichoke, tomato, and garlic).

The curry was excellent. And the pizza was good. It wasn’t quite as good as the vegan version offered at Panhandle Pizza in San Francisco, but it was close enough — and a 3 minute drive always trumps what could be a 90-120 minute drive or longer if you hit traffic gridlock through HMB or Highway 1 and 92.

Cow / Human Hybrid

Just like Mom used to make .. Not!

A Dutch biotechnology company called Pharming has genetically engineered cows, outfitting females with a human gene that causes them to express high levels of the protein human lactoferrin in their milk.

According to Pharming’s website, the protein, which is naturally present in human tears, lung secretions, milk and other bodily fluids, fights against the bacteria that causes eye and lung infections, plays a key role in the immune system of infants and adults, and improves intestinal microbial balance, promoting the health of the gastro-intestinal tract.

To create human lactoferrin-lactating cows, Pharming’s scientists introduce human DNA coding for the protein’s production into the nuclei of fertilized bovine eggs.

Pharming has filed a notification with the FDA asking that their lactoferrin be labeled “Generally Recognized As Safe” (GRAS). If the FDA approves this product, human lactoferrin derived from these cloned cows could be in America’s yogurt, Popsicles, sports drinks and snack bars within months.

Does this mean when these cows go to slaughter, the consumers of the meat could considered cannibals?