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[vegansaurus]

Hey! It’s the world’s first fully vegan LGBT focused cruise! And you’re going! WHAT!!!

Sean of Fat Gay Vegan is setting sail on the first fully vegan LGBT focused ~*~luxury~*~ cruise on the Mekong river and YOU SHOULD ALSO BE ONBOARD FOR THE CULINARY SENSATION OF A LIFETIME!!! Sean is the best and this cruise will definitely be the best and I am so jealous that you get to go on this!!! All the details here and please bring me back some bonbons please and thank you!!!

p.s. LOOK AT YOUR ROOM HOLY S!!!!!!!

[vegansaurus]

SF: There’s a Party in Our Plants this Earth Day!

Hey Bay Area! What are you doing for the most important holiday of the year? No, not my birthday, silly! I mean Earth Day! Why not head on over to Cole Valley and try this beautiful vegan burger at Earthie’s Drive Thru’s “There’s a Party in Our Plants” popup! 

Info:

On April 22nd, we're introducing San Francisco to the best burger on Earth, made out of one simple ingredient: plants. But don't let that word fool you -- this isn't your typical veggie burger. We've created something so satisfying, you'll have a hard time believing it's better for you and for the planet. Plus, we're planting a tree for every burger we make.

Sunday, April 22nd, 2018, 5pm-8pm 205 Frederick Street, SF 94117

You can order fries and homemade sodas with your burger too. There won’t be tickets or anything but I’m told they’ll likely sell out so try to get there early! If you sign up on their site, you’ll get an email with a $1 off coupon. HUZZAH!

[vegansaurus]

An Interview With the Fat Gay Vegan and Enter to Win His Phenomenal New Book! Hooray!

Hello! I’m assuming you’re all here to win Sean O’Callaghan’s EXCELLENT, HILARIOUS, INFORMATIVE, WONDERFUL, PERFECT new book, “Fat Gay Vegan: Eat, Drink, and Live Like You Give a Sh!t,” right!? Well, it’s easy! 

TO ENTER: Just go to THIS INSTAGRAM POST and make any sort of comment you want, I don’t care. Tell me your favorite color or just write “fart.” Your odds of winning are the same and it doesn’t matter to me. Hooray for you! ENTER TODAY! (I’ll pick the three winners in a few days and update this post so you don’t try to enter and I’m all, “TOO BAD SO SAD NO BOOK FOR YOU!”

NOW ONTO THE INTERVIEW!!!!

First, should start by saying I love Sean and his partner Josh very much. They’re two shining lights on this shit planet and we’re all lucky they’re around tearing it up and showing everyone what’s what. Sean’s book is truly very wonderful and if you don’t win, you would still be wise to buy a bunch of copies and give them out to friends, lovers, neighbors, family, pets, attractive people, unattractive people, dogs, cats, seals, and also everyone else. OK ON WITH THE SHOW FOR REAL!

Your book is hilarious! How do you find the humor in truly shitty things, like animals (including humans!) being treated like crap just so people can eat gross ol' meat, dairy, and eggs? This is already my favorite interview due to you opening with a compliment. Thank you. Humor is a great coping mechanism for dealing with hardship and unpleasantness, and there is no denying that industrialized farming and exploitation of non-human animals is incredibly unpleasant. Finding humor in horror is a way for us to not feel completely swamped and overwhelmed by what would otherwise hurt our hearts and minds too much. We laugh so we don't cry, often. I find my irreverent approach to championing the vegan message makes me approachable to readers. Fat Gay Vegan would be a great Sesame Street character. Education about compassion with a goofy, sassy kindness and overeating. 

What's your best advice for people who are freaked out about where meat/dairy/eggs come from but are scared to take the step into veganism? To take the vegan fork in the road, we need to ensure we have the correct map and coordinates. Arm yourself with all the facts, bookmark your favorite recipe blogs, and surround yourself with like-minded people so you don't feel alone. The strength of community comes into its own when helping you break free from the habit of relying on animals for food, clothing and entertainment. Seeing how other kind people navigate vegan living is a fabulous form of inspiration and can be the kick in the trousers you need to take the leap. 

Why is intersectionality so important to you? First of all, I am unlikely to use the term intersectionality to describe my work as a vegan campaigner as I know the term was coined by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw to describe the crossover oppressions specific to black women. Apologies for getting a little too learned, but something powerful I've taken on is how harmful it can be to appropriate terms and concepts designed for realities different from my own. You know what I mean? Intersectionality just doesn't feel right for me to use as I see fit as a white man from Australia. [Ed.: My apologies for the sloppily worded question and the reminder to be more specific and correct in my language! Learning is fun and necessary!]

But to get back on track and to what I think you are asking, it is important to me to fight to redress multiple oppressions affecting our communities and not just sit at home Instagramming my latest box of vegan donuts. When we understand that the forces of capitalism, colonialism, toxic masculinity and white supremacy are powering lots of fucked up shit in our world (racism, misogyny, homophobia, ableism, body shaming, industrialized oppression of non-human animals, wealth disparity, farmworker exploitation, etc) we can start to understand that we need to tackle the root cause of multiple oppressions if we have any hope of enacting meaningful change. If you are still with me, I'd like to also tell you that being vegan is not enough. If we don't fight the oppressive forces that make all this shit happen in the first place, it will just keep springing up. So eat your vegan donuts, but make sure vegan donut companies are paying fair wages, are not employing sexist and racist advertising tricks, and are concerned with the safety of farmworkers growing the donuts. Yes, I have a fantasy of vegan donuts growing on trees. And please don't just take my fat, white man word for it. Some smart and clever people you should pay attention (and money) to include Dr Breeze Harper [Ed.: Heranthology, “Sistah Vegan: Black Female Vegans Speak on Food, Identity, Health, and Society,” is indispensable!] and lauren Ornelas [Ed.: Food Empowerment Project is AMAZING!]. They know much more than I do and should both be cited in any discussion about fighting multiple oppressions within a vegan framework. 

You are essentially a professional vegan -- what advice would you give other people who are looking to turn their passion for veganism into a FT job? My number one piece of advice is to couple your love of veganism with another passion. I have always wanted to be a writer since I was small child writing poems to my local newspaper. I once won a calculator ruler for a poem called 'Friends' in which I recounted my sadness at being abandoned by my friends. I was a barrel of laughs as a kid, obviously. If you are good at something and have a drive to do it (like me with writing), it makes it so much more fun to turn it into your livelihood. You might not be a writer but perhaps you are a teacher, an artist, a community organiser, or an event planner. There are so many meaningful ways to work veganism into your other life passions. 

You list a bunch of cities that are very vegan friendly in your travel section, but I want specifics? What are your top 5 favorite vegan restaurants in the world? Vedge in Philadelphia is the best vegan restaurant on the planet. If you can afford to eat with them, you won't get finer food. Wulf and Lamb in London is a beautiful place to dine and it helps that they do the best vegan mac n cheese in the UK. Temple of Seitan in London is more of a fast food joint but I couldn't leave their world-altering vegan fried chicken off my list. How many have I got left? Two? OK. Get into Napfényes Étterem in Budapest. It will change your life for the better with glorious goulash and decadent pastries. My final pick is a bit of a cheat as it is a chain. I really think that Veggie Grill has done a lot of good in the world by serving up consistently tasty comfort food to the masses across the USA. 

And more about food because I'm also fat and I love it! What are your top 5 favorite vegan dishes? I'm all about potato and black bean taquitos served with salsa verde. My go-to snack for when I'm Netflixing (with a borrowed account because I'm too cheap to buy my own) is a bowl of fresh popcorn dusted with chipotle powder, nutritional yeast and pink salt. The fried vegan chicken two-piece from Temple of Seitan is going to be served at either my wedding or funeral, whichever comes first. I adore an old-fashioned English fry up (or hot breakfast) featuring sausages, baked beans, toast, rashers, and scramble. I'm not famous for eating raw food but I do love vegan ceviche featuring mushrooms 'cooked' in lime juice. My beloved friend Julio taught me how to make it, so it arouses an emotional response as well as a greed response. 

How much do you love Vegansaurus and can we do a vegan cruise with you? Before I was a z-grade vegan blogger, Vegansaurus was one of my inspirations and made me feel that I could do this whole 'being a sassy vegan online' thing. So thanks for letting me steal all your ideas and thematic approach to life. If I had my way, Fat Gay Vegan and Vegansaurus would ALWAYS be on a vegan cruise together with an unlimited supply of donuts and reality TV cameras trained on us to catch our every witticism. Come at me, bro.[Ed.: OK, WHO WANTS TO GIVE US A SHOW? Let’s go, Hollywood! You heard the Fat Gay Vegan!]

[vegansaurus]

Vegansaurus Talks Clean Meat with Author Paul Shapiro!

If you haven’t heard of clean meat, now’s the time to stop living under a rock and start reading up on the topic on a lot of vegans’ minds these days. If you have heard of clean meat, now’s also the time to learn more about this breakthrough that could start CLOSING SLAUGHTERHOUSES DOORS FOR GOOD. Which is the goal, OK? Because, seriously, those places gotta go. 

We were lucky enough to sit down with author and animal advocate Paul Shapiro (yes, the famed Paul Shapiro of Animal News You Can Use!) to break it all down. Paul’s new book Clean Meat: How Growing Meat without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World, comes out January 2 on Simon & Schuster’s Gallery Books, WHICH IS TOMORROW! Go get it!

Paul, congrats on writing the book on clean meat! PS: Thanks! I guess it’s true I’ve written the book on it, since I’ve written the only book on it! Not the highest bar, admittedly, but there are others working on books on the topic too, and I can’t wait to read theirs.

Ha, fair enough. But yours is still the best-selling one out right now… Good point!

So for the totally ignorant, I mean, for the less familiar, can you tell us just what this clean meat is? We’re talking here about real meat, just grown outside animals. Not an alternative to meat, like Gardein or Tofurky, both of which I love. But real, actual animal meat, grown from animal cells as opposed to animal slaughter. Yes, it may sound like science fiction, but it’s now science fact. The book chronicles the pioneering startups and their investors racing to commercialize these animal-free animal products and the potential such commercialization has to address many of the most pressing sustainability concerns we face. It’s called clean meat because, like clean energy, it’s so much cleaner for the planet. But it’s also just literally cleaner.

What do you mean the meat is literally cleaner? Well, right now meat from animals is typically riddled with feces: E Coli, Campylobacter, Salmonella, all of which are intestinal pathogens. That’s why you have to cook the crap out of raw meat—literally—to prevent it from sickening you. But when growing clean meat, you don’t grow intestines; you just grow muscle, meaning it’s much cleaner and safer from a food safety perspective.

Cook the crap out of meat—literally. OMG. I get it: it’s cleaner. But it’s still animal meat. Should vegans eat this? Well, clean meat’s not commercially available just yet, but that will change within a matter of years, not decades. And in many ways it doesn’t really matter if vegans eat it. The goal is for clean meat to displace factory farmed meat, not to displace plant-based foods, of course. It’s an alternative for people who feel like they’re wedded to eating real meat.

Why can’t those people just eat plant-based meats? I hope they will and expect the plant-based protein sector to explode in the way the plant-based milk sector has exploded in recent years. But even with the popularity of plant-based milks, 90-percent of fluid milk sold in the US is still coming from cows. In the case of meat, more than 99 percent meat sold in the US still comes from animals. (Plant-based meats are less than 1 percent of meal sales.) To the extent that many people want actual animal meat, clean meat is a way to provide it while causing much less cruelty, fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and with fewer resources.

That all sounds great, but will people actually eat clean meat? Well, look at the meat people eat now. It comes from animals who were raised in the most unnatural and inhumane conditions imaginable. Sure, there may be some people who’ll say they refuse to eat meat unless an animal was slaughtered for it, but I suspect a lot of people will be quite glad to be able to enjoy real meat with so many fewer downsides. And consumer surveys suggest that quite a lot of Americans would be happy to eat clean meat, too.

But will clean meat have the same unhealthy aspects of meat, like increased heart disease risk? The nutritional quality of clean meat will likely be the same as conventional meat, but again, with food safety improvements. Theoretically that could be improved upon, but it’s likely that at least at first, it will just be nutritionally equivalent. All that said, I’m friends with a lot of vegans on social media, and my feed is generally populated by celebratory messages about the latest vegan donuts, pizzas, ice creams, and other foods that are delicious but certainly unhealthy, so I don’t know what percentage of vegans are so concerned about health that they don’t occasionally eat unhealthy foods. Still, the goal isn’t for vegans to eat clean meat, but vegans concerned about animals and the planet certainly should be enthused about the prospect of commercially viable clean meat so that many who do eat clean meat can switch.

GOT IT. So where can people learn more about the book? PS: Check out www.CleanMeat.com, get the book, and tell me what you think about it! You heard Paul Shapiro! Now leave our site and go buy the book! (Don’t worry, you can come right back afterwards!)

[vegansaurus]

The most dangerous threat animals face in the Congress RIGHT NOW!

The cultural revolution for animals keeps moving forward. From my home of Montgomery County, Maryland to Scotland, more and more governments keep banning circuses from exploiting wildlife. Also, Michael Kors became the latest big fashion brand to swear off animal fur. And that was just this week! For a fuller rundown of awesome things that happened for animals in 2017, check out Wayne Pacelle’s list.

With so much progress, there’s always pushback from those who want to keep abusing animals. Fortunately, the LA Times editorial board this week called out the most dangerous threat animals face in the Congress right now. Want to help defeat this danger? Here’s your chance!

While animals always face threats, the factory farming industry is also at threat from Silicon Valley’s interest in disrupting the meat industry, as Fortune reports this week. And I published a piece in Scientific American this week on that too.

Video of the week: Pit bulls + balloons. Need more?

Paul Shapiro, Vice President of Policy Engagement, The Humane Society of the United States

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Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use: Instagram, Viva Mexico, and Adorable Pit Bulls!

Missouri led a group of states this week in filing a legal action to overturn California’s hen protection law, prompting the state’s biggest newspaper, the Kansas City Star, to slam its own state’s attorney general for the misguided action. Talk about egg on his face. Given the concern factory farm defenders have about our work, perhaps it’s unsurprising that Feedstuffs lists as two of the biggest threats agribusinesses will face in 2018: Animal advocates and plant-based meats.

As a relative newcomer to Instagram myself,  I was impressed to see its new policy this week for alerting users to potential wildlife abuse. Good to see such depravity doesn’t go over easy on the social media platform.

Animal abusers also got scrambled in court a lot this past year. Here’s Wayne Pacelle’s uplifting round-up of such successes.

And finally, Viva Mexico! As the U.S. was hatching a plan to shrink our protected national parks this week, our neighbors to the south shell-shocked the hemisphere by creating the largest protected marine area in North America which is now off limits to fishing and drilling.

Video of the week: How many pit bulls is too many?

Paul Shapiro, Vice President of Policy Engagement, The Humane Society of the United States

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Paul Shapiro’s Animal News You Can Use: Protecting elephants, the b.s. fur industry, and turkeys playing soccer!

It was the week of pleasant surprises.

The president of the United States called trophy hunting a “horror show,” and put on hold his own administration’s recent decision to allow imports of African elephant heads. The move earned praise from HSUS and across the political spectrum, from the National Review to the Washington Post editorial board.

I don’t always read Vogue, but when I do, it’s to read interviews with HSUS about the demise of the fur industry.

And while I’d expect an animal protection organization to decry the rampant abuse of turkeys this time of year, seeing the Los Angeles Times editorial board railing against cruelty in the turkey industry on Thanksgiving day was very welcome.

There’s some other promising news for turkeys and other farm animals, too. In case you missed it in Beef Central, the trade publication this week called clean meatand plant-based meat “a potentially serious competitor to conventionally grown meat."

Video of the week: Perhaps you watched football yesterday, but did you know turkeys play soccer?

Paul Shapiro, Vice President of Policy Engagement The Humane Society of the United States

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Animal News You Can Use: Paul’s Amazing New Book!!!

What do former secretaries of agriculture, Republican and Democrat alike, agree on? That you should read my new book, Clean Meat: How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World. See what they have to say at CleanMeat.com! (And here’s the first review, which calls the book a “carefully researched and lively written volume.” I’ll take it!)

The current USDA, though, is another story. The agency just shamefully delayed—again—animal welfare upgrades for the organic program.

While the federal government may not be doing much to help animals in the US right now, there’s good news abroad. Italy’s parliament just voted to ban animal circuses (with a one-year phase-out)!

Finally, as you prepare for the holidays, are you wondering which Thanksgiving product to try out this holiday season? A couple experts and I recently did a taste test for you!

Video of the week: There are two types of people in winter. Which are you?

- Paul Shapiro, Vice President of Policy Engagement, The Humane Society of the United States

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Animal News You Can Use: Prop 2, Smart Cows, and Jessica Chastain!

Ten years ago, ag-funded researchers tried to mislead voters about California’s Prop 2 farm animal protection ballot measure. This time around, former state senator Dean Florez warns them not to try it again in a must-read Sacramento Bee column. (As well, here’s a new paper I was honored to coauthor with colleagues Sara Shields and Andrew Rowan on the advancement of farm animal protections.)

If you’ve ever wondered how to make healthy smoothies taste better, whether clean meat will succeed, or how animals may gain greater legal protections, I was glad to explore these questions and more in a new Thought for Food podcast. Check it out!

One of those ways animals may gain more protections involves helping others see just how intelligent they actually are. Newsweek explores cattle minds this week and asks provoking questions about the implications of the field of bovine cognition.

Finally, did you love Jessica Chastain in The Martian and Interstellar? Me too! Well, you’ll love her even more now after reading this People profile on her work for animals and with HSUS.

Video of the week: You’ve never hugged a cow?

- Paul Shapiro, Vice President of Policy Engagement, The Humane Society of the United States

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Animal news you can use: Later, foie gras! Bye girl!!

The latest in animal news you can use from Paul Shapiro, Vice President of Policy Engagement:

Ducks are quacking in celebration today, as a federal court unanimously reinstated California’s ban on the sale of foie gras from force-fed birds. (More on the HSUS blog!)

The foie gras industry isn’t the only one reeling this week. Animal-using circuses, the bell tolls for thee. Santa Fe just banned circuses from using wildlife while Maryland’s two largest counties are moving in that direction too.

I had a great time chatting about animals, aliens, clean & plant-based meats, and more with comedian David Huntsberg on his show this week. Check it out!

Speaking of clean meat, The Atlantic has a compelling look at a new company making waves for its real fish meat, grown without the fish. As the story notes, “Pretty much every Silicon Valley zillionaire wants to free the world from the mass slaughter of animals and the environmental havoc it causes.”

Finally, if you want a truly moving story about an imprisoned refugee who’s spending his time trying to help animals on the island where he’s imprisoned, The Guardian’s profile of Mansour Shoushtari is a must-read.

Video of the week: Hugs aren’t just for humans!

[vegansaurus]

The Cinnamon Snail is inching its way to FiDi!

If these mouthwatering, behemoth sandwiches and fries look somewhat familiar, it’s because they are from the creative, vegan mind of Chef Adam Sobel, the man/myth/legend behind The Cinnamon Snail and the food we’ve all grown to love at various locations in New York, New Jersey, and beyond.

If, through your Snaily-sense, you’ve noticed that they look familiar, but not quite like anything you’ve thus far eaten from The Cinnamon Snail, CONGRATULATIONS; you are a true Snailien! These options, my friends, are menu items that will be exclusive to their first downtown location, which will open later this week, at 70 Pine Street in the Financial District.

“This location is part of the City Acres Market food hall, along with legendary vegan sushi concept Beyond Sushi and the first US location of Juice Brothers, a pressed juice concept from Amsterdam. Non-veg options in the food hall will include Vanessa Dumplings and Artichoke Pizza, who also both have vegan and vegetarian options.”

Exact opening date is planned to be this coming Friday July 7th, with a grand opening planned for next week. 

“Like their food truck and location in the Pennsy food hall on 33rd/7th, this location will be Kosher Certified, and will be 100% free of animal products, while still remaining absurdly decadent and creative.”

Some of the menu items that are exclusive to this location are:

Gochujang Glazed Crispy Seitan with kimchi, pickled red onions, arugula and sriracha mayo on a grilled pretzel bun

Peking Seitan Fries with tamarind plum glazed seitan, scallions, pickled red onions, wasabi mayo and black sesame gomasio

Cambodian Crispy Tofu with tamarind plum reduction, smoked chili roasted peanuts, umeboshi plum marinated cucumbers, baby arugula, and wasabi mayo on a grilled pretzel bun [Feed my face!]

Guess what else, you guys? DAILY BREAKFAST SERVICE!

Monster Style Breakfast Sandwich scrambled tofu, smoked coconut “bacon”, marinated kale, hollandaise, and pickled red onions, and “everything bagel” seasoning on grilled homemade challah bread [JFC Imma need this bread by the yard]

Almond Challah French Toast smoked almonds, maple raspberry sauce, almond and cinnamon bun glaze [gimme gimme gimme]

Purists, don’t fret (I feel you):

“A few all-time-favorite items will be available at all locations. Chef Adam Sobel’s signature Korean BBQ Seitan (with house made kimchi, smoked chili grilled seitan, and greens, on a chili butter grilled tortilla), Maple Mustard tempeh sandwiches, and the Cinnamon Snail’s legendary burgers will of course be part of the selection.”

What about donuts???

“Of course, The Cinnamon Snail will offer a huge selection of award winning donuts and other pastries at this location.  Flavors change seasonally, and at the whim of the culinary basket case at the helm of the Cinnamon Snail’s multidimensional flavor ship.”

GIVE ME ALL THE DEETS!

Preliminary planned hours for The Cinnamon Snail at this location are 8:00am-9:00pm daily.   A complete, over the top, vegan breakfast/brunch menu will be available daily until 12:00am, and all day on the weekends.

Can’t get to FiDi?

Other Snaily info:

locations

instagram

twitter

facebook

[vegansaurus]

There’s Now Vegan Haagen Dazs Flavors!??!

HUGE NEWS from Vegansaurus #1 Pasadena Informant, Dan:

I was at a Target in Pasadena California and I saw new vegan products from Haagen Dazs. In addition to the flavors in the photo -- Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge, Coconut Caramel, Chocolate Salted Fudge Truffle, and Mocha Chocolate Cookie. I have not seen it mentioned on any other vegan websites and I looked on Haagen Dazs' website and they do not mention this product, so maybe Pasadena is some kind of test market.

WHAT IS GOING ON!? Who else knows about this! Answers MUST BE HAD!!!

UPDATE: Haagen Dazs has now listed the Non-Dairy flavors on their website. They’re not marked as vegan but our trusty source says that they are!

BEHOLD THE GLORY:

[First photo via Amazing Tipster Dan, Second photo from The Humane League’s Instagram!]

[vegansaurus]

Animal News You Can Use From Paul Shapiro!

The race to commercialize clean meat (real meat, without the slaughter), just got more crowded withHampton Creek announcing its plans to disrupt the meat industry. As fellow cellular ag companyMemphis Meats observes this week: “The world is ready for clean meat.”

And it’s an industry in desperate need of disruption, as HSUS’s newly-released chicken farm and slaughter investigation demonstrates.

I wish the cruelty we found in the poultry industry were fictional, but in the realm of fiction mirroring reality, Netflix released a new film this week, Okja, which the New York Times calls “a clear and effective animal rights fable.” Here’s my review of it.

Finally, in more good news: Pennsylvania’s Governor Tom Wolf gave the state’s animal cruelty laws amajor and multifaceted upgrade this week and made history at the bill signing by having the puppy mill survivor after whom the law is named (Libre’s Law) both at the signing and even having his inked paw “sign” the legislation next to the governor’s signature.

Video of the week: Are there any better moms than opossum moms?

-Paul Shapiro

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Are you a ~very extra vegan~!? If the answer is HELL YES (and it should be), why not tell the world of your extra-ness with these extra fresh, extra vegan Vegansaurus t-shirts!?

Order Extra Vegan standard fit t-shirts here, sizes S-3XL, American Apparel shirts (not a perfect company, but American-made in not a sweatshop), variety of colors, $23

Order Extra Vegan fitted t-shirts here, sizes S-2XL, American Apparel shirts (not a perfect company, but American-made in not a sweatshop), variety of colors, $23 

***LIMITED TIME ONLY SO ORDER TODAY***

All proceeds go to WOODSTOCK SANCTUARY because they rescue and rehabilitate farm animals, and then educate people about how fucking gross factory farms are, and we think that’s great.  

[vegansaurus]

Animal News You Can Use: bad news for grizzly bears

History was made in New York City this week, where the city council of America’s largest city voted overwhelmingly (43-6) to ban the use of wild animals in circuses. The mayor says he’s looking forward to signing the bill, which will finalize one of the most decisive blows to the dying industry of wild animal performances.

Such social progress is never easy, and sometimes it can go backwards. That was the case this week when the Trump administration removed federal protections for grizzly bears, one of the most maligned and persecuted animals in American history.

While those in political power are taking harmful actions like this one, some in financial power are using their influence to help the most vulnerable and abused animals, as the Financial Times points out this week in its profile of investing titan Jeremy Coller’s work to end factory farming.

Finally, some words of wisdom for animal advocates from my colleague Michelle Cho this week. In a new profile on her work, she reminds us: “The best, most effective way to incite conversation with people who just might be the animals’ best allies is through kindness and an inherent willingness to reach across the aisle to those whose path or lifestyle may be vastly different from yours, but whose hearts for animals beat just the same.”

Paul Shapiro Vice President of Policy Engagement The Humane Society of the United States Follow at http://twitter.com/PaulHShapiro

P.S. Video of the week: Baby elephant wipes out while chasing birds; runs to mom.

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Recipe: Vegan Crostini-a-Go-Go! The greatest party food of all time!

You may be asking yourself, wtf is Crostini-a-Go-Go? Well it’s a recipe I invented when I was a wee pre-vegan lass. It’s crostini that you eat like nachos! I used to make it with brie so when I went vegan, I never made it again...until now! I haven’t found the perfect vegan “brie” yet but you know I love Punk Rawk Labs cheese so I decided to use that. It obvi doesn’t melt like brie...which is part of the point of Crostini-a-Go-Go...but the flavor was perf so I was pleased with the results. The recipe sounds kind of involved but it’s really not that difficult; there are a few diff parts but each is super easy to do. Here’s what it consists of (though there’s plenty of room to make your own variations!):

Crostini Apple Compote Berry Compote Soft Vegan Nut Cheese Pecans

So, let’s get to cooking!

Ok so it all starts with crostini:

Crostini:

1 baguette olive oil salt+pepper

Heat an oven to 350. Slice your baguette into thin rounds. Arrange them on a rimmed baking sheet, brush both sides with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 15-20 mins, turning the cookie sheet halfway through. 

Next! You make the apple compote (there’s a berry compote too but the apple takes longer to cook so do that first)!

Apple Compote:

3 or 4 apples (I like granny smith for this--not too sweet) 1/4 cup sugar (roughly) 1 Tbs lemon juice (roughly) pinch of cinnamon

Peel and chop your apples into 1 inch cubes. Or whatever it doesn’t much matter. Then put all your ingredients in a pot. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until the apples are tender (looks like mush tbqh), about 30 mins. 

Next, you make a berry compote! I really prefer cranberries but I could not find any in this season! Not even frozen! So I did raspberries. They were yum. You can do whatever berry you like or heck, go crazy and make a mixed berry compote! It’s your world, squirrel!  Raspberry Compote:

Bag of frozen raspberries (you can use fresh, just google any recipe) 1/2 cup sugar 3 Tbsp lemon juice

Put all of the ingredients in a pot and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes. It’ll be like a sauce or syrup p much, not as thick as the apple compote. 

While all this is cooking, you can chop your pecans (almond slivers would be nice too tbqh).

And like I said, I used Punk Rawk Labs cheese but any soft nut cheese should be good. If you know of a yummy melty vegan brie, do tell! Because that would really seal the deal here. 

Once you have all the crostini accessories ready, it’s time to put it all together! Break out a baking dish (I just use a square cake dish--you want something with sides) and layer your crostini. Then spoon your apple compote over it. Then drizzle the berry compote layer. Next you dollop the cheese on top. And finally, your pecans! 

The final step: turn on your broiler and broil your Crostini-a-Go-Go for about 5 minutes. Maybe more, but keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn! You want it a bit toasty but since the cheese won’t melt anyway, you don’t have to wait for that. 

TA DA! Vegan Crostini-a-Go-Go! Now, gather your friends and dig in! You will be the hit of the party!

[vegansaurus]

Animal News You Can Use From Paul Shapiro!

Take it away, Paul Shapiro:

Big news in Rhode Island yesterday, where the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to ban battery cages for chickens.

Just a little further south of the Ocean State, in NYC this week, a bill to ban circuses from using wild animals passed out of its committee and is expected to get a full council vote shortly. As well, the New York state legislature just passed a bill banning the use of elephants in circuses. Animal-based circuses, the bell tolls for thee.

If you thought the bell had already long-tolled for legal bestiality in America, sadly you’ll have to think think again. Thankfully, Vermont just passed a law making such abuse of animals a crime, and Texas this week also made it a felony.

In the realm of things you can’t believe still happen, as you know, some people view dogs as food. What happens when a vegan and a guy who’s eaten dog meat chat about animal ethics? Find out in this new podcast interview of mine on We the People Live.

Finally, if you’re looking for a fun way to spend an hour this weekend, check out this truly poignant BBC comedy mockumentary about a future world where animals aren’t used as commodities: Carnage. (It’s free to view, and here’s a review of it.)

Video of the Week: I could watch this minute-long peaceable kingdom video all day!