Posts tagged as "Health"

Today, Compassion Over Killing, Animal Legal Defense Fund, Farm Sanctuary, and Animal Protection & Rescue League, and several concerned individuals joined forces to file a lawsuit against the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for allowing the sale of a diseased poultry product commonly known as foie gras.

Foie gras, which means “fatty liver,” is produced by force-feeding ducks and geese multiple times a day for weeks. As a result of pumping large quantities of food into their stomachs, their livers swell up to ten times the normal size – a condition known as hepatic lipidosis, or fatty liver disease. In other words, foie gras is, by definition, the product of a diseased animal.

Yes, it's true that VegWeek 2012—an exciting week of veg-friendly events and restaurant specials—is over, BUT whether you've been veg for 30 years, or just since you took the VegWeek VegPledge last week, here's something new to get excited about:

Chef Christy Morgan's new book, Blissful Bites! This gorgeous collection suggests simple, beautiful, delicious meal ideas using mainly whole foods—you know, all the stuff that comes from the produce department and in those bulk bins at the grocery store! With this book you can finally:

Not yet convinced? Scroll down to the soup photo and recipe below. Salivate over how delicious it looks. Next, count how many steps it takes to make. Imagine a whole cookbook like this. Order it now.

We caught up with Christy on her recent US book tour so you could get a sneak peek of what's in store while you're waiting for your copy to arrive in the mail.

Last Sunday, I had the privilege of attending a cooking class taught by the one-of-a-kind entertainer and educator Chef AJ and fitness guru John Pierre. Not only was I treated to many tasty samples and three original songs by "Chef AJ and the Kalettes" about the importance of eating veggies, Chef AJ showed off with a head stand demonstrating that yes, you can have this much energy eating plant-based foods.

On April 7, the World Health Organization celebrates World Health Day. As such, it’s a good time to examine an issue that isn’t addressed enough—the significant public health risks of factory farming.

Intensively confining and overcrowding animals inside massive warehouses isn't just bad for the animals. Factory farms are also potential flu factories, allowing viruses such as bird flu and swine flu to mutate and create virulent strains that are more deadly than ever. If these mutated viruses can jump to humans and spread just as virulently, then we could face a human pandemic.

Did you know that April is National Minority Health Month?

Minority populations may have higher health risks due to genetic predisposition, cultural dietary preferences, or socioeconomic or geographic factors limiting access to fairly and sustainably grown, fresh, and healthy foods. This issue is at the core of the food justice movement.

For example, according to the American Diabetes Association, African Americans are disproportionately affected by diabetes as compared to the general population. Mexican Americans are nearly twice as likely to have diabetes than others, and 50% more likely to die from the ailment.

Worse, people with diabetes are at increased risk of heart disease. African American adults are 40% more likely to have high blood pressure than Caucasians, and 30% more likely to die from heart disease. And, due to higher rates of obesity, hypertension, and high cholesterol, Hispanic women are 20% more likely to have a stroke than other women.

It's no secret that eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and other plant-based foods is good for our health. In just the past couple of years alone, as delicious vegan options keep sprouting up everywhere, so too are the number of people touting the many benefits of choosing meat-free meals -- including Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Al Sharpton, Ellen Degeneres, Ted Danson, UFC fighter Jake Shields, and Mike Tyson, to name a few.

On the other hand, no matter how you slice it, meat, which is laden with cholesterol and saturated fat, has been shown to contribute to a number of common ailments, such as heart disease. But exactly how harmful is eating meat? A newly-published study in the Archives of Internal Medicine tackles this very question.   

A brand new incredible, edible egg-free product has just hit the market, making vegan eating even easier and tastier than ever before. The Vegg is a versatile egg yolk replacer that can be used (instead of eggs) in a wide range of recipes, and you can even use it straight as a liquid “yolk” for dipping toast. In fact, it looks, smells, and even tastes like eggs – but without all the cruelty.    

Using The Vegg, now you can easily whip up “egg” noodles, French toast, custard, pan frittata, Hollandaise sauce, and so much more. It’s also ideal as a liquid base when breading foods for frying.  

For many vegetarians and vegans, the first reaction they encounter when discussing their ethics and diet is some variation on the "But what do you eat?!?" tune. Add in "gluten free" and the responses you get will fall just short of fainting. Let's bear in mind that, though this is a surprise to some, there is no single way to go about your plant-based diet; some people opt for foods that are soy-free, raw, locally produced, or without hydrogenated oils, just to name a few common approaches.

We recently told you that our friends at Something Healthy restaurant in Los Angeles collaborated with us to create a COK-inspired “Compassion Club,” with 10% of proceeds benefiting our campaigns for animals. Well, within a few short weeks, this new all-vegan protein-packed sandwich jumped to the top of the café's best-seller list and it's now permanently added to the menu! Plus, the agave mustard and vegan basil pesto sandwich spread they've created for the Compassion Club was raved about by so many customers, Something Healthy has decided use it on several other sandwiches. And by replacing the regular pesto with this new vegan spread, they're not only expanding their vegan menu -- they're also reducing their use of animal products overall. A win-win for customers and animals!

Need more reasons to check out Something Healthy? Here are just a few reviews from volunteers who recently visited the café:

Dunkin' Donuts is the world's largest coffee and baked goods chain serving more than three million customers daily. It offers over 65 varieties of doughnuts -- including two heart-shaped specials for Valentine's Day: Cupid's Choice and a Chocolate Heart. 

Sounds like a sweet deal, until you discover that these heart-shaped specials along every other doughnut dished out by Dunkin' are made with egg and dairy products from factory-farmed animals.

Where does Dunkin' get its eggs from? One of the company's suppliers is the Minnesota-based egg factory farm Michael Foods, which was the subject of a COK investigation in 2009 that uncovered shockingly cruel conditions for over one million laying hens confined inside tiny wire battery cages (see video below). In addition to documenting severe overcrowding, feather loss, and untreated illnesses and injuries, our investigation revealed unsanitary conditions including decomposing and "mummified" corpses left in cages with live birds.