April, 2021
Marin VEG
I saw a tee shirt I liked last week. It said HUMANKIND. BE BOTH.
Don't be an April fool! Enjoy the flowers. Relish the longer days.
Laugh at silly jokes. (How does Jupiter wash its rings? In meteor
showers!)
Hope for rain. Work for justice. I see veganism as a movement for
justice. Thank you for moving with me in that direction.
New Spiritual Community for Animal Lovers
Compassion Consortium
A new non-sectarian, interfaith community is starting for people
"who don't see their deeply rooted compassion for all creatures
reflected" in their current houses of worship. People of every
faith and no faith are welcome here. Monthly services, a book club,
movie club and more will be offered (all on line). One of the
founders is a dear friend of mine, Victoria Moran, author and
founder of the Main Street Vegan Academy. From the press release
that announced the group's founding: Amidst the global suffering of a
worldwide pandemic, environmental ecocide, and industrialized
abuse of animals, there comes a call for compassionate action. The
Compassion Consortium is a new spiritual community created to
serve the needs of vegans, vegetarians, animal rights activists,
and others who care about and advocate for animals and the planet.
Its founding members are Interfaith minister Rev. Erika Allison;
Rev. Sarah Bowen, a Dean at One Spirit Interfaith Seminary;
Interfaith ministerial candidate William Melton; and Victoria
Moran, author, podcaster, and producer of Thomas Jackson’s 2019
documentary, A Prayer for Compassion. I think
this a wonderful idea whose time has come. Learn more and sign up
(free) to participate at https://www.compassionconsortium.org/
Vegan Cooking Show a Huge Success
Like the Academy Awards, The Taste Awards are given to food,
fashion, and lifestyle media productions. A vegan cooking show that
airs on Amazon Prime called New Day New Chef has been nominated for
eight Taste Awards this year. I have not seen this show yet, but
look forward to doing so soon. The show is hosted by animal rights
advocate and journalist Jane Valez-Mitchell whom I have long
admired. https://thebeet.com/amazon-primes-first-vegan-cooking-show-scores-8-award-nominations/
Fish Farming is Hurting Communities and Environment
The New Yorker magazine published an in-depth article about the
devastating effects of fish farming. One more strong argument in
favor of vegan choices at meal time.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/03/08/fish-farming-is-feeding-the-globe-whats-the-cost-for-locals
Seaspiracy on Netflix
A new documentary produced by and available on Netflix hopes to
do for the fishing industry what the film Blackfish did for
Seaworld; expose the horrible truth behind an industry that
exploits and kills animals in tremendous numbers. I've only seen
the first half so far, and it is terrific. What an education on
plastic pollution, too. You can watch the trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q5CXN7soQg
Reality Check from Michele Simon
Greenwashing Fast Food
Before celebrating all the news below about major food companies
adding vegan options to their lines, please read this insightful
article by Michele Simon. An attorney with a Masters degree in
public health, Michele Simon is the author of Appetite for Profit
and the founder and former executive director of the Plant Based
Food Association. She is one of the smartest people I know and an
expert analyst of food policy.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/reality-check-please-market-stop-factory-farming-simon-jd-mph/
Beyond Meat at Fast Food Restaurants
Beyond Meat will be providing vegan food and developing new food
products for major fast food chain restaurants including McDonald's,
KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut. https://plantbasednews.org/lifestyle/food/beyond-meat-partners-kfc-mcdonalds/Taco
Bell already has a few vegan options if you ask them to make it
"fresco" style and change the meat to beans. https://vegnews.com/2021/1/vegan-taco-bell-guide
Vegan Protein at Starbucks
I was happy to learn that there will be more vegan food options at
Starbucks. Last month they launched a chickpea-based snack as part
of a "protein box." Undoubtedly, this box will be plastic, so my
happiness about expanding vegan choices is tempered by my despair
over the ever growing presence of plastic in our lives. https://vegnews.com/2021/3/starbucks-first-vegan-protein-box
Peet's Coffee Now Offers Vegan Sandwich
Peet's Coffee has added an all-vegan cheese, egg, and sausage
breakfast sandwich to its menu. The stores at Red Hill Shopping
Center in San Anselmo and Bon Aire Shopping Center in Greenbrae are
among the branches carrying this new vegan option. https://vegnews.com/2021/3/peet-s-vegan-breakfast-sandwich-just-egg-beyond-meat
Target to Offer Vegan Oatmilk Ice Cream Bars
Sometimes, writing this newsletter makes me hungry. Like now.
Reading that Target will launch its own line of vegan ice cream bars
this month, I am eager to return to Target some day, perhaps after
a walk along the water behind the San Rafael store. Meanwhile, I'll
go eat something cold and delicious right now. Maybe the NadaMoo
vanilla ice cream in my freezer. Yum. https://vegnews.com/2021/3/target-vegan-oat-milk-ice-cream-bars
Remove the Cows from Pt. Reyes
Receive Free Postcards to Contact Officials
You will be provided ten postcards, told what to write and where
to send them when you sign up at https://act.seaturtles.org/page/26079/data/1?ea.tracking.id=coalition
It's long past time to get the cows, ranches, and pollution out
of Pt. Reyes National Seashore.
Eric Mills in Capitol Weekly
If you've attended any local animal rights events in the last
few years, you have probably met Eric Mills. Eric is the tireless
anti-rodeo advocate who lives in the East Bay but whose voice is
heard nation-wide. Last month he was featured in a widely read
Washington, D.C. publication where he told the truth about the harm
inflicted by rodeos.
https://capitolweekly.net/rodeos-activist-saddles-up-against-macho-crap/
Pushback When Meat Is Taken Off the Menu
This should not have surprised me, but it did.
Even though fish and eggs are still available, the absence of meat
in school lunches in a city in France was called shameful,
aberrational, elitist and more. The change was made from offering
a choice at lunch to just one entree in order to accommodate a
lunch period that had to serve fewer children at each table (Covid
precaution) in the same amount of time. Clearly, there are many
people who still think of meat as de rigueur. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/18/world/europe/france-lyon-school-meat.html
The Vegan Imperative by David Blatte
Published April 6
I can't wait to read this new book by a
co-founder of Dharma Voices for Animals, David Blatte. The author
is a former animal law attorney and former executive director of
Vegan Action. Part one of the book takes us through real cases
from animal law and explains speciesism and the reasons to go
vegan. In part two the book discusses the factors underlying the
decision to eat meat. The Vegan Imperative sounds like something
different from other vegan books. I have my copy on pre-order
from Book Passage. Learn more about the book at https://veganimperativebook.com/
Vegan Health Update from Jack Norris, RD
Vegans and Strokes
Trusted vegan RD Jack Norris explains the newest studies on
strokes among vegans. Jack Norris is one of the least biased
dieticians writing about vegan nutrition, and he tells the truth,
even when the truth does not give blanket endorsements to all
things vegan. Here, however, it looks like good news for vegans.
https://us8.campaign-archive.com/?e=8e8a966fcf&u=2dcd9cb7dfab0062f1a1df75e&id=b68cc0910f
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