Mother's Day Re-Cap & The Saddest Sound In The World

Yesterday was Mother's Day. I sent my mother - who lives over 2,000 miles away from me - a card (in which I wrote things!) and a pair of earrings that I made myself. I was really happy to do this. I am really happy that my mom appreciated it so much.

Yesterday I also handed out free carnations to passersby in my neighborhood. I work, part-time, in a children's thrift & vintage shop a few blocks from my house. Anyone who came into our shop yesterday got free Mother's Day carnations. We are a store that loves to celebrate people that bring love and joy into others' lives. Often these people are the usual suspects - you know, like moms, dads, grandparents, teachers, nurses... Or they're the people who are struggling to "make it" in this town - local artists, musicians, writers, actors, puppeteers, one-man comedy shows. The store is like a platform from which its employees say, "Hey, all you out there, doing something good for society and being all awesome. You're valued and appreciated."  I love being a part of that process! I loved handing out flowers yesterday.  

Despite my joy, however, there was also a heaviness in my heart. Yes, the two can co-exist. Although I've been vegan for a long time, Mother's Day felt a little different to me this year. I couldn't stop thinking about the mothers that suffer on this day and year-round. These mothers are not celebrated but, rather, forgotten.

I'm talking about the mother cows. And the mother pigs. And the mother goats, and the hens, and the dogs, the tigresses, the dolphins, the seals, the salmons. Yeah, I said the salmons. They give birth, too, after all. And contrary to the many a belief, they also have nervous systems, which means they can feel pain.  

More often than most of us will ever know, the most horrible, terrible, abominable things happen to these gorgeous beings. A fellow Los Angeles-based vegan advocate, Gary Smith of The Thinking Vegan, wrote a Mother's Day post about a variety of these things yesterday. In this post, I'm mostly going to focus on our mother cows.

The mother cow I am referring to here is the cow who is used for her "product" - that is, her breast milk, which can be made into cheese, butter, cream, ice cream, yogurt, or just consumed in its original liquid "milk" form.

But did you know? Every single milk product you will ever encounter will have come from a mother whose baby was taken away from her prematurely. That may come as a surprise to you at first, but think of it this way: the breast milk is what we're after, right? So in order to reap as much of that milk as possible, we must eliminate our primary competitor: her baby. The calf. On the majority of farms, that calf is taken away from his or her mother immediately after being born.

Have you ever heard the saddest sound in the world? Well, that's probably it. That is, the sound of a mother and a child being immediately ripped away from each other at birth. Animals can and do cry, moan, and scream. 

Marc Bekoff, Ph.D. writes about the emotional lives of non-human animals. In one of his books, he discusses the theory that animals with what we as humans would consider a "lower" capacity for reasoning (basically, a lower "IQ"), are the animals that actually feel the most pain. Why would animals whose brains are not as sophisticated as ours suffer more than us? Because, Dr. Bekoff says, they have less ability to develop coping strategies to deal with painful situations. Thus, they face the pain head on.

Imagine if you would've gotten that root canal without Novocaine, or couldn't reassure yourself with "This too shall pass" after passing that kidney stone, for example. What if your cheek were to be suddenly pierced with a thick, needle-y piece of metal? Or what if you were suddenly denied access to breathing for an indefinite length of time? Any of these would utterly terrify and hurt you, right? Even if you used all of your very advanced brain's coping mechanisms to deal with these events, they would still be incredibly traumatic.

Remember those salmons?

Dr. Bekoff also emphasizes that not only do animals feel physical pain, but they experience emotions as well. In fact, they lead rather rich emotional inner lives, sharing many emotions in common with humans. There are documented occurrences of animals like elephants and magpies mourning their dead kin in a ritualistic, "funeral" style. These are just a few examples of many. And as Dr. Bekoff states in The Emotional Lives of Animals, there also is evidence that animals experience emotions that humans do not.

Back to the cows. What happens after mother and baby are separated? Well, if the baby is a girl, she goes through exactly what her mom endured. Most typically, the way she is impregnated is via artificial insemination. Usually there is force involved. And a cage-like thing to restrain her. 

She will then proceed to give birth, have her baby involuntarily taken from her, and have her teats squeezed by metal clamp devices. For those who use similar devices for pleasure, note that these devices are not removed for long periods of time, even after her teats become infected. By the way, infections = the development of pus, which gets into the milk. (Yes, really.) This "milking" process occurs over the course of one year, and then, literally sucked dry, she is impregnated again so that she produces more milk. Repeat, repeat, repeat, until she is too old to physically withstand this anymore. Probably about six times. She's then loaded onto a crowded truck, sent to a factory, and killed. Her death therefore occurs about 20 years earlier than it would've naturally.

Don't even get me started on how she is killed. I'll save that for another post.  

What happens to the male calves, who are obviously not capable of producing milk? Well, that's where veal comes from. After birth, the male calf is kept in a small, dark crate in which he barely has room to lay down and turn around. Sometimes he is also tethered within the crate, to further restrict his movement. All of this is so that he does not grow or develop, which would ruin the "tender" characteristic that his flesh ("veal") has. After about four months of this, he is slaughtered.

Guys, I know some of you buy "free range" or "humane" or "organic" milk and meat, but many of the same damn things happen. With "free range," the laws and regulations are pretty loose. And most typically, the mother and babies are sent away to the same slaughtering place. Read all about this and more at http://humanemyth.org/, an entire website devoted to revealing the little-known facts of the "humane" variety of the meat and dairy industry. I especially encourage you to watch the slide shows. Please, you owe it to yourself to know the truth, and (in my opinion), you owe it to the animals to at least have an understanding of what really happens. Do not fall for marketing and advertising techniques that use the words "humane" or "free range." Business is business, and these techniques were specifically designed to increase profits, not educate you.

Now that you've read what I've written (which is awesome, by the way - and not for my benefit, but because you have hopefully learned a lot!), I have some questions about you. I hope you will consider each of them.

1.  Are you a mother?

I can claim no children myself, but I cannot imagine the agony of having my newborn literally taken away from me. The pain must be unbearable.

2.  Have you ever lost someone you loved? 

If you have ever felt the pain of loss, a loss of any kind, then you can probably relate to cruel and unfair separation of these mother cows and their calves. You don't have to have gone through the exact same experience as someone to relate to their pain. Emotions are emotions, even if we cannot fully "get" precisely what someone went through and how it felt to them.

3.  Have you ever felt physical pain?

Unless you are among the few who suffer from the rare congenital analgesia, then I know you have.

   And what about emotional pain?

Unless you are among the estimated 1% that go through life with a marked inability to feel genuine empathy, then surely you have.

4.  Are you a feminist?

If so, how do you fit this knowledge about female dairy cows into your feminist ideology? 

5.  Do you believe in equal rights for all?

If so, do you limit that equality to humans only? If yes, what are your reasons? If you believe in equal rights for all sentient beings, then how do you find this knowledge about the dairy industry?

6.  Are you one of those people who believe in the adage, "everything in moderation"?

If so, can you fit the goings-on of dairy farming into that schema? If yes, how so?

7.  Do you live with any animals that you consider "pets"? 

If so, how do you reconcile the vast differences in how you treat your pets versus how you treat cows?

8.  Do you consume dairy products and still feel that you are not contributing to the atrocious treatment of dairy cows?

If so, how do you reconcile that feeling with the knowledge that the money you pay for dairy products goes toward these practices? How do you feel about the quote, said by the late Martin Luther King, Jr., "In the end, we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends"?

---
My article may have irritated you or even made you quite mad. But you can hardly complain. 'Cause you know who's probably the most pissed right now?

Those mother cows.


To become part of the solution:
Starter Guide to Becoming Vegan
Go See This Movie That's Out Now
And Rent This One
Eat At Vegan Restaurants Near You
Read Some of Marc Bekoff's Books
Help Rescued Cows (and other farm animals, too!) In The LA Area
Help Rescued Cows In Other Areas (scroll to bottom)
Want more? I'm happy to help.

C'mon, if not now, when? Really, I'm happy to help you. Send any questions my way!

Male calf ("Cowboy" is his name!) at Animal Acres. Cows can live up to 25 years. Cowboy now has a chance. (photocred.)

If you haven't yet, you should do yourself a favor and meet a cow. Trust me. Their presence is at once majestic and gentle, and they are even more beautiful than they are in photos.

Vegan MoFo! Post #12: Potato Leek YESSS! Soup

Potatoes, leeks... and then some surprising ingredients. This was a total experiment but it ended up tasting delicious. YESSSS!

First, for those cooking virgins out there, I want to tell you what I love about leeks. They are less pungent than onions, so they're good for when you want that onion-y flavor without overpowering the rest of the ingredients. You also won't tear up when you cut them. Oh, and they're pretty. FYI when you buy them, they will have a huge bunch of darker green leaves at the end, which has been chopped off in the photo here.

So, potatoes, 1 leek, and a few cloves' worth of minced garlic. Pretty normal so far, yes?

Check out that leek in the middle here. She's a beaut.

Here comes the fun. Next I decided to add some wack ingredients because I was curious to see what would happen. I also had some leftover pumpkin puree from cookies I'd made recently. 

Said wack ingredients.

That's right. I added cayenne pepper, pumpkin puree, and cinnamon.

I loved the end result. I'm generally into anything spicy. If you don't like spicy, you can always reduce the amount of cayenne. Also, screw store-bought vegetable broth! I just use water and spices and let the simmering veggies do the rest of the magic. DIY, bitches!!!!

P o t a t o  L e e k  Y E S S S S !  S o u p 

Ingredients:

5-6 cups potatoes, chopped (I used about 10 small red bliss potatoes) 
1 leek, chopped (just the white and pale green parts)
1 large carrot, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, minced 
6-8 cups water (approximately)
olive oil, to taste
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
a dash of cinnamon (stick to just a dash or so, trust me)
red cayenne pepper, a lot, maybe 2 teaspoons 
sea salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
2-3 teaspoons lemon juice (optional)
dried parsley, for garnish


In a large pot, boil enough water just to cover the potatoes. Once the water is boiling, add the chopped potatoes. In a few minutes, add the chopped carrot. Stir occasionally. Once the veggies become softened, you can turn the heat down to medium.

Meanwhile, in a nearby frying pan, saute the leeks for about 5 minutes. Then add the garlic. Continue to saute until the leeks are somewhat translucent.

Add the pumpkin puree to the pot. Stir. Add the spices. Bring to a boil again, then turn down. Next, add the leeks and garlic. Boil again, then turn down.

With a small hand mixer, blend the soup until it is somewhat creamy. You decide how creamy you want it to be. If you don't have a hand mixer, blend the soup in a blender and then return to the pot. Allow the soup to simmer for at least 15 minutes, adding the lemon toward the end. You don't have to add lemon unless you want a tangier flavor. Garnish with dried parsley. While cooking, I also like to curse a few times, you know, for good luck, but you don't have to do that, either.

Almost ate it straight from the pot, but then thought better of it and opted for a spoon & bowl. Guess I have a sophisticated side. YESSSS!

This recipe was inspired, in part, by Sarah Kramer's cookbook, La Dolce Vegan. I freaking love that cookbook, and I don't get money for saying that (though if anyone wants to pay me, I'll prob take you up on it).

Vegan MoFo! Day 3: Green Thai Curry

Hey there! For my Day 3 MoFo post, I'm going to tell you about the green thai curry I made!

I mostly followed the recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance, but with a few "grad student changes" (i.e., skipping any ingredients that would break my poor grad student bank and adding some ingredients that were much cheaper).


Here are the changes I made to the chile paste:

• I didn't have fresh lemongrass so I skipped that part. Looking back, I think this was probably a vital ingredient.
• Rather than grinding coriander seeds and cumin seeds, I used the powder forms of both. 
• I didn't have fresh cilantro, which was also probably rather important. Need to start growing more of my own herbs. Right now we only grow mint at my house.
• Didn't have shallots, either, so I used yellow onion. Seemed to be fine.
• I added an extra Thai green pepper. What? I'm a glutton for heat.

And here are the changes I made to the rest of the recipe: 

• I didn't use tofu. I ate all of my tofu. Woops. The SO told me that baked tofu probably wouldn't have worked out in a curry dish anyway, although I disagree.
• I added chick peas. This made me feel better about the lack of tofu.
• I added eggplant. Eggplant is one of my favorite veggies to work with. 
• I added some sliced up carrot.

I served the finished product with jasmine rice. One thing I loved about this recipe, other than the ah-mazing taste, is that it made a lot. I'd say this yields about 4 hearty servings, if you make it the way I did with the extra veggies and jasmine rice. Next time, I'll aim to add shiitake mushrooms, too. I think the earthy shiitake flavors would make this even closer to perfect.

Also, I must say, I never realized how easy it is to make your own chile paste. I mean, it's basically just a few types of peppers + spices + water all ground up together. Again, I wonder how this simple fact evaded me for so long? I feel a new obsession coming on.

And now...for the food porn:

Chile paste, just waiting to be added to the coconut milk and simmered into glorious aromas.

Yep, there's some wafting happening up in here.

iViola! A dish that's pleasing to all of the senses.

Thanks for stopping by! Stay tuned for day 4. I've got some good stuff coming up!

Vegan MoFo! Day 2: My Secret for Perfect Tofu

As a vegan of over 5 years, it's hard to believe I'd never made baked tofu...until yesterday.

Let me just say, wow. I tested out the recipe for Asian Style Baked Tofu in Veganomicon and it was probably the best tofu I'd ever tasted (I give Isa and Terry full credit!). Where has this recipe been all my life, and why did I wait until now to try it?

Succulent baked tofu, waiting to be added to a kale salad.

As for the "secret" tip to getting your baked tofu perfect (no matter which recipe you use), the trick is in the pressing*. Typically, I'll press my tofu for a mere 15 minutes, maybe 30 if I'm feeling ambitious. This time, however, I pressed for about 3 hours (flipping the tofu block over a few times throughout, so that the top and bottom sides get pressed equally). Pressing for longer, I found, created a firmer, chewier composition and a heartier texture. My boyfriend, who often makes baked tofu, noticed the difference, too. From now on, any time I'm going to work with tofu, I will press it for a few hours!

*For those not familiar, to "press" tofu, you must drain the water out of the package and then place the block of tofu between two hard surfaces. It usually helps if you wrap the tofu with thin cloth first - that way the moisture can absorb into the cloth and keep the tofu-hard-surface sandwich from falling apart.

Keeping it brief today; I'm at work for most of the day, then going to see Little Stranger tonight at Detroit Bar.

day 5 raw: How Much Raw Is Enough? A Synopsis.

My apologies for not posting this yesterday... But here is my word on day 5:

So, yesterday was my last day of the raw food experiment. I felt great! No more nausea, not as much sneezing, and I noticed something I'd heard can happen when you go raw: my complexion was looking really smooth and my eyes appeared brighter and clearer. Also, my cooked-food cravings were not as prominent. I did have a craving for strawberries, though, and in the early evening, I ate almost a whole package of them.

As for other changes, I know that often, people lose weight on the raw food diet, and so I'm sure some of you are wondering if that happened to me. Well, I'm sorry to report that I haven't weighed myself and I don't plan to do it any time soon. (I will say, though, that I do "feel" lighter.) There are a few reasons for this. First, I don't think 5 days is long enough to be able to accurately measure such a thing, what with the normal fluctuations that occur in one's body. Second, I mean to write about a lifestyle, not a weight loss plan. Raw foodism may be used for healthy weight loss, of course, but it's so much more than that. I think that often, weight loss is secondary to other necessary changes that occur, and trust me, weight loss will happen if it needs to. So, if you're looking to lose weight through raw foodism, just be patient and trust your body to do its work! Finally, I do not feel that weight is a sufficient measure of health and beauty, as there are so many factors that go into determining health (and well, beauty is subjective!).

I should also mention, again, that I'm not a medical doctor or nutritionist. These are simply my personal opinions, based on observations of myself and others and what I have read throughout the years that I've been vegan.

Onto some of what I made yesterday!

So, I'm really liking smoothies for breakfast. I think I might hang onto this custom. Smoothies are, hands down, one of my most treasured meals.

cheers! in my backyard

I've even begun to incorporate greens into my smoothies, something I haven't been able to successfully do until now (and by today, I mean post-raw food experiment!). In fact, this morning I made a smoothie consisting of 2 handfuls of kale + 2 bananas + 1/3 grapefruit + 2 handfuls of frozen mixed berries + 2 handfuls of frozen mango. A super healthy smoothie and I didn't even need agave for it!

Also of note, yesterday I took out my raw nori and made some delicious sushi out of long carrot shavings, spinach leaves, cucumber strips, and avocado slices. To finish, I sprinkled (non raw) sesame seeds on top and used tamari as dipping sauce. The results were really aesthetically pleasing to me. Oh! And I discovered that raw nori is high in iron, too!

A sharp knife is really helpful in such endeavors.

As you roll it, you have to really bunch the veggies up toward you. To "seal" it, I improvised by mixing a little water and avocado into a paste-like consistency, then applied it to the edge with my fingers before pressing to seal. This was instead of the rice and water mixture that I usually use to seal my sushi rolls.

To garnish: I placed the sushi on two spinach leaves and put some of the cucumber stripes and carrot shavings off to the side. For me, making sushi is like embarking on an arts and crafts project. I take my aethetics seriously. ;)

I have to say, it tasted great, too.

In my reflections of the past 5 days, I've formed the following, mostly tentative opinions:

1. More often than not, I think I prefer the taste of simple raw foods, like smoothies and salads, rather than more complicated meals like "lemon caper pasta with nut cheese and sprouted raw bread." But let there be no mistake: I do appreciate the aesthetics and extreme creativity that goes into the latter culinary sensations, and I do love me some raw, vegan cheesecake and ice cream (quite possibly more than non-raw vegan cheesecake and ice cream!).

2. I think the reason I didn't feel like going raw was a huge adjustment for me is because I'm already vegan (and have been for a long time). I eat a a decent amount of fruits and veggies as part of my normal routine. It's just that I also eat other things in addition to that - like Daiya cheese, sauteed spinach, french fries, Thai food, and Ezekiel breads, for instance - some of which are healthy, some of which are decidedly not.

3. Given point #2, I don't plan to abstain from cooked foods, at least not now. There are many, many days when I eat raw for 2/3 of my meals, simply because it's what I feel like my body needs (I say "what my body needs," but it's more like "what I'm in the mood for," which I think is the same thing for me).

4. It's a crying shame that certain raw foods, like nuts, are more expensive than their cooked/roasted counterparts. This is backwards!

5. Strawberries, blueberries, bananas, and kale are perfect, amazing foods that I could probably eat every day for the rest of my life and not get bored with them. Mangoes and avocados are close seconds.

6. I, personally, have to be careful not to eat too many nuts. I believe that this contributed to me feeling "off" on day 4 (and why I had a gag-reflex reaction every time I looked at the photos I'd taken of the more nut-laden meals I'd eaten lately!). In fact, if I were to go 100% raw, I think I'd feel better on a lower fat raw lifestyle, as I think this is more fat than I can tolerate without feeling nauseous/getting stomach sick. Something close to 80:10:10. This was similar to how I ate when I experimented with the Eat to Live lifestyle, and as I said, I remember feeling pretty great while doing that.

7. During this 5 day experiment, certain raw food dishes tasted almost *too* vibrant for me! On certain days (namely days 4 and 5), I felt like fruits and leafy greens were mainly what I could tolerate, but things like tomatoes and culinary concoctions like fancy casseroles were too much taste for me. I find this strange and wonder if it was simply my body's way of saying, "hey, no more nuts!" Anyone else experience something like this?

8. Overall, I think I'm more of an ethical-enviro-politico-vegan than a health vegan. This presents a bit of an internal conflict for me, as everything is interconnected, and one cannot truly be an "ethical" vegan without caring about the rest of the reasons for veganism (e.g. keeping as healthy as I can leads to less doctor visits, which contributes less to the rise of health care costs). Don't get me wrong - I care immensely about health. But a) I don't necessarily feel the need to be as absolutely healthy as I can, b) I think that "health" encompasses body and mind, and there are certain cultural elements of my life that I'd miss severely if I went completely raw, and c) while I do "believe" in raw foodism, I am still thinking about what "raw foodism" means - e.g., must one be "100%" raw to achieve the benefits? Or does the maximum value lie somewhere closer to, say, 75%? I don't know! Also, what does "raw foodism" mean for me versus someone else? I do think that people vary in terms of needs.

Unrelated #9: One of my roommates is growing his own kombucha! I'm fascinated by this. It looks like an ear in a jar! (I'm not knocking it - I love kombucha.)

I hope you've enjoyed peering into my raw food experiment. Please leave comments or send emails if you have any thoughts to share!

Peace, 
CYoFC

days 3 & 4 raw: Eat Your (Raw Vegan) Desserts

I didn't have time to post yesterday, so this post will be two-in-one.

Yesterday, "Day 3" of this raw food experiment:

For starters, I woke up feeling pretty normal - no cold-like symptoms, although I did sneeze more than usual throughout the day. For breakfast, I ate plain fruit and later made a banana-blueberry-mango smoothie with maca powder and agave nectar. This time I increased the amount of fruit per the amount of maca, and the result was flavor success. My boyfriend enjoyed it, as well (but, then, he enjoys most foods).

Good Mood Foods' "Veggie Casserole"

Later, I tried another one of Good Mood Food brand's delectable, pre-made raw meals: the veggie casserole, which was nearly as amazing at the veggie-nut nuggets (damn, those nuggets are just impossible to top). If you're curious, the casserole contained the following: cashews, brazil nuts, zuchinni, almonds, sundried tomatoes, onions, flax seeds, garlic, pumpkin seeds, pistachios, raisins, extra virgin cold pressed olive oil, parsley, lemons, sea salt, Braggs Liquid Aminos, chili pepper, basil, mustard seeds, and apple cidar vinegar. Again, very delicious - surprisingly so! As I said in day 2's post, I didn't think it was possible for raw food to be so satisfying and tasty, but now I stand corrected.

Then, sometime after dinner, I had a really strong craving for kale. I wanted kale, lots and lots of it. I've actually had kale cravings before, believe it or not, but this was different somehow. It was stronger, more specific. (I think that my normal kale cravings are often just cravings for the tahini-vegenaise dressing I use in my favorite kale salad recipe.) So, I had a few bowls of fresh kale topped with some carrot shavings and flax seed oil. No vinegar this time, because I didn't want to cover that kale taste too much.

My body said kale, I said okay.

I'm interpreting this kale craving to mean that I must need more greens while eating raw. Way back when, I tried out the dietary advice from Joel Fuhrman's Eat To Live, which called for - at minimum - an entire pound of raw veggies, daily, most of which were supposed to be greens. Yeah, I know that sounds like a lot, but I felt really good while doing it.

Raw foodism has a lot of similarities to the Eat To Live philosophy, I've noticed, although I don't know of any source that says, outright, that one ought to eat this quantity of greens while being raw. Whether or not it works for everyone, I've decided that it does for me, and so tomorrow (which will be my 5th and final day), I'm going to aim for greatly increasing the amount of greens. My refrigerator is already stocked with a massive amount of green spinach and the remainder of the kale.

Finally, since I keep bringing up maca, here's a photo of the brand I'm using: 

Maca was reportedly used by Incan warriors to provide stamina and prevent fatigue.

Okay! Onto today, "Day 4" of raw:

There's a lot to say about today. First off, I had to get up earlier than usual today, so my sleeping is a bit off. I woke up feeling normal (other than not having slept enough). Still had more sneezy/nose-type symptoms than usual, although I'm not sure if this is because of detoxing or me having allergies. Most notably, today I felt pretty nauseous all day AND I finally started having "cooked-food cravings." (I really can't believe it took 4 days for me to miss cooked food!) I'm also craving soda, which is really odd for me, and I even considered stopping by a local vegan restaurant just to buy a homemade gingerale. To be fair, it's normal for me to feel nauseous and crave certain foods around "this particular time," but my current symptoms are far more intense than usual.

Speaking of intense, I tend to have a pretty good sense of smell (or perhaps I simply pay a lot of attention to scents) but today my olfactory bulb is burning ever so brightly! This could very well be why I feel so nauseous and why I'm craving cooked foods, as cooked foods are typically more bland (yes, really - I didn't believe it at first, but now I can get why raw food veterans call cooked food tasteless!). Perhaps my sense of smell is so intense because, lo and behold, my sinuses may be detoxing. Ah, it all comes full circle after all. Though, the soda thing remains a mystery to me.

Onto what I ate today... For starters, I ate (no, devoured) one of my tried-and-true favorites: Earth Cafe's "find your thrill on blueberry hill" raw vegan cheesecake. You might not love the long name, but the cake is to-die-for, whether you're vegan or not, raw or not. What I especially like about this cheesecake (aside from it being amazingly healthy and vegan) is that it's not overly sweet. Instead, it's lightly sweet with a nice, tangy zing to it. And it has a wonderfully creamy, smooth texture. I swear I don't get any money for saying this!

Remember those chick peas I was soaking? Well, they've been waiting for me to eat them, so today I tossed them in a salad and had my first experience crunching on raw chick peas. Not bad. I think I could grow to prefer them over the cooked variety.

Today I snacked on a lot of fruit (that CSA watermelon was amazing). Then I decided to try something I have been curious about for a long time: Rawk-n-Roll Cuisine's kale chips in the Kaletaliano (pizza-flavored) variety. (I know. Vegan and raw food companies just won't stop with the puns...) My first bite was questionable, but after that, I was sold. They really do taste like pizza. Kind of reminiscent of the pizza-flavored Goldfish crackers, though way more pungent. 

For dinner, friends and I took a trip to Mooi, a gourmet, organic, raw food restaurant in Echo Park. This was a special treat, as I'd been drooling over their photos for weeks. And let me say, an appetizer, an entree, and two desserts later, and I learned that it is possible to get that "full stomach" feeling on raw foods. I warn you, though, it's not something I'd recommend aiming for!  

But more importantly, let me tell you about Mooi. The decor is fabulously Alice-in-Wonderland-esque, complete with eclectic furniture and accents; our table had exaggeratedly-high-backed, pink chairs and the menus are glued inside Dr. Seuss books. Adorable. For starters, we had the jalepeno peppers with smoked paprika nut cheese and eggplant bacon. They were every bit as delicious as they sound, and I don't know how they got the eggplant to taste like bacon, but they managed. Quarrygirl has a much better photo of them on her blog.

the jalapenos

For their entrees, my friends both ordered the enchiladas in tomatillo sauce with walnut refried beans and vegetables, while I ordered the lemon caper tomato pasta with garlic bread. I vastly preferred my friends' meal to mine and will totally consider ordering what they got next time I go to Mooi. My pasta was kelp noodles, which I was determined to try and like tonight, but...alas. It's such a shame, because I was really hoping to like them! I should say, however, that the sauce, vegetables, and seasoning on my pasta were all delightful. I loved the delicately sliced and folded zucchini. In fact, I've decided that I much prefer eating moistened/soaked zucchini over cooked zucchini. Also, the "garlic bread" was good - it tasted like baked bread, somehow, yet denser. The butter on top strangely tasted a lot like butter, too.

Lemon caper tomato pasta w/garlic bread

Choosing which desserts to get was a serious matter. Finally, my friends settled on the chunky monkey ice cream and blueberry cheesecake. I got the blueberry cheesecake ice cream and snickers pie. ALL of these were delicious, but the ice creams were especially impressive. Chunky monkey has cacao, banana, and peanutbutter in a sort of vanilla-ish base. The peanutbutter was actually, I think, sunflower butter, but the taste of peanutbutter dominated this flavor (which I appreciated). The blueberry cheesecake ice cream was a dream. It tasted like...well, blueberry cheesecake, but without all the cholesterol, lactose, acid, et cetera. Not surprisingly, we devoured our ice cream before I even remembered to take my camera out. Mooi, you get a "10" when it comes to raw, vegan ice creams.

Mooi's snickers pie

As for the cakes, my friends' blueberry cheesecake was good, but it paled in comparison to Earth Cafe's. My snickers pie was really flavorful, but much too rich and sweet for me. I'm not one for rich, sweet, decadent desserts (I never liked chocolate fudge type cakes and I usually prefer hummus to cake anyway). Definitely overloaded on dessert today. Felt a bit sick after dinner but feeling mostly better now.

Mooi's blueberry cheesecake

That's about all I have to say for now. Stay tuned for tomorrow, when I finish out my 5-day raw food experiment! Thanks for reading!

Interviews: Melissa: A Vegan Gone Raw

CYoFC:  Describe your current diet/lifestyle (vegan, lacto-ovo vegetarian, pescetarian, freegan, flexitarian, omnivore with vegan tendencies...etc.).

Melissa:  I am currently a raw vegan in diet and lifestyle.

CYoFC:  For how long have you been vegan? and raw? Describe your path.

Melissa:  I have been vegetarian for 17 years and vegan for 9 (but not consecutively). In the past, there were spurts of veganism lasting 2 years at the most. But because my stance, knowledge, and experience has strengthened and expanded throughout the years - I have been able to maintain my current veganism for 3-4 years. My jump into raw food however has been a new endeavor. For about a month, I have been able to maintain a raw diet where I typically eat 90 % living food.

CYoFC:  This path of challenging the "typical" food choices has included 17 years (and counting) of your life - that's amazing! What prompted you to start at all?

Melissa:  When I was 14, I befriended a vegetarian who introduced me to animal rights by discussing the way animals are mistreated on factory farms and in the meat industry (I hate that term). After absorbing our conversations and performing outside research, I decided to eliminate all meat products from my plate. When I was 19, I wrote an English thesis paper on animal rights thinking it was an easy A since I was well informed and passionate over the subject. In the course of my research, I stumbled upon a new term I had never heard of before - "veganism." Attached to its definition was the dairy and egg industry. I read articles documenting the same form of exploitation seen in the meat industry. And in the end, when I analyzed the two types of agriculture, each were interconnected. When the dairy industry exhausts the use of dairy cows, they are slaughtered for additional commerce. And the same occurs with hens. Therefore, by supporting one industry via monetary contributions, I was also assisting the same industry I boycotted by being vegetarian. To me this was inane, so I became vegan.

Although I was equipped with drive and willpower, I was inept in nutrition. I ate horribly and I felt its consequences 2 years later. And so I rode a back and forth roller coaster between vegetarianism and veganism up until I was in my late 20's. I had a conversation about veganism with the same friend who influenced my eat habits at 14. She was in the middle of transitioning to a vegan diet and needed some tips. And when our discussion drew to an end, I found myself heavily thinking about veganism. I found myself getting lost in the flood of information I was giving her. From animal abuse to migrant workers being exploited. From communities devastated on an environmental and financial level to global environmental effects. I believed and supported the vegan philosophy and couldn't find one reason not to eliminate all animal products from my life. So that night I decided to try one more time. I didn't want to falter and I knew my weaknesses. So I focused more on dietary needs and health as opposed to humanism. I lacked the first and knew if I didn't find a balance between nutrition and compassion, I would return to vegetarianism. Not that vegetarianism is more nutritional than veganism. I don't want to make it seem like veganism is dangerous or that opting for this lifestyle or diet automatically equates to malnutrition. As with any diet, an individual has to be careful and always has the possibility of eating poorly (regardless as to whether or not this entails eating meat, dairy, eggs, or none of the above). Unfortunately in my life (because I was younger and not trained on the subject of health), eating as a vegetarian was easier and thoughtless. As a vegan I would eat cheeseless pizzas and vegan waffles. How is that nutritional? So it was more my know how than actually being vegan that did me in. But I have been successful thus far and I don't see myself reintroducing any animal products into my body or life.

In regards to raw - as I stated, I am a neophyte. My mother has always been interested in raw food and so I have been vaguely aware of the health benefits associated with the diet. Also, my husband's friend frequently goes raw for about 30 days at a time with a 2 wk break in between. So a mixture of my mom's influence and the respect I have for my husband's friend, I was motivated to do additional research. I read literature discussing how a raw food diet helps alleviate digestive disorders (which I frequently had until going raw), provides nutrients in optimal, bioavailable, and full form recognizable to the body, and maintains proper metabolism by balancing chemical secretions that control and affect your body (positively or negatively - eg. hormones, insulin, the adrenals). I also read statements citing a raw diet has a low impact on the environment. With all the information I read, I knew I wanted to experiment with raw food. I wanted discover if it made a difference on my physical and mental quotidian performance. It has!

CYoFC:  In your realization that by purchasing dairy products, you were actually supporting the very industry you'd boycotted by being vegetarian, you faced a very hard reality. This is no simple task, as you said, but you persisted through the challenge and ultimately, you decided to chose your own food chain, so to speak. Tell me more about the challenges you faced along the way. And what about current challenges of being vegan and raw, or aspects about it that you don't like?

Melissa:  There were challenges when I first became vegan. As I stated above, learning how to eat properly was something I had to master. Once I did, there were no conflicts. Being raw, is a different experience. Because this world is designed and rooted in preparing food one way - cooked, raw food is not always an easy lifestyle . Up until a few months ago, I commuted from Philadelphia to NYC for school. With a heavy commute (8 hr round trip), eating raw was definitely challenging. Because a majority of my meals are prepared at home, carrying an extra bag of food on top of my nap sack full of text books, no refrigerator, and being out of the house for 24 hours was challenging. Also I recently went on vacation with my mother to Puerto Rico and although my mornings were perfect and accommodating via a buffet housing every exotic fruit and nut imaginable, I was harbored with unknown meal plans as the day progressed. So traveling as a vegan is stress free, but traveling as a raw vegan can be problematic!

CYoFC:  Your dedication is so admirable. Do you plan on remaining vegan? What about raw? Why or why not?

Melissa:  I plan on staying vegan! My husband (who is attempting a vegan diet) and I have discussed the subject and because I am adamant about it, we have agreed to raise our children vegan as well. I know I will remain raw since I have seen digestive ailments and physical exhaustion disappear, but my husband don't know where his stance is on the subject of raising our children raw. This is up for debate, which I am fine with. Motivation for remaining a raw vegan? Boycotting an establishment geared at animal and human degradation! Saying no to devastating the environment and becoming a better role model for my children! Helping people transition to a vegan or a raw vegan diet/lifestyle! Becoming physically fit and healthy so I can enjoy the life I have and continue my journey of self discovery and discovering others as well!

CYoFC:  Why should other people go vegan - or raw vegan?

Melissa:  I think people should definitely become vegan. The benefits associated with it are positive and extreme. Treating all with respect and kindness is contagious. It heals the mind and the soul. It makes people appreciate the little things and eliminates the damp feelings that cling to hurting and abusing animals and people. Who wants global warming or streams full of industrial toxins? Who wants to decrease wildlife population or increase struggling communities or live under a weak economy? The negative effects of not being vegan are pejorative - metaphorically and literally.

Raw? I definitely recommend giving it a try. Everyone responds differently to change and the human body is complex and individual. But even going 50-60 percent raw and staying away from all processed foods has been documented to yield beneficial improvements.

CYoFC:  Right on. Do you have any tips or advice for people who want to make changes toward a more plant-based lifestyle?

Melissa:  For anyone who is attempting a vegetarian, vegan, or raw food diet/lifestyle - find what works for you and educate yourself. Some people enjoy cooking while others don't. Some find simple dishes work, while others enjoy exploring and delving into gourmet meals composed of intricate and time consuming preparation. There are those who live an on the go lifestyle and then there are people who have more time on their hands. Everyone is different and so each experience varies according to an individual's preference.

If you believe in something and want it to work, examine and analyze the challenges that would deter or prevent you from reaching your goals. Tweak and modify so the odds are in your favor. For example, when I was commuting to school - I became a frequent Whole Foods salad bar vulture. When I went to Puerto Rico, I anticipated conflicts, so I brought raw food bars, dried and fresh fruit, and raw granola made with buckwheat groats and sesame seeds. I knew I would be without my cornucopia of vegetables, but I accepted this knowing it was temporary. Resolving any concerns, I let go of annoyances and just went with the change. So if you don't like cooking, buy. If you do like cooking, go online and read cookbook reviews. Peruse some books on google or take them out from a library before purchasing. If you want simple meals, there are plenty to choose from. If you don't want to sacrifice favorite foods or meals, toss that perspective. Changing your diet doesn't equate to losing what you love! You will find perfect substitutes for many favorites! It's all about rediscovering and relearning. The internet is a great resource, over indulge and use it! Put in any inquiry, the results are amazing. It may feel overwhelming, but know it is possible and don't set goals that make you feel uncomfortable.

CYoFC:  Excellent advice, Melissa. What about your favorite foods?

Melissa:  Oh, my goodness there are too many to name! Raw - Any type of hummus, but my favorites are edamame hummus and avocado chickpea hummus. I love mango smoothies and mocha drinks. The falafels and sunburgers from "I am Grateful," ceviche, serrano peppers, and brazil nut milk with pureed bananas or mesquite powder - yum! Just plain vegan - tamale pie from Amy's, yam fries, turnip fries, yucca, millet patties, and samosa burritos.

CYoFC: Describe what the giving-up-cheese process was like for you.

Melissa:  I am lactose intolerant and I have a problem digesting protein in dairy, so giving up cheese was easy each time I went vegan. There was a period when I was on the hunt for a perfect cheese substitute and I've come close, especially with the new products currently on the market. Everyone goes through phases and food cravings and by making vegan cheesecakes and relying on brands like Sheese, Follow Your Heart, Tofutti, and Daiya - I was able to curb certain desires. But I have to admit, by becoming raw - my food cravings have diminished. There are times when I experience them, like on days when I have a long and strenuous workout. But as a whole - they are quite modest.

CYoFC:  Now, the infamous question: Are you getting enough protein?

Melissa:  I run 12.1 miles three times a week and I alternate between strength training, yoga, pilates, and cardio daily - I must be doing something right!

In all seriousness, yes. I was taking classes geared for the Dietetics program before deciding to go pre med, so I have elementary training in Nutrition and Food Science (just the basics). This is one of the tools I use to support a healthy diet.

CYoFC:  Thank you, Melissa! You are truly an inspiration.

Melissa Sutton-Navarro frequently goes by "Ms." when she's not using the title, "Simply Vegan." She became interested in the femininst movement when she was in high school, and when she discovered that Ms. was a feminist magazine co-founded by Gloria Steinem, she adopted the nickname Ms. (since her initials prior to marriage were MS.) She holds a BA in Literature and Creative Writing, but opting for a career change, she has gone from a Dietetics Program to pre med with the hopes of one day becoming a Naturopathic Doctor. She is also a New York native (Long Beach, Long Island), but has been on the go since her mid to late twenties. She's lived in California and Pennsylvania and is currently in the process of relocating to Portland, Oregon. She wishes to help others and receive like guidance to become a stronger and more adept individual (in mind and body). In line with these goals, she is also the creator and author of the blog, Simply Vegan.

Love Animals? You should know about Ninety-Five.

95.

That's the number of animals spared each year by 1 person eating a vegan diet. 

ONE person can save the lives of ninety-five animals in a single year.

Even eating a vegan diet every other day for a year, they can still save the lives of over fifty animals.

Eat vegan for one fourth of a year, and that's still about twenty-five lives.

I encourage you all to learn more about the new book, Ninety-Five: Meeting America's Farm Animals in Stories and Photographs, by No Voice Unheard.

Interviews: Everett: Cheese Research Made Veganism A No-Brainer

CYoFC:  Describe your current diet/lifestyle (vegan, lacto-ovo vegetarian, pescetarian, freegan, flexitarian, omnivore with vegan tendencies...etc.).

Everett:  Vegan

CYoFC:  For how long have you been vegan?

Everett:  about 2 years

CYoFC:  What prompted you to become vegan?

Everett:  I was vegan for 3 years previously (college and post college). Initially I was vegetarian for many years and took an environmental toxicology class in college and also read a bunch of books, Diet for a New America etc. I was convinced by my research that vegan was the choice for me because of the environmental and health benefits.

CYoFC:  I see. Were there any challenges to becoming vegan? What about current challenges of being vegan, or aspects about it that you don't like?

Everett:  Not really except for eating out with non-vegans. I didn't have a hard time with cheese or ice cream once I knew the conditions that most of it is made under and what all animal milks contain. eg. white blood cells, pcbs, hormones etc.

CYoFC:  Yeah, there are a lot of harmful ingredients in dairy that many people don't know about. Do you plan on remaining vegan? If so, what motivates you? If not, what motivates you to change?

Everett:  Yes. Although I recognize it as a process more than an end solution. For example, when I travel to foreign countries I try my best to eat what the locals eat. Obviously this means bending my personal rules at times.

CYoFC:  Sounds like flexibility works for you. Why should other people go vegan?

Everett:  That is for them to decide.

CYoFC:  Do you have any tips or advice for new vegans?

Everett:  Organize potlucks. Make it fun. Learn to cook. Learn to cook. Learn to cook. Get connected with like minded people.

CYoFC:  Good advice. Favorite foods?

Everett:  Indian, Thai, Avocados

CYoFC:  Avocados have that soft, cheese-like consistency - only they contain healthy fat rather than the unhealthy kind! Speaking of cheese, describe what the giving-up-cheese process was like for you.

Everett:  Easy. I decided I was going to then I did. But I would suggest having a very good reason. Once I did all the research cheese actually became a very disgusting substance to me and I didn't want to eat it.

CYoFC:  Understandable. One last question: Are you getting enough protein?

Everett:  Ahhh...The infamous question.  Yes. I guess. I surf, ride my bike everywhere, do yoga, and have good muscle tone.  I feel that I do get plenty of protein.


Thanks, Everett!


Everett, 34, of Los Angeles, CA, is a vegan who enjoys linguistics, languages, surfboard construction, vintage bicycles, motorcycles, and adventure travel.