by Jason on February 3, 2005
I got an email from Hayden, which made AngelA go all aflutter, but then I explained that this was a Hayden in Australia, not that other Hayden, and anyway, that was just the email name, not the name of the person sending the email, and she was OK, but THEN she saw the note was about carob, and we’re back where we started: “we have about 20 Carob trees across the road, I have been told it makes a great alternative to chocolate or great in its own merits, there is one slight problem though: ‘what do you do with Carob pods?’ I have absolutly no idea what to do with these long things filled with seeds but I hear they taste very good. Can you possibly help me in what should I do, I hear you roast them, but how? Any help or tips you could give me would be great.” This is worse than the time someone said they had an avocado tree. Tomorrow I’ll likely get an email from someone with a club soda tree. Anyway, if someone can manage to overcome their jealousy and lend a hand here, that’d be great.
by Jason on December 20, 2004
The holiday season is always a pain. I love accepting presents, but what about when someone who doesn’t know better (or just doesn’t think) tries to give you something that doesn’t fit with your vegan values? This kind of thing can happen year-round, and not just with presents – imagine if, say, you won a live turkey in a raffle. As Shocking Fish found, that’s what happened to Ray and Maura Stroud recently. Luckily for the turkey, Ray and Maura have been vegetarian for 30 years. While they couldn’t fit the bird in their home, they were able to place him with the help of the folks from Viva!. Now if we could just find, say, a leather gloves sanctuary, we’d be all set. What’s everyone’s strategy for dealing with non-vegan gifts and prizes?
by Jason on December 14, 2004
This one’s been sitting in my inbox for too long (but I’m down to 11 messages! Yay!) – Joe is looking for links and info on “how vegan/vegetarianism affects local economies,” with an aim to convince a meat eater to consider vegetarianism without appealing to the “softer side.” Lil’ help?
by Jason on November 19, 2004
bfischer sent in a story about some girls who brought poisoned cake to school and gave it to students. The cake contained bleach, expired prescription drugs, clay, tabasco sauce, and, quite possibly, eggs and dairy. Actually, this doesn’t have much to do with veganism, but it reminds me of the phemonenon known in my workplace as “printer food.” If someone puts food by the shared printer, it doesn’t matter what it is or who put it there, people will eat it without question. To prove this point, we one dumped a can of black beans onto a paper plate, garnished it with scraps of lettuce from lunch, and someone took some. I love beans, but this really didn’t look appetizing. Still, it was by the printer, and people eat printer food without question. Are people avoiding veganism simply because they don’t like to check ingredients? How can we have survived as a species for this long if people have no actual interest in knowing what they’re eating?
by Jason on November 17, 2004
Dave Noisy sends news of a new burger that has 1420 calories and 107 grams of fat. The “Monster Thickburger” is Hardee’s sixth sandwich to top 1,000 calories. Dave’s issued the challenge: find a way to top that calorie count without animal products. Can it even be done? Remember, there might just be someone out there who’d love to go vegan, but doesn’t want to give up the ability to hold that many calories in one hand. Hell, why else isn’t everyone going vegan? Put your recipes in the comments, and remember people, teamwork!
by Jason on November 15, 2004
bfischer sent in a column called “The Good Life,” which is basically a column for people with too much money, so of course when they turn to food, it’s going to be non vegan. (Are there actually people out there who say “I’d love to go vegan, but I have too much money?” I’m sure I could help with that.) Anyway, this edition is about turkey, since American Thanksgiving is coming up, and the article is basically forgettable, but the inevitable vegan slur caught my eye (OK, bfischer found it first): “The gourmands at Slow Food aren’t a bunch of angry vegans drunk on carrot juice.” Again, forget this guy. All I want to know is if anyone’s ever actually gotten drunk on carrot juice. Of course, I don’t mean that in the sense that the author does, I mean carrot juice mixed with alcohol. For that matter, has anyone used their juicer to make any kind of mix for drinks? It’s like a whole new target market for the juice people. I think it’s a perfect complement for the Ronco home still kit that I saw on TV last night.
by Jason on October 25, 2004
Zed asks: “So Halloween’s coming and if I don’t want to be the hated guy-who-gives-out-boxes-of-raisins again, I have to move fast. Anyone have suggestions for Halloween treats that don’t involve animal products or chocolate whose production involved slavery?” We may have covered this already, so while we’re at it, I need a costume. If I wrap myself entirely in tinfoil, do you reckon I’ll die of asphyxiation? Other ideas are welcome.
by Jason on October 5, 2004
bfischer sent in a story about the flu vaccine and raised the question: “So is getting a flu vaccine considered vegan (since I am pretty sure they use eggs to make them)?” What are everyone’s thoughts on the flu vaccine, and vaccinations in general? I’m lucky enough to be in a relatively clean environment, plus I’m a bit of a needle-phobe, so I get to avoid the issue for the most part, but there are parts of the world (and jobs) where these things seem more than prudent if you want to be able to live to help save animals. Thoughts?
by Jason on September 27, 2004
Shocking Fish writes: “Sorry at the moment there is no link but I have just had a letter through from the UK vegetarian society informing its members that very shortly McDonalds will be using the vegetarian society seedling symbol on most of there vegetarian sutable products. At present Burger King has thier Veggie Burger approved. Do VP’ers think that this is a good or bad thing?“
by Jason on September 8, 2004
I’ve been inspired by one author’s quest for “manly” vegetarian fare. He only ended up with an eggplant sandwich loaded with cheese and (optional) hard boiled eggs, and I know we can do much better than this. What’s going between your slices of bread these days? I haven’t been packing lunches much lately, and when I rejoin the lunch bunch, I want to amaze the other diners. No, I want them to envy me. No, I want them to fear my sandwich of power. Your assistance is appreciated.
