Walk for Farm Animals, 2011. I'm here! =)

Most of us know what it’s like to lead into a day of work, have a task list, and one-by-one mark those items as “done”! We know what it’s like to have a project, a significant project to work on for days, weeks, even months and then finally experience that great feeling of completion, or as I call it – euphoria!

Yes in hindsight there may be a few things here and there we would change, but all said and done – the project is complete and that satisfaction is there.

Well just imagine if you worked away at something for years, worked yourself silly, never swaying in your dedication to the goal, you and a well orchestrated team. And you made enormous progress, where your object or goal had been reached. And with such overwhelming enthusiasm, you cry tears of joy… we did it! Only to learn in time, that very same project is indeed incomplete. That the goal once considered achieved, was now undone. And yes! You have to start again…                                                                                                                

Recently the California Supreme Court overturned the ban on slaughtering downed animals. This much needed law mandated humane treatment of downed animals – animals too sick or diseased to walk to slaughter. Just to give you an idea of how large of a problem this is – 44,000 out of 100,000 pigs each year sent to slaughter are “downed” pigs. Sounds cruel? You bet. Good for our food supply? Absolutely not.

Organizations such as The Humane Society of United States, PETA and Farm Sanctuary worked tirelessly to bring this piece of legislation into place. I spent hours of my own time writing, signing, sharing petitions, writing letters, emails, informing others, all of this paling in comparison to their enormous hours of hard work.

At first… the efforts paid off! California enacted the law in 2009. Victory was the tremendously felt outcome and the feeling was euphoric. When fast-forward to 2012, the Supreme Court pulls the plug and reverses the law. What?? They reversed the law banning the protection of these poor injured and diseased animals that shouldn’t be in our nation’s food supply in the first place.

Upon reading the announcement it felt like my heart briefly stopped. I remember sitting at my desk when Wayne Pacelle’s (Humane Society of United States) email announcement came through. I remember it well as I was finally sitting down to a late lunch at my computer when I began reading the breaking news; and as dramatic as it sounds -after reading the headline my fork hit the plate.

I felt devastated. How could they do this? How could they overturn this long, well over-due, impactful law? As horrible as I felt, I asked myself how the various individuals at these organizations must feel. This was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears! So while my first thought was of course the extended suffering of animals, my second set of thoughts went to them… the suffering organizations who worked tirelessly for years -and victory was now overturned.

We often fail to recognize the hard, hard, hard work organizations such as these commit to every single solitary day. And because animals can’t vote, speak our language, or express their needs in a manner most need to understand them, it generally calls for these special groups to see to it that the public is led to make proper decisions for the treatment of animals. And many days these organizations are under great scrutiny and go unappreciated. But! That doesn’t stop them. They keep going; they keep fighting the fight.

So when you get up each morning and think of the work ahead of you, also think of these people and their work, and their target audience as ultimately that audience includes you. Do something big or small to support their efforts. Be it a tweet or posting a word of encouragement, signing a much-needed petition, eating a compassionate vegan meal or tossing them a few bucks. Such support allows those in the ultimate seat of power like the Supreme Court to see where the public stands on these serious matters. They deserve your support. They deserve an enormous amount of credit. And we should always strive to give credit where credit is due.

-peace to you and yours-

Madison Park (DeAnna Cool)

Hello!

This is Sarah from SoyGo. With the weather turning beautiful and warm across the northern hemisphere, I can’t help but daydream about the upcoming picnics, outdoor concerts, and pool parties that will require picnic foods!

All of these favorite summer pastimes require a good picnic to sooth the hungry belly while creating an opportunity to eat al fresco. Another favorite pastime, as you may have gathered from my other blogs on SoyGo or Care2, is cooking and writing about vegetarian food. With that in mind, a picnic food blog is born.

I thought I would share with you a 3 course vegetarian/vegan picnic menu (with recipes) that you can whip up for your next picnic, pool party or watching the sunset after a long summer’s day. All of these ingredients are fresh, healthy, and perfect to eat as the temperatures rise.

I will admit, when I cook, it is usually called “fancy” by most. I am aiming this picnic menu for all cooking levels while offering a menu that will be sure to impress! Each recipe takes under 30 minutes so you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time outside enjoying your favorite summer activity..

Menu-
Starter- Chilled Strawberry Soup with Mint and Lime
Main Course- Mediterranean Pressed Picnic Sandwich
Snack- Rosemary Popcorn

Recipes
Chilled Strawberry Soup with Mint and Lime 1 quart of organic strawberries

• Finely chopped organic mint (from the garden if possible)
• Pinch of organic caster sugar
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1 teaspoon of SoyGo
• 2-3 tablespoons of soy yoghurt (optional)
• Reserve a handful of strawberries and whole mint leaves for garnish

Wash strawberries and cut the tops off.
1. Muddle mint in a mortar and pestle with a pinch of sugar.
2. In a food processor add the strawberries, muddled mint, SoyGo, and juice. Blend until it is a soup-like consistency.
3. Fold in 2-3 tablespoons of yoghurt.

This can be transported in a thermos to keep it cold, or in a cooler with ice.
Add a few mint leaves and a whole strawberry before serving.

Mediterranean Pressed Picnic Sandwich (inspired by www.vegetariantimes.com)
Pressing the sandwich lets the crusty bread soak up the roasted vegetable juices, and travel time gives flavors a chance to meld!

• 1 eggplant, zucchini, red onion, and portobello mushroom cut lengthwise into ¼-inch slices
• 3 Tbs. olive oil, divided
• 1 large loaf ciabatta bread, halved
• ⅓ cup prepared pesto
• Handful of sun-dried tomatoes
• 2 jarred roasted red peppers, sliced

• 2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar

1. Heat grill pan or grill to medium-high heat. Brush vegetables with 2 Tbs. olive oil, and grill until charred and softened. Transfer to plate.
2. Hollow inside of bread to make room for vegetables. Spread pesto on one side of bread.
3. Layer vegetables on one side of bread. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and remaining 1 Tbs. olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Press top and bottom of sandwich together, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Place on baking sheet, and weigh down with heavy skillet or two large cans. Sandwiches can also go at the bottom of the picnic basket.
4. Keep chilled until serving.

 Rosemary Popcorn
 This snack can be an appetizer or a dessert. Whipped up in under 15 minutes  you’ll impress your picnic friends without a doubt!

•  1 cup popcorn kernels
•  1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Rosemary Infused Oil, recipe follows
•  Salt
•  Nutritional yeast (optional)

 Rosemary Infused Olive Oil
1. Combine the oil androsemary in a saucepan or skillet.
2. Warm over low heat for 5 minutes.
3. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
4. Strain the rosemary out of the oil.

Popcorn
1. Stir the popcorn kernels and 1/2 cup of the oil in a heavy large pot.
2. Cover and cook over medium heat until the kernels have popped, shaking the pot halfway through cooking, about 3 minutes.
3. Immediately transfer the popcorn to a large serving bowl.
4. Toss the popcorn with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil.
5. Sprinkle with salt and nutritional yeast (for a cheesy flavor) and enjoy!

I hope you enjoy these picnic recipes. As always, I look forward to hearing your comments. Thanks for reading and for choosing yummy, compassionate picnic options!

Here at SoyGo we wanted to provide a few tips on how to make the transition to more “compassionate” meals, or becoming a full-fledged vegan/vegetarian, more easily. So to begin with we are sharing this compelling piece posted on zenhabits breathe. (Click here: Zenhabits.net.) We hope you will find the article as great as we do!

We understand there are challenges to overcome when changing your lifestyle. For example,  one challenge in particular can be dining out and not finding a sufficient variety of animal-friendly choices on the menu. But keep in mind, it’s important to kindly speak up at restaurants and events that don’t currently offer a healthy veg choice, or limit that option to “a salad”.  We are not rabbits, people! ;) We do eat more than lettuce and the like…

As much as it may not “help” in the moment if a restaurant is clearly serving only seafood, for example, it can certainly have an impact on the determined menu down the road. So our point is, be heard!

And trust us when we say, the challenges and tradeoffs of a vegetarian diet are greatly outweighed by the benefits you will reap.

If you are on this particular path, we applaud you! Please share your thoughts with us on how you are finding your journey of eating less meat and animal by-products. And we hope you enjoy the Zenhabits blog, too!

Written by: Sarah Rooney and DeAnna Cool.

In October 2008 on the website of Care2, we posted about the animal cruelty case at a pig farm in Greene County, Iowa. You can check out our post here, or for more information see: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-09-16-467433543_x.htm.

As of late, we were wondering what the final outcome of that case was and started researching.  And little did we know, we were about to open Pandora’s Box full of legal bills written in varying states that aimed to criminalize whistle blowers and undercover journalists. We were aware that this was going-on to some degree, but not to this extent. Just one more piece of legislation in the works, across many states, that inhibits public knowledge and awareness, which then results in no chance to help defend the innocent.

With the Iowa case, PETA was thrilled to report that after their undercover story was revealed, there were 22 counts of livestock neglect and abuse laid against six individuals. Jennifer Jacobs of the Des Moines Registry reported “Two people were given two-year suspended prison terms. The others received probation or deferred judgment.” But if you read further, you’ll find yourself disappointed by the penalties each individual case.

Additionally, our research lead us to the information that Iowa recently passed a bill in the House of Representatives (HF 589 passed 2011 and SF431 passed 2011) which makes it a criminal activity to produce, possess and/or distribute undercover video and/or audio recordings of activities within an animal facility.  The SF431 currently has not passed in the senate and therefore has been passed on to the Senate Agriculture Committee for further review.  The penalty under this bill is aggravated misdemeanor (for the first conviction) and any convictions following is a class D felony.

Minnesota and New York also faced similar bills in 2011. Although the Minnesota bill did not pass through legislation by the end of 2011, it could still be passed in 2012.  A similar bill in Florida expired because it did not pass through legislation by the end of 2011. We need these bills to be stopped!

We believe there is a strong connection to PETA’s undercover filming of the animal cruelty in Idaho, and the HF 589 bill.  Many agriculture lobbyists (including Montsanto, IA Cattlemen’s Association, The Farm Bureau, and other lobbyists that represent cattle, pork, corn, soy, and poultry) worked hard and spent a lot of money to get this bill passed in Iowa’s House of Representatives following this expose.

As consumers, and concerned citizens, isn’t it our right to know what goes on where food for human consumption is produced?  Shouldn’t we reward whistle blowers who risk their own careers (such as existing employees) or potentially their own physical safety (if they were discovered) to stand up against cases of inhumane and illegal treatment of animals?  However, these bills do no such thing.  Instead they propose to make it a criminal activity to speak out against these horrors.

I admit, I was (arguably naively) surprised and horrified to see that the sentencing on these six individuals who tortured sows and piglets was minimal.  Presumably, they didn’t spend a moment of time in jail for these crimes.  And instead of writing bills to create more stringent laws aimed at people who abuse animals, state legislatures wrote and voted to criminalize those who aim to expose the real criminals – those who abuse, neglect, and torture the innocent.

As a society, we need to rely on the good-will and ethics of those individuals who are willing to alert or tip off animal interest groups to the animal abuse that happens inside factory farms.  Unfortunately, we can not rely solely on the FDA or the USDA to observe animal abuses.  In April of 2010, Inspector General Daniel R. Levinson of the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, published a study entitled, “FDA INSPECTIONS OF DOMESTIC FOOD FACILITIES”.  The report states that 56% percent of food facilities have gone 5 or more years without an FDA inspection.

Although the bills did not pass (yet) in Minnesota, New York, or Florida, there are many lobby groups interested in seeing this bill pass in the future.  Please take the time to let your legislators know that these bills are against the First Amendment and that they should not pursue these bills any further.  Instead, they should focus their time on working to protect animals from torture and abuse in factory farms.

If you are in Iowa, please contact your state legislature and ask them to oppose HF 589 and SF 431.  Click here for contact details.  For all other states please click here for legislature contact details.  Please also contact Monsanto to let them know you do not support their lobby actions to make factory farming practices less transparent.

Thanks for reading and taking action to ensure whistle blowers, journalists, and the media are not silenced when it comes to animal welfare and factory farming practices!

Written by Sarah Rooney. Team member of SoyGo and basicLUX Records and endless world-traveler. Devoted to animal rights advocacy. Responsible for perfecting the Kale Chip and newly found surfer.

One of the questions that arose from my last blog was what advice would I give someone who is interested in becoming a vegetarian, or adding more vegetarian meals into their diet.  Hopefully this blog will shed some light on the staples in a vegetarian diet.  I’ll also add in some recipes to help you along the way.

If you are new to cooking or new to the idea of cooking without meat in your diet, I would recommend the following cookbooks to help guide you on your way:

- Any or all of the Mollie Katzen cookbooks- best starter cookbooks ever!
- ReBar Modern Food Cookbook -a little advanced in terms of the number of ingredients but it is the perfect cookbook for creating the most flavorful and amazing dishes.  (This is not a strictly vegetarian cookbook as they do have a couple of fish recipes that I ignore.)

- How it All Vegan – the vegan “Eggs Benedict” recipe carried me and my meat-eating friends into brunch bliss on numerous occasions!

- Raw The UNcook Book- is recommend for those adventurous folks looking for something a bit different. There are an incredible amount of ingredients for each recipe but don’t let that scare you.

Aside from cookbooks- what are other staples that vegetarian foodies have in their cupboard? The following items have all appeared on my grocery lists over the past month:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a must for dressing salads. I drizzle it over seasonal tomatoes, cucumbers, and basil with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

If you are feeling daring, I suggest trying avocado oil – used exactly the same as virgin olive oil except that it has a higher smoking temperature so you can sauté with it as well.  Try adding some to homemade salsa!

Nuts are a must in my cupboard. Walnuts, cashews, pepitas, and pine nuts – you can’t go wrong! Add a handful of nuts to any dish to bulk up the consistency and the protein content.

A great snack is spicy, roasted pepitas. Dry roast pepitas with spices such as: cayenne, cumin, coriander seeds, salt, pepper, mustard seeds, and a splash of Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (another staple for vegetarian cooking), limejuice, and apple cider vinegar.  Toss to coat pepitas in the spices.

One of my favorite ways of spicing up a meal is to use: fresh chillies, lemon juice / zest, scallions, or arugula. These are tasty and low-sodium ways to add brightness and spice to any dish.

Pastas (whole wheat or spelt) are a staple in my pantry as are tortilla shells (wheat and gluten free).

Lentils and beans are a great way to bulk up a meal while adding lots of health benefits. I love homemade black bean soup as well as lentil salad with any or all of the herbs listed below.

Fresh herbs such as: basil, cilantro, oregano, rosemary, and parsley also grow in my garden year round. There is nothing like homemade pesto (basil, garlic, pine nuts or cashews, oil, and lemon juice) to spread over a wrap or pasta with fresh veggies.

Lastly- garlic!  Although not everyone loves loads of garlic, and some diets even restrict it altogether, I love adding roasted, fresh or minced garlic to dishes.  Try slicing it paper-thin and letting it melt into a dish.  So delicious!

In terms of veggies/ fruits my favorites are: in season- tomatoes, avocados, asparagus, strawberries, eggplant, and bell peppers.   I think these staples can be used creatively from breakfast to a midnight snack, fancy dinners to comfy, comfort food.

Most of all- my suggestion for staples is to have fun, eat what you like but don’t forget to experiment.   There is a whole ‘cornucopia’ of food to discover, try, and try again.

Bon appetite and thanks for moving forward with a cruelty free diet!

Sarah

 
When I initially chose to become a vegetarian I wasn’t overly informed about animal rights. I didn’t know about the health benefits that I would reap from being a vegetarian. I didn’t imagine all of the amazing foods I would learn to love. I didn’t think about the fact that I was creating a smaller carbon footstep either. I became a vegetarian because I never really liked meat.

I took the plunge and became a vegetarian almost 15 years ago after traveling around the UK and Europe. Being a somewhat picky eater who didn’t like meat, I found myself eating many vegetarian meals by default. When I returned to the USA I decided, on a whim, to give being a vegetarian a go- why not!

I was not armed with a plan of how to accomplish becoming a vegetarian nor did I have a refrigerator stocked with veggie-friendly foods. So instead, I ate peanut butter and bagels for the first week! Even with such an unsustainable and boring diet consisting solely of peanut butter and bagels, I liked being a vegetarian – it was working for me!

Knowing full well I needed to expand my vegetarian repertoire, I researched different vegetarian meals and found that I love reading vegetarian cookbooks just as much as I love reading great big novels. There was suddenly a whole world of learning up for grabs. I found gems like Mollie Katzen’s cookbooks, and discovered tofu, tempeh, and edamame! (These are of course staples in my house now but at the time everything was new to me). I can go on and on about cooking and recipes – maybe another time.

Aside from the thrill of learning about great vegetarian recipes and ingredients, I couldn’t answer the question of why I became a vegetarian. I didn’t feel comfortable talking about politically charged or hot topics like slaughter houses or battery farms because I didn’t have enough information on the subject. Intuitively though I knew being a vegetarian felt right for me.

A friend gave me a copy of Pamela Rice’s 101 Reasons Why I Am A Vegetarian. The information about how animals are treated in slaughterhouses, how vegetarians are significantly at less risk for obesity, diabetes, and cancer, and how the transportation of animals is often so cruel and inhumane brought tears to my eyes. I remember calling my husband at work to read him the horrors of what I was learning. That night, he came home and read the article for himself. He never ate meat again.

After nearly 15 years as a vegetarian I don’t have just one reason why I am a vegetarian. I have many reasons. My reasons are secondary to the peace of mind and clear conscience I have in knowing, that on a daily basis, I continue to make the choice to do the right thing by not eating meat. I am glad I followed my intuition.

Written by: Sarah Rooney, freelance writer and non-profit management consultant, world traveler and newest member of the SoyGo team

OK I’m a little more prepared in thought to take on Blog 2… Not that I want to switch gears on you so quickly going from loads of fun in Blog Take 1 to asking you  to stand at attention suddenly. Afterall, Blog 1 was loads of fun, right? ;)  But anyway, I mentioned I would be more serious this time…

So when I awoke this morning, you do realize that most musicians can’t use that phrase, as most never actually see morning. But, when I awoke this morning I remembered that I failed to send a thank you tweet to my new friend Roseanne Barr yesterday. I caught her interview on Chelsea Lately and she made a comment about how great it would be if people ate nuts as opposed to beef for their protein as it would greatly reduce global warming and help feed the world by having more grain available – and I was jumping for joy and wanted to run and send a shout out through one of the various methods we have at our fingertips albeit Twitter, Facebook, etc, only I was too tired to do it at that very moment and felt certain I would remember the following day.

And I did remember! Only the three times that I went to tweet a thank you, each time I was distracted with what I must have considered more important at the time and ultimately, …never sent my tweet.

Is today too late? Has the need to do this come and gone? My point I’m trying to make is, when it comes to doing something we feel immediately inspired to do, just do it!  If something comes up in mid-process, as it most certainly will, unless it’s life or death, stay focused and stick with your task at hand.  Because good intentions are just that. Good… Not great!

Make it a great day =)  

(Written by DeAnna Cool of Madison Park (singer/songwriter), co-founder of SoyGo)

Roseanne on Chelsea Lately (segment begins at :45 in)

Welcome…! To our blog. With an overly tired brain combined with a zero time factor, my first blog will be a net zero. But! That’s not to say it can’t get more exciting from here. I mean, how could it not?  There’s nothing here!  I’m basically writing at this moment in time because the “blog” factor was just added to our new website that’s about to launch. Blog factor… sounds like the next reality show.

My marketing consultant/guide/expert/friend, one who has a much better grasp of the social media networking world than I do, Brandon Sutton, has convinced me that I need to blog.  My response to that was, well I guess since I spend 90% of my time writing, why not make it 98? And then my question was, what could I blog about that someone might feel is worth reading? Brandon replied with the comment that he felt confident I would have plenty to say. Is that a polite way of someone telling you that you talk a lot? ;) I should get some clarification on that. 

But anyway, I guess my opening blog statement will tend to mimick a Seinfeld episode. A lot of going on about nothing. Great show, so … just maybe this will become a great blog? Time will tell if you tune in for Blog Take 2 and we’ll see if I’m going in the right direction. Maybe next time I’ll blog after I’ve had a cup of coffee with SoyGo ;)

 Ciao!  (DeAnna Cool of Madison Park (singer/songwriter), co-founder of SoyGo)

Seinfeld – The Nothing Pitch