Vegan Mecca of the Frozen Food Aisle

Amy's Kitchen makes about 100 microwaveable and conventional oven vegan meals. And they are delicious! I really was almost brought to tears by the idea of of a company caring so much about their costumers that they are willing to expend the time and energy required to make vegan/organic/reasonably priced food available for a relatively small sub-market of American grocery shoppers. Their vegan cheese pizza is out of this world, as well as their black bean burritos, tofu enchiladas, california burgers, and tofu stir fry. This company is really trying to make a difference! And on top of that fact, they are environmentally conscious as a production company using low energy refrigeration. I know that I will definitely be voting with my dollar for this company, and I'm really excited to try their microwaveable vegan mac and cheese! They also make gluten free and low sodium dishes!


A link to Amy's vegan foods:http://www.amys.com/products/search_results.php?form_vegan=1

Vote for The Change You Want to See in The Food Industry...

The beef, poultry, fish, and swine conglomerations that dominate this country are not alone, in their domination or practices. Eating vegan, and feeling (as I've mentioned in other posts) somewhat "gloaty" about my health and lack of toxin and pesticide intake, I was more than shocked to realize that mass agriculture (like its meaty counterparts) has its own underhanded hierarchy. Like Tyson, Purdue, and Smithfield farms dominate far over 50% of the poultry market, Monsanto and ConAgra have 90% of farmers in this country by the balls. Their genetically modified (or GMO) seeds are being grown in almost every large scale production farm in this country, and they're suing the other 10%. In case this info has not caused a sense of alarm...BE ALARMED. Here's why you, me, and everyone in this country (and others) should feel impending doom.

1) The working definition of GMO (compliments of wikipedia)-"A genetically modified organism (GMO) or genetically engineered organism (GEO) is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. These techniques, generally known as recombinant DNA technology, use DNA molecules from different sources, which are combined into one molecule to create a new set of genes. This DNA is then transferred into an organism, giving it modified or novel genes. Transgenic organisms, a subset of GMOs, are organisms which have inserted DNA that originated in a different species."

A different species can be present in our produce, dairy and meat because of the use of genetic modification which increases yields. Again, BE ALARMED.

2) If you are vegan or vegetarian, and think you've won the clean food lotto.....guess what? 90% of the soy beans produced in America are genetically modified to withstand the use of pesticides. So, don't think just because you eat like a bird you're safe from the plight of factory farming or production!!! BE SERIOUSLY ALARMED. If you are anything like me, a large percentage of the protein in your vegan/veg diet comes from GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISM WHICH MAY CONTAIN DIFFERENT SPECIES'(whatever that means...it sounds really wrong to me)!

3) Genetic modification to corn has made it extremely cheap and easy to produce for a billion different causes. One is high fructose corn syrup. The ads paid for by the corn industry of america, saying that high fructose corn syrup isnot bad, are lying. Its bad. It is also so easy to produce, that cows are being fed corn which is difficult for them to digest because they naturally would only graze on grass. It also makes them fatter quicker, which means they go to slaughter sooner. Sounds fun. This means they are subjected not only to shorter lives than they would lead in nature, but those lives are cramped unhappy, tiresome, filled with feces and disease, and to top it off, they probably have a chronic tummy ache. That sucks.

4) Monsanto will sue the pants off of any farmer not willing to succumb to the evil of producing GMO's for a million and one completely ridiculous reasons.

The business of poisoning this country with GMO's is sad and awful. But, look at us. We don't need to abide by seasonal production of fruits and veggies, and the shelf life is longer, and we can pay miniscule prices. But we're killing ourselves.Or worse, we're letting Monsanto and Conagra kill us, and take our money at the same time. The only way to stop this is to vote with our dollars, and buy local and seasonal. That means giving up certain things depending on the time of year.


Do you think we can do this? I'm exhausted and I want to write and research more about this,but I'm curious, do you think we can live with limited options and shorter shelf lives and slightly more expensive groceries by buying local and seasonal? Would it be worth it? Let me know in the comments.

P.S. Watch Food Inc if you haven't, its really eye opening.

say KOM-BU-CHA

I recently tried kombucha for the first time, and for those who don't know, kombucha is essentially fermented chinese tea, which is left in the sun for 30 days. If these things give you natural connotations of vinegar and pure acid, you're not too far off. It tastes like apple cider vinegar with carbonation and flavor. The company Synergy makes great kombucha in tons of flavors, like Guava Goddess and Raspberry Rush. Personally, I love vinegar, and I love tea, so it should go without saying that I'm definitely a fan of kombucha. The most difficult part to swallow about it, literally, are the active cultures that float in the bottle, but they too are really important and serve their purpose. Kombucha improves digestion, cellular function, hair and nail growth and a ton of other things. Its also a raw food since it is never heated by anything other than the sun, and you buy it cold an refrigerated. I would suggest that anyone interested in tea and alternative health at least give kombucha a try, you may be delightfully surprised by the long term effects and the interesting taste! Biggest downfall is the price, at almost 4 dollars a bottle, but I'm hoping sometime in the future to be able to stock up on it and see if there are any major health improvements with extended use.

AWESOME!

Factory Farming...Death to all that is good.

Is the statement "factory farming is evil" dramatic? Is it over the line? Absurd? Absolutely not. Factory farming is synanomous with the torturous and inhumane deaths of millions of animals annually, thousands of acres of deforestation, and more green house gas emissions then are produced by all modes of transportation(including jet planes) combined per year. It means blatant abuse and misuse of animals, destruction of nature, and devestation to small farms all over this country. What's worse, what's terrifyingly worse, is that in every individual meat industry (cattle, pig, chicken, etc.) more than 50% of the industry production comes from about four companies. FOUR COMPANIES. These companies, based on their power and clout, are vertically integrated. Meaning they own the grazing land, the feed, the feed lots, barns, slaughterhouses, and transportation that delivers their "product." All this means, they are in an alarming amount of control, and can easily bypass laws (not that there are many) pertaining to healthy and humane conditions for animals, and meat quality.
Information on the mistreatment of animals is available in so many places. I would suggest the Peta2 website, the book Why Animals Matter by Erin E. Williams and Margo DeMello, as well as any article pertaining to the subject published by The New York Times. You can fucking Google it, and find more information then you'd ever need. So, I'm not going to tell you about the inhumanity of animal cruelty on factory farms, because there are many sources more versed and reliable than me. What I will say is that there are so many more reasons than animal rights activism to become vegan. The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), the organization we trust to ensure meat grade quality, organic food quality, and free-range meat reliability is totally fucked. They are sleeping with every major meat producing industry, the dairy industry and god knows who the fuck else. Probably Satan, most likely Hitler, and absolutely George Bush.
The USDA temporarily banned the use of "downed" cattle for human consumption because of the last break out of mad cow disease in the US. For those of you who don't know, downed cattle (pictured above) are cattle that fall so ill in the horrific conditions of transportation to slaughter that they can no longer walk, are either so exhausted, ill, or infected that they can only lie on the ground. Up until the last break out of mad cow in this country, farmers could drag those animals to slaughter, and you could buy pieces of them in your super market labeled "Grade A USDA meat." The USDA does not care about you, or me, or cattle, or anything, other than money, and probably some closeted, disgusting sexual tendencies. Until the USDA can be held accountable for putting the health of the nation at risk, being vegan is a proactive stance against the kind of ridiculous "governance" they think they have.
I know this is disturbing, physically and mentally jarring, and all around upsetting, but it is the truth. The line "Don't ruin my dinner" (in reference to having to hear about animal mistreatment) doesn't cut it here. Your dinner has already been ruined, because the people we as a nation trust to control healthy conditions of consumable meat products is a sham. I really hope that changes. But maybe the only way to do it is to shut down factory farming by voting with our dollars, and being a vegan nation, at least for a while.

Vegan Quick Fix: Snacks

This homemade guacamole took me literally four minutes to make, and is totally delicious and filling.

I used two whole avocados, half a lemon, one small tomato, and some cilantro.

First, I used a fork to "mush" the avocados, and then diced the tomato into chunks and added that to the avocado. Then, I added a pich of salt an pepper, mixed it all together, and spread some diced cilantro over the top.(I squirted some lemon before the cilantor to add flavor and keep the avocado from turning brown).

For things to dip, I used vegan pretzel twists, and also toasted some pita bread as homemade "chips". Mine were pretty soft, out of preference, but the pita could be put in the oven to make legit chips.

Round Dos.

After a stressful semester, the casting aside of my vegan intentions, and for all intensive purposes, the loss of my interest in the vegan lifestyle all together, here I stand. I've been eating vegan for about a week, and I am utterly and completely shocked... at how easy it's been! Granted, as someone who only ate fish, and products like baked goods which have cooked milk, and eggs, and cheese... it has not been a difficult transition.

In high school I tried veganism for a month, mostly because I wanted to lose weight, own the svelte, etc., etc. It was a totally different experience. Although I made this blog, wrote an entry, got up on my high horse of gastric selectivity, I had no real desire as of a week and a half ago to actually do it. But let me assure you, anyone interested in becoming vegan, I have found the portal, the hard push, the ring to rule them all so to speak.

Watch the documentary "Earthlings." You will be vegan. At least for the first week, it will be easy. You will feel good. You will wonder how you ever craved animal products. The movie is brutal, honest, graphic, and totally heart wrenching, angering, and generally bothersome to the human emotions of guilt and horror. But it works. When you're doing it (veganism) because you think its right, as opposed to doing it for your own selfish desires (thinness, gloat factor, feeling as if you've been directly produced from God's anal sphincter),there is a sense of... largeness, to the cause. To some people, I'm sure that still won't cut it, and I know harder days are coming for me in my pursuit to do this, but I do feel entwined in this much bigger picture, and for me (the college student, the idealist, the activist), that has been a tremendous push. Basically, after watching two hours of in your face, blatant and horrific animal cruelty, I feel like a raging member of PETA, a willing thrower of paint, and, admittedly, a princess of holier than thou post adolescent angst and pretension.

However, for all I can say about how easy it's been, I haven't necessarily been the shining beacon of self sacrifice for the cause. In the throw's of my finals, I ate a large McDonald's french fry... bucket. Directly vegan? Yes. Indirectly...? Sinful. But, at the end of the day, I'm still trying. Still avoiding giving into the ease of ordering pizza, or toasting a bagel(and you know I don't mean sanz cream cheese). I feel good about what I'm doing, and that goodness is coming from more than one level this time around, its not a choice of vanity( or at least not completely), and even as one person, I feel like I'm making a small difference.