Boston Veggie

This is what you’re eating, America… enjoy!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/04/mechanically-separated-meat-chicken-mcnugget-photo_n_749893.html

Check out this top 10 list of “Famous Vegeterians” by bing.com… some you’d expect, and some you wouldn’t.

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/top-10-famous-vegetarians/uf1hj6dx

At the beginning of November, I talked about the E. Coli outbreak that killed a New Hampshire man and left many others sick. In response, Good Morning America probed the meat industry to find out the truth about ground meat. What they found, was not good. Here are a few quotes from the segment:

70,000 people get sick from E. Coli every year

Ground beef is the leading cause of E. Coli poisonings

Consumers don’t realize what goes into a single hamburger. Most people have a fantasy that it still comes from a single cow.

In GMA’s independent study, there were a minimum of four cows per patty and a maximum of eight… it is those multiple sources that can make your food vulnerable to contamination because just one animal could contaminate the rest.

You just can never be too sure what is going into the meat you eat. There are no FDA guidelines that force companies to test their meat after it has been produced, only that the meat must be “safe.” While many companies do opt to test their meat, not all do. To me, it just ain’t worth the risk! Watch the segment here.

Leona Lewis is in talks with Stella McCartney to design a vegan clothing line. Read about it here.

Brothers stars Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman are both vegan and both working to open the public awareness on vegetarian issues, as outlined in this article. Maguire recently wrote to Speaker Nancy Pelosi about healthier school lunches, and Portman wrote an article for the Huffington Post about the negative effects of Factory Farming. She writes:

“The human cost of factory farming — both the compromised welfare of slaughterhouse workers and, even more, the environmental effects of the mass production of animals — is staggering. Foer details the copious amounts of pig shit sprayed into the air that result in great spikes in human respiratory ailments, the development of new bacterial strains due to overuse of antibiotics on farmed animals, and the origins of the swine flu epidemic, whose story has gripped the nation, in factory farms.”

Read the whole article here.

Check out this article in the New York Times about how veganism is more mainstream then ever in Long Island, New York.

Al Gore was featured in a segment on Saturday Night Live last week talking about the environmental crisis. Though he does not come out screaming “Everybody be vegan!” he does mention factory farming at the 3:29 mark. As I’ve mentioned before, factory farms (mostly of the meat producing kind) contribute 18% of greenhouse gas emissions.  Enjoy.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/110311/saturday-night-live-update-al-gore

Ellen is my new favorite vegan! She had Wolfgang Puck on her show recently and they made VEGAN PIZZA! I love it even more because of Wolfgang Puck’s enthusiasm. In contrast, when the chefs of Top Chef were asked to make vegeterian food (not even vegan) they almost cried. They just looked like chickens with their heads cut off (no pun intended) trying to figure out something as simple as how to cook vegetables in an interesting and delicious way. But Wolfgang was so excited to make this food for Ellen. I am so glad that she is doing all of these high-profile segments on vegetarian and vegan food to spread the word! Check out Wolfgang Puck on The Ellen Show making pizza here!

Who knew that November was National Vegan Month? Who knew that Veganism even had a month dedicated to it? I certainly didn’t know that.. but yay for meatless meals! Happy Vegan Month Veggies!