vegoftheweek

Farm Sanctuary Gala 2004

Dan Piraro is a cartoonist and comedian best known for his website, Bizarro.com, where he often incorporates his vegan and animal rights beliefs into his works.

His thoughts on hunting:
Well, I certainly think that if there are degrees of cruelty, and you can argue philosophically about that, I think that hunting is far less cruel than raising an animal uncomfortably in a cage with a lot of others (animals). It’s certainly kinder than factory farming to let an animal live its life in the wild, unmolested, until a bullet strikes it dead. I know that I would prefer a life like that rather than a life in prison until I was killed for someone’s food. I would prefer a free life until I was killed for someone’s food. To me there’s a huge moral dilemma. Hunting in our culture quite frankly is killing for fun, whether you eat it or not. If you pass a grocery store on your way to hunt, you’re killing for fun, not killing for necessity. I think killing for fun is certainly a no brainer. It’s sort of difficult to justify in my mind.
I went hunting with my dad (years ago). It’s interesting, my dad is a terrific person, not a vegetarian, but he’s a terrific person, still alive. He and I are very close. He had these very strict ideas about how animals should be treated and he taught them to me as a kid. You never kill anything that you’re not going to eat. And you never kill more than you can eat. He was very strict about that. He took me bird hunting and I remember one time when he caught me trying to shoot a sparrow in the backyard with a Bebe gun. He came down on me so hard. Took the gun away from me and gave me a big lecture, “You do not kill things just for fun.”
…It’s just wrong to kill things for fun. You can’t justify that. If I was an Eskimo, maybe, and there were no grocery stores. ..

An example of one of his cartoons that illustrates his beliefs:
It’s a laboratory with a scientist mixing stuff up. And behind him are cages of all sorts of animals. And the monkey says through the cage, “Hey, Einstein. How about working on a cure for insensitivity to other species.” To me that concept says it all, because that’s really what it’s about. It’s about something being not enough like us to care. We see this in society all over the place: There are people who think that foreigners are not enough like us to care what happens to them. Or people of another race are “not enough like me” to care what happens to them. It’s about the circle of compassion. I extend my circle of compassion to any sentient being. Anything that knows it’s alive, in my mind, has the same philosophical rights to an unmolested life as I do or you do. That cartoon to me kind of says that very thing.

On the vegan tattoos on his body:
(There’s) a little group of cartoon birds (on my arm) and then underneath that it says fly. And that to me is just the idea of letting animals be who they are. And then on my arm I have a banner that says vegan…And on my other arm I have a monkey’s head and he has a little banner that crosses and curls underneath his head that says “liberation,” which to me is just about the liberation of the slavery of animals.
My wife has a little small square battery cage with a chicken flying out of it. And then it says vegan next to that. And she has a full size spider monkey with a broken chain and it says, “liberation.” And she has a rooster with a bunch of baby chicks all around him with a banner across that says “unlucky.”
That tattoo is really interesting. In restaurants and bars, if a guy ever wants to start up a conversation with the pretty blond he says, “Oh, those are interesting tattoos. What does that “unlucky” mean?” And 45 minutes later, they’re sorry they ever asked. She launches into an entire story about what happens to male chicks in egg factories. The male chicks are all killed at birth because they’re not going to be egg layers.

Learn how Dan survives when wife Ashley Lou isn’t around to cook after the break… (more…)

Awhile back, I told you how I was rooting for my favorite protein bar to cross the finish line. But Amelia Kirchoff (right) and her daughter Jolanta Sonkin (left) have already won several races. Amelia beat cancer and both women have a successful macrobiotic food business that started in Amelia’s kitchen. And amazingly, the only real “horror” story, so far, is a burned cookie here and there.

On How Go Macro Got Started:
Amelia: It was really the fact that I got breast cancer. At the time, I was very concerned and Jola had an aunt that had lymphoma and it had been diagnosed as a terminal cancer. And she had been told she only had six months to live. She went on a macrobiotic diet and has been doing great. And it’s been at least 10 years now. So that was a great incentive for me. And I went on a macrobiotic diet at the time as well and later when I got better I started to make desserts-macrobiotic desserts because really there was nothing available.
Jola: My mom wasn’t just making them to start a business. It was my husband who suggested that, “These are so good, you guys should sell them.” It was so random. Who would have thought we’d be here with this company. I said, “Mom will you make a batch of these. I’m going to try to sell them to my local health food store. She made me a batch and we wrapped them in Saran Wrap. We printed up these labels-I just typed up labels and pasted them on the back and went to the local health food store in Downtown Chicago.

On The Challenges Of A Self Owned Business:
Amelia: I can’t think of any real horror stories, other than of course we have thrown out batches. And still do occasionally. Not every batch turns out well. I think Whole Foods told us our first packaging looked washed out. So that was a bit of a disappointment (laughs). But we got new packaging.
Jola: And there was the one issue of gluten-free (testing) and it forced us to invest in gluten-free testing products.
Amelia: We used one testing procedure and we had to change to a different one. We learn as we go along.
Jola: I think there’s been challenges along the way like any business…Everything that happens, really it’s been a positive thing for us because it’s forced us to improve.

What They’ve Eaten For The Week:
Amelia: Years ago, I always used to like Beef Stroganoff. And there was a recipe for something similar using tempeh and several different types of mushrooms. It was a vegan sour cream for the sauce. And some spices.
Jola: Seitan Pear Pie. But not a sweet pie. It was made with wild rice, dried cherries-the pears were on top. The seitan was mixed in with the wild rice and dried cherries. Some brown rice syrup-those are the main ingredients.

Learn what Amelia and Jolanta wouldn’t mind eating over and over again after the break… (more…)

PETA likes to have a lot of contests, including sexiest celebrity male and female vegetarian and Cutest Vegetarian. Leonard Sun, a sophomore going into Film Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, decided on a whim to find out how cute he was. After over 3,500 entries and 50,000 votes, Sun was crowned the cutest male.

VOTW: On PETA’s website, you said that all you really need to be happy are “some tunes, a cup of coffee, and a good book. Can you name some books you like, what kind of coffee you drink, and what you’ve read lately.

Sun: There’s a band called Fear Before The March of Flames and I think they’re heavily underrated for how long they’ve been around. Ore Ska Band-they’re an all girl ska band from Japan…Right now I’m reading a book called, “You Suck,” by Christopher Moore. It’s about a conflicting love story about this guy whose girlfriend turns into a vampire. And then there’s a book called “Choke,” by Chuck Palahniuk. He’s basically goes to fancy restaurants and chokes himself. (And for coffee) Allegro Brand Coffee. It’s fair trade certified, organic. It tastes pretty good.

On Vegetarian fare on and around The University of Colorado Campus:
The dorms, depending on which one you go to, they’ll have vegan pizza and you can get pasta. They’ll have a random vegan dish everyday. Sometimes it’ll be like some tofu dish. They always have Gardenburgers available, which are vegan. And there’s always a salad bar. There’s a vegan fast food restaurant (off campus), which is pretty cool. It’s called V.G. Burgers.

What he’s eaten for the week:
I made spaghetti with a whole bunch of vegetables in it. I made these vegan chocolate chip cookies, which my friends thought were pretty good. I make a lot of fruit smoothie things. And cereal.

Learn what Leonard is addicted to and whether he prefers tofu or tempeh after the break…

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Singer Missy Higgins kicked off her U.S. tour last week. When I spoke with her over the phone a couple of weeks ago, she mentioned it was going to be hard to stay green with her tour bus since only a couple of cities she was traveling through offered biodiesel fuel. But that doesn’t stop this vegan from doing all she can to help the environment as you’ll learn below. And is it just me or does she sound like Edie Brickell of the New Bohemians when she sings, “Peachy.” Just take a look at her Myspace and listen to it in the player. For those that don’t remember Edie Brickell, she was the one who was not aware of too many things, but knew what she wanted if you knew what she meant…Well, never mind, just go to Edie Brickell’s video and compare the two. Vocal twins? I think so.

What she’s eaten for the week:
I go to the farmer’s market every Saturday and stock up on a lot of yummy fruits so I’ve been eating some yummy local fruits and berries. And I’ve been eating a lot of raw foods because I’ve lived near raw restaurants. Last night, I had some tabbouleh and tomato and basil soup. A couple of days ago, I made a dish with coconut milk (and) raisins in it. And I’ve been drinking ginger juice lately too. My friend works at a juicer and she thinks it’s the wonder drug-so she’s been giving me shots. And I’m really into hemp milk at the moment.

Tofu or Tempeh: Tofu because it’s more hearty and I like the idea of the soybean being in the earlier stage than what tofu is. I feel like it’s better for you.
Roasted Red Pepper or Baba Ghanoush Hummus: Anything other than red bell pepper is good. I have a thing with peppers and cilantro-they are the 2 things I just can’t eat and the two things that are in absolutely everything.
Peanut Butter or Almond Butter: Well, I’ve got almond butter in my cabinet so I’d have to say almond butter. Although I do love peanut butter. Peanut butter and sliced banana on toast is one of the best things ever.
Seitan or Texturized Soy Crumbles:I’ve never had texturized soy crumbles, but they sound delicious!

On Being Stuck In A Food Monotony:
It’s really hard to eat vegetarian and vegan on tour. I make a real point of sourcing out nature marts or vegan restaurants or co-ops in every city that we visit beforehand. But some of the cities…they have no concept of any sort of vegetarian dish. So I end up just eating raw veggies and dip from the supermarket every night because the only other option is fries or beans and rice.

Learn what Missy wouldn’t mind eating over and over again and how her father gave her “the talk” after the break…

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“Wildman” Steve Brill is known as one of America’s Best Known Foragers. He gives park tours primarily in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, instructing people how to find edible plants, wild mushrooms, and weeds. His best known book, “The Wild Vegetarian Cookbook”, contains dozens of recipes from Sassafras Peanut Sauce to Mashed Potatoes with Daylily Shoots. A longtime vegetarian, who jokes that he still eats “chicken mushrooms” and “sheep sorrel,” he agreed to chat with me while tending to some mulberries he had collected earlier that morning.

On His Decision To Go Veg:
3 Reasons-health, environment, and humane. My mother died of cancer at the age of 57. I’m now 59. My father, his brother and sister all died of heart disease in their early 60s. And my cardiovascular system is in apparently good health. I swim a mile in 36 minutes, run around to all these parks with kids…keep very active. So I think the genetics (of me and my family) are the same. It has to be the lifestyle.

I don’t like the way the animals are treated-the cruelty is quite upsetting. And all of the waste-from what goes into the waterways to all of the large carbon footprint of being involved with the meat industry-is also quite objectionable.

What he’s eaten for the week:
At this point, it’s mulberries and juneberries-those are in season. I’m going to make some jam. I’m going to put some of the jam into a vegan ice cream. I’m going to make a Juneberry cobbler. I’m also making salads with all of the early summer greens.

Tofu or Tempeh:
Tofu. I just don’t really care for the flavor of tempeh. (It’s) one thing I just don’t have an affinity for making taste delicious. And I can make a hell of a lot of things taste delicious.

Bok Choy or Cabbage:
I prefer Bok Choy.

Morel Mushroom or Chanterelle Mushroom:
That’s a hard one. I guess the morel…I’m not good at finding morels and when I do, all the people in my group get them all.

Dandelion Fried Rice or Cattail Fried Rice (from “The Wild Vegetarian Cookbook”):
I think I prefer the Cattail Fried Rice. I love cattails. I love dandelions too, but cattails are something special.

On Being Stuck In A Food Monotony:
I guess in the cafeteria in college the first year when you’re forced to live in the dormitory. That was probably the worst.

What he wouldn’t mind eating over and over again:
Oysters Newburgh-made with Oyster mushrooms.

On The Dave Letterman Show And The Media In General:
Letterman was a real exception. A lot of media people are really nice-Regis Philbin loves cracking jokes, Al Roker is incredibly intelligent and was very into all the science relating to what I was showing him. There are lots of people that are into cooking. And Letterman was just plain unfriendly, obnoxious, and self-involved. His entire staff was the same way. (But) I had a good experience…I watched the show and I knew ahead of time, this was not going to be supportive situation. And I thought for a while and I came up with a plan. Learn about the plan to take care of Letterman and Wildman’s advice on how to find love after the break… (more…)