We don’t see the toxic poisons accumulating in the food chains, poisoning our children and our earth for generations to come. But once we become aware of the impact of our food choices, we can never really forget. Of course we can push it all to the back of our minds, and we may need to do this, at times, to endure the enormity of what is involved. But the earth itself will remind us, as will our children, and the animals and the forests and the sky and the rivers, that we are part of this earth, and it is part of us. All things are deeply connected, and so the choices we make in our daily lives have enormous influence, not only on our own health and vitality, but also on the lives of other beings, and indeed on the destiny of life on earth.

Thankfully, we have cause to be grateful-what’s best for us personally is also best for other forms of life, and for the life support systems on which we all depend.” ~Diet For A New America

May we humans think always of the harm we are causing our non-human animal relations, and may we recognize and respect their interests to live their lives freely and in autonomy and health on this beautiful Earth.

2011 has been a very good year for the welfare of animals, 2011 has influenced a lot of people to make better choices around food, product, health and overall acknowledment in the treatment of animals for food.

I look forward to what 2012 brings, I welcome 2012 with open arms in the hopes we will all continue on the same path to work together to bring a compassionate peacful earth where we all can respect all things living.

Here’s to a beautiful, evolved and compassionate 2012!

Please watch this amazing video “Victories for animals in 2011″

“Healthier, natural, organic & cruelty-free cosmetics, body and personal products”

DR. BRONNERS MAGIC ALL IN ONE SOAP : Completely biodegradable and vegetable based, scented with organic oils, my two favorites the rose and the lavender, they leave my skin feeling clean, soft and have a nice light scent. Sold at Choices and health food stores. Not Tested on animals, earth friendly.

EARTH SCIENCE A,D and E Creamy Face Cleanser : I still can not find a better cleanser, this ones hard to beat! Use to cleanse even the most delicate skin. This unique formula made from natural fruit oil cleansers is ideal for removing makeup or sunscreen from all skin types, including oily skin. Rich in Plant Sterols and vitamins A, D and E to leave skin radiantly fresh and healthy. This product not only removes make up, cleanses but it leaves your skin with a glorious glow if you leave it on for 3-5 min. Try the toner, the eye cream and the scrub too! Not Tested on animals, earth friendly. Sold at Choices and Health Food Stores.

JANE IREDALE MINERAL MAKE-UP: This make up is amazing it will leave your skin breakout free and glowing. The make up feels pure and clean and has a great scent. NOT Tested on animals. Sold Online.

NOTE: Not all of these products are VEGAN but they do provide a list of products that are not intended for VEGANS. The non VEGAN products contain carmine.

LUSH SOLID PERFUMES: Fragrances you can carry wherever you go. Apply on your pulse points, reapply whenever you like. Not Tested on animals, environment friendly. Always sold out! Get them while you can.

BWC BODY CREAMS:  ”Beauty Without Cruelty” I love lots of the BWC products but I always buy the Lavender body cream. It doesn’t compete with your perfume and does a really great job Moisturizing as well as conditions, and protects your skin – the perfect all-over body treatment. This special, plant-based formula helps to counteract sun-damage and extreme dryness. Formulated with aroma-therapeutic essential oils for superb skin. Not Tested on animals, 100% vegetarian and 100% natural.

TOMS FLUORIDE FREE TOOTHPASTE: Why go natural? First reason is ordinary toothpaste commonly involves saccharin as a sweetener. Saccharin is long been linked with cancer in lab mice, therefore it’s specially a suspicious component.

The second reason; common toothpaste also consists of Sodium Laurel Sulfate, a detergent. It is what makes your toothpaste to become bubbly,  SLS is a common skin irritant as well as magnifies the prevalence of canker sores to those who may be prone to them. We simply don’t want it and have zero benefits from including  it inside toothpaste.

The third reason; natural toothpaste contains more mint, mint is a natural ingredient which has a very powerful effect on bacteria that live in the mouth.

The fourth reason; we have all been informed that we require fluoride to avoid cavities. Nevertheless, are you aware that fluoride is harmful in high quantities? Fluoride could aid prevent cavities in children, but adults have no need for it. Since most of us have no choice but to consume fluoridated water, even our children could likely be having all they need without adding it to toothpaste. Not Tested on animals.

HURRAR LIP BALM: Super smooth, not draggy, not sticky, not sweet, not too glossy, not too smelly, never grainy, long lasting. Hurraw! Balm is a Certified Vegan product!  ‘Vegan’ means no animal products (ie: beeswax) are included in our product. Check out all the Flavours.

Top Ten Things You Can Do To keep Your Kids Healthy

1. Walk or bike your kids to school, or if that’s not feasible, ride on weekends–a family that bikes together saves the planet together!

2. Teach them about Farmers Markets, It’s so important bring awareness early in life. It’s fun to see where your food comes from.  Explain how food choices affect their health and environment. Be honest about where meat comes from.

3. Make sure their toys are PVC-free–keep them from breathing in any off gasing plastic softeners.

4. Don’t reward with toys. Try to teach them that happiness doesn’t comes from buying new things, and the planet doesn’t need the resource extraction, chemical-pollution and landfill clogging that comes with making and eventually trashing them.

5. Use natural shampoos, creams and soaps. What you put on your young one’s body is as important as what you put in it.

6. Feed them organic whenever you can afford it, so they get a pesticide, hormone, and antibiotic-free diet.

7. Say no to high-fat, high-sugar, chemical-laden processed foods. There are plenty of natural alternatives, even for packaged kids’ snacks.

8. Create a non-toxic nursery or kids’ room full of earth-loving children’s books.

9. Resist the urge to swaddle your babe in landfill-clogging disposable diapers. But if cloth is out of the question, get unbleached, biodegradable, chlorine-free throw-away ones. Like these.

10. Teach them to love nature: take them to the park, on little hikes, or picnics in conservation centres. Teach them that animals are nature, including house pets and that we need to respect them. When you teach a child to be kind to animals, you help pave the way to a brighter future for all living beings.

Top 6 Eco Packaging Suggestions

1. Choose renewable and recyclable glass. You don’t have to worry about the numbers because all glass can be recycled. If you’re worried about the amount of energy used to ship your glass contained products then look for local labels.

2. Numbers. If you must buy plastic know your numbers, check the bottom for numbers that tell you the plastics are recyclable, like #1 and #2. (See the City-by-City guide to learn what can be recycled in your city.)

3. Buy Dry Goods. If you’re picking up something like broth, the powdered kind goes a lot further than the canned. If you must buy canned make sure you look for BPA free cans, not all aluminum cans are the same;  producing recycled aluminum requires 95% less energy than producing aluminum from bauxite, an aluminum ore, but you wouldn’t know what one to choose because they don’t label cans, the bonus to skipping  cans is you can skip cancer causing BPA. If you have to buy canned choose companies you can trust to use BPA-Free cans

4. Buy in bulk, shop where they sell bulk and fill up your re-useable container, you can also use your own  your own coffee mug for your daily java at your local cafe, other places to re-use your container is at the salad bar! The choices are endless.

5. It’s in the bag! When you cart home all of your bulk goods please us a non-plastic bag! Use cloth bags  instead of plastic.

6. Good things come in small packages. Often foods like cereals that come in smaller boxes contain the same amount of, say, mueslix, as the bigger boxes that are just full of air. Compare product weight to be sure. Or you can make your own cereal from your bulk products you just bought. The bonus! you will know whats in it and it will probably taste better.

Top 5 Eating Habits to Heal the World

1. Support local growers, be it through farmer’s markets, farm-fresh food box deliveries or just keeping your eye out for local labels at the grocery store.

2. Go vegetarian or reduce meat/dairy intake–meat production uses up to 20 times as much energy as growing grain.

3. Choose fair-trade coffee, sugar, chocolate and anything else you can find fair-trade so you can be sure you’re not supporting “sweatshops in the fields”.

4. Buy certified organic to avoid pesticides and spare waterways, wildlife and workers troubled encounters with toxic pesticides.

5. Pass on resource-intensive, packaging-heavy fast food and heavily processed junk.

I shop a lot, I love fashion but I still struggle with leather vs pleather or any alternative ethical material, don’t get me wrong I would happily choose a more ethical product if they actually made a fashionable one. I’ve seen other people wear cool pleather jackets, and I own the coolest pleather bag, so why can’t I seem to find more?

 This includes shoes, bags, belts and jackets. I don’t deny that I love the idea of a vegan lifestyle and when it comes down to my choices I do pretty good for the most part. I choose ethical products, ethical food and try my best at ethical clothing. The first stage is awareness and I am really trying. I really am.

I’ve seen some really great non leather materials out there, I even own some, even so that my very snotty fashionable friends actually thought my non leather bag was leather. So tell me this, why can’t these manufactures just copy the styles of some of the cool shoes, bags and belts out there and make non leather versions? Like these from Nine West, I love these boots but I just couldn’t bring my self to buy them. In the back of my head all I can see is some poor cow giving it’s life for my fashion addiction. This is such a struggle for me. It also was a shock to find out how lambs are treated for wool. It’s all very distrurbing.

If you go high end there’s Stella McCartney her stuff is great but wow it’s expensive! No thanks! I’ve been know to spend some cash but come on! I did recently find some great ethical boots at Nice Shoes and I have to say I am loving them! They also carry these  fantastic runners . Most of my non leather bags I find at Urban Outfitters. If you know of any great stores or links to online ordering please let me know. I just ask that you don’t suggest pleather Doc Martins, I’m over the 90′s! but there they are on every ethical shoe site!

Nice Shoes 3568 Fraser Street (between E 19th & 20th) Vancouver, BC  604-558-3000

Urban Outfitters 830 Granville Street Vancouver, BC V6B 2C9 604) 685-1970

Plastic even though recyclable doesn’t make the list of  the most eco-friendly material. Plastic bottles rank right up their for the most anti eco-friendly materials out there including plastic bags and plastic containers. If you eliminate the scourge of bottled water, you will be eliminating one of the biggest problems facing our environment. —Charles Moore, founder, Algalita, and discoverer of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

The production of plastic not only hurt’s the health of people in the factories producing it but also to the people living in the small towns around the factories.

Plastic containers leach chemicals into the water we drink, foods that we eat and containers our food that we buy comes in, even worse when we heat foods in plastic containers and plastic wrap in the microwave  we are releasing toxins into our food. Plastic containers show evidence of chemical release even when not heated.

The problem is plastic is still used just about everywhere, it’s harmful to the environment, it takes centuries to break down and when it does, it separates into tiny toxic particles that contaminate the ground and water, ending up in our streams, oceans, rivers and drinking water. Know your numbers. If you’re buying something that comes in plastic, check the bottom for numbers that tell you the plastics are recyclable in your area, like #1 and #2. (See the City-by-City guide to learn what can be recycled in your city.)

Environmentally  the usage of plastics is devastating, especially for animals; tiny pieces of plastic are consumed by fish, and those fish are eaten by humans this is causing widespread harm and health concerns. On top of that, land animals who eat it have been found dead by suffocation as plastics become lodged in their stomaches and throats. Some have even been found with plastic rings caught around their necks causing them to choke. This includes, fish, birds, small animals like rabbits and marine life including sharks, seals and turtles.

It’s known that plastics cause cancer,  thyroid issues, neurological issues the risks are everywhere. Please click here to read what the Canadian Cancer Society say’s about plastics. A highly informative way to educate yourself about plastics is by watching a documentary called Tapped. Tapped examines the role of the bottled water industry and it’s effects on our health, climate change, pollution, and our reliance on oil.

So yes plastic is made from oil. By using less plastic you help to preserve our natural resources. Plastic is cheaper than organic materials such as stone, glass, and solid metal. Therefore, manufacturers cannot help but to use plastics but we must make better choices if we strive for a healthier future.

If you know of any great non plastic companies out there please feel free to share them with me, I’ll put them on the blog.

For me it’s comes down to this. “I object to the consumption of meat because it is the flesh of another being, obtained through her slaughter, without her consent.  The food we call “meat” — more accurately, the body parts of pigs, chickens, cows, and other beings — is unnecessary in a human diet and is too much a product of exploitation for me to condone its use.”

Food is a very personal thing for many people, and as members of a culture raised to view the corpses of other animals as food, it can be daunting to imagine a life without those bodies on our plates.  I agree that there is definitely a period of adjustment we have to go through when we eliminate animal products from our diets.  However, once that period of adjustment is over I gaurantee you will find that I you don’t miss it.  Not even a bit. I swear!

I know the reality is we can’t educate overnight, people are still going to use animals for food, clothes and exploit them for entertainment and science, however we can reduce this suffering and reduce the consumption of products by sharing our thoughts and opinions as well as making more informed product choices. I am not telling you how to live your life, but I am asking you to reconsider your thinking process. Reducing consumption has huge benefits not only in reducing suffering but also benefits in health and environmental impact.

“I was meat free for a while, but I felt tired all the time because I didn’t get enough protein.”  In saying that I belive people are open to the change, unfortunately they revert back. This is a statement I hear a lot This makes me wonder what the reality of that process was for that person making the choice,  I wonder did they do enough research in their meal planning?  Did they get the support from their families and friends? Somehow society failed to support them but with the right tools it’s easy, healthy and has long term benefits.

Protein can be obtained through a variety of plant-based sources.  (Beans, lentils, soy protein, nuts, grains) all contain a healthy amount of protein.  I am not a nutritionist, and you should speak with one if you have specific concerns, but there are a number of great resources are available, especially on that wonderful tool called google. If you are really serious then have a proffesional meal plan for you. The Vegan Project is a good start if you live in Vancouver, BC. If you don’t, research something local in your area. If you can’t find anything, contact me and I will find some great resources to get you started.

What will happen to all the animals if we don’t eat them?  Animals are currently bred and raised specifically to be slaughtered and eaten (or otherwise exploited by humans). The same that would happen to giraffes, caterpillars, rhinos, wolves, seagulls etc… they will live out their lives in an environment that allows them to thrive in a sustainable way.

God put animals on the Earth for people to eat. I don’t practice any organized religion, so I don’t feel qualified to respond to this question. I do however feel that something can’t be right if one “god” is saying respect all living things and another is saying animals are our food. Makes you wonder?

I don’t eat red meat. I only eat chicken. Chickens are still exploited by humans for their bodies and by-products.  They deserve just as much consideration as other animals, and I do not endorse using those animals without their consent.

People have been eating meat for thousands of years! People have been doing many things for thousands of years that are unnecessary today.  We can live healthfully and happily on a vegetarian diet, and by doing so, we ensure that other animals live healthfully and happily as well.

The way animals are treated in agriculture is terrible. I always buy humane, free-range, organic meat, dairy and eggs. Those methods of food production are also problematic, unfortunately.  Any system in which animals are being farmed for their body parts or their by-products is ultimately using those animals without their consent, and thus is not consistent with an ideal of non-exploitation.

How can you justify spending your time helping animals when there are so many people who need help? I think people and animals living under oppressive systems deserve equal consideration, and they all need allies in their struggles for equality.  In fact, I devote much of my time to helping both human and non-human animals.  Choosing to avoid meat consumption helps to keep actions in line with the goal of a world free of exploitation and oppression.

Animals are better off being raised on farms than living in the wild where they face predators, disease and starvation. Animals in free-living situations are not being forced to do anything they do not want to do.  I oppose subjugation and exploitation, and animals being raised for food, clothing, entertainment, or science are being used without their consent.  I would prefer that they were living free and able to make their own choices.

 I believe in the circle of life. I believe in non-exploitation.

Animals kill other animals for food, so why shouldn’t we? We have the choice to live happily and healthfully on a diet free of animal products.  Some animals do not.

Don’t dairy cows need to be milked? Cows only produce milk to feed their young.  In order to continually produce milk for human consumption, they are kept in a continual cycle of pregnancy.  This is traumatic and oppressive, and I choose not to drink cow’s milk so I do not support that system of oppression.

What are your thoughts on organics? “Organic” does not mean anything in terms of animal liberation; it simply refers to the food that animals are being fed.  While organic food has many positive qualities, it does not mean that animals are not being oppressed.  “Organic meat” and “organic dairy” still require that animals are kept in cages, exploited and oppressed, and used without their consent.

I hate PETA! I don’t like them either. I think their campaigns are disrespectful and hurtful to both human and non-human animals. They make everything good look like a force of change, I think that there is a better approach than bombarding people with an argument, it’s better to have people experince the process and make their own decisions. Being a vegetarian is a healthy living choice. It’s a choice to respect the lives of animals as well as embraces the responsability in protecting the earth.

If you have a question about plant-based eating please write me a comment and I would be happy to reply. If I don’t know that answer I’ll go find it for you.

RAW LEMON PESTO ZUCHINNI PASTA

Run the garlic through the chute of the food processor. Add the basil, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and oil and process until smooth. Add pine nuts and nutritional yeast and process being careful not to over process the nuts. Set the pesto aside. Peel 4 medium zucchini, and put through a spiral vegetable slicer or spirooli. Place the zucchini “spaghetti” on paper towels to dry. Put dried zucchini strands in a serving bowl, mix together with  lemon basil pesto and serve.

NOTE: You can get buy a spirooli at Organic Lives (Vancouver, BC) to make your veggie pasta, I’ve also seen them in cooking stores.