May 14

Milk does a body good?

From Milk Factory to Table in Ten Easy Steps!

  1. Artificially inseminate a cow
  2. Inject antibiotics into a cow (because corn fed cows have E-Coli)
  3. When the cow gives birth to a baby, take the baby away (ya, okay, so the mother’s gonna mourn and cry for 5 days…)
  4. Sell the calf for $300 for veal ($10 if the calf is sick from malnutrition from not drinking it’s mother’s milk) or kill it by hitting it with a hammer (normal practice) and leave it to die for up to 48 hours
  5. Milk the cow for six months while it lactates (that milk was supposed to be for the calf you killed)
  6. Pasteurize the milk to kill the E-Coli and Salmonella bacteria.
  7. Bottle the milk and pour down the drain any excess milk you produce (the Milk Industry/Board has quotas).
  8. Ship the milk to the store.
  9. Buy the milk.
  10. Feed the milk to you and your kids (with the antibiotics in it and the side effects).

If this upsets you and you don’t want this to occur, simply pick the first step you’re actually involved in today and stop doing it. That actually breaks the cycle.

So where does this "really" come from?

Sound easy?

Need alternatives (they taste different but one of these you’ll like):

  • Soy Milk
  • Almond Milk
  • Rice Milk
  • Hemp Milk
May 12

Vancouver Pizza Amore!

It seems that the previous owners of Loving Hut have opened shop again with a new idea! Pizza! That’s right, Vancouver has a new Vegan Pizza place.

When Loving Hut burned down it left a void in our plant based foodie hearts, Loving Vegan Pizza has brought back pizza Amore! The pizza was the best thing at Vancouver’s Loving Hut, so it’s fitting that they’ve gone with a pizzeria concept for the new spot.

Loving Vegan Pizza offers up a selection of pizzas, lasagna and pastas all served with an assortment of toppings and using my all time favorite cheese “Daiya Cheese” Have you tried this cheese? It melts, it’s delicious and it’s vegan! Need I say more?

It seems plant-based living is getting quite mainstream, with all the little shops popping up all over Vancouver it seems to me that there is definitely a niche in this city for plant-based restaurants and retail outlets. Vancouver got its first vegan retail bakery recently called Edible Flours (2280 West Broadway) and Vancouver first vegan shoe store Got Nice shoes has also opened up recently (3568 Fraser Street) Way to go Vancouver, you’re growing up so fast!

With all this spring rain I think I’ll stay in and watch a movie and order in my Loving Vegan Pizza, and if by chance the sun comes out we might head down to the beach and watch the sunset, either way with all these choices the hardest part will be what wine to open.

Loving Vegan Pizza is located at (2119 Kingsway) Open seven days a week, offering takeout and delivery.

May 12

Spork and Gene Baur On Values, Health, and Global Responsibility

Two of my favorite groups got together to talk about animals, core values and food choices. Gene Baur of Farm Sanctuary  and Jenny and Heather who I have got to know through Spork Foods online,  are on opposite ends of the plant-based community but both share the same purpose, educating the public, living compassionately and living plant-based. I loved this insightful video, with the importance of the talk ranging from health, animal welfare, core values and environmental responsibility all the while eating some vegan strawberry-rhubarb pie! I found this talk  inspiring, It is a great reminder of why I live the way I do. As you know my husband and I are all about inspiration, education, living compassionately and core values, our core values are leading us in everything we do, especially in regards to our food choices,  living healthy and our personal responsibility on reducing our global impact.  I  really appreciated this discussion. I hope you do too, Enjoy.

May 10

Take Charge of Your Health: 5 Habits of Healthy People

Written by Doris Romano

Doris Romano is a registered nurse and nutritionist specializing in sports nutrition and weight management. Doris teaches Sports Nutrition at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition and is a writer for http://LiveStrong.com.

1. Build more movement into your day. Rather than exercising for the sake of exercising, make your lifestyle active. Build activity into your routine without having to think about it.

Your new habit for the next 2 weeks: build in some form of extra physical activity each day. Tips: get up to change the channel; take the stairs; take a walk break instead of a coffee break; plant a garden; enroll in a yoga class; bike to work; get rid of the snow blower; combine walking and socializing.

2. Eat mostly plants. A low-calorie, plant-based, whole-foods diet is the foundation of every high-quality and health-promoting diet. It reduces the risk of dying from all the Western diseases, promotes a leaner body, and is alkaline-producing which helps to preserve bone mass and muscle. A serving = 1 cup of leafy vegetables or ½ cup of cooked or raw vegetables.

Your new habit for the next 2 weeks: Eat at least 6 servings of vegetables each day. Tips: add baby spinach to your protein shake; eat raw veggie sticks as a side to your meal; make a large, colourful salad; grill veggies for dinner; jazz up your meals by adding pesto, salsa or baba ganoush.

3. Hara Hachi Bu: Eat until you are 80% full. Eating to the point where there is no longer hunger (vs. until “full” or “stuffed”) plays a major role in improving your health and losing fat.

Your new habit for the next 2 weeks: Whenever it’s time to eat, follow the 80% rule. Tips: serve yourself at the counter before taking your plate to the table; buy smaller plates and tall, narrow glasses; put tempting foods out of sight; buy smaller packages; eat more slowly and without distractions; eat only sitting down; eat early.

4. Make time for sleep. Getting less than 7.5 hours of sleep each night means more body fat and greater risk of heart attack, stroke, and sudden cardiac death. Further, people who sleep less seem to crave more food. And not the nutritious stuff. Lack of sleep usually reflects our priorities rather than real-time constraints. If you aren’t getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night, figure out why.

Your new habit for the next 2 weeks: Sleep at least 8 hours each day. Tips: Keep a relatively consistent bedtime and wake time; keep the bedroom quiet, extremely dark, and slightly cool; eliminate caffeine later in the day; exercise to improve sleep; develop a pre-bed routine that is relaxing.

5. Slow down. Stress less. The negative effects of stress can create conditions in the body that promote age-related diseases. We rush, worry, and give urgency to so many things in our lives that really aren’t that important. With that realization, adopting strategies for slowing down seem much easier.

YOUR NEW HABIT FOR THE NEXT 2 WEEKS: Create space to slow down for 10 minutes every day. Tips: minimize time spent with TV, radio, Internet, and handheld devices; plan to arrive 15 minutes early to every appointment; practice yoga; cultivate a regular meditation practice upon rising every day.

Related Articles

5 Habits Of Healthy People

Eating For A Cure

May 7

Interview with Mike Desjardins: How I Became A Vegetarian

Mike Desjardins (also know as my husband) tells us about his transition from meat-eating to becoming a pescetarian. I asked him to explain his experience about his transition with a series of questions. In his own words he describes what he has learned and how being married to me has influenced his food choices.

Mike describes what that process was like for him and why it made sense to switch. Mike talks about how he felt after learning about the cruel conditions of factory farming and how our nations demand for overconsumption drives this industry. We have to be the change, our food choices are not only effecting the animals but also our health and our planet. Factory farming is destroying our soil and reducing our ability to be sustainable in growing our own food. We need to reduce consumption to increase our chance of correcting these issues.

In over 2 years Mike has reduced his meat intake to none with the exception of fish (I am educating him on the impacts of overfishing as well and what the depletion of fish has on our ecosystem, as well as the long-term effects).

At home because I have the lead in what we eat, we eat vegan, local and organic. This is our personal choice. I think every little bit helps. We are working on other thing too, there is so much to think about.

You don’t have to give up everything to reduce your impact, you just need to reduce your intake, you don’t have to become a full-fledged vegetarian or vegan overnight, learn about what you can do and learn about factory farming. Try being a weekday vegetarian. We all need to do our part.

“Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment” ~Oprah Winfrey

May 5

THE WORLD BECOMES WHAT YOU TEACH

Enjoy this touching video by Zoe Weil, The World Become What You Teach

“There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they can grow up in peace” ~Kofi Annan

“Together let us build the global alliance to realize that goal, secure in the knowledge that in serving the best interests of children, we serve the best interests of all humanity” ~Carol Bellamy

May 5

Respect The Insects

If you want to live and thrive, let the spider run alive.  ~American Quaker Saying

I took this photo in Costa Rica about four years ago, I find Costa Rica extremely conscience of the earth. Its nice to know a country cares about the importance of all it’s creatures big and small.