In the News | Earthsave Canada

In the News...

August 2010

Factory Farms Produce More than Eggs
"The very positive work of [a] young activist in publicizing the terrible conditions at some factory farms makes a coalition ever more possible between farm workers, potential organic farmers, and the food-consuming public."

How Big is Your Water Footprint?
"How much water does the average American use in a day? 1,981 gallons." Canadians aren't much different.
Lots of tips for reducing your footprint here.
The calculator proper is here.

Doing the Math on Local Foods
"The local foods movement is not so much about choosing between what's grown here and what's grown elsewhere. It's about having any sort of choice at all."
See also A Month Without Monsanto: What Does it Take to Cut out the GMO Giant?

'Eating less meat is more Islamic'
"The Qu'ran reminds us animals and birds are 'communities like you'. So why do so many Muslims break their fast with meat?"

Killing animals hurts people
The Philadelphia Daily News on the human costs of our indifference to animals... "Living a nonviolent, compassionate life is good for us and good for the planet."

Pigs Prove to Be Smart, if Not Vain
“Pigs are among the quickest of animals to learn a new routine, and pigs can do a circus’s worth of tricks: jump hoops, bow and stand, spin and make wordlike sounds on command, roll out rugs, herd sheep, close and open cages, play videogames with joysticks, and more."

Peak Food: Can Another Green Revolution Save Us?
"Norman Borlaug, widely seen as the father of the "Green Revolution," was a true savior. Many have considered him misguided or worse, but it is hard for a compassionate person to argue with what he accomplished: saving 'more human lives than any other person in history.'"

Green Gone Wrong: How Our Economy Is Undermining the Environmental Revolution
"If we continue to have an economic system that needs for us to waste, we won't get to meaningful environmental sustainability."

Eating for a Better Future
"It is surprising to think that so much environmental harm is caused by what we choose to put on our plates every day. So what can be done to counter this?"

A Hen’s Space to Roost
The New York Times on the anatomy of battery cages. More here.

5 Things: Highest Sources of Vegan Protein
"There are other forms of protein out there besides cheeseburgers, steak, and chicken satay. Check out these vegan sources."

Dissolving Your Earthly Remains Will Protect the Earth
“Want to leave a light footprint on this Earth when you die? Perhaps you should consider "aquamation", a new eco-alternative to burial and cremation."

An Easy Vegetarian/Vegan Iftar Menu For Ramadan
"It’s Ramadan time again. This year the 30-days of fasting falls in the uber heat of August and that means any chef can throw in the summer dishes that are usually not found in the traditional Ramadan menu."

Why Changes in Agriculture are Needed as the World Warms and Grows
"Simply put, our food supply system is not sustainable. ... (North) American agriculture “may look successful, but it can’t last. Not economically, not environmentally"

YOU Docs: Don't let flap over fish oil ruin your health
"Get your omega-3s where the fish do: from microscopic algae"

Weekday Vegetarians
"The popular Meatless Monday movement, which began in 2003, has been backed by many celebrities, including Paul McCartney, who has spearheaded his own Meat Free Monday campaign."

(Pieces of) One Hundred Animals In A Bun
"I know this stuff may actually taste good to some of us, but where, might I ask, do we draw the line? And why do we accept these Frankenfoods as American trademarks? I don't know about you, but I don't find any particular pride in hamburgers. Seriously, it's time to update this traditional American staple.”

Is a vegetarian diet safe for my dog?
“I get strange looks when I let people know my dogs are vegan, but it's only because they aren't educated about dogs being vegetarian and don’t realize how easy and possible it really is to do.”

Lessons from the wheat crisis
"Agricultural commodity speculation raises tricky moral issues even if its financial impact is limited. "

How not to get greenwashed
Good information, if a little optimistic about the effectiveness of the 'free' market.

Food and compassion
"We value kindness, justice, truth, altruism, tenderness, generosity, compassion, love and service. ... At the same time, we often act like heartless barbarians – especially towards animals."

What I'm really thinking: The vegan
"I'm fascinated by the fact that my friends' desire for food they enjoy the taste of overrides any ethical considerations."

Dementia study finds almost 40% of cases could be avoided
Doctors say eradicating diabetes and depression, prolonging education and eating more fruit and vegetables would greatly reduce the amount of people affected by the condition

Sizing Up Our Food's Nitrogen Footprint
"Red meat topped both footprint lists, making it the food with the greatest impact on both climate change and eutrophication: Eating a pound of beef creates about 22 lb of greenhouse gases and about 2.5 oz of nitrogen pollution.”
See also Gulf Of Mexico Dead Zone

Crops Absorb Pharmaceuticals From Treated Sewage
A very good reason to eat organic, or, if possible, veganic. In the longer run, though, we're going to have to figure out how to stop this altogether.

Vegan Mischief: Vegan Country Mushroom Soup
"The longer it simmers the better it tastes."

The Betty Crocker Project: Beer Batter-Fried Fish (Marinated Tofu) & Tartar Sauce
If you grew up eating Fish and Chips - this is a great vegan alternative!

July 2010

Revealed: No Country for Animals
Global Television examines Canada’s deplorable record on animal welfare and looks at the people who are fighting to bring about much-needed change.

What I'm really thinking: The vegan
"I'm fascinated by the fact that my friends' desire for food they enjoy the taste of overrides any ethical considerations."

Plants at base of ocean food chain in decline, study finds
"It’s quite shocking to think that there’s been a 40-per-cent decline at the base of the food chain over the past 50 years. I think it’s absolutely cause for concern.”

Biodiesel from algae may not be as green as it seems
"Bubbling green tubes filled with algae gobbling up carbon dioxide and producing biodiesel may sound like the perfect way to make clean fuel, but it could generate nearly four times the greenhouse emissions from regular diesel.”

Then again, maybe algae can be as green as it seems ... or at least greener than ethanol
"David Pimentel of Cornell University, thought this sounded too good to be true. But he and fellow Cornell researchers investigated and are authoring a paper on the subject. In their controlled environment, they were pleasantly surprised at their findings."

Vegan Mischief Reviews Vancouver Restaurant Organic Lives
"So here’s the short-form. Organic Lives imports incredible, fresh, organic, raw food from around the world in a sustainable, kind, super amazing way, and then makes totally incredible living food with it. If you do nothing else, go in there and eat dessert."

The Betty Crocker Project: Bacon Cheeseburger Hash
This can't be healthy! But it is vegan.

Sistah Vegan: New book is Afro-centric, LGBTQ-friendly, and well worth a read
"A. Breeze Harper collects a series of articles by black women about their journeys - having switched to a plant-based diet. Most of them are first-person testimonies; all of them make great food for thought."

I eat veggies, hear me roar!
Vancouver cracks North America’s vegetarian-friendly top 10, and the food business reaps the rewards.

Paul McCartney: 'One of the most effective things any individual can do to help the environment is to eat less meat'
Paul, Mary and Stella McCartney on how a vegetarian diet can benefit your health, wealth and the environment.

On how industrial livestock farming and food production are destroying the environment
"Pretty enlightening stuff, even without exploring the question of cruelty in both meat eating and especially factory farming."

Congressman Dennis Kucinich Calls for Reconciliation with Nature
Kucinich calls for an economic transformation away from exploitation of the earth and animals.

An evil atmosphere is forming around geoengineering
"Geoengineering is not something we should enter into lightly or without proper public consultation. If we resort to it, then the concentration of carbon dioxide will continue to rise. It would then become impossible to call a halt to sulphur injections, even for a year or two, without an immediate jump in temperature."

Vegan Mischief: Sunflower Pate
"This will give you a basic, delicious, creamy sunflower paté that’s perfect on crackers or sandwiches, and to which you can add any flavouring you like."

The Betty Crocker Project: Vegan Pudding-Palooza!
Vanilla, Chocolate and Butterscotch! Coming soon, Tapioca, Coconut and Banana.

The Case Against Ethanol as Fuel
If all US corn were to be converted into ethanol, it would provide America with only 4 percent of total oil consumption...and that only scratches the surface of the problem.
Read this for a info on a more promising renewable fuel:Fuel From The Sun

Buzz from kombucha health drink is probably the alcohol, say US inspectors
Ethanol, it seems, is everywhere. Fashionable organic drink suspected of having up to 3% alcohol content.

Alexandra Morton: Break Fish Farms' Secrecy
To protect our wild salmon, government must stop helping BC's salmon feedlots conceal disease facts.
See also:Farmed and Dangerous - Organic Farmed Salmon?

Many Meat-Eaters Deny That Meat-Animals Have the Capacity to Suffer, Study Finds
"Rather than change their beliefs about the animals' moral rights, people could change their behavior. However, we suspect that most people are unwilling to deny themselves the enjoyment of eating meat, and denying animals moral rights lets them keep eating with a clear conscience."

Four New Vegan Blog Offers Recipes, Vancouver Restaurant Reviews
Young and edgy addition to the Vancouver/world food scene. And the food looks delicious.

Eco warrior's Pacific journey shows how 'dumb plastic' is killing our seas
David de Rothschild set out on a mammoth ocean crossing aboard his recycled yacht to highlight pollution of Earth's waters – but even he was shocked by what he found.

The Betty Crocker Project: White Pizza
"This recipe is great, takes about 20 minutes to make and will feed 2 people or 1 very hungry person."

The Price of Cheap Meat: A Lake Dies in Ohio
"Ohio's largest inland body of water and a treasured recreational area -- is dying. And if you barbecued some supermarket pork over the holiday weekend, you helped contribute to this disaster, however indirectly."

Debate over how Americans eat
The U.S. government has just served up a heaping mouthful to people who eat — the Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010.

Cheap food is not cheap to produce, and easy to throw away
A new study from the National Institutes of Health says that a whopping 40 percent of what farmers grow ends up in the garbage. That number has increased, too: in 1974, just 30 percent ended up as food waste.

Making Vegan Diets Mainstream
"For twelve days now, I’ve made a conscious effort to steer clear of eating animal products as part of my two-week vegan challenge. A recent UN study revealed that industrialized agriculture is a key player in climate change and resource depletion. It suggested a world-wide diet shift away from meat and dairy products is essential for alleviating our species’ growing environmental footprint."

Four Questions to Ask Your Dairy Farmer
"To make your life simpler and spare the lives of dairy cows, skip the cows' milk, cheese and butter and eat plant-based "milks" instead."

Going Cold Turkey From Meat
Austin Texas Firefighters Are Powerful Advocates Of A Vegetarian Diet

The Betty Crocker Project : Taco Salad
"Taco Salad isn't really Mexican food. It is more Mexican inspired but that's not to say this isn't one of the best recipes in this project thus far."

Organic Agriculture: The Way to Get Even With Pests
Study finds that the increased evenness of organic farms compared with that of conventional farms led to 18% lower pest densities and 35% larger plants. Bigger plants generally mean greater yields.

Conscious Choice of Food Can Substantially Mitigate Climate Change, Research Finds
"Reducing the consumption of meat and dairy products and improving agricultural practices could decrease global greenhouse gas emissions substantially."

Ignore the anti-soy scaremongers
"There's no evidence that soya is harmful to humans. In fact, both we and the planet would benefit tremendously from eating more."

Proposed US Dietary Guidelines Favor Plant-Based Diet
Advisory Board to USDA and US Dept. of Health and Human Services recommends slashing salt intake, eating plant-based diet, and increasing physical activity

Moving towards plant-based diets
Some useful advice from Singapore.

Can A Beloved Cookbook Be Veganized?
"Dan and Annie Shannon are offering a "humane alternative" to Julie & Julia — by "veganizing every recipe in The Betty Crocker Cookbook." The results — despite lack of meat, eggs, and dairy — look pretty delicious."

The Betty Crocker Project : Caesar Salad Burger
"this burger could doll up a BBQ and bring something new to the traditional veggieburger."

June 2010

Greening the Backyard BBQ
Exploring a vegetarian diet isn't just about making healthier lifestyle choices. A UN report released earlier this month called for a global shift toward a vegan diet, citing the disproportionate amount of resources required to produce meat.

Flawed but essential New York Times' Magazine article covers collapse of bluefin tuna
Vegan.com's Erik Marcus provides a useful introduction to a very important article in the New York Times.

Environmental Impact of Eating Meat
"Summarizing the report, Professor Edward Hertwich, one of the lead authors, concludes: “Animal products cause more damage than [producing] construction minerals such as sand or cement, plastics or metals. Biomass and crops for animals are as damaging as [burning] fossil fuels.”."

Meatless Mondays Help the Planet
"By encouraging people to stop eating meat one day a week, they hope to reduce meat consumption by 15 percent"

Why Go Vegetarian?
Advice from the perspective of the Health and Fitness Times. Some of the health-related claims are substantially exaggerated, but the gist is just fine.

BP spill helps make case for bringing ecosystem services into the economy
Prestigious scientific journal Nature weighs in on environmental recklessness.
See also:Anger grows across the world at the real price of 'frontier oil'

The Betty Crocker Project : Oven Pancakes
Quick, easy and delicious "pancakes" for breakfast.

Sea Shepherd activists free hundreds of threatened bluefin tuna off Libya
Steve Irwin crew throws rotten butter during confrontation with Italian and Libyan fishermen over endangered bluefin catch.
See also http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2008/aug/12/fish.trawler.prolific

Flights, girls and cash buy Japan whaling votes
"[The Times of London's] of the meetings with pro-whaling officials around the world reveal the secrets of a Japanese vote-buying operation that Tokyo has always denied. It also raises serious questions about the credibility of the IWC."
Voice your opposition to legalized whaling at https://secure.avaaz.org/en/whales_last_push/?rc=fb

Ramdas Lamb on Animal RIghts and Human Wrongs
"For all those people who consider themselves to be pro-peace or pro-life and who are bothered by all the violence in the world, I would only ask them to look at their dinner plate and reflect for a moment on how much hard work fighting injustice and violence will be offset by the torture, suffering, and rights abuses that occur simply so they can consume a piece of meat."

Canadian tax dollars support factory farming
"Rather than serving as an entity to fund animal agriculture – and the marketing arm of these industries –perhaps the Canadian government should be utilizing taxpayers’ money to develop more sustainable industries, feed and house the homeless, and fund Canadian schools."

Ed Begley, Jr. Gets Real
A candid talk with the Low Density Lifestyle about sustainability, healthy living, the environment, and politics

Gulf oil spill: A hole in the world
The Deepwater Horizon disaster is not just an industrial accident - it is a violent wound inflicted on the Earth itself.
See also:What happened on the BP oil rig?

The Betty Crocker Project : Chicken Cacciatore
Looks Real - Totally Vegan "Save this one for whenever you want to get some big points with your significant other.".

Beef is the Worst – Why Put Oil on Your BBQ?
"Beef is, simply, the worst thing you can eat – especially mainstream store-bought beef that comes straight off a factory farm feedlot. Read on to learn why…"

Graphic Video: More Dairy Farm Animal Abuse
You won't be forced to view the videos. But you should know what's in them.
Note also that June is dairy alternative month. Timely indeed.

A vegan triathlete's healthy fuel
A short, but technical read. Bottom line: Vegetarians reported significantly less negative emotion than omnivores.

Do FIsh Feel Pain?
"I concede that my decision not to eat fish has at times been based more on routine, consistency, and idealism than on certainty in my convictions, but now it’s hard to imagine ever eating fish again."

Video: Raccoon sneaks in through the doggy door and steals a carpet
Something cute for a change. Can't be serious all of the time.

The Climate Majority
Don’t misread recent polls: Americans overwhelmingly believe in global warming.

The Betty Crocker Project : Pizza Burgers
Bet you thought no one could make these vegan.

UN urges global move to meat and dairy-free diet
A global shift towards a vegan diet is vital to save the world from hunger, fuel poverty and the worst impacts of climate change, the UN reports.

Palm Oil’s Promotion as Diesel Alternative Draws Fire
Ubiquitous in products from cookies to cosmetics, and increasingly in European fuel tanks, too, palm oil is driving the destruction of some of Southeast Asia’s last tracts of untouched rainforest and leading to huge emissions of gases that spur global warming.
For a short, more general discussion of biofuels, see Can Biofuels Save The World? (scroll down a tad to find it)

Vegetarian diets associated with healthy mood states
A short, but technical read. Bottom line: Vegetarians reported significantly less negative emotion than omnivores.month.

Extreme Cruelty in Canadian Farm Animal Transport
Inspection records show animals arriving to slaughterhouses dead or diseased, with few repercussions for transporters

Companies Intimidate Scientists, Put Severe Restrictions On Research into GM Crops
A battle is quietly being waged between the industry that produces genetically modified seeds and scientists trying to investigate the environmental impacts of engineered crops.

Organic Lives
Genny Bourdages reviews Vancouver's newest raw vegan restaurant.
The Globe and Mail reviewed it too: Restaurant review: OrganicLives

'Greenwashing' discourages eco-friendly behaviour
"Canadian cynicism over companies that make false environmental claims stops consumers from going green."
See also Same small cadre of obfuscators behind 'doubts' on climate crisis, cigarette smoking, acid rain,...

The Betty Crocker Project : Spaghetti Pie & Garlic Bread
"This Spaghetti Pie is a little off the Betty map BUT really it is quite delicious, not too unhealthy and not the Crayola colored vision that the Betty recipe is."

May 2010

Enviropig™
"Enviropig™ is a classic false technological fix that ignores the real causes of a problem and instead tries to develop, at great cost, a shiny, new, patented product for sale to mask the symptoms."

Water: life’s foundation
A vegan’s supply of food requires less water for one year than a meat eater’s does for one month.

An animal instinct about meat
"Eating Animals is the first non-fiction work by novelist Jonathan Safran Foer. In it, the author examines his own attitude towards eating meat and investigates the often barbaric way animals are farmed."

Meatless Mondays, a movement that has legs
"When you start talking about this kind of stuff at institutions, it sends a panic through the [meat] industry," said Tony Geraci, the director of food service for Baltimore City Public Schools, who received a raft of what he calls "cease and desist" letters from meat industry lobbyists.

Loving Hut
Genny Bourdages reviews Vancouver's newest all vegan restaurant.

The real cost of cheap oil
Big Oil rarely cleans up its mess.
See also Slideshow shows the terrible disaster that is the Deepwater blowout

The Betty Crocker Project : Patty Melt & Cajun Potatoes
"This sandwich may not have all the snazzy colors of a good old school salad but it has a good personality and that's what counts! "

Why humane meat is an oxymoron – the Lyman v. Niman debate
"Last night, I became more convinced than ever that humane meat is an oxymoron."

Don't Bring Home the Bacon
And do read this article through to the end.
Eating one serving of bacon, sausage or deli meats a day is associated with a 42 percent higher risk of heart disease and 19 percent increased risk of diabetes.

Pacific tuna population may crash at any time
"The Pacific population was thought to be the endangered fish's only remaining stronghold. But official reports on stock sizes have overlooked changes to fishing practices that could mean they are heading for a crash."

UN: Ocean fish will be gone by 2050 unless we drastically reduce our plunder of the oceans
"It is not a science fiction scenario. It is within the lifetime of a child born today," said Achim Steiner, head of the UN Environment Programme (Unep).

Dumpster diving with purpose: Freegans make political statement by searching through trash
"Freegans, a combination of "free" and "vegans" - people who avoid all animal products - are a slowly growing group of anti-consumerists who try to use as few resources as possible."

Oil slick won't re-engage public on environment but might lead to saner energy policy
"Public indifference to environmental issues, if left unchecked, could eventually undermine support for scientists in the plethora of subdisciplines, from ecology to atmospheric physics, that are now strongly oriented towards meeting global environmental threats."
...not to mention that it could undermine life in general on this planet.

The Betty Crocker Project : Eggs Benedict featuring The Vegan Poached Egg
Mmmm.

"Not Milk?": Dairy Petitions the FDA to Block Labels Like "Soy Milk" on Non-Dairy Products
A Cornell Law Professor examines the American dairy industry's dubious claims against soy milk, rice milk, almond milk, hemp milk, ...

Fishermen must work 17 times harder for their catch as their Victorian counterparts
Don't you think it might be smart to drastically curtail fishing or even to stop fishing altogether?
For a powerful scientific paper on the subject, see Rapid worldwide depletion of predatory fish communities (Warning: This is a very large pdf file) An easy to understand summary of the scientific paper is here.

Vegan Ultramarathoner Sets 24 Hour American Distance Record
"Vegan ultramarathoner Scott Jurek ... just gave the frail wimpy vegan stereotype yet another body blow. "

We're at an Energy Crossroads
The New York Times on our energy prospects. We need action now. Conservation. Yes. Wind and solar. Yes. Biofuels. No.

Getting Reliable Nutrition Information for Vegans
"There is tons of vegan nutrition information on the internet and a whole lot of it stands on pretty shaky ground."
Virginia Messina links you up with some you can trust.

Earth, 2300: Too hot for humans
"Parts of the planet could start to become too hot and humid for people to survive in a century or so if we fail to limit global warming"

The Betty Crocker Project: Asian "Tuna" with Wasabi Aioli and Sesame Buttered Brocolli
Annie Judah Shannon's quest to Veganize the Betty Crocker cookbooks continues to amaze.

A Mother's Day story about milk cows and veal calves
The true story of Mario, an extraordinarily lucky calf and the extraordinarily terrible world he comes from.

Is There Anything Truly Sustainable or Humane About Eating Meat?
Animal rights crusader Lee Hall says the only way to prevent animal suffering is to 'stop breeding these poor beings only to betray them.'

Making a Difference Makes You Happy
A series of studies find that activism brings pleasant emotions, greater life satisfaction, and more experiences of freedom, competence, and connection to others.

Meetup.com: One website all Vancouver vegans should join
If one lives in Vancouver and is vegan this site is a must to join. Here are a few different groups you may find useful.
My suspicion is that the story is similar for many locales far from Vancouver as well.

Rise of the Superweeds
Farmers' near-ubiquitous use of the weedkiller Roundup has led to the rapid growth of tenacious new superweeds.
To fight them, farmers are spraying fields with more toxic herbicides and resorting to other environmentally damaging approaches.

The Lungs of the World Are Choking
"The lungs of the world are suffering from serious breathing problems. It struck me again when we drove for ten hours on a dirt road on the Indonesian island of Borneo without seeing... trees. ."

The Betty Crocker Project: (Faux) Shrimp Scampi
Another success in Annie Judah Shannon's quest to Veganize the Betty Crocker cookbooks.

Global bake sale is 'sweet' vegan activism
CNN covers the Worldwide Vegan Bakesale.
See also Non-Earthsave Events below.

There's no doubt about the health dangers of salt
"Salt is added to make food more palatable, to increase the water content of meat products and to increase thirst. All generate profit for the food and drink industry."

Can Switching to Hybrid Cars and Organics Really Save the World, or Is It Just Lazy Environmentalism?
"...locally grown organic food, environmentally, is very sound....But what I found was that with globally grown organic food, increasingly as big corporations are taking over organic food and are sourcing organic inputs from all over the world....
One example is an organic sugar plantation in Paraguay that supplies a third of all the organic sugar consumed in the United States. General Mills, Silk Soymilk all buy sugar from this plantation....But this plantation is clearing trees and native ecosystem to expand its crop land, which doesn't make environmental sense."

Cattle Feed A Major Source of Ozone Pollution
"The smog in California's San Joaquin Valley has puzzled scientists for years. Even though the region is largely rural and agricultural, its smog levels exceed those of densely populated cities like Los Angeles.
...Researchers found that animal feed is the largest emitter of ozone in the valley, at 25 tons per day, followed by motor vehicles at 14 tons."

Our food might be killing us
"It took decades, countless studies, frightening real-life sagas and legislation to convince consumers that cigarette smoking could kill them. Even then, it hasn’t stopped enough people from smoking to put any of the giant cigarette companies out of business.
It’s no surprise that it will take several decades to drive home the fact that most of the meat – beef, pork and chicken – sold in supermarkets and butcher shops is unhealthy and that the methods used to feed, house and slaughter the animals are doing untold damage to the environment, not to mention treating the animals cruelly."

Confessions of a Recovering Carnivore
"Considering the meat-inclusive diet's health risks, ethical implications and effect on the planet, I don't think it's too extreme to suggest that America ... adopt a more widespread vegetarianism."

Whole Grain Sourdough Bread and Pan-Seared Seitan with Red Wine Reduction
Mmmm. Recipes.

April 2010

Vancouver Showing of Meat the Truth Today
Vancouver Public Library, Central Branch 350 West Georgia (Alma Vandussen room, lower level) Saturday April 24, 2010, Doors open at 3:30pm, film starts at 4:00pm

The Problem with Factory Farms
Time Magazine interviews David Kirby, author of Animal Factory.

Maryland lawmakers go veg to promote environment
Several Maryland lawmakers will sign a pledge Saturday to give up meat for a week to promote the environment and a healthier way of life.

Carnivorous Climate Skeptics in the Media
"What matters most is that the 18 percent figure—and the corresponding implication that reduced meat consumption would lower global warming—remained essentially untouched by Mitloehner's [meat industry-funded] report."

Eating Our Way to a Cleaner Planet
"Something that seems so personal, like the food we choose to eat, really isn't. What we eat and where our food comes from has significant impact on our environment."

'Sharing stuff is the way to fend off environmental catastrophe'
"We are a planet of locusts, and North America -- which makes up about five percent of the world's population but consumes 30 per cent of its resources -- is the heart of the swarm. According to Paul Hawken's 1999 book Natural Capitalism, so much material is wasted in the processing of goods, that within six months of an item's purchase, only one percent of the materials involved in its manufacture are still in use."
See also Beyond green growth: why we need a world without economic growth

Pumpkin Pesto 'Cheese' Recipe
Raw, vegan and, if you make it right, organic, too!

Sushi is Wrecking the Planet
It may sound like hyperbole, but unfortunately it is not. ... Stated plainly, sushi is one of the most environmentally damaging foods one could possibly eat.
Read the entire Spring 2010 issue of the Canada Earthsaver, including this article, a review of Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals, and more here.

'Meatless Monday initiative has got me thinking'
The Canadian Meatless Monday initiative is coordinated by Earthsave Canada (a non-profit food/environmental organization) and the Toronto Vegetarian Association.
The website http://meatlessmondays.ca provides recipes, tips and links in an effort to encourage participation.

Why animal rights are (still) a feminist issue
"An egalitarian society will never come about while sections of it are oppressed, whether on the basis of their sex/gender, race, ability, sexual orientation - or species."

'If we are what we eat, we are in trouble'
The Financial Times weighs in on the food we eat.

Physician Advocates Vegan Diet
"Health care ... is inescapably bound to the poor American diet with too much meat, dairy and processed foods and not enough vegetables, fruits and whole grains."

Beyond green growth: why we need a world without economic growth
"Prosperity consists in our ability to flourish as human beings - within the ecological limits of a finite planet," states Jackson in the report. "The challenge for our society is to create the conditions under which this is possible. It is the most urgent task of our times."

The 50 Best Vegan Lifestyle Blogs
'If your food pyramid consists of meat and dairy in addition to veggies and grains, it may be time to rethink that. With the food revolution reaching new heights, more and more studies are being released on the benefits of a plant based diet....
We have gathered the 50 best vegan lifestyle blogs. They can help you make the transition, give you thousands of recipes, show you how to grow your own garden..."

Food Inc. on CBC News Network Sunday
Though the companies try to maintain the myth that our food still comes from farms with red barns and white picket fences, our food is actually raised on massive "factory farms" and processed mega industrial plants. The animals grow fatter faster and are designed to fit the machines that slaughter them.
If you miss it on CBC, it'll be on PBS April 21st.

Your Car & Your Meat-Eating: The Biggest Causes of Climate Change
A new study out of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that when it comes to the net contribution to climate change on-road transportation, burning biomass for cooking, and raising animals for food are the biggest culprits.

New HSUS Video Spotlights Battery Egg Cruelty at Two Top Companies
"It’s hard for me to imagine anyone could witness this video and continue to purchase battery cage eggs.."

San Francisco Passes Meatless Mondays Resolution
The idea is to underscore the connection between meat eating and climate change.

Vegetarian directory lists restaurants, businesses in Vancouver area
It is available online at www.earthsave.ca/vegdirectory and is also being distributed to local tourist outlets and hotels

‘Green Gone Wrong’: Can Capitalism Save the Planet?
"[The author] is a muckraking investigative reporter who is also the author of “Gone Tomorrow: the Hidden Life of Garbage.” She says corporate America has led us into thinking that we can save the earth mainly by buying things like compact fluorescent light bulbs, hybrid gas-electric cars and carbon offsets."

Tofu &Tempeh Challenge, East Meets West
The idea is to underscore the connection between meat eating and climate change.

About Soy
Critical analysis by John Robbins and Syd Baumel

Homegrown Solutions to Alleviating Poverty and Hunger in Africa
"In addition to providing the vitamins and nutrients needed for a complete diet, indigenous vegetables are more affordable and accessible to farmers who might otherwise be forced to pay for costly imported staple crops and the inputs they require."

Biofuels Will Worsen Global Food Crisis, Expert
"Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75 percent - far more than previously estimated - according to a confidential World Bank report."

The Story of Bottled Water
"Should you be worried about your tap water? Yes, but not for the reason you expected."

The White House Egg Roll v. Gulag Ag
Alexander Cockburn takes on factory farming in 'America the Real.' Canada the Real isn't much different on this count.

Composting in Small Spaces
"Composting helps keep food waste out of landfills, reduces your individual carbon footprint, and provides extra nutrients to gardens. And you don’t have to live on a vast acreage, or even have a yard at all, to set up your own composting system."

Memphis BBQ Tofu
"This tofu is absolutely bursting with flavour."

March 2010

Earth Hour is Tonight
Remember to turn off your lights for one hour tonight at 8:30 pm

Meatless Mondays, a (no) meat-and-potatoes initiative
"This is something people can do who are concerned - pledge to have one day a week be meatless," says Nancy Callan, a longtime board member for Earthsave Canada, a non-profit group that promotes the environmental benefits of a plant-based diet.

How Japanese sushi offensive sank move to protect sharks and bluefin tuna
To conservationists it was a gratuitous act of provocation; but to the Japanese officials whose embassy served endangered bluefin tuna sushi to guests hours before last week's UN vote on a trade ban on the fish, it was a show of confidence that their diplomatic offensive had worked.

Do critics of UN meat report have a beef with transparency?
Bloggers and sceptics leaping all over a UN report that 'exaggerated' the link between meat and climate change are not revealing that the scientist challenging the figures has been funded by the livestock industry.
However you crunch the numbers, the UN FAO error does not reduce their estimate that animal agriculture is responsible for 18% of global warming gases in CO2 equivalents; the error does mean that the proportion of global warming emissions due to transportation are higher than the 13.5% they estimated. The controversy also ignores other accounting issues that indicate that animal agriculture-associated global warming contributions may be very high (see, e.g.,Too Bad To Be True: Are Farm Animals Really Responsible for 51% of Global Warming? (pdf) or A Sympathetic but Skeptical Look At Goodland and Anhang’s “Livestock and Climate Change”)

Toxic 'Factory': Industrial Meat And The Environment
The growth of factory farming obviously brings up issues of animal welfare, labor and nutrition, but Kirby's focus in Animal Factory is purely how the farms are changing, perhaps irrevocably, the environments and the long-term health of the people who live near them.

Faith in Caring for Animals and the Environment
Founder of Blessed Earth, an educational nonprofit dedicated to promoting better stewardship, Dr. Sleeth is bringing awareness of animal cruelty to Christians with an incredible blend of passion and familiarity with the Bible.

Makeover of a Mushroom Burger
Homemade veggie burgers can be brilliantly delicious.

Today is Meatout Day
Every spring, thousands of caring Meatout supporters educate their communities and ask their friends, families, and neighbors to pledge to "kick the meat habit (at least for a day) and explore a wholesome, compassionate diet of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains."
And in Michigan the Governor has declared it so:
Michigan Governor declares March 20th Michigan Meatout Day

The Terrible Environmental and Social Impacts of the 'Livestock Revolution
"Global meat production has tripled in the past three decades and could double its present level by 2050, according to a new report on the livestock industry by an international team of scientists and policy experts. The impact of this "livestock revolution" is likely to have significant consequences for human health, the environment and the global economy, the authors conclude"

Divide and Diminish: How humanity is starving large animals and forcing them to get smaller
In the future, the biggest land animals will be smaller than they are now. Here's why.
See also: A defuser's guide to the population explosion

Video: Jonathan Safran Foer Talks About Factory Farming, Our Health and More with Ellen
The author of "Eating Animals" came to the show to take a practical look at factory farming and what we can all do to help end it. He brought up real solutions that you can be a part of without having to make major changes.
See also: Eating Animals: Facing the truth about food

Recipe for rarity: fish threatened by cookbooks
A study of a century's worth of seafood recipes has revealed that big, predatory fish like salmon and tuna have grown in prestige, even as overfishing has caused their populations to plummet.

Vegan Recipes of the Week: Spelt Bread and Chocolate Peanut Butter Pillows
"How does midnight cake with chocolate frosting sound? Or does a sticky toffee pudding or choco-choco sandwich minis tickle your taste buds instead?"

A Deforestation-Based Diet: Seven Foods That Are Destroying the World's Forests
Common foods that are destroying the world's forests, from the precious Amazon to coastline-protecting mangroves.

EU backing for bluefin tuna trade ban sparks Japan protests
With bluefin population down 80% since 1978, governments indicate support for complete international ban to allow species to recover from years of over-fishing.

Why a Big Mac Costs Less Than a Salad
Thanks to lobbying, the U.S. Congress chooses to subsidize foods that we’re supposed to eat less of.

Humans driving extinction faster than species can evolve, say experts
Conservationists say rate of new species slower than diversity loss caused by the destruction of habitats and climate change. If we want to stop all this death and destruction we're going to have to adopt gentle lifestyles - eating low on the food chain, getting rid of our cars, staying off of airplanes, living in smaller homes, communally perhaps.

Dessert fans will have no beef with these vegan recipes
"How does midnight cake with chocolate frosting sound? Or does a sticky toffee pudding or choco-choco sandwich minis tickle your taste buds instead?"

Manure Now One of America's Biggest Pollutants
That excess manure gives off air pollutants, and it is the country's fastest-growing large source of methane, a greenhouse gas.
And it washes down with the rain, helping to cause the 230 oxygen-deprived "dead zones" that have proliferated along the U.S. coast. In the Chesapeake Bay, about one-fourth of the pollution that leads to dead zones can be traced to the back ends of cows, pigs, chickens and turkeys.

Film Showing Today: Fowl Play
Fowl Play illuminates the plight of factory-farmed laying hens through interviews with people who are fighting diligently to save them and introduces us to animals who survive the system.
This film is screening in downtown Vancouver next Saturday. See Non-Earthsave Events, below, for more information.

Lawsuit claims Fish Oil Omega-3 supplements contain industrial chemicals
Big surprise. We've loaded the oceans with PCB pollution. Use algal long-chain omega 3's (e.g. http://www.v-pure.com/ ) and this cannot be a problem...
The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court on Tuesday, alleges six U.S. manufacturers and two drugstore companies failed to warn the public that products made from fish or shark oil - long toted as a source of Omega-3 fatty acids - contained polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) compounds.

Neal Barnard, M.D.: Settling The Soy Controversy
"After years of research, science is weighing in. Here is what the studies show."

The Wrong Kind of Green Organization
"Groups like Conservation International are among the most trusted "brands" in America, pledged to protect and defend nature. Yet as we confront the biggest ecological crisis in human history, many of the green organizations meant to be leading the fight are busy shoveling up hard cash from the world's worst polluters--and burying science-based environmentalism in return."

Making macaroni and cheese, vegan style
"Thiamin (B1): 640%
Riboflavin (B2): 565%
Niacin: 280%
Vitamin B6: 480%
Folic Acid: 60%
Vitamin B12: 133%"
Tastes good, too.

February 2010

Too Bad To Be True: Are Farm Animals Really Responsible for 51% of Global Warming?
In a word, "no." But that said, depending on how one figures methane's role in global warming, animal agriculture turns out to be responsible for 25 to 30% of the problem. (pdf file).

Fowl Play
Fowl Play illuminates the plight of factory-farmed laying hens through interviews with people who are fighting diligently to save them and introduces us to animals who survive the system.
This film is screening in downtown Vancouver next Saturday. See Non-Earthsave Events, below, for more information.

Breaking The Link Between Meat, Manliness
The unprecedented and rising rates of meat consumption are significant factors in the malnutrition of almost a billion people worldwide.
Movie stars, athletes, artists, popular novels, commercials and the like might be our best hope of transforming the next generation of (North) American boys from Ford F-150 driving, quarter-pounder-devouring beings into something far healthier and more environmentally acceptable.

Neal Barnard, M.D.: Settling The Soy Controversy
"After years of research, science is weighing in. Here is what the studies show."

From Oceans to Ozone, Earth's Life Support Systems At Risk
"The demands of nearly 7 billion humans are stretching Earth to breaking point. To what extent do pollution, acidifying oceans, mass extinctions, dead zones in the sea and other environmental problems really matter?"

Making macaroni and cheese, vegan style
"Thiamin (B1): 640%
Riboflavin (B2): 565%
Niacin: 280%
Vitamin B6: 480%
Folic Acid: 60%
Vitamin B12: 133%"
Tastes good, too.

Hannah Teter, Gold-Medal Snowboarder, Carves a Meaningful Life
"What you might not expect is for her to donate her Olympic winnings ($25,000), plus all her other prize money since 2008 (almost $75,000 from some 10 events), to charity. While growing up in Belmont, Vermont, a town she says had "more deer than people, Teter, 23, developed a reverence for the greater world."
"I went vegetarian after watching Earthlings," she tells the world.

The price of environmental destruction? There is none
"Putting a price on nature becomes meaningless if we treat the ecosystems upon which we depend as mere commodities with a price for trading"
See also World's top firms cause $2.2tn of environmental damage, UN report estimates

Jatropha biofuels: UK investors sell controversial crop as 'green'
“UK fund managers are selling investments in jatropha plantations as a wallet-swelling, planet-saving financial bonanza. But the reality for poor farmers is very different.” And UK financial firms are far from alone in pushing this extremely nasty stuff.
See also Jatropha biofuels: the true cost to Tanzania

Color of Climate Change speaker encourages students to become vegans to help the earth’s climate
"Converting land can release large amounts of greenhouse gases when vegetation is cleared. Plowing also exposes carbon stored in the soil to the air. In the lumbering jargon of emissions experts, these effects are known as indirect land use change." Best action? Minimize the use of all fuels.
See also Why don’t people engage climate change? Problem 1: Environmental Literacy

China using 'mind blowing' amount of fertilizer
"Overuse of nitrogen fertilisers in China is leading to rapid soil acidification and is causing lasting damage to ecosystems, according to soil study." In this, they are not that different than us ... just doing the damage a little faster.

Going vegan: Tackling an ever-growing stack of cookbooks
"When I decided to adopt a vegan diet, I worried that I'd have a hard time finding enough inspiration to challenge me as a dedicated home cook. So I popped into Powell's Books, and instantly realized that the problem wouldn't be a lack of resources, but sorting through all the vegan cookbooks that are already out there."

Celebrate Black History Month with Green Eco Chef Bryant Terry
"Bryant Terry is not your average vegan chef. Not only does he cook tasty meat-free meals, but he also juggles the role of award-winning author and food justice activist. So yes, one could say that he has all the right ingredients to be the Top Green Chef of all tim"

Eating on a dollar a day pays off for duo
“The project, which began as a way to cut food bills, led to worldwide discussions on the food justice movement and landed the couple a lucrative book deal.”

Questions About Biofuels’ Environmental Costs Could Alter Europe’s Policies
"Converting land can release large amounts of greenhouse gases when vegetation is cleared. Plowing also exposes carbon stored in the soil to the air. In the lumbering jargon of emissions experts, these effects are known as indirect land use change." Best action? Minimize the use of all fuels.
See also New Report Warns of Biofuels' Impact on Food

86 percent of dolphins and whales threatened by fishing nets
"A new report from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) finds that almost 9 out of 10 toothed whales—including dolphins and porpoises—are threatened by entanglement and subsequent drowning from large-scale fishing operations ."

"Love at First Bite" Vegan Valentine's Day Dinner Recipes
The recipes include:
Artichoke and tomato bisque (complete with an easy cashew "cream" recipe)
Pine nut and basil crusted gardein(TM) chick'n scallopini over braised escarole blood orange beurre blanc
Hot Italian banana peppers stuffed with fresh herb risotto and soy mozzarella with fresh basil lime sauce

Going vegan gives a lot of green bang for the buck
"While not everyone can afford a hybrid car, solar panels or new energy-efficient appliances, reducing/eliminating the consumption of eggs, dairy products and meat is a cost-cutting measure from which we can all benefit."

Agricultural antibiotic use contributes to 'super-bugs' in humans
“It is well known that a high rate of antibiotic prescribing in hospitals contributes to the emergence of drug resistant bacteria. But for some antibiotics, an even more important factor contributing to such emergence is the use of antibiotics in agriculture…”

Professor Attempts to Convert Palin to Veganism - One Letter at a Time
Very soon, a letter from the University of Waterloo history professor should be landing in Sarah Palin’s postal box in Alaska.

The Prius-driving vegan vs. the meat-eating bicyclist: Who is the better environmentalist?
"While there's hardly anyone who could claim to be a perfect environmentalist, a moment of reckoning is probably in order for those of us who still make only minimal dietary choices."

Super Bowl of Dips
These vegan (with one exception) dips tend to be low-fat and high fiber.

January 2010

Haiti Emergency Relief
Food for Life Global is collecting funds for the Haiti disaster to support a comprehensive vegan food relief effort in the area. Please send donations now to help in this effort.
For more donation options, see http://www.cbc.ca/haitirelief/

Earthlings Playing at Vancouver Public Library, Downtown
EARTHLINGS is the most comprehensive documentary film ever produced on the correlation between nature, animals and human economic interests. The film is narrated by Academy Award® nominee Joaquin Phoenix and features music by platinum-selling recording artist Moby.
2:00 today (Saturday Jan. 30th), Vancouver Public Library, dowtown branch (Alma Vandussen room, lower level) Doors at 2pm, film starts at 2:30pm

Smarter Than You Think
The animal kingdom is home to much greater intelligence than has been previously acknowledged, with scientists seeing evidence of human-like traits everywhere.
See also If you think a crow is giving you the evil eye…

Is Whole Foods With the Organic Revolution or Against It?
"Whole Foods ... seems bent on frustrating consumer expectations, while craftily confusing conscientious consumers and limiting their revolutionary potential."

Why are BC's Collapsed Salmon Runs Getting Sustainability Certificate?
There's a federal judicial inquiry underway to find out why British Columbia's Fraser River sockeye salmon runs collapsed in 2009, but an international organization is within weeks of certifying the sockeye fishery as ecologically sustainable.

Eating Vegan: Answering the Egg Question
"While I can’t promise that there’s a reasonable vegan equivalent for something like deviled eggs, there are lots of options to satisfy your eggy desires without any animal products!"

One quarter of US grain crops fed to cars - not people - in 2009
"Continuing to divert more food to fuel, as is now mandated by the US federal government in its renewable fuel standard, will likely only reinforce the disturbing rise in world hunger." Canada has passed a similar mandate.

Grass-Fed Beef Won’t Save the Planet
"Beef consumption, whether grass-fed or grain-fed animals is neither healthy for the planet nor for humans. Reducing or eliminating red meat—whether grass or grain fed—from one’s diet is one of the easiest way to “save” the planet."

If bears were like humans, what a world this would be!
Ruben Boling's Tom the Dancing Bug turns the tables on humanity. I shudder to think what would happen if battery cage chickens were like humans, if feedlot cattle were like humans, if...

Celebrate Robbie Burns Day with Vegan Haggis
This stuff is delicious. Kinda rich, though. Not exactly sure it's good for you.

The Year in Meat
Erik Marcus' charts a year of progress in loosening industrial agricultures cruel hold on so much of what we eat.

Jonathan Safran Foer Speaks on Eating Animals
"This gentle man, with his reasonable message and his factual book, sheds light on the horrors of factory farming and the global destruction it causes."

Study compares greenhouse gas emissions from free-range, factory farmed cattle and sheep
All generating dangerous amounts methane, contributing very substantially to global warming.

What is Nutritional Yeast and How Does it Taste?
Nutritional yeast has a relatively strong flavor that is somewhat similar to that pungent taste found in cheese...

The Ecological Impacts of Animal Agriculture
"Numbers sometimes tell a story better than words can. First: 86 million. That's the number of acres planted with corn in the U.S. Next: 4.35 million -- the total number of U.S. acres planted with vegetables (130,000 of those acres are broccoli)...."

Food labels to show 'carbon footprint' under British government plans
Supermarket food will be clearly labelled to show its carbon footprint as well as country of origin and animal welfare standards as part of efforts to transform the British diet.

True sustainability needs an ethical revolution
"Society is a ship whose engine is technology and rudder is ethics; history bears plenty of witness to the wrecks caused by technologies that developed ahead of ethics. There is no reason to think sustainability is any different."
See also After this 60-year feeding frenzy, Earth itself has become disposable

Foer's Manifesto
Let's face the chilling truth, author says in exposé on eating animals

This Cat May Be The World's Most Inefficient Water Drinker
O.K. This really doesn't belong here. But a little levity can't hurt anyone and this cat is awfully cute.

Tennessee Town Passes Historic Sustainable Food and Climate Legislation
"The historic passage of the U.S.’s first Green Food Resolution in Signal Mountain, Tennessee marks a major milestone in the country’s effort to reduce its national climate “foodprint” — a more significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions than all transportation systems combined."

Vegetarianism and veganism on the rise in the US
Five percent of women aged 18 – 34 classify themselves as vegetarian, and 12 percent of women 18 – 34 say they do not eat red meat.

Pressure rises to stop antibiotics in agriculture
"Because of poor regulations and oversight of drug use in industrial farm animals, consumers in the U.S. do not know what their food is treated with, or how often," she said. "Nor is there a system in place to test meat for dangerous antibiotic resistant bacteria.

One man's beef with meat
"If someone told you that a particular corporation was trashing the air, water and soil; causing more global warming than the transportation industry; consuming massive amounts of fossil fuel; unleashing the cruelest sort of suffering on innocent and sentient beings; failing to recycle its waste; and clogging our arteries in the process, would you say, “Hey, that’s personal”?"

With these brownies, doing 'without' is no sacrifice
"This recipe from Alicia Silverstone's "The Kind Diet" is whole grain and vegan, but tastes decadent."

In the News: Archives 2009

In the News: Archives 2008

In the News: Archives 2007