“This was one of those perfect New England days in late summer where the spirit of autumn takes a first stealing flight, like a spy, through the ripening country-side, and, with feigned sympathy for those who droop with August heat, puts her cool cloak of bracing air about leaf and flower and human shoulders.”
—Sarah Orne Jewett
Filed under: Uncategorized
I’m in California this week getting some rest, exploring the wilderness, sampling West Coast vegan fare, enjoying outrageously delicious produce, and visiting with friends and family. Hooray! So I may not be posting again until next week. Peace and love until then!
Photo by horizontal.integration on Flickr, used under Creative Commons license.
Filed under: Green Links, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tags: activism, PETA, save the whales, the onion, Vegan, Vegetarian
Before I really began considering going vegetarian, I always thought PETA was a bunch of extremist crazies. I’m sure most of mainstream America sees them this way, and this is thanks to their zany, pushing-the-envelope tactics.
As I entered the vegan lifestyle, my attitude toward them softened. They actually provide lots of great information on eating healthy, reducing your impact on the environment, and, of course, the crucial fight for animal rights. GoVeg, PETA’s “Vegetarian 101” site, has a nice look, a positive attitude, and great recipes. I have posted their celebrity testimonial videos here on Lotus, because I think they are informative and fun.
But now PETA has managed to once again piss off even its staunchest supporters in the veg community with this billboard in Florida urging people to “Save the Whales” (read: fat people) by going vegetarian.
Read this story from the Palm Beach Post for more info: PETA’s ‘whale’ ad pokes fun at obesity, misinforms
This is yet another example of PETA going too far. Obesity is an epidemic, a disease, a real problem that all-too-many Americans are dealing with. But it is not something to be mocked and degraded. Especially not if you’re trying to reach that very audience with your message. The backlash to this campaign has been swift and massive among the Twitterati and in the blogosphere.
Here’s one response from an overweight vegan blogger that’s sincere and well-written: Dear PETA
And on a somewhat related note, here’s a wonderful video from the Onion that takes a stab at PETA’s other recent ad campaigns that have been terribly exploitive of women. As DaynaR said, “Sadly, being satire doesn’t make it any less true.”
PETA, will you never stop shooting yourself in the foot?
“All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another. ”
—Anatole France
French poet, journalist, and novelist
“Do not brood over your past mistakes and failures as this will only fill your mind with grief, regret and depression. Do not repeat them in the future.”
—Swami Sivananda
“There is no month in the whole year in which nature wears a more beautiful appearance than in the month of August. Spring has many beauties, and May is a fresh and blooming month, but the charms of this time of year are enhanced by their contrast with the winter season. August has no such advantage. It comes when we remember nothing but clear skies, green fields, and sweet-smelling flowers–when the recollection of snow, and ice, and bleak winds, has faded from our minds as completely as they have disappeared from the earth–and yet what a pleasant time it is! Orchards and cornfields ring with the hum of labour; trees bend beneath the thick clusters of rich fruit which bow their branches to the ground; and the corn, piled in graceful sheaves, or waving in every light breath that sweeps above it, as if it wooed the sickle, tinges the landscape with a golden hue.”
—Charles Dickens
The Pickwick Papers
(Dickens is obviously not talking about a New York City August here.)
Filed under: Buddhism, Green Links, Hinduism, Poetry, Quotes | Tags: abc carpet & home, art, dalai lama, environmentalism, rachel carson, rumi, spirituality
I keep walking past these amazing windows at ABC Carpet & Home (Broadway at 19th) and finally took some photos so I could share them with you. They focus on the subject of water, the beauty and spiritualityof it, as well as our environmental responsibility regarding it. I’m not always a big fan of co-opting philosophical or literary sources for commercial purpose (in this case, to sell expensive furniture), but in this case I think it’s okay because ABC has a foundation that does … something? Hard to tell from this website. But it’s good. I hope.
We can’t help being thirsty, moving toward the voice of water. Milk drinkers draw close to the mother. Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Shamans, everyone hears the intelligent sound and moves with thirst to meet it. —Jalal ad-Din Rumi
Every human should have the idea of taking care of the environment, of nature, of water. So using too much or wasting water should have some kind of feeling or sense of concern. Some sort of responsibility and with that, a sense of discipline. —The 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso
To understand water is to understand the cosmos, the marvels of nature, and life itself. —Masaru Emoto
Water is the basis of life … the blue arteries of the Earth.
—Sandra Postel
By means of water, we give life to everything. —Koran, 21:30
If there is poetry in my book about the sea, it is not because I deliberately put it there, but because no one could write truthfully about the sea and leave out the poetry. —Rachel Carson
Filed under: Poetry, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tags: Quotes, tolstoy, Vegan, Vegetarian
“If a man earnestly seeks a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from animal food.”
—Count Leo Tolstoy,
Russian novelist & philosopher
Filed under: Bars/restaurants, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tags: nyc, pure food, raw, raw vegan, restaurants, Vegan, Vegetarian
There are some who see veganism as an extreme lifestyle. Those people should know that it’s possible to go one step further, and become a raw vegan. I don’t intend to adopt that food philosophy, but I think the idea of eating uncooked, unprocessed, completely natural food is interesting.
New York is home to supposedly one of the country’s best raw vegan restaurants: Pure Food and Wine. It’s haute cuisine done raw. In their own words:
“Pure Food and Wine’s raw vegan menu is entirely plant based and does not use any processed ingredients. Nothing is heated above approximately 118 degrees in order to preserve vitamins, minerals, and enzymes.
“If you’re sensitive to dairy or not a big fan of gluten, you’ll be especially happy (especially with dessert and ice cream) since we don’t use dairy or gluten products. Finally, there is also no tofu, tempeh or seitan anywhere on the menu or premises.”
A friend and I had been planning on dining at Pure Food before he skips the country, but were recently foiled and settled for sampling the restaurant’s wares through its takeout counter around the corner (called One Lucky Duck). Disappointment number one was that most of their offerings are not Jain (although I don’t know why they couldn’t be made that way—just hold the onions and garlic).
With few choices, we ordered chips and guacamole, but they were out of chips so they gave us “rosemary crackers” instead. The quotes are because these aren’t crackers in any traditional sense, but flavorful slivers of pressed nuts and herbs. Tasty, but very rich. They did not complement the guacamole, which itself was also very rich. (I don’t even want to contemplate the fat content of scooping up avocado with nuts, basically, but it’s all “good” fat, right?) We were full after about three bites.
But not so full that we didn’t also enjoy a coconut lime tart. This, while also rich (I think it was based on nut cream), was not overpoweringly so, and was outrageously delish. I highly recommend. Much of One Lucky Duck is taken up by the pastry counter, where they have cookies, tarts, tiramisu, etc. We tried a chocolate caramel bar that tasted kind of like a Balance Bar (and was also nut heavy—do not go there if you’re allergic!) and I took a lemon sandwich cookie but it pretty much melted by the time I got around to eating it. (Note, raw foods do not like heat.)
Verdict: Props to them for their philosophy, but from what I’ve seen their execution is hit or miss. I think next time I want to go to a schmancy vegan place, I’ll try a non-raw one, like Blossom or Candle 79. But I may stop back at One Lucky Duck for a lime tart. Mmm….
(Sorry for blurry photos!)
“There are chapters in every life which are seldom read and certainly not aloud.”
—Carol Shields
