Showing posts with label vegan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vegan. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

American Dietetic Assoc.: "Vegetarian Diets Nutritionally Adequate"

In my copy of "The Voice", the e-newsletter of Mercy For Animals, one of the articles talks about how the American Dietetic Association - the "world's largest organization of food and nutrition professionals" - just released an "updated position paper on vegetarian diets" that states unequivocally: vegetarian and vegan diets are not only good for you, but also help aid in disease prevention.

The Voice rather downplayed this landmark move by such an organization in my opinion. I mean, it is only an e-newsletter after all, but it was pushed way down the list of topics and then only got a moderate mention. This to me warrants more fanfare; this piece of news tells me that if an organization like the American Dietetic Association is now putting their stamp of approval on the vegan movement there may be hope for our fair country yet!

What does this mean exactly? Well if people are eating better they won't need to go to the doctor as much - which will revolutionize our health care system all by itself! There will quite simply be less need for cancer treatments, disease treatments, radiation therapy ... oh yeah, as I spell this out I can just feel the chemical, beef, dairy, and pharmaceutical industries growing angrier and angrier because ...

... what the American Dietetic Association has boldly proclaimed is that eating beef and dairy (and by extension animal products period) is not good for your health, and if people are healthier they won't need the expensive medical treatments that is fattening the wallets of not only the medical and pharmaceutical industries, but their equally corrupt legislative counterparts as well. Vegans and vegetarians have known this all along. But to get the ADA on their side? Folks, the American Dietetic Association has just delivered a mighty blow to the biggest, longest-standing money-making ventures in America!

To which I say ... Bravo! But it is a cautious "bravo!", because I know those giant industries which have their hooks sunk so deeply into the American consciousness for so many decades are not going to take this news lying down. They won't go out without a bitter, bloody fight. And I can't help wondering if all the money tied up in those animal-product industries (which includes the medical and pharmaceutical industries, because if you aren't sick you don't need to go to the doctor) will work to discredit the ADA. It's happened before; it will be interesting to see just how strong the ADA is.

To which I also say: Bring it!

Before concluding today's post I must also strongly emphasize the original reason this news item found it's way to my inbox in the first place: compassion for animals. Yes, our own personal health is certainly important, but another very good reason for eating a vegetarian/vegan diet is that the beef, chicken, pork, dairy, and fish industries are ALL guilty of subjecting the animals they "raise" to unimaginable cruelty and torture. This just adds to the growing list of reasons why we need to overhaul our diets as Americans. Don't believe me? Watch, but BE FOREWARNED - the video below contains graphic and disturbing images. I myself won't even watch it; I'm merely including this for the people reading this who don't already know what's really going on ...


More editorial from me: I don't believe "God intended" us to be vegetarians. I do believe it's okay to eat meat once in a while. I also believe that God NEVER intended us to abuse animals the way they are in these factory farms as documented in the video above. It was not "sustenance" and definitely not health matters that grew these factory farms - it was nothing more than greed that put those animals' lives in danger.

For information on animal abuse in factory farms and what you can do to stop it, please visit Mercy For Animals and any of their other affiliated websites:


Thursday, July 23, 2009

National Hot Dog Day takes new meaning


Silly me - and I thought I wasn't going to have much to write about this topic! Turns out there is actual, honest-to-goodness, developing news on this today.

Hot dogs ... who doesn't love hot dogs? It conjures up lazy July afternoons with a grill sizzling nearby, tall, cold glasses of iced tea sporting a lemon wedge, 4th of July celebrations ... mmm, hot dogs. Me personally, I've always loved them. I love them with mustard and onions, but "frankly" (heh) I've been known to eat them with any number of the typical toppings found on a hot dog.
However, vegans are using today to call attention to global warming, among other things. What the heck do hot dogs have to do with global warming? you ask. Good question: turns out the pollution from meat farms is actually worse for our ozone layer than all the cars and trucks on the road, globally, right now. Then what about what's in those dogs: does anybody (other than hot dog manufacturers, and even they probably don't know the full extent of their product's ingredients) really know what's in them? I prefer not to think about it. In fact, most people who eat hot dogs prefer not to think about it. But if the vegan and animal-lover communities have anything to say about it, they most definitely want you to think about it: among other things hot dogs promote cancer, and are a product of animal cruelty (as most meat products in the USA are).

But fear not, hot dog lovers - there is actually a tasty substitute!

I applaud the vegan community for doing this. Tofu dogs are actually pretty good (however it's still a processed food, so not something you want to eat 3-times a day every day). Or there's that whole fresh vegetables thing ...

Oh, one other thing as a sidenote: the Organic Consumers Association wants people to avoid purchasing any Morningstar Farms products as they contain genetically-engineered soy. Morningstar Farms also uses products made by Monsanto and for more on that watch this video: