No Animals Died to Make This Breakfast

Who says that you need to kill a cow, butcher a pig, or abuse a chicken to have a healthy and filling breakfast? Forget the bacon and eggs. There are tons of wonderful breakfasts that you can eat if you follow a vegan diet. Here are just a few of the options:

Muesli -- a really healthy breakfast meal that can be sweetened using assorted dried fruits. I also throw in some almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, and ground flax seed to boost the amount of healthy fats and protein.

Homemade Granola -- ususally not as healthy as muslie, because of all the fat and sugar needed to get the oats to stick together, but certainly better than bacon and eggs -- recipe

Multigrain Pancakes -- recipe

Tofu Scramble -- like scrambled eggs, but with...tofu! ChooseVeg has a great video that shows you how to make this great meal.

Vegan French Toast -- You can make traditional or banana vegan french toast, and it tastes just as good without the milk and eggs.

Barley or Wheatberry Porridge. It was a good enough breakfast for folks in the Middle Ages, so it should do the trick for you as well. Just cook the barley or wheat berries according to the instructions on the packet. During the last five minutes of cooking add soymilk, honey (not technically vegan, I know), cinnamon, raisins or other dried fruits and crushed walnuts/almonds.

Eating a healthy breakfast consisting of whole grains, some protein (e.g., tofu or soy milk) and some healthy fats (e.g., nuts or seeds) is a great way to start off your day and give you the energy you need to be productive. Any of the breakfasts described above will be a whole-lot healthier for you than some damned McMuffin, omelettes, or any of the other animal-based breakfasts that many American's eat. You'll be helping your heart and waistline at the same time you are saving the lives of animals. A win-win situation for all involved--except for factory farmers, that is).

For a more extensive list of vegan breakfast options check out ChooseVeg.com's helpful website.

Continuing Thoughts on Veganism

Yes, adopting a vegan diet can help save the planet, eliminate unnecessary cruelty to animals, aid in feeding the world’s hungry, and reduce the blobs of fat that currently hang on American’s guts and posteriors. The choice to eliminate all animal products from one’s diet is probably one of the most moral decisions that any human being can make in this age of planetary distress. I congratulate anyone able to forsake the flesh and by-products of the beast, whether they do so for moral, health, or aesthetic reasons.

My own little experiment with veganism, however, has convinced me that it is damn difficult to put into practice if you don’t have the luxury to live in more enlightened parts of the country like California, Oregon, or Vermont. Even here in New York—supposedly a bastion of progressivism in the United States—it is extremely difficult to find places to eat suitable for those practicing veganism (good luck trying to find anything even remotely vegan on the menus at Applebees, Friday’s, or Friendy’s!). Vegan meals are also much more labor intensive to prepare and require much more forethought than other kinds of food choices.

That having been said, we Americans can no longer afford to continue to eat the way we have since the 1960s with animal products and fast food making up the bulk of our food choices. In his provocative article in the New York Times, “Unhappy Meals,” Michael Pollen gives the most practical tip on how to eat a healthy—and fairly planet-sustaining—diet:

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

Although this may sound a bit simplistic, if more Americans tried to put this advice into practice, the entire planet would ultimately benefit. The key to success seems to be to take incremental steps in reducing one's overall consumption of animal products. There is absolutely no reason why an ecologically conscious person couldn't limit his or her consumption of animal products (dairy, eggs, and cheese for example) to two or three times a week, and perhaps reserve the consumption of animal flesh to the odd special occasion or holiday. This compromise would probably not satisfy a hard-core vegan, but it would be a dramatic improvement to the typical American diet and would significantly reduce the amount of animal cruelty currently practiced.

Is this a reasonable compromise or a cop-out? Let me know what you think.

The Chinese Conundrum

The Chinese currently have a population of 1.3 billion people. The U.S. has a population of 300 million.

The average ecological footprint of one Chinese citizen in 2006 was approximately 2.0 (a footprint of 2.0 means that that it takes approximately two global acres of resources to sustain each person in China). By comparison, the ecological footprint of the average American in 2006 was 24, which basically means that the typical American was using ten times the Amount of resources as the typical Chinese.



The problem is that the entire planet’s biocapacity is 4-5 global acres per person. This wouldn’t be much of an issue if everyone on earth lived more like the average Chinese rather than the average American. Unfortunately, those 1.3 billion people in China (not to mention their friends in India, Thailand, and the rest of the developing world) have a strange desire to live like we do here in the U.S. Instead of riding bicycles, they want to drive cars or SUVs; instead of eating their traditional, healthy, low-fat, mostly plant-based foods, they want to eat Big Macs and Kentucky Fried Chicken; instead of shopping at stores selling inexpensive locally produced products, the want to buy imported TVs, DCD players and Ipods at suburban-style mega-shopping malls. In short, they want exactly what we have, and, since everyone knows that our American way of life is as close to perfection as one can find in the universe, who can really blame them?

But, if everyone in China actually tried to live like the typical American, our fragile little planet would no longer be able to sustain life as we know it.

So, as I see it, we have two options:

1. We can tell the Chinese that they don’t have the right to live so damned irresponsibly and discourage them from trying to live the kind of lifestyle that we have here in the U.S. This, however, would be a bit hypocritical on our part…rather like telling the Brazilians they shouldn’t clear-cut their forests after we have all but decimated our own.

2. Or, we can try to set a moral example ourselves by taking the steps necessary to reduce our own exorbitant levels of consumption and, in doing so, reduce our ecological footprint to a more reasonable level. Don’t worry. This doesn’t mean that we would have to live like people in Bangladesh. We could, however, try to adopt some of the more ecologically sound practices of Europeans, whose average ecological footprint is only 4.9. Anyone whose ever been to Germany or France will tell you that life is pretty damned good in Europe, even if they do have to recycle and pay a bit more for gas than we do.

Perhaps if we did make an effort to get our ecological footprint down to even European levels, we might actually set a positive moral example for the developing world instead of promoting a model of consumption that can only lead to the death of our planet. Of course, this doesn’t mean that the Chinese will necessarily follow our example, but, at the very least, for once—just for once—we wouldn’t seem quite so hypocritical when we exhort other nations to behave responsibly.

A Sign of the Times

.....As Mike correctly pointed out in a previous post, all signs indicate that the consumption level of Americans is being reduced in the face of economic uncertainty. This clearly is welcomed news, considering that we Americans previously had the lowest rate of savings and highest consumption rate in the developed world.

.....I recently paid a visit to my local butcher, and asked if the recession was hurting his business at all. He said that, on the contrary, our rotten economy has actually been helpful to him. As he put it, "Instead of people going out to dinner and spending $100 on steak, they have been coming to me, and for $20 they can get two of the best steaks we have."

.....I use this steak example with no offense intended towards my vegan friends. We all agree that it would be preferable if Americans also simplified their meal choices to include more plant-based foods. But the fact remains that many Americans are choosing to forgo fancy restaurants and buying items they don't really need, because their values are beginning to change as they confront the reality of economic uncertainty.

.....A cultural shift may very well be occurring in which people begin to embrace - or at least are more open to - the ideals of movements like Voluntary Simplicity, Sustainable Economics, and Smart Growth. Yes, there will always be people who choose to drive gas-guzzling vehicles and to live excessive lifestyles, but hopefully, such individuals will become the exception rather than the norm in our society.

So who's hurting, anyway?

I keep hearing about how tough times are for Americans during what many economists are calling the "greatest fiscal crisis since the Great Depression." But I have to confession that here on Long Island--epicenter of the the crudest form of crass consumerism on the planet--I just don't see any evidence at all that people are changing their behavior in the face of economic uncertainty.

I went to the mall the other day to buy some much needed curtains for the house ($29 on sale at J.C. Penny's, in case you were interested). It was a Wednesday morning around 11am and I was amazed to find that the parking lot of the mall was as packed as ever with the usual assortment of over-priced cars and SUVs. As I struggled to find a spot to park my 15 year old Corolla, I couldn't help noticing all the people leaving the mall loaded down with shit that they probably didn't really need. Inside, the mall seemed about as crowded as ever with the typical garish, self-absorbed drones--drinking Starbuck lattes, of course--who have always shopped there.

Am I just living in a land-o-plenty in an otherwise struggling country, or are these people simply incapable of reducing their consumption after so many decades of habitual buying? My guess is that it is the latter. We are so used to deriving our happiness and meaning from what we buy that the idea of reducing consumption is sacrilege to many Americans.

The good part of all this is that those of us who have been living prudently will ultimately benefit from the inability of our neighbors to stop shopping. They may drive their own families into bankruptcy because they must have the latest Ipod or flat screen TV, but this sort of desperate consumption is probably all that stands between us and total economic annihilation. Certainly, if the economy of the United States had to depend exclusively upon cheap bastards like myself, we'd all be in very big trouble. All I can say is, thank god for other people's addictive tendencies!!!

A Fishy Practice

In this blog we have had some interesting debates about whether it is necessary to go completely vegan if one is really concerned about issues of animal cruelty. While acknowledging that veganism is the ideal diet for all those concerned about the welfare of animals, the well-being of the planet, and their own physical health, I argued that a vegan diet is far too difficult for most people to follow, and that a more viable option for most people would be to follow a low-fat vegetarian diet such as the one recommended by Dr. Dean Ornish that includes limited amounts of low- or non-fat dairy products (milk, egg whites, yogurt, and cheese), ideally from animals that have been raised humanely. I agree, however, that the goal of anyone even remotely concerned with issues of animal ethics would be to eat as much of their food as possible from plant-based sources and to dramatically reduce their consumption of all animals and animal products.

There are some confused individuals, however, who believe that they are following a vegetarian diet, even though they still eat fish regularly (they are technically referred to as pesco-vegetarians). It’s almost as though these people have convinced themselves that salmon, tuna, and Chilean sea bass are not really animals, and that the rules they follow with regard to the humane treatment of other species don’t really need to be applied to marine life. Let’s get this straight: (1) fish are sentient life-forms like all other animals and they feel as much pain as other animals when they are slaughtered, and, (2) if you are concerned about issues of animal cruelty, you will eat fish as regularly as you would a slab of cow flesh…which means not at all.

When one considers the health risks involved in eating fish loaded with mercury (e.g., tuna, swordfish, shark, etc) and other dangerous containments such as lead, industrial chemicals (e.g., PCBs) and pesticides, it becomes evident that—despite all of the propaganda issued by the USDA and their pimps in the corporate fish lobby—the risks involved in eating seafood very well may outweigh the benefits. And when one realizes that our current fishing practices are driving many of the world’s marine populations to extinction, there is even a greater moral argument for eliminating fish from one’s diet.

I would like to hear how our pesco-vegetarian friends justify the consumption of seafood while clearly having moral qualms about eating land-based animals. I may be a bit naïve, but I don’t really understand how it is any more ethical to chow-down on salmon steak than it would be to consume a hunk of cow, pig, or chicken. Could someone explain the logic of this to me?

Tough Luck, Suckers

When I came cack to the United States after several years of studying in Belgium in the early 1990s, I was amazed by the number of Americans who had suddenly taken to driving SUVs. After all, in Europe people were more than content to get around in their small, fuel-efficient cars or to use mass transportation if they had to travel longer distances.

Because of the unsustainably low price of gas, however, Americans wanted to drive huge, gas-guzzling monstrosities that would allow them to dominate other drivers on the road (In some cases, the choice of an excessively large SUV may have also been an attempt by some insecure men to make up for inadequacies in other areas...but we can leave that sort of speculation to mental health professionals). In buying these idiotic vehicles, no one ever bothered to think for one moment about the impact that driving an SUV would have on the planet. Nor did many Americans reflect upon the fact that gas prices would eventually have to rise due to diminishing oil reserves and increasing demand for oil from other parts of the world (i.e., China and India). As in the case of the housing crisis, the shortsighted dolts who needed the drive these planet-killing machines deluded themselves into thinking that they could have it all, and that there were no personal or social consequences to be paid for their sheer stupidity and greed.

But now the hens have come home to roost. With gas prices hovering around $4.00 a gallon, all of a sudden soccer moms and their macho suburban husbands have come to realize that their prize SUVs, which in the past had given them such tremendous feelings of power on the road, are actually financial liabilities, threatening to bankrupt their already financially overextended families. And, try as they might, they can't sell these behemoths, because their less shallow countrymen are looking to buy hybrids and other smaller fuel-efficient vehicles in an age where gas prices can only keep increasing.

The one consolation that SUV owners still have, however, is that they will still have the biggest and most powerful toys on the road. And spending $100 to fill up your tank is a small price to pay to help SUV owners overcome the feelings of inferiority that led them to buy these idiotic vehicles in the first place. Sometimes size does matter. But that will be a small consolation when it comes to choosing between filling up your SUV at the pump and paying your mortgage. Life really is unfair, isn't it!

The Vegetarian Alternative

Two weeks ago I asked a few students, faculty and administrators at Molloy to participate in a little video project called, "The Vegetarian Alternative: Why Our Food Choices Matter." The idea was to see if we could put together a "documentary" on an important social topic using only inexpensive technology (we chose the $139 Flip video recorder) and free video editing software (Microsoft's Moviemaker). The result was not quite a masterpiece, but it does give campus carnivors and vegetarians the opportunity to talk about the significance of their daily food choices.

Many thanks to those students, faculty, and administrators who were generous enough to participate in this project.

The Two Week Vegan

For the next two weeks I am going vegan...completely vegan. No animal products will touch my lips; no animals will have to be harmed to fill my belly.

This two week trial period started out as a little wager in my Ethics class. I had come to the part in the class in which I discuss ethical issues related to animals and had just finished explaining about the horrors of factory farming and the benefits of a vegetarian diet, but was not really making much of an impact with the students (just wait until I show them PETA’s “Meat Your Meat”). As a wager, I told them that, if a few of them would agree to reduce their meat consumption even slightly for the next two weeks, I would adopt a vegan diet during that same period. I had only a few takers, but that was enough to compel me to follow through with my end of the bargain.

I had toyed with vegetarian and vegan diets on and off for the past few years and had always liked the feeling that I got from eating a more sustainable diet. The thing that did me in, believe it or not, was my three-month teaching gig at Rangsit University in Thailand last summer. Although Tai food is usually a good option for vegetarians, I found it very difficult to find a variety of food in the local restaurants to satisfy me; so I reverted to eating meat again and have continued to do so since then. Now it’s time to return to a heart-healthy, planet-loving, animal-friendly diet!

On Saturday night—the night before I had to begin my new vegan diet—I went to Pathmark, my depressing, overcrowded local supermarket, and began to scour the store for products that were animal-free. Although this supermarket chain is definitely not known for its alternative food options, I found a few items that would do the trick: pita and hummus, veggie burgers and buns, assorted fruits and vegetables, oatmeal (Irish Steel Cut), soymilk, veggie bouillon. Sometime this week, I also plan to go to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, two stores specializing in organic, locally grown, vegetarian, and vegan food items. When I go to these stores I will probably pick up some items that are more difficult to find in regular supermarkets: organic produce, beans, rice and other grains, tofu (firm only), some more vegan veggie burgers, and soy crumbles (great for making chili or “meat” sauce).

Although I recognize that a vegan diet is the most optimal one for personal and planetary health, I don’t plan to continue with it beyond the two-week period agreed upon with my students. Instead, I would like to revert to a mainly low-fat, vegetarian diet, such as the one recommended by Dr. Dean Ornish. I am well aware that, from an ecological perspective, vegetarianism is inferior to veganism and that it doesn’t completely resolve the issue of animal cruelty. It is a starting point to more sustainable living, however.

At the end of the two weeks, I will assess how well I was able to maintain a vegan diet and the benefits—if any—that I experienced as a result of this temporary change in my eating habits. It is my intention to show that, although it requires some thought and planning, it is neither overly difficult nor terribly onerous to live a vegan lifestyle.

The Vegan Food Pyramid

A Surge of Folly

This blog is supposed to be focused on environmental issues. We recognize, however, that environmental concerns cannot be viewed in isolation from other important political issues (war and peace, poverty and inequality, racism and race relations, ect). To allow for a more extensive discussion on these topics--without diluting the real focus of this blog--we will occasionally link to entries posted on the sites of some of our "bloggin' buddies."

"A Surge of Folly" is a pessimistic perspective on the possibilities for success in Iraq. You can read this entry on Dr. Peter Fallon's blog, In the Dark:

A Surge of Folly