Archive for the ‘Vegan Issues & News’ Category

How to Stay Vegan When You are Broke

Posted on: September 6th, 2012 by veggiebeauty No Comments

Let’s face it, we all have had difficult times in our lives financially. Maybe you are strapped for cash because you are paying back student loans, maybe your spouse lost their job and you are struggling to make ends meet. Maybe groceries and the cost of living have become a huge burden on your budget. Those last 3 scenarios describe my current situation. Its tough not to get depressed or down about these situations, and it does take a different way of approaching your day to day life. These tips should help you maintain a healthy vegan diet as well as provide you with practical tips to get you through tough times.

Make a Budget: 
The first thing to do is sit down and make a family budget. Now I’m not saying this has to be an exact accounting of every dollar you spend, but you need to have a rough idea of how much your bills cost versus how much money you bring in per week. I do not recommend cutting your grocery budget drastically, for many reasons. Produce is expensive, but so are doctor’s bills and you can’t put a price tag on your health. You will be more productive in bettering your current situation if you feel healthy and are taking care of yourself.

What You Need Vs. What You Want:
You can easily cut back expenses by figuring out what you need to survive versus what you want. Yes, those new shoes are cute, but are they more important than paying your electric bill? Also, don’t go out to eat, stay in and cook for yourself. That’s an easy way to cut down expenses. Often times I enjoy the food I make for myself more, this seems to be especially true with vegan food (at least where I live). Cut back to using one car instead of two if you can. Also, and I stress this emphatically, do not rely on credit cards, they will only get you in more trouble in the long run. They are not long term solutions, just short term and will haunt you in the months and years ahead.

Affordable Food:
Don’t be afraid to check flyers for sales and if you have affordable grocery stores like ALDI, check them out! They are my savoir when times are tough, especially for nuts and canned goods. You also may find great deals on produce at local farmers markets. Also, if you have a place to plant a garden, growing your own veggies can be a very practical and cheap solution!

Have a Meal Plan:
Don’t waste your groceries! So much food gets thrown out and wasted because it was bought without a clear purpose in mind. Make a list of meals you are planning for the week and see if you can use up items in your fridge or freezer to help cut back your bill. If you think your veggies might go bad soon, cut them up and freeze them if you can. Not all veggies freeze well, like tomatoes and celery which have a high water content) but root veggies keep well in the freezer. You often can get deals buying produce in bulk, just clean and chop them up and freeze what you don’t need for the week. Also, meals with potatoes, rice, and beans are quite filling and healthy, and best of all cheap! You can throw in various vegetable combos to change things up and spices-herbs can really make things interesting on a budget.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. I know its hard to admit that things aren’t working out as you hoped, but don’t be ashamed to get government assistance if you need to, like EBT cards. There is nothing to be ashamed about. Also look into food banks if you qualify. If things turn around for you later on, you can always donate back to food banks and help those in need by donating to charities. If you have a supportive family, tell them about your situation…even if they can’t help out very much financially, maybe ask if you can do your laundry there every other week if they live close by?

Get Creative:
Instead of buying expensive gifts for your friends and families, make them something. Write them a poem, song, a painting, drawing. You could agree to help work on their car if you are gifted at mechanics. Being creative also applies to keeping yourself busy and entertained when you are poor. Maybe check out a few good books from the library instead of going to the movies? Go for a walk instead of hanging out in the mall with friends. Work on a DIY project, like painting your old shoes with an interesting pattern or making a homemade face mask made of avocado and oatmeal. Keeping busy and finding activities that fulfill you will help you prioritize and realize that money can’t buy you happiness. That comes from yourself and your attitude.

Veggie Beauty’s Guide: Becoming a Vegan

Posted on: September 12th, 2011 by veggiebeauty No Comments

So You Wanna Go Vegan?             

First off, congratulations for making the best decision you could ever possibly make for your health, the planet, and the animals we share our earth with. You will feel better, lose weight, and have a more positive outlook on life. No guilty conscience from contributing to the death and torture of innocent creatures. If you want to learn more about animal cruelty in all areas (slaughterhouses, circuses, fishing, etc…), I highly recommend watching the documentary Earthlings. It is available in its entirety on youtube.com. Everyone needs to watch that film and be aware of what is actually happening to thousands of innocent animals daily that we can prevent by going vegan.

While the vegan lifestyle is not difficult to maintain, it does take a bit of planning and research to do it the right way.

Vegan Health, Nutrition, and Lifestyle Books:

The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone

Veganist by Kathy Freston

Becoming Vegan: The Complete Guide to Adopting a Healthy Plant-Based Diet by Brenda David and Vessanto Melina

The China Study by T. Colin Campbell

What is the wrong way to eat a vegan diet?

The wrong way to eat as a vegan is to rely solely on frozen soy faux meat replacements, junk food, sugars, etc…You can be a vegan and still be unhealthy. Soda is vegan, but that doesn’t make it a healthy choice. To fully embrace and enjoy eating as a vegan, you need to learn about what foods fuel your body and make it run its best. Not simply what is convenient or easy because convenience foods can still lead to obesity, illness, and fatigue. These are the symptoms that many new vegans attribute to their new diet, and not to the overly processed diet they are eating.

What can I eat?

If you going to be a healthy vegan, you will need to cook your own foods. You do not need to be intimidated by the kitchen or think that vegan food is “weird” or simply consists of salads. You can eat all of the foods you love: burgers, pasta, chili, smoothies, trail mix, burritos, etc… Just veganize it! Most of the food we already eat is vegan. The trick is to find easy and tasty vegan recipes. Something fun I like to do is take an old favorite and veganize it. It usually ends up tasting better than the original because as a vegan, you become more sensitive to spices and seasonings. Your palette expands as you begin to explore vegan recipes from cultures all around the world. If anything, as a vegan you will eat a more exciting and varied diet than ever before.

For free vegan recipes to get you started right away, check out vegweb.com! Here are a few of my personal favorite from that site:

Tandoori Seitan: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=14249.0

Spicy Carrot and Coconut Milk Soup: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=28908.0

Easy West African Peanut Soup: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=10092.0

Eggplant Lasagna: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=6093.0

Spinach and Basic Tofu “Ricotta” Shells: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=13949.0

 

Vegan Cookbook Suggestions:

Veganomicon by Isa Chandra and Terry Hope Romero

Vegan With a  Vengeance by Isa Chandra and Terry Hope Romero

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra and Terry Hope Romero

The 30 Minute Vegan by Mark Rennfield and Jennifer Murray

Get It Ripe: A Fresh Take on Vegan Cooking and Living by Jae Steele

Vegan on the Cheap: Great Recipes and Simple Strategies That Save You Time and Money by Robin Robertson

Supermarket Vegan by Donna Klein

The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions by Celine Steen and Joni Marie Newman

Vegan baking is also simple. You don’t need eggs, butter, or dairy of any kind to make tasty cakes, brownies cookies, breads, or pizza dough. Many different kinds of bread can be found in your local bakery if you take the time to look through the labels!

What are some essentials in a basic “vegan pantry”?

Grains-100% Wheat Semolina Pasta (no eggs), white rice, brown rice, quinoa, bulgar wheat, quick oats, wild rice, jasmine rice, sticky rice

Spices and Herbs- Rosemary, Oregano, Ground Pepper, Sea Salt, Cumin, Paprika, Curry Powder, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, All Spice, Chili Powder, Red Pepper Flakes, Cinnamon, Basil, caraway seeds, ground thyme, sesame seeds, Chinese 5 Spice, Ground Ginger

Oils- Canola Oil, Olive Oil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Sesame Oil, Hot Oil

Bagged/Canned Good- diced tomatoes, olives, chipotle peppers, chiles, coconut milk, black beans, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, red beans, lentils, sunflower seeds, cashews, panko bread crumbs (vegan), tortillas and taco shells (no lard), peanut butter

Baking- Energ-Egg Replacer, Flaxseeds, whole wheat flour, unbleached all purpose flour, walnuts, pecans, coconut flakes, agave nectar, organic cane sugar, organic brown sugar, molasses, sunspire vegan chocolate chips, Canola Oil, vegetable shortening

Condiments- vegan BBQ sauce, ketchup, mustard (yellow & brown), hot sauce, Annie’s Green Goddess Dressing, vinegrette (vegan), balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, rice vinegar, pickles, jalapenos, strawberry preserve

Once you have a vegan pantry, just stock up on fresh fruits ,veggies, non-dairy milk, and other refrigerated items and you’ll be set to go! Buy what’s in season and locally if you can…you’ll save money and help the planet.

Read your Labels!

Here are some common animal by-products to avoid while shopping at the supermarket (source: http://www.cyberparent.com/eat/hiddenanimalsinfood.htm):

The basic bad boys to avoid: eggs, casein, dairy, meat (of any kind!), rennet, lecithin (can be soy or animal derived), l-cysteine (can be made from human hair or duck feathers), red #4 (carmine, crushed beetle shells), natural flavors (could be anything), gelatin (substance taken from animal hooves), Lactic Acid, Lanolin (sheep wool wax), Oleic acid, Rennet (obtained from a baby calve’s stomach and used to make cheese),

The best way to avoid eating these kinds of foods is to read ingredient labels and limit the amount of processed food you are eating. Make your own food with whole foods like fruits, veggies, nuts, and grains and you can feel comfortable about you meals being vegan and healthy.

 

What about Vitamin B12?

You are going to get into a debate with several people over this issue when you decide to go vegan. B12 is not necessarily an animal derived vitamin. It comes from micro-organisms in the soil. When the animal eats plants from the soil, they ingest these micro-organisms, so it is a 2nd hand source of B12. We used to be able to get all of the B12 we needed from our veggies because they weren’t as carefully washed as they are today. Unless you grow your own organic foods in your backyard, it is wise to wash your food because of pesticides. You can easily get your B12 by eating fortified cereals and non-dairy milks. Also, Deeva Daily vitamins are a great supplement to the vegan diet and contain the required B12. Nutritional yeast also contains B12.

What vegan and cruelty-free products should I use?

I have a handy, dandy cruelty-free products list (this also includes household cleaning products as well):

http://veggiebeauty.com/my-cruelty-free-list

I also list some vegan products on my website and I also sell my own line of vegan cosmetics called Pumpkin & Poppy Cosmetics. You can buy my products through my artfire store: http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/pumpkinandpoppy

The website, leapingbunny.org is another great resource and they have a free iphone app to help you while shopping. Remember to watch out for brands that are involved in 3rd party testing or are owned by a company that tests on animals (The Body Shop is owned by L’oreal, thereby making they non-cruelty-free.)

My favorite vegan hygiene staples:

Kiss my Face Triple Whitening Toothpaste

Kiss My Face Shaving Lotion

Crazy Rumours Lip balm

Eco Lips Bee-Free Lip balm

Nubian Heritage African Black Soap

Out of Africa Vanilla Shea Butter Soap (Walgreens carries this brand)

Dickenson’s Witch Hazel Toner (Walgreens)

Beauty Without Cruetly Rosemary Mint Clarifying Shampoo

Dr. Bronner’s 18 in 1 Castille liquid soaps

Desert Essence- Organics Conditioner for Dry Hair (Coconut)

Alba Leave in Conditioner, Hair Spray

Alba Very Emollient Body Lotion (Fragrance-Free)

Alba Green Tea SPF 45 Natural Sunblock

Crystal Essence Mineral Deoderant Body Spray (Lavender & White Tea)

Jojoba Oil (eye makeup remover)

What can I wear?

Ideally, all of your clothes would be made of organic, non-animal derived sources and made in a sweatshop free envioronment, but this isn’t realistic for most of us. If you are on a tight budget, your best bet is to learn to love thrifting. While it is never okay to buy new leather or wool, if you buy it second hand you are recycling and giving your money to a charitable cause. The animal was already killed and it is wasteful to throw things away. Reusing an item is much better for the earth, and the animals (and our pocket books). Use the money you save from thrifting to to buy other items from ethical and eco-conscious brands if you can. Etsy and Artfire have many artisans that craft lovely vegan items and clothing.

Vegan Glasses, Belts, Purses, & Shoes:

http://www.mooshoes.com/category.cfm/brand/VEGETARIAN%20SHOES

http://www.alternativeoutfitters.com/

http://www.veganstore.com/

http://www.amysacks.com/

http://www.ecomall.com/

Good luck with your vegan journey and make sure to get involved with the activism side as well! There are so many wonderful vegan and animal rights organizations to support, I’m sure you’ll find one you will donate your time and/or money to.

American Anti-Vivesection Society

Farm Sanctuary

Mercy For Animals

Become an ASPCA Guradian

Humane Society International

Speak: The Voice for the Rights of Animals

Site Redesign and New Company Added!

Posted on: July 6th, 2011 by veggiebeauty 2 Comments

My husband and I worked on creating a new, cleaner design for Veggie Beauty. It will be easier to navigate, less cluttered, and should work faster now. We also intend to switch our server from Go Daddy to Blue Host for several reasons. Go Daddy has very unreliable, shared hosting; they put too many websites on one server and that is why the website has been having issues loading. After our contract is up, we intend on switching over to Blue Host so things should run a lot more smoothly.

The second, and main reason I want to switch is because the owner and founder of Go Daddy filmed a video of him slaughtering a wild elephant. It was disgusting and cruel, and I do not want to support a company that promotes that behavior. We had a account prior to this incident, and I was very angry that I had supported this man in anyway. Trust me, we will be resolving this issue shortly.

I also added a new company to the list: Out of Africa. I recently purchased their Vanilla Organic Shea Butter Soap from Walgreens and am in love with their products. From what I’ve seen, most of their products if not all are vegan and are widely available as well as affordable. They also donate 5 cents of every purchase to education in Africa and PBS.

Is Soy Bad For You?

Posted on: May 16th, 2011 by veggiebeauty 2 Comments

This video is based on the information in this article, Soy and the Thyroid by Mary Shoman: thyroid.about.com This article best sums up the overall arguments on the benefits and detriments of soy in the diet. I am not a nutritionist or a scientist, I have just personally done a lot of research in this area for my own info. I recommend researching yourself and forming your own opinions based on scientific facts and studies from reputable sources.

VegNews Apologizes For Using Meat Images

Posted on: April 26th, 2011 by veggiebeauty No Comments
I am not a subscriber to VegNews magazine. I honestly don’t read many periodicals; I get most of my information from books or online resources. I feel like I’m coming at this topic from a objective standpoint. I have no ties or connections to the VegNews magazine, nor did I have anything against them in particular prior to recent events. That said, I do have a few issues to discuss on this topic as it has been such a heated topic of debate in the vegan community. The real question: is it ethical for a vegan magazine to use stock images of meat products and claim that they are vegan “faux” meats? Not only did they claim they were vegan, they photoshopped these images and removed bones, so this is not a simple case of misunderstanding. VegNews knowingly used and manipulated these images for print in their vegan magazine.

As of April 18, 2011, VegNews has officially apologized. You can find their apologyhere if you’d care to read it. Essentially, they’ve stated in their apology that they will no longer use any animal product stock images and that they are committed to using 100% vegan imagery in their publications from now on. I feel like this is a good step, but I have a few other issues that I feel needed to be addressed in their apology if it is to be a sincere and truthful one. First, they need to address the issue of censoring their readers comments, reader’s who found these stock images and confronted VegNews on the issue. They had their comments deleted and were virtually ignored by VegNews until it became a bigger issue and more awareness was raised in the vegan community. Even if you have no problem with a vegan magazine using these images, readers and paying customers should never be censored and should be allowed to voice their opinions, especially when the have irrefutable evidence to support their claims. Any attempts to censor these individuals reflects extremely poorly on VegNews. If they indeed felt they were doing what the had to do, from a financial standpoint as they’ve said, why the secrecy on the issue?

My thoughts are that they knew it was wrong, but didn’t want to deal with the hassle of finding truly vegan imagery. Money shouldn’t have been the issue. I know many vegans who would gladly donate their time and services to help provide imagery for VegNews. Many photographers out there simply would love to have their name printed in the magazine for promotion purposes. Sponsors could also help fund vegan photography, or they could have asked for donations from their loyal readers if things were that tight financially. Being a vegan is never supposed to be about convenience, its about doing what’s right even if that cuts into your profits.

I am glad VegNews has admitted fault, and that goes a long with me. Does that mean I support what they do? Of course I do, but with slight hesitation. Trust takes a long time to earn back after its been broken. VegNews has made the first step, which is great. If they have truly changed their policies and admit their faults, then I’m sure the vegan community can forgive and move on from this crisis. We are a minority and need to band together; vegans fighting against vegans is never constructive or good for the cause. We are all here to learn, make mistakes, and grow in this ethical lifestyle choice. The vegan community is full of diversity, but all of us, including VegNews, needs to remember what the purpose of being a vegan is; veganism is about the abolishment of using all animal products in all areas of our life, and to end animal enslavement and exploitation. Using animal flesh in a vegan magazine does not live up to what being a vegan is about, and I’m glad VegNews can admit that.

Opinion: New Billboards Ask Would You Rather Save Rat or Child?

Posted on: April 26th, 2011 by veggiebeauty No Comments

The billboard slogan, “Who Would You Rather See Live?” is placed between an image of a rat and child, as if this is the only option available in this scientific day and age. These billboards are funded by the Foundation for Biomedical Research, and are being put up in the following cities, according to ABC News: Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Chicago, Baltimore, and will be in Madison, Wisconsin shortly. This foundation is supported by a biased group including researchers, pharmeceutical companies, and universities who are are still using animal testing in their research.

I am an independent researcher and supporter of ending animal vivesection in all areas, and most specifically in the areas of cosmetic animal testing. I also run a non-profit website dedicated to the elimination of cosmetic animal testing. To see such inaccurate and degrading propoganda upsets me for many reasons. I undestand that these researchers have been physicially attacked and threatened by radical activists like Animal Liberation Front and the UCLA Primate Freedom Project, which I don’t agree with. I’m not a radical activist and one of the reasons I became a vegan is because I support non-violence in all areas of life. I do have a problem with the slow pace of change in scientific research however, and how priority is not given to perfecting and implementing humane testing procedures.

According the The Humane Society International, dozens of alternatives to animal testing currently exist. Instead of wasting resources and dividing the public, why not spend the $150,000 from this new ad campaign and put this towards the research currently being done to end animal testing procedures? Animal testing is never 100% accurate because animals contain a different genetic makeup than humans. Many of these results are inconclusive, and must be tested on humans anyway, even after extensive animal testing. Its time for biomedical researchers to follow in the footsteps of the hundreds of cosmetic companies that have eliminated the need for animal testing; these companies are thriving because the public is demanding the end of inhumane animal testing.

Vegans and animal rights activists are against specieism, which means we don’t believe in the enslavement or exploitation of any living creatures, nor do we believe that one life has more value than another. To continue these outdated modes of testing is immoral, especially when acceptable and even potentially superior methods already exist or are being developed. Even if you are a not a vegan, you can still take a stand on these issues. Refuse to buy from, or support companies that are unwilling to work towards ending animal testing.

Most animal rights activists are realists and we realize that change doesn’t happen overnight. If these companies spent as much time and energy as they put into these pro-vivesection campaigns, they’d be well on their way to completely ending animal testing. It is simply not a priority for the research community, because many jobs and companies are financially tied to animal testing. Its time for us to take a stand against the Foundation for Biomedical Research’s campaign; they need to realize that we demand priority be given to saving animals. In this day in age, we should not have to choose the life of a rat over the life of a child. All life deserves respect and reverence, and scientists should be on board for implementing humane testing instead of fighting to save outdated procedures.