http://tastebetter.com Tips for great green living. en Copyright 2007 Taste Better jason@thrustlabs.com This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site, subject to copyright and fair use. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VeganPorn/~3/329698376/Introducing-Barnivore-com- strategic. Our handy vegan alcohol guide has moved to a brand new standalone website over at www.Barnivore.com (get it? Omnivore herbivore barnivore? Clever yeah?), check it out and let us know what you think!]]> http://tastebetter.com/story/Introducing-Barnivore-com- http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VeganPorn/~3/266009713/And-that-s-a-wrap--for-now--- Vegan Booze Directory will continue to be updated, but regular updates will cease for the time being while the publisher takes a break and works on developing some new perspectives on activism, both online and off. Thanks to everyone who had a part, however small, in nearly 7 years of online adventures here on The Better and VP before that. I've learned a lot and really enjoyed collaborating with you. If you want to stay in touch, the contact form still works, and if you subscribe to the newsletter you'll be in the loop for what I'm up to when I come back (but I'm looking forward to some time off, so if you're planning on waiting eagerly by your inbox, pack a great vegan lunch or two.) Thanks, Jason]]> http://tastebetter.com/story/And-that-s-a-wrap--for-now--- http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VeganPorn/~3/265849246/The-Colour-of-Money-digs-into-the-world-of-gift-baskets-with-Vegan-Divine The Colour of Money, we talk with Santamrit Violet & Simran Khalsa, who are sisters and co-proprietors of Vegan Divine, an online vegan gift basket shop. I really enjoyed doing this interview, particularly where they said "...it's in direct alignment with how we live, so it's not something that we felt was a burden to do, it's exciting for us to find these things for ourselves and then share these things with others." There are all kinds of great opportunities out there for people to match what they do for a living with how they live every day, and I got a great feeling talking with these two. Check it out and see how it all comes down.]]> http://tastebetter.com/story/The-Colour-of-Money-digs-into-the-world-of-gift-baskets-with-Vegan-Divine http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VeganPorn/~3/265831433/An-Animal-Friendly-Life--The-Domination-Dynamic An Animal Friendly Life column, Eric Prescott continues taking us along the path towards, as he puts it, "a sustainable, morally consistent foundation for achieving animal liberation." This month, Eric examines the relationships between animals and humans in today's society, and how it pertains to advocacy and outreach. If you've enjoyed his past columns, this one will fit right in. If you've been wary of his writing for some reason, this is a good chance to give it another try: check it out here.]]> http://tastebetter.com/story/An-Animal-Friendly-Life--The-Domination-Dynamic http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VeganPorn/~3/263631036/Vegan-University--What-s-the-Deal-with-Honey- what's the deal with honey? I'll admit, I didn't understand the honey thing at first, and eventually went along with it as part of the package, while acknowledging at the same time that I couldn't enjoy, say, almonds without the help of bees. It's a complicated issue, moreso now with the increased commercialization of beekeeping. Check out what Laura thinks and see how it vibes with your philosophy.]]> http://tastebetter.com/story/Vegan-University--What-s-the-Deal-with-Honey- http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VeganPorn/~3/257652695/Hezbollah-Tofu-takes-Anthony-Bourdain-down-a-peg Kitchen Confidential a few years back after watching the short lived TV show, and I managed to learn a few things, although I had to get through the occasional shot at vegans, like, oh, this one: "Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn. To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living. Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, and an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food." Know your enemy, folks, know your enemy. Or, better still, mock the hell out of him! Hezbollah Tofu is my new favourite food blog: they're veganizing Anthony Bourdain recipes. They run the vegan filter so you don't have to! (Though they are accepting recipe submissions) (via Vegan Bits)]]> http://tastebetter.com/story/Hezbollah-Tofu-takes-Anthony-Bourdain-down-a-peg http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VeganPorn/~3/257572775/Canadian-pork-products-are-super---bug-filled SuperBUG filled, that is! Oh snap, how great was it when I did the twistabout there? Bob, queue the replay: Colleen reports that Canadian pork products are super! SuperBUG filled, that is! Yeah, that's good stuff. The superbug, if you haven't been following mainstream news from the safety of under your bed where "they" can't hurt you, is an antibiotic resistant strain of staph bacteria known as MRSA, which is short for, I believe, "MR. So Amazinglyscary" because the stuff needs the antibiotic equivalent of a nuke to eradicate, and it's probably adapting to that too. Symptoms for those afflicted range from boils to pneumonia to death from infected blood. And it's in pork. 10% of pork tested positive for the stuff in a sampling that spread across four Canadian provinces. This mirrors tests done in the Netherlands and Japan (where it was chickens instead of pigs) Curiously absent from the analysis is the fact that something like half of the antibiotics in North America are given to farm animals to help them grow big and dead, which is something I'd think would be relevant when you're talking about something that's evolved by continually being attacked by antibiotics. Authorities aren't sounding the alarm, because while antibiotics aren't working, heat is, so following proper cooking procedures should do the trick, assuming you can understand them and manage not to get any residue on your hands or face. Look for kitchen hazmat suits for sale by 2010.]]> http://tastebetter.com/story/Canadian-pork-products-are-super---bug-filled http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VeganPorn/~3/257227992/Cargill-meat-packing-plant-destroyed-in-fire ultimately destroyed the $100 million dollar facility, and no, no foul play is suspected - it appears to be related to some welding work that was going on in the area where the fire started. It's not known if the plant will re-open or not. The fire forced the evacuation of 180 people from their homes after 88,000 pounds of ammonia gas leaked out into the atmosphere during the blaze. Due to the gas risk, firefighters opted to let the facility burn down. Nobody was injured. I do't know which number to pay more attention to: that the plant employed more than 20 percent of the town's population (who are likely in some trouble, even if Cargill chooses to rebuild), or that the plant produced more than two million pounds of ground beef and steak every week. So here's the weird Monday question: do we lament the potential destruction of the town's economy, even if it was based on the slaughter of animals?]]> http://tastebetter.com/story/Cargill-meat-packing-plant-destroyed-in-fire http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VeganPorn/~3/257175154/Massive-cockfighting-crackdown-yields-more-than-50-arrests federal and state authorities have arrested more than 50 people in the two states in one of the largest cockfighting crackdowns in Northwest US history. Charges ranged from conspiracy to illegal gambling to racketeering to drug trafficking to, oh yeah, violations of the Animal Welfare Act. US Attorney Karin Immergut also pointed out "the close relationship between cockfighting and drug-trafficking in the Pacific Northwest." Congratulations to all involved, and kudos for recognizing that cockfighting isn't just a harmless gathering of yokels and giving the issue the attention it deserves. ]]> http://tastebetter.com/story/Massive-cockfighting-crackdown-yields-more-than-50-arrests http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VeganPorn/~3/256073412/An-Animal-Friendly-Life--Don-t-Just-Do-Something 1, 2, 3), Eric Prescott returns with some cautionary notes: Don't Just Do Something, make sure you know what you want to accomplish first. One of the things I love about Eric's column is that he not only offers some great ideas and thoughts, but usually he's got some pointers to more information if you want to know more. This time's no exception, and my "to-read" list just grew accordingly (thank goodness his column's only once a month!)]]> http://tastebetter.com/story/An-Animal-Friendly-Life--Don-t-Just-Do-Something http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VeganPorn/~3/255787034/Chimps-in-entertainment-create-warped-perceptions news about a PETA campaign targeting chimps used in entertainment and commercials, and one of the objections isn't about the exploitation of animals. Instead, there's a study showing that many people don't realize that chimpanzees are endangered, precisely because they're seen so often in movies and commercials, so there must be a lot of them out there. I like campaigns with more than one angle. It can be harder to focus the message, but it's important to recognize that the core message might not be getting through to everyone, at least not right away - just like how many people go vegan for health reasons and then learn about the animal rights stuff later, when they used to routinely ignore those issues in their meat-eating days. For more information about the campaign (which, granted, is largely focused on ending cruelty), you can visit http://www.nomoremonkeybusiness.com/.]]> http://tastebetter.com/story/Chimps-in-entertainment-create-warped-perceptions http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VeganPorn/~3/255779804/At-least-we-all-agree-that-stabbing-the-family-cat-is-wrong---Now-what-about-that-cow- a man who forced his 7 year old daughter to stab the family cat. The thing with stories like this is that they're not inherently vegan. It's not like we can write about these things and say hey, look at us, we don't do that kind of stuff. No kidding - most of the planet's population doesn't do that kind of stuff. The guy's deranged and needs help. Jail help. Check it out, we've got something in common! But wait! How is this different from the father who takes his kids hunting and teaches them how to kill an animal? For that matter, how is this different from the parents who teach their kids how to prepare dead animals for dinner? Is it the level of attachment that one feels for a family pet? Why is that the basis of the decision of who lives and who dies? The story here isn't that most of the meat-eating world finds it disgusting that this happened, but rather that most of the meat-eating world is somehow able to rationalize this complex set of contradictions and still live productive lives.]]> http://tastebetter.com/story/At-least-we-all-agree-that-stabbing-the-family-cat-is-wrong---Now-what-about-that-cow- http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VeganPorn/~3/255679470/Behold-the-dance-of-the-tomato-slaughter slow motion video of a tomato in a blender, and there's a reason that we don't see much of this kind of thing for meat products, as captured by the original poster: "If we were all tomatoes this would be difficult to watch." Being vegan means being able to joyfully slice, dice, mash and grind your dinner without worrying about your psyche. Oh, and I just showed this to my mom, and she says she likes this one better. Not that it has anything to do with veganism, but she's making me dinner later so I need to humor her.]]> http://tastebetter.com/story/Behold-the-dance-of-the-tomato-slaughter http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VeganPorn/~3/255589864/Superman--you-can-claim-your-sheep-at-German-Police-Precinct-34b a new breed of super sheep. Let's review the facts as we know them: running at 30 miles per hour to evade police cars, jumping over other police cars set up as a roadblock, and headbutting police dogs? Remarkably, the sheep was eventually caught without being killed - possibly because he or she is bullet proof. Folks, if this is evolution in action, I for one welcome our new four legged overlords, and hasten to point out that I'm totally on their side of the dinner plate issue. Veganism: forget the health, forget the environment, and start planning for the farmageddon uprising.]]> http://tastebetter.com/story/Superman--you-can-claim-your-sheep-at-German-Police-Precinct-34b http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VeganPorn/~3/255519393/Why-can-t-vegans-feed-cannibals-too- How Many Cannibals Could You Feed? provides a truly useful service for people who aspire to, uh, serve man. Here's the weird part though - most of the questions are about body type, but at the very end, there's one asking if you're vegetarian or vegan. I tried doing the quiz for both yes or no (true, I lied to the interweb, but it was for research purposes), and it seems that an identically sized vegan can feed 2 fewer cannibals than his or her omnivore counterpart. What's this about? Is it that we're stringier or something? One would think that we'd be the healthier option, with less cholesterol and whatnot. Is this potentially THE reason that people haven't chosen a vegan diet? Maybe when the whole world saw Alive some years ago, they all thought, hey, if I'm ever killed in a plane crash, the fact that I'm vegan might mean that I'll save 2 fewer human lives, and that extremely unlikely possibility is totally worth holding out for instead of saving 80 or a hundred or whatever the number is animals each and every year through the simple act of not eating them. Outreach people, it's time to change your propaganda. 2008 will be the year of tasting better, I guarantee.]]> http://tastebetter.com/story/Why-can-t-vegans-feed-cannibals-too-