This Thanksgiving, leave turkey — and all animals — off your plate without missing any holiday fun. You’ll find that many side dishes such as mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, and candied yams can already be easily “veganized” with only a few minor modifications. Try these vegan side dishes at your next holiday feast.
You’re probably familiar with the highly-marketed slogans “Got Milk?” and “Beef: It’s what’s for dinner”? That’s because every year, federal farm “Checkoff” programs spend more than $500 million to advertise and promote meat, dairy, and eggs to the American public.
An estimated 30,000 runners took the streets of the nation’s capital last Sunday to run in the 38th annual Marine Corps Marathon (MCM), also known as “The People’s Marathon.” Among the runners was Army Captain Kelly Calway of Manitou Springs, Colorado, who took first place in the women’s race with a time of 2:42:17 — making her the seventh-fastest woman to complete the MCM.
Earlier this year, Public School 244, an elementary school in Queens, New York City, announced that its cafeteria is now 100 percent meatless — and it just turned in its own report card to reflect how its 400 students are responding to and benefiting from the all-vegetarians meals.
Recently, the Economic Times of India ran their own story on the rise of “power vegans”−which has already been noticed here in the U.S.−focusing specifically on what would motivate these business leaders to pursue a plant-based diet.
Last year, we shared the news about Subway’s vegan test menu in eight DC-area locations that was so popular, stores ran out of the vegan patties within a few short weeks. Several of the restaurant managers told us the vegan menu was tremendously successful, and they’ve been eager to satisfy customer demand by putting heartier and healthier plant-based option back on the menu.
Hundreds of Americans in over a dozen states – from California to North Carolina – have been sickened by the latest chicken meat salmonella outbreak. Over 40 percent of those infected have been hospitalized, and it’s been reported that some of detected strains of Salmonella may be resistant to many antibiotics. Time will tell how severe, or perhaps even life-threatening, these illnesses will be.
Pre-vegans might want to read this study before biting into another chicken nugget. Researchers at the University of Mississippi medical center dissected fast food chicken nuggets and found that they contained 50 percent or less chicken muscle tissue, with the rest being a mix of fat, blood vessels, cartilage, nerves, and pieces of bone.
Many successful athletes are discovering the benefits of dropping animal products — from decreasing their recovery times to increasing their energy. Veg athletes are reaching the top of their game, and football players are no exception. Just ask Tony Gonzalez, Joe Namath, Ricky Williams, Deuce Lutui, Tony Fiammetta, or Arian Foster — all players who have significantly reduced or eliminated animal foods from their diets.
