Earth Day

US VegWeek 2013 Kicks Off Today – Earth Day!

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Today marks the 43rd anniversary of Earth Day, a day intended to encourage individuals to take meaningful actions in their everyday lives that, collectively, contribute to preserving the planet. But in the words of late Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson who founded Earth Day, “Our goal is not just an environment of clean air and water and scenic beauty. The objective is an environment of decency, quality and mutual respect for all other human beings and all other living creatures.”

Protecting the Planet

A Four-Pronged Approach to Protecting the Planet

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For over 40 years, Earth Day—celebrated on April 22—has been inspiring people to take steps to help the environment. Did you know that perhaps the single most important action each of us can take to protect the planet is simply to choose meat-free foods?

Earth Day offers the perfect opportunity to empower others to fight global warming and animal abuse with our forks, and COK’s popular Eating Sustainably brochure is a great way to share this important message.

Newly updated for 2013, this trifold brochure is packed with information (citations included) about the negative environmental impacts of animal agriculture while also highlighting the global calls to action from the United Nations to shift towards a more plant-based diet.

Grilled Cheese Day

It’s National (Vegan) Grilled Cheese Day!

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Vegan Grilled CheeseWho doesn’t love a good vegan grilled cheese sandwich? That’s why we’re putting a compassionate spin on this food holiday, making it National (Vegan) Grilled Cheese Day. And to celebrate, we’re sharing our award-winning gourmet vegan grilled cheese recipe!

Last year, COK competed in the 10th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational (GCI) at the Pasadena Rose Bowl–and we took home the trophy for 3rd place in the professional chef category!

John Salley

NBA Star John Salley Kicks off US VegWeek Events

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John Salleyt The fifth annual US VegWeek kicks off in less than 2 weeks! This nationwide event, which begins on Earth Day (April 22), offers a fun and supportive way to explore the many flavors and benefits of vegetarian eating.

Thousands of people–including scores of lawmakers–have already agreed to take our 7-day pledge, and it’s not too to sign up! Are you up the for challenge?

connecticut schools

Connecticut Schools Go Meat-Free to Celebrate VegWeek

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Guilford Schools Chef Timothy Cipriano, Director of Food Services of Guilford Public Schools (GPS) in Guilford, Connecticut, touts an unusual and commendable specialty on his LinkedIn profile: “Working with kids to get them to appreciate good wholesome real food.” And that’s exactly why he was recruited by Guilford’s Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Paul Freeman, to ramp up the nutritional integrity of the GPS lunch program.

Matt Ruscigno

An Interview with Vegan Athlete and Dietician Matt Ruscigno

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Matt RuscignoMatt Ruscigno is not your ordinary dietician. When he’s not trekking 3,300 miles cross-country on a bike and running 50-mile races, he’s busy creating a web documentary series on vegan athletes, giving talks about the benefits of vegan food, and consulting others on their own personal eating habits. And he still managed to find a few spare moments to talk with us for this featured interview.

He’s visiting the DC-area this week, so don’t miss your chance to meet him while he’s in town.

Spring Cleaning: 5 Tips to Clean Up Your Diet this Season

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Spring Cleaning“Spring Cleaning” is a phrase many of us are familiar with, and we often use the first warm days of the year to deep clean our houses, update our wardrobes for spring weather, or even reorganize various aspects of our lives. Why not also take this time to reexamine the foods we eat and swap them out for healthier, more humane, and environmentally-friendly options? It’s easy, and we’ve got five simple steps to help you “spring clean” your diet.

Antibiotics

When Drugs Become Dangerous: Antibiotics in Agriculture

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AntibioticsAlexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin was a breakthrough in modern medicine, and who of us hasn’t relied on the effectiveness of antibiotics to cure an infection at some point in our lives? The overuse of antibiotics, however, is leading to an increase of drug-resistant “superbugs” which cause harder-to-treat and more-likely-to-be-lethal infections. Doctors across the country have recognized this threat, and have stopped the practice of over prescribing. Despite this effort, one industry gets away with unchecked and unregulated use of antibiotics: animal agriculture.

Industrial animal farms add low-level antibiotics (often without veterinary oversight) to animal feed to foster faster growth and mitigate the spread of disease caused by keeping thousands of animals in cramped, filthy factory farms.