Time to ditch dairy

Watching another video come out showing clear violence and abuse towards cows on a dairy farm in Fort Morgan, Colorado, is sickening.

The video shows dairy employees, who to me are cowards and monsters, doing what has become common in animal production: simple animal cruelty. If you care about any animal, this video will sicken you.

I am very grateful to Mercy For Animals for their undercover work.

The owners of the cows are horrified. The folks from the dairy cooperative that the dairy farm belongs to put the blame on Mercy For Animals. Both groups are pathetic.

Cruelty is inherent in these places.

It's time to ditch dairy.

There are so many other products out there that don't include inherent cruelty. And that don't financially support individuals who look at the animals suffering in the video simply as product, not as living, breathing beings.

In Colorado, all of the cowards shown in the video can be charged with aggravated animal cruelty.

I hope the Fort Morgan Sheriff does this.

And I hope dairy milk sales continue to go down.

If you would like to watch the Mercy For Animals click here.

If you would like to read the Denver Post article click here.

Thanks for reading!

Silk (milk) is now animal-cruelty free?

I was pretty thrilled this week to get an email from a public relations person who wanted me to know about the new TCBY vegan Silk yogurt (fro-yo) made from almond milk responding to a concern I had about Silk being a product of WhiteWave which is owned by Dean Foods, one of the largest killer of pigs in the country (and maybe other animals).

She was kind enough to approach Silk, who in turn sent her this:

"Silk is actually owned by WhiteWave Foods and their spin-off from Dean Foods was completed last year. WhiteWave is now a stand-alone, publicly traded company."

Why did I not know this? Is this true? It seems it is. 

I am still asking around just to make sure that there is absolutely no connection between White Wave and Dean Foods. As you might know, several years ago Dean Foods, not making great profit from killing animals, bought a vegan friendly company, WhiteWave. Although I have a lot of disgust for Dean Foods, this purchase showed that in the big world of business and money-making, companies that sell vegan products can be profitable. I had pretty much stopped buying WhiteWave products, except for that amazing yogurt, because of this. Now it seems I can go back to buying their products.

WhiteWave still makes Horizon Organic milk and a couple of other non-vegan products. We all know what that means in regards to calves and the veal industry, plus the inherent cruelty that shows up in dairy farms. So the company itself is still not cruelty-free, just not part of a huge, animal production company anymore.

It's tough to find the perfect, all-vegan company. WhiteWave being separated from Dean Foods is a huge step for me.

They no longer make tofu, but their line of non-dairy milks and yogurts is wonderful. And have you seen the super-cute almond milk commercial they produced?

Another great thing about WhiteWave, being that we live in Colorado, is that they are a Colorado-based company.

I have been vegan for 18 years and have been writing this blog for 2 1/2, so I am completely aware that in the vegan community there are a zillion opinions. And that is the main reason I wanted to write this blog post. I would love your thoughts on all of this. And if you know something about WhiteWave being on their own now that I am unaware of, please do tell!

Through all of this I have not lost sight of TCBY and their huge step to make a vegan frozen yogurt. More to come on that.

Thanks for reading!

Never give up

It's not easy.

Bigotry all over the place. The worst is the hidden type. Folks make you believe they support equality and hide their disgust.

Violence is everywhere. The numbers will drive you crazy. Whether you fight for all animals or fight especially for dolphins in the cove or rhinos in Botswana, cows in a local factory farm or geese in a down operation.

Tens of thousands of refugees around the globe.

Filthy rivers and lakes.

You might be involved in fighting for an end to AIDS or supporting the homeless.

Rape that seems to have become an accepted part of our culture.

In the year, almost two years, of writing this blog we have met people who are fighting the fight, fighting to make the world a better place for all living beings and being a voice for the voiceless. We are privileged to know you and to know that you read our blog and take the time to get to know us.

Sometimes the amount of cruelty we experience or know exists can be too much. I wrote a blog post about self care recently as we as activists must take care of yourselves.

We also must never ever give up.

Never.

It may seem impossible. It can definitely be overwhelming.

Don't give up.

Take a breathe. Or take a break. Go for a run or take a vacation. Take care of yourself.

And don't give up.

To all of you who every day speak for the voiceless and work towards a world that is safer for all living beings, thank you.

You rock our world. Wherever you are, whatever you are feeling at this moment, please know that you are a rock star.

Never give up.

Thank you for reading!

Loving animals

I remember one day many years ago I was volunteering at a farmed animal sanctuary and during one of the tours a guest told me that they loved animals. My response, with a big smile and loving heart, was that if we love animals the best thing we can do for them is to not eat them.

Not eating animals seems totally radical to many people. In our part of the country animal production is a big part of the economy. Agriculture law and even how some wildlife is treated is based on the economic value of animal production.

There has been a change though. And the change is mainly around how we think about animals. Moving away from animals as products and moving towards animals as sentient creatures, as living beings that feel pain and fear. Even people I have met who still eat animals say that they do not want to be part of animal suffering.

It can be overwhelming to be a meat eater and consider veganism. It can look not only radical, but almost impossible. How on earth could I ever give up cheese? I smile as I write this as giving up cheese seems to be what is on many people's minds when even thinking about becoming vegan. Although I haven't had cow's cheese in 17 years, I think the vegan cheeses these days are delicious. Great flavor and texture without the cruelty.

The how part in becoming vegan is rather simple although I could write several blog posts about it. I started with one animal, pigs. Then cows, then chickens. I thought that process would take a long time. In my path it took a couple of weeks. And that was before I had access to the internet. The internet is filled with information on veganism, recipes, fitness and nutrition ideas that will help anyone as they consider a plant-based life.

Some people take a giant step and one day decide they are vegan. Others take smaller steps, a little bit longer of a process. When thinking of animals and animal suffering, any type of action towards veganism is good.

In my time being vegan, and having met many vegans (the vast majority of whom were not raised vegan, rather made a choice to become vegan), I have come to realize that those people who become vegan for the animal's sake, because they do not want to be part of the inherent cruelty towards animals, find it easy to not only become vegan but to live an incredibly new life they would have never imagined as vegan.

Last night Mike made chunky chipotle mashed potato empanadas accompanied with steamed Swiss chard for dinner and while I was enjoying the incredible flavors I mentally added to my list of things I eat today thanks to fellow vegans who showed my a wonderful new path towards culinary delight. 

And it all began because I love animals.

Fighting the cowards

There is a Mercy For Animals video that is out there about the dairy industry, asking folks not to consume dairy. I decided a long time ago not to add videos or photos of animals being mistreated just to give our readers a break from that. If you'd like to see the video I'm sure it's on the MFA website. And I should also add that Mike and I donate a lot of money to MFA because we absolutely believe in their work.

I felt compassion for the cows in the video. I wanted to take away their pain, suffering and fear. I wanted to stop the cowards who were inflicting these things on them.

My compassion extends to all living beings. I mean all. Not just dogs. Not just animals. All living beings. The video I watched this morning while enjoying my morning coffee surrounded by our furry companions brought the cruel reality that cowardly and weak people torture animals and feel good about it.

I wonder what happened to these people to make them so horrible that they have to beat or kick or instill fear into a living being just because they can.

And this is what the meat and dairy and egg industries are all about. This is what happens every day, every night, behind closed doors so everyone who eats the nicely packaged product has no clue how the it got there.

Well, these days they do. Every day that I see an undercover video I feel good that the story of cruelty and torture and fear is being told. The light shines on the cowards. In some cases, they are actually being charged with felony cruelty to animals.

I believe the best way to fight the way these folks treat animals is to not pay them. I mean don't financially support what they do by purchasing or consuming their product. Tell them that you abhor their actions by cutting them off.

Your employees brutalizes an animal; I support you no more. Your industry says it's OK to instill fear on animals and torture them before you kill them for meat; I say that I will not support your industry. You are a politician who takes money from and supports companies that treat animals this way; I say that I will not vote for you and I will fight against your support of cruelty.

Is this radical? No way. Radical is continually watching cowardly people kick, beat and torture animals without doing anything to stop them. Radical is saying "I know it's terrible how they treat those dairy cows" while chugging down a glass of milk.

Cruelty continues with permission. Let's take that away.

Thank you for reading. Please support those groups that are shining a light on animal cruelty and animal torture.