Book Review: Eating Animals

 I love reading and I'm low on cash, so I like to visit my local library and check out books. I especially love non-fiction political style books because they make you think. On my last trip to the library, I picked up a copy of "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer. I just finished it last night, and it is a great book. I really like it because it goes in depth about exactly what happens on modern farms. Mr. Foer spent over three years researching the book and it shows. He personally visited a couple of different factory farms (including once in the middle of the night with an animal liberationist) and got a first hand look at what goes on. The book includes pieces written by factory farmers, a couple of small family farmers, and animal rights activists. He talks about his upbriging and the food culture of his Jewish American family. He also talks about how he waffled between meat eating and vegetarianism for years until he decided to find out where meat actually comes from after his son was born.

  The chapters in titled "Influence/Speechlessness" and "Pieces of Paradise/Pieces of Shit" are particularly good. In "Influence/Speechlessness", he describes the horrific conditions on poultry farms. He talks about not only the suffering of the birds, but how modern poultry farming puts humans at risk. Humans are put at risk by poultry farming in two main ways: the birds are housed in cramped spaces, which means that diseases such as the flu can easily spread from chicken to chicken and from chicken to human (hello bird flu!). Because of this risk, the birds are given routine anti-biotics, which end up in entering the human body when the birds are eaten. This contributes to the development of anti-biotic resistant bacteria.

 In "Pieces of Paradise/Pieces of Shit", the author describes the conditions on the hog farms owned by Smithfield, the largest pork supplier in the US. The book describes how Smithfield often disposes of the pigs shit by simply spraying it up into the air. The shit contains poisons like carbon monoxide and cyanide, which are released into the air (scary). This has caused the rates of respiratory illnesses such as asthma to skyrocket in towns near pig farms. He also mentions how workers near the waste pits have fainted from the smell, fell in the shit and drowned in it! He goes into detail about the inhumane gestation crates and includes quotes by workers who talk about beating the pigs to death. In a later chapter he includes the account of a worker (at another farm) who admitted to cutting off a pigs snout and then rubbing salt in it in order to cause more pain.

In short, if you want to educate your meat eating friends and family about what they are really supporting when they buy meat, then give them a copy of "Eating Animals". It will definitely open their eyes. Those are my thoughts on the book. Bye until next time!

Vegan Review: Muir Glen Organic and MorningStar BBQ Riblets

As everyone knows, fresh, home-cooked food is healthiest. However, if you're like most people you are often too busy to cook, so sometimes it's nice to have things like frozen dinners on hand. I have recently tried two new vegan quick-fix meals: Muir Glen Organic Southwest Black Bean Soup and MorningStar Hickory BBQ riblets.

 Muir Glen Soup:
I really liked the flavor of this one. It has some of my favorite vegetables like beans, onions, and peppers. It was spicy but not too hot, at least in my opinion. Since it contains beans, the soup is a fairly good source of protein and only has 130 calories. The bad thing about it is that it's full of sodium (680mg). That being said, as long as you're not on a sodium restricted diet and don't eat foods like this regularly, it isn't all that bad. The best thing about the soup is that it requires no preparation, you simply heat up and eat. Muir Glen Organics makes two other vegan soups (lentil and tomato basil) and all of them are clearly marked vegan on the front of the label. I always like it when I don't have to read ingredients! I'm glad that I got two cans because I definitely plan to enjoy this soup again in the future. If you want to purchase the soup, you can find a store locator at www.muirglen.com

MorningStar Hickory BBQ Riblets:

When I first became a vegetarian, I really liked MorningStar products and ate them quite a bit. Unfortunately, only four of their meals are vegan (and only two of those meals are available at stores near me). The other day I was looking in the veggie meals section of the frozen foods and saw the Hickory BBQ Riblets. I hadn't seen these before, so I decided to take a look at the ingredients. I was very pleasantly surprised to see the words "100% vegan" at the bottom of the nutrition label. I loved BBQ when I ate meat, so I decided to give these a try. I am very glad that I did because they are DELICIOUS! Even my omnivore mother said that they smelled delicious and she wished she could try one (she has a soy allergy). If you're looking to introduce BBQ meat lovers to vegan food, I'd highly recommend these "riblets". I doubt that they'll even notice that they are meatless unless you tell them! I look forward to eating these riblets again.

FYI: The other MorningStar Vegan Meals are Vegan Veggie Burgers, Sweet 'n Sour Chick'n, and Vegan Chick'n Meal Starters. You can see if they are available in your area via the store locator at http://www.morningstarfarms.com
Anyway, those are the reviews of my latest vegan culinary adventures. Talk to you again soon!