Americans’ appetite for meat and dairy – billions of pounds a year from billions of animals – takes a toll on our health, the environment, climate and animal welfare. Producing all this meat and dairy requires large amounts of pesticides, chemical fertilizer, fuel, feed and water. It also generates greenhouse gases and large amounts of toxic manure and wastewater that pollute groundwater, rivers, streams and, ultimately, the ocean. In addition, eating large quantities of beef and processed meats increases your exposure to toxins and is linked to higher rates of health problems, including heart disease, cancer and obesity.

[...]

Eating and wasting less meat (especially red meat) and cheese can simultaneously improve our health and reduce the climate and environmental impact of food. Choosing grass-fed, free-range, pasture-raised and/or organic products also helps to expand market demand. As the market grows, more farmers and ranchers will choose more sustainable and humane production methods, which in turn will make these products more affordable and available.

Choosing healthier, greener food is important, but significantly cutting the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change will also require governmental action. We all need to get engaged to push for comprehensive public policies that put the nation on a path to greener energy. Reducing meat production’s negative impacts on soil, air and water will take stronger regulatory enforcement and better policies – in addition to significant changes in meat consumption habits.

~ Meat Eater’s Guide to Climate Change and Health, Environmental Working Group

The report is a goldmine of information on the impact of how we eat. Even if you’re a meat or dairy consumer, you’ll learn a few ways to make smarter choices for the planet.

Try the quiz (as a pre-test or post-test for the rest of the report), and check out the excellent graphics. Then be a smarter, healthier consumer.

Coaches Jan and Kyra will welcome you and get you caught up. We spent day 1 on some basics, and day 2 on vegan breakfast. Today it’s all about vegan appetizers – and that includes recipes! Plus, Jan is giving us videos each day, and Kyra is sharing her favorite vegan cookbooks!

You don’t have to be a vegan to take this class!
Honestly, this is a great place to learn and experiment without any fear of being chastised for not being vegan (lots of members are “vegan-ish” (close to vegan) or are dairy-free and red-meat-free), or for not quite getting it. It’s a great time to practice being vegan and see what your own challenges will be. It’s a great place to jump right in with enthusiasm, because you’ll get support for that, too.

Jan happens to be gluten-free, too, so if you need help with vegan GF meals, this is the place to be.

Classes at Marilu.com are available free to all members. Just check your inbox for your daily email, log in to Marilu.com and get to class on the message boards. There’s even a handy class page with all the resources and links you’ll need for class.

Not a member? Sign up now and get a free class (sometimes two!) every month.

Don’t forget! Our Viva La Vegan class is now in session. If you want lots of vegan (animal-free) recipes, or are interested in finding out more about a plant-based diet, join the class! It’s not too late.

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Evi’s Mango Cream
Yellow * Serves 4

1 ripe mango
1 cup coconut milk
1/8 cup agave syrup (more to taste)
1 Tablespoon lime juice (or lemon juice)
Fresh mint leaves to decorate

Peel and chop mango. Place everything with exception of the mint leaves in a blender or food processor. Blend/mix until smooth. Place in small bowls or glasses and chill for at least two hours in the fridge. Decorate with mint leaves.

Loads of vegan recipes and info about vegan living! Download and print recipes, and get more recipes in class. Get help converting your favorite recipes to delicious vegan versions.

You don’t have to be a vegan to take this class!
This is the place to ask your questions and get real answers from real people who have chosen veganism. Join Jan and Kyra and learn what it means to be a vegan, making the transition to veganism, living in a “mixed” (animal-free and animal-eating) family, and the challenges and rewards of being vegan.

Classes at Marilu.com are available free to all members. Just check your inbox on Monday for your daily email, log in to Marilu.com and get to class on the message boards. There’s even a handy class page with all the resources and links you’ll need for class. Not a member? Sign up now and get a free class (sometimes two!) every month.

So… now we know to watch out for too much fat (most of which comes from animal products) and dairy. Kind of surprising, right?

If eating vegan sounds difficult, why not try it in small doses? More of a “vegan-ish” approach than a fully vegan approach. Start with eating one vegan meal a day, and when that gets easy, go for two vegan meals a day, or 10 vegan meals a week, or vegan family dinners, or ordering vegan food in a restaurant, or bringing vegan food to a picnic or potluck dinner. Challenge yourself a little bit.

Our online class in July is the very popular Viva la Vegan class – where you don’t have to be vegan, but you can get great recipes and reasons to try it out. Learn ways to make a vegan lifestyle (or even a vegan-ish lifestyle) work for you. Sign up now and don’t miss out!

FORKS OVER KNIVES examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the so-called “diseases of affluence” that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods. The major storyline in the film traces the personal journeys of a pair of pioneering yet under-appreciated researchers, Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn. (Hey, we know those guys! They’ve written some of our favorite books – The China Study by Dr. Campbell and Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by Dr. Esselstyn.)

The filmmakers travel with Drs. Campbell and Esselstyn on their separate but similar paths, from their childhood farms where they both produced “nature’s perfect food”; to China and Cleveland, where they explored ideas that challenged the established thinking and shook their own core beliefs.

The idea of food as medicine is put to the test. Throughout the film, cameras follow “reality patients” who have chronic conditions from heart disease to diabetes. Doctors teach these patients how to adopt a whole foods plant-based diet as the primary approach to treat their ailments—while the challenges and triumphs of their journeys are revealed.

Check here for theaters showing Forks Over Knives in the USA.
Check here for theaters showing Forks Over Knives in Canada.

Read more.

Find out more about The Gentle Barn and Mercy for Animals.

These days, grocery shopping involves a lot of reading. Food is rarely content to just be, and instead, must include dozens of labels designating it as CAGE-FREE, HIGH IN ANTIOXIDANTS, or the dreaded ORGANIC. And even if you know your PASTURED from your HUMANELY-RAISED chickens, odds are you still need a PhD to decode most of the other language.

So, to make navigating your supermarket a tad easier, here are 26 food labels, defined and explained in terms understandable to humans. I have to be honest – 36 hours ago, I couldn’t tell the difference between LOW-FAT, LITE and REDUCED-FAT. Now, I can. And I have this guide to consult when I forget.

~ Cheap, Healthy, Good blog

Check out these cookbooks from your library, or click on the titles to get them at Amazon. Also check this post for books about veganism that have lots of recipes. If you have other suggestions, let us know!

• Christina Pirello, Cooking the Whole Foods Way: Your Complete, Everyday Guide to Healthy, Delicious Eating with 500 VeganRecipes, Menus, Techniques, Meal Planning, Buying Tips, Wit, and Wisdom
• John McDougall, MD, The McDougall Quick and Easy Cookbook: Over 300 Delicious Low-Fat Recipes You Can Prepare in Fifteen Minutes or Less
• Mollie Katzen, Mollie Katzen’s Vegetable Heaven: Over 200 Recipes for Uncommon Soups, Tasty Bites, Side Dishes, and Too Many Desserts
• Moosewood Restaurants, any cookbook – try Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers: Fresh Ideas for the Weeknight Table or Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites: Flavorful Recipes for Healthful Meals
• Erin McKenna, BabyCakes: Vegan, (Mostly) Gluten-Free, and (Mostly) Sugar-Free Recipes from New York’s Most Talked-About Bakery
• Dean Ornish, Everyday Cooking with Dr. Dean Ornish: 150 Easy, Low-Fat, High-Flavor Recipes
• Laurel Robertson, The New Laurel’s Kitchen
• Tanya Bernard and Sarah Kramer, How It All Vegan!: Irresistible Recipes for an Animal-Free Diet, The Garden of Vegan: How It All Vegan Again!, and La Dolce Vegan!: Vegan Livin’ Made Easy
• Sarah Kramer, Vegan a Go-Go!: A Cookbook & Survival Manual for Vegans on the Road
• Robin Robertson, Vegan Planet: 400 Irresistible Recipes with Fantastic Flavors from Home and Around the World
• Dreena Burton, Vive le Vegan!: Simple, Delectable Recipes for the Everyday Vegan Family
• Joy Pierson, The Candle Cafe Cookbook: More Than 150 Enlightened Recipes from New York’s Renowned Vegan Restaurant
• Ann Gentry, The Real Food Daily Cookbook: Really Fresh, Really Good, Really Vegetarian
• Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, The Joy of Vegan Baking: The Compassionate Cooks’ Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets and The Vegan Table: 200 Unforgettable Recipes for Entertaining Every Guest at Every Occasion
• Myra Kornfeld, The Healthy Hedonist: More Than 200 Delectable Flexitarian Recipes for Relaxed Daily Feasts and The Voluptuous Vegan: More Than 200 Sinfully Delicious Recipes for Meatless, Eggless, and Dairy-Free Meals