From CNN: “Half-million Pigs To Be Slaughtered in Chile Health Emergency”

A factory farm is closing in Chile this week, after pigs were abandoned to live and starve in their own filth for five days, deeming them too unsanitary for human consumption. 500,000 lives, each one more intelligent than the dog sleeping at my feet, lost. For greed and bacon. My heart is broken. RIP babies. 

“They are going to be slaughtered. They are not going to another farm, nor to another plant.”

- Jose Guzman, CEO of Agrosuper, owner of the farm

I know I’ve been the world’s worst blogger lately- thank you to those of you who haven’t abandoned me! I promise, there’s an explanation, accompanied by HUGE news. Which I’ll be sharing with you tomorrow or Saturday. But in the meantime, go vegan. You’ll live longer, providing you many more years in which you can help fix the world. We need you. xo, TK

I served Michael Clarke Duncan a few gourmet vegan dinners back in my server days, and let me assure you- this dude is HUGE, strong, and not afraid to stand up for what he believes in. Love it.

Check out his brilliant interview here!

I’m so impressed by the passion and bravery of the Italian activists who freed 30 beagles from Green Hill, a massive, hellish breeding farm that supplies dogs to vivisection labs.

Because of their loving and forgiving nature, beagles are commonly tested on all across the world (notoriously by cigarette companies, with the exception of American Spirits). Unfortunately, a few of the beagles were confiscated and returned to their prison, but they will not be forgotten. My hope is that their story and their sacrifice will be shared and publicized so that people will open their hearts and eyes and stand up against unreliable, unjustified animal testing. 

Please sign the petition demanding the closure of Green Hill and the release of their 2500 lonely, suffering dogs.

Keep being awesome, Italians.

In case you missed it, this past week an incredibly brave activist, Jacqueline Traide, endured painful and humiliating tests in the storefront of LUSH Cosmetics (one of my absolute favorite companies, which I now love even more!), to call attention to the millions of animals poked, prodded, caged, abused, tortured, and killed all day every day across the world, in the name of “science,” or worse, vanity.

LUSH (partnered with Humane Society International) continues to be a leader in the global campaign against unnecessary animal testing for cosmetics.

Please join them by supporting their work (shop with them!), boycotting companies that DO test on animals, and especially signing their online petition!!!

…not to mention the widespread, well-documented animal abuse and the fact that one egg contains more cholesterol than a Double Whopper…

Use your dollars to vote for health & compassion; scramble tofu instead.

As a lifelong lover of pigs (the film ‘Gordy’ turned me veg at 8 yrs old), gestation crates are, for me, one of the most heartbreaking elements of the factory farming system.

More than 6 million pigs in the U.S. are kept as breeding sows on factory farms…For a 400-pound sow, it’s such a tight fit that she can’t turn around, lie down comfortably or take more than a step forward and back for most of her life.

- Farm Sanctuary

Because most humans prioritize a momentary experience of gustatory pleasure above not only animal welfare but also their own health, mama pigs are subjected to a lifetime of loneliness, discomfort, and confusion. 

We can fight this by choosing and promoting a cruelty-free lifestyle (it’s fun, I promise!).

I may be about 2000 years late, but I’m kind of in love with Plutarch.

“Can you really ask what reason Pythagoras had for abstaining from flesh?

For my part I rather wonder both by what accident and in what state of soul or mind the first man did so, touched his mouth to gore and brought his lips to the flesh of a dead creature, he who set forth tables of dead, stale bodies and ventured to call food and nourishment the parts that had a little before bellowed and cried, moved and lived. How could his eyes endure the slaughter when throats were slit and hides flayed and limbs torn from limb? How could his nose endure the stench? How was it that the pollution did not turn away his taste, which made contact with the sores of others and sucked juices and serums from mortal wounds?… It is certainly not lions and wolves that we eat out of self-defense; on the contrary, we ignore these and slaughter harmless, tame creatures without stings or teeth to harm us, creatures that, I swear, Nature appears to have produced for the sake of their beautyand grace. But nothing abashed us, not the flower-like tinting of the flesh, not the persuasiveness of the harmonious voice, not the cleanliness of their habits or the unusual intelligence that may be found in the poor wretches.

No, for the sake of a little flesh we deprive them of sun, of light, of the duration of life to which they are entitled by birth and being.”

- Plutarch, 46-120 AD

Do Plutarch a favor and check out Mercy For Animals.

Me with a beautiful rescue pig at Animal Acres

I’ve been dreading this doctor’s visit for a while. I know my vegan diet drastically reduces my risk of cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, and type 2 diabetes, but I also know most Americans think consumption of animal proteins is necessary for adequate intake of protein, iron, B12, and other vital nutrients. My Mom (who is now vegan, but is still neurotically obsessed with my health) talked me into getting a full blood test to make sure I’m doing alright. While I eat relatively healthy, I’m not obsessive about supplements or vitamins, so I had no idea what to expect.

My doctor ran a bunch of tests, but the highlights are below.

Spoiler alert: I’m disgustingly healthy.

In conclusion, while it’s very important to pay attention to nutrition (and I promise to do a better job), even if you don’t, a standard vegan diet can provide an exceptionally healthy amount of nutrients and saves you from a multitude of devastating and crippling diseases.

Also, you don’t have to unnecessarily murder any animals, and that’s nice too.

Interested in going vegan? Check out ChooseVeg.com!