Movie: A Delicate Balance

The movie A Delicate Balance explores the effects of diet on personal health.  It has been scientifically proven that decreasing your consumption of animal protein reduces your risk of cancer, diabetes and high cholesterol.  You can watch the trailer below.  The full film is available to watch, free, on their website.

It shows exactly how animal proteins (meat, milk, eggs) affect the human body and shows the relationship between animal protein consumption and increased risk of disease.  It also shows how you can get the same amount of protein from plant sources, which also give you various nutrients and minerals as part of the package.

Not only does it cover the health impact of animal protein, it also covers the environmental degradation that is caused and explains how it is linked to poverty and starvation in non-Western countries.

I found it to be an informative movie with simple information described well.  The graphics used may leave a little to be desired but you can just listen to it as an audio file and get the same amount of information out of it.  It reminded me a bit of Food Matters.

Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown rice
• 2 cubes veggie stock
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tbsp parsley
• 3 cups mushroom (or less, depends on how much you love mushroom really - we used Portabello and Button)
• 1 tbsp Nuttelex
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 small onion finely chopped (we used red as that's all we had)
• pinch salt and pepper

Method:

1. Fry mushrooms, onion and garlic in butter.
2. Cook brown rice in water with veggie stock, until just cooked.  I used about 2 cups of water and it turned out okay.  We put the parsley, salt and pepper in this.  All up, the rice took about half an hour to cook.  It depends on the type of rice you use.
3. Add mushrooms to rice, along with nutritional yeast.

Makes about 2 serves.

Learning to Make Shrinkies

I've decided to blog about my failure with shrinkies (I will attempt some more variations!) just to help anyone out there who might think they just can't do it right or something.  Failures happen, but you just have to learn from them and try again!  For me, crafting is about having fun while experimenting :).

Attempt Number 1 with a large chip packet:

I preheated the oven to 250C and placed the packet on one sheet of baking paper on a tray, with another sheet of baking paper on top and another tray on top of that to hold it flat.   I lef it for 3 minutes, then checked it.  It looked like it was about 20cm long and only 6cm wide.  So the proportions had changed quite a bit, but I wanted it to be smaller than that so I popped it back in.

I left it in there for another 3 minutes, then pulled it out to check on it.  I couldn't see it but it didn't seem to have shrunk any further.  I tried to pull the baking paper off but the chip packet was still all melted, so I decided to leave it to cool while I tried attempt number 2.

Orginal size:  33.5cm tall and 21cm wide.
Final size:  18cm tall and 5.5cm wide.  (I'm thinking that these are maybe bookmark or choker size?)

What I learned: Only leave them in for about 2 minutes at this temperature, it's way too hot.

Attempt Number 2 with mi goreng packets:

The oven was preheated to 250C.  This time I just placed the mi goreng packets in a piece of baking paper, which I folded around them individually.  I left them in for only 2 minutes, then checked on them.  They were little blobs of melted plastic.

What I learned:  The fact that these are made just out of plastic, with no foil on the inside, means that they 'cook' faster than the chip packets.

Attempt number 3 with a mi goreng packet:

The oven was left to cool to 180C for 10 minutes.   I folded up a mi goreng packet in baking paper again.  I left it in there for 2 minutes. It had only shrunk a little bit so I left it in for another minute.  The end result looks like the edges shrank at a different rate to the middle, so perhaps 180C is too cool.

Conclusion:  Higher temperature for a shorter period of time, mashed between the two trays to keep it flat.

I think that this is all I shall attempt for today.  I only have two more chip packets left from my partner, so will wait until they've pigged out a bit more ;).

If anyone knows of some ways to improve my technique, I'd be much obliged as the online tutorials don't seem to be working for me (but I am narrowing down how to do it I think - a few more trials and I shall have it, I'm sure!).

My SlutWalk 2012 Experience in Brisbane

Warning: This post mentions rape and sexual assault, so if these are sensitive topics for you, please feel free to not read this post.

What is SlutWalk?
SlutWalk originated in 2011 in Toronto after a police officer told women to stop dressing like sluts if they didn't want to get raped.  This then became a global movement against blaming victims, shaming people for their sexuality and rape culture.  SlutWalk started in Australia last year with rallies in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide.

Why did I go to SlutWalk?
I have been on the receiving end of gropes, leers and comments about my body since I hit puberty at age 12.  That's just my personal experience.  I didn't just attend SlutWalk for myself.  I also attended SlutWalk because of the number of my friends who have been sexually assaulted, raped, feared for their bodies, groped, all simply because their bodies were deemed to be public property by others.  Not just for them, but for all people who have been raped, or experienced verbal and physical abuse or harrassment for what they wear or the way that they express their sexuality.

I walked in the hopes that it would help to create a dialogue about consensual sex, healthy sexual relationships, asexuality, the failings of sexual education in schools around Australia, the rights of people to wear what they want and act how they want without fearing assault.

Mitch, Lia, Blair and I.  Photo by Lisa B.

No one should be harrassed or abused or raped for what they wear, or because they are refusing to have sex with someone, or because their sexuality needs to be 'fixed'.  Most rapes that occur are perpetrated by people close to the victim and it often has nothing to do with what they are wearing.  Learn more about the official statistics.

Making Signs
I had prepared my signs for this day at 1am that morning before heading to bed.  My sign ended up with the slogan "Still not asking for it; no one asks to be raped" on one side and "I am a person, not a sex toy; I require consent, not batteries" on the other.  I was hoping to make something a little more witty and I regret not covering something along the lines of 'ask before touching' as this is a topic that is close to my heart.

The Speakers
I turned up just on one and almost had a panic attack the whole trip there as I was freaking out about someone talking to me about it or getting confrontational.  Once I got there and saw my friends though, I managed to calm down and then the speakers started. I missed out on the introductory speech as I was still handling my anxiety (poorly), which I am a bit sad about.

A representative from Respect Inc (sex worker rights organisation) talked about how there is a lot of violence in sex work, which is usually written off by society as something that they should 'expect' as part of their work.  This is not right; people should never expect to be abused or assaulted because of their job.


Someone from the Brisbane Rape and Incest Survivors Support Centre (BRISSC) stood up and talked about how great it was to see so many people there.  They talked about how many of the survivors often blame themselves, and that the speaker would be taking back this support, the support shown today, to show the survivors that they are not alone, that there are people out their fighting for them and fighting against a culture that makes victims feel this way.

Andrea Silva was up last and her speech was really good.  She talked about the mechanisms of slut shaming and how they are used to control people who are open about their sex lives, or who dress differently.  How people can be alienated, lose their jobs, be abused and more just because they are sexual or dress in certain ways.  There was some talk about the BDSM community and how there had been some controversy about her coming to speak.  As she said, there are negative behaviours in any community.  These negative behaviours are what need to be fought against, not consensual sex between adults.

Photo by Lisa B

The March
We walked around one block in Brisbane with about three or four policepeople on motorbikes, while following one red police car.  We drew a lot of attention and there were a lot of photos taken.  It was over within half an hour as there were only a couple hundred of us.  I hope that next year there will be a greater turn out as people become more aware of the issues that SlutWalk is fighting against.

The chants that were yelled as we went around the block are listed below (please forgive me if I have remembered some of them incorrectly).

• 2, 4, 6, 8, stop the violence, stop the hate.
• Hey hey, ho ho, sexual violence has got to go.
• Yes means yes, no means no, however we dress, wherever we go.
• There are no bad whores, just bad laws.

Photo by Lisa B.

In Conclusion...
It was nice to have so many people there supporting this movement and standing up against rape culture, mysogyny, victim blaming and slut shaming.  I felt more sure of myself and I felt stronger for going.  I know that I am not alone in my views or in my efforts.  I also got to talk to someone who was a rape survivor; they told me how thankful they were for this walk, how we all had to stick together and that hopefully one day attitudes would change.  I truly believe that together, through events like this, we will be able to create positive discourses about sex and create a community were victims are able to seek help without fear of persecution by friends and the media.  Thank you to the organisers for putting this all together.

Fact Sheet: Writing to Animal Rights Prisoners

I have been thinking a lot lately about more action that I can take in the animal rights movement.  While I may or may not agree with the actions taken by these individuals, I do believe that it is their human right to have some support so that they don't get lonely, depressed or despondent.

'Writing' by J. Paxon Reye

I ended up finding the list of prisoners by the Animal Liberation Front, and another by Bite Back.  They both seem to be updated regularly and focus mainly on the UK and US.  There seem to be no lists for Australia (although that could change with the meat industries here pushing for the same laws as the US has).

I then found a few places where I could buy cards to send to them (funds are donated to charity and the pictures are of animals):

• PawsForCharity
  
• Cards by Teri
  
• AnimalsAsia

There are some great guides all over the net, with my favourites being by Striking At the Roots (very thorough) and How to do Animal Rights.
The main points to take from their articles are:

• your mail will be read before it gets to the prisoner
• don't talk about the case
• don't include any stickers or items that are not a letter, postcard or card
• don't be too bummed if you don't get a reply
• stick to one or two activists who you can talk to regularly
  

If you have any more information that I can add, please let me know so that I can keep this updated.

Charity: New Farm Neighbourhood Centre

The charity that I will be raising funds for for the month of May is New Farm Neighbourhood Centre (NFNC).  I found out about them after looking at jobs on Seek that I would maybe like to do once I have graduated.

NFNC is located on Brunswick Street, near New Farm Park.  They have been working within the community for over 25 years, providing a myriad of services including:

• help people who are homeless
• help people access housing
• create events that are accessible to all people to encourage community
• maintaining a community garden
• a craft group for women every Thursday

They use various means to raise funds, such as tennis court and venue hire.  If you are interested in volunteering with them, please contact them as I am sure they would appreciate any help that they can get.  If not, maybe consider them as a place to hold your next meeting or event.

I truly believe that they are doing something wonderful and they cannot do this without the community being involved.

Vegan French Toast

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas
• 2/3 cup nondairy milk
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• bread

Method:

1. Mix together bananas, milk, cinnamon and vanilla.
2. Soak bread in mixture on both sides.
3. Fry in pan at medium heat with a bit of butter or oil.

Makes: 4-5 slices of bread

Equal Marriage Rally Brisbane

Today in Brisbane hundreds of people came together for one reason: to demand marriage equality.  Currently, Australia does not allow anyone to get married except heterosexual cis-people.  People of other gender identities and sexual orientations are excluded under the current legislation, so they and their allies came together to rally in Queens Park to show the people of Brisbane that they would not be quiet, would not back down and would not give up until there is full marriage equality.

I unfortunately turned up late and missed all the talks, but was in time for the march itself, which I attended with a few friends.

I marched until my boots fell apart and I had to leave to buy some sneakers.

All in all I had a good time and I hope that marriage will be something for everyone who is in love and wishes to be married.  You can watch a channel 7 video of the rally and join the Equal Love Brisbane group on facebook.

Sausage, Spinach and Onion Quiche

You may have seen my previous attempt at making a quiche here.  This is my latest attempt which, I must admit, is a lot yummier and just better all round haha.

Ingredients:
*1 onion, chopped  
*2 cloves garlic
*4 vegan sausages, chopped
*2 blocks silken tofu (300g each)
*1/4 cup nondairy milk
*~50g fresh spinach, chopped 
*2 tsp basil
*1/2 tsp thyme

*1 tsp turmeric
*1/2 tsp paprika
*1/2 cup nutritional yeast

*salt and pepper to taste
*1 sheet of puff pastry

Method:
1.  Fry onion, chopped sausages and garlic in a little oil until the onion is translucent.
2.  Blend tofu (crumble first, might be easier) and nondairy milk.
3.  Put in bowl and mix in nutritional yeast, finely chopped spinach, onions, sausages, garlic, herbs and spices.
4.  Place puff pastry in bottom of a pan and heat in oven for ten minutes
5.  Pour the mix on top and put back in the oven.
6.  Bake at 180C for 20 minutes or until middle has set.

(I forgot to pre-cook the pastry and just cooked the whole lot for 25 minutes, leaving the pastry at the bottom a little undercooked - d'oh!)

Potato and Spinach Curry

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 2 tsp ginger
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 packet of fresh spinach, chopped
• 4 large potatoes, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 cup of brown rice

Method:

1. Put rice on to boil.
2. Put potatoes on to cook.
3. Fry up onion and garlic in pan.
4. Drain potatoes, add onion and garlic mix, add some water, add herbs and spices, allow to simmer.
5. Add spinach for the last few minutes.
6. Mix in rice and eat.

Jam Filled Donut Muffins

I've yet to find any normal store that makes vegan donuts, so I searched around for recipes and found this one on vegweb.  I fiddled with it a little and you can find the results below:

Ingredients:
Muffins

• 2/3 cup nondairy milk
• 1.5 cups self raising flour
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup Nuttelex (vegan butter)
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup raw sugar

Topping

• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Filling

• about 6 tbsp of your choice of jam - I use strawberry.

Method:

1. Mix all muffin ingredients together.  You may want to add a little more milk to make it a bit easier to spoon into patties.  You may also want to add more nutmeg if that's how you roll.
2. Spoon into the muffin tray; about 1/4 - 1/3 full.  Make a small hollow in the batter.
3. Spoon some jam into the hollow.
4. Cover with more muffin mix.
5. Bake at 180C for 15-20 minutes.
6. Mix together topping ingredients and sprinkle on top.

Green Earth Group Bake Sale

Last Saturday I got up at 3:30am to help Green Earth Group with their bake sale at the West End Markets (6am - 2pm Saturdays).  Green Earth Group is a small local organisation that aims to help the environment by showing people how to have less impact through personal choices, such as going vegan, using reusable bags and cups and making green consumer choices.

This bake sale is part of the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale.  I made and donated some strawberry cupcakes and some blueberry cupcakes.  There were a variety of things, like cheesecakes, banana bread, cookies and cream cupcakes, chocolate spiders and more.  I'm still deciding on what to make for this coming weekend.

Come along and join us at the next one.  If you sign up to the mailing list, you have a chance of winning some prizes (including a pig plushie by me!).  There are shirts, fregie sacks and information packs too!  We're nice and friendly and won't bite, I promise!

Green Lentil Curry

Ingredients

• 1 cup rice
• 1 cup green lentils
• 1 tsp each garam masala, turmeric, cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tin coconut milk
• 2 cloves garlic
• salt and pepper

Optional: add chopped spinach, vegetable stock and/or onion.

If you're prepared, soak your lentil overnight so that you don't have to cook them for as long.

Method:

1. Put lentils, 1 cup of water, spices, coconut milk and garlic in one pot.  You may need to add more water as it cooks.  Cook for about 35-45 minutes, until lentils are tender.
2. Cook rice as per packet instructions.
3. Mix together and nom!

Mac N Cheese

I have never had mac and cheese, due to being lactose intolerant, so I never thought about making a vegan version.  Until now.

It was a bit yellower than this, but my camera is not great :(

Ingredients:

• 250grams pasta
• 2.5 cups nondairy milk
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1.5 tsp soy sauce
• 1/4 cauliflower
• 2 cloves garlic
• salt and pepper
• various herbs and spices at your discretion: we added paprika, thyme, ginger and chili powder

Method:

1. Cook pasta in one pot.
2. Combine milk and butter in another pot, turn down to simmer, add soy sauce, garlic and flour.  Try your best to destroy any lumps.  You may want to add more flour to make it thicker.
3. Add cauliflower to the pasta pot for the last five minutes to let it get tender.
4. Drain pasta and cauliflower.
5. Mix in sauce, add herbs and spices.

Garden Pie

Ingredients:

• 5 medium potatoes
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1/2 onion, finely diced
• 1 broccoli floret, chopped
• 1 cup TVP
• some frozen peas and corn
• paprika, salt, pepper, thyme, oregano
• 1 tbsp vegan butter
• 2 cups water 

 Method:

1. Slice potatoes and cook.
2. Mix TVP, water, herbs, spices, carrots, broccoli, onion, peas and corn in a pot and cook until onion is see-through and vegies are at desired softness.  You may need to add more water, but not too much or your base will be too watery in the dish.
3. When potatoes are done, drain and add vegan butter and a dash of nondairy milk to make mashed potato.
4. Turn oven to 180C.  Put TVP mix in dish, spoon potato over the top.
5. Cook until top is golden.

Optional: Add nutritional yeast to potato mix.

Safe Sex - The Vegan Way!

Here I try to list all  most sexual health products and where you can buy vegan ones from in Australia (as much as possible).  Remember that safe sex is the best sex for yourself and your partner/s.  Also remember to ask for consent!

If you want these products to be more easily available, why not contact Woolworths or contact Coles to see if they can stock these products, or if they already do.  Let me know in the comments if you want me to write you up an example letter.

Condoms by robertelyov

Penis Condoms

Condoms are useful in preventing pregnancies and stopping the transmission of STIs and STDs (even if you cannot get pregnant, not getting diseases and infections is pretty rad).  Unfortunately, most condoms on the market contain casein, which is a milk protein.  Where does milk come from?  Poor, suffering cows.

Luckily, there is Glyde!  So if you're the kind of person who wants to use condoms during sexual intercourse, while being animal-friendly, now you can!  You can buy them from The Cruelty Free Shop here or The Green Edge Online here or check out Glyde's website for a list of some of the places that they are stocked at.

BIG Drip by Images by John 'K'

Personal Lubricant

Lubricant is usually produced to help with intercourse, however it is nice to have some on hand in case things aren't going as expected.  Or for stretching your piercings.  Unfortunately, one of the main ingredients in many lubes is glycerin, which can either be from plants or animal fats.

Sylk personal lubricant is completely vegan friendly.  They say that they are available at big Coles and Woolworths stores but they are also available online here.  Glyde has provided again, with some lubricant available here through The Vegan Store. Astroglide is another brand that is vegan friendly and can be purchased online through their website. Yes Organic Lubricant is yet another vegan friendly lube available online here.

With lubricants, ensure that you can use them with condoms, we don't want people getting pregnant by mistake!

Yaz by Stacy Lynn Baum

Oral and Internal Contraceptives

Oral contraceptives are hard to find in vegan form, however the vegan police are hardly liable to come after you for this one; it is better than having an unwanted child.

All vegans must, at times, make compromises because we live in an imperfect world. We need to make the best choices we can based on the world we have inherited, not the society we envision and are trying to create. Making concessions for birth control is not necessarily indicative of hypocrisy. It simply means that you are being realistic, practical, and responsible. - Jo Stepaniak

If you do use non-vegan pills, I suggest you contact the manufacturer and ask them to consider using vegan alternatives.  If enough people ask, maybe we can change them.

There are other forms of contraceptives, including an injection that may be vegan friendly, however I have not been able to find a reliable source of information on that one - yet.  There are also hormonal and copper IUDs that are apparently vegan friendly, though I haven't had a chance to email and check.  I have also discovered the NuvaRing, which may be vegan friendly, but again I haven't as yet had a chance to email.  I will update when I do.  Or, if you have information, please share!

If you are only using these kinds of contraceptives, remember that you can still get STDs and STIs!

Vaginal Condoms

The Femidom is available from The Vegan Store here and is the only vaginal condom I could find that was vegan.

Dams

Dams are used as a barrier when giving oral sex to another person, helping to prevent the spread of STDs and STIs.  Sheer Glyde is a vegan dam that is available here, from The Vegan Store or here from The Sensual Vegan.

Bondage Bear by Ulleskelf

Accessories and Bondage

Vegan Erotica has a range of straps, collars, hitting toys, restraints and more.  If it's outside of your price range or not what you're looking for, there are a range of PVC and faux leather products available on eBay; I personally got a collar from eBay.

If I have missed something, used gendered language, or anything else, let me know and I will update this post!

White Chocolate Cheesecake

I was looking for something to make for a good friend of mine who loves white chocolate.  It seems that there are a lot of chocolate-based recipes out there, but less for white chocolate. I found a few different cheesecake ideas for milk chocolate and decided to make a white chocolate version.

I decided to simplify (as I tend to do) and also use measurments based on what packages the foods actually come in here in Australia.

Ingredients:

Crust

*1/2 packet of Nice biscuits (there were 23 biscuits; I used 12)
*1/4 cup vegan butter, melted

Filling
*1 x 350g packs of soft tofu      
*1 x 227g tub of Tofutti cream cheese 
*2/3 cup raw sugar                   
*1 tbsp vanilla
*2 x 100g blocks Sweet Williams white chocolate    
*1/8 cup milk

Method:

1.  Preheat oven to 180C.
2.  Blend together tofu and cheese.
3.  Grate/chop white chocolate into a bowl.
4.  Mix tofu, milk, chocolate, vanilla and sugar in bowl.
5.  Make crust, put in pan.
6.  Pour mix on top.
7.  Bake for 55-70 minutes, or until edges are set but centre is soft.  Refridgerate 8-12 hours before serving.

Makes:  Six serves.

Rally to Stop the Hate: Brisbane 22nd March

The media coverage for this event leaves a lot unspoken so I will write what I saw happen here.

At 6pm in King George Square, Brisbane, approximately 400-500 people turned up to stop the "Hate Truck" run by Peter Madden.  He is a self-pronounced 'Christian Activist'.  I didn't get to see the truck, however as you can see on his website, the signs on it say "not my children! not on my watch!" and "the dark side of same-sex marriage. homosexual sex ed for your children".

Before I write about what happened at the event, let me just quickly explain what is wrong with these signs.  Children will not 'become homosexual' (or asexual, bisexual, pansexual or any other sexuality) just by learning about it in class.  Rather, they will just be educated in safe sexual practices that will ensure that they reduce their risk of diseases and health problems in the future. 

Sexual education is not a bad thing.  Learning to be tolerant and accepting of differences is not a bad thing.  Learning that love exists between all sorts of people is not a bad thing.  Making children feel accepted rather than stigmatised for their behaviours is not a bad thing.

Now on to the night!

We stood and chanted from 6pm to 7:30pm.  The majority of the chants were peaceful, however some were a bit problematic for me: "Fuck off, Madden, Fuck off!" and "1, 2, 3 and a bit, Madden is full of shit, 5,6,7, 8, we don't want your hate".  Personal attacks, to me, are not the right way to have a peaceful protest.  Telling them their homophobic views are not welcome is fine, but calling them 'shit' and telling them to 'fuck off' is another thing entirely.  "Hey hey, ho ho, homophobia's got to go" was a good one, as was the "What do we want? Equality! When do we want it? Now!".  Each time there was a truck sighting or an anti-equal-rights-activist sighting, we were told to turn that way and chant some more.  There was even a song with a dance at one point.

There was one sighting of the truck at about 7:00pm-7:15pm and a lot of people ran after it.  They were all hastily recalled and reminded that this was a peaceful protest and to stay away from the truck.  One activist was arrested for standing near the truck.  They were later released without charge.  The police maintained a strong presence throughout the night.

All of a sudden, we were all looking at the top of King George Square (that is only accessible via stairs) and there were about 9-10 middle aged men and one woman (sorry for assuming their gender however, considering they're protesting 'gay marriage'...).  There were police guarding the stairs and the elevator to what I can only assume is an underground carpark where the truck was hidden.

One of the men (I assume Peter Madden) pulled out a guitar and started singing.  Our chanting grew louder.  One of the men leant over the balcony, seeming rather amused at what we were doing.  Then he seemed to start blessing us or praying for us.  I found this insulting and a bad move; you shouldn't interact with either side and this felt like a taunt.  This went on for about 15 minutes then, suddenly, three eggs sailed through the air, one narrowly missing hitting him in the face.  He just smiled and spread out his arms.  The police moved him away from the balcony.  He sat down but as soon as they were gone, stood up again to put his arms out towards us.  The police returned and he didn't do it again.

The egg throwers were not arrested, however I disagree with their tactics.  It makes us look like we're immature and can't be taken seriously (not to mention the animal rights implications of eggs).  It paints us as the bad guys.  Thankfully it was only one or two people who did it from what I can tell (considering only a few eggs were thrown).

The rest of the protest was peaceful; just chanting to drown out any homophobic comments made by the Madden group.  I left at 8pm but it was still going strong then.  I was followed down Queen Street by "Hey hey, ho ho, homophobia's got to go!".  I hope that it has helped to spread the message: equality is something people want and we're not going to stay silent about it.

Pumpkin Chips

It's that part of the week again; there's almost nothing in my fridge.  I decided to make pumpkin chips out of the 1/4 of a pumpkin I had in there.  They're really yummy, but not as firm as the potato chips.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 Butternut pumpkin
• 1-2tbsp oil
• 2tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 cloves garlic
• paprika, oregano, thyme, any other herbs & spices you want to add

Method:

1. Chop up pumpkin.
2. Put in a container with herbs and spices.  Shake until evenly coated.
3. Bake at 220C for 20 minutes.

Fact Sheet: Dairy Cheese

Dairy cheese is made by, basically, allowing milk to curdle and then curing it in a variety of different ways to add different flavours and textures.  This cheese contains a variety of different chemicals and hormones.  It is a concentration of all of the ones found in dairy as it takes about 10 pounds of milk (4.5kg) to make 1 pound of cheese (0.45kg).  One reason that many people find it hard to 'quit cheese' is because of the opiate effect of the casomorphins which are found in milk, but whose affects are exacerbated in cheese.

Cheese by jtuason

Most dairy cheese available commercially in Australia has rennet in it.  Rennet is taken from the stomachs of baby cows and used to help it curdle.  There are a few rennet-free dairy cheeses available, however as we know, the dairy industry supports the deaths of 700,000 calves a year.  These calves are allowed to be starved for 48 hours before being sent off to be killed.

Calf by photogrammer1

 
Dairy cheese is known for not being the most healthy food you could eat; many people only eat small amounts because of this.  It contains a high percentage of fats and cholesterol, both of which people do not need in excess. A person could be led to think that cheese has a lot of things that they can't get anywhere else, however all the vitamins (A, B12 and more) and minerals (calcium, zinc and phosphorous) can be found from other more ethical sources.

Vegetable stand by comprock

If you really do enjoy cheese, why not try some healthy, cruelty-free alternatives?  The Vegan Store has a big range, you can find Tofutti cream cheese and cheese slices at the supermarket or you can try to make your own.  There are more available than I have just listed, feel free to try them all and find a favourite that is better for you and the cows!

Cow by vietor

Please note that I have only discussed the treatment of cows in the dairy industry and the composition of cow cheese.  I have not yet had a chance to research cheese from goats or sheep.