Bill Clinton on a plant diet… Vegan or not?

Bill Clinton is on a plant diet… but is he truly a vegan. In this CNN interview, he claims the benefits of a plant diet; however he indicates that he has fish once in a while. Although it’s not often, it’s still once in a while. But who am I to judge… I am a vegetarian after all and not a vegan. I find it pretty amazing and inspiring that someone of his stature would come out publicly and discuss openly about a diet that pretty much goes against Factory Farming which dominates the food industry in the land of our cousins just south of the Canadian Border.

What about Al Gore? Does anyone know whether he is? In “An Inconvenient Truth” the movie, which is now available as a book; he’s brought together leading-edge research from top scientists around the world; photographs, charts, and other illustrations; and personal anecdotes and observations to document the fast pace and wide scope of global warming. Shouldn’t he be vegan too? After all, the meat industry is the world leader in pollution of the soil, water and air (horrendous smell and air bacteria and more) so who would want to be part of the ongoing destruction.

What about George bush? Lol ha ha ha kidding. He probably doesn’t know what a vegan is and obviously puts blind folds to over look the Factory Farming industry… dumb ass.

In summary; congrats to Bill. Food wise and health wise… he is a step ahead. Way to go.
For info on Bill’s diet; he would appear to follow a diet based on Dr. Gundry’s research.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

VEGA Community

I recently join this great community called VEGA community. VEGA is for people who advocate of using whole, plant-based foods to nourish your body for optimal health, you’ve come to the right place! It’s all about sharing, learning and thriving. I love it and recommend you join.

Click here

Did the meat in your plate got to the slaughter house dead or alive…

Article found in the Globe & Mail: Canadian standards for farm-animal transport dangerously lax, report says;
Pigs in a trailer arrive at a processing plant in downtown Toronto. Fred Lum/ The Globe and Mail Inspection records show animals arriving to slaughterhouses dead or diseased, with few repercussions for transporters… (read article)

Did the meat in your plate got to the slaughter house dead or alive…

Here’s a great article I found in the Globe & Mail regarding animal welfare. I have been suffering from the omnivore dilemma for the last 10 years or so. However, although I have been somewhat vegetarian for the most part of it; I still have periods of time where I eat poultry. My family for the most part will consume animal products. However, we buy our poultry from local farmers where you can actually see the farm and the animals outside.

Reading this article got me so worked up that I can’t actually concentrate at work at the moment. I may intend to change my job in the near future to a career that takes animal into consideration and care for them with kindness. I’ve been thinking about it for a while and I intend to act on it. We have 2 cats at home and they are spoiled to death. We care so much for them and play around that they are pretty much acting like dogs…lol.

I urge the government to do something right now. These archaic laws must be changed now. Not in the near future: NOW! Every pay check I have money going to various and recognized organization for animal welfare. I feel good about doing this. I constantly sign petitions for things to change but still feel powerless.

If anybody has ideas on how to act on this in very proactive ways; let me know.

I believe in the statement: you are what you eat.

I found this interesting article about the evolution of men in correlation to meat eating, how eating meat changed our body. whether for the better or worse, it’s up to you to chose.

National Geographic

Arguments against being vegetarian anyone?

I found the comment below in the forum “Steady Health“

In this forum people are debating the pros and cons of being vegetarian. I personally find myself that a lot of the comments in this debate were directly related to ignorance. The only one I found that made sense is the one below. Unfortunately there is no name; just the user “veganlee”: Enjoy!

::::::::::

I know it was a while ago that this topic started but I couldnt read all the nonsence that had been written without writing something myself!

So far the arguments AGAINST vegetarianism are; a lack of iron, the difficulty in sourcing protein, we are designed to eat both meat and plants and animals are humanely killed.

So, first I will mention the iron – Dried beans and dark green leafy vegetables are especially good sources of iron, even better on a per calorie basis than meat. According to the FDA iron deficiancy is not hugely common in vegetarians. (I know a large number of meat eaters that are anaemic.)

Protein – In a standard meat eating diet often people take in too much protein. Protein from meat can in fact have a negative effect on calcium uptake in the body. Protein can be found in high quanities from beans, nuts, fruit and vegetables. I am vegan and ALWAYS get enough protein in my diet without even thinking about it. Protein combining is of course necessery, but not difficult – beans on toast or lentils and rice give you a full amino acid count, one does not have to combine the protein in one meal, just over a day.

According to the British Nutrition Foundation – “A well-planned and varied vegetarian diet will provide adequate energy and sufficient amounts of these nutrients.”

Someone mentioned that we were not DESIGNED to eat a plant based diet. Well for one thing we were not designed at all, we have evolved, according to Darwins theory. Not many people know this but Darwin himself was vegetarian and believed humans should not eat meat. We have much longer intestines than all other carnivores, cannot stomach raw meat and do not have the sharp teeth necessery for ripping apart flesh.

It was also mentioned that animals are “humanely” bred and slaughtered. This is a very ignorant statement from someone that has obviously never researched the subject correctly. A caged hen is kept in a cage smaller than the size of an A4 piece of paper. In britain 60% of eggs on supermarket shelves are from caged hens. A dairy cow could easily live 20 years, however after about 5 years it will collapse with exhaustion and be sent to a slaughterhouse.

“If slaughterhouses had glass walls we’d all be vegetarian.” Sir Paul McCartney

I think one of the most important arguments for vegetarianism at the moment is the effect the meat industry has on the enviroment. A study looked at a steak dinner compared to a stir fried veg dinner and found that the meat dinner had 25 times the carbon footprint than the veg. Shifting entirely from an average American diet to a vegetable-based one would reduce the same emissions as 8,000 miles driven per year.

So there ya go, some arguments FOR vegetarianism.

Saving the Polar Bears … it’s about time Canada!

I think we’re still behind from where we should be. It goes beyond global warming. We also must stricter laws in order to preserve our wildlife. Why not? We’re Canadians, the coolest people and the best country in the world. Let’s do this and kick some butt.

Visit website: WFF Canada

Canada reluctantly joins with Arctic nations and takes important first step towards saving polar bears – March 19, 2009

Five nations committed by treaty to conserve polar bears have come up with a resolution linking the future of the species to urgent global action on climate change.“We are very encouraged by the final declaration from this meeting,” says Geoff York, polar bear coordinator for WWF International’s Arctic Programme.

“We were concerned that some countries were lagging behind the others in their commitment to dealing with climate change, but ultimately, the parties recognized climate change as the primary threat to the future well-being of polar bears,” continued York. “They also recognized formally, “the urgent need for an effective global response that will address the challenges of climate change”, to be addressed through such a mechanism as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.”

“Canada, with two thirds of the world’s polar bears, has a special duty to help solve the climate crisis,” said Dr. Peter Ewins, Director, Species Conservation, WWF-Canada. “All eyes will now be on Environment Minister Prentice after the Canadian delegation was severely criticized by international polar bear experts for not doing enough. Finally, it now seems that the Minister has reluctantly agreed that climate change is affecting polar bear habitat, the first step in taking strong action to protect it.”

The five Arctic nations (Canada, Norway, Denmark –Greenland, Russia, USA) signed a binding 1973 Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears that includes provisions to protect polar bears and their habitat.

The Norwegian government played a key role in bringing the parties together, and in setting high expectations for the meeting. Erik Solheim, Environment Minister of Norway told Norwegian television, “It would be an amazing crime against future generations if we did not save the polar bear.”

The meeting made some other important advances. It has agreed to come up with a circumpolar action plan for the management of bears, and to formally designate the Polar Bear Specialist Group of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) as the scientific advisory body to the Agreement. These were both measures proposed by WWF in advance of the meeting.

“Although we are generally very pleased with the outcome of the meeting, this is by no means the end of the story – it is the start on the path to polar bear survival,” says York. “The real proof of this new commitment to taking urgent and effective action on climate change is what

leaders of these nations will commit to later this year. Ministers from these five countries are meeting in this same town toward the end of April at a meeting of the Arctic Council, and have a golden opportunity then to outline their national commitment to climate change.”

Ultimately, the polar bear nations must join with other countries at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen in December 2009 to sign an effective global deal on climate change that will save the polar bears’ Arctic sea ice habitat, along with the entire ice ecosystem.

For interviews in Canada:

Kyle Ferguson, Manager, Communications, WWF-Canada

Tel. 416-484-7732 Cell: 416-819-5631 Email: kferguson@wwfcanada.org

Life is an open road; destination: Bryan Adams’ concert.

¼ to 5, here I am; Life is an open road; destination; home!

I know you probably think “ooo boring” but I tell ya; “no exciting”. My friend Sonia is meeting me home for about ¼ to 6. The big event: Bryan Adams at the Copps Coliseum (Hamilton, ON). Yay!

Hamilton is about 1 hr away from Toronto. The show is at 8 so we got to leave early and fight traffic. Although it sometimes feels like traffic cuts like a knife, when you get to your destination, it feels so right. The night is heavy, foggy and a mist covers the road. The windshield of the car is all fogged up. We hit a bit of traffic from Bay to Jameson (as usual) but then, it’s all fine from there. I can tell you straight from the heart that luck was on our side. By 7:30 we were parking 2 blocks from the arena.

Long story short, needless to say that Bryan Adams lived up to and way beyond my standards and expectations. Mind you, I didn’t really have expectations, I was just looking forward to see him perform live. The little dude (from our seat) Canadian rocker star hit the stage and transported us way up on cloud number nine.

All I’ll say is that the show was great. By the time the show was done, we got back in the car and drove back to Toronto. The fine rain and mist covering the road was now only a memory of the Summer of 69.