My First Radio Interview

I love listening to podcasts and radio talk shows. One of my recent favorites is a show called Mixed Race Radio, hosted by my friend Tiffany Rae Reid.

She asked to interview me on her show today and I obliged.  Now, public speaking is one of my least favorite things, but I survived!  lol
Be sure to check out previous episodes on her site on Blogtalk Radio as well.

Listen to internet radio with Mixed Race Radio on Blog Talk Radio

If the grownups didn't see the black girl get bullied, did it really happen?

So, there's something you should know about black people. Especially young black teenage girls who happen to be Olympians.  They're liars.. That's right.  If they say that they were bullied and teased and called a slave, they're just making it up.  Apparently for fun.. At least that's the case if you believe the defensive comments made by those who ran the gym where Gabrielle Douglas (she prefers it over being called Gabby) got her start before heading out to Iowa to train there instead at the age of 14.

Gabrielle appeared on Oprah's Next Chapter recently, and shared what it was like to train in an environment of verbal attacks and isolation she felt was due to her race.  I read this story and was incensed.
The response of the former coaches was one of denial, saying things like "Gabby was never a victim", and "I never once heard her complain about girls being mean.."   Are they serious?

Anyone out there ever been bullied as a kid? So tell me, how many of you just marched right on up to a teacher or coach to tell them your sad tale of being picked on by fellow students, complete with names?  If you did,  how did that go?    Did those bad kids see the error of their ways and just embrace you with all kinds of love and apology?  No?  I didn't think so.

Val, you seem a bit hot over this.  Yes, yes I am.   One of those coaches expressed that Gabrielle's story is sickening.  Really? You know what I think is sickening?  These so-called adults attacking a sixteen year old girl and daring to say her experience of bigotry and pain is not true. I thought she handled the interview with class and dignity. She didn't name names, she didn't say anything publicly about the coaches themselves.
Just who do they think they are?

In a previous post, I shared a bit about my experience of being one of very few blacks in a nearly all white Midwestern middle school.  I never said anything about what I was experiencing either. My parents new nothing of what I was going through until I was an adult, and even then, I didn't go into all the details.  That was a painful time and I lived for Fridays.

Now, most often kids aren't going to bully each other within the eye and earshot of an adult, so I can't understand why these coaches are reacting the way that they are. Young girls can be pretty mean and sneaky.   But, if they did witness what was going on and did nothing to stop it, well maybe this is their guilt talking. That and not wanting their gym to look bad. Too late. Their reaction has taken care of that.

I applaud Gabrielle for being upfront about her experience and how she's risen above it. She seems mature beyond her years. A maturity that appears to be lacking back at the old gym..

What do you think? Am I getting too emotional about this?  Do you think that a young person of color would go out of their way to make up stories of racial slurs and bigotry for the fun of it?

Chocolate Slaves

Yes, it's an unfortunate play on words. And I could go into all the atrocities that are being perpetrated right now as I type, for the love of the tasty confection that has been an acceptable world wide addiction for centuries.

But, I won't. I'm going to let blogger and founder of the organization Appetite for Justice, Lauren Ornelas do it for me.
Her words are clear, strong and to the point.  Please read and learn. Then make your voice heard as well as voting with your dollar.

WHEN DID SLAVERY GET A PASS?

Want(need) to know more?  Watch this:

You'd be healed if you just had enough faith..

Unless you've spent time in the church world, the title of this post may seem a bit odd to you. Of course, it may also seem odd if you in fact are a christian, but were never subjected to such a flippant declaration.   I've been a christian since the summer of 1976, when as a kid I made the decision to follow Jesus while we were living in the Midwest. I shared the story briefly here. 

Over the years, I've been involved in different types of churches. Big churches, small churches, Baptist, Pentecostal, Word of Faith. 

One belief that was popular in much of my past church experience is the idea that God still does miracles and heals today just like He did in the stories we read in the Bible.  Now, I have do doubt about that actually.  I do believe it. But I also believe that every situation is different and God does (or doesn't) what He's going to do however He wants and in His own time.   

Yes, I believe faith is important. There are examples in the New Testament of Jesus healing those who simply displayed faith in His power.

But what about those who suffer and don't seem to ever get better? They pray. Others pray for them. Sometimes for days, weeks, months, and years.  What about them?

I have a dear friend who has suffered for many years with a debilitating illness.  I found her story so compelling and at the same time inspiring to me.  Her name is Kellie.  Please read her story here.

Kellie is also in my blogroll under the title RSDGirl. I highly recommend you check her out regularly. 
And if you are someone who lives with chronic pain or suffering, I believe you'll find her to be an inspiration to you as well.

Well, you're just a smug urbanite who feels superior to people who consume milk..

smug: contently confident of one's ability, superiority, or correctness;complacent.


 A couple of weeks ago we attended the garden party at the home of a dear friend who has just completed her cancer treatment.  They caught it early enough and she is going to be ok.  I am forever thankful to God for that.
The theme of my friend's celebration was to bring dishes created from produce from our own gardens if possible.   Well, I'm not much of a gardener(not at all actually) and have been told that I have a black thumb. No pun intended.

But, I do have some collard trees that my dad planted for me a while back and they are just massive.

So, I made a raw collard greens dish:

But I must admit, the other dish I made that seemed to be the most appreciated, also got me in the most trouble.  My Almond Feta stuffed Zucchini Blossoms:

Trouble you say? How could something as friendly and tasty as flowers stuffed with vegan feta cheese get anyone into trouble?  And there's the key phrase, vegan feta cheese.

My dear friend whose party this was graciously shared the squash photo on her urban farming Facebook page. I am thankful and humbled that it received a largely positive response.
But apparently not everyone felt so positive about my dish.

When it was stated by my friend that my cheese was vegan, someone felt the need to chime in with  his "learned" opinion.  Just for fun, let's call him Dairydude.
So Dairydude  says " vegan feta??? That sounds like some sort of genetically modified soy concoction synthesized for the purpose of allowing smug urbanites to feel superior to people who consume milk."

Wow, that was a mouthful. And a pretty big assumption on his part. Did I set Dairydude straight?
In a matter of speaking.  I did nicely defend the fact that I was raised by a farmer's daughter and there's not much smug about me.  I talked about how many people have issues with digestion of dairy products and it is a welcome substitute for those people to have nondairy options for their favorite foods.   I came this close to pulling the race card by stating that most blacks and asians don't digest dairy very well either and was he implying that blacks and asians who can't digest dairy as smug also?   But I didn't, as I realized that that kind of response would be over the top and more than a little obnoxious.   The last thing I wanted was to come off like a jerk on my friends' page. lol

But, this blog is my own turf. Sure, I don't intend to be purposely offensive or obnoxious, but I would be less than honest if I didn't continue my thoughts on the issue of milk consumption and Dairydude's comment.

So, let's take a hard look at what the consumption of dairy entails. I don't claim to be an expert, but I do read and watch all the info I can on this and other issues of animal product consumption.
Dairydude stated that the idea of eating a dairy substitute was somehow smug and I would suspect probably elitist in his opinion.   Really?

I don't doubt that there are some smug vegans or non dairy eating folks out there, but I don't believe they're the majority.  There are other compelling reasons not to consume products made from the milk of cows.

Ok warning. If you are one of those who call yourself cheese addicted, I'm about to ruin your day. If you are a vegetarian who believes that cows are not harmed by your consumption of dairy products because "at least I'm not killing them for their meat",(a position I used to hold) you may be tempted to put your fingers in  your ears and scream la la la la!  Sorry about that.

So what's wrong with dairy? I'm glad you asked.
Like all lactating animals, the female has to be pregnant in order to produce milk for her baby. Momma gives birth, momma nurses baby. After a while, baby is weened, everyone's happy.

Now, lets examine at what the story looks like for a dairy cow..

So that humans can have a continuous supply of milk, dairy cows must endure a yearly cycle of being forcibly impregnated.(On what the industry refers to as the "rape rack")  Once they give birth to their calf, they are separated because the milk is needed for humans to purchase.  If the calf is male(which half are), he goes immediately to auction to be sold and slaughtered.  Or if used for veal, to spend about 4 months in crates before being slaughtered.

Female calves face the same fate as their mothers and are set up for milk production as well.

If you are a parent, imagine the feeling of being separated from your child. Go ahead, I'll wait..
Now, imagine carrying your baby in your body for 9 months(or waiting nervously if you're an adoptive parent) and right after giving birth or a few hours later, someone comes and snatches your child away from you.  Go ahead, I'll wait again..

I don't know about you, but I did this exercise myself and it was a devastating thought.
"But, they're just cows Val",  you say. "They don't have feelings like people."  Really?
What about this? (scroll to the 3:11 minute mark)



Cows naturally have a lifespan of about 25 years or more, but those in the dairy industry live about 4 to 6 years and by then are "spent" from their life of constant milk production.  In their weakened state they are then sent off to slaughter.

But, you don't have to take my word for it. How about the words of a fourth generation rancher and feedlot operator?
"If your reason for abstaining from meat has more to do with an emotional attachment to animals than a concern for your health, then understand that dairy cows are truly sick, miserable, abused creatures that are fed a hi-protein diet(often animal based) counterproductive to their health. They are then often drugged with bovine growth hormone and antibiotics, and abused to provide more milk than they have been created by Nature to give, little or none of which goes to their own young." Howard Lyman, author of No More Bull,The Mad Cowboy Targets America's Worst Enemy: Our Diet.

I have to admit, I love Howard. He's lived the life of a cattle rancher. And if anyone knows what they're talking about on this issue, he does. It's often been said that he's most likely sent more cattle to their deaths back in his ranching days than any of the people still in the industry that he's debated over the years or those in the audiences he's spoken to.

I highly recommend checking out his story in the book Mad Cowboy: Plain Truth from the Cattle Rancher Who Won't Eat Meat. 

Now back to Dairydude.  I've made a decision to no longer take part in the suffering, cruelty, and slaughter inherent in milk production and instead find more compassionate alternatives to the foods I love. But somehow that makes me smug. Meanwhile his dismissive attitude toward those who've made a similar choice to my own is supposed to be what? More down to earth?

(Alert, race card about to be  played..)

When white British abolitionists in the 18th and 19th centuries boycotted sugar due to the fact that it was produced by the suffering and misery of black slaves, were they being smug as well?

Now, I'm looking over the definition of smug again. I don't subscribe to the superiority part, but I see nothing wrong with believing with all your heart that you are correct when siding with the oppressed.

And I suspect that Dairydude has a bit of smugness in him as well, since it seemed to me from his comment that he believes consuming real cheese is superior to my vegan version.  But that's ok. Everyone is at a different place in their journey.  I don't feel or believe I'm better than or superior to those who eat dairy.
Maybe just a bit more informed.  But, we all care about different things.  And as important as this issue has become to me and many others, there are just as many people or more who just don't want to think about it.  It's hard, it's painful and who wants to consider that their personal choices are causing harm to others?  It can feel so overwhelming.

But I hope I've given those of you who made it to the end of this wordy post something to consider.
For more info on this and related issues, please check out the links below.


  Oh and if you'd like to know what vegan almond feta tastes like, here's where you can find the basic recipe I work off of.  Vegetarian Times Almond Feta Cheese.



Humane Myth

Mad Cow Boy, site of Howard Lyman

Who wants to eat a fake chicken?

I do want to say before I dive into this topic that I really appreciate all the support and response from my last post on vegans who for whatever reason, stop being vegan.  Even those who question my logic and comparisons challenge me to think. Thank you.

And now on to something a little lighter. 

Fake chicken?  No, I'm not talking about those goofy rubber chickens used in an old school comedy routine.  I'm referring to plant proteins processed in such a way as to have a similar taste and texture of animal meat.
Now, I have encountered online and in person more times than I can count the question of why in the world would vegans or vegetarians want to eat something that reminds them of meat if meat disgusts them so much?  Well, there are A LOT of assumptions behind that question.  First of all, vegans and vegetarians are by no means a monolithic group.  People come to this decision for many different reasons and motivations.  Some for health reasons(in which case you could say they eat a plant-based diet), environmental, and for the desire to no longer participate in the exploitation of animals in any way, be it for food, clothing, entertainment,etc.

One of my absolute favorite vegan authors Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, makes the point that just because vegans decided to stop eating meat doesn't mean we no longer enjoy chewing.  And her quote from an interview with Edible East Bay drives home the point that the word "meat" does not only refer to the flesh of animals. 
 " The word “meat” originally meant “that which was eaten (solid food) to distinguish it from that which was drunk (beverages),” and we still use the word when we refer to such things as “nut meat” or “coconut meat.” I absolutely abhor such words as “fake” and “faux” and “alternative” and “substitute” to talk about plant-based foods. "


I'm starting to think more and more like Colleen. Although I do often slip back in to calling veggie burgers, chik patties, ribz, and the like fake meat. It's going to be a hard habit to break. Old expressions die hard.  :-)

I grew up on soul food. Lots of fruits and vegetables( I was raised by a farmers daughter after all).
But also lots of meat too. Fried chicken, baked chicken, ribs, steak, pork chops, fried fish, you name it, I ate it.
And as a kid I loved it all.  In fact, my dad used to say to me as I filled my plate," make sure that you don't make a meal out of just meat!".  Ha ha, well wasn't that prophetic??

So fast forward several years and I am one of those vegans who loves a good grain or soy based meat. (lookie there, It was hard, but I didn't even use the word faux or fake. Colleen would be proud.)  Not every day of course, but often.  And no, I don't have some secret desire to tear into the flesh of animals because of some primal need that's going unfulfilled.   I guess the foods of my childhood are just familiar and I like to enjoy them on occasion. All without having to cause another   living creature the torture and slaughter necessary in order to make it possible to end up on my plate.

So, as a result of my long love affair with vegetable based meats(did it again! I'm so good. lol),  I keep my nose to the ground for new products on the market or soon coming to the market that widen the choices for those like me who enjoy this stuff.   And guess what??  There is a great product that's just been released.  And I didn't have to wait too long to try it.   The closest major city from us is several hours away, so new things tend to take a while to make it up here to us. But not this time.

I know, I know "just get to it Val, what is it?"

It's called Beyond Meat and it looks a little too much like shredded chicken. It's crazy what they can do in food science these days.  But, I didn't think I'd see it anytime soon unless I took a trip down to the Bay area to a Wholefoods Market or something.   So, imagine my surprise one day as I was perusing our local co-op and came upon THIS:

And at $5.89 a pound it's much cheaper than most meat substitutes.  Oops, I slipped up. Well, I can't be perfect all the time, sheesh. A little grace please? lol

It was in the frozen bulk section of the store. So, I got myself a good pound or so and trotted happily home, excited to try it out.

Here's how it looked before I cooked it:

Crazy, huh? A warning to my vegan friends who never liked animal meat anyway or have happily given up eating anything that looked like or reminded them of it; this stuff may gross you out a bit.  It's that convincing.  Even more than the Gardein products I think.  Except the Beyond Meat product is unflavored and doesn't taste like much before you season or cook it.

So, what did I do with it?  I thought I'd throw together a modified version of Chef Chloe's Alfredo recipe.  First, I sauteed the veggies and the Beyond Meat product.

Sorry, the lighting isn't the best over my stove.

Here is the finished product with the Alfredo sauce on it.

Oh, and that's Daiya vegan cheese sprinkled over the top in case you were wondering. Yummy stuff.  In hindsight, I think I got a little too liberal with the sauce.  (or didn't cook enough noodles) I kind of drowned everything to the point that the veggie meat is barely visible. But, it was good. Really good.
I plan on getting more soon.  Well, that is, whenever they get more in stock at the co-op.
When I went back a couple of days after discovering it, that container was scraped empty!  I guess word got out.

Now, a note to my friends who avoid soy. I'm sorry, this product is not for you. If you eat soy, but cannot tolerate wheat or gluten, you're in luck, there is none.  A bonus for a good friend of mine who's not vegan by any means, but is always open to trying good alternative sources of protein, but cannot tolerate wheat.

Here's a great article and video with food columnist Mark Bittman on Beyond Meat.

I also love this quote from him as it makes nothing but sense to me.

"..Really: Would I rather eat cruelly raised, polluting, unhealthful chicken, or a plant product that’s nutritionally similar or superior, good enough to fool me and requires no antibiotics, cutting off of heads or other nasty things? Isn’t it preferable, at least some of the time, to eat plant products mixed with water that have been put through a thingamajiggy that spews out meatlike stuff, instead of eating those same plant products put into a chicken that does its biomechanical thing for the six weeks of its miserable existence, only to have its throat cut in the service of yielding barely distinguishable meat?

Why, in other words, use the poor chicken as a machine to produce meat when you can use a machine to produce “meat” that seems like chicken?"  -Mark Bittman

Sounds good to me Mark..

Giving up on veganism

So I recently checked in to one of my favorite vegan cooking blogs to discover that the author is no longer vegan. Several life changes brought them to their current path including a new relationship, working around animal products and of course, the love of cheese.  Also, another reason(probably the main one) cited for giving up the vegan life was just coming to a point of being jaded about life on this planet.
There's so much suffering around that apparently it became too overwhelming to think that they could really do anything about it by continuing to refuse the consumption of animal products.


This really got me thinking.  I wonder how the abolitionists of the nineteenth century felt when they saw around them what appeared to be the irreversible suffering of slavery. Or the men and women in the Suffrage movement who fought for women's right to vote?  Or those in the modern civil rights movement like Martin Luther King Jr and others?  Or Mildred and Richard Loving?   I wonder what my life would be like today if they had given up? 


If they(heroes and agents of God in my opinion) had grown weary of the fight, where would I be today?  Would I still be a slave on some plantation in Georgia somewhere? Maybe.  And I most assuredly wouldn't be voting in the next election or married to my husband of almost 9 years.  And speaking of voting..  
Would we ever have had a black(or biracial) president in the White House right now?  Or possibly a woman in the near future?


I admit, I felt a bit sad when I read that blog post. Especially when I just came off the heels of watching a new documentary that shows family farmers, not big impersonal agribusiness, coming to a point of no longer wanting to participate in the cruelty and suffering that is inherent in animal production.  


But I do understand feeling overwhelmed, so I'm not judging my fellow blogger. I will not unsubscribe from their blog  or Facebook page as some have posted. (after making all kinds of declarations of how selfish they feel the blogger is now)   That's something I have noticed in this vegan world online.

When you "leave the fold" so to speak, there is sometimes quite a backlash. And it can get nasty.   But I think I understand that too.  I mean, if we were living in nineteenth century America and someone who was once a fierce abolitionist, fought tooth and nail for freedom for blacks and then decided that it was just too overwhelming and decided to give up and in fact buy themselves a few people to work their farm and as a bonus satisfy their "night time needs" , I would imagine others in the movement would feel a bit betrayed, including their new slaves.


Do I hope the blogger becomes vegan again?  By all means yes!   I honestly hope this is a temporary season in their life and at some point the eyes of their heart will open again and believe that they indeed can make a difference.  


Just like the social justice struggles of the past and present, they depend on enough of us to care and never give up.




What do you think?

Retro Vegans from the 70's

Ok, call me a nerd, but I think this is cool.  I recently discovered an episode from the BBC tv show  the Open Door, about vegans and their way of life. This is 1976!  How many people even knew what a vegan was back then?  I'm amazed at how current (well, except for the fashion!) the information shared is. There's even a segment where they interview a woman in her veganic garden. Although they didn't call it that back then. Here's the half hour program divided up into three parts. 

Curious about the kids from this show and how they grew up? Well, here's a great interview on the blog The Vegan Option, where they talk to grown-up baby Rosemary from the second video and other born vegan kids too.  

Online vegan conference!

I love stuff like this. Online conferences that bring together different authors and professionals in the field of health. I have to say that this is the first one I've ever seen with such a diverse group of experts from the vegan community.

I highly recommend you check out Veganpalooza. I'm looking forward to listening to as many of the speakers as possible, but I admit I do have my favorites.  Like Neal Barnard of  the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, author of such fabulous books as The Joy of Vegan Baking and The 30 Day Vegan Challenge, and creator of the Vegetarian Food for Thought podcast.

Another voice I'm looking forward to hearing from for the first time is social justice pioneer Keith McHenry of Food Not Bombs.   I was even pleasantly surprised to see Christian minister Frank Hoffman of all-creatures.org.  But all in all everyone in this lineup has amazing stuff to share and I can't wait to listen to their interviews.  The fun starts tomorrow!

 Follow the link below for more info.

click here!

God Hates You and my kid too!!

Recently I became outraged. Saddened and outraged. But mostly saddened that a parent could treat a child the way these did. I guess what made it even worse in my mind was that they used their faith in God to justify it.
Now, I'm no where near the perfect parent, so it's not from a high horse or lofty place that I'm coming from.
A while ago, a relative of mine posted a link to a story on Facebook about the Westboro Baptist Church parents that had disowned one of their daughters because she committed what must be to them the unpardonable sin.   She dared to question their beliefs.  She dared to question whether it made sense to live a life that is full of nothing other than spewing hatred towards any and everyone that does not follow the Bible the way that they see fit.

Now, in case you're not familiar with what Westboro stands for, allow me to fill you in a bit.
They are famous for showing up at events around the US and holding up signs that proclaim  such things  as "God Hates Fags" and "You're Going to Hell".   And then there's their picketing of soldiers funerals because they believe that their deaths are God's doing as punishment for America abandoning it's morals.

I'm usually pretty dismissive about this group's shananagins, becoming momentarily disgusted and then moving on, but this situation with one of their children got to me.

How in the name of a loving God can parents treat this child the way that they've treated her? I understand what it means to have a faith in Jesus and to desire to live that out in the most consistent way possible.  But to treat those closest to us, our family, children especially, with such flippant dismissal is abhorrent to me. I could go off on a rebuttal to all of the theological "points" that Lauren's parents made in the video, but that's not the point of this post.  Maybe in another, I will.   But, I guess I just wanted to express my frustration at how some people who claim the same faith as my own, could twist it in such a way and cause such great  harm to their children and those around them.

   Here's a very telling video I came across recently that also made my heart sink when it comes to how Christians are often viewed in our society.



Video by Brian Garcia - http://www.tacolamp.com


Why can't we be more like this?