this might very well be a story for

chuck loves pig meat but i'm posting it here instead.
(ah hell, i'll cross-post it)
there are many things i'm addicted to. MEAT IS NOT ONE OF THEM. i don't preach unless i'm back into a corner (or made fun of. then you actually better watch your back). i do have a concern for how we treat our animals. i think it ALL ties together. the nicer we are to our animals AND TO OURSELVES, the easier life on earth will be. yes, i really truly believe that. i tend to anthropomorphize when i'm dealing with animals. i KNOW that. even if i don't, i KNOW animals have feelings. they CAN AND DO feel at the VERY LEAST, pain. we have NO business inflicting pain upon them (or others of our own species).

anyway, this may be of interest to one and all (or none)
Gonzo Gastronomy: How the Food Industry Has Made Bacon a Weapon of Mass Destruction

By Arun Gupta, AlterNet

Among my fondest childhood memories is savoring a strip of perfectly cooked bacon that had just been dragged through a puddle of maple syrup. It was an illicit pleasure; varnishing the fatty, salty, smoky bacon with sweet arboreal sap felt taboo. How could such simple ingredients produce such riotous flavors?

That was then. Today, you don't need to tax yourself applying syrup to bacon -- McDonald's does it for you with the McGriddle. It conveniently takes an egg, American cheese and pork and nestles it between pancakelike biscuits suffused with genuine fake-maple-syrup flavor.

The McGriddle is just one moment in an era of extreme food combinations -- a moment in which bacon plays a starring role, from high cuisine to low.

There is: bacon ice cream; bacon-infused vodka; deep-fried bacon; chocolate-dipped bacon; bacon-wrapped hot dogs filled with cheese (which are fried, then battered and fried again); brioche bread pudding smothered in bacon sauce; hard-boiled eggs coated in mayonnaise encased in bacon -- called, appropriately, the "heart attack snack"; bacon salt; bacon doughnuts, cupcakes and cookies; bacon mints; "baconnaise," which Jon Stewart described as "for people who want to get heart disease but [are] too lazy to actually make bacon"; Wendy's "Baconnator" -- six strips of bacon mounded atop a half-pound cheeseburger -- which sold 25 million in its first eight weeks; and the outlandish bacon explosion -- a barbecued meat brick composed of 2 pounds of bacon wrapped around 2 pounds of sausage............

i'm not going to watch the video

which you can find if you click the link below. i don't have to. normally i'm not up on my soapbox about being a non-carnivore. i AM always on my soapbox when i see animals mistreated. (i can't tell you how many times i've called the police when i see a dog locked in a HOT car. oh i try to find the owner first but i don't waste too much time on that). i don't yell at people in fur coats (although i would LOVE to). i have 'accidently' driven by veal calves tied up to their little dog houses with a friend who perhaps ordered veal the last time we went out to eat. when they ask what it is they're looking at (you know a LOT of people don't know how or what veal is) i very innocently tell them.

if one is a half way decent human being, i cannot understand why one wouldn't INSIST upon humane treatment of animals. for food, for work, for companionship, for whatever.

Humane Society releases new video of mistreated livestock
By NATASHA T. METZLER
WASHINGTON — The Humane Society of the United States released video footage Wednesday of sick and injured livestock the group says were mistreated at auction sites and stockyards where cattle are sold for slaughter.
The group released videos shot during April and May showing downed cows abandoned for hours at facilities in Maryland, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Texas. A video was posted on the group's Web site.
"We found downed cows in a state of ill health, with no relief provided to the animals," said Wayne Pacelle, the organization's president and chief executive.
Downed cattle may pose a higher risk of contamination from E. coli, salmonella or mad cow disease because they typically wallow in feces and their immune systems are often weak.........

norwegian graffiti

via wooster collective

from fatfree vegan kitchen

check out these entries (too late to vote, there is already a winner) for vegetable love

there are Curry Chickpea Crepes by LaMana at Culinary Healing

Vegan Molten Chocolate Cakes by Ricki at Diet, Dessert and Dogs

Vietnamese Rolls by Purplesque at Purplesque's Vox

Cauliflower Couscous with Basil Leaves and Avocado by Coppe at Something About Penguins

there are MORE at the link to vegetable love above check them out!

(i voted for the curry chickpea crepes - which came in second)

i never actually LIKED (most) meat and/or fish

so i don't go out of my way to buy FAKE meat and/or fish. there are a few i like and i've mentioned them before. in some chinese restaurants they do serve vegan 'meats' and 'fish'. they are SO right on, it's kind of scary. most are made with seitan (which i LOVE by the way)

i love lightlife smart deli santa fe chick'n style slices. not because they taste like chicken so much but because there is a kick to them. they're spicy hot. very good in a lettuce, tomato and vegan mayo sandwich.

anyway, today's wapo has a little blurb on fake meats. i've never heard of the brands or products they feature. that's odd because i do spend a whole hell of a lot of time in 'natural' or 'health' food markets.

CAN THESE IMITATION PRODUCTS KEEP IT REAL?
A visit to the stocked freezers at Terry's Healthy Food store in Rockville makes a convincing case that the vegetarian meats, seafood and poultry imported from Taiwan and China look more like their real counterparts than ever before. But taste comparison is another matter entirely.

(you're going to have to go to the link to see what's what and how they were rated)

vegetarianism made the front page of wapo

well at least the online addition. i have to say, i've never had tofurky. i've had several other prepared vegetarian and vegan foods. some are GREAT and some are not. i have mentioned a few of my favorites before

follow your heart vegenaise is simply THE best vegan mayo out there. i've tried them all. THIS is it

earth balance vegan margarine is also THE best out there. unlike the mayo, there are others that pass though

smartdeli santa fe chick'n by lightlife. it's got some hotness and i like the texture. makes one fine lettuce, tomato sandwich! it's my favorite flavor of their offerings

tofu and tofu salad by the bridge (i don't know if you can get this across the country. it's a connecticut company. their tofu salad is THE bomb

Vegetarians, Meat-Eaters Dig In To Send Sales of Tofurky Soaring

By Ylan Q. Mui Washington Post Staff Writer

Seth Tibbott was just an ordinary hippie living in a treehouse when inspiration struck.
The year was 1986, and Tibbott had hoped for six years that his small business selling vegetarian meat alternatives in rural Washington state would catch on. Success proved elusive -- the treehouse was the only place he could afford to live -- until he developed a soy-based version of the traditional Thanksgiving turkey. He called it Tofurky.

"It's a name that resonates with consumers," said Tibbott, who grew up in Chevy Chase. "We're fine with the fact they think it's funny or they get a smile out of it. You remember jokes." ....

the recipes in today's food section

of the wapo go VEGAN! ('bout time)

mmmmmmmmm soul food vegan mmmmmmmmm

Vegan Soul Grows in Anacostia

By Bonnie S. Benwick
Every weekend in a leafy, friendly Anacostia neighborhood, Levita Mondie-Sapp's low-key revolution gets underway. The 37-year-old Maret School teacher makes sweet potatoes with a light orange glaze or spicy peanut vegetable stew or her semi-famous hibiscus tea, often with the help of her young daughters. The folks down the street, relatives and church members drop by to see what's in the oven or to watch as she prepares for a private cooking lesson or someone's housewarming buffet. Everybody gets a taste.
[See Recipes: Vita's Vegan Orange-Glazed Sweet Potatoes, Vita's Barbecue Tofu, Vita's Collard Green Won Tons, Vita's Vegan Corn Bread and Vita's Vegetarian 3-Bean Chipotle Chili] .........