Appetite for Justice by Food Empowerment Project

The 95%

2012-01-09T16:29:00.001-08:00

When discussing what to post on Facebook for National Bird Day on January 5, my partner and I agreed that although ducks and turkeys should be recognized, we should talk about chickens raised for meat. Why? Because of the 10 billion land animals killed for food in the U.S. each year, more than nine billion of them are chickens. In fact, my partner said, they are the 95% and that's when the image you see was born.

Food Empowerment Project supports the ideals of both the Occupy movement and Occupy the Hood, so it got my more creative mind thinking about the issues we work closely on.

Many of us are familiar with part of the impetus for the 99% movement, where the richest 1% of the population makes the rules.

As a Chicana who is clearly part of the 99%, I often start to wonder about those who are barely part of the 99%. Those whose income is not that of the middle class and, in fact, those who aren’t even on the radar. That would include many farm workers and those who are and are not documented. Those who work hard to put food on our tables and participate in our economy by their purchases. Where do they fit in?

The Occupy movement has really worked to bring in all sorts of people, from unions to college students.

And, what if the chickens decided to “Occupy.” Where do you think they would start?

Wall Street? It might be fitting since this is where cows used to be slaughtered.

Or would they pick a fast food restaurant such as McDonald’s or KFC? After all, they are responsible for raising and killing billions of these amazing birds for food.

Or rather, I would like to think that each individual bird would actually choose to sit with one person. One chicken per person to spend time with them. Most people have never spent time with chickens or with the living animals they eat. They could explain to people what they enjoy in their life, like dust bathing and scratching in the earth, and the hens could talk about family and how well they take care of their chicks. They could show each person that they are more than a ‘leg’ or a 'wing' and they indeed are not nuggets.

Just as those in the 99% movement are showing their determination and tenacity while speaking for so many of us, the chickens could really help people have a better understanding of how much they and other non-human animals are capable of enjoying their lives.

The world will be a better place when we remind ourselves that even as the 'minority' we can have an important and positive impact on the world when speaking for those who are the most vulnerable, and we will never stop fighting.

Hash brown Stick w/Ketchup

2011-10-23T21:17:00.000-07:00

Hash brown stick with ketchup. That is one of the things you would have had for lunch this week if you were an elementary school student in the Alum Rock Unified School District.

I try to picture what it would look like. Would it be on a Popsicle stick? Would grease be running down the sides?

I don’t have children, but I am well aware that schools don't typically offer the healthiest of foods for their students.

A wonderful community group in San José called Somos Mayfair recently surveyed members in their community regarding the school lunch program. I volunteered to enter some of the data and then participated in their community meeting to discuss the results.

The entire event was in Spanish, and although the meeting was not as well attended as they had hoped for, the energy in the room was overwhelming. I sat at a table with a woman and her two children. Her son, about 5, was eating baby carrots, watermelon and popping fresh garbanzo beans out of the pods into his mouth. I asked if he ate like this all of the time, and his mother said he does when he is at home because he loves his veggies.

The cafeteria menu* for that district was shown to me for that school was anything but healthy. Here are some of the options for breakfast: breakfast pizza, cinnamon glazed pancake, pork sausage biscuit and Trix yogurt. Some of the healthier options included whole grain cereal and applesauce cup.

Lunch: chicken hot dog w/ketchup, French bread pizza, PBJ sandwich (not so bad!), mini cheeseburger w/ketchup, turkey soft taco w/taco sauce, beef-and-bean burritos, corn dogs and chicken nuggets and hash brown stick w/ketchup.

The menu does show that they have some sort of salad bar available, however, as someone who first went vegetarian when I was in elementary school, I don’t imagine I could eat salad every day in fact when I was in college many years ago, I became anemic because of salads being my only option.

We discussed different things that needed to be done and, well, my suggestion of having the Child Nutrition Services Board eat from the school lunch menu for at least two weeks got a positive reaction.

The findings in the surveys showed that even though the majority of the children qualified for the free-lunch program, many didn’t take advantage of it because the food being offered was so unhealthy.

And what about any of the kids who have a strong love and compassion for animals? What are their options? Again, they should be given choices – not to mention that these types of choices will lead them to eating healthier food as they get older.

But, I started to wonder if I compared the school lunch menus of the students who live in the Mayfair neighborhood in East San José to those who live in Palo Alto. The Mayfair neighborhood (where Cesar Chavez lived at one point) is made up of immigrants, mostly from Mexico. And, well, Palo Alto is a very affluent area.

I just couldn’t imagine students in Palo Alto eating these types of meals.

So, for this blog, I looked it up:

Palo Alto School District Menu
http://pausd.org/parents/services/MealPlans/downloads/ElementarySchoolsMenu.pdf

Sample of some of the Lunch options: Hearty Garden Salad with Sunflower Seeds or Cheese Ravioli with Wheat Roll, Bean & Cheese Burrito, Assorted Vegetables, Assortment of Fruit, or Minnie Mouse Salad with Wheat Roll, Hamburger on Whole Wheat Bun, or Bosco Sticks with Marinara Sauce.

Alum Rock Unified School District Menu:
http://childnutrition.arusd.org/schools/aruesd_2904102043473906/menus/Elementary_Menu.pdf

Right. No surprises.

I am sure that people can explain economics and the reasons why, but personally I don’t care about any excuses regarding economics; I care about equality, and I care about justice.

So not only do people of color and low-income communities face a lack of healthy foods in their neighborhoods as compared to others, but they suffer this same injustice in the PUBLIC schools?

This is wrong and no words can make it any better.

But hopefully with more groups like Somos Mayfair asking tough questions of those in charge, changes can happen and kids, regardless of their background, can grow up healthy and happy.

*Thank goodness for California’s new law; with SB 1413, California schools are required to provide access to drinking water in the meal areas. Yes, without that, the students wouldn’t have access.

From hippies to hipsters: Vegan cookbooks

2011-09-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

Every social justice movement has a history of events and milestones that you can look back on to see how far it has come. With veganism, we have a variety of things with which we can measure its influence: for example, no longer having to add boiling water to powder to make veggie burgers, an increase in dining options, and of course our cookbooks.

I recently received a copy of The 30-Day Vegan Challenge by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, and my first impression was it is a gorgeous book. It’s happy, inviting and the recipes definitely look delicious!

I had to think for a second why I was so damned impressed with the book. And I realized, vegan cookbooks didn’t exactly start out that way.

For those of you who know me well, you know that for me, making spaghetti (noodles from a box and sauce from a jar) is a big cooking ordeal, so what do I know about cookbooks?

The answer is – a fair amount. Now, what do I know about cooking – absolutely nothing.

In the ‘80s when I went vegan and got involved in the animal rights movement, recipes were mostly typed pieces of paper with ingredients and preparation instructions on them that were copied one too many times. Eventually, groups began to make their own little booklets of recipes – typed – no pictures. Eventually, PeTA started to include small recipe cards in their magazines with drawings on them.

In the ‘90s some great cookbooks came out, including my favorite, The Compassionate Cook by PeTA, and although the cookbook had a great drawing by Berke Breathed on the front cover (and great recipes) it was still only the recipes, just like Vegan Vittles by Jo Stepaniak.

And one of my favorite cookbooks (again, I only eat the food, I don’t make it) is from a vegetarian cookbook (almost vegan), The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook created by the good people in Summertown, TN. It did have black-and-white photographs and well……..umm…..it looked pretty hippie and (no offense to the hippies who read this blog), that particular look can only win a certain audience.

Then in 1999, something happened and veganism got hip (well, we already were, but our cookbooks started to shout it!) That was the year How It All Vegan by Tanya Barnard & Sarah Kramer came out and it was quirky, cool and tasty!

Later, Isa Chandra Moskowitz tipped the scale with Vegan with a Vengeance and then it was all over – delicious color recipes and people knew exactly how cool vegans were and could be. Then in 2006, Isa helped us to conquer the country’s cupcake craze with another outstanding cookbook – Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

In 2007, we got a taste of Colleen’s first cookbook, The Joy of Vegan Baking, which welcomed us to this joy with a picture of delicious cookies on the front and healthy pie and bread recipes inside.

Melisser Elliott continued the trend with The Vegan Girl’s Guide to Life, which had recipes and more.

And well, Colleen, Isa, Sarah and the rest continue to show off loads of recipes with gorgeous color photos! Yes, our food looks tasty, healthy (when it should) and so decadent when it needs to.

Obviously this is not a history of vegan cookbooks as much as it is a walk through it from my perspective. We have come a long way from the days of squeezing vegan cheese out of tubes (that would plasticize when baked),and our cookbooks no longer make it seem as if our food isn’t tasty enough to display or is "full of hay."*

For me, cookbooks have always been a decoration, more of a status symbol to others to show them how many vegan cookbooks are out there. You can learn from me: you don’t have to cook to enjoy cookbooks; just find someone who knows how to cook!

*Hey where did the hay comment come from? When I was in college the Beyond Beef Campaign (started by Jeremy Rifkin) organized a day where activists around the country would have a delicious-looking veggie burger in front of McDonald’s to show how delicious they could be. At our event in Austin, two men came up wearing cowboy hats. One with a bun and some hay inside the other was more dressed up. By the time they arrived the media had left so we were able to confront them and after I debated with one of them for a while one of the activists commented on my ‘bravery’ I asked why – she said he was the Agricultural Commissioner of Texas. And now, this idiot is running for President – he is the Governor of Texas Rick Perry (the other was the head of the Cattlemen’s Association).

Activism Down Under Part 2: The Aussies

2011-09-18T14:08:00.000-07:00

As my last blog post explained, I was recently in New Zealand speaking at their national animal rights conference. Since I had flown that far already, it made sense to travel to Australia as well. I had never been there so I was looking forward to meeting activists with whom I had worked on various campaigns.

Before starting Food Empowerment Project, I was the Executive Director of a group called Viva!USA, and one of our campaigns we ran was against Adidas for their use of kangaroo skins for their soccer cleats.

Over the years, I have had the privilege of spending time with animals in a more natural environment at sanctuaries throughout the United States. It is truly a joy to be around animals like ducks, pigs, chickens, turkeys, cows, and sheep, especially since people often think of them as food. But observing them when they are allowed to be the individuals they are, indulging in their instinctual behaviors, well, it can be a life-altering experience. Yet one animal I had spent years protecting, and one I was unsure if I would ever see in person, is the kangaroo.

I was lucky enough to meet one of the activists I have been working with on behalf of roos: Lindy Stacker. Because I had never met Lindy in person, she brought along a special companion so I would recognize her at the airport. There is nothing quite like being greeted by an incredible woman/activist and an inflatable kangaroo!

Lindy took us to an orphanage where we met a baby wallaby and both Eastern and Red Kangaroos. We were able to touch them, and I even felt the tail of a Red Kangaroo hit my leg; his strength was amazing.

We also met another individual who deserves mention. His name is Howard Ralph.

Howard is a medical doctor, surgeon, aesthetician, and a veterinarian. He is all of these and, well, an incredibly humble and gentle man.

After some coaxing from Lindy, he eventually handed me a photo album wrapped in a pillow case.

I had anticipated seeing images of injured kangaroos whom he had helped heal. What I had not expected to see was the range of animals this man has sought to help and cure: the small frog whose leg was broken and he put a pin in to fix, tortoises whose shells had been cracked when they were hit by a car, the wombat with cataracts, as well as the snakes, kangaroos, owls, possums, koalas, echidna, bats, and more.

His thought and practice has been, if you can help humans with this experience, why not animals?

The pictures in his “bible” were of animals before, during, and after surgery.

Here is one story: A bearded dragon suffered a fractured mandible after being hit by a car. Under anesthetic, the fracture was pinned and, because the lizard wouldn’t be able to eat for some months while his fracture healed, an oesopitalostomy tube was inserted to allow him to eat until he was well again. According to Howard, the patient healed.

There is also the story of the brushtail possum who was taken to the vet and was going to be killed because he had a broken arm! Just because of a broken arm. Luckily, the vet’s nurse knew about Howard, and she took the possum to see him.

More stories and even images can be seen here:
http://www.southerncrosswildlifecare.org.au/index.html

Unfortunately, donations are difficult to send from the states, but Food Empowerment Project plans to do some sort of event to showcase Howard’s efforts and raise needed funds for his clinic, Southern Cross Wildlife Care, which truly embodies the belief that every individual matters. (Everything that is done at this clinic, including the work of Howard and Lindy, is done as volunteers; the clinic receives no government funding.)

The world needs more doctors like Howard Ralph. If they have the experience, they should put their talents into practice to save lives – all lives, big and small.

Of course, we need not be a gifted vet to help animals. We all have the power to impact their lives every day by choosing to keep them off our plates.

Activism Down Under Part I: The Kiwis

2011-08-29T21:11:00.000-07:00

I recently had the opportunity to go to New Zealand to give a talk in Wellington as well as speak at the country’s national animal rights conference in Auckland.

First of all, not only is New Zealand beautiful, but from Air New Zealand to the country’s shops, airports and buses, it is amazing how friendly people are. This is not an ad for New Zealand; however, it was very telling as our flight back was on a U.S.-based airline, and the staff was not nearly as polite. But I digress…

In Wellington we met some wonderful activists – some who had been around for a while and others who were new. The first evening we were there I gave a talk on food justice and the work of Food Empowerment Project.

In preparation for my talks, I had done some research on food security issues in New Zealand to see if the situation was any different from the U.S. Unfortunately, what I found was the same situation: it is primarily the indigenous Maori people who are living in areas where it is difficult to find healthy foods – fresh fruits and vegetables. And they too are lactose intolerant.

As much as I was glad that I was going to be able to speak on an issue that is a big part of the work we do, it was very disheartening to see firsthand that such an injustice goes beyond the United States.

I found that speaking about food justice issues sparked an interest among the activists, just like in the States. Many activists were interested in food security issues as well as wanting to learn more about how to buy chocolate that does not involve any child or forced labor. If you haven’t seen our updated chocolate list, do check it out: http://www.foodispower.org/chocolatelist.htm.

We had one day to play in Wellington and went to a bird sanctuary where we saw some of the most amazing birds. And listening to them? Well, it is times like these where you appreciate sound.

Food, oh yes – vegans love to talk about food – so the major food find in New Zealand was a delicious noodle soup called laksa. Okay, now, don't everyone post that you have known about this dish forever – but instead post that you will send me some!

Okay, back to Auckland! The national animal rights conference in New Zealand was organized by SAFE with input from local activists.

One of the things that amazed me about being there was how for so long my view of global animal rights activism has looked at what has been going on ‘across the pond’ in Europe, and apparently I had lost sight of what has been taking place down under.

When I was there, I learned that New Zealand no longer has wild animals in their circuses and no more marine mammals in entertainment!

On Friday night, the kickoff event was open to the public and was held in Auckland’s beautiful town hall. I spoke about various victories in campaigns I have worked on, from stopping a mega dairy to winning a lawsuit for the animals at the California Supreme Court. On Saturday, I spoke about food justice and was impressed to hear other speakers such as Lyn White from Animals Australia and many of the Kiwi activists.

For all the cruelty and ugliness that Lyn has seen around the world, she is an incredibly kind person. I encourage you to click on the link above and read about her work. She showed a lot of graphic footage of her investigations on live export (enough for the crowd to eventually plead for her not to show anymore), and although watching this footage pains me since I tend to relive these images in my head (unfortunately at night), as someone who has done investigations as well, I felt I should watch them. And I have debated for a few nights about including this link; however, as Lyn said, for anyone who tells you animals don’t feel, have them watch this video about Tommy. However, I really, really don’t encourage you to watch it if you already ‘get it,’ as it is one of the most painful films of exploitation that I have seen. Truly, this video, although not graphic, does need a warning.

A new face in the New Zealand animal rights crowd was Carl Scott. He built a cage near an egg farm and lived in it for one month to not only get exposure for the issue of hens raised in battery cages, but also to have an understanding of what it must feel like for them. Carl is the kind of activist I wish we had more of in the States. He is funny, passionate, thoughtful and humble. He is eager to learn and do more.

Honestly, I didn’t see much of the ‘fanfare’ or glorifying of individuals as I see in the States – for the most part, it seemed like there was an understanding of a lot of work being done together, and the celebrity status was pretty non-existent (at least in comparison to the U.S.). And I had to ask myself if that is because of the humility of the ‘leaders’ or the realistic understanding that activists have, or was it both? Either way, it was certainly refreshing.

Other Kiwi activists that I got to hear speak include Yolanda Soryl of the vegan New Zealand Vegetarian Society – I wish I had had more time to spend with her. We learned about the devastating earthquake in Christchurch from Nichola Kriek of SAFE – she made it all more human for me and helped me recognize the impact the quake had on the veg community.

And our Mark Hawthorne gave a valuable talk to activists around the globe about the importance of recognizing and avoiding burnout. On Sunday I gave one of my favorite talks on how to run campaigns. And I am thrilled that I have already heard from activists there since I have been back! And the lovely Mark Eden (an amazing activist who has been on the NZ scene for decades) led a workshop in which he broke us up into groups to see how we would deal with real issues happening in our backyard while encouraging us to use a variety of allies and tactics.

As New Zealand is so far away, I do worry that I won’t be seeing many of the incredible activists I met anytime soon. But I hope all of you (Mark, Tom, Raquel, Tim, Trudi, Nichola, Amanda Broughton and the rest of you) will keep in touch. Hugs and kisses to Queenie, Sabina, Pierre, Ninja, Bryan & Jack. My thanks to SAFE for asking me to speak and for taking care of the arrangements.

And thanks to everyone for their support of Food Empowerment Project’s work. We are so pleased to know that our work resonates with so many of you and that there is a global niche to fill.

A thumbs up to you all.

Next: Australia….

Lives of Farm Workers Part III: A Broken System - Corporate Welfare in the Fields

2011-07-06T18:24:00.000-07:00

(This is the final section of my three-part blog.)

During the testimonial session of the farm worker reality tour we were able to meet some of the children of the farm workers.

One of the children was an amazing young woman named Jasmin, who had just graduated from high school. She talked about her dream of going to college. She was incredibly smart and very well spoken. She smiled as she talked about her goals in life, as well as some of the drawbacks for a teen living in a labor camp – there is no bus service there, for example, and so it can be quite isolating.

The toughest part for her at school was a system created by the State of California. In order to live in the migrant camps, you can only reside in the camps for the months of May until November. Farm worker families must leave the camps on November 30 and cannot return until May 1^st. And you don’t just have to leave the camps – you have to move 60 miles away. So what does this mean for the kids who are trying to get an education? They have to start school in November and be prepared to take the tests with the rest of the students on material they have not learned. Luckily for Jasmin, her teachers understood her predicament enough to help. Talk about creating a system to make someone fail – that seems to be the goal of systems like this.

The labor camps provide the workers with a lower-than-average rent (say, $340 a month) and the state foots the rest of the bill. Hmm…..so if the state is going to be generous, I would prefer that generosity go to people – not corporations. But do you see what is happening here? This is corporate welfare. (And no, I do not and will not recognize a corporation as an individual person – but if the government wants to do so, I guess more corporate types need to be in jail for the crimes their companies commit.)

This was the crushing reality for me on this tour; since I was young I have read about the lives of migrant farm workers and have been horrified by their working and living conditions, but little did I know that the state was saying to the growers, “Okay, you don’t want to pay these people a living wage? That’s fine – the state will foot some of the bill.” I mean, really? This is outrageous.

This is basically giving the growers a free ride.

And of course, it is not like every farm worker is allowed to live in a labor camp. Only 12% of farm workers live in one of the 26 camps in California. And to live there one has to be chosen by a lottery.

Okay, so where do the remaining 88% of farm workers live? They aren’t getting paid a living wage, and they work very strenuous jobs and long hours. As described in the previous blog, that is why some take to living outside in the woods, camping, or living in their trucks.

The system is incredibly messed up if you ask me – and that is a nice way of putting it. I know some might be bothered by the state paying for the labor camps because of it being their tax money and it shouldn’t go to “help these people.”

However, the short-sightedness of that way of thinking must end. These labor camps aren’t handouts to the farm workers – they are handouts to the growers, the corporations. It is basically giving them a free ride of not paying the workers what they deserve, much less enough to live on.

The system needs to be fixed, and Food Empowerment Project aims to work with those who want to help fix this problem.

Potato or Tomato?

2011-06-23T20:35:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Food Empowerment Project and SCCAA (Santa Clara County Activists for Animals) had tables at the Green Kids Conference in Mountain View, CA. This first-annual conference was organized by kids for kids. In fact, the founder is an eleven-year-old boy --inspiring in and of itself.

In addition to having literature, stickers and other materials out for kids and specific information about how eating animals impacts the environment, we decided to have a game that kids could learn from.

After seeing videos and reading about children not being able to identify various fruits and vegetables, I decided to make a game in which the kids had to identify various foods. Of course, I cheated a bit as I went to Whole Foods Market and had them teach me about a variety of different veggies and fruits.

As the South Bay is a very culturally diverse area, I chose some unusual fruits and vegetables so that if the kids did not know what they were, it would be a great opportunity for them to learn about foods from other cultures. I tried to throw some easy ones in there, too.

I chose beet, bok choy, chayote, eggplant, dino kale, ginger, jalapeno pepper, lychee, mango, potato and tomatillos. I wrote a brief description of each item, including where they came from and other tidbits. I felt it was important for the children in attendance to see the link between their heritage and the food they probably eat every week.

We had a sign that read “Win a Prize: What Am I?”

The prizes? Stickers, coloring books and buttons (“I Don’t Eat My Friends”).

Of course, things don’t ever go as planned. Since most of the kids coming by the table at the beginning of the event were very young, they needed their parents’ help. From then on, everyone received their choice of a button or coloring book.

Over the course of the day, we would eventually hear parents say, “Oh, this is the game we heard about!” or, after having one of their children play, they would come back with an older or younger sibling to play again.

It was fun to watch the parents get excited when their children got it right and embarrassed when their kids couldn’t even guess. It ended up being a great learning experience for all, especially since we were able to tell them how healthy the various foods were.

We could truly see that the lesson was learned: one parent told her son that he was going to have to go grocery shopping with her as he couldn’t identify half of the items (and identified a potato as a tomato), and other parents talked about having the kids start cooking with them. One woman explained that the counters were too high for her daughter to see as she was chopping – but maybe she should lower the cutting surface so her daughter could watch and learn.

It was wonderful to hear the parents remind their kids how they ate these foods regularly – bok choy in stir fry, kale in the pasta, as well as the people telling us the different names of the foods in their native language – Chinese or a certain dialect from India, for example.

Overall, the day was a success, and it was exciting to have kids and their parents crowd around tables that addressed veganism and the treatment of animals while learning an important lesson about how detached most people are to foods these days.

Lives of farm workers Part II

2011-06-14T20:19:00.001-07:00

Click here to read the Lives of farm workers Part I.

After spending some time at the home of the strawberry worker, we drove to a nearby labor camp. If you are like me, the first image you have when you read “labor camp” is that described in John Steinbeck’s 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath (an amazing book). I figured it must be better than that, and I have to admit, I didn’t even think labor camps existed anymore; yes, it was better than what I expected.

Here was a tiny community nestled between the dump and a correctional facility. It illustrated perfectly what environmental racism is all about. If you have ever seen military housing (meaning two tiny apartments next door to each other), this is kind of like what it was.

The building we met in was a school for the children. It was filled with bilingual books and learning games. But the testimonials we were going to hear definitely were not fit for children.

Six out of 10 women who cross the border from Mexico into the U.S. are sexually assaulted. As more women have become aware of this vicious act, they are actually starting to take birth control pills before they cross.

One of the young women we met, from Oaxaca, was raped during the crossing. This beautiful, young girl now has a baby boy. We were told that she has been learning to cope with the help of a nun. She had traveled back and forth with her father when she was 16 or 17 years old. They would travel as far as Michigan to help pick apples, blueberries and cherries and also go to Indiana – where they would pick corn.

But her father died while still in his 50s, and this time she traveled alone and unprotected. When she got here she slept outside in the wilderness because she had no place to stay. Then she went to a women’s shelter and eventually moved into a house with other women. Because of her son, she no longer has any plans to migrate back and forth.

We met other women who work in the strawberry fields – many have children. One had worked in the strawberry fields for 19 years. She spoke about extortion at the border, where gangs demand money for safe passage. She talked about a car full of people trying to cross the border, and when they refused to pay, one man was beaten and had his wallet stolen.

She works 7am – 4pm and has to produce 25-30 cases of strawberries (one case equals 12 baskets of strawberries). One of the women sustained an injury and suffers from excruciating pain doing this work.

She also discussed the problem of wage theft, which is very common for farm workers. A contractor will disappear when it is time for them to get paid. The growers blame it on the contractors and the workers have no recourse to collect payment for all of their work.

One of the questions brought up during the tour was why are the workers coming here? One of the main reasons discussed was NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement), which basically serves to benefit the United States. According to Dr. Lopez, millions of subsistence farmers were driven out of Mexico because of NAFTA. These are farmers who were able to grow enough food to feed their families and sell enough of the surplus to make a living. And a majority of these farmers grew corn, which was (and still is) a vital part of the diet in Mexico. However, with NAFTA, the U.S. was able to export much cheaper corn (which is subsidized by our government and was more plentiful due to GMO corn). Unfortunately, the introduction of GMO corn by the U.S. can literally wipe out the various strains of corn that have existed in Mexico for centuries.

In addition to this, I contend that corporations (from the U.S. and elsewhere) also go into Mexico for production of products (some of which are toxic, such as televisions from Panasonic) where they pay the workers less than they would be making in the U.S.

In the next and final section on the lives of farm workers, I will discuss in more detail about another form of corporate welfare – labor camps.

Lives of Farm Workers Part I

2011-06-02T18:51:00.000-07:00

I don’t consider myself to be an expert on farm workers, though I do feel I am pretty educated on the issue and on some of the history. And, of course, it is part of Food Empowerment Project's outreach efforts because of how passionately I feel about it.

In the 1970s, my mom participated in the first boycott of grapes organized by the United Farm Workers, so I was exposed to the issues of farm worker justice at a young age. Then, in the 1980s, I joined the grape boycott when it started again.

In Austin, Texas, I attended St. Edward’s University, which has a program called CAMP (College Assistance Migrant Program). I remember learning about it when I started my work study job my first year there – they told me about the program, and my response was, “But we don’t have migrant farm workers anymore.” Unfortunately, this offended my boss, who actually had been a recipient of the program many years before. (She never did like me, but I think it was because of my involvement in animal rights which was pretty unheard of to many at the school.)

I had no idea. I thought that certainly the U.S. had found a way to give permanent jobs to those who grow our food. Not so. By the time I was graduating, I was doing papers on farm worker issues as I was going to school with them and was learning directly from them.

I remember one of the students who truly opened my eyes as she told me about her family and their experiences on the farms. Her mom would have sores on her body due to the agricultural chemicals, and although she was a little girl, she was the only one in her family who spoke English so the foreman would yell at her. How many times does a grown man get away with yelling at a young girl?

Fast forward to where I am now. As most of you probably know, justice for farm workers is a big part of Food Empowerment Project's mission. And I have done my best to stay informed on these issues; admittedly, I usually feel as if I have a good handle on it. You can read some of what we have been talking about on these pages of our website:

http://www.foodispower.org/produce_workers.htm
http://www.foodispower.org/slavery_usa.htm
http://www.foodispower.org/importing_slavery.htm

And yet, I continue to learn more and, well, none of it is good.

Several months ago I was contacted by an amazing high school student in Gilroy, Calif. I had the opportunity to meet her and her wonderful group. She was so incredibly informed on these issues – more so than even many college students I speak to.

But in addition to her desire to volunteer with us, she also wanted to connect us with the Center for Farmworker Families. Through this, I met the founder and an inspiring woman named Dr. Ann Lopez. She has studied farm worker issues in the Salinas area (this is near Santa Cruz and a strawberry-growing region) for more than 15 years.

One of their projects is to conduct Farm Worker Reality Tours. A few Food Empowerment Project volunteers and I had the opportunity to join one of these tours before my speaking engagement in Vancouver.

We were able to go out with a farm worker to a strawberry field where he showed us how he works, and then we were able to take a tour of the “house” that he shares with his wife and seven children (and at least one dog).

We found that strawberry workers like him (to protect him and his family, I will not even use an alias) can only expect to live to be 49. He spends 13 hours a day bending over, picking strawberries. The top salary is about $9 an hour, and they will earn .70 cents per 12 baskets they are able to fill. Incentive to work quickly means workers (who don’t earn a lot) are less likely to take breaks.

According to Dr. Lopez, this is one of the few families she has ever met where the whole family is still intact -- where the father didn’t come alone to the U.S. to send money back home. He brought the whole family with him.

Their house is a converted shack. It has one bedroom with a small kitchen and an even smaller living room. The bathroom is incredibly tiny as well. They have lovely portraits of the family up on the walls. But the place seriously looked in desperate need of repair and they pay $900 a month for it. In downtown San José (about 1 hour away) you can get a nice apartment for about a hundred dollars more. And yet, here are workers who get paid doing back-breaking work and essentially being gouged financially at the same time. Their water? It is contaminated – full of nitrates. He doesn’t complain as he doesn’t want to get in trouble and lose his job.

The houses in the surrounding hills are large and look down on the fields. These are owned by the people who make the money off the fruits of land and the backs of the workers.

When we asked for the name of a strawberry company that treats its workers well, we were told Swanton: http://www.swantonberryfarm.com/.

Part II will include testimonials of the farm workers and their stories of crossing the border and their work.

Understanding Food Empowerment Project’s Chocolate list

2011-05-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

Last year, after months of research, Food Empowerment Project published our list of chocolate companies that sell vegan chocolate. We placed this list on our website for a variety of reasons:

To help people buy chocolate that does not involve the enslavement of human (children or adults) or non-human animals (such as cows and goats).

To make sure consumers are informed about where companies stand on the issue.

To encourage consumers to contact the companies and let them know how they feel!

Understanding our listThe list is made up of several categories:

Chocolate we feel comfortable recommending. The first category is pretty simple. These are companies that make some (if not all) vegan chocolates. They have responded to us when we requested where they get their cacao beans from, and the beans did not come from the Ivory Coast or Ghana.

Cannot recommend but are working on the issues in various ways. These are companies that responded to our request for information and are either fair trade, organic and/or have indicated to us that they are aware of the slavery issue and care enough to work on it, but, unfortunately, their chocolate still comes from the Ivory Coast or Ghana. They are currently buying chocolate with the intention of not participating in slavery, but we can't be 100% sure that it is not linked to slavery as they source from these countries in West Africa.

Some of the companies that are fair trade are not necessarily going to change suppliers, but they are indeed informed companies trying to do their part.

If they are fair trade, then why aren’t they listed on our recommended list? It is unfortunate, but there has been child labor found at a fair trade cooperative in Ghana. To the cooperative’s credit, as soon as the children were found, they were removed and placed in school.

Unfortunately, the fact that child labor was found at the cooperative gives us reason to be concerned; therefore, we do not feel comfortable recommending them at this time. We acknowledge this might change, but for now, this is how they rank on our list.

Cannot recommend but at least responded.
We list the companies that responded honestly but don’t make our list.

Cannot recommend: companies that would not disclose their supplier (no transparency for customers). Not disclosing where their chocolate is sourced from is really no different than those companies that did not respond at all. For any of these companies to not disclose to consumers which suppliers they use reminds me of corporations that plead ignorance to the fact that their suppliers are exploiting adults and/or children. Not to confuse anyone, but we do not ask for supplier contacts; we simply ask from which country they get their cacao beans. Wanting to hide the information seems, well, like a sign of guilt.

Cannot recommend: companies that did not respond. As simple as that. They did not respond to our request. These companies give us the impression that they feel they are above needing to answer and perhaps have a guilty conscience.

How do we contact the companies? Food Empowerment Project is an all-volunteer organization, and we have had a number of superb activists who have emailed the companies requesting where they get their cacao beans from. If the response is “Switzerland,” “USA” or some other non-cacao-producing country known for its chocolate, another email is sent reminding them we are talking about the beans, not the chocolate. If there is no response, another email is sent after two weeks – forwarding the original request. After another week passes, the two reminders are sent again, this time with a link to our list, letting them know they will go on our non-response list if we do not hear back. After a week with no response, we put them on our website.

Our list is updated as companies respond to us.

We encourage people from all over the globe to send us the names of companies that make vegan chocolate products that are not already on our list; we will look into the company to see where they should be placed on our list.

Eating healthy is a disorder?

2011-05-08T12:52:00.000-07:00

Last week some articles posted on the internet explored new eating disorders. I always try to have a glance at these just to see if any pro-animal ag person brings up vegetarianism or veganism as they have in the past.

I was pleased to see that none of them did; however, there was a term I found pretty troublesome: Orthorexia nervosa. Why did it bother me? Partly because most of my friends, myself included, have some measure of this disorder. I worried for them and for me.

And yes, I am being sarcastic.

According to the simplest definition: “What is orthorexia? Identified in 1997 by Colorado physician Steven Bratman, MD, orthorexia is Latin for ‘correct eating.’ Here, too, the focus isn’t on losing weight. Instead, sufferers increasingly restrict their diets to foods they consider pure, natural and healthful. Some researchers say that orthorexia may combine a touch of obsessive compulsive disorder with anxiety and warn that severely limited ‘healthy’ diets may be a stepping stone to anorexia nervosa, the most severe -- and potentially life-threatening -- eating disorder.”

Yup, they said it: healthful eating: -- it isn’t even about losing weight!

But here is the worst part – what they eat:

Orthorexics: Those affected may start by eliminating processed foods, anything with artificial colorings or flavorings as well as foods that have come into contact with pesticides. Beyond that, orthorexics may also shun caffeine, alcohol, sugar, salt, wheat and dairy foods. Some limit themselves to raw foods.

Hmmm….now, I can’t completely fit in that category, but, umm….not eating processed foods. Really? I believe it is pretty much universal that we know that eating processed foods is a huge problem with our diets today.

And what? They don’t want to consume chemicals? Now I am sure the chemical industry finds this outrageous and a definite affront to how people in this country should be eating.

I mean, if people who are trying to eat healthy are called Orthorexics, than what are most people in the U.S. called? There is no disorder related to people who consume processed foods, eat at McDonald’s every day and dine on the bones and veins of chickens at KFC? Why is that?

I didn’t bother to look up the doctor who coined the term “Orthorexics,” but I am just absolutely shocked that any doctor would align people who are trying to improve their health with some sort of eating disorder.

The good news, of course, is that this term has been around since 1997 and maybe people haven’t heard of it. The bad news is I have no idea what is happening when a 13-year-old girl who wants to eat healthy because of all that she has learned about process foods, agricultural chemicals in her foods and what happens to animals who are raised for food walks into her doctor’s office and tells her/him of this “disorder.”

Some even refer to this disorder as “righteous eating.” Umm…if that is the case, then I think Food Empowerment Project should be the poster child as we do believe in protecting the rights of those when it comes to food.

Now my understanding is that some people with obsessive compulsive disorder suffer from something like this; however, the media are not doing them or healthy eating a service with the current run of articles on this issue.

In case anyone thinks I am making this up, check out http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/new-eating-disorders-are-they-real

Crushed by the Rolling Stone

2011-04-14T22:36:00.000-07:00

I have been debating on writing this blog because, if you are like me, some things are just too horrible to bear. It has taken me about two weeks to write this because this blog might have a two-fold effect: one positive and one negative. The positive effect is that you will read the article in question, and the negative effect is that you will read the article in question.

A couple of weeks ago, I read an article in Rolling Stone magazine about a number of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan who went on a killing spree. Earlier this year when the shootings took place in Arizona and Australia was hit with major floods, I went on a hiatus from reading the news as sometimes it is so incredibly disturbing that I can’t sleep.

But when I saw this article in Rolling Stone, I thought, as I often do, that I need to have a good understanding about the horrors that the U.S. military (among our other entities) perpetuates against innocent people – aside from the war we ravage against them.

Admittedly I was not completely prepared for the physical and emotional reaction I would have. The images of the bloody body of the fifteen-year-old child who was murdered were chilling. Though when I got to the pictures of the soldiers (despicable, murderous psychopaths) posing with the young boy’s body as if he were a deer killed in a hunt, I had to stop, as my stomach was sick and I was short of breath.

I had viewed these images while at work, and I had to step outside the office to get some air. All I wanted to do was go home and cry. At the same time, I had to question why I looked at those images. And why did some bother me so much more than others?

I knew why I looked at the images. For the same reasons that I investigated factory farms, slaughterhouses and auction houses: the need to bear witness. The need to speak with some authority and, of course, the need to understand…or at least try to.

It took me a while to really analyze myself – my stronger reaction of the humans involved who perpetuated the savage act– the undeniable, unbearable acceptance of our utter cruelty. For some reason having the killers there made it unavoidable to accept how despicable we as a species can be. Filming pigs, chickens, ducks and cows in factory farms was difficult, but watching the majestic and beautiful black Angus slip at the auction house was painfully intense. It was hard to see a huge, strong animal fall and have some idiot poke and prod at him to get him to stand. The human participates in this act. Or to watch the ducks at the slaughterhouse struggle to upright themselves as they have been shackled upside down. The people there were hanging them, watching them.

These soldiers, murderers in Afghanistan, took delight in their killing spree. Like some serial killers, they took pieces of the bodies of their victims.

Sigh…. I write this knowing I have no solutions, and the only thought that I can cling to is relishing the fact that I can’t understand this--that I can’t relate to it-- and I am proud of that. That this type of wickedness is beyond my comprehension.

Thankfully, many of you reading this are on the other side of the wretched coin I saw exhibited in Rolling Stone – you, like me, are doing what you can to turn the tide. To expose these types of horrific acts and do what we can to end them.

Reading the article left me feeling a bit powerless and in anguish. I guess that is why so much of my energy is spent working on issues that I know I, and we together, can have a positive impact on. After spinning in my mind on how to fix the military – I decided it was a bigger task than I was capable of.

Kind of like when I was younger and overwhelmed with apartheid in South Africa, animal suffering, war and the death penalty. I realized that with certain issues – not eating animals and at the time honoring the boycott of grapes (on behalf of the farm workers)— I could do my part.

It’s not too difficult a task to not contribute to the slaughtering of animals for food, to encourage others to not buy “meat,” eggs and dairy, to work for justice for farm workers and an end to slavery in the chocolate industry – these are relatively simple ways we can all help to make the world a better place.

Speak out Reach out for Meatout

2011-03-17T15:30:00.000-07:00

The “Great American Meatout” (as it was called when I first got involved in the late ‘80s, when it always fell on March 20th) is one of my favorite events. Organized by FARM, a group in our movement, Meatout is an incredibly positive event that can be done in a big or small way.

This year, Food Empowerment Project is a proud co-sponsor of the event!

When I was introduced to the concept of Meatout, it was equated with the “Great American Smokeout.” I hope I am not showing my age by mentioning that… I remember being in elementary school wearing a sticker of a frog with big red lips and “The Great American Smokeout.” The point was to encourage kids to not smoke and we wore our stickers with pride.

Seems like it should not be our job to teach children to eat healthier (and obviously more compassionately), but it seems to be now. You don’t see the schools doing it – but wouldn’t it be great to hear them talk about Meatout over the loudspeakers and have a week of animal-free meals in the cafeterias? I would like to think this will eventually happen, sooner rather than later.

It seems to me that kids would understand this issue more easily than smoking. Most children have a strong love for animals; wouldn’t this be the perfect time to take advantage of children’s innate sense of compassion while at the same time helping them understand the importance of eating healthy?

Okay, back from my dream and back to why I love Meatout.

I have been participating in Meatout for more than 20 years. I remember organizing an “Adopt A Carnivore” week for Meatout with my university group. We set up a table for a week and had people pledge to give up eating “meat” for the week and people who were vegetarian pledged to go vegan. Everyone got a bag filled with cookies, a tiny statue of a farmed animal, literature, etc ., and then at the end of the week we all went to eat at a vegetarian restaurant (no vegan restaurants in Austin back then). Years later I heard from people who had actually stopped eating animals due to their one-week pledge.

Over the years, I have served veggie burgers at various State Capitols, restaurants and universities. Not long ago, I started a new job and moved to a new area so I knew I couldn’t do a big event. Instead, I bought everyone at my office a veggie burger. None of them were vegetarian, so it was a good test. One of my colleagues now only eats veggie burgers and has been taste testing some vegan cheeses!

So big or small, it doesn’t matter what you do. We should treat every day like Meatout and always use it as an opportunity to speak out for the animals around the world. But hey, this day is the time for special emphasis, when more people will notice it!

I just got back from handing out 200 vegan burgers at the great San Jose State University with my local group, Santa Clara County Activists for Animals. Students were eager to give the meatless burgers a try and learn more. Such a positive feel good event – for everyone involved. Our St. Patrick’s Day slogan: Happy St. Patrick’s Day – Be Green – Go Vegan!

So please, Speak out and Reach out this Meatout!

For more details: http://www.meatout.org/

Don’t Cry Me a River—Coke Might Buy It

2011-03-14T20:49:00.000-07:00

In 2006, I had the honor of speaking at the World Social Forum in Caracas, Venezuela. I spoke on corporate animal factories and the devastation they were having on animals, workers and the environment and how many of these factories were coming from the U.S. In attendance were activists from Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, the U.S., Venezuela and a number of other countries. Afterwards, we all ate at a vegetarian restaurant nearby.

As some of you know, this experience is what inspired me to create the Food Empowerment Project. So many the issues close to my heart were discussed—environment, labor, water, immigration—and I was there to help bring up the animals. Another incredible part of the conference was that we were able to take tours to see some of the progress that was being made in Caracas.

One of the speakers I was privileged to hear when I was there was Oscar Olivera, the coordinator of the Defensa del Agua y de la Vida (“The Coalition in Defense of Water and Life”). I had already seen him in the movie The Corporation and was familiar with the famous story of how he and others in his community of Cochabamba, Bolivia, eventually stopped the billion-dollar U.S. corporation Bechtel from privatizing their water.

This was the first I had heard of a corporation literally buying the rights to water. You can read more about this issue on a new section of our website: Water Usage & Privatization.

Even after I started to pay attention to the issue, I truly thought that this injustice was only taking place overseas, that somehow corporations were exploiting developing countries – and charging them for water. I knew Coke was privatizing water in India (and mostly recently I learned they are also doing this in Chiapas, Mexico). Luckily, in both Bolivia and India, activists have been successful in stopping it.

But did you know it was happening in the U.S. as well? Yes, even our water supply is being bought up. How short-sighted is this?

This is when I wish Alan Shore were real! (Okay, I just started watching Boston Legal and wish he could take on some of these corporations that I vent about.)

A corporation owning water? I don’t mean they have water on their property and they own it; I mean they want to own rivers, and they want the water in our aquifers. We already lose so much of our water to animal agriculture, but now we are losing it to the likes of corporations like Nestlé and Coca Cola? How dare they. And how dare any government allow this to happen.

How did it come to this? How can we get out of it?

We have all been hearing for the past decade that water is going to be the precious fluid that wars are fought over in the future – not oil. And I guess these companies are getting a head start?

One might think that nothing can be done living in a community not currently affected by water privatization. But everyone should be on the lookout for these corporations seeking to privatize our water, and remember that we can all boycott companies such as Nestlé and Coca-Cola for their participation in depriving people of water. Water is a natural resource that we all need to live, and yet they've turned it into a commodity from which they make a huge profit.

Furthermore, we can avoid buying bottled water. Yes, I know, this is not the solution, but it is a small step that each of us can take to not support this form of exploitation. You can buy stainless steel reusable bottles—like those from our friends at Food Fight! or Herbivore (please do not buy Nalgene as they make equipment used in animal experiments).

Thanks to Mat Thomas for his research and work on the following sections: Water Usage & Privatization and Pollution.

And if you haven’t yet had a chance to check our other new section on our website about Farmers’ Markets, please do! Thanks goes out to Katie Cantrell for volunteering her time to write this section!

Been down this road before…

2011-02-20T11:08:00.000-08:00

Food Empowerment Project has recently thrown our support behind AB 376, which would ban the possession of shark fins in California.

But unfortunately, this blog isn’t about why sharks are one of my favorite animals (oh, but let me know if you want me to elaborate on that), it is about a situation nearly as grim as the one that sharks are facing now.

The bill has stirred up controversy – it is co-authored by a wonderful Assemblymember in my county, Assemblymember Fong, but it is being blasted by a State Senator Yee from San Francisco, who is running for mayor. And unfortunately, he is attempting to make this an issue about Chinese culture.

As a person of color, I find two things incredibly distressing about these situations:

When ethnicity, race, or whatever you want to call it, is used to condone any form of animal exploitation or cruelty.
When people who defend the animals expose themselves to be racists.

Food Empowerment project was started to show the interconnections of both human animal and non-human animal injustices. One of my main mottos is “Oppression is oppression no matter what form it takes.”

Now, as someone who attended the charreada when I was young, I often speak out in opposition to the cruelties involved in these traditional rodeos (not the beauty of other parts of these events, just those involving animals). My memories of attending are of complete sadness. I am appalled when people call that our “culture.” To me, every cruelty and injustice, even under the guise of cultural tradition, needs to be stopped (including many of those in the U.S.).

Regardless of how strongly I feel about the animal cruelty at these events, I am just as disgusted by the vitriolic comments against my people (for example Mexicans are lazy and are just cruel to animals). In order to comment along with the people who are opposed to the animal cruelty I have to speak against their hateful comments otherwise I would feel as if I am siding with absolute racists.

Those of us who do not tolerate animal abuse can still be proud of our culture.

When I worked on the law in California to ban the production and sale of foie gras, the race card was brought out again. The producer (of El Salvadorian descent) claimed it was a race issue. I quickly reminded the legislators that the cruelty involved in the production of foie gras had nothing to do with culture.

And here it is again with the shark finning bill. The race card is dropped and people who are working on the bill are at a loss since it is such a simple and clear issue of preventing a form of cruelty as well as protecting species who are currently threatened with extinction. And yet, I read comments on blogs that absolutely sicken me with their xenophobic, racist remarks about the Chinese people.

My initial reaction of course is to worry about how incredibly prevalent racism is – even in California’s Bay Area. How can people who care about non-human animals be so filled with hatred? And what do they think they accomplish by expressing this?

This is the road I would never like to go down again. But I know it is inevitable in a society where the we are often pitted against one another.

I just hope that those reading this will stand strong and speak out against both. Please do not allow any comment in favor of the animals with even a tinge of racism go without speaking up for the animals and speaking against racism.

We, as advocates for justice, for compassion and for the animals, cannot allow it to continue.

For information on sharks, please see our webpage: http://www.foodispower.org/shark_finning.htm.

It's Thumper's Year!

2011-02-02T21:54:00.000-08:00

Happy Chinese New Year! As it is the Year of the Rabbit, it seemed only fitting to draw attention to the section of our website that explores the issue of rabbits killed for food.

And, well, since a bunny has recently come into my life, I thought I would write a bit about that too. Since I was young, my favorite animals have always been sharks (thanks to Jaws) and cats (thanks to the strays in my apartment complex when I was little) – yes, I know, not exactly vegan critters. One of my favorite websites is http://icanhascheezburger.com/.

One rainy day when I was in college, I moved out of my dorm and into an apartment where I discovered a mama cat and her two kittens. I immediately became the proud parent of the mother and one of her babies, who had not even opened his eyes. I named him Malcolm (after Malcolm X), and he was a constant in my life one month shy of 17 years – I lost him in April of 2009. You can read more about Malcolm here: http://www.kerulos.org/projects/t-s-foodempowerment.html

The pain of losing my baby has been so intense for me that I have chosen not to have any more animals (in addition, my traveling schedule isn’t the best for a critter).

Recently, my boyfriend and I have moved in together, and with him has come his bunny (he only rescues special-needs rabbits).

I am close to many bunny lovers, but while I have appreciated their love and passion, I had previously only adored bunnies from afar. And now I am living with one. And, yes, she has won me over.

One of the most amazing things I have learned (and I know all of you bunny people are probably bored by now) is how incredible it is that their natural behaviors are still very much a part of their lives. My favorite example: bunnies use their powerful hind legs to thump the ground when they sense something – a predator, a strange noise, whatever – that they need to warn other rabbits about. And our bunny, in this case, thumps when our neighbors are too loud! I encourage her of course, hoping they will get the hint and quiet down – but truly, I am in awe of this instinct.

And not to get too sad here, but really the extent of my learning about rabbits has been in my work against cosmetic testing and animal experimentation. Most of what I know about rabbits – no tear glands, how silent they are, etc. – I’ve discovered in the context of them being experimented on for products from perfumes to detergents. It has always filled with me sadness and anger, and now I feel the only adequate word is anguish. Getting to know the true nature of these creatures as they clean their ears and hop with joy, my heart breaks at the thought of a laboratory and all of the thumping that might take place … or, perhaps worse yet, for those rabbits whose instinct has been bred out of them.

For information on buying cruelty-free, please see:
http://www.leapingbunny.org/

http://www.peta.org/living/beauty-and-personal-care/companies/default.aspx

Anyhow, let’s make this Year of the Rabbit an opportunity to inform people about animals used in experiments and those animals raised for food – including rabbits!

Is your vegan chocolate really cruelty-free?

2011-01-25T21:32:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all of you who have supported our work in this area and provided us with the names of companies to look into.

On our website we have posted the first list of companies that we can, with good conscience, recommend since they have no ties to the cacao (cocoa) beans in Africa where child slavery is not only a reality on conventional farms, but unfortunately can even be found on some of those that are fair trade. And you can also see where other companies stand on the issue.

To learn more about the issue, see our last blog "The chocolate we can all do without" and our website.

We are excited to see efforts to remove child labor from cocoa farms by the Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union (KKFU) in the country of Ghana, where they understand that there are people consuming chocolate who might boycott all chocolate sourced from Ghana until the issue of child labor is resolved in that country: “...chocolate consumers are very much alive to issues of human rights, issues of child rights and are asking questions of the chocolate companies where they’re getting their cocoa from and if the source of the cocoa is child-labour free. So the risk is that the whole of Ghana’s cocoa could be rejected on the world market because of child labour.”

We are encouraged by such efforts, and we hope our work will inspire other organizations to make similar strides toward cruelty-free chocolate.

Unfortunately, our list is not as long as we had originally hoped for, and what is disappointing is that many companies we thought would respond did not. We contacted each company via email over 3 months and a call was also made to all of the vegan specific companies.

You will notice that we have broken our list down into three parts: the companies that responded, those that did not, and those that would not reveal where they get their cocoa from.

The companies that responded that their chocolate is derived from West Africa do deserve some credit for being transparent.

I find most shameful not only the companies that would not be transparent with their supply chains, but also the vegan companies that didn’t even bother to respond.

So here is what we are asking you to do–for now:

Please only buy from companies that are on our recommended list.

See one of your favorites on our list as not responding or not being transparent? Contact the company and ask them to respond.

See one or more of your favorites on the list of companies we recommend you buy from? Don’t hesitate to thank them for doing their part and send them the link so they know this issue is important to you!

In the meantime, we are going to send a formal letter to a few of the companies that didn't respond or wouldn't be transparent with their supply chains, and based on their responses– or lack thereof– we might see fit to start a campaign to inform them how important this issue really is – and we hope you will join us!

Thanks go out to the following volunteers for their hard work and determination to get information from the companies: Sarah Galer, Chris Van Breen, Dana Portnoy and Mark Hawthorne.

And don't forget—this Valentine’s Day, buy your sweetie (or yourself!) chocolate that is free from animal suffering and human slavery.

Holiday Beagles

2011-01-02T22:29:00.000-08:00

This is a bit off topic for the Food Empowerment Project, but since I was involved and it is such a wonderful story about team work and dedication, I just wanted to share.

A couple of months ago a friend of mine who does rescue work in our area put me in touch with a woman who was working to get some beagle dogs released from a laboratory. There were about 13 dogs who needed homes immediately or they would be killed. These dogs had all been de-barked (meaning they had tissue removed from their vocal cords to prevent them from barking very loudly; this is a common procedure done at labs). Those who experiment and inflict pain on innocent animals don’t want to have to hear their cries. These beagles were a control group for experiments being done by a lab. None of the dogs had ever felt grass under their paws.

I was encouraged not to send this information far and wide – so I contacted activists in the area and immediately received responses from at least six people who would take the dogs to house them so they would not be euthanized.

Unfortunately, I was told that the vivisector (animal experimenter) had changed his mind due to budget issues and was going to keep the dogs to use for future experiments.

As someone who has worked on this issue for over 24 years, the thought of what this meant for the dogs was heart-wrenching.

Luckily, the week of Christmas I received another email that a different group of dogs was definitely going to be released if we could find homes immediately.

Knowing that the holidays might impact the rescue, I sent the alert to as many animal rights rescuers I knew, including my good friend and former Viva!USA attorney Orly Degani in LA. She immediately sent it to her list as well.

So yes, the good news is that 11 of the dogs are now with NorCal Beagle Rescue [to adopt some: http://www.norcalbeagles.com/cgi/Adopt.pl] and two found their way down to LA with Shannon Keith.

I have now been involved in the animal rights movement for more than half my life, and knowing that over a dozen dogs made it out of a lab and will live their lives free of torment has been an incredible way to start the year.

This rescue also illustrates the importance of teamwork. As Food Empowerment Project is an all-volunteer organization, I see the critical role teamwork plays time and time again. No one can do everything by themselves and reaching out to each other, being respectful and having some integrity goes a long way for our strength as a movement, which means more strength in fighting injustices.

Near and afar….

2010-11-30T20:31:00.000-08:00

Near and afar….

When looking at the big picture, one of the main goals of the Food Empowerment Project is for people to grow their own food. And I do mean grow, not raise—it is unfortunate how many people are adding chickens to their community and/or backyard gardens.

That is why our website features a new page devoted to growing your own food, which you can view here.

These are just some thoughts and suggestions– we know you can find loads more on the web.

A huge thanks to Itohan Udogie for all of the incredible writing and research put into this piece!

Giving the world our mistakes…

I think all of us know that there is a huge movement right now where people are trying to eat local – localvores, Michael Pollan followers, whatever they are. They understand the importance of farmer’s markets, CSAs and of course growing their own food. They see that food grown closer to home is better for the planet (less of a carbon footprint) and the food tastes better.

Just as many of us in the U.S. are starting to recognize this, the corporations in this country are exporting our exploitation. Yes, we are giving the rest of our world our sickness, our greed, our absolute disregard for life. Read more about this on our new page here.

What are we giving the rest of the world? Factory farming! The same "farms" that have polluted our water, tortured animals who are being raised for food and exploited workers.

I can’t say I am shocked, because I know that U.S. corporations are not exactly known for protecting those in other countries from our mistakes – look at how when chemicals are banned in the U.S., corporations still sell them in poor countries.

The reality of this angers me – and it angers me all the more to know that it is greed that perpetuates the exporting of exploitation.

A big thanks to Mat Thomas for his work in writing and researching this important addition to our website.

Getting back to basics

2010-11-27T16:18:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving…always a tough time for many of us, not only as vegan activists who have to endure an entire day that focuses on the death of an innocent bird, but also for those fighting for indigenous rights. This is also a holiday when many spend time with their families and are reminded of the fact that maybe, ‘they don’t get it.’

A couple of weeks ago I spoke in El Paso at the Vegetarian Society of El Paso’s (VSoEP) Thanksgiving event. It had been a while since I had been in Texas (my home state) and it was incredible and refreshing to be around such wonderful activists.

While I lived in Texas I remember running various animal rights groups and, really, just doing what we did for the animals—not being so impacted by conflicts in the animal rights movement but just hunkering down and doing what needed to be done. I sometimes wonder if that is because we were so far removed from it all, or perhaps it was simply because it was during the time before the Internet. Whatever it was, when I was there, it made me miss the days when I felt that we, as a movement, were truly united…maybe because we were even fewer back then. Or was it perhaps that the issues we worked on then were even less known at that time?

I think that sometimes living in California (the Bay Area, no less!) makes it hard to remember what it is like to live in places such as Texas, New Mexico and Georgia (places I have lived) and that vegetarianism, much less veganism, can be difficult. And I don’t mean just what we eat, I mean the mindset.

But I know these are the places where I learned a lot – where the concept of animal liberation is truly a foreign concept. It reminds me how life is for me now working outside of the paid animal rights movement.

You learn so much more living outside of the ‘vegan bubble.’ You learn what non-vegan people think and how they perceive us as well as the food we choose to eat. This type of interaction gives us the ability to learn what impacts people – not activists. We learn the various types of reactions we get on the issues we feel passionately about.

Now, I would love to do Food Empowerment Project as a full-time paid job, just as I know many activists want to work in the animal rights movement, so I say all of this to remind everyone how we can learn from the outside world. As good as it might feel to be around like-minded individuals all of the time, we learn how to be better advocates for animals when we remove ourselves from our comfort zone. I’m not saying it is easy, but just reminding everyone, including myself -- and even older activists like me -- that we can always learn more.

A quick thanks to the crew in El Paso! If you have been around for a while you know Sukie the rock star activist and founder of the VSoEP. I have worked with her for decades—from the anti-Procter & Gamble campaign to Fur-Free Friday, as well as many of my campaigns for Viva!USA on behalf of farmed animals. It was great to spend time with her, her husband, the critters and Greg, who is the president of VSoEP. I was also very excited to meet Charlotte and Lisa, a wonderful mother-and-daughter team. I apologize for not mentioning all of the dedicated activists I met. Thank you for all of the Texas friendly you offered.