Vegetarian Star

Seasonal Harvest iphone app

Need to know if succulent grapes can still be found in Los Angeles?

There’s an app for that.

Seasonal Harvest is cool guide that lets you know what produce is in season in your area and where to find it.

Updated weekly, Seasonal Harvest is also useful in finding the nearest farmers market and searching for recipes.

According to some comments on the app’s site, it doesn’t allow you to search within zip codes yet, but updates may be on the way, as a recent change was made that better narrows down your options based on proximity.

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Martha Stewart‘s magazine Body + Soul, now known as Whole Living, treated New York city elementary school children for their efforts to bring awareness to Earth Day.

According to MNN, the magazine teamed up with the non-profit group PENCIL to sponsor an Earth Day poster contest.

Each school picked a poster from each grade to go on to the finals, where the children were rewarded with locally grown produce and dairy and eggs sourced from Stewart’s farm.

Last year Martha attended a launch party for Farm Forward, an organization that aims to move everyone away from factory farming and shift focus towards smaller, family farms that use more sustainable practices.

Martha allowed Access Hollywood to accompany her on her farm, which uses no pesticides.

“Everything can be picked off the plant and just eaten,” Martha says in the video.

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“Suddenly the phrase ‘hide the salami‘ had a whole new meaning.”

—Sarah Silverman, in her latest book, The Bedwetter, describing the time she was held down by classmates in the school cafeteria seven years after becoming vegetarian and forced to eat cold cut meat.

Reviewers are promising the rest of the book is filled with just as many poignant and vulgur-esque written memories.

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Temple Grandin, scientist who made contributions to the livestock industry praised by those in the business and animal rights activists, says dairy and egg farms need to step up their level of care for the animals.

The subject of a recent HBO movie chronicling her life, Grandin said farmers have gotten used to keeping animals and the conditions they’re kept in unhealthy.

At an organic food industry conference, Grandin said, according to the Des Moines Register. “The bad has become normal.”

Grandin said battery cages used to house hens aren’t large enough to allow the birds to continue their normal behavior, such as scratching, nesting and perching.

But she is concerned that too many regulations will cause farmers to take their business to other countries to save money, thus causing Americans to lose their jobs.

She’s also worried about low-income people being able to afford the price of the cage-free eggs.

One suggestion Grandin has is to use larger cage systems that Europe already has, which allows the birds to do normal behaviors.

Could America be on its way to adopting a similar practice?

Lee Kilmer, a dairy extension specialist at Iowa State University said, “California is five years ahead of the Midwest, and the European Union is five years ahead of California. I’m hoping we can get producers in the Midwest to deal with some of these practices that deal with animal welfare before we have legislation requiring it.”

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An EPA intern has angered members of the American Farm Bureau Association by posting on the EPA’s blog the idea that eating less meat and going vegetarian can help the environment.

Nicole Reising wrote:

“There are a variety of different environmental impacts that occur due to the production of meat:

Air pollution due to dust and liquid manures.
Fossil fuels, water, and land over-use
Rainforest erosion and destruction for pasture land
Water contamination due to animal waste”

Reising suggests going vegetarian or vegan to combat these problems, and emphasizes the numerous sources of plant proteins like seitan and soy.

“While this is a position taken by an intern of the agency, EPA should control its blog space,” said AFBP President Bob Stallman. “What is written on its blog comes across as its official position toward farmers and ranchers that it regulates and shows a terrible disregard for them and the agriculture industry.”

Animal industry advocate and lobbyist Steve Kopperud,  posted an online response stating this was definitely not what his taxes were paying for.

“I’m at a loss to understand how a taxpayer-supported government agency can give the time and access to an intern to spread what can only be described as incredibly naïve, but politically volatile misinformation.”

You can read Reising’s entire post on the EPA blog, as well as over 20o responses to it.

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When Natalie Portman decided to launch her line of vegan shoes with Te Casan, she collaborated with Via Spiga creative director Paola Venturi.

Venturi had nothing but good words to say about Portman in an interview with Orange County Local News.

“She contacted me at the Te Casan company because she wanted to design a vegan shoe line. She fell in love with the brand and we started to work together on a small collection. She’s fabulous because she has a vision about fashion. She was really directional so it was easy to interpret.”

Unfortunately, some good things do come to an end, and Portman’s shoe line received the boot in 2008 bad economy.

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Much to the disappointment of vegans, the NFL has teamed up with dairy farmers in a campaign to fight childhood obesity.

The Fuel Up To Play 60 campaign encourages children to practice better lifestyle habits such as consuming low fat milk and exercising.

Politics aside, evidence for dairy being beneficial to weight maintenance is not conclusive.

Some studies have linked milk consumption to a decrease in the risk for obesity, while others found the opposite.

Since this particular campaign is directed at children, it’s interesting to note one study in the Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine found children that drank the most milk gained the most weight.

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Tippi Hedren went from starring in Birds to caring for cats.

The actress founded the Shambala Preserve, a home to tigers, lions and other big kitties that include Michael Jackson‘s Thriller and Sabu tigers.

Hedren’s life with big cats started in the 80s when she produced and starred in the film with African Lions, Roar, inciting her interest in the giant creatures.

Hedren was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Humane Society’s Genesis Awards.

“It’s such a gift to have a mission that you feel really strongly about,” Hedren says in the video.

More information on the Shambala Preserve can be found on its website.

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