Vegetarian Star

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency is playing it safe.

During an interview with Treehugger where she gave some tips for saving the planet, Jackson wonderfully included great foodie tips like planting a garden and growing organic produce as well as reducing waste by composting scraps.

But she won’t tell you to implement Meatless Mondays in your household, office or school.

Especially after that intern of the EPA wrote that horrible, offensive, nasty blog about how eating less meat is better for the environment, as less animal waste runs off into the water and less gases are emitted from cow farms.

No, the EPA administrator didn’t mention that everyone in the U.S. going vegetarian for one day would save 100 billion gallons of water, enough to supply almost every home in New England for 4 months.

Or 70 million gallons of gas, enough to fuel all the cars in Canada and Mexico.

But she desperately needs to avoid American Farm Bureau protesters and animal industry lobbyist who want to ensure their tax dollars aren’t being spent on college interns blogging about tofu, so we give her credit for trying.

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The gals from America’s Next Top Model Cycle 14 were recently taught a lesson on how to fake it.

To illustrate how buying knock off designs hurt the original designers, the models posed in everything fake–including fake fur.

According to the clip above, the fashion industry loses about about $9.2 billion dollars a year from counterfeit goods like the fake Prada bags the photographer pretending to be a salesman on the street was offering.

Of course, sometimes it’s good to be fake.

The costs of real fur?

According to Mercy for Animals, here is the bottom line.

“Of the 31 million animals killed on fur ranches each year, about twenty-six million are mink and 4.5 million are fox. In addition, 250,000 chinchillas, 150,000 sable, 100,000 fitch, 100,000 raccoon dogs (a separate species from the American raccoon), and a small number of lynx, bobcat, and nutria are fur farmed.”

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Stella McCartney said that wearing leather is just plain trashy.

One contestant from Season 7’s Project Runway thought the same, so he proved even a trash bag looks better than animal hide.

The outfit, including the woven belt, is contructed entirely from Hefty’s, and is meant is resemble faux leather.

Jay Nicolas Sario said he thought of the words, “Sexy bitch,” when he created the outfit.

The judges are impressed and one said, We’ve seen many garbage bags on Project Runway, but never quite like this.”

Take a look and decide for yourself.

Could this faux be taken for real?

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Jamie Oliver has praised a fast food restaurant known for greasy burgers for its quality of food.

Come again?

Yes, McDonald’s is one of the biggest producers of cow patties, but, at least in the UK, they have made efforts to step up their animal welfare standards–as much as possible while still using the animal product.

“McDonald’s in the UK is very different compared to the US model – the quality of beef, they only sell free-range eggs, they only sell organic milk, their ethics and recycling is being improved and improved,” Oliver said.

“And I can’t believe I’m sitting here telling you that McDonald’s UK has come a long way, but actually, it probably puts quite a lot of gastropubs to shame, the amount of work they are doing at the back end.”

Oliver frowned upon factory farmed, processed meat delivered to the Huntington, Virginia high school where he filmed Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.

The U.S. is often slow to catch on when it comes to animal welfare.

McDonald’s representative in the UK, for example, agreed long ago that battery cages were cruel and UK McDonalds banned this practice before it was outlawed there.

Similarly, KFC in Canada offers a vegan faux chicken sandwich and is working toward more humane slaughter practices while the U.S. has yet to budge.

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Mafia Wars

PETA has declared war on Mafia Wars for allowing players to use dogs and other animals to fight.

The animal rights group wrote a letter to Mark Pincus, founder and CEO of Zynga Game Network, asking him to remove this feature from the Mafia War’s Facebook game.

“”Bully breeds” like your beloved late American bulldog, Zinga, are also the breeds of choice for dogfighters and thugs who want a “macho” animal to intimidate others, guard their property, or make them money by winning fights. Every day, PETA staffers meet dogs who have been trapped for years at the end of heavy tractor-trailer chains with nothing but bare patches of dirt and plastic barrels for shelter. These dogs are usually full of heartworms, emaciated, and scarred all over. They are often physically abused and starved, sometimes to death, for losing in illegal dogfights or for being “bad guards” or “not mean enough.” The people who acquire them do so because they have been taught that having one of these dogs is “cool” and “tough,” but they have no idea about the care and feelings of the animal they have enslaved.”

“Will you please reconsider perpetuating the image of pit bulls and other animals as fighting machines in Mafia Wars and decide against sending a dangerous message that it’s somehow acceptable to force animals to fight, keep them chained, and deny them everything that is natural and important to them?”

The entire letter from PETA to Pincus can be found here.

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Isabel Lucas is a vegetarian and animal rights activist who’s views have even gotten her arrested on occasion, such as the time she protested against the dolphin slaughter in Japan.

Years ago, she wasn’t as outspoken about her beliefs.

Until an incident with a frog changed that.

When she was 10, Isabel saw a boy torture a frog to death.

“I was shocked and upset with myself for not saying anything,” Isabel said. “I felt so guilty and furious afterwards.

“From then on, I thought if anything like that happens again, I’m going to say something. I’m grateful to him for that experience – that’s how you learn, through your mistakes.”

“I do feel I am in a unique position where I can use my public status to draw attention to things that matter to me and hopefully a lot of other people as well.”

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A creative PSA has been put together featuring the likes of vegetarian celebrities like Jason Mraz and Woody Harrelson, plus several others who care about the plight of captive dolphins.

The video starts out with facts about each celebrity’s “friend.”

After summarizing a slew of skills this friend has that humans don’t, it’s revealed the friend is in danger, threatened by both captivity and hunting.

The PSA was created by the people involved with the Oscar award winning documentary on the killing of dolphins in Japan that are later sold for meat and captivity, The Cove.

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Maria Menounos will host the first annual Ferdinand’s Ball, which kicks off the Kentucky Derby on Thursday, April 29.

Proceeds from the ball will directly benefit Old Friends, a non-profit organization that rescues retired racehorses from neglect, abuse and slaughter.

The event will feature a four-course vegetarian meal, athletes and local politicians, a silent auction, live entertainment and a presentation of an award to the Humane Society of the United States for their contribution to equine welfare.

For more information, visit the organization’s website.

Ferdinand was a 1986 Kentucky Derby winner who made millions and ended up in a slaughter house after being sent to Japan.

It’s fantastic that these horses can retire in comfort, but it’s questionable whether horse racing should be allowed to begin with.

According to In Defense of Animals, about 800 race horses die each year from fatal injuries on U.S race tracks and approximately 3,500 sustain injuries so bad they cannot finish the race.

IDA also states that many state governments are hesitant to prosecute abusers in the industry because they share revenue.

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