Vegetarian Star

Photo: Googie man on Wikimedia Commons

Spam is never appealing, whether it’s creamed pork shoulder or 100 emails a day offering you “enhancement” drugs.

That’s why when PETA found out Philadelphia Phillies Outfielder Shane Victorino has a favorite dish consisting of Spam, rice blocks, and nori, they decided to “spam” him with one of their famous letters beseeching meat loving celebrities to change their ways.

Spam Musubi is a Hawaiian (Victorino’s home state) favorite, and is your equivalent of Spam sushi. Gross! An excerpt from the letter:

As you might know, PETA has named Citizens Bank Ballpark the Most Vegetarian Friendly Ballpark two years in a row for its astounding variety of protein-packed, delicious animal-friendly fare, including mock-chicken sandwiches, “crab-free crab cakes,” Philly faux-steak sandwiches, veggie dogs, and flame-grilled Gardenburgers! We urge you to abandon the Spam, take advantage of the park’s delicious veggie options, and consider joining other compassionate athletes–including John Salley, Ricky Williams, and Tony Gonzalez–in healthy and humane vegetarian eating.

PETA also discusses the results of their investigation of a factory farm that breeds pigs for Hormel, the company that produces Spam. Some details of the undercover stint include a worker shoving a stick in a sow’s vagina, beating pigs with metal rods, poking at their eyes with clothespins, and beating one female pig saying, “You gotta beat on the bitch. Make her cry.”

Okaaaaaay. While we don’t see the connection as to how making the b*#ch cry produces better Spam (or why we need to even produce Spam, for that matter), we do agree with what PETA assistant director Dan Shannon said in a press release:

“If Shane likes Spam a lot, he should buy tickets to the Broadway play but leave it off his dinner plate.”

Or, to put it in the words of a pig factory farm worker, “Leave that b*#ch alone!”

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Scott Jurek is an ultra marathoner who is featured in the October issue of Vegetarian Times, along with Chris Walla of Death Cab For Cutie.

Not only is he a vegan athlete, he is also a yoga man, and an instructor for a class he attended took the opportunity to ask him a few questions about his lifestyle.

Jurek made his final decision to go vegan after a friend let him borrow, “Mad Cowboy,” by Howard F. Lyman, a former cattle rancher turned vegetarian.

“This book really opened my eyes to the factory farming nightmare and how unhealthy it was for me, the animals, and the environment,” he said.

And although turning veg has done great things for him, he’s cautious to anyone who thinks cutting out meat alone will make you healthy.

“It’s not like you wake up the next morning and feel ten times better. The changes are more gradual and you can see them better once you continue down the path for a while and then look back. In regards to competing and training I noticed my recovery times had shortened, that I was less injury prone, and had a higher level of energy. Above all, the major changes were in my relationship to food preparation and intake. I became very concerned not just about veganism, but about proper nutrition. I’ve come across many vegans who are still drinking soda pop. The point is you can be vegan and still have an unhealthy diet.”

Read the rest of the interview with Scott in Jai! Magazine.

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Image: CBS

Terence Gerchberg and Sarah Leshner are one of the 11 couples who will compete for $1 million in the CBS reality TV show, The Amazing Race, which premiers Sunday, September 28th.

According to cbs.com, the two have been a pair for almost a year and are quite the example of opposites attract. Sarah is an MBA holding financial analyst on Wall Street while Terence is a running coach who sells real estate on the side to make some extra dough. Sarah is low maintenance, while Terence is emotional.  It’s a good thing this is The Amazing Race and not Survivor as Terence wouldn’t be too found of eating roasted rats. Sarah eats meat, but keeps kosher, Terence doesn’t eat any meat at all.

The Amazing Race pairs people who already have an existing relationship and sends them around the world via various modes of transportation to hunt for clues about their next destination. It’s literally a “race” to get there before the other couple does to avoid the risk of elimination. This is done in addition to performing various tasks that are often culturally related to the country they’re visiting. This season’s show was filmed last spring and contestants traveled 30,000 miles across five continents in 23 days, making stops in cities like Cambodia and Kazakhstan.

via Slate

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Milwaukee Brewers baseball player Prince Fielder became a vegetarian last spring and took heat from fans telling him to eat steak and praise from those applauding him for veggie brats.

“Fans last year were yelling at me, ‘Hey Prince, eat a salad!’ This year they’re saying, ‘Eat a steak!’” he said in an interview with The New York Times.

Fielder thinks that tofu tastes like a “wet eraser,” and you won’t catch him raving about how he can’t wait to eat the next salad full of 20 different plant based items designed to make salad look and taste good.

“Yeah, I’m a vegetarian — but still, some things are just nasty,” he said. “I like salads. But sometimes, they get too creative. I like regular food, just no meat in it.”

Read the story to learn how Prince finally decided to give a dish with beets a try and what salad he actually did order that day.

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A list of top vegetarian friendly rehabs has been released by PETA and several of the centers have catered to many celebrities, including Mel Gibson. While we don’t know if any of these celebs actually requested non-meat meals during their tenures, we definitely know where Amy Winehouse’s next stop should be if she decides to go vegetarian. Here’s what she might enjoy:

Passages (California): Hummus, tabouleh, pasta primavera, vegetarian lasagne, wild mushroom pasta, vegetarian tacos and burritos, and veggie burgers. Mel Gibson stayed here.

The Meadows (Arizona): Tofu, veggie burgers, and vegetarian casseroles. Kate Moss, Eric Benet, Mike Tyson, Elle McPherson, Tara Palmer-Tompkinson, Paul Gascoigne, Ron Wood, Kerry Katona, Michael Barrymore, and Whitney Houston have all done rehab time here.

Cottonwood de Tucson (Arizona, yes the The Grand Canyon State has 2 of the favorites!): Baked rigatoni with spinach, wasabi mashed potatoes with snap peas, veggie pizza, veggie fried rice with spring rolls, portobello mushrooms stuffed with polenta, vegetable tostadas, green corn tostadas. Ron Wood, Geri “Ginger Spice” Halliwell, and Robbie Williams have all said, “Yes, yes, yes,” to here.

For a complete list, go here.

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Yeah, he looked vicious, but would never harm a thing. Any non-human animal thing, that is.

Killer Kowalski was born Walter Spulnik. He grew up to become one of Canada’s most famous wrestlers and competed in events such as National Wrestling Association and World Wrestling Federation. After his retirement, he opened a training center in Malden, Mass. He’s also proof that true love can come at any age, as he married for the very first time in 2006. Here’s an excerpt from an interview with Vegetarian USA:

How did you become vegetarian?

Killer:It was 1953. I was reading alot of books, studying the effects of food on the body. At first, I wasn’t too sure about becoming a vegetarian. Then I heard about these two runners, Roger Bannister and John Landy. They were the first two men to break the four minute mile barrier. It was at the British Empire Games which were run in British Columbia. Roger Bannister, from England, won in under four minutes. And the little guy, John Landy, from New Zealand, he was just behind by a foot, so he ran under four minutes also. They both broke the four minute barrier. 

In the beginning it was for athletic reasons, but later I became more concerned about life itself. I won’t go too deeply into it, but there is a religious part and meditative part of vegetarianism for me.

After I made the change, people asked me different questions about being a vegetarian such as “Where do you get your protein?” I would say to them, “Elephants, they’re vegetarians. They grow up big and strong. And horses, they have tremendous endurance, and they are vegetarians. But meat eaters, like lions and tigers, they have a short lifespan.” The meat industry cons people into thinking you must eat decaying rotting flesh to get your protein. Bullshit, that’s a lot of baloney. Big, healthy, strong animals get their protein from vegetarian sources, grass even!

Read the rest of Killer’s interview here.

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Sushil Kumar is a wanted man. He should have known it was coming sooner or later. The Olympic Bronze wrestling athlete is the latest celebrity to be asked by PETA to do an advertisement proving that vegetarians, especially vegetarian men, can be meatless and athletic.

In a letter to Kumar, Anuradha Sawhney, chief functionary for PETA India, said, “We would like to feature you in one of our vegetarian ads. Your victory at the Olympics 2008, held in Beijing, would certainly attract attention – and make it clear that a vegetarian diet can lead to a body built for Olympian feats.”

No word on whether Kumar will accept their offer. No word on whether they are expecting him to get naked either. Maybe they’ll mention it if they get him in person.

via Mid-Day

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While L.A. may seem like the organic and raw food hub in the U.S., not every part of the city fits that description.

In some inner city and African-American communities, for example, fast food restaurants on every corner may outnumber the number of outfits Paris Hilton has for her dogs.

With diseases like diabetes and abdominal obesity hitting the African-American community hard, the outlook may be even more grimmer.

But all is not lost. Recently, the city has seen numerous black owned vegetarian and vegan restaurants open and several African-American celebrities, such as Erykah Badu, Russell Simmons, and Kevin Eubanks have teamed up with PETA to get the veg word out.

The most recent testimony is by retired basketball player John Salley. Go here to view his video. And if you live in southern Cali or are visiting, be sure to give your support and visit some of the black owned vegan restaurants, such as  Vegan Village Café, Stuff I Eat, and Rahel’s.

via Peta and New America Media

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