Vegetarian Star

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made a stop by the Franz Josef Land, an island where scientists capture polar bears to collect data and tag them for surveillance before release back into the arctic.

While examining the giant creatures (a photograph of which can be found at The Guardian), Putin had this to say of the bear’s paws: “They’re heavy.”

Global warming has threatened several species on the island, including polar bears.

The tracking devices placed by researchers will allow them to monitor the extent the environmental change has had on the species.

According to Treehugger, the deputy director of Russia’s Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Vyacheslav Rozhnov said, “The reduction of the ice sheets, caused by climate change and human activities, is bringing about a global redistribution of polar bears, but no one knows how it is happening.”

Compounding this is barrels of discarded fuel left behind after the Cold War, a matter Putin says makes the arctic in need of a “general clean up.”

“From 40,000 to 60,000 tonnes of fuel and lubricants are being stored under inappropriate conditions, and the pollution exceeds maximum permissible levels by six times,” Putin said, according to The Guardian.

Rozhnov fears the pollutants from the leaking barrels of oil will threaten more animals, including whales and walruses.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Jon Stewart and Wife Tracey Stewart Adopt Horse
• Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Elephants Retire To Sanctuary
• SeaWorld Phasing Out Whale Breeding Program
• Meatless Mouthful–Stevie Wonder Says Vegan Helps His Good Looks And Planet
• Best Vegetarian Stories Of 2015

Although it may be a little late to change the menu, PETA is asking that the White House Correspondents Dinner tomorrow be vegetarian.

In a letter written to executive director Julie Whiston, PETA’s executive vice president Tracy Reiman says, “Asking your members and guests to carpool and drive hybrids is a great start, but the benefits of these measures are largely canceled out by the beef, fish, and dairy products on your menu. As you may know, a 2006 United Nations report called raising animals for food “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.” A major report by the University of Chicago found that adopting a vegan diet has a greater impact in the fight against climate change than switching to a hybrid car.”

The letter then goes on to describe the conditions animals raised for food endure before and during slaughter.

“Chickens and turkeys have their throats cut while they’re still conscious, piglets have their tails and testicles cut off without being given any painkillers, fish suffocate or are cut open while they’re still alive on the decks of fishing boats, and mother cows have their calves taken away almost immediately after birth so that the milk meant for the calves can be sold.”

The planned menu for the event can be found here.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Chrissy Teigen Failed Vegan Experiment
• Mia Evans Is A “Masterchef Junior” Vegetarian Star
• Holly Madison Enjoys Vegan Smoothie From M Cafe In Beverly Hills
• Controversy Over Pro-Vegeterian Curriculum In Schools
• Ellie Goulding Creates Protein Bar “Everlasting Joy” With GoMacro

Woody Harrelson and his wife Laura Louie have written to Congress, asking them to support H.R. 4870, a bill that would incorporate more vegetarian lunches and non dairy beverages in school menus that is otherwise known as the Healthy School Meals Act.

The longtime vegetarians wrote, “As parents, we ask you to support HR 4870, the Healthy School Meals Act of 2010. We know from watching our own children grow up that eating habits children develop early on stick with them for life. All too often, young people are offered processed meats and cheese and other greasy, high-fat, high-cholesterol foods.”

“The Healthy School Meals Act will help children develop better eating habits, provide healthful plant-based options that naturally contain no cholesterol, are low in saturated fat and high in fibre, enabling schools to reach high nutrition standards easily. The legislation gives schools the incentive and ability to address the health problems that are harming our children and overburdening our health systems.”

The bill was introduced by representative Jared Polis, who lost a significant amount of weight after making changes to his diet and has expressed concern for the childhood obesity epidemic.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Chrissy Teigen Failed Vegan Experiment
• Mia Evans Is A “Masterchef Junior” Vegetarian Star
• Holly Madison Enjoys Vegan Smoothie From M Cafe In Beverly Hills
• Controversy Over Pro-Vegeterian Curriculum In Schools
• Ellie Goulding Creates Protein Bar “Everlasting Joy” With GoMacro

Dr. Neal Barnard of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has recorded an advertisement that’s being broadcast in Washington, D.C., urging viewers to tell Congress to support H.R. 4870, The Healthy School Meals Act, which could potentially give schools the ability to offer vegetarian meals for lunch everyday.

Dr. Barnard uses a laboratory graduated cylinder to show the amount of saturated fat in a hamburger versus a veggie burger.

That’s some bad chemistry, man!

Watch the clip, and if you haven’t already told your representative how you feel, it’s time to do so now!

Possibly Related Posts:

• Chrissy Teigen Failed Vegan Experiment
• Mia Evans Is A “Masterchef Junior” Vegetarian Star
• Holly Madison Enjoys Vegan Smoothie From M Cafe In Beverly Hills
• Controversy Over Pro-Vegeterian Curriculum In Schools
• Ellie Goulding Creates Protein Bar “Everlasting Joy” With GoMacro

Sarah Brown, wife of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, is bent on making sustainable changes at her Number 10 Downing Street Residence, which include an organic garden with strawberries, peppers and parsley.

But she is also rethinking her choice of non-plant food.

Already having a tendency to avoid red meat, Sarah now sees the environmental consequences of eating too much fish, after watching End of the Line last year.

From The Observer:

“Last year I was very pleased to host a screening of The End of the Line – the stunning and scary film charting what is happening to the world’s oceans and fish stocks. When we sent out invites, many of the guests thought it was a hoax because they’d never heard of a film being screened at No 10 before and they couldn’t quite believe that one of the first would be about fish. But they came anyway and they, like me, were mesmerised by the evidence and footage about what will happen if we continue to treat the world’s fish supply in such a reckless way. I adore fish (and get a lot of my protein that way as I prefer it to red meat) and have become much more vigilant about what I’m buying and where it’s come from. Some restaurants and supermarkets have been fantastic at responding to consumer pressure on this – some are still behind.”

Pescatarians should arm themselves with the latest updates on which fish are healthy for people and planet.

Find out what seafood is Eco Best…and worst at the Environmental Defense Fund website.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Chrissy Teigen Failed Vegan Experiment
• Mia Evans Is A “Masterchef Junior” Vegetarian Star
• Holly Madison Enjoys Vegan Smoothie From M Cafe In Beverly Hills
• Controversy Over Pro-Vegeterian Curriculum In Schools
• Ellie Goulding Creates Protein Bar “Everlasting Joy” With GoMacro

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.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Chrissy Teigen Failed Vegan Experiment
• Mia Evans Is A “Masterchef Junior” Vegetarian Star
• Holly Madison Enjoys Vegan Smoothie From M Cafe In Beverly Hills
• Controversy Over Pro-Vegeterian Curriculum In Schools
• Ellie Goulding Creates Protein Bar “Everlasting Joy” With GoMacro

Sarah Palin is up to her old annoyances of raving about her hobby of eating, killing and using animals.

While in Eugene, Oregon to address a crowd of fellow Republicans, she told reporters she is into eating organic.

Not necessarily produce, though.

“I eat granola. I eat a lot of organic food,” she said. “I have to catch and kill it before I eat it. It’s all organic.”

Oh, boy.

Is this what we’ll expect to see during her new Discovery Channel show tentatively titled Sarah Palin’s Alaska?

Probably not.

According to ex potential son-in-law Levi Johnston, Sarah’s hunting skills are bravado cause she doesn’t even know how to use a gun.

Johnston told Vanity Fair:

“She says she goes hunting and lives off animal meat — I’ve never seen it. I’ve never seen her touch a fishing pole. She had a gun in her bedroom and one day she asked me to show her how to shoot it. I asked her what kind of gun it was, and she said she didn’t know, because it was in a box under her bed.”

Let’s hope it stays under her bed for everyone’s, two and four legged, sake.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Ellen DeGeneres Promotes Leather And Suede In New Shoe Line
• Slice Of Vegan Celebrity Birthday Cake To (Drum Roll)
• PETA Asks Obama Daughters To Consider Pardoning All Turkeys
• Slice Of Vegan Celebrity Birthday Cake To (Drum Roll)
• Bill Clinton Elected By Americans For The Grill On “TODAY” (Video)

Jimmy Kimmel featured a funny video featuring cats recording a “We Are The World” like song about the plight of their eviction.

Definitely worth the watch for some good afternoon humor.

The planned George W. Bush presidential library on the Southern Methodist University campus is also home to feral cats that will soon face eviction.

According to the LA Times, a feral cat program was started by the university in 2005 in an effort to control the population, which has dwindled dramatically since its inception.

It’s expected that the remaining cats will be relocated to a nearby woods area.

One effective way at reducing feral cat numbers and improving their lives (and the accompanying problems such as loud noise from fighting behaviors, flea infestations and odor from males marking territory), is the use of Trap-Neuter-Return programs.

TNR cats are spayed/neutered, vaccinated from rabies and surgically ear-tipped, which is the universal sign a cat has gone through the TNR system.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Jon Stewart and Wife Tracey Stewart Adopt Horse
• Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Elephants Retire To Sanctuary
• SeaWorld Phasing Out Whale Breeding Program
• Meatless Monday Recipe–Waka Flocka Blueberry Vegan Muffins (Video)
• Best Vegetarian Stories Of 2015