When Miami-based surfer Shane Close decided to give up meat, he picked up the camera and added indie film maker to his CV of web developer and president of Surfrider Foundation. During his transition, he learned a lot of secrets of the obstacles some vegetarians and vegan face (like finding true vegan beer or whether or not to eat the sugar processed with bone char dilemma), but picked up some handy tips along the way, like having a better bathroom experience.
BPB: What physical changes have you noticed?
SC: Two things: One, I don’t feel heavy and sluggish when I get up from the table, and two, I am getting so much fiber I’m as regular as anybody could ever be. Sorry, I don’t know how to say that delicately!
BPB: Dude, that is too much information!
SC: Hey, whatever gets people’s attention.
Now that that’s gotten your attention, take a look at a clip of Close on his way to ask permission to film the vegetarian festival and feast at the Hare Krishna Temple in Coconut Grove, Miami for Meatless and learn about his blog below.
Vegan professional triathlete, author of fitness books and creator of the all plant-based nutrition line Vega,Brendan Brazier gave his five tips for eco-friendly eating to the Calgary Herald. Obviously not consuming any animal products is the best advice for sustainable eating, especially considering the amount of land set aside to harvest food just so animals that humans will eventually eat can feed.
“That takes up a lot of land and a lot of minerals from the soil to feed the animals,” Brazier said.
But even as a vegetarian or vegan, there are further steps you can take to lighten your carbon footprint.
If you live in the neighborhood of British model Laura Bailey, you might see her jogging down the street in her Stella McCartney sportswear before grabbing a bite of granola bar, a handful of nuts or maybe even chowing down on her favorite pasta. Bailey said it doesn’t matter what she eats, as long as it’s not animal.
“I try to choose foods that make me as healthy and energetic as possible. I’m a strict vegetarian but I eat everything else, and I like a glass of wine. I’m certainly not preachy or perfect!”
Bailey wears outfits designed by ethical designer Stella McCartney.
Larry Hagman played a character completely opposite of himself in the prime time television soap opera series, Dallas. J.R. Ewing was an oil baron while Hagman is as green as green can be, following a vegetarian diet and running his home on solar power. Hagman stars in a series of advertisements for Solar World, a manufacturer for solar panels.
Ironically, one of the ads plays on Hagman’s role as Ewing, when it has Hagman saying, “In the past, it was always about the oil. The oil was flowing and so was the money…I quit years ago. But I’m still in the energy business. There’s always a better alternative. Shine, baby shine.”
Solar World manufactures solar panels for both homes and business and government. It employs over 2,700 people, has manufacturing facilities in both USA and Germany and sales offices around the world. More ads can be viewed below.
Blood Dolphins premieres Friday, August 27th at 11 PM E/T on Animal Planet.
The television series features activist Ric O’Barry, who first helped to expose the practice of killing dolphins in Taiji, Japan for meat through the award winning film, The Cove.
In Blood Dolphins, O’Barry brings along his son Lincoln O’Barry, though he first had second thoughts about doing so.
“Lincoln can go undercover and do things I can’t do,” Ric says. “I really didn’t want him to do this. It’s sort of a double edged sword. I have a lot of different emotions exposing Lincoln to that danger.”
Discovery has added a section under the show’s website which is basically a dolphin encyclopedia filled with facts about the types of dolphins most hunted, a dolphin intelligence quiz, and much more. Dolphins have been found to be loaded with antibacterial soap, for example, even though they’re probably not germaphobes.
Vegetarian race car driver and environmental activist Leilani Munter is headed to Japan to join Ric O’Barry in the fight against the dolphin slaughter in Taiji.
Despite The Cove’s success in educating the public about the slaughter and the film eventually making its way into Japanese theatres after protests and cancellations, Taiji mayor Kazutaka Sangen has made it quite clear he’s not going to let a few people concerned for animals and the humans who will eventually eat the mercury filled meat get in the way of a bloody tradition.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Sangen said, “We will pass down the history of our ancestors to the next generation, preserve it. We have a strong sense of pride about this. So we are not going to change our plans for the town based on the criticism of foreigners.”
Catering staff at the 62nd annual Prime Time Emmy Awards will have the challenge of feeding over 3,000 guests on Sunday, which is said to be the largest annual formal dinner in America. Patina Restaurant Group founder Joachim Splichal and Patina Catering executive chef Alec Lestr have every step of the logistics down from bottles of wine to number of plates and yes, even pounds of vegetables. The evening’s grocery list is expected to include the following:
