Vegetarian Star

Chipotle founder, co-CEO and co-chair Steve Ells says the pork sourced for their products is obtained from Niman Ranch, a small network of family farms that raise their pigs on open pastures or deeply bedded barns, feed them vegetarian diets and give them no hormones or antibiotics.

After switching to this supplier, Ells found sales increased even after having to charge an extra dollar to cover the cost of the non factory farmed meat.

Paul Wills, manager of Niman Ranch Pork Company, is a contributor in Moby and Miyun Park‘s edited collection of essays, Gristle, where he discusses the strain big farms put on small family ones.

Although Wills may be a fish out of water in a book edited by a vegan with a vegetarian slant, the experience with Chipotle restaurant teaches us that the more humane way to raise an animal for food not only puts less stress on the organism and the environment, but results in more satisfaction for the consumer.

Niman Ranch’s “ethical meat” is not a vegetarian carnita, but it’s a step forward in taking better care of the world and every living thing, including part time vegetarians, that inhabits it.

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Gristle

Moby and co-editor of the newly released book on factory farming and its impact on the planet, Miyun Park, spoke to Planet Green recently.

Although Moby is a staunch vegan, some might be surprised to learn that some of the contributors to Gristle are in the meat industry.

Park insists that everyone educate themselves on factory farming, one of the biggest disturbances to human, animal and environment health.

This means including insight from Paul Willis, manager of Niman Ranch Pork Co, who discusses how large farms put a strain on rural communities.

“The differences between industrial agribusiness and more sustainable, more humane, more ethical production practices are stark, and all of animal ag can’t be painted with the same brush,” Park explains. “The book focuses on intensive factory farming, which, unfortunately has a much larger share of animal ag. And this isn’t to say that there can’t be steps taken even within industrial agribusiness, but that won’t happen until we all—omnivores, flexitarians, vegetarians, and vegans alike—speak out collectively.”

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Andrew McMahon, musician for the bands Something’s Corporate and Jack’s Mannequin, tried going veg on his last tour, but that lasted as long as a one hit wonder.

From The Phillyist:

We understand that you went vegetarian on that tour, so we have to ask: Did you have trouble resisting the urge to head to Jim’s for a greasy, diet-busting cheesesteak?

“I guess I break all sorts of promises in Philly. Haha. I’m definitely not a veggie anymore, though I do lean that direction. [But] I’ve never been a red meat dude, so cheesesteaks aren’t really my thing, as sacrilegious as that is to admit to a local.”

Vegetarian Star would love to say what happens in Philly stays in Philly, but unfortunately, it gets published on blogs that like to talk about musicians that give into greasesteaks when no one is looking.

Luckily, Andrew’s flexitarian ways that bend him more towards vegetarianism save him from being completely ribbed.

Andrew and the rest of Jack’s Mannequin will be performing at the Electric Factory in Philly. Tickets are sold out, but if you offer someone in the city a great tasting faux cheesesteak, you might score yourself a seat.

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Flexitarian Claudia Schiffer says she tries to eat more organic foods, a practice that started with her first child.

“During my first pregnancy, I started to eat organically and healthily because that was the first time I actually thought about what I was putting in my body,” she told Celebrity-Babies. “I’m still doing that today and I’m also just taking it easy, not working out too much, just enjoying this time in my life.”

Claudia is expecting her third child.

Claudia told Star Magazine that she tries to eat fruits and vegetables before noon and keeps her lunches with salads and vegetable based soups, saying “lots of meat” makes her tired.

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Hey you flexitarians out there!

Congratulations for the making the choice to improve your health, save animals, and lessen the environmental impact of the livestock industry on planet Earth.

New York Times columnist and food writer Mark Bittman, who’s been advocating a vegan until dinner type approach, has given the UK Times online some tips for those who want to cut the meat from their diet.

“My ‘vegan before 6pm’ approach is just one way of doing it. Indeed, the opposite schedule — eating your heaviest meal of the day for lunch or breakfast — may make more sense to you,” Bittman said. “You can opt out of two servings of meat a week. You can start the day with oatmeal instead of bacon and eggs. My guess is that 70% of my calories now come from non-animal sources. A shift of 50% would be significant for anyone.”

“The basic line is this: no matter how you do it, you [and the planet] will benefit if you eat a higher proportion of plants and a lower proportion of everything else.”

Visit the Times online to read an excerpt from Mark’s book, Food Matters, where Mark recommends taking a B vitamin supplement and gives sample meal plans.

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There’s something sexy about a man who dates a woman who orders spaghetti without the meatballs. Just wish we could have know what he ate that night, but it probably wasn’t pork.

Jimmy Kimmel recently gave pork the thumbs down in the New York Times, citing the association with meat and diseases.

“The government does not want us to call it the swine flu. They’re calling it the 2009 H1N1 virus. The reason for the change is they want people to know you can still eat all the pork you want without any risk to your health, except diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.”

Ouch! Jimmy telling it like it is!

He’s not known for being a vegetarian yet, but could this talk show host who has an on/off relationship with Sarah Silverman more than some flexitarians give up then eat meat again be heading in that direction?

According to Ecorazzi.com, Kimmel has ran a couple of humorous videos that the Meat industry might record in response to vegetarian PSAs, like this one below.

We think Jimmy has to at least be doing some part time veggie lovin’!

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Author Kathy Freston, the lovely lady who inspired Oprah Winfrey to do 21 days of vegan, recently blogged at the Huffington Post on the statistics of the effects going vegetarian has on the environment.

Fun facts to take with you to the party tonight:

If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would save:
100 billion gallons of water, enough to supply all the homes in New England for almost 4 months

1.5 billion pounds of crops otherwise fed to livestock, enough to feed the state of New Mexico for more than a year

70 million gallons of gas–enough to fuel all the cars of Canada and Mexico combined with plenty to spare

If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would prevent:
Greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 1.2 million tons of CO2, as much as produced by all of France

3 million tons of soil erosion and $70 million in resulting economic damages

But Kathy’s favorite statistic of all is this:

“According to Environmental Defense, if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads.”

Vegetarians normally want others to refrain from meat altogether, forgetting the improvements that can occur when omnivores “meat” them halfway. A flexitarian diet not only holds bonuses to the dieter, but every living thing on the planet.

So what are you waiting for, potential flexitarians? Don’t be a chicken, put down that chicken!

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Minority Whip Eric Cantor has gained media attention for being the only Jewish Republican in the House of Representatives.

As a conservative Jew, he aims to maintain Kosher, which usually results in him abstaining from meat when dining out, where he can’t be certain of its status. 

“I’m basically a vegetarian when I eat out,” Cantor said, according to Moment Magazine.

Yet another example of why flexitarianism finds its way into some people’s lives.

Like fellow representative Bill Galvano, Cantor once had a restaurant name a sandwich after him. It wasn’t vegetarian though, and unfortunately for Cantor, it associated him with jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who hosted a fundraiser for Cantor at the Kosher deli where the sandwich was created, Stacks.

Are you a part-time vegetarian? What are your reasons for flexing?

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