Global Warming and Vegan Diet

These days everyone seems to be concerned about global
warming. What we eat and drink every day, has a huge
impact on our environment.

According to a report published by the United Nations
Food and Agriculture Organization, the livestock
sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions as
measured in CO2 equivalent – 18 percent – than
transport. It is also a major source of land and water
degradation.

Thriving on a vegan diet is the best option these
days, as it reduces the generation of greenhouse
gases. And vegan diet is also great for health, as vegan
diet is usually rich in whole grains, vegetables,
fruits, and legumes.

These days, the supermarkets in United States are
awash with diary and meat alternatives, so it is very
easy to follow a vegan diet. The internet also
provides useful information - everything from recipes
to tips , for vegetarians and vegans.

Get vegetarian starter kit at Mercy for Animals, and Go veg

Visit International Vegetarian Union and Veg Cooking for recipes.

Visit Veg family and Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) for articles and health related information about vegan diet.

Eat locally harvested produce by shopping at farmers markets. Visit Local Harvest to locate your farmers market in your area.

Vegan Chocolates are Divine

I love chocolates. Chocolates make me happy. I guess
there are very few people in the world who are not
fond of chocolates.

While growing up in India, for me, chocolate was
synonymous with Cadbury dairy milk. Cadbury dairy milk
was loaded with milk. I sometimes liked eating Amul
chocolates, five star and kit kat.

In United States, I enjoyed eating Hershey's
chocolates - Hershey's milk chocolate, Hershey's
kisses, kit kat and Almond joy candy bar. I always assumed
that Pure Dark Chocolates, was used only for baking.

I decided not to consume anything with milk, when I
learnt about the horrible tortures the diary cows
endure every day across the world. Visit this website
to know why milk is bad for you and your family.

When I became vegan, I somehow could not find
vegan chocolates in the supermarkets. Thanks to the
wonderful vegan bloggers who gave me information about
the vegan chocolates, when I posted a post inquiring
about vegan chocolates.

I was thrilled to bits when I found some vegan
chocolates in some stores. I liked all the vegan
chocolates which I ate. Infact, the vegan chocolates
tasted better than the chocolates drenched with milk.

Ghirardelli Twilght Delight, chocolate bar has 72%
cocao. The firt time I tasted this chocolate, I did
not like it. And then I ate it again after a couple of
days, I was pleasantly suprised when I liked the
taste. It was no longer bitter, but the taste of cocao
was addictive. I purchased this chocolate in a
walgreen's store in Chicago. Visit Ghirardelli

Endangered Species Chocolate, Dark Chocolate with
Raspberries, is my favorite vegan chocolate. This
chocolate with 70% cocoa is studded with dried sweet
raspberries. This chocolate has now become my new -
Cadbury dairy milk chocolate, which I relished while I
was in India. I purchased this chocolate in Kroger's
in Detroit.

I also savored Dark chocolate with cranberries and
almond, which was also delicious.

I also love the fact that the Endangered Species
Company donates 10% of net profits to help adorable
animals and the environment. Visit Endangered Species

Dagoba Organic Chocolate, was another chocolate which I ate recently. According to San Francisco Chronicle, this chocolate was “Best Dark Chocolate” a couple of years ago. Visit Dagoba

Scharffen Berger's, Bittersweet Pure Dark Chocolate was another divine chocolate which I ate a couple of days ago. Visit Scharffen Berger

I purchased Dagoba Organic Chocolate and Scharffen Berger's, Bittersweet Pure Dark Chocolate in Hersheys Chicago.

The common ingredients which you find in chocolates without milk are :cacao beans, sugar, cocoa butter, and soy lecithin.

Visit Vegan Essentials if you can't find vegan chocolates in nearby stores.

Kagome Juice : Blend of Fruits and vegetable Juices

I recently came across Kagome juice in Zerbo's - a
health food store in Michigan. I purchased Ruby
Pomegranate Harmony, a blend of juices - fruits and vegetables.

I felt as if I was drinking Dayquil, when I was
drinking Kagome Ruby Pomegranate Harmony. I guess the
taste was bitter because sugar is not added to make
the juice.

Even thought the taste is not tasty, Kagome juices
are brimming with wide variety of phytonutrients and
antioxidants, which is good for our health. If you like raw vegetable juices, I'm sure you will also like Kagome juices.

To know more about Kagome juices, visit their website

Learn New Words, Save Energy

Visit Free Rice to learn new words and use Blackle as your search engine.

Soya Chunks : Popular Soy Product Of India

According to me, soya chunks is the most popular soy
product in India. During my visit to India , I saw
soya chunks in almost all the grocery stores I visited,
in cities such as Bangalore, Mysore and Hassan.

Recently I purchased soya chunks in an Indian grocery
store, in Michigan. Soya chunks is from Ruchi Soya
Industries Limited. The package says, "100%
vegetarian", even though it is also a vegan product.
The word - vegan, is not a popular word in India.

I made Nutrela Matar Pasand, a gravy following the
recipe on the soya chunks packet. It was a simple
recipe, but the taste was wonderful. I loved the taste
and texture of the soya chunks.
The best part is it cooks in a couple of minutes

I ate soya chunks
gravy with pooris made from whole wheat flour. You can also eat it with pita bread or rice.

Vegan Nankhatai, Cookie From India

I loved eating cookies from bakeries while growing up
in Bangalore. The baked goodies which I regularly
savoured came from the nearby bakery, as we did not
have a oven in my home.

When I saw Nankhatai, in Nupur's blog, I wanted to
make those adorable cookies. The recipe sounded
delicious as it also had powdered pistachios. I
followed Nupur's recipe, but veganized it by using,
vegetable oil instead of ghee(clarified butter) and
used Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread, instead of
unsalted butter.

I simply loved these cookies. I have made these cookies twice in a span of couple of days!

Vegan Dishes From India

These days you can find numerous Indian food blogs
brimming on the internet. With a click of a mouse button,
you can view delicious recipes and pictures
from snacks to sweets from Kashmir to
Kanyakumari.

Asha of Foodie's hope recently hosted a blogging event
- RCI Karnataka, and many food bloggers have posted
dishes from Karnataka, a southern state of India.

Visit Foodies hope to view vibrant dishes of
Karnataka. Most of the recipes can be easily
veganized. Use vegetable oil or Earth Balance natural buttery
spread if the recipe calls for ghee - clarified
butter.

Mahanandi, Aayi, and Sailu's kitchen are some of the
blogs with numerous vegan recipes.

Mahatma Gandhi and World Farm Animals Day

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

- Mahatma Gandhi

October 2, is a national holiday in India. Mahatma
Gandhi, considered as the father of nation, was born
on october 2, in India. This day is celebrated as
Gandhi Jayanti in India.

Prayers services, functions and seminars are held
across India to mark Gandhi Jayanti. These functions
and seminars give Indians an occasion to understand
Gandhi's life and teachings.

October 2 is also World Farm Animals Day.
The United Nations General Assembly
recently decided to observe the International Day of
Non-Violence each year on October 2.

On this day, sale of meat is banned across India.
Mahatma Gandhi always felt that animals should be
protected from torture and cruelty. Gandhi said: "The
greatness of a nation can be judged by the way it
treats its animals."

Unfortunately, the condition of farm animals from
Australia to Austria and from United States to India
is pathetic. As there is enormous demand for the meat
and dairy products across the world, farm animals are
treated just as machines.

According to the Humane Society of United States, one
million animals are killed each hour for human
consumption. Dairy cows are treated as milk making
machines. Dairy cows are medicated, artificially
inseminated and cows are kept continuously pregnant,
to provide milk. According to Compassion Over Killing
,more than 95% of eggs sold in the U.S. come from
birds confined in wire battery cages so small, they
can barely even move—a practice that, according to
recent polls, most consumers find unacceptable.

Gandhi's views on Milk

Gandhi, in his book - Key to Health, states that "Milk is an
animal product and cannot be any means be included in
a strictly vegetarian diet". Gandhi decided not to
consume cow's milk after he came to know about the
cruel process of "phooka" or "doom dev" to increase
the production of milk in cows. "Phooka" or "doom dev"
includes any process of introducing air or any
substance into the female organ of a milch animal with
the object of drawing off from the animal any
secretion of milk.

Gandhi decided to consume goat's milk regularly, but
he always felt that getting used to drinking goat's
milk was a tragedy in his life. To know more about this,
visit this website .

Gandhi's views on Leather
Gandhi knew the art of tanning. Gandhi had made some
leather sandals. How did Gandhi, who considered that
animals have soul, used leather to make sandals?

Well, Gandhi used the hide of only dead animals
to make leather products. Anu
Bandopadhyaya states in the book - Bahuroopee Gandhi
that "Gandhi decided to use the hide of only those
animals that die a natural death. Shoes and sandals
made from such leather became known as ahimsak
chappals(non-violence chappals). It was easier to
treat hides of slaughtered animals than the hides of
carcasses and tanneries did not supply ahimsak
leather: and Gandhi had to learn the art of tanning."
Visit this website to know more about Gandhi.

Gandhi initiated the development of Khadi and Village
Industries which gave employment to thousands of
people and everything was along the lines of
non-violence, that is using only naturally dead
animals for making leather.

The Government of India and state governments are
now responsible for the development of Khadi and Village Industries. Of
course, the khadi and village industries is thriving,
but they do not follow the concept of non-violence
laid out by Gandhi.

According to the Maharashtra government website, leather
is produced from the raw hides purchased from
slaughter-houses and raw hides of superior quality are
imported from Bombay and other places. Visit this website to know more about leather.

Even though there is a ban on slaughter of cows in
most of the Indian states, India is a leading producer
of leather.

The Concept of Veganism In India

Even though India is a vegetarian paradsie, it is very
daunting and challenging to be a vegan in India.

For thousands of years, Indians have used milk and milk
products such as ghee, and buttermilk. Infact milk is synonymous
with nutritious wholesome food. Many years ago, cows were treated
well and the cows provided milk for the family.

However, there are has been a drastic change in the production of milk
in India.

When I was growing up in Bangalore, the popular dairy
in Bangalore - Karnataka Cooperative Milk Producers'
Federation Limited (KMF), had just milk, butter, and
ghee as its products. Recently, I was shocked at the
array of milk products from this dairy. Full cream
milk, toned milk, cheese, flavored milk, and ice cream
are some of the products from this dairy.

According to Peta, in India, "Cows and buffalos who
are raised for their milk are impregnated repeatedly
and are forced to live in hideous conditions. Most are
chained by their necks in narrow stalls, unable to
stretch or move normally. Lack of proper food causes
them to suffer from digestive problems, and lack of
exercise causes lameness. To force animals to produce
unnaturally high amounts of milk, farmers feed growth
and other hormones to cows. These hormones are
released into the milk and consumed by people"
Farmers and dairy owners regularly inject cows with oxytocin harmone
to increase the production of milk.

Thanks to Peta and other non-profit organizations such
as Sharan Project, which are exposing the horrific
conditions of the diary and meat industry of India.
Visit PetaIndia and Sharan Project

Indian vegan is a wonderful website with lots of useful information.

These days even in India, everything from cleaning
products to cosmetics are brimming with animal
products. Fortunately, you can find cruelty-free
products, in India. Visit Beauty Without Cruelty , to find
cruelty-free products in India.

Ways to Reduce the Sufferings of the Animals in Developed Countries

These days especially in western countries, it is
possible to lead a life, which cause minimal harm to
the animals. Thanks to the increase in number of
people who oppose the animal cruelty in western
countries, it is now possible to find numerous vegan
products, even in local supermarket.

Supermarkets are brimming with an amazing range of
dairy alternatives - soy milk, almond milk, and rice
milk. Earth Balance products such as Margarine
Natural Buttery Spread and Soy Garden
Natural Buttery Spread is are popular alternative to
butter and ghee.

Tofu, tempeh, and seitan are wonderful alternative to
meat which widely available in supermarkets. It is
pretty easy to get vegetarian fare in restaurants and
fast-food joints. Visit vegcooking , veganchef and fatfreevegan
to find delicious recipes.

Vegfamily , Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) , vegan forum and
Happy cow are some of the useful websites, forum on the internet.

Everything from cleaning products to cosmetics,
without the cruel process of animal testing and
without any animal product, is available in many
supermarkets. Visit Leaping Bunny to know more about cruelty-free
products.

These days you can find everything from wallets,
handbags, jackets, shoes and sandals made with
synthetics, and plant-based materials. Visit this blog to
know about the latest vegan items in the market.