New Mexico Vegan January 2019

Volume 5  Issue 1 January 2019 For Vegans, Vegetarians, and the Veg Curious

The Future is Now Humanimal  Non-Human Animal  Planet

NM Vegan | 02

Vegan for Peace (Advertisement)

2

Inside

3

Happy New Year! (Advertisement)

4

Editor’s Note

5

Assistant Editor’s Note

5

Veganism, Yoga & Mindfulness Are Indissolubly Connected

6-7

New Mexico Facts & Trivia

8

Picking An Apple (Advertisement)

9

Face to Face with Our Clients

Contributor

Page

Richard Chiger

16-17

Sara Kidd

32-35

Melissa Lafontaine

40-41

Maricel Lukkanit

38-39

Carlyn Montes de Oca

22-23

Paula Moore

20-21

10

Jeff Morgan

28-29

Red & Green VegFest Albuquerque, The Future is Now (Advertisement)

11

Sande Nosonowitz

Citrus Scented! Lemony Fresh!

12-14

Tony Quintana

30-31

Beyond The Myth (Advertisement)

15

Elephants, Their Plight In Captivity And In The Wild

16-17

Suzzannah Smith

18-19

Ten Beating Hearts: One Chicken Rescued By Activists, Nine Killed By the Authorities

18-19

To Truly Stem The Tide Of Plastic, Ban Fishing

20-21

How I Unleashed My Vegan Voice

22-23

Resources

24

To Identify With Others (Advertisement)

25

Photo Collage

26

What To Do If You See A Pet Left In The Cold (Advertisement)

27

A Vegan Journey

28-29

Animal Protection of New Mexico Announces New Plant-Based Eating Program

30-31

Recipe: Vegan Popcorn Caramel Cookies

32

Recipe: Vegan Coconut Bundt Cake

33

Recipe: Cherry Almond Crumble Cake

34-35

If We Have No Peace…. (Advertisement)

36

Compassion… (Advertisement)

37

Nothing Is Impossible, Everything Lies In Your Hands

38-39

Eco Anxiety

40-41

Veganism…The New Normal (Advertisement)

42

Meet Our Extended Family

43-45

6-7

Stephen Wells

10

New Mexico Vegan VoIume 5 – Issue 1 January 2019 Editor: Nancy Arenas Assistant Editor: Arwen NMV Photographer: N. Arenas

A HeartnSole, LLC publication

Terms That Mean Nothing To Animals Advertising with NM Vegan

23

Like us on FB The views and opinions, expressed by contributing-authors, in the New Mexico Vegan Magazine; may, or may not, represent the views and opinions, of New Mexico Vegan.

NM Vegan | 03

NM Vegan | 04

Happy New Year! It is…a new beginning…a new you… …as it is with “every day.” Yet, an especially inspiring & auspicious celebratory moment & season, is …to me… irresistible. This year, may each (food) plate “shine brightly” with compassion and love. Let’s bring forth the: Year Of The Vegan Majority! Don’t wait. Let 2020 be the …2nd Year Of The Vegans.

In the words of Cesar Chavez, “To make a great dream come true: the first requirement, is a great capacity to dream; the second, is persistence.” John Lennon, said, “The people have the power. All we have to do is, awaken, the power in the people.”

I say, with them, “Rise up, all …around the world, to make this dream a reality, now.

Veganism, viewed with the backdrop of the world’s ups and downs, is beginning to “glow” more brightly, as the intelligent way to be taken into the future, by a biological planet, …per the desire, to be: ever-alive …happily. I am thrilled with anticipation, over the new-year’s advancements for non-violence. I am not encouraging a self-sacrificial role, where “we” suffer, for a future that belongs to “them.” Let’s do it now, for ourselves …there’s no better reason.

If it slips from our generation, who knows where it slips to. 2019 …nonviolence… …Peace.

Livegan, -- Nancy

ASSISTANT EDITOR’S NOTE The animals, my family & your family, need you. Speaking up for all, is speaking up, for veganism. Let your voices be heard. Thank you. Happy New Year!.

Livegan, -- Arwen

NM Vegan | 05

Veganism, Yoga & Mindfulness Are Indissolubly Connected Sande Nosonowitz

“Now that I am awake, I cannot go back to sleep. Awakened from a culturally induced slumber, I have made a pledge to myself — but more importantly have taken an oath for the animals. I am now their caregiver, witness and companion — and will never be able to justify their exploitation.” — Clinton Vernieu When I was a teenager learning how to drive, my mother would take me to a big empty parking lot and teach me how to parallel park, and make three-point turns. We’d practice and practice driving in and over the painted white divider lines until sunset. After awhile, I finally felt ready to take the car onto the back roads and eventually onto the highway.

That memory reminds me of what my yoga teacher said during class one day. She said that when we practice on the mat, it is not to find strength, flexibility and peace on our mats during class, it is so we can bring those things out with us into our lives. Inner strength when faced with adversity, flexibility so we’re not so rigid in our thoughts, and the ability to find peace amid chaos.

I wasn’t driving in that empty parking lot to become proficient in driving around a parking lot. I was practicing in that safe, guided space, so that I could take what I learned on the road to my ultimate destination.

When I first discovered yoga and meditation, I was immediately drawn to the satsang — the grouping of like-minded people who were seekers, like me. I loved the philosophy, the history, the physical movement, the stillness, the peace. I studied the eight limbs of yoga, which is a definable blueprint for living a meaningful, enlightened life. I studied the tenet of Ahimsa, which advocates non-violence and non-harming. I felt satisfied that I was living my life following the tenet of Ahimsa. I was a peaceful person. I was a mindful person. I didn’t think I was harming anything. I immersed myself into a wonderful yearlong teacher training and started teaching yoga and meditation, confident that I was taking what I had learned in that safe space out into the world. But I was not practicing what I was teaching and part of me wasn’t even aware of it.

And then I discovered veganism. As best-selling author, TED Talk presenter and research professor Brené Brown would say, I “dared greatly” by watching some of the videos that thrust me into the truth about animals as food, clothing, entertainment and experimentation. I was overwhelmed by the reality. But I was also quickly propelled to a new and higher level of consciousness. I believe it was my ultimate wake-up call. It was suddenly very important to me to conduct my life according to my deepest values of compassion, mercy and love — to respect the health of my body and of the earth, and all living beings. The more I learned about the treatment of animals, the degradation of the earth and disease run rampant, the more I knew I was ready to change. The Bhagavad Gita tells us that when you feel the suffering of every living thing in your own heart, that is consciousness. I was finally awake. I was practicing yoga. I was mindful.

Jivamukti yoga is a style of yoga that connects veganism and the practice of yoga. Sharon Gannon, Jivamukti’s co-founder, shares her view of this connection when she tells us that, “Through the practice of yoga and veganism, we can realize that we were meant to live in harmony with all the other animals and all of life. We come to know that our physical bodies function better without having to instill fear into others and to kill them, and that there is no nutrient that we need that we can’t get directly from plant sources or from sunlight. We come to recognize that our old bodies can be transformed and become light and whole — holy bodies, used as vehicles to bring peace.”

NM Vegan | 06

Veganism, Yoga & Mindfulness Are Indissolubly Connected – Cont’d Sande Nosonowitz Practicing yoga and meditation is like driving the car around in that safe empty parking lot. But it cannot be our fullest expression, unless we take what we’ve learned into the conduct of our own lives. Veganism is what you take out into your life when you are ready to know more truth than you care to know. It’s taking your understanding of the eight limbs of yoga (www.expressionsofspirit.com/yoga/eight-limbs.htm), and deciding to incorporate Ahimsa into the conduct of daily life.

Dr. Will Tuttle, author of “The World Peace Diet,” tells us that daily life is filled with choices of how we conduct ourselves.

“We have to make a choice of how to satisfy and nourish our bodies every day … often three times a day we have to choose.

Whether we want to or not … we are all involved in this issue of conscious or unconscious living. If we purposely block out the truth about the food we eat, we become so easily distracted. We allow ourselves to be manipulated by big business interests — because their profits depend on our inability to make meaningful connections.”

And isn’t that yoga — connecting our minds to our bodies to our spirits? Isn’t that yoga, to destroy (through asana, meditation and conviction) the walls of separation between us, and everything and everyone else?

Yoga is not a workout — it is a work in. Yoga is the vehicle in which we ride to a higher consciousness. But let’s not leave that consciousness in the parking lot. Let’s take it out into the world. Veganism is higher consciousness out on the highway, an awakened state of being. Veganism connects us to everything and everyone, it allows us to hear the collective heartbeat.

Veganism is the essence of Ahimsa. Veganism and yoga are interminably connected.

In many classes, yogis and yoginis chant this beautiful mantra: “Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu: May all beings everywhere be happy and free, and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all.”

These are simple, but powerful words, not unlike the golden rule we learned in school. A viable goal is freedom, compassion and the ability to make the ultimate connection.

“To meditate for world peace, to pray for a better world, and to work for social justice and environmental protection while continuing to purchase the flesh, milk, and eggs of horribly abused animals, exposes a disconnect that is so fundamental that it renders our efforts absurd, hypocritical, and doomed to certain failure.” — Will Tuttle

Sande Nosonowitz is a Master-Certified Vegan Coach and Educator. She’ll take you through the transition of becoming vegan, while making it fun and exhilarating along the way. As a writer, she penned a column for the Poughkeepsie Journal for three years called Living & Being Vegan and is the author of one book of the same name, and another releasing in 2019.

Sande is also a Certified Yoga & Meditation Instructor who designs yoga & vegan-inspired jewelry that she calls, ‘Hip & Holy Bling.” She’s a proud cofounder of the inaugural Hudson Valley Vegfest held in 2017 and is fully committed to helping end suffering for humans, animals and the fragile planet we all share.

You can learn more about Sande and all of Sundara Vegan’s offerings on her website, www.sundarajewel.com

NM Vegan | 07

1. Bill Gates and Paul Allen co-founded Microsoft in Albuquerque in 1976. The company moved to Washington in 1979.

2. Albuquerque's cool early temperatures and predictable wind patterns make it particularly well-suited for hot air ballooning. So even if you miss the Fiesta, you can still see balloons flying over the city most mornings. Enchanting!

3. The open-air Santa Fe Opera House, originally built in 1957 and given a complete overhaul in 1998, incorporates the Sangre de Cristo Mountains into the set design for each of its productions. The stunning scenery draws crowds from all over the world—an estimated half of the 85,000 people present during the season hail from outside New Mexico.

4. The nickname of New Mexico is "The Land of Enchantment". It is also known as The Spanish State and the Colorful State..

5. Famous native of the state of Ne Mexico include Jody Blume, Bill Daily, Greer Garson, John Denver, Demi Moore, Neil Patrick Harris, Jim Morrison, amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, and artist Georgia O’Keeffe

NM Vegan | 08

NM Vegan | 09

Face to Face with Our Clients Stephen Wells, Executive Director of the Animal Legal Defense Fund As the only nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting animals through the legal system, the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s work produces sweeping, large scale changes—like protecting animals on a state level through positive legislation. And we know these types of actions protect countless animals, but we are rarely face to face with the animals who will benefit most from our efforts.

That is what makes releasing animals from exploitive captivity into sanctuaries so rewarding. Seeing animals like the lions Jonwah and Njjarra, go from the most deplorable conditions imaginable to lush and expansive spaces — where they will receive the best that veterinary medicine has to offer — can move even the most hardened animal advocate.

To see the gratitude in their eyes, and the extra spring in their step, reminds us of all the other animals we don’t get to see face to face, but whose lives we know we are changing for the better.

On July 21, 2016, the Animal Legal Defense Fund presented evidence to an Iowa judge that Jonwah and Njjarra, two African lions held at Manchester, Iowa’s Cricket Hollow Animal Park (formerly known as Cricket Hollow Zoo), were in dire need of medical attention. Cricket Hollow had a laundry list of documented legal violations, and we had multiple visitors’ reports of the lions being in visible distress, so we filed suit against the park under the Endangered Species Act. The judge shared our deep concerns and ordered that a qualified veterinarian be permitted to enter the property to examine the lions. Shortly after that exam, the owners of Cricket Hollow decided to settle the lawsuit, and we coordinated transfer of the lions to The Wild Animal Sanctuary. The lions were moved by August 1, 2016. The case moved quickly, fortunately for Njjarra, who required emergency surgery to remove a bowel obstruction that was a consequence of her resorting to eating her hay bedding due to starvation. The veterinary professionals caring for her are confident she will make a full recovery.

Jonwah and Njjarra will join an existing lion pride and live out their days in social groups with access to the quality veterinary care that is so necessary for their health and well-being.

These are just two of hundreds of thousands of animals the Animal Legal Defense Fund protects. We will continue to fight on behalf of animals like Candy, a chimpanzee held at an amusement park in Louisiana, and Lolita, an orca held at the Miami Seaquarium.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund’s mission is to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system. Founded in 1979 by attorneys active in shaping the emerging field of animal law, the Animal Legal Defense Fund has blazed the trail for stronger enforcement of anti-cruelty laws and more humane treatment of animals in every corner of American life. For more information and how you can help go to: https://aldf.org/how_we_work/advocacy/

NM Vegan | 10

NM Vegan | 11

We all want, a clean and fresh-smelling home. Many of us, search for commercial-products, …to clean our bathrooms, kitchens, floors, and such. The “Caution, Warning, & Danger” labels, do not convince us of “THREAT” because, …society, generally, is too familiar & too comfortable with them; because …those chemicals were in our homes, when we were “growing up.” Since it didn’t hurt me then, why should I be concerned, now?

But, have you looked at the ingredients? Many cleaning chemicals, are extremely hazardous to your health. The toxic dangers, of many of these common household products, are well documented. {Suggested search: “toxicity of common household cleaning chemicals.”}.

As a vegan, who now spends a lot of time reading ingredient-lists, for every product I buy, I can tell you that, guarding the vegan-purity of my purchases, can get tricky. Companies/scientists use names, for ingredients, that are outside our familiar language base; so, in those cases, I must investigate their meaning, for myself. Do you know what carrageenan means…?...a carrageenan, so say certain scientists, is a family of linear sulfated polysaccharides, …does that help…?...not all food scientists agree on its status of ‘worthiness’ as a food. Here’s another issue: sometimes, they don’t even list all the ingredients; because, the US government does not require their listing on the packaging. WHAT??? That’s right!

Nowadays, if you want to really know what’s in a product, be prepared to contact the manufacturer, to get their Manufacturing Specification Sheets (MSS), complete the form, then submit it. There is more to say on the subject; but, let’s get to the point.

Truly vegan products, promise: to be cruelty-free, right here-right now; and, to never cause any future harmful consequence, …here, or elsewhere. Veganism is more than just a diet. Veganism is the whole view of Planet Earth. We shall not assume that America’s own companies are intending to hurt us; but, we would be wise, “not to assume” their standards to be sterling.

We should care enough to know, directly, ourselves. Poisons, are hurting, not-only, animals and people; poisons are contributing to the destruction of the planet.

---------Bringing something home…?... be sure it is cruelty-free vegan. If your stores, do not offer cruelty-free products, perhaps you could make a special request for them, or shop online.

Ingredient danger primer (The dirty truth about cleaning products):

_________________________________________ Frequently found, in household chemical-products: Aerosols: Lots of household products come in aerosol form: air fresheners, window and counter cleaners, deodorants, hair spray, furniture polish, and more. What they spray (sometimes propelled by butane) can include formaldehyde, phenols, toluene, and phthalates, among other toxins or carcinogens. Aerosols like these can and do cause skin, eye, and throat irritation and may also damage your lungs.

Air fresheners and room deodorizers: Their toxins can include naphthalene, terpenes, and dichlorobenzene, among others. Some dichlorobenzenes have been shown to reduce lung function and are possible carcinogens. Some plug-in air fresheners contain chemicals that react with ozone to create formaldehyde, a carcinogen and respiratory irritant. Many air fresheners also include phthalates.

NM Vegan | 12

Ingredient dangers • Ammonia: Fatal if swallowed; skin, lung, throat irritant; can cause blindness • Butyl Cellosolve: Irritation and tissue damage from inhalation • Formaldehyde: Known carcinogen • Hydrochloric Acid: Fatal if swallowed; concentrated fumes harmful • Naphtha: Depresses the central nervous system • Perchloroethylene: Damages liver, kidney, nervous system • Petroleum Distillates: Highly flammable; can damage lung tissue and nerve cells • Phenols: Extremely dangerous; suspected carcinogen • Propylene Glycol: Ingestion can damage kidneys, lungs, heart, and nervous system • Sodium Hydroxide (lye): Highly caustic. Contact can cause severe damage to eyes, skin, mouth, and throat; can cause liver and kidney damage • Sodium Hypochlorite (chlorine bleach): Contact can cause severe damage to eyes, skin, mouth, and throat; can cause liver and kidney damage; causes more poisoning exposures than any household chemical • Sodium Lauryl Sulfate: Skin irritant • Sulfuric Acid: Dangerous. Can burn skin. Exposure to concentrated fumes can be carcinogenic • Trichloroethane: Damages liver and kidney.

All-purpose cleaners: Many contain solvents and surfactants suspected of causing or aggravating asthma symptoms; phthalates; formaldehyde; and ethylene glycol butyl ether, which has been shown to cause reproductive problems such as testicular damage, reduced fertility, death of embryos, and birth defects in animal studies. Some contain morpholine, which can cause liver and kidney damage, and butyl cellosolve, a neurotoxin.

Antibacterial cleaners: Many contain triclosan, a chemical that may increase the resistance of some bacteria to antibiotics.

Automatic dishwashing detergent: These products typically contain complex phosphates (banned in laundry detergent), which pollute waterways by fostering oxygen-depleting algae blooms, and chlorine, which can become a harmful vapor during the drying cycle. Many common rinse aids are banned by the European Union.

Carpet cleaners: Toxic fumes, principally naphthalene (a carcinogen), are especially dangerous to children who play on carpets after they’re cleaned. The majority of poison exposures from carpet and upholstery cleaners were for children under six. Fumes can also cause kidney and liver damage.

Chlorine bleach: Chlorine bleach can cause severe irritation to the eyes and skin, and its vapor or mist can cause damage to the respiratory tract and aggravate asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis and other respiratory conditions.

Degreasers: Many contain butyl cellosolve, a chemical that irritates mucous membranes. May also cause kidney or liver damage or depress the nervous system. Industrial degreasers are often diluted with kerosene, which can damage lungs and dissolve essential fatty tissue around cells.

Dishwashing liquid: Most include petroleum-based surfactants that stay around in the environment and fragrances stabilized with phthalates.

Disinfectants: May contain any of several toxic chemicals, including formaldehyde, cresols, ammonia, phenols, and chlorine bleach, all of which should be kept away from the skin and some of which can be hazardous to internal organs and the central nervous system. Also may contain triclosan, which may create resistant bacteria.

Drain cleaner: One of the most dangerous products found in the home. Ingredients often include lye and sulfuric acid, both of which are severely caustic and corrosive to skin, airways, and eyes.

Floor and furniture polish: Usually contain cresols and petroleum distillates, which are toxic chemicals that can cause skin and eye irritation, along with damage to the central nervous system. Fragrance includes phthalates. Vapors can contaminate indoor air for days after use.

Glass cleaner: Some contain ammonia, a poison that can irritate skin, eyes, and the respiratory system. Some also contain butyl cellosolve, which is potentially toxic.

Laundry detergent: Many contain synthetic surfactants; fragrances can cause skin irritation and allergic reactions and often contain phthalates.

Mold and mildew removers: Many of these products are essentially a mix of water and bleach, and other chemicals such as butyl cellosolve, with their inherent danger to the respiratory system. Some may also contain pesticides.

Oven cleaners: Like drain cleaners, extremely dangerous because they can contain lye which can cause severe damage to eyes, skin, mucous membranes, mouth, throat, esophagus, and stomach. Aerosol versions are easily inhaled. They can be fatal if swallowed.

Scouring cleansers: Many contain butyl cellosolve, which can irritate mucous membranes and cause liver and kidney damage.

Many brands also contain chlorine bleach and silica, an abrasive that can be dangerous if inhaled.

Toilet cleaners: Many contain chlorine and hydrochloric acid, among other chemicals, which can be harmful.

NM Vegan | 13

Tub, tile, and sink cleaner: Many contain chlorine and may contribute to the formation of organochlorines, a dangerous class of compounds that can cause reproductive, endocrine, and immune system disorders. Many also contain phosphoric acid, which is corrosive and irritates eyes, lungs, and skin.

Here are some links to help you switch to cruelty free products: https://www.leapingbunny.org/ https://www.shopthegreenlife.com/ http://www.veganessentials.com/

NM Vegan | 14

NM Vegan | 15

Elephants need help, and that is they need all the help they can get.

They need that help to stop the cruelty of captivity where they are beaten unmercifully to break their spirit, and in the wild where they are being wiped off the planet as a life form for a rapacious market where their incisor teeth, also known as tusks, are worth a great deal of money. The history of elephants in captivity goes back thousands of years in India and other S.E. Asian countries to which they are indigenous. This fact is known by myriad numbers of people as is their interesting nature, like they do tricks and give rides and beg for peanuts in the zoo. What is not known too well is the way they are broken into service at very tender ages where they are beaten half to death. This physical and mental beating is called the Phajaan in India, Thailand and other countries where this process is carried out.

It is mind boggling to learn what we, as humans, do to other species to get them to submit to our will. Elephants are treated more cruelly than most because of their tremendous size and what they have to learn to do for us. Do not patronize anyplace where you see elephants giving rides or doing tricks. Instead, realize how they came to do these "unelephant-like" behaviors, avoid these places and let the people who are running them know why.

Elephants belong to an order of mammals called Proboscidea or animals with a proboscis or trunk. The first known animal of this order lived 55,000,000 years ago in the Fayum area of Egypt and was called a moeritherium. It was the size of a large pig and had a rudimentary proboscis. In reconstruction, it looked something like a tapir, but its dental structure confirmed that it was a very early member of the elephant family. From there, going through many changes in body shape and size and over eons of time, elephants evolved into three distinct species. Two in Africa, the savanna, or bush African elephant and the much less common forest elephant, found in the equatorial rain forests of central and west Africa. The third species of elephant is the Asian, found in 13 SE Asian countries. The African bush elephant is the largest living land animal on the earth. The bulls, who are a good deal larger than the cows generally grow to be between 10 and 12 feet in height and can reach a weight of about 16,000 pounds.

The largest elephant ever seen in recorded history was a bull in Angola, Africa. He stood 13 ft. 2 in. tall at the shoulder and weighed about 24,000 lbs. Unfortunately, the existence of this magnificent creature became known to a Hungarian big game hunter, who went to Africa, found him and killed him in 1955; I find this disgusting. His skin was sent to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC where he was stuffed and put on exhibition there. African elephants have enormous ears that are about 1/3 the length of the body and the males and females have well developed tusks. This makes them the prime target for ivory hunters and poachers. The forest elephants are quite a bit smaller, the largest males growing to be about 9 feet tall or slightly more. The females about 2 feet less. Their skin is smoother and their tusks grow vertically. Their ears are large but rounder. In many ways they resemble the bush elephant, but if you saw them side by side you would definitely see the differences. According to their genome which was charted only a few years ago, they are as different genetically from the African bush elephant as is the Asian elephant. Until then, the forest elephant was considered a sub-species of the African elephant.

Elephants evolved in Africa and then spread out to almost every continent of the world eventually settling in South East Asia and, of course Africa. The Asian elephant is very different from his African cousin. The ears are much smaller and their skin much smoother. They have two bumps on their heads and their back is convex, the back of the African elephant being concave. Only the male Asians have well developed tusks, the females having either none or very small tusks called tushes that slightly protrude from the tusk lip called the sulcus. Female Asians are not shot for ivory because there is none to speak of. The height of the Asian bull elephant is generally from 8 1/2 to 10 feet tall. The largest one ever spotted was about 11 ft. 3 inches tall. The ratio of Asian tuskers to non tuskers, called muknas, depends on the country from which they come. Before the crazy ivory time, where so many elephants were killed for their tusks, about 70% of Asian bulls had tusks. Now, there NM Vegan | 16

is no specific census to see the difference in the statistics of tuskers to muknas. Originally, the numbers ranged from 11% tuskers in Sri Lanka, to 94% tuskers in southern India and 99% in Malaysia.

Supposedly the ratio of males to females in southern India, where most of the males were tusked, is 1 to 120, not a very good ratio for the survival of a species and an endangered one at that.

Elephants have the longest gestation period of all animals, approximately 22 months. They live in matriarchal family groups called herds. Their female young stay with their mothers for life and the males leave the herd at about the age of puberty. This prevents inbreeding, because if a male mates within his own herd, he would be related to every female in that family group.

Baby elephants are torn from their mothers, whether to train them for work or send them from zoo to zoo or to circuses. This is as cruel as taking an infant human from its mother, as elephants do not forget. The temporal lobe of their brain, which involves memory, is better developed than in a human being. Zoos here in the United States, such as Portland Zoo in Portland Oregon, and the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield Missouri had established breeding programs for elephants.

When they advertised their prolific programs and how many babies were born, they neglected to mention that those babies were pulled from their distraught mothers and sold or traded. Circuses were doing the same thing. The cruelty here is unconscionable and needs to be stopped.

The Asian elephant was designated an endangered species in 1976. The African elephant was then designated a threatened species. There was census taken of elephant numbers in 1978. There were approximately 55,000 Asian elephants and 1,300,000 African. Today there are between 35,000 and 45,000 Asians and about 300,000 to 400,000 Africans left. That is a decline of 1,000,000 elephants in Africa in 40 years. This cannot go on without the extinction of the elephant coming in the near future.

You can write to your legislators to make ivory illegal forever. You can write to the governments of India, Thailand and other countries where elephants live and ask them to stop the cruel ways in which elephants are kept and trained. You can organize in groups to demand that circuses should no longer be able to use elephants here in the US. At least make the use of the bull hook (elephant hook) illegal. The training here was not much less cruel than in Asia. Stop zoos from breeding elephants and selling or trading their babies.

I have loved and studied elephants all my life. I have developed curriculum on endangered species with a major emphasis on elephants. I still teach about elephants and their plight in schools and to adult groups. My wife and I try to raise money for sanctuaries, in particular Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary in Thailand and Wildlife SOS in India. These places rescue elephants from horrific living situations and give them a new and better life where they can live in peace and are no longer beaten and tortured. I hope and pray that something happens that stops their impending extinction, but that can only happen with the help of people like yourselves who care.

Richard Chiger is a retired teacher and elephant expert who lives in Monticello, NY.

NM Vegan | 17

Ten Beating Hearts: One Chicken Rescued By Activists, Nine Killed By the Authorities Suzannah Smith

On September 29, 2018, I was one of 58 activists with the grassroots animal rights network Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) who marched onto Petaluma, CA chicken farm that supplies Amazon, McCoy’s Poultry Services, to rescue sick, injured and dying birds. The owner of the farm saw us approaching and screamed, but we walked past her, and past dilapidated barns with white paint peeling off them. I saw chickens trapped outside the cages who couldn’t access food or water.

I had my cell phone out to shoot video of what we encountered inside the barns. As we continued walking, DxE co-founder Wayne Hsiung spoke to the owner. He explained that there was criminal animal cruelty taking place on her farm, as she continued to scream, including homophobic slurs.

We arrived at one of the barns and stopped outside it to put on the sterile biosecurity suits, rubber gloves and plastic booties we had brought with us. I prayed that we would be able to save some of the sick hens I knew were inside the barn. Before going in I saw a severed, rotting bird wing laying on top of a rusting automobile.

“Film this Suzannah, film this,” someone shouted, pointing to the bird wing.

We heard police sirens, but that did not deter us. Inside, the barn was crowded with birds; they tried to run away from us, but many had visible injuries and lagged behind or couldn’t move at all. Some of the birds had large bare patches without any feathers.

Shockingly, I didn’t feel any emotion right then; my entire focus was on filming the sick or injured birds.

I knew that the police would arrive soon. It was shocking in that barn. There were so many dead and injured birds. Someone asked me to film a fellow activist as she picked up a badly injured bird. She cried as she held the poor bird but I still felt nothing.

Back outside the barn, I documented the dead and injured birds that had been found in a number of the barns. My friend Dean was holding a dead bird, and four other activists also held dead bird bodies.

While I had been inside the barn, other activists had set up an emergency care tent, where activists with experience caring for chickens and other animals could treat the rescued birds, as well as give them food and water. I shot video of the activists who were caring for these birds. There was one bird that was so small, and she just kept drinking and drinking and drinking water.

Eventually we all marched together to the front of the farm with the intention of walking down to the road and leaving with the rescued birds. But when we got to the top of the long driveway that led to the road, there were a number of officers and they stopped us.

Wayne Hsiung negotiated with one of the officers. He explained to her that under California penal code 597e, we had the right to give the birds medical care. That officer and others refused to let us pass. Finally, the female officer, clearly conflicted, agreed to let us take one bird. She said we could take the bird who was most injured. Wayne told her they were all severely injured and would die if they didn’t receive immediate help. But the officer insisted that we could only take one bird. Wayne finally pointed to one of the birds, who activists later named Rose, who had a broken leg, and the officer said we should take that one.

Wayne asked me if I wanted to carry Rose to the care van. Of course I took her, carefully cradling her in my arms. The police officer said, “One female is coming out. Let her through.”

NM Vegan | 18

Ten Beating Hearts: One Chicken Rescued By Activists, Nine Killed By the Authorities - Cont’d Suzannah Smith As I walked, I still felt numb. But I also felt Rose’s little heart beating against me. She felt so small and fragile, yet so warm.

I got to the end of the driveway and onto the road, and I saw the care van. I placed Rose gently into a cat carrier cushioned with soft towels.

After the van left to take Rose to a vet, I stood outside the farm with nearly 100 other activists and watched as my 58 friends, each handcuffed, were led, one by one, by officers down to the road and loaded into a bus and other police vehicles. That day each of the 58 arrested activists was charged with felony conspiracy, felony burglary and misdemeanor trespassing. Their bond was set at a punitive $20,000 each, over $1 million $20,000 in all. All 58 spent nearly 24 hours in jail in a Santa Rosa facility. The following day 51 of the activists were bailed out; seven chose to stay in jail for another two nights, before appearing in court the following Tuesday.

The other nine sick or injured birds that activists had tried to save were taken by the police and given to Animal Care and Control, who later killed all of them. Rose, the hen we rescued, is now doing well at an animal sanctuary.

This farm provides the chickens it raises to Petaluma Poultry, a Perdue-owned company best known for its Rosie Organic chicken; Petaluma Poultry, an Amazon supplier, markets its chickens as free range and/or organic. Consumers are willing to pay extra for Petaluma Poultry chicken, wrongly believing that the birds were humanely raised. Consumers trust Amazon as well as the grocery chain it now owns, Whole Foods, to live up to this promise of a more just food system, but those animal welfare claims are lies. Activists call them, “the humane lie”.

This is why animal rights groups are currently working with politicians in Berkeley and San Francisco to introduce consumer transparency legislation called Right to Know. If it becomes law, Right to Know will require grocery stores and restaurants with more than one outlet in the U.S. to inform consumers whether the meat products they're selling come from animals raised on cruel factory farms where animals are mutilated and abused, have been dosed with antibiotics or other drugs, come from farms where diseases such as salmonella or E.coli were present, and other information.

If this legislation is passed, it will be the first of its kind in the world. It will be another step towards ending the lies and secrecy that animal agriculture is built upon.

NM Vegan | 19

Suzannah Smith is an animal rights activist with Direct Action Everywhere (DxE); she is also a member of the animal rights legislative group, Compassionate Bay and a member of the Berkeley student activist group, Berkeley Organization for Animal Advocacy (BOAA).

Scientists warn that unless we take action, by 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish. But while retailers and governments around the world are banning straws, coffee stirrers and other singleuse plastic items, we need to remember that straws are just the tip of the plastic iceberg. If we really want to stem the tide of plastic pollution that's choking our oceans and killing marine animals, we'd be better off banishing cod and tuna from our plates and skipping trips to the local fishing hole.

Fishing—whether for food or for "fun"—and the garbage that it generates inflict far more harm on wildlife than straws ever will.

It's easy to understand why plastic straws are under fire, though. No one who has seen the video footage of a straw being pulled out of a sea turtle's nostril will ever be able to forget it. But according to Adam Minter, author of Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade, even if every plastic straw littering coastlines around the world suddenly washed into the oceans, "they'd account for about .03 percent of the 8 million metric tons of plastics estimated to enter the oceans in a given year."

Sea turtles and other animals are much more likely to be harmed by lost and discarded fishing gear. Scientists affiliated with The Ocean Cleanup, a group working to reduce plastic pollution, determined that, by weight, fishing nets make up at least 46 percent of the plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a floating pile of rubbish that's three times the size of France. Eel traps, baskets, ropes and other abandoned fishing gear, also known as "ghost gear," make up the majority of the rest.

Some 640,000 tons of ghost gear enter the world's oceans every year—and can mutilate and kill marine animals for many years afterwards.

It's a gruesome death. Whales who become entangled in heavy fishing gear can drown, die of exhaustion after weeks of struggling to free themselves or slowly starve to death if the gear is lodged in their mouths and prevents them from feeding. As I write this, rescue crews in Canada have just freed an endangered North Atlantic right whale entangled in fishing gear near Grand Manan Island.

In July, three young girls who were playing on Chic's Beach in Virginia found a commercial fishing net with 10 live seahorses trapped inside. Those animals were "lucky"—they were rescued by the quick-thinking girls. But millions of sea turtles, whales, dolphins, sharks, birds and other animals who are maimed and killed by discarded fishing gear every year aren't so fortunate.

NM Vegan | 20

Paula's articles have appeared in The Washington Post, BUST magazine, The Miami Herald, and other publications, and she is a regular contributor to PETA Global magazine. She grew up in the Washington, D.C., area and now lives in Hampton Roads, Virginia, with two rescued cats.

NM Vegan | 21

How I Unleashed My Vegan Voice Carlyn Montes de Oca

I have loved animals from my first breath. Growing up in Southern California, stuffed bears, dogs, and assorted creatures whose fur was worn out by my childhood affections, covered my bed. We were a family of dog lovers so I grew up with canines around me who taught me the meaning of friendship, loyalty, and unconditional love.

Although I was encouraged to love animals, I was also expected to eat them. When I rebelled against consuming meat my mom had other ideas. For a little kid, a strong-willed mother can be quite intimidating and downright scary. Therefore, I towed the line and allowed her voice to override mine. But even as I adopted society’s standards and went against the whispers of my own heart, my love for animals never died. This detour instilled a deep-seated desire to help them. I just didn’t know how I would do it and I struggled with this question for a very long time.

When I left home, I became a vegetarian and eventually worked as a film editor on Hollywood movies like, “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” and “Three Men and a Little Lady.” The movie industry was exciting. But during the twenty years it was my profession, there was also an underlying and constant pull to help animals in a more significant way. So I volunteered in shelters, showed up at protests, signed petitions, wrote letters to politicians, and even adopted four rescue dogs and two cats, who I lovingly called my six-pack. I was glad to help animals in any way that was needed but again the longing to do more and the constant frustration of not knowing what my piece of the puzzle was, nagged at me.

The long hours and high stress can make the film business a tough taskmaster. Eventually I burned out, went back to school, and four years later became an acupuncturist and plant-based nutritional consultant. Once in private practice, people would approach me for all manner of ailments from the common cold to cancer. I began to notice that when they were feeling stressed or anxious – if I engaged them in a conversation about their cats, dogs or other animal friends - they would smile, laugh, and even cry. These emotions may seem inconsequential but understanding the mind-body connection; I knew how important these reactions were to begin their healing process.

From my relationships with my dogs and cats, and now hearing so many of my patient’s stories, an idea came to me about a potential book on how our animal friends can benefit our wellbeing. I called this phenomenon, The Animal-Human Health Connection. With this idea in mind, I began to write my first book, not knowing what or if anything would ever come of it.

NM Vegan | 22

How I Unleashed My Vegan Voice – Cont’d Carlyn Montes de Oca Then one day, I got an email that changed everything. It was from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). Will you be PETA's Sexiest Vegetarian over 50? – the headline read. Believe me, I’m no beauty queen, and normally I would have scoffed at this type of contest; but this was PETA, and I knew the event stood for so much more than a pretty face. So I followed my internal voice, a voice that after fifty years was beginning to emerge with more frequency, and entered the contest.

And what do you know? I won.

PSVO50 contest put me in front of media and gave me an opportunity to speak in public. And the more I did it and stretched out of my comfort zone, the more my confidence grew. I also used the contest as motivation to make a long-awaited life-enhancing shift; I made the leap from vegetarian to vegan. This change not only allowed me to decrease my footprint on animal suffering but it also marked a turning point where I left behind the ghosts of the past who unconsciously still dictated my life.

Last year, Dog as My Doctor, Cat as My Nurse: an animal lover’s guide to a healthy, happy and extraordinary life, became a #1 Amazon bestseller in multiple categories and won seven awards. I enjoyed a nine-city book tour, got published in Italy, and was interviewed on nearly one hundred media outlets including television, radio, and newspapers. Recently I fulfilled another dream. I gave a TEDx talk in Wilmington, Delaware, on The Life-Changing Powers of the Animal-Human Health Connection.

And now I’ve released my second book, “Paws for the Good Stuff: a dog lover’s journal for creating a happier and more pawsitive life.”

I wish I was born a vegan. I wish no animals had ever suffered for my benefit. But this is not my story. When I look back on my life, I see that so many people, circumstances, and my experiences, which at the time appeared to be negative, have also been catalysts, inspiring me to have a stronger voice on behalf of animals. It’s a voice I’m grateful to have recovered. And this time I won’t be letting go of it.

Bio - http://animalhumanhealth.com/press-kit/carlyns-bio/ Website – www.AnimalHumanHealth.com Pic - http://animalhumanhealth.com/press-kit/images/

NM Vegan | 23

ABQ Vegan: http://www.meetup.com/ABQVEG/ Albuquerque Vegan and Vegetarian Parents: https://www.facebook.com/groups/323534174705753/ Otero Veg: http://cloudcroftvegans.com/index.html HeartnSole Spiritual Community: https://heartnsolerevna.wordpress.com/ Leaf: Taos Vegan Society: http://www.meetup.com/Taos-Vegan/ Plant-Based Eating New Mexico: https://www.facebook.com/PBENM/?rc=p Santa Fe Vegan: http://www.meetup.com/Santa-Fe-Veg/photos/4704212/445478790/ Silver City NM Vegan Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/vegansupportgroup/ www.dancingwiththebars.wordpress.com

www.redandgreenvegan.wordpress.com

If you are vegan and offer cruelty-free services and products please let us know for possible inclusion in upcoming NM Vegan Magazines, please email us at welcome22day@gmail.com, on the subject line please write NMV Vegan Products & Services.

If you have an article that deals with veganism and would like to submit it for possible inclusion in an upcoming NM Vegan Magazine, please email us at welcome22day@gmail.com, on the subject line please write NMV Article.

NM Vegan | 24

NM Vegan | 25

NM Vegan | 26

NM Vegan | 27

Veganism? When I used to hear that word the image of earthy, skinny, mal-nourished people would come to mind. Obviously, I was ignorant but I wouldn’t find that out until 20 years later. At the age of 23 I was fit, lean, strong and what I thought was healthy. I had occasional breakouts on my face but I thought it would pass in time. My diet consisted of cheap and fast food – basically whatever I could afford. I ate meat, turkey, chicken and a lot of eggs. Animal protein was the way to go for an athlete like me – or so I was taught.

After becoming a certified personal trainer and being inducted into the animal-protein pushers hall of fame, I began to preach the importance of animal protein having no idea where protein actually came from. Over the course of two decades and a rise in personal health issues, I began to think that something was wrong. Instead of blaming my diet, I was swept away by the new superfood craze that took over at the beginning of the new millennium. By age 40, my skin was inflamed with Rosacea. I had digestive bloating and inflammation that resulted in irregular movements of the bowels. I had joint pain which inhibited me from working out the way I liked to as a young athlete and my seasonal allergies were getting worse every year. My cholesterol was around 215 and I was starting to fear the onsets of disease states that I once thought I would never fall victim to.

I remember thinking back to that young 23 year old kid who was fit, ripped and energetic and wondered what possibly could have happened to me. At the age of 42, I looked in the mirror an no longer recognized myself. It took two decades of drinking wheat grass juice, trying coconut oil, taking more vitamins, trying the latest colloidal mineral supplements and on and on, until I realized that it wasn’t what I wasn’t eating that was causing my problems. It was what I was eating.

My wife would express her interest in trying a vegan diet and would gently suggest it. I would politely dismiss it because I was still under the impression or should I say illusion that human beings needed to eat animals to build and maintain the body. On that fateful day in June 2013, my wife mentioned a video lecture by Dr. Michael Greger called “Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death.” When I got home I watched it and the light went on! The switch had been hit! There was something about the way he explained and demonstrated how animal products negatively affected the body and were playing a part in the failure of human health that I couldn’t argue with. The following day I switched to a plant-based diet and never looked back. Within 2 weeks my symptoms of inflammation and bloating disappeared which allowed me to begin training again. My skin started to clear up and my allergies were virtually gone. Within one year I had my 23 year old body back and was training harder than I had in over 10 years.

Once my body had been cleansed and my cholesterol reached optimal levels I noticed that I started feeling the positive health benefits of the food I was eating. The animal products I had grown up eating had limited my ability to experience the benefits of whole plant foods. I was so amazed by the benefits of a plant-based diet that I started a YouTube channel called Guilt Free TV where I talk about the benefits of living the plant-based/vegan lifestyle. To my surprise the channel took off and now has over 62K subscribers.

I pushed “whole foods” exclusively and recommended against supplements which is ironic because I now work as Director of Sales and Customer Service for Clean Machine Plant-Based Fitness Nutrition – an all vegan supplement company.

Apparently, I had a little more mind opening to do and lucky I closed it when I came upon Clean Machine.

NM Vegan | 28

At age 45, I had challenged myself to put on muscle as fast as I could, eating mostly whole plant foods. After a long 10 months I gained a disappointing 10 pounds. Geoff Palmer, the owner and CEO of Clean Machine reached out to me and kindly hinted that with the intensity of my training I should be gaining faster. He was even so kind that he sent me his product line for free. I was skeptical at first and put the products on the top shelf of my pantry. For the next 6 months I continued to preach “no supplements” until I felt my body breaking down from the intense training. Apparently, I had been lacking in nutrition. After all, intense physical stress depletes the body’s nutrients. I no longer could avoid the inevitable. I opened the pantry, reached up to the top shelf and began taking supplements for the first time in 2 decades. What I noticed was incredible! I began gaining muscle and noticed my recovery was much more efficient. Within 4 months I had gained 15 pounds and decided to enter into my first ever bodybuilding competition as a 47 year old physique athlete. Not only did I compete, I won and earned my pro-card as the only vegan in a group of guys that were 10-20 years younger than I. As a husband and father of two beautiful boys, the vegan lifestyle has been invaluably life changing not just for me but for my family as well. My children were getting sick regularly before we changed their diet and my wife was anemic. By saying goodbye to animal products, we also said goodbye to regular illness, impending disease and the needless suffering of other animals. Let’s just say that going vegan was one of the best decisions of my life.

Jeff Morgan, Director of Sales Office: 916-238-0959 jmorgan@cleanmachineonline.com www.cleanmachineonline.com

NM Vegan | 29

We at Animal Protection of New Mexico (APNM) are excited to announce our newest program focused on promoting PlantBased Eating. APNM has been working to protect animals for nearly 40 years, and now, through our new program, will have the opportunity to protect farmed animals like never before.

Increasing plant-based eating in New Mexico will arguably do more to protect more animals than almost any other endeavor.

By choosing plant-based diets we reduce the demand for meat and other animal products like milk, eggs, and cheese. This reduces the number of farmed animals who suffer in industrialized factory farms or from exposure to extreme temperatures on the open range, and ultimately in slaughterhouses when they’re killed for their flesh.

Additionally, choosing plant-based diets helps protect native wildlife who are killed by the millions each year at the behest of the animal agriculture industry. Paid for with our tax dollars, a federal agency called Wildlife Services intentionally poisons birds drawn to huge stockyards and feedlots, and poisons prairie dogs who are seen as competition for rangeland forage. Also, using leghold traps and poisons, Wildlife Services kills coyotes, cougars, bears, foxes, and other native wildlife who have nowhere to live but the land occupied by non-native, unprotected livestock.

Beyond the devastation to wild animals, animal agriculture is now known to be impacting the environment in other significant and alarming ways. Forests are being leveled to raise crops to feed livestock, cattle emissions contribute dramatically to dangerous greenhouse gas levels, and massive volumes of animal waste pollute our water and air, causing stream degradation and ocean dead zones. Both land and fresh water are wasted when plants are grown not for people but instead for animals who then become food. Animal agriculture, the leading cause of species extinction, is wreaking havoc both locally and globally.

Conversely, when choosing a plant-based diet, we can enjoy improved health, lower food costs, a smaller carbon footprint, and the knowledge that we are fighting systems of animal oppression and systemic racism (one example of systemic racism in animal agriculture is that factory farms are often located in communities of color). Each and every one of us can help protect all animals three (or more) times per day with our food choices.

The focus of APNM’s Plant-Based Eating program is to increase plant-based eating in New Mexico by taking a multi-faceted approach to achieve institutional change, including working with restaurants, schools, and other institutions to increase their plant-based offerings, establishing an ambassador committee to magnify community connections, and engaging in other forms of outreach and education. Our program will leverage the many different reasons individuals may choose to switch to plantbased diets, including animal advocacy, health, the environment, and social justice.

APNM is updating its vegan dining guide for release in early 2019, to help folks locate restaurants that have validated plantbased offerings on their menu. The dining guide will cover as much of New Mexico as possible, starting with the largest cities, and will be available in print and digital versions. The dining guide and other resources will be accessible on a mobile-friendly website and a Facebook page, and a plant-based eating blog is coming soon in 2019.

APNM’s volunteer plant-based eating ambassador committee will consist of healthcare professionals such as physicians, dietitians, nurses, fitness coaches and other advocates who want to expand plant-based eating in our communities. The committee will have its first meeting in January 2019.

Outreach and education activities will be next, including community events, continuing education classes, and more, and will continue to evolve as the program develops. Plans include starting a plant-based cooking class for patients at New Heart Center for Wellness, Fitness, and Cardiac Rehabilitation, in collaboration with Victor Flores from the local Vegan Outreach chapter and Dietitian Gabriel Gaarden.

NM Vegan | 30

Personally, I have been doing activism related to plant-based eating for several years and have lots of ideas for the program.

Some of my past work includes starting an event series titled “Conscious Eating and Hip-Hop” in collaboration with the local Vegan Outreach chapter and speaking at national conferences about the intersection of veganism and hip-hop. Additionally, as a fitness instructor and health coach, I have educated clients on the many benefits of plant-based eating. When I see folks make the change to a plant-based diet and I get to witness the ways in which they feel and experience positive changes physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, I am always inspired and rejuvenated to continue this work that I truly feel is an integral part of achieving a peaceful and sustainable planet.

If you are a healthcare professional or plant-based advocate and would like to become involved or learn more about APNM’s Plant-Based Eating program, contact me at 505-908-8176 or plantbased@apnm.org. For updates on this program and services follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pbenm. If you would like to learn more about APNM, visit our website at www.apnm.org and subscribe to our eAlerts.

Tony Quintana is the Plant-Based Eating Program Manager for Animal Protection of New Mexico. He has worked in Health Promotion/Disease Prevention for over eight years and has conducted health education programs on a wide variety of topics including nutrition, fitness, diabetes, and HIV. Tony (known by his stage name I.Q. the Professor) is also very active in the local hip-hop scene in New Mexico where he co-founded the Conscious Eating & Hip-Hop event series and helps coordinate community events around hip-hop activism. Tony has been vegetarian since 2007, and vegan since 2016. He lives in Albuquerque with his wife, two children, and dog (all of whom are also vegan). You can hear his song about veganism titled “So Many Reasons” at https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/iqtheprofessor and follow him on social media at www.facebook.com/iqtheprofessor and https://www.instagram.com/iqtheprofessor/

NM Vegan | 31

These taste like you’re eating a Twix bar only better cause POPCORN. They literally melt in your mouth with a nice crunch from almonds and salty popcorn. Seriously, these are so good. When I made them I had to give them away so I wouldn’t eat the whole batch.

INGREDIENTS BEAT 125g vegan butter melted 100g firmly packed light brown sugar 1 tsp high quality vanilla bean paste MIX 2 tbsp cornstarch/cornflower mixed with 3 tbsp water to dissolve flour SIEVE 225g all-purpose plain flour 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp sea salt CARAMEL POPCORN TOPPING 360ml coconut milk 300g light brown sugar 3/4 tsp Cinnamon 1 tsp vanilla bean paste Pinch salt 20g salted popcorn 100g sliced almonds 2 tbsp veggie oil TO MAKE COOKIES 1. Preheat oven 180C/360F and grease 2 large baking trays.

2. In a large mixing bowl beat butter, sugar, vanilla together until combined.

3. Stir in cornstarch paste.

4. In another small bowl sieve together flour, baking soda, salt and mix together well.

5. Using a wooden spoon or your hands mix together butter and flour mixture until it forms a soft ball of dough.

6. Using a non-stick rolling pin, roll out cookie batter 1cm thick.

7. Using a large cookie cutter, cut out cookies and place on baking tray about 3cm apart.

8. Bake for 10-12 until cookies seem firm on top.

9. Remove from oven and let completely cool on trays.

TO MAKE TOPPING 1. In a small pot stir together over high heat coconut milk, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt. Bring to boil and then slightly reduce heat and let simmer until mixture is bubbling and has reduced by about a third.

2. Remove from heat and let cool down.

3. Lightly fry almonds in oil until light brown and remove from heat and let cool.

4. Break up popcorn and put on top of each cookie.

5. Add a small amount of almonds to each cookie.

6. Poor caramel over cookie to seal popcorn and almonds on top of each cookie.

7. Allow to set in the fridge until caramel is hard and chewy.

TIP: If you want perfectly round cookies, bake them in silicone egg rings, cutting them with a cookie cutter about half a cm smaller than the egg rings. Then leave them in the egg rings when you add topping. Let them completely set before removing the rings.

NM Vegan | 32

MAKES: 10IN Bundt Cake * BAKING TIME: 80 mins INGREDIENTS For the Cake 250g all purpose flour 100g “00” plain pastry flour 50g coconut flour 2 tsp baking soda ½ tsp baking powder ½ tsp salt 240 ml veggie oil 135g granulated sugar 240 ml soy milk + 2 tbsp white vinegar mixed together to activate the milk 440 ml coconut cream 1 tsp good quality coconut flavouring 1 tbsp Vanilla bean extract For the Syrup 70 ml water 70g granulated sugar 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice For the Glaze 100 grams vegan white chocolate (I use Sweet William Chocolate) 20 grams cacao butter 70 grams coconut cream Vegan Pink Food Coloring INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE CAKE 1.

Preheat oven to 160C/360F, grease and flour an 10IN bundt cake tin. Set your oven rack in the middle position. Make sure to let your oven heat up to the exact temp.

2.

In a large mixing bowl sieve all flours, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt to-gether. Mix them together well.

3.

In another small bowl mix milk/vinegar, vanilla, coconut cream, oil, coconut flavour until well combined.

4.

Using a whisk slowly stir the liquid into the flour until just combined. Don't worry if it's a little lumpy as long as it's all the same consistency.

5.

Pour mixture into tin to 3/4 full. Gently tap on the bench to release any air bubbles. Depending on the size of your tin you may have a little batter left over. Don't overfill because it needs to rise.

6.

Bake in oven for 70-80 mins until a skewer comes out clean when poked into the deepest part of the cake.

7.

Allow to cool for 20 mins before turning onto a cooling rack.

Tip: I use a silicone bundt cake tin as it releases the cake easier. If you use this make sure to place it on a tray in the oven so it's on a flat surface.

TO MAKE SYRUP 1.

Mix sugar, water and lemon juice together in a small pot.

2.

Bring to boil and remove from stove.

3.

Brush over cooled cake with a pastry brush.

TO MAKE GLAZE ICING 1. Place almost all chopped chocolate in the top of a double boiler or a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of simmering water 2. Stir constantly until melted, making sure not to heat chocolate above 31C-32C / 88F-90F 3. Take off heat and stir in extra chocolate until melted then stir in room temp coconut cream (if it's cold it will set the drip) 4. Add to piping bag (or however you like to drip your icing) and drip over the top of your cake NM Vegan | 33

MAKES one 8IN cake * BAKE TIME 70-30 mins * PREP TIME 20 mins INGREDIENTS SIEVE 180g plain flour 20g corn flour 2 tsp baking powder ½ tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt BEAT 60g vegan butter cubed at room temp 60g soft veggie shortening at room temp 120g powdered sugar / icing sugar 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste (double it if you’re using extract or essence) 1 tsp good quality lemon flavouring MIX 300ml soy milk at room temp 2 tbsp white vinegar 100g canned or fresh cherries drained CRUMBLE TOPPING 70g vegan butter melted but cooled 70g brown sugar 120g plain flour 25g vegan bread crumbs 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp vanilla bean paste 1/4 tsp salt 70g sliced almonds PINK CHOCOLATE ICING 100g white chocolate Pink food colouring LETS BAKE MAKE CRUMB FIRST 1.

Mix together cooled melted butter with sugar, flour, cinnamon, vanilla, crumbs and salt until it comes together loosely and becomes crumbly for a topping. Put aside.

TO MAKE CAKE 1.

Pre-heat oven to 160C/320F and grease 8IN cake tin and line with baking paper. Place a heat proof bowl of water at the base of the oven or line the cake with a baking strip.

2.

Using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer, on a low speed beat butter and shortening together until combined, add sieved sugar + vanilla + lemon and beat until light and fluffy. Don’t over beat.

3.

In a large bowl sieve remaining dry ingredients together, mix well with a whisk and set aside.

4.

In another bowl mix milk and vinegar together until milk thickens slightly.

5.

Dividing flour and milk into thirds, slowly add flour then milk to butter in thirds, on low speed until just combined, don't over mix.

6.

Pour mixture into your cake tin, spread evenly and gently tap on bench to release any air bubbles 7.

Place cherries on top of batter all over the cake, don’t push down.

8.

Sprinkle crumbs evenly all over the cake 9.

Make sure your oven has reached 160C/320F and then place your cake into the middle row for 27- 30 mins or until skewer comes out clean. You will see that the cake has start to come away from the sides and is firm.

NM Vegan | 34

10.

11.

12.

Leave to cool down and then gently remove from cake tin Make drip icing by melting chocolate and mixing with food colouring. Then drip over the top of cake as desired. I drip around the edges to create a border.

This cake is best served with custard or ice cream

After spending eight years convincing people to go to the cinema to watch powerful and important animal rights and environmental documentaries, I’ve decided to trade in the glamour (there is really no glamour) of show business for the sweet baking life. Sugar is always my evil/good friend.

I started out studying as a chef but ended up at film school in Sydney, Australia. I’ve worked in film for 15 years, 8 of which I have spent as the Head of Acquisitions and Marketing at Indievillage, with a remit to take on animal rights and environmental films. My last project, Kangaroo: A Love Hate Story, released in early 2018, was quoted by Australia’s breakfast TV show Sunrise as being the most controversial Australian documentary ever released in the US. Pretty serious stuff! It’s actually really serious and we need to stop killing our national icon before it’s too late. Please go see this movie today.

I’ve been vegan for 14 years (yes, way before vegan cheese and Beyond Burgers ever existed) and have worked on A LOT of large-scale vegan and animal rights events during this time, including the Animal Matters series which brought more than 300 high-level corporate business executives and entrepreneurs together to learn about the negative impacts of animal exploitation on people, animals and the planet. My focus has always been on raising awareness towards veganism and animal rights [insert meme with me telling you I’m vegan with a pic of broccoli here]. Animals are my friends and I’m fiercely loyal to my friends, so logically, I don’t eat them….. cause then I would have no friends (and FB friends don’t count tbh).

I have completed courses with some of the most fabulous mainstream cake designers including Don’t Tell Charles – Thao Pham, Hey There Cupcake – Stevi Auble, Katherine Sabbath, Kara’s Cake Coutures, Sugar Art by Zoe Byrnes and the Australian Patisserie Academy in Sydney.

I spend my time between Sydney Australia and Auckland New Zealand, with my beautiful super smart husband – Peter and my two furry four legged children – Rocky and Genie, who steal my heart everyday (seriously I’m not this corny in real life except when I’m making annoying puppy talk).

More info at: Website: sarakidd.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vegancakesbysarakidd/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vegancakesbysarakidd/ Vegan Baking FB Group: https://bit.ly/2rWrWc2

NM Vegan | 35

NM Vegan | 36

NM Vegan | 37

About Maricel The first taste of Maricel’s delicious harmony of flavors and textures is the moment when you’ll get a glimpse of how beautiful and tasty eating healthy can be. That is what she does. She develops sumptuous, plant-based, edible moments that naturally urge you to discover more about healthy eating.

Like her food, Maricel’s impressive skills also share a wonderful balance.

She’s both an accomplished, fun host and creative, self-taught chef for almost ten years. Her food has connected with and entertained new friends during her travels to over seventy countries. The extensive traveling has also influenced her food, developing her dishes into unique fusions of inspiration found along the way.

Her unrelenting passions to combine nutritious food with fun, creativity, and new people drive her to create workshops, offer cooking classes, and host special, personalized gastronomic dinner events.

Maricel believes that living a life around plant-based cuisine doesn’t mean that you’re forced to give up what you enjoy. It’s about finding something better and understanding your freedom of choice in the pursuit of living a better and a healthier version of yourself.

Her Story Back in 2009 I decided to quit my job, sell everything that I owned and basically cut my belongings down to only 15 kg. It was such a relieving feeling to realize that all I needed were in only two backpacks.

We have this misconception of having more means, you are more, but to me it felt more, having less! I had more freedom, more space, more clarity and more fun!

I had the wonderful opportunity to visit over 70 countries and 257 cities and territories, flown hundreds of thousands of miles, slept in all sorts of places, met beautiful faces and discovered culinary highlights that has inspired me with my recipes ever since.

Getting out of the comfort zone had a distinctive surprise about what is possible in this precious world, within this precious life. During my journey I have become vegan and been thriving on a plantbased diet since. It was the best thing I could have done for my health, heart and mind.

Now a lot of people might think it is very difficult to be vegan while traveling extensively. I have to say just like with everything else in life, where there's a will, there's a way. There is this huge misconception that vegan food is expensive and hard to get, but everywhere in the world you'll find fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains. It is in fact, one of the cheapest and wide available range of food there is. It is about how much effort you are willing to invest to follow your goals. You probably won't find a vegan local dish around the corner everywhere you go, but there are many tools and application like Happy Cow that will support you to find the nearest vegan friendly restaurant, wherever you are in the world. Vegan food is rising and availabilities are popping up everywhere in the world. Also, there is a book called vegan passport where you have a explanation about what veganism means and what you can eat in every language. This way it is very easy and quick to get to the point and receive a meal, that is completely vegan in a non vegan restaurant.

Whenever I had a kitchen I would create quick and easy breakfasts items like green smoothie bowls or snacks such as energy bliss balls that last up to 2 weeks without a fridge, the perfect travel snack ever besides nuts, seeds and dried fruits.

I also tend to eat a lot of raw vegan food when I travel which kept me hydrated and energized.

NM Vegan | 38

For a hot meal, you could package cooked whole grain pasta, which hold its shape better than softer pastas. Place the sauce and topping for the pasta in a separate container. During flights ask the flight attendant for half a cup of tea water. Pour it over your pasta, close it up and let it sit for a minute or two and drain it back into the cup. Now you have a warm pasta, add your sauce and toppings and you’ve got a real meal in coach.

Visiting the markets is one great way how to get to know a city and explore the abundance of local products. You´ll be amazed how much varieties of fruits and vegetables there are Nothing is impossible, everything lies in your hands and you always have the freedom of choosing which way you want to go.

The way will always be available for you once you make a committed decision. Most of the thoughts that hold us back is, that we are afraid of being deprived of what we enjoy eating. But in fact, veganism will open you up to a wider spectrum of delicious dishes that you could not even think of now and the best thing is that you will feel amazing after indulging in whole life food. It is a journey and a process to a new consciousness lifestyle.

Maricel is an educator and personal chef who specializes in plant-based cuisine She has raw food workshops, cooking classes, and special gourmet dinner events as well as tailored meal preparation. Her dishes are unique fusions of different cuisine and originals inspired by her travel know-how of 5 years through 70+ countries.

Social Media Links http://maricelsvegancrush.com https://instagram.com/maricelsvegancrush/ https://www.facebook.com/vegancrush https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCgoX0RWssAvSaY1SqWzb0A th.linkedin.com/in/vegancrush

NM Vegan | 39

According to the American Psychological Association, “Climate change is causing PTSD, anxiety and depression on a mass scale.”

After talking with a friend about the ‘overwhelming-ness’ of being vegan, she told me to google “eco anxiety”. A term I had never heard before but resonated with immediately. I felt a sense of relief to know that I am not alone after all. Although it often feels that way when you’re surrounded by family, friends and colleagues that think you are extreme, or just being irrational in the least.

As someone who eats, breathes, and sleeps all things vegan, reading about eco anxiety validated the heavy burden I carry and the fear I feel every time I look into my little girls’ eyes.

Scientists are telling us that animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction, water pollution, habitat destruction, greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, ocean dead zones and water waste.

Consuming animals is killing us and our planet.

According to the United Nations most comprehensive study ever conducted on animal agriculture’s environmental impact, “We must decrease meat consumption by as much as 90% if we’re going to halt climate change”. The report indicates that we have 12 more years until climate change catastrophe. That’s 12 more Christmas’, 12 more Halloween’s, 12 more birthdays until my daughter is just 18 years old. How do I prepare her? How do I protect her? How do I explain to her that we were warned this would happen but did nothing?

Hello?! Is anyone listening? How can we all just go on with our mundane routines while life as we know it is collapsing all around us? My routine is barely a distraction to the sense of urgency I feel. Every day I wake up with an obligatory mission to share information on my social media, write emails, attend protests and talk to whoever will listen – and every time I ask someone if they think climate change is real, they say yes. Every time I ask someone if they would harm an innocent animal unnecessarily, they say no. So why are we then? Do we really value taste, tradition, and convenience over our very survival; over the life of another sentient being that is capable of feeling complex emotions like pain, fear, and love? Why are we so misaligned with our own values and beliefs?

“When the suffering of another creature causes you to feel pain, do not submit to the initial desire to flee from the suffering one, but on the contrary, come closer, as close as you can to him who suffers, and try to help.” – Leo Tolstoy.

NM Vegan | 40

Why? Because of cognitive dissonance, the root of this collective insanity. We have normalized violence to such a degree we cannot even comprehend the horrific atrociousness of it. Speciesism is the first form of discrimination we are taught as children.

We must normalize NON-violence and rekindle the compassion and empathy we are all born with that was taken away from us when we were taught to love one but hate another.

We have to take the blindfolds off, bear witness, be the change. As Martin Luther King Jr. said “to ignore evil is to be an accomplice to it”.

So what can we do? Change what we eat. We can literally change the outcome of our future by changing what is on our plate 3 times a day.

I used to miss the days of oblivion and envy those that are still in it. Before I knew of the suffering and heard the cries of the 56 billion land animals and over 1 trillion fish we slaughter every year. But now, I am grateful to know the truth, to feel the burden – to feel.

There is no lawmaker, politician, or government that will save us. The solution is in our hands and on our plates. It is that simple.

http://www.cowspiracy.com/facts/ https://www.peta.org/blog/united-nations-climate-change-report-says-slashing-meat-consumption-necessary/

NM Vegan | 41

NM Vegan | 42

1. Chickens have a great memory. They can distinguish between over 100 different faces of people or animals.

2. They actually dream dreams when they sleep.

3. Mother hens talk to their chicks when they are still in the egg.

4. Chickens can mourn for each other.

1. Cows are very social and don’t like to be alone. If one is isolated, it’s usually because she is sick or about to give birth.

2. Like humans, cows (cattle) form close friendships and choose to spend much of their time with 2-4 preferred individuals. They also hold grudges for years and may dislike particular individuals.

3. Cattle get excited when they solve problems. When faced with the challenge of trying find out how to open a door to reach food, their heartbeats went up, their brainwaves showed excitement, and some even jumped into the air.

4. Cows are devotional mothers and are known to walk for miles to find their calves.

NM Vegan | 43

1. Goats are herd animals and will become depressed if kept without any goat companions. So, it is unhealthy for a goat if a family just owns one as a pet.

2. Goats communicate with each other by bleating. Mothers will often call to their young (kids) to ensure they stay close-by. Mother and kid goats recognize each other’s calls soon after the mothers give birth.

3. Goats are very intelligent and curious animals. Their inquisitive nature is exemplified in their constant desire to explore and investigate anything unfamiliar which they come across.

4. Kids can follow their mothers almost immediately after being born.

They are very close to their mothers and are weaned after around 6 months..

1. The sound of a female sheep is called bleating and her offspring can identify its mother by the sound she makes.

2. Sheep like to stay close to others in a herd which makes them easier to move together to new pastures.

3. Contrary to popular belief, sheep are extremely intelligent animals capable of problem solving. They are considered to have a similar IQ level to cattle and are nearly as clever as pigs.

4. Sheep are known to self-medicate when they have some illnesses. They will eat specific plants when ill that can cure them.

NM Vegan | 44

1. Newborn piglets learn to run to their mothers’ voices and can recognize their own names by the time they’re 2 weeks old. Sows have even been known to 'sing' to their young whilst nursing!

2. Pigs communicate constantly with each other, and more than 20 different vocalizations have been identified; from wooing a mate to saying ‘I’m hungry!”

3.

They may be indiscriminate eaters, but pigs are also highly intelligent and incredibly social animals. When kept in a group they will snuggle close to one another, and prefer to sleep noseto-nose. Studies have also shown that, much like humans, they dream.

4. Pigs are extraordinarily intelligent. They are curious and insightful animals who are widely accepted as being smarter than young children of at least 3 years of age, dogs, and even some primates..

NM Vegan | 45

NM Vegan | 46

NM Vegan | 47