A Message from the Editor Happy Autumn everyone! Happy June Inside everyone! Inside of this editionof ofthis edition of Lorax CommunityLorax 4 Seasons Community 4 Seasons Zine we have a DIY Zinegarden you’ll find amazing project, an article on juicing vivisecrecipes, and tion, and a movieinsights review. about juicing itself. For making this year’s For “Vegangiving” making this zine year’s possible “Juicy IJune” zine possible I would like would to like thank tothe thank Lorax theCommunity Lorax members, RawVeganista, #VeganDIY, Community Glass members, Dharma, DreamingD Enterprises, and RawVeganista (#VeganDIY), LA-Artist.com. Win Within Sangha, and The 13th Floor Art Collective, Lastly, if &you happen to make any Sotolense of these Photography delicious drinks, or come up with your own, drop Lorax Community a line, we’d love to hear about your Lastly, Lorax Community experience. would Love to know how you’re welcoming the Autumn All of this said, season— enjoy apple your cider, summer and happy Juicing pumpkin pie, something else? Michael Ray De Los Angeles Menjivar Send us a message, Email: or tag us in a photo. MichaelRay@Loraxcommunity.org Voicemail: Enjoy your Autumn, & remember compassion is always in season. Michael Ray De323.592.7649 Los Angeles Email: MichaelRay@Loraxcommunity.org Voicemail: 323.592.7649
Mexican-style Multi-layered raw/ vegan bowl Recipe By Rawveganista
This big bowl of seriously spicy goodness consisted of a bottom layer of Raw & vegan “refried beans” (aka ‘Rawfried Beans’ for which the full raw/vegan recipe may be found on the blog at http://www.RawVeganista.com), freshly prepared guacamole (made from avocados, peppers, & lemons from Rick’s Seasonal Produce commingled with my own homegrown veganic herbs), fresh locally grown green elements from Beasley’s Farm in Central Florida, and a hidden layer of my very own livefermented sauerkraut (which I managed to avoid having to share with anyone else despite having had guests staying with me for many days this month ;-). In the end it was smothered in 2 versions of my homemade RAW hot sauce (one sriracha style, and another PAINFUL tropical blend made from organic passion fruit & ghost peppers—both of which may soon be available for purchase as LIMITED EDITION seasonal items via my soon-to-be-launched Ahimsa Alchemy shop on Etsy) & garnished with coconut “sour cream”, all the entire situation would surely have worked perfectly with my nut-free "Spicy Raw Vegan ‘Nacho cheese’ blend"— had I remembered to include it whilst making the rest. Ah well… Quite honestly, the blend was so perfect and creamy with all other elements that the omitted layer of “cheese” was not missed at all! Happy Vegangiving, everyone! ♡Ⓥ★
A Review of Interstellar [Film Directed by Chirstopher Nolan] or Colonialism in Space & The Poetics of Survival by Michael Ray De Los Angeles Mechanized industrial agriculture, failed crops, and dust storms; this isn’t the opening to John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath, instead, it is the opening to the film Interstellar. The film is set in the not-sodistant future, where humanity is suffering from massive crop failure, and is looking for a solution to the famine, disease and oncoming extinction of the species. Cue, the government funded agency, NASA. Yes, you’ve seen ‘em in Armageddon, Apollo 13, and Space Cowboys, and now they’re (secretly) saving the world in Interstellar. Well, actually they’re not really saving the entire world, nor does the public know about the severity of the dust storms. Don’t you fret though, this is a major Hollywood film, you’ll get a sugar-coated happy ending– one that glosses over the presumed destruction of the planet Earth and all its inhabitants.” The film Interstellar is ripe with literary parallels, character archetypes, massive ecological disasters, and the best technological advances that Director Christopher Nolan could afford to put on screen. Truly, the literary references within this film are unprecedented; from the naming of the space mission project (Lazarus), to the quoting of poet Dylan Thomas, “Do not go gentle into that good night,/ Old age should burn and rave at close of day; / Rage, rage against the dying of the light” as Matthew Mcconaughey and crew leave the Earth’s Orbit. My only major gripe with this film is the erasure of the rest of the world, because the film focuses on rural America. Throughout the film, I kept asking myself “what happens to the urban folks, what happened to the other parts of the world, where did all the aboriginal people go?” For a (nearly) 3 hour film, the scope is rather limited. This is the film’s major weakness, a failure to have a diverse representation of Earth’s inhabitants. One result is that the film then suggests that survival is for a select few– a few elite– who are still publicly funded, and whose intention is NOT the survival of the planet whatsoever. The reason I find this scenario to be problematic is because I refuse to believe that world’s activists, ecological educators, and generally conscious people would not come together to create solutions; could not set aside a few hours a week to put together some plan of action locally. Lest everyone who spoke out disappeared into some mystery black hole, probably not though. All of this said, I just have to say that to classify Interstellar as a Science Fiction film would be erroneous, it is not. Instead, this film is a grim fantasy film that presents a hyperbole of our current science and technologies. We’re not watching what will happen, but we’re watching what has already happened with the use of industrial agricultural practices, and being exposed to the affects of monocultural farms, and genetically modified produce. The question is, what do solutions do we want to create as we go down river, given that we already have our a map, the technologies to navigate our course.
Have you thought about dumping an ice bucket on your head recently? Perhaps, now that summer is behind (here in the northern hemisphere), it may seem a little ludicrous.. This past year, via numerous modalities of social media, people all over the world were participating in what was being called the "#icebucket challenge." The pretense is that the challenge benefits ALS research, but wait!!!! Isn't California in the middle of a multiyear drought, and globally, shouldn't we be educating our youth about the importance of water conservation and responsible resource utilization? These inquiries have sparked the question, "how mindfully beneficial is this international wet t-shirt contest?" Some variations of the "#icebucket challenge" can be found online, buckets of bullets, and even Hollywood icon Charlie Sheen performed a #cashbucket challenge instead. Rather than using ice, Sheen choose to dump $10,000 onto himself. If I could turn back time, then maybe I would have tuned good ol' Charlie and company on to Dr Barnard's Blog, and the recent post "ALS Association: Put the Animal Experiments on Ice." The article details lesser known aspects of ALS research that are being conducted by the recipients of the "#icebucket challenge" funds. The article is one of several hosted on Dr. Barnard's Blog, which is part of the Physicans Committee for Responsible Medicine Blog (PCRM). The organization advocates for alternative methods of treatment that do not involve inhumane practices, such as animal testing--i.e. "the military’s catshooting studies, DEA narcotics experiments, and monkey self-mutilation projects". The full mission statement can be found on their about official site, www.pcrm.org/about. Dr Barnard who is also the president of the committee, brought the less publicized, negative aspects of the research that are being funded by the "#icebucket challenge" to the forefront of our attention and we humbly pass on the good word. People and organizations such as the one mentioned, not only reveal our willingness to assist others (our innate programming to move away for pain), but also highlight that we can be mindful in the ways that we choose to assist one another. Ultimately suggesting that our medical advances need not come at the expense of our non human friends-monkey, dogs, rabbits, dolphins, etc. I truly believe that we, each of us, wants to see diseases such as ASL, and cancer come to an end, because these things affect us, our families, our friends and our communities. Moreover, I know that if our general public was made aware of the ways at which we achieve our medical advances (including their histories) we would be in a better position to make the educated choices needed-- including a much needed position on the use of vivisection for the use of medical advances.
Did you know that vinegar infused with orange peels can serve as a non-toxic, alternative household cleaner?