F.A.A.R.M.'s Expertise is Helping You LIVE!

 

 

As of today, F.A.A.R.M. is in the Expert Health & Medicine category at LivePerson, answering any questions you may have about veganism--dietary, ethically, and environmentally. This category is technically titled: Health & Medicine: Diet and Nutrition, so F.A.A.R.M. can also counsel people on that in general as well, having worked professionally in managing health food stores and working in diet clinics for several years in the past, but the main focus will be on veganism:

 

Professional Service

I will help you to understand abolitionary veganism, and veganism as a whole, which is about diet, ethics and the environment, but it's mainly about ethics. While being vegan is mostly about ethics, I'll show you how all three can not be separate, as being vegan is about saving animals, humans and the entire planet. I will offer recipes, and suggest places as to where you can get very affordable vegan items of food, clothing and cosmetics, both online and offline. Proceeds from my services will go towards helping stray/rescued animals get fed, spayed or neutered and to help guardians take great care of their companion animals by providing healthy nutrition and great information for them as needed. So happy with the "virtual office"! F.A.A.R.M. is looking forward to serving you!

Defining Vegetarianism and Veganism

I just posted the message below at a blog which asked the question:

"Are Dietary Vegans Vegan At All?"

My response:

A person who only doesn’t eat animal products (and is not ethical or environmental) is a vegetarian–at best, a strict vegetarian. If they chose to only not eat meat then they are a lacto-ovo vegetarian.



Vegetarianism, by definition, in ANY way, shape or form is about health/diet only.


It has ALWAYS been this way by original definition.



We vegans are part of the cause of why the word vegan is now erroneously defined these days. When you go to vegan sites, what do you mostly read about? FOOD. Vegans themselves add to the erroneous way in now what the media and celebs thinks of as veganism being just about what one eats.


Also, veganism is not a “lifestyle” (as some vegans even say). Veganism is a life. Period. And a life is more than just food.

Related article:

Is Veganism a Religion Under Anti-Discrimination Law?

Why I Believe Jesus was a Vegan

Religion may be about having faith, but sensible faith is based on some logic and common sense and this will help show that Jesus must have been vegan:

1. Jesus preached compassion, love and kindness to all. He is quoted many, many times regarding this. I doubt if such a man with His morals and ethics would then go and eat animal flesh.

2. As with John the Baptist being commonly mistaken to have eaten locusts and honey, there most likely was confusion in using the word “fish” or “meat” in the bible. There’s a longstanding confusion in the etymological origin of the word locust. Locust is both a bean from the carob plant and an insect. The Greek word for cakes or bread made from the flour of the carob bean is ‘egkrides’ and the Greek word for locust the insect is ‘akrides’. The insect locust is approved to be clean for consumption in Leviticus. It was a delicacy in those days and was mostly consumed by the upper and/or priestly class.

John the Baptist belonged to a group of ascetics who believed in repentance and in leading an austere lifestyle. The carob bean was seen as the diet of the lower class who normally endured hardship and exploitation from the priestly class. So most likely John the Baptist ate locust plant seed from the carob tree.

Also, regarding honey, it could be anything from saps of certain trees to juice of the crushed dates. Carob flour and crushed dates made a good damper or sweet rustic cake, hence the word ‘egkrides’ in the Greek version of the Bible.

Some Church Fathers circa 400AD put forth an injunction to change the word ‘egkrides’ in the Bible meaning cakes to ‘akrides’ the insect locust, not realising that locust the insect was a delicacy enjoyed by the priestly upper crust, from whom John the Baptist and people like John distanced themselves from.

Words in the Bible have been known to be erroneously translated.

3. The Bible isn’t the only source that mentions Jesus’ life. Check out the book, The Gospel of the Nazirenes, edited and restored with historical documentation by Alan Wauters and Rick Van Wyhe. This book tells us that Jesus did not eat animals, and it also details the accuracy of their scripture in the beginning of the book. I believe this version of the New Testament because it agrees with Jesus’ nature of being non-violent.

4. Jesus was a known rebel during His time on earth. He, many times, did not go along with what people often did, hence what was one of the reasons why He was persecuted.....It makes sense that one of the things He rebelled against was eating animal flesh because, as I mentioned earlier, Jesus was a very moral and ethical person.

For further studies, check out the book, The Lord Christ Was a Vegan, by Saba, that I mentioned in a previous blogpost.

Reply to Alex Jamieson's "I’m not vegan anymore"

The vegan community is abuzz right now in response to Alex Jamieson confessing on her blogpost: "I’m not vegan anymore".


As I write this, I see there are hundreds of responses to her post--me included. This is what I wrote in reply to her post:


If you’re not feeling/being healthy eating only cruelty-free foods then you’re not eating vegan in the way you personally should eat in being vegan. It would be best to see a vegan nutritionist; I believe you never mentioned going to a vegan doctor. They do exist and can help you eat vegan in a healthy way designed for you.


Everyone can’t be healthy vegans *in the very same way*, as we all have different needs. But we all can be healthy vegans in a way designed for us as individuals.


I don’t doubt that you still love animals, but to love animals as much as you could and should, you would be vegan and get professional nutritional counseling to be a healthy vegan for the sake of your own body as well as for animals and the planet.




I really hope Alex goes to a nutritionist.

I don't believe I ever posted this story of my own life but I did have a break in being vegan. After years of being vegan, I noticed the enamel on my teeth was deteriorating. I thought it was due to lack of calcium, so still a vegan, I took calcium supplements in hope that would solve the issue, but it didn't help. I ignorantly thought it was because I stopped eating dairy and stupidly didn't go to a vegan doctor about it. I then started drinking milk again.


When I finally went to my dentist for a regular check-up, I mentioned this to him (who, by the way, is not a vegan), he said to me: "Your enamel isn't deteriorating because you're vegan. It's because you're using a too hard toothbrush. As the years went by, enamel starts to erode by using a hard bristle toothbrush and pressing too hard on your teeth with it. It has nothing to do with being vegan." I felt very stupid but quite happy with the news. I then stopped drinking milk and became vegan again.


Valuable lesson learned!


If you are having ANY trouble at all with your vegan diet for life, please, please, please see a vegan doctor about it--or possibly any doctor, as I said my dentist wasn't even a vegan dentist who told me I was wrong. But a vegan doctor may have more answers to whatever issues you are having, so see them.

Vegan Hummus Pizza

Eating pizza while watching the Academy Awards is traditional for me, but instead of making a vegan pizza with non-dairy cheese, I made a pizza substituting cheese with hummus! It was different and delicious!

Here's how I made it:

Prep Time: 2 hours

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours, 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 T. sugar
• 1 .25-ounce package active dry yeast
• 1 t. olive oil
• 1 t. salt
• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Preparation:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the warm water, sugar and yeast, mixing gently until bubbles begin to appear on the surface. Let the mixture set for several minutes, or until a small layer of foam appears on the surface. Add the olive oil, salt, and whole wheat flour, mixing until combined. Add the all-purpose flour gradually, until the mixture forms a soft but not sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for several minutes or until elastic. Lightly oil the mixing bowl and return the dough to the bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with a dry towel and place in a warm place to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

2. Once doubled, punch down the dough. Knead for several minutes into a tight ball, then return the dough to the mixing bowl, cover with the towel, and let rise again until doubled, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

3. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Lightly oil a pizza pan or baking pan.

4. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to a circle of desired thickness, about 14-16 inches in diameter. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet, top with desired toppings, and bake until golden brown, about 16-20 minutes.

For toppings, I added:

Mixing tomato paste with vegan pizza sauce
Hummus
Pineapple
Mushrooms
Vegan meatballs crumbled into small chunks
Powdered oregano

Unfortunately, I just took a photo of my pizza today, after I have already eaten half of it and as it is cold from being in the fridge. I place the hummus on top because I didn't want that heated too much so it went on last during the last minutes of baking, but you can put hummus on bottom as cheese would be if you like.

I'll definitely make this pizza again!

All Things Vegan!

In the past 2 weekends, I made it a point to go to 5 places where all products are 100% vegan. It was a fun experience!

My first stop was on Sunday, February 10. I had brunch at 10:30am at the Veggie Grill restaurant. I ordered their cheese veganburger, sweet fries carrot cake and lemonade. It was so delicious! I've never had sweet fries that good! The cheeseburger was one of the best I've ever had, and the carrot cake was fantastic--I loved the icing on it! The lemonade was fresh and good! The atmosphere is nice and quiet (but I guess it would be at that time), and very clean. The staff are very polite and asked me would I mention their restaurant to others--YES! Veggie Grill is national so if there is one near you, please stop by and order anything on their menu, knowing everything is cruelty-free.

After feeling very well fed and satisfied, I want to add I did go to Voodoo Doughnut afterward; it is not a vegan bakery, but they sell at least a dozen vegan doughnuts. I stopped there to pick up my favorite, their vegan Cock-N-Balls! That is the name!

The line was remarkably short as I was only about the 30th person in line. If you are familiar with both Portland, Oregon's own Voodoo Doughnut bakeries, you know being the 30th person in line is a pretty good spot! The lines at both places are ALWAYS long--and I'm not exaggerating, although I've heard if you stop by after midnight, there's no line (they are open 24 hrs.). The staff is always happy so I figure they must be paid with all the vegan doughnuts they want! =)

My vegan Cock-N-Balls was extremely good, which I had for my dinner dessert.





Next stop that day, I went to Portland's Mini Mall. My first store at the mall and the second 100% vegan shop I went to was Food Fight! grocery store. The grocery store is very small, about the size of one of those gas station food stores, or corner market stores. But there is a lot of merchandise: pre-packaged food on shelf and frozen, including ice creamy desserts, cooking/baking items, health, beauty and cosmetic products, etc., all 100% vegan. I needed some new lip balm so I bought their lip balm by Crazy Rumors.

Next door to Food Fight!, I went to Herbivore Clothing Company. They sell a lot of unique clothing and accessory items and books as well. They also sell jewelry, buttons, stickers and magnets with the vegan message. It's a fun store to check out. I got another different vegan lip balm there from Booda Butter. I'll compare the two and see which one is better.

My last stop on that Sunday was next door to Herbivore Clothing Company. It's Sweetpea Baking Company. It was indeed a very sweet day for me in more ways than one as I got my 3rd sweet vegan item of the day: a peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookie! I've had their cookies before and this is the best in their bunch! I saved that cookie for Monday's dessert as 2 desserts is more than I usually have in one day.

A week later, today February 17th, I went to my 4th 100% vegan place, Loving Hut. It's a very pretty, clean restaurant with very good food too! I ordered  their Hawaiian vegan burger with french fries. I had their "Orange Joy" drink which tastes like a tangerine smoothie. For dessert, I had my very first vegan cheese cake--so delicious!!

I plan to stop by all the places I mentioned here. The customer service at all places (including Voodoo Doughnut) are excellent! It was such a joy visiting 4 totally vegan places, and I hope to go to more in the future.

Wearing the Vegan Message

 I have been trying to think of another way to spread the vegan/cruelty-free message when I'm out and about. I don't own a car so bumper stickers are out. The message would have to be on my body or at least my handbag.

I checked out various jewelry but I think messages on jewelry--even a necklace--are too small to always notice. Plus, I always wear a necklace watch, and Unitarian Universalist, Wicca and Saint Dymphna charms around my neck in a necklace which could cover the vegan jewelry in moving around.

Patches can't been moved easily when I change handbags or clothing. I thought seriously about a cap but I don't always wear a cap.

So, I decided on a button! I can easily take it off and put it anywhere--clothing or bag. Average size buttons are large enough to be easily read (most are 2 inches around), and an added bonus is buttons are very cheap!

I went online and found two amazing websites with over a thousand vegan buttons here and here. Boy, did I have fun reading so many buttons!

Many were cute--so cute I felt the message was not taken seriously enough. Others were so in-your-face blatant to the point of sounding rude (true but  rude!), and a lot were spot on perfect. One of my favorites is the button above but I decided to get this one below, as it best represents my ministry: