I am taking a business trip to LA soon and I can not wait to try out her favorite vegan restaurant picks. I will be there for a week, so I have time to try them all!

The billboard, which also appeared in Chicago, features a cartoon drawing of a man in a hospital gown, hot dog in one hand, perplexed eyes fixed on his protruding behind. Americans eat 20 billion hot dogs a year, as well as significant amounts of bacon, cold cuts, and other processed meats. Every year, more than 140,000 Americans are diagnosed with colorectal cancer, and more than 50,000 die of it.

“Colon cancer attacks 140,000 Americans every year, killing about 50,000, and processed meats are a clear-cut contributor,” says Susan Levin, M.S., R.D., PCRM nutrition education director. “Many Americans have no idea that eating hot dogs and bacon raises their risk of this deadly disease.”

“It is a bit surprising that we have to simplify the message to this extent,” Levin says. “Hopefully the information will get through.”

One in three Americans does not know what part of the body is more likely to get cancer as a result of eating processed meats frequently, according to a recent telephone survey of the U.S. adult public conducted by ORC International of Princeton, N.J., sponsored by PCRM. Thirty-nine percent of those surveyed did not know that “colon” is another name for the large intestine.

Consuming processed meats increases the risk of colorectal cancer, according to a large number of studies, including the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. Studies also show a strong link between other types of cancer and processed meats. An NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, for example, found that processed red meat was associated with a 10 percent increased risk of prostate cancer with every 10 grams of increased intake.

To learn more about the dangers of processed meats, visit PCRM.org/Health.

Thanks to Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine for this progressively healthy ad at Marlin’s Stadium.

Bully, the movie, hits theatres March 30, 2012.

Read the movie’s review and watch the trailer here: NY Daily News review and trailer on movie “BULLY”

SHARE: Watch Alec Baldwins New Peta Video Help Elephants

I recently wrote a letter to my two state Senators as well as my Congresswoman concerning the affects that US food production has on energy and agriculture. In summary, the key is to “grow local, go local,” meaning grow your crops for the local community and shop within the community. This philosophy, if supported by the communities around the United States, can have a large impact on the direction our environment is headed in. If you’d like, feel free to copy my letter and address if to your representative. It is also easy to copy and paste the letter into the “Written Contact Form” found on your Representatives personal website, which saves you paper and a stamp! Thanks for your support; let’s keep working to educate our community about the importance of growing locally (and organically!).

Dear Honorable [Representative's Full Name]:

I have travelled the world choking on exhaust fumes on the island of Curacao and fighting my way through thick layers of pollution in Mexico City and each time my trip is over, I appreciate so much the fact that I can come home to a clean environment, the United States; much of this is thanks to you and lawmakers alike for continuously striving to raise our standards of practice. I am writing today to inform you of the environmental concerns that I have for the food production industry in our country and how we can change the destructive fate of our beautiful environment for generations to come.

In statics, most would agree that 50% can make a tremendous difference, so in order to make a noticeable difference in our environment, for simplicity’s sake, we are going to reduce our country’s energy output by 50% in this example. Let’s assume that some variables are out of our control, such as individual’s daily caloric intake, which on average is 3,800 (if we lower that number to 2,500 we can cut energy output from food production by 30%). Also, the consumption of junk food can only be controlled by the individual so we have little control unless new legislature slows the production and marketing of it; it is commonly agreed upon that consuming products like such should be reduced at least 80%. These shifts in reducing caloric intake and junk food consumption would greatly reduce our food production, processing and packaging, and transportation costs and energy that is quickly destroying our country, and our planet’s, beautiful environment that I appreciate every time that I return back home. Since these are variable we can control, production, processing and packaging, and transportation, these are the variables I would like to discuss.

“What does it mean, to cut energy by 30%, by 50%, by 80%, what is this energy you are talking about?” This was my first question when entering into a higher-level education about the affects that food production has on our environment. Production is the piece of the puzzle, in which we aim to reduce by 50%. This can be done if we allow U.S. subsidies to encourage farmer’s to grow more than one crop, including livestock (for this example). Livestock alone produces over forty five million tons of nitrogen from manure and when they are kept together at feed houses, their manure goes to waste, leaving our country with the second best option, to manufacture chemical fertilizers. Introducing legislation that encourages and supports farmer’s to grow and distribute locally can drastically reduce the energy created from the manufacturing of chemical fertilizers, in addition to the energy used in transportation because farmers are encouraged to only produce one crop (the average energy output from the distance a crop travels before it is processed is 400x the amount of calories the crop and packaging contains).

Processing and packaging is also a variable we can control and is directly related to the way farmer’s produce their crops. If we could encourage and support U.S. farmer’s to grow multiple crops and distribute them locally, we can cut down on transportation and packaging costs and energy dramatically, because everything would be done in-house, or at least close to home. When we package and preserve our crop in steel cans, there is about as many calories of energy used to make the steel can as there are calories in the crop being contained (about 320 calories for a 16 oz. can). If we sell our crops locally, there is no need to preserve and can our food items because there is no worry about spoilage since the crops are not travelling to another part of the country, or world. Processing and packaging in addition to transportation is a variable that we can reduce also by 50% in supporting local farming alone.

By supporting legislation that encourages and supports farmer’s to grow more than one crop as well as distribute their product locally can and will greatly affect the energy output of our country. This will keep our country as beautiful as you and I remember it every time we step outside and can see clearly for miles and jog on trails without having car exhaust completely engulf our lungs. Thank you for taking the time to care for our environment and show your support via legislation for the bettering of the future of our environment.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

Ingredients:

1 sweet potato (yam will work too)

1 2/3 cup rolled oats (Bob’s Red Mill makes a great Quick rolled oats that you can find in the cereal isle)

1/3 cup raw coconut nectar (alternative for agave; it has a sweet caramel flavor that I prefer)

1t cinnamon

1.Start off by baking a whole sweet potato (or yam) in the oven at 420 Farenheit for 30-40 minutes. Check the potato occasionally, you want it to be perfectly squishy, without any burning. I flip my potatoes over 20 minutes into the baking process.

2. Place all of the ingredients in a medium size bowl.

3. Once the potato is cooked and cool, peel the skin off of the potato and place the potato in the bowl with all of the ingredients. Mash all of the ingredients together until everything is thoroughly mixed.

4. Place parchment paper over a shallow dish and pour mixture into dish. Spread the mixture evenly.

5. Place dish in the freezer for 45 minutes and then cut the frozen mix into bars before you serve. Tip: Keep them thinner so the bars are easy to cut through (think, Quaker oatmeal bar thickness).

Health benefits: Sweet potatoes are low in Sodium and contain no Saturated Fats or Cholesterol. With 7 grams of Fiber per serving, they are a great source of Dietary Fiber, Protein, Vitamin B6, Potassium, Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Manganese. Cinnamon also contains 4 grams of fiber per serving, which really helps to fill you up, in addition to containing significant amounts of Vitamin K and Calcium. Oatmeal also has a very high Fiber content, weighing in at 5 grams per serving, with 7 grams of Protein per serving, in addition to being a large source of Iron. Raw coconut nectar, as far as sweeteners are concerned, are very low on the glycemic index, which has placed it as one of the lowest natural sweeteners on the market. It is extremely similar to agave without the distinctive flavor; the texture and taste are very similar to caramel.

Note: These bars can remain in your freezer for the remainder of their short life spans. If you plan to eat them on-the-go, wrap the sliced bars in saran wrap and throw it in your bag for a healthy and filling snack during the day.

I recently watched the Oscar award winning documentary, “The Cove,” which documents the slaughtering and shipment of beautiful bottle-nose dolphins in what’s referred to as, the cove, in Taiji, Japan. Richard O’Barry, the dolphin trainer for the once popular TV show, Flipper, demonstrates a massive amount of courage in his gripping documentation of the fate of these dolphins in Japan. Each year in Taiji, the Japanese “fishermen” slaughter 23,000 dolphins in one cove alone! These dolphins, which are extremely high in mercury (toxic levels) are either sold to places like SeaWorld to live in captivity for the remainder of their lives, or they’re slaughtered among their brothers and sisters and intentionally mislabeled as a high quality fish in the markets including being fed to children in the school lunch programs.

I often encounter people that choose to not eat “meat” which they categorize as coming from land animals; “The Cove,” presents a totally new perspective on our fishing industry and how healthy seafood actually is for humans due to the high mercury levels that fish consume through their food chain (which humans in turn consume). The FDA should require that the tender cuts of meat that we see nicely packaged in the store be required to have an attached DVD on fishing and farming practices throughout the world; because so much killing happens behind closed doors, we must spread the word and expose to the people around the world just what they are consuming and supporting when they choose to consume what was once living, breathing, playing, and loving.

Documentaries like, “The Cove,” are always a great reminder that we all share this planet and even though we are all from different countries, this Earth belongs to all of us. I highly recommend watching this documentary and supporting the dissemination of this critical information to all of the people you love and care about.

This documentary is available for rent on Netflix, and the website is available here: The Cove

Other important websites to visit are:

Save Japan Dolphins

Dolphin Slaughtering in Taiji (Ocean Preservation Society)

Contact Authorities, the Japanese Consulate, local dolphinariums, and SeaWorld

Thank you for being so caring!

Miami’s vegan food truck, Mac’n, is owned and operated by the sweet, Francesca. With an entirely vegan menu, including gluten free options,  I bought one of everything that was gluten free on the menu. Between my boyfriend and I, we enjoyed a very cheesy macaroni and cheese, a barbeque sandwich, watermelon and basil salad, fried green tomatoes, and sweet potato fries; a whole lot of food! I have to say, the fried green tomatoes were definitely my favorite. They were super hot a crispy and Francesca drizzled a delicious white sauce over top of them…yum!

If you want to follow Francesca on twitter, her handle is @macnfoodtruck. She posts where you can find her truck throughout the day; and if you’re lucky like I was, it will be parked outside your building one day!

Thanks for servicing the community with kind food options, Francesca! I’ll certainly be back for more!

Chocolate Peppermint and Caramel Covered Pretzels and Salted Popcorn

{Vegan. Gluten free. Sinfully sweet and salty.}

Ingredients:

• 1 bag Sunspire chocolate chips (vegan and gluten free)
• Peppermint extract (several drops) (option is to use several tablespoons of peanut butter)
• 1 cup Raw coconut nectar
• 1 bag of popcorn
• 1/2 bag Glutino pretzels (Gluten free)
• 1 sheet parchment paper
• 2 cookie sheets
• 2 Tablespoons celtic sea salt (optional)

Directions:

• Double boil the chocolate chips and peppermint extract until the chocolate is smooth and creamy.
• While the chocolate is melting, line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Dip all the pretzels half way into the chocolate and lay flat on the parchment paper on one cookie sheet.
• When all of the pretzels have been dipped, roll the popcorn (and lightly stir medium sized batches) in the remaining chocolate.
• Lay the popcorn on the second cookie sheet.
• Take the bottle of raw coconut nectar, and drizzle over both trays, so it covers all the popcorn and pretzels.
• Shake two tablespoon of salt over the popcorn, if you used “unflavored” popcorn. I like to sprinkle another tablespoon of salt over the pretzels just to kick up the flavor even more.
• Stick both cookie trays in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
• Once the chocolate has cooled, peel the popcorn and pretzels off of the parchment paper, and stick in an over-sized bowl. Warning: the “caramel” is a sticky delicious mess!
• Serve cool and make sure you have napkins close by; forks and bowls aren’t such a bad party option either. This is an unforgettable snack; take my word for it!

Happy Sunday and footballing to all my U.S. friends! xoxo

This is my new favorite t-shirt. It says, “Animals are my friends.”

Sunflower Restaurant in Vienna, VA had an amazingly delicious vegan booth.

Grow your own mushrooms in 7 days! Love. Food for thought: What do you call a 12 inch mushroom? …A ‘fungi’ to be with!

Vegan dessert. My weakness! Good thing the line was outrageously long and I have no patience.