I don’t like eggs. I don’t miss them. I don’t think about them. I don’t lay them. Perhaps the only time they enter my brain is when I visit my local bodega and the wafting smell of a frying egg send me on a trip to gag city - other than that they’re out of sight and out of mind. (Or, y’know, that Jason Mraz thing)

But one (vegan or otherwise) can’t help but be struck by what’s going on with the latest egg recall. The issues surrounding this recall are deeply woven and highlight the abject failure of the industry as a whole. It's scary stuff.

The Daily Beast has an informative (quick) post about both the recall and reasons why egg suckers would be wise to remain concerned. I suggest you forward it to the eggheads in your life.

You know what really gets me? That someone at sometime in history saw the egg fall out of a chicken's butt and thought it would make a great meal...

On Monday, July 26th, a low budget animal lib film screening at Anthology Film Archives became a fascinatingly larger phenomenon. Animal welfare personalities like Moby and Russell Simmons appeared, tons of disparate vegan groups showed up to table across the entire theater (the star being a rescued beagle from Azopharma's animal testing laboratory who tabled for W.A.R.), and AR legend Andy Stepanian gave a speech in full ski mask gear about compassion in the face of animal testing horrors that made people weep openly. Needless to say, this type of thing doesn't usually happen when a low budget, non-distributed, independent film about animal rights screens in the East Village. So why did it happen this time? In a nutshell, people flocked to the sold-out show because they heard it was excellent enough to warrant such a turnout, and they realized it was way past due for a film like it to be made and seen.

Interestingly, there was never before a professionally-made narrative feature film about the growing world of animal liberation groups. Despite the sheer amount of political attention and defense budget that the Bush administration devoted to animal welfare groups, and despite the impressively unconstitutional nature of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act passed during the Bush era, scifi/horror movies like 12 Monkeys or 28 Days Later were the closest anyone's come to an ALF movie. Enter Bold Native.

Vegan fast food joint Foodswings will donate a portion of today's proceeds to Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary.

It's not too late to head over, pick up a Handwich and help out animals like Miss Piggy and Peter the Pig and other rescues in desperate need of care and comfort!

THIS JUST IN: It was just announced that Foodswings will match all proceeds from today. What are you waiting for? Go now!

The UK Telegraph reports that the United Nations International Panel of Sustainable Resource Management has a new report calling the food animal industry a major contributor to harmful climate change, comparable only to fossil fuel consumption.

Old news to most vegans, sure, but it always helps when big, trusted organizations impartial to animal-rights come out with this stuff.

Though the Telegraph trumpets "meat," it does sound like the UN report also blames the dairy industry (unlike Food, Inc.!). And it's nice to see some thoughts about systematic economic incentivizing:

Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, said ... "The Panel have reviewed all the available science and conclude that two broad areas are currently having a disproportionately high impact on people and the planet's life support systems—these are energy in the form of fossil fuels and agriculture, especially the raising of livestock for meat and dairy products."

Mr Steiner said governments could encourage people to eat less meat by reforming the system of taxes and subsidies so vegetarian food is cheaper.

"Smart market mechanisms, more intelligent fiscal policies and creative policy-making are among the options for internalising the costs of unsustainable patterns. Some tough choices are signalled in this report, but it may prove even more challenging for everyone if the current paths continue into the coming decades," he added.

(The Telegraph's link-free old media approach makes it hard to provide any supporting details, and the UN IPSRM's own site doesn't seem to mention the report yet.)

It's easy to argue that bloodsports are no worse for animals than eating meat is, but they're a hell of a lot more brazen.

NPR's got a big story about how cockfighting helps poor people in Haiti cope with their own bad lot. But however bad the people have it, it's a lot worse for the roosters: "The rules of the cockfight are simple. The bout lasts 30 minutes. The roosters try to kill each other. If one chicken flees or collapses, the other wins."

The sickest aspect of bloodsports is the weird balance between care for the chickens up to a point, and absolute disregard and disrespect thereafter. The humans want the animals to be well enough for them to win fights, but ultimately they don't give a shit about them. NPR refers to Haitian cockfighting as "less vicious" and mentions referees and veterinarians. But with vets like these...

After the fight, the two roosters are brought over to Belen Edner, the unofficial veterinarian.

Edner cleans the birds' wounds with seawater and massages their chests. The weaker cock collapses, and Edner revives it by blowing a puff of air down its throat. He says the roosters need to rest for at least a month before their next battle.

And if the weaker one doesn't survive the night?

Edner throws up his hands, smiles and says, "Well then, we'll have him for breakfast."

Anyway, makes me even more glad we raised money for helping Haiti's animals in the post-quake charity outbreak.

"If people were to eat the grain that you feed those animals, it could feed so many more people in the world and use so much less energy."

Author and activist Mickey Z. will be the key-note speaker at this Sunday's Veggie Pride Parade. The parade begins at 11am in the West Village; he'll take the stage at 1pm in Union Square, where the parade ends. There will be additional speakers sharing the stage to educate the masses about the benefits of a veg diet but my vote goes to Mickey for being the most bad ass of the lot.

Mickey's books include The Murdering of My Years: Artists and Activists Making Ends Meet, 50 American Revolutions You're Not Supposed to Know: Reclaiming American Patriotism, and Self Defense for Radicals: A to Z Guide for Subversive Struggle--and he's published by some of the edgiest indie publishers around, such as Soft Skull Press, Disinformation Company, and PM Press. Oh, and Newsday called Mickey Z. a "professional iconoclast" and Time Out New York has referred to him as a "political provocateur."

SuperVegan: Well hello there Mr. Fancy Pants. How did you end up being the key-note speaker at this year's parade?

Mickey Z.: Wow, that's funny because I'm the furthest thing from fancy pants. I tend to wear my clothes until they fall off me. Anyway, I've known parade founder Pamela Rice for many years and she invited me to speak at the 2009 event. I ended up going on very late and reaching a much smaller crowd but Pamela said I still "stole the show." This year, well... I guess I got bumped all the way to the front of the line.

What Would Joan Jett Do (WWJJD--get it)?

Well, last Tuesday what Joan Jett did was help launch PETA's Vegetarian Starter Kit (VSK) "blitz" of Manhattan in which thousands of VSKs were to be stocked at 30 stand-alone newsstands throughout the city. PETA rep Amanda Schinke explained that they decided to start offering VSKs at newsstands after the group filled more than 400,000 requests for the brochures in 2009 alone. There are also stands in Chicago and DC; those of you not lucky enough to live in any of these veg-awesome cities can order a free copy on PETA's site.

Jett has been veg for 20 years and has done a "vegetarian testimonial" for PETA as well as helped out Farm Sanctuary in the past (check out the amazing photos of her visit to the farm).

When I asked Jett why she decided to do the launch for PETA, she explained that she liked the organization because it's "intense" and it "doesn't stop." Explaining that you "can't always do things with smiles and kisses," it was clear that Jett approved of this grassroots approach to spreading the veg message (though this event featured more polite conversation than in-your-face ranting).

Daiya-serving pizza chain Z Pizza opened in the West Village this week. Gluten-free crust available! Huzzah! Fill out a two-minute survey (really, I tested it out for ya) to get a $5 coupon delivered to your inbox.

Even better: the largest foie gras farm in the U.S., Hudson Valley Foie Gras, will pay $50,000 for violating the federal clean water act after a judge ruled against them in a lawsuit brought by the Humane Society of the United States.

Pepperidge Farm is way behind the times, still using eggs from caged hens. Join East Bay Animal Advocates in telling Pepperidge Farm's parent, Campbell Soup Company, that cage-free is the way to go by e-mailing Douglas Conant at douglas_r_conant@campbellsoup.com or calling him at (856) 342-4800, ext. 3752.

Haven't seen Fowl Play yet? MFA has organized a screening at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center for Thursday, May 13 at 6:30 p.m. The movie will be followed by a Q&A with MFA campaign coordinator Matt Rice, Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary founder Jenny Brown, chicken keeper and blogger Martha Lazar, and Elizabeth Ayer, BK Farmyard’s farm director and consultant and caretaker at Wyckoff Community Garden and Farmers Market. Tickets are $12, or $8 for students and seniors.

VegNews won the best lifestyle mag category for the third consecutive year at the Maggie Awards this week! Yaaaay VegNews!

A mere round-up mention of Mia MacDonald's HuffPo article about the relationships between Goldman Sachs and agribusiness and your tax dollars, "Investment Bankers with Wings: Making a Killing", doesn't do the story justice, so go read. You will be horrified.

And finally: Holy cannoli! Mike Tyson is vegan!

Who hasn't been appalled - and moved - by images of animal cruelty? It's certainly one of the most powerful ways of learning the truth behind meat- and dairy-production. Every now and then, video documentation by undercover investigators hits the airways and we are (at least temporarily) confronted by the consequences of what the standard American diet does to animals. Just last month, HSUS's footage of the routine abuse of hens in egg-production facilities in Iowa made headlines and ruffled feathers.

There is a rich history of whistleblowers and investigators in this country. There is a growing breed of dedicated vegan investigators who, at great personal risk, go undercover in factory farms, slaughterhouses, breeding facilities, and small family operations to document the lives and deaths of farmed animals. What they are finding is that in the year 2010 unimaginable abuse is still business as usual.

It is lonely, dangerous, often harrowing work. This was illustrated in last year's excellent HBO documentary, "Death on a Factory Farm", the story of one investigator who worked undercover on a sow farm.

Sometimes it's hard not to look away. Just watching the brief edited versions of their work makes me wince and I find myself wondering about the anonymous investigators who can't look away. Who are they? What makes them tick? What keeps them going? To answer some of these questions, I reached out to one investigator working in the field - we'll call him "Mike." He has investigated an upstate dairy, pig-breeding, and egg-production facilities as well as puppy mills. When asked why he got into this line of work, "Mike" explains, "I wanted to see if things were really that bad. Unfortunately, they are." Read on to find out what makes "Mike" tick, what keeps him going - and what he listens to when he's on the job.

SV: What kinds of investigations have you done so far?
UM: In the last few years, I've investigated conditions at factory egg farms, sow farms, dairy farms, and puppy mills.

Can you tell us about the most recent one?
I recently worked at a sow farm that uses gestation crates, which were banned last year in California and which activists are working to ban in Ohio right now. For two months, I was part of a small team in charge of 7,000 pregnant pigs, stuffed shoulder-to-shoulder in indoor cages that leave no room to move. I've spent a lot of time with sows and hogs at sanctuaries - they are gentle, friendly, and playful animals. The sows in these gestation crates are frantic, hostile, and rife with compulsive behaviors. These places just drive them crazy.