A real, live, full-time job with one of the most effective organizations in exposing cruelty to farmed animals? And the job is to tell people how great it is to be vegan and how animals are really super (in a far more educated-sounding way)? How wonderful. My favorite highlights about the job, swiped from MFA’s site, below. Check out the full job description and application instructions on MFA’s site.

Primary Responsibilities and Duties:

• Develop and implement innovative regional and national outreach strategies to more effectively raise awareness about farmed animal welfare issues and veganism in the United States
• Manage and train regional coordinators to conduct local grassroots outreach, including leafleting events, restaurant outreach, tabling events, film screenings and more
• Develop MFA’s humane education presentations, maintain MFA’s humane education program, and train and assist staff in implementing the organization’s humane education program
• Manage and assist MFA’s national campaign coordinator in planning and conducting events across the country geared toward attracting mainstream media attention to important farmed animal welfare issues and elevating MFA’s status as a national animal advocacy organization.

• Paul McCartney just got married, again, and had a vegan wedding. Yay! But what exactly does it mean when they say that one cake was chocolate and the other one was vegan?!
• Champs Bakery had its own location, then it shared space with Kingsland Sandwich Shop. Now it’s a vegetarian diner. I was excited to try their grub and see how it compares with Chicago Diner’s—best diner food ever!—but now I’m left wondering why they bill themselves as vegan when they serve dairy cheese in addition to Daiya? Thanks to an intrepid SuperVegan reader for the tip, which I confirmed with a call to Champs.
• I’m not a sandwich person, so Subway isn’t really on my radar. But it’s pretty major when a national chain tweets about Vegetarian Awareness Month and asks for food feedback, isn’t it?
• There’s a new mock meat in town, about to make its debut at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary’s ThanksLiving feast this weekend. It’s apparently gluten-free and pretty damned delicious. Look for my full report on Monday!
• Okay, this isn’t explicitly about food, but how much do I love Tobey Maguire for sending back a free car because it had leather seats? That’s what I call a true superhero!

This is one of Supervegan’s posts for Vegan MoFo 2011.

It’s the great American love story: Vegan boy meets vegan girl, vegan boy gets vegan girl, vegan boy and vegan girl move to Chicago and create line of vegan cheeses. Nahum and Laviyah St. Martin took a few simple ingredients and turned them into sliceable, meltable versions of Colby, Muenster, Smoked Gouda, Olive and Pepper Jack. I caught up with the veggie entrepreneurs and got the skinny on their story.

Roseann: Laviyah, you’re from Brooklyn—I am too—and Nahum’s from Jersey, which is where I met my husband. Do you think the Brooklyn-Jersey connection is the key to a happy vegan marriage? What led you to Chicago?

Laviyah: Ha! Nahum had a totally opposite upbringing than I did. I’m a Brooklyn girl through and through! I like city life. I like going out, museums, free concerts in the park, hole in the wall restaurants with amazing food—everything my home city is known for! However, having lived in both the city and the suburbs, I do appreciate peace, quiet and solitude. Nahum is the perfect balance to my personality. I’m a people watcher and kind of a loner; he’s a people person, always cooking up big meals and inviting friends over. There must be something to this Jersey-Brooklyn chemistry! I was a Brooklyn girl longing for life in the country, and he was a Jersey boy longing for life in the big city. Chicago isn’t as dense or as expensive as NYC; it’s a good mix of big city life with quick and easy access to the lakefront (I love water). It’s not a final destination for us, but it’s given us an excellent opportunity to build our business and our brand.

Roseann: What gave you the idea to create your own vegan cheese line?

Laviyah: A friend shared a cheese recipe with me that she found on the Internet years ago. For years when we had potluck dinners, people would request that I bring “the yellow cheese.” They were crazy about it! But I didn’t create it, and unfortunately I don’t have the original source of the recipe I started with and made my own. However, that recipe (or variations of it) can be found if you Google cashew cheese recipes. There are also cookbooks out that are specific to making vegan cheese. We got the idea to do an olive cheese from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook. My husband really wanted to do that once he saw it in the book. That’s when we moved from four cheeses to five. We basically took the yellow cheese and added sliced olives to it. People love it!

Roseann: It’s one of my favorites! So when did you start working on the cheeses as a business idea?

Laviyah: We were talking for months about doing a vegan cheesecake product, but I lost my original recipe for it and wasn’t really feeling making dessert just yet. I kept telling my husband, “Let’s do the cheese.” He got the recipe from me one week and tried it, and after that he was sold. At this point he’s tweaked it so much that I have to ask him for the recipe! He produces all the cheese, and I do the website work.

Nahum: Back in April 2009, I was managing a restaurant in Chicago but really wanted to do a venture of our own. I quit my job and began tinkering with the cheeses. It probably wasn’t the best time to start a new venture, since my wife had just given birth to our little girl in February. However, she believed enough in me and I believed enough in her creation that we both moved forward without hesitation. So far it has been a good decision.

Roseann: Nahum, you’re a self-taught chef. What other innovations have you cooked up?

Nahum: I’ve always loved to cook but really started putting more effort into it over the past five years or so. I wouldn’t say I’m an innovator. I’ve been vegan for 18 years and always thought good food was achieved through the addition of spices and sauces. I don’t know many people who love the taste of raw beef or chicken or tofu; it’s how they’re cooked, the sauces, that make them mouthwatering. So I figured I could play with different spice combinations from popular meat dishes and veganize them. With this concept, I’ve developed tofu enchiladas, lasagnas, cream sauces, etc. The most popular post on our website is the Vegan McPizza, which is my vegan adaptation of a crazy pizza recipe we saw on the Internet.

Roseann: That is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever seen!

So how did you come up with the formulation for the cheese? Was it a challenge to get the right consistency without adding oil or emulsifiers?

Nahum: The formulation was just trial and error, but the ingredients are very basic. I’ve found that simplicity typically yields the best results. Adding oils was unnecessary. Our goal was a great-tasting product, which I believe we’ve achieved. The addition of oils is only necessary if you’re trying to imitate the high fat content of dairy cheese, which causes that stretchy, gooey visual. We’re okay with the fact that our cheeses don’t stretch. We want your mouth to be happy, not your eyes.

Roseann: Mine definitely was, and stretchy or not, your cheeses melt! That gets a big thumbs-up from me.

Is creating a healthy product important to you? Is that why you made your cheese soy- and gluten-free?

Nahum: We didn’t set out to be soy- and gluten-free. But a healthy product was key to us. As a parent to five children, I will not serve to the public anything I won’t feed my family. My oldest daughter is 16, and she’s been vegan her entire life, as have our other four children. Promoting healthful lifestyles through veganism is our main objective.

Laviyah: What I always liked about the yellow cheese is the fact that it was its own product—I would bring it to a potluck, serve it on a platter and open a bag of crackers. I like the simplicity of the flavors. Although our cheese is delightful in grilled sandwiches, we adore it as is. That was the goal: a vegan cheese that tasted good straight from the package. The fact that we’re soy- and gluten-free is an added bonus.

Roseann: We made amazing tacos with the Pepper Jack and grilled cheese sandwiches with the Muenster, Colby and Smoked Gouda. When he tasted the sandwiches, my husband said your cheese kicks Daiya’s butt! Who came up with the flavors, and what’s your favorite?

Laviyah: My husband came up with them. The yellow cheese became Colby, and my husband took it from there with the others. He wanted something spicy and something smoky; I was happy doing just two or three flavors. I love them melted down into nacho cheese sauce and poured over tortilla chips.

Nahum: The names of our cheeses are more names than exact vegan copies. Most of the vegan cheese alternatives are mozzarella and American styles. We wanted to stand out, hence our different names and flavors. Me being part French, the Muenster was a natural fit—it’s my favorite. It goes so well on sandwiches, and I’m a big sandwich eater.

Roseann: Right now your cheeses are available locally in Chicago and by order online. Any plans to expand to retail locations nationwide?

Laviyah: One day. We just want to make sure the product keeps its integrity as we expand.

Nahum: Absolutely! I’m ready. Investors, please call.

Roseann: What’s next for you—something new like cream cheese or grated cheese?

Laviyah: We’re happy with the flavors we have and will continue to tweak the recipes to improve the flavors and extend shelf longevity.

Nahum: Our next line of products will be my wife’s desserts. This will include a chocolate mocha mousse pie, pecan pie and tofu spinach quiche. Also, we’ve partnered with Chicago’s oldest vegan restaurant, Soul Vegetarian, and will be doing a vegan food truck. The truck will offer Soul Vegetarian favorites like mac ’n cheese, greens and BBQ Delights, which are like vegan short ribs, plus some of Ste Martaen’s gourmet vegan desserts and entrees.

Roseann: Sign me up! Thanks to both of you for talking to SuperVegan, and please keep us posted about your dessert line (samples welcome!).

This is one of Supervegan’s posts for Vegan MoFo 2010.

The Chicago Diner rocked my taste buds!

Honestly, Chicago had never been on my radar. I don’t know why, maybe because I’m from New York—who needs the Second City when you hail from the First? But now that I live in the culinary wasteland that is South Florida, Chicago was just what the doctor ordered this Labor Day weekend!

My fiancé and I got in too early to check into our hotel, so we headed straight over to the Chicago Diner. Wow, less than a year outside New York and already I’d forgotten what it’s like to have an entire menu at your disposal! And now that the boy is vegan, Chi Di’s offerings made him realize just how deprived we are down here. So we made a feast of it: We started off with the nachos, piled high with black beans, seitan chorizo, chopped tomato, jalapeños, black olives, cheddar Daiya, guacamole, sour cream and salsa—and holy crap, were they good! We didn’t have room for much else, but I was determined to stuff down as much as I could while I had the chance. So I had a French Vanilla Soy Shake and the Avocadonnaise Cheezeburger (half of which made the trip home and doubled as lunch on Monday), and he had the Philly Cheeze “Steak.” He’d been having residual cheese cravings and was hearing the siren call of deep dish pizza, but that Cheeze “Steak” was apparently so good—better than most of the ones he’d had when he ate meat—that the subject never came up again.

For dinner we went to Karyn’s on Green, which was upscale, modern and a little too brightly lit, if you ask me (though eventually they dimmed the lights). We started off with two mocktails, the Blueberry Mint Fizz and the Chairman’s Cobbler—a kind of virgin mojito with raspberries, and quite possibly my favorite part of the meal—and the Aged Raw Cheese Plate. The dish was elegantly arranged, with raw crackers, pear relish, super-thin grape slices, flourishes of agave and four wedges of cheese. (Sorry for the lack of pictures—we were too busy eating.) Now, I’m pretty sure this was an assortment of Dr. Cow’s cashew cheese: original, Brazil nut, dulse and crystal algae. But I love Dr. C’s and can’t find it down here, so that was fine by me. For the main course the boy had the Fra Diavolo (whole wheat pasta with a mildly spicy sauce), and I had the Chicken Legs. Think three sugarcane drumsticks, without the sugarcane but covered in a sweet barbecue sauce instead, accompanied by sweet potato hash and swiss chard. Yum!!! The portions weren’t very big, but that was okay because it left room for dessert: Chocolate Terrine, a deliciously dense chocolate cake with a side of strawberries, raspberry coulis and raspberry sorbet (a little tart for me), and a pot of Golden Jasmine Black Tea, whose flower unfurled as the tea steeped.

Mouthwatering French toast at Handelbar!

Sunday morning we went to brunch at Handlebar, a cute little biker (as in bicycle) joint. This was the most exciting part of the weekend for me, because it’s so damn hard to eat breakfast or brunch well when you live outside of vegan civilization! At our waiter’s suggestion we got the Fried Pickles, which were salty and battered and all kinds of delicious. (And what a sad statement that they made me think of Snooki…) The boy loved his Buffalo Chicken Wrap, while I scarfed down as much as I could of my French Toast (amazing!) AND Vegan Diablos With Avocado—two corn tostadas, seitan chorizo and cubed tofu (though the menu called it scrambled) covered in chipotle sauce, with a side of beans, rice and avocado (I apparently have a hollow leg when it comes to good vegan food). Delish!

The sideshow-loving Earwax Cafe

For an afternoon snack we went to Earwax Cafe, which was covered with Coney Island banners and bathroom wall tags telling the local hipster scum to fuck off and die. From our super-ornate, colorful, birdcage-like booth, we checked out the inked-up patrons and waitresses, and I wondered, between Earwax, Handlebar and the streets of Wicker Park, was I the only clean canvas in Chicago? But back to the food. Always a purist, I had the Vanilla Soy Shake—not as thick as the one at Chicago Diner and without the whipped cream (which I don’t like anyway), but just as delish—the boy had a Soy Chai Latte, and we shared the Buffalo Wings. They were tasty and just a little too spicy, kind of like the wings at Kate’s but denser, and they looked more like faux boneless spare ribs. I really wish we’d had time to go back because there are a bunch of other things I want to try there. But unfortunately, our trip was almost over.

An everything-but-the-kitchen-sink shake at the Chicago Diner

For dinner, our final meal in Chi-town, we went back to the Chicago Diner because the boy just HAD to have a Reuben. This time we went straight for the entrées: Sweet Potato Quesadillas With Avocado for me (as unbelievable as it sounds) and the Radical Reuben for him. Again, he said it was better than most of the ones he’d had when he ate meat, and to prove it, he made quick work of his sandwich, wearing a huge grin as he ate and not leaving a crumb behind. We ended up pretty full even without appetizers, so we went for shakes instead of full-on desserts. Or so we thought: Those shakes pack a wallop! I had French Vanilla again, thick and creamy and delicious, and the boy had what our waitress called “the shake that’s meant for the Reuben”: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough-Peanut Butter. Pretty much a meal in itself, it tasted like a blended peanut butter cup and was way too thick for one little plastic straw to handle—only a metal spoon would do! Needless to say we left very, very happy.

So what have we learned, boys and girls? Lesson 1: Never move from a vegan mecca to culinary Siberia. Lesson 2: Two days is definitely not enough time to eat your way through Chicago! We never even made it to Sweet Cakes Bakery, Sprinkles Cupcakes, Soul Vegetarian East or Karyn’s two other restaurants. Not to mention the places our very cool waitress at Earwax recommended: Pick Me Up Cafe, Flying Saucer, Victory’s Banner and Green Zebra (high-end and more vegetarian than vegan, but I’m intrigued).

What are your favorite veg haunts in Chicago? Any to add to the list for next time? Because there will be a next time, and it definitely won’t be for just two days!

Lisa Ling gets trashy.

What’s the world coming to? First, a video of downer cows being abused made it into the mainstream media. And yesterday, Oprah ran a show titled “Everyday People Living on the Edge,” which included a segment on freegans. (It also featured stripping soccer moms, but that’s another story.) Lisa Ling went on some dumpster dives, and the question was posed: “How far would you go?”

It’s great that Oprah watchers everywhere now know what it means to be freegan, and one can hope it will have an impact on their consumeristic ways. How much of an impact, of course, is unclear, since Oprah still airs entire shows in which she does nothing but give stuff away.

So maybe the guilt is getting to her. Or maybe she’s just ready to jump on the reality-TV bandwagon. Because on Friday, there’s Oprah’s Big Give Kickoff Party, a sneak peek at her new reality show, in which families compete to raise and give away money in order to better other people’s lives. (Oprah’s Big Give premieres on Sunday.) But I wonder, will the meal chef and judge Jamie Oliver prepares for the preview consist of freegan goodies?

Anyway, if you know of a deserving cause and have thought of a creative way to raise money for it, submit your idea here, or better yet, post a video with the details.

Oh snap!

Chicago Soydairy, of the superdelicious Temptation Vegan Ice Cream fame, now makes cheese and, get this, it actually melts! I mean it really melts– check out this side by side test of it against Follow Your Heart cheese. Teese Vegan Cheese is currently available in mozzarella flavor and they’re working on more varieties. Chi-town locals can enjoy it at The Chicago Diner and at the Halstead Street Whole Foods pizza counter. Sadly regular folks can’t buy Teese at supermarkets, but they can harass their local restaurants to stock up on the stuff.

The Park Slope Food Coop is now carrying Williamsburg based Dr. Cow brand raw, organic cashew cheeses in cream cheese style and aged style. Has anyone tried this yet?

L.A. based vegan squeeze cheeze company Play Food finally has its goods back on the market following a nasty custody battle between its founders, former child star Taran Noah Smith (a.k.a. Mark from Home Improvement), and his ex-wife, raw chef/cougar Heidi Van Pelt.

Speaking of celebrities, Natalie Portman bakes her own vegan cupcakes (unlike Joaquin Phoenix who had Isa make his prop “egg” rolls) on the set of Brothers whilst (allegedly) wearing cashmere!? This has got to be a mistake! NaPo wouldn’t dare go there, especially when she is set to star in the unfortunately titled Bollywood romance, Kosher Vegetarian and is hawking her own line of upscale, handmade vegan shoes, which are now available though the Soho-based Te Casan, NYC’s largest women’s luxury shoe boutique.

Vegetarian rocker Chrissie Hynde is combing Columbus, OH to find a second location for her restaurant, VegiTerranean, which opened in Akron last year.

Dave Warwak, recent convert

Last month, art teacher Dave Warwak was fired from Fox River Grove Middle School in Illinois. A vegan since January, he was either just giving the kids some honest info about his beliefs, or else fanatically attempting to convert them to his cause.

Warwak himself says that teaching kids to appreciate life is part of teaching them to appreciate art. Hmmm, okay. He also incorporated animal rights themes into art assignments, which, given the weird shit my high school art teacher came up with, doesn’t seem too out of line. (Although someone may want to point out that the Peeps used in his animal cruelty display aren’t vegan). It is, after all, a teacher’s job to get kids to think.

But he probably didn’t win many to his side by asking the students to keep his proselytizing from their parents, accusing the school district of child endangerment for serving milk, and threatening not to return to work unless they eliminated animal products from the school menu. There’s a way to win friends and influence people, Mr. Warwak, and that’s not it.

• The New York Times reports from the trenches on cock fighting in Louisiana, and how the legislature is (supposedly) taking steps to curb it.
• The Chicago Tribune and their supports councilman Jack Kelley’s bill to ban foie gras in the city.
• And speaking of media (whores), Heather Mills is spreading the good word at London’s Incredible Veggie Show later this month.

That? That would be a foie gras hotdog.

Chicago’s ban on the sale of foie gras, passed last August, has been widely flouted, ridiculed, and denounced, and is (by the Health Department’s own admission) under-enforced. But it finally resulted in its first fine.

Doug Sohn, proprieter of Hot Doug’s Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium, pled guilty to selling foie gras and will pay the minimum fine of $250. Sohn has been a loud opponent of the law. As he put it after his February citation, “I was poking the grizzly bear, and it snapped my head off.” (If only that were literally true!)

Although this is a victory on paper, the fine is hardly a punishment for Sohn, who has received far more than $250 worth of press in relation the bust. As Tim Hadac, spokesman for the Chicago Department of Public Health, said: “He has cashed in, in terms of publicity, make no mistake.”

Chicago Soydairy, makers of Temptation vegan ice cream, have issued an urgently worded alert that they will lose their shelf space in Midwestern Whole Foods stores if you don’t go buy/complain somewhat immediately. It’s especially sad that they would lose such a big contract on their home turf.

If you live near a midwestern Whole Foods Market, pints are priced at a closeout price of $2.37 (which I guess is cheap for Whole Foods, but a lot more than I pay for my weekly dose of Peach Cobbler), so go buy it all up fast to make them realize how much you love the stuff.

Vegan ice-cream fans everywhere can call the Midwest Regional Whole Foods office at (773) 755-1500. Even if you don’t like to shop at Whole Foods, getting carried by them can be a make-or-break deal for independent vegan food companies. And the more vegan ice cream carried by mainstream outlets like Whole Foods, the more happy vegans, and the more new vegans.

The FBI removing evidence from Troutman’s house.

Chicago Alderman Arenda Troutman has been all over her hometown scandal sheets this month on charges of bribery and illegal possession of a firearm and “a powdery substance that is possibly a drug item.” Troutman is a vegetarian, and she claims the powder, which was seized by the FBI, is psyllium husk, “a powdery substance that is used when you are doing a cleanse, a detox cleanse.” And then the money quote: “I am a vegetarian … We do seasonal cleansing.”

We may never know what mitigating words were replaced by that ellipses, but let’s get this on the record: “seasonal cleansing” (ew!) has as much to do with money laundering and serving on City Council as it does with vegetarianism. That is, nothing at all. Her lawyer goes on to equivocate vegetarianism with squeaky-clean living: “She is a health freak. She hasn’t eaten meat in years; she’s a vegetarian. Arenda Troutman does not do drugs.” But we know plenty of vegetarians who have associated with powdery substances that are more than possibly drug items.

Flouting the law and proud of it

Despite foie gras’ being banned for the last five months, some restaurants in Chicago are still serving the stuff, and nothing’s being done about it. A Chicago health department spokesman summed the situation up thusly: “Our mission is to protect human health and not the health of geese and ducks.”

In some eateries, all you have to do is ask for the “special lobster dish.” Other restaurants are simply giving foie gras away for free, like bread and water, since the ordinance bans only its sale.

Hopefully the New York City effort will fare better, though admittedly, it’s not off to a good start, with speaker Christine Quinn coming out against a ban. Nonetheless, the New York City Say No to Foie Gras Campaign is holding its next planning meeting on Thurs., Jan. 18, at 7pm at Jivimukti Yoga Center Cafe, 841 Broadway, second floor, bet. 13th and 14th streets. To find out how you can help, attend the meeting on Thursday or contact Wendy Berner, campaign organizer, at 646-369-6212 or nyc@nofoiegras.org.

Apparently, the torture and killing of animals for a delicacy is okay while acting as the “food police” is not.

In more of the ridiculous uproar against the foie gras ban, chef Anthony Bourdain says that to “ask chefs to cook without that is to ask a painter to not use the color blue.” This in response to the proposed ban on the distribution and sale of foie gras in New Jersey by legislator and vegetarian Michael J. Panter.

Bourdain claims that properly farmed foie gras ducks “live a good, natural life—even a pampered one—compared with the horrifying and vastly more widespread practice of raising battery chickens.” Who knew that the cruelty involved in keeping hens in battery cages was common knowledge? I guess that’s only when it can be used to detract attention from whatever other issue is at hand. In any case, Gene Bauston responds to the ridiculous claims that these animals are living in the lap of luxury.

In a dose of sanity, the Columbus, Ohio, restaurant Bexley Monk has willingly taken foie gras off its menu. Kudos to them! Let’s hope more restaurants follow BM’s example.

The problem is that people like Bourdain can’t see that this is about outlawing cruelty, not cuisine. The whole “food police” issue was aptly summed up, in my opinion, by one West Village restaurant owner in response to the proposed ban on trans fats in New York: “They’re taking away our right to be stupid, which is our primary American right.”

Unfortunately, that sounds about right.

Did they really need to put it on their pizza?

I don’t know what’s more unsettling: the fact that some Chicago restaurants that had never offered it before decided to serve foie gras in protest of the ban or that nothing was done about it (in one restaurant, an entire table of police officers merely watched as foie gras was served around them).

The news that Chicago had banned the sale of foie gras was music to animal lovers’ ears. But the law serves no purpose if it’s not enforced.

Here’s hoping Chicago starts punishing offenders and lives up to its promise to keep foie gras out of its restaurants.

While poking around the internet for something amusing to watch the other night I came across a video of Robert Newman’s stand up routine “History of Oil.”

Perhaps the first thing one notices about the production is that the whole show is powered by two bicycles at the front of the stage, emphasizing a need for alternative energy. Spliced within the stand up routine are various archived images of such figures as Tony Blair and Arch Duke Ferdinand, providing satrirical support for Newman’s comedy.

While the show in it’s entirety is both fascinating and amusing, the vegan icing on the cake is when Newman addresses the need for a more sustainable food source in the future not so oil reliant and points to a study done in Willits, California recommending a vegan diet.

Other studies have come to the same conclusion, such as this one by Gidon Eshel and Pamela Martin of the University of Chicago.

National Ice Cream Day is Sunday, July 16. How will you celebrate?

If you’re in NYC, I hope you’ll join Viva! USA in handing out tasty samples of Soy Delicious to pedestrians in the Union Square area. A few of us from Team SuperVegan will be there. Contact info@vivausa.org for more details.

If you’re in Chicago, consider attending a beach party hosted by ChicagoSoyDairy. For $7 you can eat your weight in Temptation ice cream and enjoy some frisbee or a game of volleyball. The profits will benefit Compassion Over Killing. Be there: Foster Avenue Beach, 5200 N. Lakeshore Drive, Chicago, IL. 1pm-5pm.

The Humane Society of the United States has taken a novel approach to getting foie gras banned in New York State: It has asked the Department of Agriculture and Markets to apply a section of the law that forbids the sale of diseased animals or organs intended for human consumption.

The law is usually applied to rotten or mislabeled beef, but how could the agriculture commissioner not find livers that balloon up to 10 times their normal size and no longer function as they should free from disease? Not to mention that many of the ducks and geese who are force-fed with pipes two to three times a day to create this “delicacy” bleed to death as a result of puncture wounds.

While France is the largest producer of foie gras in the world, New York State produces the greatest amount in North America, so the ban would be a huge blow to the industry and a huge victory for the birds. And we’d be in good company. In September 2004, Governor Schwarzenegger signed a bill banning the production and sale of foie gras in California starting in 2012. And in April, Chicago became the first city to ban the sale of foie gras.

If you’re a New Yorker, ask your state legislators to ban the force-feeding of birds for foie gras. (Check out pending legislation in other states here.) And tell Governor Pataki to stop using taxpayer dollars to subsidize factory farmers like Hudson Valley Foie Gras—who have also taken it upon themselves to commit hundreds of environmental violations.

Sunday, July 16 is National Ice Cream Day. Back in 1984, President Reagan proclaimed July National Ice Cream Month and made the third Sunday of the month National Ice Cream Day, recognizing ice cream as a “fun and nutritious food that is enjoyed by 90 percent of the nation’s population.”

Surely Prez Reagan was refering to non-dairy ice cream, cuz we all know milk is bad news. There’s nothing fun or nutritous about a fatty, pus-filled frozen product of animal exploitation. It’s an outrage that the dairy industry is using this holiday to push their crappy goods on the sugar jonesing children, cotton mouthed potheads, and all us heat stroked folks who fall somewhere in between.

We vegans must strike back! Contact Viva!USA to find out how you can organize a free vegan ice cream give away in your neighborhood. They’ll provide all the educational materials. Soy Delicious will provide organizers with coupons they can use to purchase tubs of the non-dairy ice cream locally.

If you’re anything like me, you’re probably interested in preparing for the holiday by eating as much ice cream as you can now, just to set the mood. I recommend giving Temptation a whirl. The company is owned by longtime ChicagoLand vegans Ryan and Dan. As if that’s not cool enough, they only use certified fair trade coffee, green tea, and chocolate in their ice creams and all the products are made on dairy, tree nut-, and peanut- free equipment. NYC folks can now pick up a tempting tub at several locations, including Perelandria, the Park Slope Food Coop, and the Chelsea Whole Foods. Don’t forget the Soyatoo!

Last night was an inspiring one to be a vegan. At the gala celebrating Farm Sanctuary’s 20th anniversary, a compassionate and humane world seemed within reach.

Daryl Hannah was our gracious host (cochair Heather Mills McCartney couldn’t attend), and the cavalcade of presenters included David Boreanaz, Greg Germann, Mariel Hemingway, Paul Sorvino, Jesse and Hallie Kate Eisenberg, Loretta Swit, and Moby, who performed songs by everyone from Kris Kristofferson to Led Zeppelin, fulfilling his self-described eighth-grade fantasy of being one of the cool kids in a cover band.

Among the honorees (with recycled glass awards!) were Candle Café, who worked with the Cipriani Wall Street chefs to prepare a delicious three-course vegan meal; Alicia Silverstone, who received the Gift of Life Award for speaking out on behalf of animals whenever she can; U.S. representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who, in addition to consistently scoring 100% on the Congressional Humane Scorecard, is the only vegan member of Congress; and Chicago alderman Joe Moore, who introduced the ordinance to ban the sale of foie gras in Chicago in 2005, then lobbied and testified on its behalf until it was finally passed, on April 26, 2006.

A live auction of several paintings by artist Peter Max, led by Dave Foley and Debra Wilson, raised about $112,000 for the ongoing anti–foie gras campaign, whose next targets are Philadelphia and New York.

Happy 20th, Farm Sanctuary! Keep up the great work!

And their city hall has a green roof. Go Chicago!

Congratulations to Chicago, for becoming the first city in the US to ban the sale of foie gras! Read about it in the Chicago Sun Times or HSUS’s press release, and see more details and dirt in Marc Caro’s “Pop Machine” column.

The bill was authored by Alderman Joe Moore, who stated “we in the Chicago City Council can do our part to discourage this barbaric agricultural practice by outlawing its sale within our city. The fewer restaurants that serve this product of animal torture, the fewer animals who will be subject to this unspeakable cruelty.”

Meanwhile, a state-level bill banning foie gras production is awaiting passage in Illinois.

Like to bike? Like to eat? Anywhere near Chicago? The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation and EarthSave Chicago are sponsoring three rather amazing sounding eat-and-ride events this summer.

On June 17, the Veggie Bike and Cook starts off with lunch at Karyn’s Cooked, stops for afternoon tea at Argo Tea, and ends with a two hour vegan cooking class at the Chopping Block.

On July 22, the third annual Veggie Bike and Dine will be making food stops at Ten Thousand Villages (eating rainsticks and pottery?), Heartland Café, Mysore Woodlands, and Ras Dashen.

These first two events are strictly vegan. They are followed by the vegan-friendly Progressive Bike and Dine on July 29, which includes stops at Flavor Cooking School, the Buzz Café, and Whole Foods.

Online registration starts May 1st at biketraffic.org.

As a regular cyclist and an even more regular eater, I think rides like this are a wonderful idea. If anyone feels like setting up a New York version, count me in.