OCC Instagram

I love makeup! Everything about it. I remember being a child, and a teacher asking me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I looked her right in the eyes and said: I want to be a Crayola crayon so I can live in a box filled with color. Soon after this, I discovered makeup, and I fell in love. I never looked back, and never wanted to be anything else, except that bright orange Crayola crayon playing in a box of colors. Introducing the makeup artist.

About 20 years ago my beloved makeup decided it did not love me back! My everyday lipstick sent me to the hospital with a severe allergic reaction. Every lipstick I put on after that had the same response within my body. I started to research and understand about the toxic ingredients in cosmetics, and the havoc they play within a woman's body. I made a change and never looked back. Introducing the sustainable/clean/green makeup artist.

It's not often that I come across a brand that really encompasses everything that I truly believe in as an artist and as a person. That brand is Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics (OCC). The founder David Klasfeld , who is the pioneer of the currently trending liquid lip, describes the brand as the following. A line obsessively crafted from the finest ingredients possible, to celebrate the driving compulsions of make-up fanatics everywhere. I first met and interviewed David 5 years ago, at The Makeup Show. After our interview, I walked away smiling and referring to him as 'The leader of the new school'. Finally! OCC is my holy grail of makeup! A brand with simple, wholesome ingredients that performs and is not hazardous to the women who wear it, and the earth that we live on. It also allows an artist to simply create. There is no color on earth that you can not create with Lip Tars ( their breakout signature product).

OCC Instagram

I have spoken with David several times, since our first encounter. I can't even call this an interview. We basically have conversations that can go on forever based on similar beliefs, standards and a love of great makeup. Here is our latest conversation about the current spotlight on vegan makeup.

Karim Orange: What do you think about the bright light now on vegan makeup?

David Klasfeld: OCC has been doing vegan makeup since 2004. When people used to see us at trade shows and ask "Wha's 'vague-in'?, now people from all walks of life want vegan makeup. People are asking why is that ingredient in there? It doesn't have to be. A lot of ingredients that are animal derived are being questioned now. Things like carmine which is made from an insect and beeswax in the age of colony collapse disorder are not something people take in stride anymore.

K.O: Is this creating a long overdue conscious change in the industry?

D.K: This is amazing to me both personally and professionally! My hope was always to effect change in this industry. So seeing other vegan lines pop up now makes me thrilled. I think you can trace it back to the Starbucks Scandal when people found out that they put carmine in their frappuccinos to give it color. It was right after that when people started paying attention to this ingredient also being in their makeup and starting to question others. I always said that if people knew what was in their makeup they would be terrified. OCC has been pushing that boulder uphill for a while, so it is really exciting to see it pay off.

K.O: As you know I am an obsessive compulsive ingredient junkie! I feel that so many brands 'greenwash' when it comes to using the vegan buzz word. They might not test on animals or have animal products in them but every other ingredient is crap. What are your thoughts on this?

D.K: I think a consumer has to be aware of what brands were actually designed to be vegan (like us). We created a great lipstick in a non-traditional format excluding beeswax and traditional animal ingredients and still keep true to what veganism is all about.There is a very popular link on the PETA website called accidental vegan. I suggest this information to everyone, especially new vegans. You will find out things like Oreos are accidental vegan, and not developed to be. For OCC we not only wanted to be ingredient savvy but socially continuous as well. For instance, wheat germ oil is a very popular ingredient in lipstick. I knew enough in 2009 about people with gluten intolerance that I chose to keep it out. We also chose to keep ingredients like silicone which was super popular. Now companies are pulling it out. We knew the customer we were speaking to wouldn't allow us to just say 'it's vegan'. Coming from and living a vegan lifestyle really gives you insight.

OCC

K.O: How long have you been vegan?

K.O: Are you vegan past the food?

K.O: I love the fact that you can recognize all of the ingredients in your products as something you can eat. Can you elaborate on this?

D:K: Yes! Lip Tars are made from castor oil, hemp oil, peppermint oil, vitamin E and pigments. Even our other products like conceal, we wanted to mimic the texture that you get from silicone. We did this by using coco butter extract and aloe leaf extract. It's not that it's so difficult to do these type thing. You just have to care.

OCC

D:K: We are responding to an overwhelming consumer request and coming out with pressed eyeshadow.

So there you have it! Much continued success to David and Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics.

About the author: Karim Orange is a two-time Emmy nominated makeup artist and green beauty expert, specializing in clean beauty, makeup and skincare. She is an active urban farmer who advocates for quality food, regardless of social economics. She enjoys traveling cross country by train, and sharing stories with others along the way. thatgirlorange.com

The rest is here:

Vegan Spotlight: Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics - Huffington post (press release) (blog)

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Exeter has been chosen to host the finale of the world's biggest vegan party.

A nationwide three-week Vegan Festival of Britain begins later this month, and Exeter will host its grand finale at Exeter Castle on Saturday, June 10, with a summer fair called Compassion. It will feature a daytime market with 40 stalls, talks and demonstrations, animal-free dishes from around the world, vegan cream teas in the afternoon and a barbecue in the evening with live music and a real ale bar complete with a specially brewed Vegan Festival of Britain beer.

The finale is part of an ambitious festival that has been coordinated by Animal Aid to mark its 40th anniversary and to celebrate the rise in interest in plant-based foods. A Ipsos MORI survey of almost 10,000 people in the UK last year found that there are now more than 500,000 vegans in the UK a rise of more than 350 per cent in 10 years.

Sidmouth-based Mark Gold , the festival's national project coordinator said: "The fantastic festival events organised so far cement Exeter's reputation as one of the country's most vegan-friendly cities, and it is particularly exciting that the city has been chosen to host the finale of the world's biggest vegan party. It promises to be a great day out for vegans and non-vegans alike."

Entry into the event, running from 11am to 9pm, is free. The vegan market will run from 11am to 5.30pm, and will feature more than 40 ethical traders and compassionate charities stalls, including food, cosmetics, fair trade clothing, ice-cream, free food tasting and more.

Visitors can also enjoy mouth-watering dishes from around the world, talks and demonstrations, vegan cream teas between 2.30pm to 4.30pm, and a barbecue from 6pm to 9pm, with a real ale bar and live music from The Dillyboys and Fiddlers on the Green.

For more details call 01395 579353 or click here

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Exeter to host finale of national vegan festival - Devon Live

PUBLISHED: 10:50 08 May 2017 | UPDATED: 14:56 08 May 2017

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Cheryl Mullenger and Michelle McCabe, owners of market stall Bia Kitchen, have this week announced that in June they will open a second venture called The Tipsy Vegan.

Located in the heart of Norwichs historic Lanes on St Benedicts Street, the new establishment will serve up a selection of vegan small bites and hearty meals along with a host of bespoke cocktails, wines and local brewery beers.

Between them, Mullenger and McCabe have 25 years combined experience in hospitality, health and fitness and are intending to take a simple approach to the new business - serving healthier, freshly made food thats full of flavour and also happens to be vegan.

Miss McCabe said: Weve both spent a huge amount of time developing and experimenting to find delicious substitutes to animal-based products.

As a result, weve found some pretty exiting combinations of ingredients that work particularly well in classic casual dining, the dishes vegans usually cant indulge in.

At The Tipsy Vegan youll never see a mushroom risotto or a ratatouille on our menu - only the most comforting classics that taste exceptionally different.

Miss Mullenger added: Norwich is more than ready for its first-ever vegan-only restaurant and cocktail bar. Were unbelievably excited about what we have in store. Absolutely everything in our restaurant will be vegan including our Chesterfields.

The opening of the new eatery and cocktail joint comes within just eighteen months of the pair serving up their first signature BBQ Pulled Jackfruit Bap at Bia Kitchen in December 2015.

The Tipsy Vegan will serve comfort food and social drinks and will be open for brunch, casual lunches, dinner and cocktail get-togethers will small bites.

Opening hours will be Wednesday to Saturday evenings and all day for brunch at the weekend.

For more information visit facebook.com/thetipsyvegan

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Masterminds behind Bia Kitchen to open first-ever vegan cocktail bar and restaurant in Norwich - Norfolk Eastern Daily Press

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Is this a foodie first? A Truro business has come up with a vegan version of the Cornish cream tea.

Pura Pressed, which is based in The Old Bakery in Malpas Road, has come up with a novel twist on our local delicacy which is sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free and palm oil-free.

Graeme Holland, who runs the business with his partner Charlotte Waistell, explained that he came up with the idea of the Raw Cornish Cream Tea as a way of making sure vegans weren't excluded from the joys of the cream tea.

There's no denying the end product looks a lot different than the traditional cream tea, but we can guarantee that it is bursting with flavour and a delicious and healthier alternative to the fattening clotted cream variety.

READ MORE: My 30-day vegan experiment

See the video above as I take the taste test and chat to Graeme about his novel invention.

How you buy the Raw Cornish Cream Tea.

The scone is made from gluten-free oats, macadamia nuts, chia seeds and nut milk. Rather than being baked, the dough is dehydrated for eight hours so that none of the nutrients are lost.

The jam is made from Cornish strawberries and chia seeds a teaspoon of the seeds provides more calcium than a glass of milk while the clotted cream is replaced by gluten and dairy free coconut cream.

READ MORE: Are Warrens Thai and Mexican vegan pasties a step too far? We take the taste test

You can buy the vegan cream tea from Pura Pressed's stall at Truro Farmers' Market on Lemon Quay on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9am to 3.30pm.

Putting the vegan cream tea together - jam first as always.

Graeme and Charlotte currently make vegan cakes, desserts, salads and will soon be delivering wraps too. It is also Cornwall's only cold pressed juice business; all of its juices are unpasteurised.

Veganism is on the rise with the recent Cornwall Vegan Festival at Mount Pleasant Eco Park attracting about 1,500 people and selling out of all of its food within three hours.

Graeme added: "We're noticing that a lot of people are making the move to vegan food. We offer a plant-based alternative that is based around health and well-being which is also bursting with flavour and is authentically Cornish."

WHAT'S ON IN CORNWALL

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Truro company invents the world's first vegan Cornish cream tea - we give it the taste test - Cornwall Live

Photo Credit: Iakov Filimonov/Shutterstock

Protein is central to the human diet: It helps the body self-repair, and is important for the immune system and metabolism. When you give up eating meat, one of the first things you will hear is, "But where will you get your protein?"

White meat ispackedwith good proteins. Maybe you relied on chicken and pork to get your nutrition before you realized you would like to stop eating meat. But switching to a vegetarian or vegan diet isnt just about cutting out certain products from your dietyou need to ensure that you get all the nutrition you need.

Any seasoned vegetarian or vegan will tell you that protein is not a problem. Nature provides plenty of alternative, plant-based sources of protein, and it is easy to incorporate them intodelicious recipes.

The infographics below are great at-a-glance protein guides so you can instantly tell the protein value of a number of vegetarian- and vegan-friendly ingredients. Pick out some foods you like, and see how they can be incorporated into some interesting recipes.

The infographic above was originally published by OnStride Financial.

The infographic above was originally published byOnStride Financial.

Jennifer Gueringer is a social media associate at Enova International, Inc. Find her at Google+.

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These Are the Best Sources of Protein for Vegetarians and Vegans - AlterNet

Both are traditional, and both are made of veal, beef or pork, occasionally chicken.

But today, these classics have been transformed, going meat-free to embrace the growing number of vegetarians and vegans across Germany and to fuel the vegan movement itself.

"These new food products are quite tasty," said Stefan Lorkowski, vice president of the German Nutrition Society. "It's tremendous what food technologists can do."

Meat-substitute products such as sausages and schnitzels are usually made of plant proteins such as soy, wheat or tofu, woven and glued together to give the texture and consistency of meat.

"Meat substitutes are what Germany is leading in, from a personal view," said nutritional epidemiologist Clarissa Lage Barbosa of the Robert Koch Institute, part of the Federal Ministry of Health. "If someone is just starting, these kind of products can help them get into the diet."

"These products are a simple way of replacing meat," Lorkowski said. "There are some that are fantastic ... (but) there are also some that are a disaster."

Lorkowski is not a vegetarian or vegan, instead labeling himself a "flexitarian," eating small amounts of meat and fish. Lage Barbosa says this subgroup could be seeing an even bigger rise in Germany.

Lorkowski warned, however, that regular consumption of processed food -- even plant or meat-based meat substitutes -- is not healthy, as meat alternative products like vegan bratwurst or schnitzel are more or less pure protein and do not provide a balanced diet alone.

Some of the plant-based foods, such as yoghurt made from soy, are fortified with vitamins known to be lacking in vegan diets, but raw foods, grains and vegetables are also needed, he said.

Lage Barbosa agreed: "That's not the way you should keep going with your nutrition. You should change your habits to healthier ones."

Vegans in particular already face nutritional challenges from omitting dairy and eggs from their diets, namely deficiencies in vitamin B12 and calcium.

The German Nutrition Society's position on vegan diets as a whole recommends that people take B12 supplements and possibly include other supplements or fortified foods. That could include these new vegan products in addition to raw and whole-grain foods, added Lorkowski.

Lage Barbosa, herself a vegan, shops at specialized supermarkets. But along with her colleague Gert Mensink, she is skeptical about the sudden rise in such shops and products, fearing that they may just be a trend.

"We have seen fluctuations before," Mensink said. "The market is quick with such products, but if they cannot make a profit, they will disappear."

But this is one trend that might survive. Mensink says there has been interest for at least five years and particularly in the past two years.

"The diet is increasingly of interest, as is the idea that you can do something beneficial to your health by choosing the right products," Lorkowski said.

This is emphasized by Mintel's recent data, which showed that after a rise in meat substitute products, greater numbers of "natural" products were launched between 2015 and 2016, suggesting that people are increasingly analyzing what's in their food -- a factor more typically associated with veganism. Mintel data also found that one in three Germans regularly checks the ingredients in their food.

"The trend towards naturalness plays a dominant role in the food choices of German consumers, who prioritize health benefits of unprocessed, natural and wholesome products," Katya Witham, MIntel senior food and drink analyst, said in a statement.

The movement parallels vegan and vegetarian ideals in other parts of the world, such as the UK and US, where these diets revolve more around raw, unprocessed foods, according to Kay Peggs, professor of sociology at Kingston University in the UK. But the origins differ.

The main reasons people become vegans are down to animal welfare, helping the environment and improving health, Peggs said.

Recent guidance from the United Nations has highlighted the environmental benefits of reduced meat consumption. For example, livestock are estimated to be responsible for 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization.

"The UK is a world leader" in veganism, Peggs said, adding that it was the first country to have a Vegan Society. That ideology arose from concerns over animal welfare, followed by the environment, meaning people did not necessarily seek meat-like replacements.

"Where a country has a heavy focus on meat-based products, it may be more difficult to replace with a raw product," Peggs said.

Peggs is conducting a global study of the reasons why people choose to become vegans, but she emphasizes that it is no easy feat. In some countries, such as India, people may have a meat-free diet but may not necessarily identify as a vegan or a vegetarian.

Other leaders in the movement are the United States -- particularly more liberal parts -- and Scandinavia, she added. "There certainly seems to be a trend in younger people identifying as vegan in European countries," she said.

Thomas Sanders, emeritus professor of nutrition and dietetics at Kings College London, has spent his career understanding nutrition in southern Europe and says there is not much of a movement toward veganism there. "Some of this stems from animal rights ... and the green movement, (which) is very strong in Germany."

Sanders also believes that greater ethnic diversity in countries such as the UK, with the resulting wider range of foods, further affects the type of vegan and vegetarian diets people want. UK residents are commonly exposed to Greek, Indian and Cypriot diets that have many vegetarian options. "Most vegans do not think of meat as food ... (so) they don't want things resembling meat," he said.

Most experts believe the trend has not yet peaked, though they say it is unlikely to become the norm.

"There is a lot of concern around health," Peggs said. "So it will keep rising."

Sanders believes there will be a further increase in the type of products available. "I see a growth in ready meals that are vegan, or vegetarian, coming in," he said. "There will be a shift to plant-based eating among the more educated."

But he highlights the difference between veganism as a movement and vegetarianism. "Veganism extends beyond just the food," he said. It is a way of life, determining what people wear and how they live.

"I see it growing," he said. "But like organics, it might increase, but I can't see it becoming a mainstream thing."

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Are Germans leading a vegan revolution? - CNN.com - CNN

Lets say you care about reducing animal suffering, and that you believe one of the most important things we can do about that is to stop farming animals. Now, imagine you have to choose between pressing one of two buttons. The yellow button converts one typical meat eating teenager to lifelong veganisma way of living that eliminates all forms of animal consumption. The blue button converts 10 typical meat-eating teens to lifelong reducetarianspeople who cut down the amount of animal products they eat. Even though none of the teenagers give up animal products completely, together those reducetarians actions would add up to a greater decrease in animal consumption than the veganism of one person. As someone who cares about reducing animal suffering, which button do you press?

Its an easy choice for me. I am less concerned with the amount of individual personal consumption than with reducing animal suffering on the whole, and so I would press the blue button. Yet not all animal advocates think that outcomes are all that matter. Those who believe morality is about being as virtuous as possible would see moral progress being made in the vegan conversion, and none in the reducetarian conversions. If it is immoral to cause suffering to animals, theyd say, then it is also immoral to cause them suffering less frequently. Yet the reducetarians appear to believe there is value in causing suffering less frequently. If we are perfect anti-speciesists, there may indeed be something morally suspect about this.

But the personal integrity objection to reducetarianism has its limits. Imagine the yellow button converts one person to veganism, and the blue converts 100 to reducetarianism, amounting to a decrease in animal consumption that is the equivalent of 50 lifelong vegans. Does personal integrity still merit voting yellow? If so, we could keep widening the gap until the yellow button converts one person to veganism, and the blue button converts three quarters of the entire human population to a mostly plant-based diet that involves the consumption of animal products only exactly once per year.

At this point, picking the yellow button should, I hope, look absurd. Pressing it has probably no discernable impact on industrial animal agriculture, while pressing the blue button utterly decimates it. To think that creating a single extra vegan is a better thing to do than drastically reducing worldwide animal product consumption without veganism puts all the emphasis on how animal product reductions are distributed amongst the population, and basically none on the overall amount of reduction. Assuming anyone could seriously adopt this stance, they would seem to be missing the bigger picture.

Of course, these buttons do not exist, and the extreme version of the hypothetical looks nothing like any real choice we will ever have to make. But the point of this thought experiment is to show that reductions in animal farming are ethically significant even if we achieve them without going completely vegan. For those who accept that basic idea, an important question is how we achieve the greater overall reductions.

It might still seem like promoting veganism alone is the only answer. How could we think that lowering but not eliminating our animal product consumption would have a greater impact than giving up animal products altogether? On a purely individual level, it is clearly true that anyone makes a bigger impact through their own consumption if they give up animal products completely. Yet what this line of thinking ignores is that there are many people who would indeed be willing to reduce the amount of animal products they eat, but would never seriously consider going to zero. If we reach out to them with a veganism-or-bust message, many of them will balk at making such a seemingly radical change, and will pick bust.

This matter of making impact through reduction hits close to home for me, as my dad eats 275 pounds of meat per year (as does the average American). Getting him to reduce, even by as little as 10%, would do quantitatively more for animals than getting a flexitarian who eats five pounds of meat per year to go vegetarian. To reduce animal product consumption as much as possible, we need to tell the potential reducetarians of the world that reduction without total elimination still counts. Small acts among many people have a greater impact than large acts among a few, and we can inspire far more of these small acts if they are treated as meaningful. This is not to say that the vegan message will not resonate with some people; rather, we need to make room for both approaches.

Not everyone agrees, of course. Advocates of vegan-only activism might say the reducetarian message is confused and even self-contradictory. The strict ethical vegan message goes something like this: Being a consistent vegan is a moral imperative, and so eating any amount of animal products is unjustifiable. Reducetarianism is suggesting that its understandable if you fail to live up to that requirementregardless, reducing your consumption of animal products is a morally good thing to do. This offers more of a positive reinforcement for avoiding animal products, which might work better for some people than the strict vegan prohibition. However, the question this raises for reducetarians is as follows: How we can call factory farming wrong, and then in the next breath say that reducing but not eliminating our animal product consumption is a morally acceptable response to that wrong?

The simple answer is, Because thats the message that often works where the vegan message does not. The more complicated answer is that rationality, logic, and altruistic ideals are not the only influences on human behavior. Life is difficult enough as it isfor some people, the thought of being an ideologically perfect eater all the time is too exhausting to even attempt. When vegans tell us to stop supporting factory farms, the framing of their message often comes across as: You must immediately stop this morally horrendous thing you do every day. Sometimes this worksin fact, I suspect some vegans use an approach like this because it may have inspired their own veganismbut many people will hear this as an accusation that they and almost everyone they care about are moral monsters. Unfortunately, that often makes it easier to ignore than to confront. Ive found the more upbeat framing of, Heres something good to do: You can reduce the amount of meat you eat can work better. It helps create especially positive associations with vegan meals, and avoids some of the more sobering implications of the negative messaging.

Of course, if everyone in the world did go vegan today, that would end factory farming. And to be clear, thats what I want. But that possibility looks pretty remote for the time being. What we see now are some very morally committed people going vegan, and almost everyone else ignoring or teasing the vegans and going on with the diets they grew up with. Veganism is the optimum, and I encourage everyone to be as plant-based as they possibly can. But I support non-vegan reducetarianism too, because it avoids many of the hurdles to maintaining unwavering life-long veganism while still getting us much closer to a vegan world.

Imagine if a lot of these people who were reluctant to embrace total veganism committed to avoiding animal products whenever it was not too inconvenient, awkward, or otherwise unpleasant for them to do so. Many of them would see that opportunities to choose plant-based meals abound, and they could quickly find themselves eating largely vegetarian diets. This would create a feedback loop in which vegan and vegetarian meals became more available, and eating these meals would be just as normal and convenient as eating meat is now. A lot of the concerns that currently make it more difficult to go vegan would start to disappear. The demand for animal farming would significantly decreaseas would animal suffering along with it.

Follow Brian on Twitter. Learn how to write for Quartz Ideas. We welcome your comments at ideas@qz.com.

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Should everyone become a vegan? Ideally yes, but there's a more ... - Quartz

Vegans and vegetarians should rest assured, though. According to management at J. Selby's, the reason for their "temporary" closure is the best one possible: They were doing too much business, and need to prepare for higher volume than anticipated.

J. Selby's closed after lunch service this past Friday, and was not open for business all of this week. In a Facebook post explaining the move, the restaurant said its "opening week has left us at a place where we are unable to provide you all, our customers, with the service, the food, and the experience you deserve."

City Pages' recent write-up on J. Selby's noted its experimentation with"lively dishes that dont often appear on the vegans plate: Philly cheeze, nachos, even buffalo wings."

Those dishes must've worked during its first week, as J. Selby cited "large crowds we expect in the future," and said it was hiring additional "kitchen staff, line cooks, front of house, and dishwashers."

Last Friday, J. Selby's said it was preparing for what would've been its second week in business. In fact, the restaurant hasn't reopened yet, though it did stage a three-hour "free plant based burger grill out" in a parking lot across the street. (A Facebook event explained they had accidentally purchased vegan burger patties that were not kosher certified, and therefore wouldn't be served in the restaurant itself.)

J. Selby's continues to update its thousands of Facebook followers on a near-daily basis, writing on Tuesday that it had "underestimated the demand," and was "hiring additional staff to better accommodate those who come to eat with us."

The most recent announcement (Wednesday evening) said, "We will be open again soon but have no date just yet!"

Stay tuned for updates on when their doors are open again. In the meantime, anyone looking for a meatless restaurant industry job can email [emailprotected] and check if they're still hiring.

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Vegan restaurant J. Selby's 'underestimated demand,' closes to prepare for 'large crowds' - City Pages

Veganism is taking over! For those of us who are intimidated by going vegan, or are worried our vegan meals won't measure up to our tasty meat and dairy products, Jack Bishop has tips for you.

Heidi Eng, KING 12:38 PM. PDT April 26, 2017

Jack Bishop from America's Test Kitchen makes delicious vegan black bean burgers.

Veganism is taking over! For those of us who are intimidated by going vegan, or are worried our vegan meals won't measure up to our tasty meat and dairy products, Jack Bishop has tips for you.

Today Jack makes a delicious vegan black bean burger, all from his new book, "Vegan for Everybody," which is full of recipes that are sure to pass any skeptical vegan's taste test.

Find the recipe below and try it at home!

Meet Jack in person at his upcoming author talk, click here for details.

Thursday April, 26th

6:30-8:30 p.m.

Book Larder

4252 Fremont Ave N, Seattle

Whisk all ingredients together in bowl. (Sauce can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.)

Combine all ingredients in bowl, cover, and let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. Drain vegetables in colander and serve. (Pickled radishes can be refrigerated for up to 1 hour; radishes will begin to turn limp, gray, and bitter after 1 hour.)

2017 KING-TV

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Vegan or not, these black bean burger are delicious - KING5.com

At the beginning of the semester, I decided I would transition to a vegan diet for absolutely no reason other from testing my self-control.

Since then, I have become a lot more educated on the environmental and animal issues being a vegan encompasses. In fact, it would be incredibly hard to change my dietary habits now, knowing the process it takes to produce animal-based foods.

A lot of people do not know that veganism is not limited to refraining from eating eggs, dairy, honey or meat product. Gelatin an ingredient used in everyday products such as marshmallows, chewable vitamins and even chewing gum is made of pig bones. Palm oil and Red40 are also not vegan because of the impact they have caused on animals. However, they do not contain an animal derivative.

After watching the documentaries and completing research, the topic is kind of gross to think about. Unless an individual were to look at every single ingredient in the food he eats and does research on each ingredient, he will not be aware of what is in the food hes eating, and he would probably be disgusted if he did know.

For instance, if a person were to check the back of Lays Oven Baked Barbeque chips, he would see that chicken is an ingredient.

I have become more aware about the relationship between food and animals since I have started my transition. However, as far as the relationship between food and a person, it is my experience that eating Chick-fil-A and ice cream every day will make your energy levels feel low, and it can certainly impact your mood.

That was basically my diet last semester and the main reason why I wanted to make the change. I wanted to see if there was truly a difference.

When I made the transition, I told my family I was going to try for one full semester. I wanted to stop eating fast food, and I knew I wouldnt be able to do it any other way. Now, I do not want to turn back.

The last time I ate meat was on Feb. 14. I cannot remember the last time I used any dairy, eggs, honey, palm oil, gelatin, etc., but it's been much shorter of a time and was completely unintentional.

Overall, it's been a really great experience. I used to nap every day, but now, I have noticed a significant increase in energy, a lot fewer naps and a noticeable boost in my happiness.

I rarely ever feel bloated when I eat, and my body has become a lot more toned because a lot of the products I consume are fruits and vegetables.

A few days ago, I wrote a post on Facebook about my transition, and two people contacted me asking for help. My grandma has transitioned for a 40-day trial, and one of my best friends has been trying it for nearly three weeks.

While it is difficult at first, they have both admitted they feel healthier and more energetic.

Some people will not make the transition, but even one vegan meal a day is possible for everyone, and it could have a significant positive impact on your health.

I have a list of more than 30 vegan meals I can order from restaurants right here in Lubbock. Ive never eaten rabbit food, as some would call it. In fact, my favorite foods are pizzas from Pie Five or a vegan burger from Twisted Root.

However, there are so many recipes and products available, nearly anything can be made vegan. Dont give up or let your favorite food be the determining factor. Vegetarians, dont let the cheese hold you back.

Spend less money by not eating fast food. Increase your living. Help save the world. Animals are with us, not for us

Excerpt from:

OPINION: Addison Vegan lifestyle has benefits - The Daily Toreador (registration)