Boo!

We had a hard time deciding what we would force Anna to be this Halloween. My first thought was vampire or zombie. We tried that out:




But we felt that Anna enjoyed dining on human flesh and blood just a little too much. And for those of you who are revolted by the thought of consuming human flesh and blood, I can assure you that the human we fed to Anna was raised under the best possible conditions. Little Timothy was fed a natural diet free of growth hormones and antibiotics and was allowed to leave his cage and go outside and play for sometimes up to a few hours per day! And he lived four happy years before he was shipped off to the slaughter house and took a bolt gun to the head (really, the most humane way to kill a human raised for meat). We're pretty sure the bolt gun was painless. So don't go getting your undies in a bunch. He lived a good life. We're compassionate people here in the Piggy household.

So we dropped the vamp/zombie idea and decided to go with Yoda instead.




A few seconds after this photo was taken she levitated that toy off the floor. The Force is strong with this one.

And here's Anna with the Jedi council.


Last week we met Jen's friends from the "mom and baby" class at the Mall of America. Anna got many compliments on her Yoda costume. We're convinced that this is why she now enjoys wearing the costume, as opposed to the crying she did when we put it on her the first couple times.

Anna has no idea who Spongebob Squarepants is, and we'd like to keep it that way for at least another year. But we thought it would be funny to take a photo of her with him anyway, since she may one day be a fan (which would be fine by me, I find the show absurdly hilarious at times).


Kinda hard to see from the photo, but she's grabbing his nose.

Here's hoping everyone has a safe and happy Halloween.

Veggie Nugget #9

"There is no reason to drink cow's milk at any time in your life. It was designed for calves, it was not designed for humans, and we should all stop drinking it today, this afternoon."

- Dr. Frank Oski, former director of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University

Choosing Your Battles

Anna and I were at a playground this morning. We were the only ones there, since it's cold outside and everything was wet. I wiped down a swing with her snot-rag. She loves swinging.

These two boys (about 10 and 7) walked over to the jungle-gym part of the playground and the younger kid said he was going to slide down the big slide even though it's wet. To which the older kid responded, "Don't do it, you faggot."

I couldn't believe my ears. It's 2007! In Minnesota! After a few seconds I piped up, "Hey, what did you just say?" He glanced in my direction and then walked away. So I said, "That's not a good word to use. Ever."

Man, it really got me riled up. It may not seem like it from what I said. I mean, I could have said a lot more. But I usually keep to myself. I'm not too outspoken around people I don't know (unless you count the things I say on the internet).

So it got me thinking. I said what I said because I believe it's a moral issue and that I am in the right. Under no circumstances should a child be called that word. It is damaging both to the child and to the GLBT community as a whole. It's tantamount to a racial slur.

The root of my veganism is moral (not like "you're going to hell" moral, but more like "it's wrong to stab people" moral). I think it's immoral to treat animals the way they are treated. It doesn't have to happen. Humans can live just fine without the suffering of billions of sentient beings. So why did I scold this 10 year old kid when he dropped the f-bomb, but I don't run around chastising everyone I see who eats meat?

Because I'm a willing member of society. If I let my sub-conscious (and sometimes very conscious) internal monologue become an external dialogue every time I saw someone eating meat, milk, cheese, or eggs no one would listen to me. I'd have very few friends and very few family members that would ever want to talk to me.

The fact is, equal rights and equal treatment of people in the LGBT community is not too far away. Any decade now... But it's still "out there" to be vegan. Veganism will not be approaching the social norm for a looooong time (though I do honestly believe that some day it will, if we don't blow ourselves up first). And I definitely won't be helping veganism approach the social norm by causing a scene every time I see someone eating or wearing an animal. Also, if I did that, it would be pretty much all I ever do.

I'm still going to advocate for veganism. I'm going to answer questions honestly and at times I'll offer facts and figures even when they're not asked for. But I'm not going to scold a ten year old boy for eating string cheese.

I'm trying to find a way to end this post, but I can't seem to wrap it up. So I'll end with a completely unrelated link.

Go here.

The Price is Still Right

I just caught the tail-end of The Price is Right and I'm happy to report that Drew Carey is continuing Bob Barker's tradition of urging his viewers to control the pet population and have their pets spayed or neutered.

I wonder if it was in Drew's contract. Bob Barker is a vegan. I don't think Carey is a veg-anything, but I could be wrong. Doesn't matter, I guess. As all of us know, you don't have to be vegan in order to care about the animals we call pets.

Veggie Nugget #8

"I take vitamins daily, but just the bare essentials not what you'd call supplements. I try to stick to a vegan diet heavy on fruit, vegetables, tofu, and other soy products."

-Clint Eastwood

Forcing Beliefs

OK. So I'm going to try in the next few days to get those graphic photos further down on the page so my visitors don't have to keep seeing them over and over and over again (because I know all 3 of you obsessively visit this page on an hourly basis just aching for a new post).

I'm not going to do that good of a job though on this post, since it's just a link to another blog entry that I found particularly succinct. It is an answer to the question of whether or not vegan parents force their beliefs on their children.

Here it is. Enjoy!

Traditioooooooooon! Tradition!

Thanksgiving is right around the corner. And we all know what that means, right? Time to bow our heads and give thanks for all we have. Time to thank the good lord above (if that's your thing) for the food on our table.

Wait. What? There's a dead turkey on the table? We're thankful for this?








(In case you're wondering, this last photo was taken at a "free range" farm.)

Well, we here in the Little Piggy family have decided to start our own Thanksgiving tradition. We have adopted a turkey from Farm Sanctuary. It's only 20 dollars and it provides feed, bedding and vetrinary care for one lucky turkey.

In case you didn't click on the Farm Sanctuary link up there, here are a few snippets from their website to give you an idea of who they are and what they do:

Sorrowfully, animals raised on today's industrialized farms are treated like unfeeling commodities, and their basic needs are completely ignored. They are crowded in factory farm warehouses, and confined so tightly that they cannot walk, turn around or lie down comfortably. Farm animals are de-beaked, de-toed, tail-docked, confined, crowded, neglected and denied the very basics of life: fresh air, wholesome food, room to move and, most importantly, freedom - all for the sake of a profit margin.

Farm Sanctuary was founded in 1986 to combat the abuses of industrialized farming and to encourage a new awareness and understanding about "farm animals." At Farm Sanctuary, these animals are our friends, not our food.

It's nearly impossible to describe the exhilaration in the eyes of a rescued animal when he or she steps off a transport truck into an open field of green. After initial tentative steps, the new arrivals run for the very first time, savoring the earth beneath their feet and kicking up their heels with joy.

So I went online and picked out a Turkey from their adoption list and in a couple weeks I'll get an adoption packet with a photo of the bird and an adoption certificate. I'll be sure to post again once I receive the info.

So instead of my money supporting the industry that allows the gore and violence in the above photos it's going to support the turkeys who were saved from that hell. Turkeys like...

Cinnamon:
Comet:
And these little buggers:
Don't they all look so happy and healthy? Now there's something to truly be thankful for.

Veggie Nugget #7

From the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine website:

There is no nutritional requirement for dairy products, and there are serious problems that can result from the proteins, sugar, fat, and contaminants in milk products. Therefore, the following recommendations are offered:

1. Breast-feeding is the preferred method of infant feeding. As recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, whole cow’s milk should not be given to infants under one year of age.
2. Parents should be alerted to the potential risks to their children from cow’s milk use.
3. Cow’s milk should not be required or recommended in government guidelines.
4. Government programs, such as school lunch programs and the WIC program, should be consistent with these recommendations.

For the PCRM's complete report on Milk, go here. And for a less clinical take, go here.

Children's Museum Again!

We took our second trip to the Minnesota Children's Museum last week. That place is just heaven for kids, and our little nugget is getting old enough to appreciate it. Here are some photos, of course.