Earth Crisis in ATL
My friends Chris and Jimmy are filling in on guitar and bass for a month-long tour with the seminal hardcore band Earth Crisis. I was really looking forward to not only seeing EC again but seeing two of my friends play in the band. EC’s original show in ATL fell through but thanks to some locals they were able to quickly put together a show with three local bands that turned out to be a very fun night reminiscent of the good ol’ hardcore shows I grew up going to in North Carolina. Here are some pics from the night.
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An Animal Oasis in Upstate New York
When Gene Baur, president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, asked how I heard about the well-known vegan, animal destination upon our arrival this past weekend, I answered, “Being vegan, it’s just a place we all know about, especially if you live in New York.” Farm Sanctuary is to vegans what Times Square is to tourists. Ok, maybe that analogy is a stretch but you know what I’m saying.
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LOVE Philly
Chris Walker and I were only in Philadelphia for less than twelve hours but we managed to see many friends, visit two brand new vegan spots, see some historical landmarks and hang a dozen prints for a show. It was a lot of fun and reminded of my love for Philly.
I lived in Philly for about 3 months in the summer of 2005 while I was interning at the Philadelphia Inquirer. I remember immediately falling in love with the city. It has so much history, character and grit. It’s not a particularly safe, pretty or prosperous city but there has always been something about that drew me in. I don’t get down there nearly as much as I would like.
The occasion this time was the opening of two new vegan joints by friends of mine, one of which I was hanging prints in from my series “95 Below.” Blackbird Pizzeria is on S. 6th Street and those who’ve been around for a while will recognize that it’s in the spot where Gianna’s used to be. When Gianna’s closed down earlier this year my friend’s Mark, a chef, most recently at Blossom in NYC, and Ryan, a web designer, jumped on the opportunity to collaborate on an all new vegan pizza restaurant. The pizza is phenomenal and the vegan philly cheese steak is easily the best you’ll find anywhere. Period.
Grindcore House on S. 4th Sreet is Philly’s first vegan coffee shop. In addition to excellent organic fair trade beans from Goshen Coffee Co. in St. Louis they have Vegan Treats baked goods and sandwiches. My friends David and Barone collaborated to turn a century old space into a coffee shop with a conscience filling the rear of the space with cozy seating and progressive reading. The walls of Grindcore House also serve as gallery space for artists which is rotated frequently.
If you’re passing through Philadelphia anytime soon do yourself a favor and check both of them out.
Pictures from Blackbird Pizzeria.
Pictures from Grindcore House.
"Do work, son."
New Vegan restaurant
Yes, Babycakes has vegan doughnuts now. But let me tell you, I have first hand experience with them. While they are good, they’re $3 for a doughnut about half the size of a normal doughnut. I don’t get it. I understand that Babycakes uses unrefined and organic ingredients but when you overprice things to that degree it just kind of makes you look lame. But the vegan restaurant I want to tell you about is called Peacefood Café. It’s at 460 Amsterdam Ave. on the Upper West Side. I discovered it while reading the Dining section of nytimes.com. They actually have good things to say about it which is surprising since anything with the word vegan in it is usually accompanied by the words hippy, weird, bland and granola. I’m looking forward to checking it out.
P.S. Look for my pictures of Lance on nytimes.com Friday night and in the newspaper on Saturday.
Mainstream Vegans
Always excited, sometimes entertaining, to hear about veganism making it into mainstream conversation. Mark Bittman has leveled some honest critique on the way we as a society eat and the meat industry, from an Omnivore’s point of view. Bittman has even put his money where his mouth is by making an effort to eat vegan. And then there’s W Magazine and the supposed countless celebrity vegans like Natalie Portman, Stella McCartney, Joaquin Phoenix and my man Dennis Kucinich. All publicity is good publicity right? I’m not sure, but at least it might help people learn how to pronounce the word. It’s Vegan not Vaygun!
Check out this story in today’s New York Times.
Jennifer May for The New York Times
CG panorama?
This is a pretty cool use of a computer generated 360º panorma that I saw on SuperVegan. Actually the first CG 360º I’ve seen. It was done by a group called AnimalVisuals whose mission “to provide compelling visuals and interactive media to empower animal advocates, educate the public, and expose the injustices of animal exploitation.”
I think the biggest thing keeping people from not only eating vegetarian but even accepting it as a viable and ethical alternative is the fact that most people don’t actually know where the meat they eat comes from and how it is produced. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “Oh, I just don’t think about it” or “I don’t want to see it.” Obviously, access to factory farms is extremely extremely strict. So this CG pano is a cool while to visual what it’s actually like inside a battery cage for hens. So the next time you think eating eggs is harmless remember this.
- In the United States, an estimated 95% of egg-laying hens are intensively confined in battery cages.
- As of December 2008, about 300 million birds are confined in battery cages, almost one for every U.S. citizen.
- Each cage confines 5 or 6 birds on average, but sometimes up to 10 birds.
- Voluntary industry guidelines specify a minimum of 67 square inches per hen. This is an area smaller than a standard sheet of paper.
- Like any animal, chickens are highly motivated to perform natural behaviors. These behaviors include nesting, perching, scratching, foraging, dust-bathing, exploring, and stretching. Caged chickens are denied all of these natural behaviors, causing them severe frustration.
- Battery hens suffer from serious health problems, such as respiratory disease from constant exposure to ammonia fumes and fecal dust; osteoporosis, bone fractures, and prolapsed uteruses from being bred to lay eggs at an unnaturally high rate; and foot disorders, sores, and injuries from contact with the cage wire in outdated cage systems.
- As a response to the lack of foraging opportunities in the barren cage environment, chickens sometimes engage in feather-pecking of their cagemates. So, before they are 10 days old, the ends of their beaks are seared off with hot blades.
- Beak mutilation causes acute and sometimes chronic pain.
- For every egg you buy, a hen will be forced to endure these conditions for over 32 hours.
- Chickens are confined for about a year and a half before their ability to lay eggs declines, then they are killed.
- Eggs are not a necessary part of a nutritious diet, and there are many healthy, affordable alternatives that make it easy to leave eggs off of your shopping list for good. Some good egg alternatives include applesauce, bananas, commercial egg replacer powder (such as Ener-G Egg Replacer or Bob’s Red Mill All Natural Egg Replacer) ground flaxseed, tofu, or vinegar and baking soda.
- The egg industry cannot be trusted to make responsible decisions regarding the welfare of chickens, because it has a profit motive to sacrifice their interests. There are currently no U.S. federal laws that protect the interests of chickens used for food.
Bittman on what’s wrong with what we eat
New York Times food writer Mark Bittman admits he’s anything but a vegetarian but his talk at TED in Dec. 2007 reaffirms that all it takes is a little education and an open mind to see that a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle can have a much more profound impact than just benefits to your health.