Earth Day for Animals

It's that time of year again. Earth Day is here! While I try to do my best to be kind to our planet everyday (as I'm sure you all do), I'm dedicating this entry to my favorite planet Earth inhabitants - ANIMALS! Hopefully, after reading this you will be more inclined to take care of this planet we share with over 8 billion different species of animals. And more importantly, to be kind to animals.

The animal that continues to be the most near and dear to my heart is of coarse the elephant. They are probably the most compassionate, emotionally and socially intelligent animals, who studies have shown, are self aware. They mourn the loss of loved ones, they have complex social relationships and are probably the most beautiful and tender animal I've been lucky enough to encounter. 

The African elephant continues to suffer catastrophic declines in numbers due to poaching for the high price of ivory on the black market and the high demand for ivory from Asia. An elephant is killed every 15 minutes for it's ivory in Africa. That's 96 elephants a day that are violently murdered. Last year alone, 36,000 elephants were killed for their ivory. At this rate there will be no elephants roaming the wild in 2025. Not cool. I can't even imagine what a world without elephants looks like. 

There are however, many worldwide efforts trying to ensure that a world without wild elephants does not become our reality. On October 4th, the first International March for Elephants in support of the The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust took place in over 42 cities across the world. In NYC, we marched across all of Manhattan to the door of the United Nations. We had some fantastic speakers come all the way from the front lines of Africa like Sir. Iain Douglas-Hamilton of Save the Elephants in Kenya, and my favorite Sex and the City girl, Kristin Davis who is a huge supporter of Daphne Sheldrick's elephant orphan nursery in Kenya.

This weekend is also dedicated to elephants at the Wildlife Conservation Society's Run for the Wild at the Bronx Zoo. This year's race, like last year's, is dedicated to elephant conservation. I'm happy to report that this is my 5th year running this 5k race. I could use all the support in my fundraising efforts for our elephant friends that I can get. If you're unable to support financially, please show your solidarity by signing this petition to law makers demanding that they make ivory sales illegal in NY. I bet you didn't know that you can LEGALLY buy ivory in NY, did you? Crazy, I know. Let's put an end to it. 

I couldn't possibly write about elephants without mentioning a very special place in Thailand that rescues and rehabilitates Asian elephants from the abusive life of the tourist trade and logging industry. Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary is the home of about 11 happy and very loved elephants who were rescued by elephant superhero, Katherine Connor. It is an animal lovers dream to see these beautiful beings roaming and swimming and playing so happily and freely. I wish every animal in the world could have the good fortune of living as the animals of BLES do. 

It is however, very costly to run a non-profit sanctuary and care for eleven 5 ton animals. That's a lot of bananas!! And since the majority of the elephants at BLES were rescued from abusive conditions, they all have various medical ailments that require lots of time and money to care for. Please help Katherine and all the beautiful animals at BLES by donating what you can or better yet, adopt your own elephant! 

In other recent NYC animal news, I was happy to join PETA and NYCLASS this weekend to peacefully protest in front of Liam Neeson's Upper West Side residence for publicly criticizing Mayor Bill de Blasio's plan to do away with horse drawn carriages in NYC. As an actor who has admired Neeson for years, in particular his role as the compassionate Oscar Schindler, I don't understand why he is using his star power to advocate such antiquated cruelty and abuse to such a graceful and soulful animal. I know you guys don't though, which is why you're going to show your solidarity to horses and sign this petition to ban horse carriages in NYC.

Another animal very close to my heart is the majestic and regal lion. (I'm a Leo and The Lion King is my favorite movie.) On March 15th, I was happy to join 70,000 people in over 62 cities worldwide at the Global March for Lions to raise awareness about the industry of "canned hunting." 

What is "canned hunting"? Canned hunting is big business. Captive breed lions are taken from their mothers at birth and hand raised by humans. They are put into petting zoos and earn money being petted by tourists, ignorant of their circumstances. Once they are too big to be pet, they await their fate - to be sold to trophy hunters. They are sold as guaranteed kills in enclosed areas with no chance of escape. Because they are "trophies" they are not shot quickly in the head but die a long and slow painful death shot up in their bodies. Their heads are sent back to the USA or Europe as trophies and their bones are often sold to Asia for bogus potions. I'm sad to say that the USA is responsible for 55% of these jackass "hunters" and it's completely legal to bring lion heads & parts back into this country. I can't think of a more unattractive thing a man can do than be a hunter. 

                                      

Please sign this petition urging the US Fish & Wildlife Service to protect lions under the Endangered Species act, thus making it illegal to import lion parts into the U.S. Let's put a stop to this barbaric and cowardly "sport" once and for all. 

And of coarse I can't write about animals on Earth Day without talking about NOT EATING THEM! Not eating animals or anything that comes out of an animal is the single best thing you can do to help the environment. 

It's hard to argue with these reasons, huh? The only regret I have is not going vegan sooner. I did it because I could no longer call myself an animal lover while I continued to support the cruel slaughter of  animals that are probably smarter than my dog (sorry Rocky.) I've never felt better, my hair is shinier, my skin is clearer, and I'm just happier all around. It makes sense now that I think about it. Animals on factory farms live lives full of fear, anxiety, sadness and depression. How can we think that eating them day in and day out won't have an effect on our well being? Think about it. 

So my friends, that's all she wrote. Have a happy, healthy and more importantly, compassionate Earth Day. Be kind to yourself, the planet, and to all sentient being on this planet. 

Much Love,

Sue

Half a year of LIVING ON THE VEG!

It's been over six months now, since I've crossed over to the green side. Christmas Eve was the last meat-based meal I had with my family, and while I can't honestly say I never looked back at first, it's been one of the best things I've ever done for myself on so many levels. As I wrote in my Me, In A Nutshell post, I've been a big animal lover since I was a little thing, and have always cared about and been involved with animal rights and wildlife conservation organizations. I also really love nature and care about the environment and all that other tree-hugging hippie stuff. So the decision to adopt a plant based diet into my life had many contributing factors.

I got through the initial frustrations of not knowing what to eat or cook, and doubting whether I'd made the right decision or not thanks to Alicia Silverstone's book, The Kind Diet. I absolutely love her as an actress and even more so for being such an avid animal rights activist, so I thought her book was the perfect intro for my new veg life. I highly recommend it to any veg-curious people looking to make the cross over, or just to anyone who likes to eat! There are some really delicious recipes in there and a few of them have turned into my specialties, like the Vegan Avocado Alfredo and Alicia's Mushroom Pizza. Quinoa and kale have become my new favorite things to cook with, and I love that I feel satisfied and satiated after a meal and not painfully full with a food baby. I also love that I no longer feel like I need a nap or like I have to unbutton my pants after I eat (you know you've done it.)
           

            RIGHT: My own creation, Summer Salad w/ Avocado & Strawberries and Black Bean Chipotle Quinoa Salad. LEFT: Alicia's Mushroom Pizza. 

Since I stopped eating animals, my dedication to animal rights and wildlife conservation has felt more complete since I feel that my love and respect for all animals has come full circle by keeping them off my plate. This year I attended the National Animal Rights Day in New York. The Los Angeles group had demonstrators hold animals that had died at the hands of humans as an act of solidarity, compassion, and demand for animal rights. While it was tough to see some of the images, and hear some of the presenters speak about the plight of animals in this world, I'm sure I would have felt a lot worse if I still continued to contribute to their suffering by eating them.        

I also got to indulge my artsy side by attending Waves of Change - A Benefit Art Show for Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.  It's so great when so many things you love are combined. It was such a fun night filled with beautiful artwork, vegan food and wine, and new friends. I love the ocean so much I sometimes think I was a fish in a past life. And when other kids were playing house, or cops and robbers, I spent every summer as a kid in the water pretending I was a mermaid, so the conservation and well being of the ocean and all it's creatures holds a special place in my heart. Check out some of their amazing campaigns and get involved or check them out at their next event! I'll probably see you there!

This Spring, while many of my friends were looking forward to Spartan Races or Color Runs, I was getting ready for one of my favorite events at the Bronx Zoo. This is my third year participating in The Wildlife Conservation Society's Run For the Wild!  and this year's event was probably my favorite. Not only because it was to benefit elephants, but it was also sponsored by Amarula (a very delicious liquor from South Africa.) Elephants are one of my favorite animals and they need all the help they can get right now, so I was really glad to see the Wildlife Conservation Society fundraising and advocating on their behalf. Become and ele-friend and donate some peanuts for this cause. Also, tell congress to support conservation programs that elephants depend on by signing this petition.
             

I got to explore more into my newly plant based world by attending a really cool event in Soho called The Seed - A Positively Plant Based Experience. I ate a ridiculous amount of delicious food that the average meat eating person would probably not even realize was vegan. I also got to hear some amazing speakers, like vegan ultra-athlete, Rich Roll and animal rights activist and right hand woman to Russell Simmons, Simone Reyes. While they've both been hard core vegans for years, they both have different reasons for following a plant based diet. Rich credits his ability to conquer Iron Man triathlons to plant based nutrition, while Simone is a warrior goddess for animals everywhere, imploring you to keep them off your plate, out of circuses and test labs, and out of your closet. Both of their talks were equally moving and inspiring.

               

A big reason that it's taken me so long to become a vegan is because I thought I would feel deprived. I really love food, and one of my favorite things to do is try new restaurants. For the longest time I thought this would be a pain being a vegan, but not in New York! And not with chefs like Daphne Cheng from Suite Three Oh Six! The awesome peeps from the Seed-Positively Plant Based, invited Iron man Triathlete, best-selling author, and Vega formulator, Brendan Brazier to a dinner party which I attended. I didn't get a chance to talk to Brendan too much during dinner because I was completely taken away by how beautiful and delicious all the food was. Every one of the seven courses had a new vegetable, root, or herb that I'd never tried before. One would think that cutting dairy and meat out of the kitchen would be limiting in creating new dishes, but not for this Chef! I mean, think about it, there are only so many things you can do with an animal carcass, so it was difficult to surprise my former meat eating self in the past. But now, there are so many herbs, roots, and sea vegetables that I've never even heard of, that each new thing I tried was like an adventure! Each dish was equal parts art and engineering with amazing new flavors that were equally loved by my eyeballs and my belly. I can't wait to try more of Chef Daphne's culinary creations!

 

Last week I made the long overdue trip up to see some rescued farm animals at Catskill Animal Sanctuary. It was so great to see them running around enjoying the sunshine and their freedom and knowing that that's what they'll get to do for the rest of their lives. It's different then going to a regular farm where you see cute little piggies and chickens and you realize the next time you'll see them is on your plate. Even those types of mom and pop farms don't really exist anymore. In this country alone, 30 million cows are raised on factory farms just for food. That's why this place is so special because you know what the fate of these amazing animals would have been had they not been rescued by the good people there. I loved all the animals there so much I'm going back to visit them at their 12th Annual Shindig - A Festival of Vegan Living next month!

I've been asked a few time if I had my own farm where the animals were treated kindly and got to play in the sunshine and pasture until their hearts content and then were killed quickly and humanely would I eat meat? First of all, being humanely killed is a contradiction in terms. What's humane about killing? So the answer is no, I still wouldn't eat animals. Knowing me, if I had my own farm animals I would love them all, play with them, and have birthday parties for them like I do for my dog. (Don't laugh. My dog is the coolest. If you met him you'd want to come to his birthday party too.)

So my friends, it's safe to say that this is my new way of life now. I'm happier than I've ever been and I've made so many new friends in the NY vegan community. I look forward to many more days of plant based goodness and good friends to share it with (both two and four-legged).

Much love,
Sue