Moby’s new book ‘Gristle: From Factory Farms to Food Safety (Thinking Twice About the Meat We Eat)’ is already making waves.From TheNewPress.com:
“Multi-platinum musician Moby and leading food policy activist and expert Miyun Park have brought together fifteen of the country’s leading voices on this issue–an eclectic group from such diverse backgrounds as farming, workers’ rights activism, professional athletics, science, environmental sustainability, food business, and animal welfare advocacy–who together eloquently lay out how and why industrial animal agriculture unnecessarily harms workers, communities, the environment, our health, our wallets, and animals.”
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Could it get more suggestive? AussieBum offers up mens undies made from..ahem..bananas. Well, to be precise, they’re made from the weave of fiber extracted from the banana plant and mixed with soft organic cotton. These undies are comfy, stylish and made with a conscious effort towards ensuring minimal environmental impact.
• My new spring shoes are these killer, plaid, vegan oxfords from John Fluevog! How cool are these? They’re perfect with khaki shorts, jeans, or black trousers. From a punk rock club to wall street, you can mismatch them with other patters, or let these kicks stand alone as the centerpiece of your outfit. The best thing of all is that help you tread more light since they’re free of leather, one of the nastiest sources of pollution and global warming. $179
• I was recently interviewed on the podcast “Our Hen House, Episode 9” where I discussed The Cave Man Diet,MainstreamManliness, and other interesting tidbits with fabulous hosts and activists Jasmin and Mariann. If you aren’t subscribed to this podcast that discusses all kinds of ideas on how individuals can make change for animals, you should SUBCRIBE.
• American Idol’s Ruben Studdard, went vegan and has lost over 100 lbs already! One of his favorite restaurants is Soul Veg in Atlanta. Ruben explained his weight-loss on ‘The Wendy Williams Show’, saying, ”I went to vegetarianism about a year-and-a-half ago, and then about 6 months ago I started being completely vegan.” Read the full article on Ecorazzi and hisinterview with Peta.
• According to VegetarianStar.com, Biggest Loser host and trainer, Bob Harper is almost 100% vegan, and has challenged his twitter followers to go vegan, too!
When his cholesterol dropped 100 points after going veg, he couldn’t help but send out tweets like this: “Your Challenge today is to go the next 24 hours, starting now eliminating ALL animal products. Good for your heart AND the environment!!”
“I’m a HUGE fan of Gardein!!”
“I love this day..getting together with a couple of close friends and I’m preparing a VEGAN FEAST..hope they like it!!”
You heard it here first! I got my eyes and hands onto a handful of samples from the forthcoming men’s collection, M:ZERO, from Melissa Plastic Dreams: the sustainable, zero-waste, fair-trade, recycled plastic shoe company known for their cutting edge design and collaborations with fashion superstars like Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier, and others.
Kaight Shop in New York City’s Lower East Side held a launch party for the pop-up installation of Melissa’s “Shop Within a Shop” inside of Kaight. They were so cool, I couldn’t help but jam my giant, size 11.5 foot into one of the samples that were all size 8, just for the sake of a photo. Considering that these are touted as some of the most comfortable shoes out there, it really wasn’t that bad at 3.5 sizes too small. One that fits must feel like walking on pillows.
The new men’s collection features an oxford, a loafer, and a driving shoe. By far, my preference is the oxford, especially the gray, fuzzy one and the white matte one. Look out for these fantastic plastics arriving for retail Autumn/Winter 2010!
• GQ’s Spring Must-Haves include a vegan new-wave boat shoe from Sperry Topsiders (without those leather laces, finally), fancy pocket squares of every pattern and color, bright and bold striped ties and straw fedoras.
When searching for a striped tie that isn’t made from hundreds of worms who are boiled alive, we suggest hitting up your local thrift or vintage store which typically have piles of ties or our favorite vegan tie company, Jaanj.com. As for straw fedoras, that one thing we love about spring. You can avoid the wool hats and go with a 100% plant-based straw hat. LiViTY makes recycled, hemp, organic, and fair trade fedoras in some bold patters and classic shapes, and Engineered Garments makes an organic linen boater cap. We suggest keeping a lid on it and sticking to classics like these:
The Hill-Side offers some selvedge Pocket Squares that we find quite fetching:
• I’ll be as happy as the next guy to see SeaWorld go under. The next guy is our pal Gary Smith, and he’s written an article on SeaWorld and the exploitation of dolphins and whales that flooded the enterprise with a 1.4 billion profit last year. In the article over at Elephant Journal. Ric O’Barry, who was featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary film “The Cove” and serves as the marine mammal specialist for Earth Island Institute, shares some thoughts with Gary on the recent killer whale tragedy. If you needed to be convinced that captive seas mammals are unhappy, this will do it!
“Orcas are the most social animal on the planet, even more so than us,” said O’Barry. “Males will stay with their mothers their entire lives. When we capture an animal like Tilikum, we take him away from the two most important things of his life; the world of sound and family. We put them in a concrete box and expect him to stay mentally healthy. It simply doesn’t work.” - Rick O’Barry, Marine Mammal Specialist EII
• Is Discovery’s Planet Green FINALLY getting the meat/global warming connection? Or not. The promos for Emeril’s Green(washed) Kitchen still lists “beef” as a major ingredient, but I got a recipe for vegan chocolate mousse in my inbox this morning, and they have a vegan section. Strangely, their new showFuture Food: Gastronomic Geniuses seems like a bunch of dudes playing with their meat. The video showcases these “geniuses” shooting bratwurst with paint-balls, and trying to figure out the tastiest way to serve this meat up in mad-science ways. The maddest science is showcasing meat on a self-proclaimed “green” network when it’s the #1 cause of global warming! Hey Discovery, WTF!?
• Rock It Out: A Night to Benefit New York’s Farm Animal Sanctuaries
Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary
This benefit will feature live musical performances, a scrumptious vegan bake sale, and an awesome raffle all to benefit farm animals at Farm Sanctuary and the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary! Check out what these sanctuaries do to save animals like Billy, who was taken in after almost being killed by a sledgehammer at a dairy farm just a few weeks ago:
Saturday, March 6, 2010 from 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: Reidy Hall at All Souls Church, 1157 Lexington Ave @ 80th St, Basement Level
$10 pre-sale, $15 at the door (cash only)
Pre-sale tickets can be purchased at: https://www.mycommunitytickets.com/event_info.asp?eventid=26496
• Did society create monstrous people, or do a collective of monstrous people create civilization? This was the topic of last week’s Hardcore History, and we suggest you listen. Totally mind-bending! Could widespread child abuse and bad parenting in earlier eras explain some of history’s brutality? We think so.
• Learn to Lobby for Animals with the HSUS. We are only a few weeks away from the 2010 New York State Humane Lobby Day on Wed, March 24th in Albany. Join fellow activists to help pass legislation to crack down on animal fighters, stop puppy mills, end canned shoots of captive exotic wildlife, and protect farm animals from cruel treatment. To RSVP and get more info, click HERE.
• Jessica Reid asks GGA readers if a No Kill Nation is possible when it comes to dog shelters. There’s always a fierce discussion on the GGA comment-board, so have you say!
“The truth is you cannot blame having to kill shelter animals on an “irresponsible public” or “too many animals” when a shelter doesn’t implement lifesaving and low cost programs. I personally witnessed missed opportunity after missed opportunity from alienating potential fosters to terrible customer service to rude behavior toward rescue groups. I heard the same stories from other volunteers. These were not isolated cases. These were failures of management and staff to do what they should be doing: saving lives.”
These are some pretty crazy shoes. Not unexpected coming from Fluevog, but it definitely takes a certain kind of gentleman to pull these off. Think jazz-era sailor. These canvas and faux leather kicks are on sale for $105
If you thought the worst fate of animals in shelters was lonely months leading up to euthanasia, think again. A new undercover investigation reveals that homeless cats and dogs are purchased and used for painful experiments at laboratories. One of these animals was an affectionate orange tabby cat named Robert. University of Utah experimenters drilled a hole into his skull and implanted electrodes in his brain in order to run an electric current through it. Find out how you can help!
The April77 party at Oak was on the top-10 parties list (Refinery29) for Fashion’s Night Out, kicking off fashion week. I met up with Tommy Über of April77 at OAK to chat and check out some denim customizing!
Concerning April77′s creator and designer, Brice Partouche being a long-time vegetarian and recent convert to vegan, and making a cruelty-free shoe line, Tommy Über had this to say:
We don’t make any leather... It’s important to see the vision of someone that really carries his personal causes into a clothing line… And that’s why people love April77 – because it’s engaged. – Tommy Über, APRIL77
The current April77 collection does have wool, but Brice personally ensured me that all future collections will be free from animal products.
The incredible craftsmanship, color usage, and pattering of traditional Indian textile is going to be big this fall. The pairing of these styles with plaids, denim, canvas and moccasin-inspired shoes and boots is a great way to include it in your wardrobe. Because these textiles are traditionally made from wool and other animal hairs (like in the Pendelton for Opening Ceremony image up top), it is quite difficult to find animal-friendly and eco-friendly versions.
Luckily, thrift stores are chock full of this stuff, from silk-screened shirts to plaid pants and vests, to this western shirts I found, with a great black, silver and tan Chimayo pattern on it. I definitely recommend starting off at the second-hand stores, for both your wallet and the environment.
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Vuori‘s “Native” and “Tribe” organic tee-shirts honor the men and women whose heroic efforts, so often unnoticed, propel us towards a more sustainable future. The “Eagle” tee from Loomstate and the “Endangered Wolf” tee from Loomstate for Barney’s celebrate two iconic animalsthat both need respect and protection. I’d wear this over a skull and crossbones, any day.
The Aztec Shirt from Sierra Trading Post, and Navajo Shirt from Orvis would look great underneath a solid sports coat or beneath a vest. Also try a Navajo vest over some organic plaid like Patagonia’s two shirts below.
Try some burgundy organic denim from Monkee Genes or pick up some plaid pants from the thrift shop!
These are some cruelty-free shoes and mocs that can pull the look together, or just function as the sole element:
• Buy A Cool Organic Shirt from PARTYBOTS, Help Mercy For Animals!
$2 from every online apparel sale and 5% from all wholesale order get donated to Mercy For Animals to help assist in their efforts for animal compassion, education, investigations, grassroots activism and more.
• Check out these new books from some of our favorite animal advocates:
• Just for Kicks. Check these new, striking cruelty-free shoes.
• Check out some of the amazing recipes at G LIVING. The recipes are delectable, and photographed beautifully. We re drooling over here!
• Banfield, the nation’s largest veterinary practice with 730 hospitals and 2,000 veterinarians, including many in PetSmart stores, announced it will stop performing cosmetic tail docking, ear cropping, or devocalization (de-barking) of dogs. Read The Article. “After thoughtful consideration and reviewing medical research, we have determined it is in the best interest of the pets we treat, as well as the overall practice, to discontinue performing these unnecessary cosmetic procedures,” says Karen Faunt, vice president for medical quality advancement. “It is our hope that this new medical protocol will help reduce, and eventually eliminate, these cosmetic procedures altogether.”
Here are some cool tools to add to your aresnal for the approaching autumn. Whether you’re headed back to school or back to work, new flax kicks, acessories, and organic cotton shirts are a good place to start.
The UO Linen Oxford combines a flax upper, a faux-leather inner, and a wood and resin sole. Now that’s smart and on sale for $39.99 .The other styles have real cow skin in them, so stick to these beige kicks.
Paul Smith has a distinguished autumn organic check shirt.
TOPMAN offers up some handsome plimsoles in poly faux-leather brown, and red tartan. These are great for back-to-school and autumn adventures.
Nordstrom has a good selection of organic cotton dress shirts for under $30.
industrial animal agriculture unnecessarily harms workers, communities, the environment, our health, our wallets, and animals.”
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• Did society create monstrous people, or do a collective of monstrous people create civilization? This was the topic of 
