Here's an interesting article on the impact of meat-eating on the environment, written by a non-vegetarian in Sunday's New York Times. The author is actually Mark Bittman, apparently a meat-lover, who recently published a vegetarian cookbook called "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian."

Armed with a generous gift card from my boyfriend's parents, I descended upon Barnes and Noble this afternoon in search of the perfect vegetarian cookbook. And left empty-handed (well, I bought a book of short stories).

Maybe it was because I wasn't hungry or because the books didn't have pictures, but none of the dozen or so vegetarian cookbooks I paged through caught my eye.

Now, I am not desperate. I will eat if I don't buy a new cookbook. In addition to my notebook full of recipes pulled from magazines and photocopied from library books, I own two true cookbooks. But neither are specifically for vegetarians, meaning that nearly all of their "entree" recipes have meat as the main attraction--so no good. And I'm in the mood for something new.

So I'm seeking recommendations. What vegetarian cookbook(s) have served you well? I'm looking for recipes that are not too complicated, use ingredients I can locate in Super Stop & Shop, and can be prepared in under an hour.

I eagerly await your responses!

Earth to San Francisco Zoo officials: kids do stupid things. Further bulletin: kids who use drugs and/or alcohol do things that are even more stupid.

This is not to suggest that I am personally suggesting that the two brothers and the now late Carlos Sousa Jr., 17, were using any illegal substances when they were attacked by Tatiana the tiger at the San Francisco Zoo on Christmas Day. News reports, however, have suggested that at least alcohol, possibly in excessive amounts, was involved on that deadly day.

Further, many news sources are now reporting that one of the brothers who was severely injured has told Sousa’s father that the three were taunting the 250-pound Tatiana by yelling and waving at her. The teens deny throwing anything into the cat’s enclosure, but it is clear that investigators are trying to determine whether that's true.

What I am trying to determine is why the issue of taunting Tatiana is even part of this equation. I begin this query by making clear that I do not believe Tatiana should have been taunted in any way, shape or form. Tatiana deserved respect; she deserved to be protected. She deserved these rights because she is one of earth’s living creatures.

But just as Tatiana deserved to live, so did Carlos Sousa. He was 17; his companions were 19 and 23, respectively.

These young men, kids in the case of two of them, might have behaved poorly that day. Maybe they did yell things at Tatiana and, if so, this was an inappropriate and unpleasant thing to do.

But, just as many adults do, kids sometimes do inappropriate and unpleasant things. In the case of young people, this stems both from lack of experience and maturity and, from what I have read, the fact that their brains are not yet fully developed. They make poor choices; most often they learn from their mistakes.

If any sort of taunting occurred, Carlos Sousa will not have a chance to learn from his mistakes, to learn that treating caged animals – or any animals - with disrespect is wrong.

But amidst the growing attention being paid to how these three young people behaved before and during their visit to the zoo, (a debate clearly rooted in who will be held civilly liable) is too little attention being paid to the culpability of the real adults in this circumstance: the people who were responsible for making sure Tatiana stayed safe?

My point is that Tatiana’s enclosure should have been taunt proof. While I am not sure the big cat would have been susceptible to attacking people simply based on how they behave, this contingency should have been considered when considering how she was kept.

I respect that zoos do a public service, I believe in most cases responsible, caring, knowledgeable adults are running them. But unless a keeper or docents were always watching out for how zoo visitors behave around its possibly deadly carnivores, there should have been no chance Tatiana could escape, even if she were confronted with poor behavior.

To suggest otherwise is absurd. To somehow imply that these three young people, even if they were carrying on in an inhumane way, caused Tatiana’s escape, is simply an attempt to shift the blame.

We want our young people to learn to behave as reasonable, educated and compassionate adults. We do not want them to pay for their mistakes with their lives. This is true in this case as much as it in the case of young people learning to deal with another potentially lethal instrument: a car.
The current debate clouds the issue and should not prevent those entrusted with the care of nature’s beautiful and sacred creatures from ensuring those animals stay safe.

Just as this blog intends to draw attention to its writers' aim to help keep farm animals safely out of the food chain, and digresses today to point out that Tatiana should have been kept safe, today it also aims to advocate the protection of another animal: the human kind.

Many things puzzle me. Why, for instance, is CNN’s Lou Dobbs so angry all the time? Why do so many doctors have so many people waiting in their waiting rooms for an appointment set at the same time? Why can’t we cut down on the number of beef cattle in this country and feed the corn those herds would have been eating to dairy cows, therefore freeing up more corn to produce ethanol? Why does anyone care what Britney Spears says or does? (That last one was rhetorical; it is clearly a mystery for the ages.)


But beyond those serious and less serious musings - I know Lou Dobbs gets paid to be gruff – comes a real question: Why does anyone need to clone a cow, or for that matter any animal that ends up somewhere in the human food chain?

This is a matter that really matters, as the FDA this week concluded and announced that “After years of detailed study and analysis, the (agency) has concluded that meat and milk from clones of cattle, swine, and goats, and the offspring of clones from any species traditionally consumed as food, are as safe to eat as food from conventionally bred animals,” says the press release on the FDA Web site.


The agency has asked for a year-old voluntary moratorium on sale of products from cloned animals to continue while market concerns are addressed and notes that its is the offspring of cloned animals that would eventually go to market like so many little piggies that I wish could stay home.

There was no enough information for the FDA to agency to reach a conclusion on the safety of food from clones of other animal species, such as sheep, the new release says.
Hmm…the FDA can determine cloned Bessie is safe to eat or drink the milk from, but not cloned Dolly?

Why then, “while the small cloning industry and some livestock organizations favor the approval of products from clones, a number of consumer groups criticized the FDA’s announcement Tuesday, contending that more study is needed to ensure food safety,”? according the a story on the issue moved by the Associated Press.

“The FDA has acted recklessly and I am profoundly disappointed in their rush to approve cloned foods,” Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., an opponent of cloned food products said in the AP story. “Just because something was created in a lab, doesn’t mean we should have to eat it.”

The response from the FDA was, “Our finding is not alone,” Randall Lutter, FDA deputy commissioner for policy, said in the same AP story. “We are not unique in reaching this. It is one (conclusion) echoed by a New Zealand food safety authority, a European food safety authority, and it was also echoed by the United States National Academy of Sciences.”

The “science-based conclusions agree with those of the National Academy of Sciences, released in a 2002 report. The assessment was peer-reviewed by a group of independent scientific experts in cloning and animal health. They found the methods FDA used to evaluate the data were adequate and agreed with the conclusions set out in the document,” the Web site says.

The thing about all this, however, is that no one has explained adequately to me why we need cloned animals in the food supply at all, even simply as breeding stock to “improve” said stock, which is the only purported benefit I have come across.

I do not pretend to be fully informed on all the ins and outs of this issue nor to be a scientist…did I even study biology in college? Yes, but as I do not recall my grade, I likely was not at the top of that class. Yet, I do not what hits me on a gut level, and this one hits me with a stomach ache.
What’s so wrong with sexual reproduction?

Visit http://www.fda.gov/cvm/cloning.htm.

Here's a little free advertising for Trader Joe's: My new favorite thing is their "Indian Fare" line of products. They have a variety of Indian dishes that come in little sealed packages, $1.99 apiece that don't need to be refrigerated. They're very portable and wonderful for bringing to work for lunch. My favorite so far is the Punjab Eggplant.

I know very little about Indian cuisine beyond my visits to local Indian restaurants, which I love. However, it's always struck me as one of the more vegetarian-friendly cuisines, with most restaurants having a large vegetarian section on the menu. I've recently taken an interest in trying to cook this food for myself (since eating out is expensive). What a stroke of luck when a man from Baltimore who wrote and published an Indian cookbook contacted Helen and me after coming across our blog. He was kind enough to send me a copy of his book and I plan to start experimenting soon with the recipes. I'll document my experience and get back to you.

In the meantime, if you know any good Indian recipes, please send them along!

The farming conference to be held at the Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven next month is not a strictly vegetarian event (though there is sure to be plenty of veggie talk), but it does promise to be one in which participants should learn a lot about growing and local markets.
The Annual Community Farming Conference, sponsored by CT NOFA, will be held 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Feb. 9 in the Agricultural Experiment Station’s Jones Auditorium, 123 Huntington St., New Haven.
The Community Farming Conference “will connect three groups of people: towns and land trusts with land, community groups that want a local community farm with the food and educational opportunities it offers, and farmers who need land and local markets,” organizers said in a prepared statement. Admission: $35 for CT NOFA members, $45 for non-members.
Speakers will be: Brian O’Hara, of Tobacco Road Farm, Lebanon, who will talk about “Farming for Survival;” Brianne Casadei, for Terra Firma Farm, a community farm and educational academy in Stonington, who will talk about the farm’s educational programs. Additionally, there will be a forum for community farms to exchange experiences and ideas, and small group gatherings to address particular issues of interest, the statement said.
Also, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 16, Getting Started in Organic Farming, also sponsored by CT NOFA, will be held at the Agricultural Experiment Station. The Getting Started in Organic Farming conference is for anyone interested in starting or expanding an organic farm enterprise, or in converting a conventional farm enterprise to organic, organizer said.
Speakers will be: Ryan Voiland, owner and manager, Red Fire Farm, Granby, MA, a certified organic vegetable farm marketing through a 450 member CSA, farm stands and local wholesale channels; Rob Durgy, program assistant, UConn Home and Garden Education Center and former administrator, CT NOFA Organic Certification Program; and Don Franczyk, administrator, Baystate Organic certifiers, Massachusetts.
There also will be a panel of farmers to talk about marketing organic food.
Admission to either event is $35 for CT NOFA members, $45 for non-members. For more information and registration, visit www.ctnofa.org, email ctnofa@ctnofa.org, or call (203)-888-9280.

I had a very delicious soup for dinner tonight, courtesy of my parents. They served it with a French bread and salad and I came home wanting to try to make it myself tomorrow.

Potato Cheese Soup

4 tablespoons sweet butter
2 cups finely chopped yellow onions
2 cups peeled and chopped carrots
6 parsley sprigs
5 cups vegetable broth
2 large potatoes, about 1-1/2 pounds, peeled and cubed (3 to 4 cups)
1 cup chopped fresh dill
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 to 3 cups grated Cheddar cheese

1. Melt the butter in a soup pot. Add onions and carrots and cook over low heat, covered, until vegetables are tender and lightly colored, about 25 minutes.
2. Add parsley, stock and potatoes, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until potatoes are very tender, about 30 minutes.
3. Add dill, remove soup from the heat, and let it stand, covered, for about 5 minutes.
4. Pour soup through a strainer and transfer the solids to the bowl of a food processor fitted with a medium blade. Add 1 cup of the cooking liquid and process until smooth.
5. Return pureed soup to the pot and add additional cooking liquid, about 3 to 4 cups, until the soup reaches the desired consistency.
6. Set over low heat, add salt and pepper to taste and gradually stir in the grated cheese. When all the cheese is incorporated and the soup is hot (not boiling), serve immediately.
Makes about 6 portions

Recipe rave:
Bravo Lauren! After receiving a very gracefully presented spoonful of Lauren's potato cheese soup, I offer her applause. It is surprisingly light, neither the potato nor the cheese overwhelm the other, the seasoning is light and tasteful. I give this recipe four Bronzed Blueberries, which on the Vegging Out scale of yummy means it is somewhere between my stir fry,which I would give a three, and Ann Dallas brownies, which would garner the rare and highly sought score of five. (To learn more about this rating scale, stay tuned. Most food is good, rutabaga, however, would get no Bronzed Blueberries. Anything George Mihalikos makes gets a five.)

Anyone who reads this blog knows that Lauren and I love to share the fun and foibles of eating a lot of vegetables…but we also like to digress into issues a little outside the tofu talk. That said, this particular blog is kudos to a person I think has made a positive step in terms of changing behavior. To you, Phyllis Swebilius, goes what Vegging Out will call its Golden Carrot Award. This coveted award goes to those who use a carrot rather than a stick to encourage thought about how actions – big and small - make a difference. When not stalking those who run vehicle engines for hours at a time, picking up trash on the beaches in Milford (or the parks and playgrounds for that matter) and teaching her young nephew about the joys of nature, Phyllis is thinking up other ways to save the planet, one reusable grocery bag at a time. Yes, Phyllis did purchase a bunch of colorful reusable bags, then passed them out in the newsroom to those who had matching ensembles…just kidding about that part, the matching was a coincidence…the bags really went to people whom she knew would use them. Phyllis also purchased (or dredged up from the back of her kitchen cabinets) a bunch of delightfully mismatched cutlery and dishes that she toted into the newsroom for any or all to use. The idea? Use and then wash the dishes, cut down on the waste of paper and plastic plates and other goods. Lauren, yes, Vegging Out’s own Lauren, reportedly brought in dish soap and a scrubby sponge to assist in this aforementioned washing. Well done, Lauren. To top all this off, Phyllis - yes that is her at right and she is not kidding about those trash bags - has placed a container near her own desk, into which she has invited anyone and everyone to place recyclable items. She will make sure they are recycled. Rick Sandella already has such a recycling receptacle, but Phyllis claims she has more friends than he does, so hers will fill faster. Stay tuned.

Breaking news update: Well, not really, as I found out about this a couple of days ago. But the news is that a detente has been reached in which Phyllis brings the recyclables she collects to Rick Sandella, and he takes care of getting them to the recycling genies. What magic is this? Cooperation (yes, we know that means Rick does the heavy work) makes the newsroom a place where many take little steps to make a difference, one Vitamin Water at a time. Everyone should give it a try.

Trust me, I have not read this book and I think being a vegan would be too tough for me - though my brother Colin does it - but this story is a good read on a good topic. And I do agree with the authors of the book, that soda is the (nutritional) incarnation of Beelzebub.

Read here