Alicia Silverstone's Blog, page 174

ina may gaskins new book!

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Ina May is America's leading midwife and she's featured in Ricki Lake's documentary The Business of Being Born.  
 
Her new book is called Birth Matters: A Midwife's Manifesta and it features a foreword by Ani DiFranco a collection of birth stories from Ina May's midwifery center The Farm and a brief history of midwives and second-wave feminism. The book also addresses the technology commonly used in the hospital today and how it affects the outcomes of births.
 
Ina May Gaskin is such an important figure in the effort to bring a more kind birthing process back into the mainstream so check out her book if you'd like to learn more about having a blissful powerful birthing experience.

billionaire embraces plant-strong diet

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Photo by Jeff Riedel for The New York Times

The New York Times recently ran a story about the billionaire David Murdock who has radically shifted his diet to favor fresh fruits and veggies in an effort to prolong his life. Murdock also avoids all red meat poultry dairy alcohol sugar and salt he still eats egg whites and seafood.
 
But wow he is doing a great job of spotlighting the powers of a plant-strong diet! Murdock grows most of his own food and funds research studies about the health benefits of his diet. He also has a number of businesses that he uses to spread the word about healthy eating. His doctors say all of his blood work is perfect and that he's in great health.

Read the full article here

This is so exciting! I think this is wonderful and an indication of huge changes. Maybe one day he will figure out that egg whites aren't helping him too and that he doesn't need seafood.

How do you feel about this story and Murdock's changes in diet?

kind baby pictures!

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PETA recently put together the cutest picture collection of little ones who are being raised vegan and I just had to share!
 
These photos will make all you kind mommies smile and hopefully they'll help to reassure your non-veg friends that you're making the right choice in raising kind kids. You can see the whole album here!

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Do you have any adorable baby pictures? I want to see! Post links to your photos in the comments below or add the pictures to your profile and "like" them.

guest blog on kindness by ari solomon

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Ari Solomon is a wonderful person and vegan! He's the founder and owner of A Scent of Scandal a great vegan candle company. I'm honored to have him guest blog for The Kind Life!
 
Enjoy his thoughtful piece about kindness:

Our Innate Kindness
By Ari Solomon

When Alicia asked me to blog for The Kind Life I was thrilled because there's been something I've been meaning to explore for some time now and I think this is just the place. It goes something like this:
 
Are human beings innately kind? Is kindness our default or if we don't consciously practice kindness as we would any other skill do we revert back to being some sort of monstrous Conan the Barbarian?
 
I realize that to fully investigate a question like this it would probably take a dissertation versus a blog but there's a specific common human response that gives us strong clues.
 
A few weeks ago I was watching a talk show that shed light on how animal-based foods are produced. But before footage from inside the slaughterhouse was shown the host of the show warned the audience that the images were going to be graphic and upsetting. In fact she cautioned that if viewers had children present it might be best to escort them out of the room. Of course such warnings are not unique to this talk show; you always hear them before footage like this is aired.
 
But this got me thinking. If we're supposed to be eating things like meat dairy and eggs why do we find slaughterhouse footage so disturbing? Certainly no one would ask us to emotionally prepare ourselves before showing a video of people harvesting broccoli or picking apples. If eating animals and their "by-products" is so natural what's with our revulsion to blood and gore?

Here's something else to ponder: About a year ago during a routine trip to the vet's office I was sitting in the waiting room while Animal Planet played on the TV. It was one of the shows documenting big cats in Africa. When a lion hunted and brought down a gazelle I noticed the faces of the other people in the room around me. People were groaning and averting their eyes. One woman actually spoke out loud "Ugh isn't it awful?"
 
Now I'm not an anthropologist but I'd venture to say that these instinctual responses tell us all we need to know about how we should treat animals and consequently what we should be eating. If we can't bear to watch animals being slaughtered or hunted and if we have to lie to our children about where our food comes from perhaps we should meditate on that instead of doing what most people do: numb themselves to the truth.

Sure a butcher might tell you that he/she has no problem slicing and dicing animals and a hunter may wax poetic about the thrill of killing. But I'm pretty certain this is what comes only after some process of desensitization takes place. When you ask kids what they want to do when they grow up very few respond "Kill animals."
 
Harvey Diamond famously said "You put a baby in a crib with an apple and a rabbit. If it eats the rabbit and plays with the apple I'll buy you a new car." Indeed I think that when it comes to animals kindness is undeniably our default.
 
Thank you Ari! What do you all think? Why have so many people decided to numb their innate kindness?

are bras with an underwire bad for you?

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Haven't we all heard that underwires in bras are bad for you and could potentially cause cancer?
 
For years I tried to avoid underwires most of the time. But sometimes a girl needs her underwire! So I decided to do some digging and here is what I found:

I found this article from Scientific American that explains how this rumor got started. Back in 1995 a medical anthropologist team published a book that stated "women who wore tight-fitting bras all day every day had a much higher risk of developing breast cancer than those who went au naturel." The argument basically said that by limiting lymphatic drainage bras trapped toxins in the breast tissue which caused cancer. However since then many studies have been performed to see if there is any truth in this and there has never been sufficient evidence to back up the authors' claim. Additionally toxins typically travel up and out the armpits rather than staying in that general region.  

Many reputable sources agree that this myth was developed due to lack of knowledge of what causes the disease. We also know that diet is the most important factor in keeping cancer away.
 
Of course wearing all natural organic cotton bras is better for you anyway. So here are some friendly ones – cause let's face it wire bras are not very comfy…but so necessary sometimes!

Eco Body Wear

Rawganique

And for more information about breast cancer you can check out Dr. T. Colin Campbell's book The China Study or Mina Dobic's book My Beautiful Life . PCRM has a cancer survivor section on their website and I also recommended getting to a Kushi Institute if you have one near you!

what did you think of meat is for pussies?

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As you know the Kind Book Club book for March was John Joseph's Meat Is For Pussies a vegan manifesto for men! I'm going to post your comments about it soon so be sure to add your thoughts to this forum thread or in the comments below!
 
Who did you share the book with? What questions did it raise while you were reading it? Do you think it is a good book to give people who are not on a plant-based diet? Do you think it would be effective in opening up a man's consciousness to this way of life? I can't wait to hear what you all thought!

emily webbers tofu sour cream dip

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My mother-in-law Candy Cope told me about a wonderful woman in Sacramento that teaches cooking and shopping for the vegan lifestyle and I just wanted to share her info with you. Her name is Emily Webber and Candy loved her cooking classes that she and a friend shared together.

I found Emily's recipe for a tofu sour cream dip and it looks great. Here is what she says about it:
 
"This dip reminds me a little bit of a thick creamy Ranch-style dip served at a party with potato chips or vegetables. In this version however the herbs are fresh and bursting with flavor and rather than sour cream the base is silken tofu. This dip is even better the next day after the flavors have had a chance to mingle."
 
Fresh Herbed Tofu Sour Cream Dip
 
Serves 4-6
 
Special equipment: you will need a mesh strainer and cheesecloth for this recipe.
 
Ingredients

1 pound organic fresh silken tofu
1/2 teaspoon ground celery seed
1 teaspoon fine sea salt adjust to taste
About 10-20 turns freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/4 cup minced fresh chives
2 tablespoons each minced fresh basil parsley and dill
2 teaspoons minced fresh tarragon
2 teaspoons minced shallot

Steps

Line a mesh strainer with a quadruple layer of cheesecloth allowing a couple of inches to hang over the edges.
Place the strainer inside a bowl cut open the package of tofu and dump it in.
Allow the tofu to drain for 15 minutes to 2 hours place in the refrigerator if it will sit out for longer than 20 minutes The longer it sits the thicker your dip will be
Squeeze out any remaining water and dump into the food processor.
Puree until smooth.
Add the celery seed salt pepper lemon juice nutritional yeast and puree.
Add the herbs and shallots and pulse just until combined.
Do not over-mix or the dip will be green.
Bit of herbs should still be visible.

Variation:   Drain the tofu overnight to make it really thick.  In this way the dip turns into a sandwich or bagel spread.  Try it for simple cucumber sandwiches.  It would be super-yummy for an afternoon tea or wedding/baby shower.  I love it in the morning spread on half a whole wheat bagel with a bowl of berries.
 
Serve with your favorite veggies!
 
If you live near the Sacramento area and would like to take one of Emily's classes here is an example of a class syllabus:

Day 1: Thursday

Southwestern Scramble; Burrito Style
Dinosaur Smoothie
Portabella Mushroom Stroganoff; Steamed Broccoli

Topics of Discussion: Healthy Menu Planning; Why not dairy Why not meat; Diabetes and fat in the diet
 
Day 2: Friday

Tempeh Reuben
Mixed Greens with Simple Vinaigrette
Simple Tofu with Tamari and Basil
Delicata Squash Stuffed with Holiday Rice
Winter Greens with Lemon Thyme and Garlic

Topics of Discussion: Grocery shopping; Going out to eat
 
Day 3: Saturday

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad Served over Baby Spinach
Seitan & Red Bean Pot Pie pot pie for company; no crust-serve over brown rice for everyday dinner
Baked Sweet Potatoes with Pecans Cinnamon & Maple Syrup
Kale & Caramelized Onion Gratin
Vanilla Bean Crème Brulee with Raspberries if you want to we can experiment and make ½ the batch chocolate!

In addition to her classes Emily accepts private clients and can be reached at webber1973sbcglobal.net. Have you taken any great cooking classes recently?

taylor kicks ibs to the curb!

 

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Kind Lifer Taylor recently shared how adopting a kind diet cured her lifelong IBS. Check it out:
 
"I have had IBS since I was five years old. I had numerous tests done as a little girl and endured a lot of pain in my twenty-three years of existence. I have been vegan for five weeks now and I have not had one stomach ache in over four weeks. Not to mention I was always 'the sick kid' and I haven't been sick in five weeks."
 
"I live in Buffalo NY so unfortunately there are not a lot of vegan-friendly places to eat or shop other than Wegmans so it has definitely been an adjustment. However I am a girl that likes a challenge and I have found this to be one of the best challenges of my life. I get so excited when I cook a meal that is oh-so-delicious. So far my favorite meal is Stuffed Quinoa Peppers. I am so grateful that I went vegan! Whoooo!"

Yay Taylor! If any of you have a success story you'd like to share send me a private message or post your story to your profile and "like" it. I may feature your story on The Kind Life homepage!

check out gourmet lives piece about me and the kind diet!

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I recently did an interview with Gourmet Live and it just went up a couple days ago on their website! We talked all about my book which is now available in paperback! Yahoo! some of my favorite recipes where I learned to cook and tons more. I also revealed what I truly believe is the 1 most underrated cooking ingredient.

It was a really fun interview to do and I hope you get the chance to see it! You can check out some of it here.

To get the full article you can download the free Gourmet Live app.

Let me know what you think!

martha stewarts vegan show is tomorrow!

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Tomorrow morning Martha Stewart is devoting an entire episode of "The Martha Stewart Show" to the pleasures and benefits of a vegan lifestyle! You can catch the show on the Hallmark Channel tomorrow at 10am ET / 9am C or again at 2pm ET / 1pm C and the following day at 1pm ET / 12pm C.
 
Martha will be interviewing Farm Sanctuary's Gene Baur and cooking with Veganist author Kathy Freston and Twitter co-founder Biz Stone. They'll show how easy and delicious plant-based food is to make and eat and Baur will talk about what "cruelty-free" really means.
 
First Oprah now Martha! This is beyond exciting! Do you plan to tune in? Set your DVRs - I can't wait to hear what you think!