The Vegan

Experience

Defending the defenseless

Living Without Cruelty

Spring 2015

Why Live Vegan?

Veganism & The Environment

By Sabrina Mandziuk

By Jacob Smiley

The decision to live a vegan lifestyle varies from person-toperson, but there is one thing we can all agree on, the benefits
outweigh the hardships.
It is certainly difficult changing your diet, and when people are
constantly asking questions or trying to tear you down for the
decision youve made, its very easy to give up. Living a Vegan
lifestyle isnt about doing what others want, its about doing
whats best for all life.
I live vegan because all life is equal. No animal deserves to be
raised only to be slaughtered. No animal deserves to be kept in
a tiny cage and tested on. The planet is slowly falling apart at
our hands.
I live vegan to support
nonviolence and compassion.
I live for the people, for the
animals, and for the planet.

My body will not be a tomb

for other creatures.

~ Leonardo Da Vinci

Carbon Dioxide
If one person exchanges their car for a hybrid,
theyll reduce CO2 emissions by one ton per
year. If one person trades eating meat for a
vegan diet, they reduce CO2 emissions by 1.5
tons per year.

Methane
Chickens, turkeys, pigs, and cows are collectively
the largest producer of methane in the US.
Methane is 20 times more powerful at trapping
heat in the Earths atmosphere than CO2.

Nitrus Oxide
The meat, egg, and dairy industries produce 65%
of N2O emissions. N2O is 300 times more
powerful at trapping heat inside the Earths
atmosphere than CO2.

A Thirsty Industry
Nearly half of US water usage goes to raising
animals for food. 2,400 gallons of water are
needed to produce a pound of meat as opposed
to 25 gallons for a pound of wheat. Animals
raised for food produce 89,000 lbs of waste per
second which creates massive amounts of
groundwater pollution. Animal waste has
polluted over 35,000 miles of rivers in 22 states.

Livestock Grazing
In this Issue:
Why Live Vegan?/1
Veganism & the Environment/1
Animal Rights/2
10 Simple Steps to Make the
Transition/2

Why is Raising Meat Inefficient?/2

Simple Replacements/3
Your Health as a Vegan/3
Chocolate Muffin Recipe/3
Cruelty Free Beauty/4
In the Lab/4

More than 260 million acres of US forests have

been cleared to create cropland for feeding farm
animals. It is also the number-one threat to the
extinction of US plant species. Raising animals
for food uses 30% of the Earths land mass. Thats
approximately the same size as Asia!

Animal Rights
By PETA

People often ask if animals should have

rights, and quite simply, the answer is
Yes!

In his book Animal Liberation, Peter Singer states that the

basic principle of equality does not require equal or
identical treatment; it requires equal consideration.
This is an important distinction when talking about animal rights. People often ask if animals should have rights, and
quite simply, the answer is Yes! Animals surely deserve to live their lives free from suffering and exploitation. Jeremy
Bentham, the founder of the reforming utilitarian school of moral philosophy, stated that when deciding on a beings
rights, The question is not Can they reason? nor Can they talk? but Can they suffer? In that passage, Bentham
points to the capacity for suffering as the vital characteristic that gives a being the right to equal consideration. The
capacity for suffering is not just another characteristic like the capacity for language or higher mathematics. All animals
have the ability to suffer in the same way and to the same degree that humans do. They feel pain, pleasure, fear,
frustration, loneliness, and motherly love. Whenever we consider doing something that would interfere with their
needs, we are morally obligated to take them into account.
See Animal Rights on Page 4

On Being a Vegetarian:
10 Simple Steps to Make the
Transition Easier
By Amy @ Juice Boxes + Crayolas

1. Be confident in your decision

before you share it with others, and
be prepared to explain it politely to
those who ask about your
motivations.
2. Let yourself gradually transition
meat out of your diet if that is
easier for you than going cold
"tofurkey."
3. Remember that you create the
rules for your own diet. There are
so many gray areas for vegetarians
4. Educate yourself about nutrition.
5. Find meatless ways to recreate
favorite recipes to avoid cravings.
6. Look at menus online before dining
out, especially with friends.
7. Offer to bring a vegetarian dish to
parties.
8. Be clear about what you do and do
not eat when hosts inquire.
9. Carry a high-protein snack with you.
10. Give yourself permission to change
your personal rules at any time.

Why is raising animals for food so inefficient?

By Jacob Smiley

Animals eat vast quantities of grain, oats, soybeans, and corn, but
yield a comparatively small amount of meat, dairy products, and
eggs in return. 70% of the grains and cereals grown in the US are
fed to farm animals. It requires 16 lbs of grain to produce a single
lb of meat.
The Power of Choice
The way that we breed animals for food threatens the planet,
polluting our environment while consuming huge amounts of
water, grain, fuel, pesticides, and drugs.
This practice is not sustainable without serious consequences to
our limited natural resources and the well-being of not only the
animals bred for food, but all humans as well.

The Vegan Experience

Simple Replacements
By Sabrina Mandziuk

Eggs:

Your Health as a Vegan

1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water

1 tbsp chia seed + 1/3 cup water
1 tbsp soy protein power + 3 tbsp water
1 tbsp agar agar + 1 tbsp water
1/2 mashed banana
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 tbsp peanut butter

Protein:
Lentils 1 cup = 18 g
Black Beans 1 cup = 15 g
Tofu 4 ounces = 11 g
Dairy:
Coconut, soy, almond, or cashew milk,
butter, and whipping cream!

By Gourmandia

Green is Good
High consumption of animal protein is linked to prostate, breast,
and colorectal cancers.
Every day, nearly 2,400 Americans die of some type of
cardiovascular diseasethis amounts to an average of one
death every 36 seconds. In many of these cases, the disease is
largely caused by eating a diet that is full of animal-derived
products. The average cholesterol level of an American meateater is 210, a vegetarian is 161 and a vegan is 133. The average
cost of an artery bypass surgery is $3,714 and a coronary
bypass surgery is $57,439!
Cutting meat out of your diet significantly lowers your chance of
getting cancers and heart disease.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Almond Buttercream

Ingredients
For the Cupcakes

1 cup non-dairy milk

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
(or other oil)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pure almond extract
(optional)
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt, to taste
Instructions
For the cupcakes

For the buttercream

1/2 cup Earth Balance

buttery stick or equivalent,
room temperature
3 cups icing sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pure almond extract
(may sub. other extracts)
1.5-2 tbsp non-dairy milk,
to achieve your desired
consistency

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Beat together the following

ingredients in a large bowl (non-dairy milk, oil, sugar, apple
cider vinegar, vanilla, almond extract).
2. Sift in the dry ingredients. Mix well, until the clumps are
gone.
3. Spoon the batter into prepared cupcake pan, about two
thirds full for each. Bake for about 22 minutes at 350F, or
until the cupcake slowly springs back when pressed with a
finger. Allow to completely cool before frosting.

ohsheglows.com

For the Buttercream

1. In a mixing bowl, beat 1/2 cup of Earth
Balance (or equivalent). Add in the milk,
extract, and salt. Mix. Gradually add in the
sifted icing sugar, starting with 1 cup and
mixing slowly until fully combined. Beat until
the frosting is nice and fluffy.

The Vegan Experience

Cruelty free beauty

Look for these symbols on your food and cosmetics

By Sabrina Mandziuk

Many of the products on our supermarket shelves,

from lipsticks to floor cleaners, have either been
tested on animals or contain ingredients that have.
Products bearing the Leaping Bunny mark are
certified cruelty free under the internationallyrecognized Humane Cosmetics or Humane
Household Products Standards.
More than 50% the fur in the US comes from China,
where millions of dogs and cats are often bled to
death and skinned alive for their fur. Chinese fur is
often mislabeled, so if you wear any fur, theres no
sure way of knowing whose skin youre in.
"If you want to test cosmetics, why do it on some poor

In the Lab

prisoners who have been convicted of murder or rape

By Sabrina Mandziuk

animal who hasn't done anything? They should use

instead. So, rather than seeing if perfume irritates a

bunny rabbit's eyes, they should throw it in Charles

Manson's eyes and ask him if it hurts."

~ Ellen DeGeneres

Animal Rights
From Page 1

Only prejudice allows us to deny others the rights that

we expect to have for ourselves. Whether its based on
race, gender, sexual orientation, or species, prejudice is
morally unacceptable. If you wouldnt eat a dog, why
eat a pig? Dogs and pigs have the same capacity to feel
pain, but it is prejudice based on species that allows us
to think of one animal as a companion and the other as
dinner.

The Vegan Experience

Design & Layout:
Sabrina Mandziuk
Content:
Sabrina Mandziuk
PETA
ohsheglows.com
Gourmandia
Amy@ Juice Boxes & Crayolas
Jacob Smiley

Over 115 million animals mice, rats, dogs, cats,

rabbits, monkeys, birds, among others are killed in
laboratory experiments worldwide for chemical,
drug, food, and cosmetics testing every year.
Over 100 million animals are burned, crippled,
poisoned, and abused in US labs every year.
92% of experimental drugs that are safe and
effective in animals fail in human clinical trials
because they are too dangerous or dont work.
Labs that use mice, rats, birds, reptiles and
amphibians are exempted from the minimal
protections under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). Up
to 90% of animals used in U.S. labs are not counted
in the official statistics of animals tested.
According to the Humane Society, registration of a
single pesticide requires more than 50 experiments
and the use of as many as 12,000 animals.
When used in cosmetic tests, mice, rats, rabbits, and
guinea pigs are often subjected to skin and eye
irritation tests where chemicals are rubbed on
shaved skin or dripped into the eyes without any
pain relief.
In tests of potential carcinogens, subjects are given a
substance every day for 2 years. Others tests involve
killing pregnant animals and testing their fetuses.
The real-life applications for some of the tested
substances are as trivial as an improved laundry
detergent, new eye shadow, or copycat drugs to
replace a profitable pharmaceutical whose patent
expired.
The Vegan Experience