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Lessons from a rare fruit (Gayle King could use this)

May 22, 2013

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Over 8 years of weekly trips to the farmer’s markets, our little one has developed a radar for the few cherished weeks out of every year, happening now, when Persian mulberries come into season.

So prized are these long, delicate, garnet-beaded fruits, it is rumored that they are often bought up seaside by savvy members of the Persian community as they come into harbor from import.

For good reason.

Not only is the mulberry’s flavor other-worldly, they are complex organisms. We have 46 chromosomes, the mulberry has 308—making it a highly adaptogenic plant—it can survive in harsh climates and is thought to help us do the same, physically and emotionally. Get that in your belly! (Read more about the benefits here). You probably have mulberries in your neck of the woods. FIND THEM.

Rare access to this mysterious heaven-sent fruit has provided our family a yearly ritual of extra special farmer’s market food-worship. Together, we’re aware and appreciative of the seasons and our farmers. We share the excitement and beauty of the find with friends. Akira can articulate the flavors we taste (I’ve met kids who don’t know their last names, let alone how to analyze flavor!). We feel lucky all together for the bounty we experience and relish this almost entirely unexamined food! Is that not worth $8? It’s cheap when you think about the exchange!

Veganism is often called “restrictive,” “limiting,”—even “traumatizing”! But what we experience is utterly the opposite—and only with a fraction of the fruits and vegetables that exist in the world!

Last week, vegan firefighter Rip Esselstyn appeared on CBS Morning News to talk about his new book My Beef With Meat. The first thing Gayle King says is, “All I can say to you, Rip, is you’re taking away my happy.”

Clearly, she’s never had mulberries. ;)

What fruit or vegetable brings your family joy, and why? Leave a comment below and MEMORIZE it for the next time a Gayle-King-a-like comes at you.

Best!

Ruby

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Posted in Foodology, Health, On the go | Leave a Comment »

Radical Thoughts on Mother’s Day

May 9, 2013
Rescued cow at Animal Acres/Farm Sanctuary, CA

Rescued cow at Animal Acres/Farm Sanctuary, CA

Happy, happy Mother’s Day to all of you mamas (whether to kids or kittens) for you enduring love, which reproduces the day, every day, for those who depend on you.

Now, I know…flowers are dandy, but you’d prefer a revolution. I’m with you. In that spirit, here are some radical thoughts…

A mother cow carries her baby for 285 days—that’s even longer than the long human gestation period of 260 days. On Sunday, when we celebrate the mother archetype—the nurturer, the maker, the mender, the powerful and loving source of life—let’s hold a thought for the 9+ million dairy cows in the U.S., whose sole existence—creation, birth, and death—is premeditated for the purpose of extracting fluid from their postpartum bodies.

Imagine the life force it takes for a cow to produce an 80-pound baby in nearly the same amount of time it takes us to produce a 7.5-pound child. Imagine being repeatedly impregnated for the entirety of your adolescent and adult life; consider the chemical load that makes you produce twice the amount of milk a cow did 40 years ago. Your babies disappear, your milk is extracted by man or machine and then, whether you’ve lived on a grassy field or in a dark shed, you’ll be slaughtered once you’re spent.

These mothers endure an existence not unlike the one from which Ohio kidnap victims Amanda Berry, Gina De Jesus, and Michelle Knight just escaped.

Chains, ropes, life indoors, deprivation, isolation, rape, multiple pregnancies, fear, and beatdowns—as the facts emerge on the news, the nauseating descriptions are familiar—in a different context, they are the reasons we’re vegan.

If you’ve not yet gone vegan, Mother’s Day 2014 might be a great one-year anniversary to celebrate the day you did.

Take a deep breath! Forgive yourself any regrets and focus on the present and future. Mamas, have a dinner prepared by someone else. See the mess in your house as a happy sign that your loved ones are alive and within reach. Celebrate that your passion and love raises each new generation to do better than the last. Now please take action and share. Copy and paste any of the following to Twitter (or @ That’s Why We Don’t Eat Animals on FB):

#MothersDay: Thinking of 9 million US cows whose sole existence is premeditated 2 extract fluid frm their postpartum bodies. Via @ruby_roth

A mama cow carries her baby for 285 days—longer than the long human gestation period of 260 days! #GoVegan #MothersDay via @ruby_roth

If you’ve not yet given up dairy, #MothersDay 2014 might b a great 1 year anniversary to celebrate the day you did. #GoVegan via @ruby_roth

Chain rope life indoors deprivation isolation rape multple pregnancies beatdowns: kidnap victims or the burger you just ate? via@ruby_roth

Love and protection to you and all mamas everywhere,

Ruby

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Posted in Animals | Leave a Comment »

Every Day Is Earth Day When You’re Vegan

April 22, 2013

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Last night, on my way back to Los Angeles from a successful event at VegMichigan’s VegFest, our plane flew over the tracked flatlands of Nebraska, the massive, snow-capped Rocky Mountains, and the shifting landscape of the Grand Canyon. Quite a show.

From my window seat, I felt a heart-pang of pride in America—not only for the stunning beauty of her drastically differing terrains, but for the people who actually—ACTUALLY!—care to be her proper stewards. Fresh from having met crowds of vegan moms, dads, kids, aunts, uncles, teachers, and librarians, democrats and republicans, people of all races and ethnicities, the feeling was truly heartfelt. Sometimes I feel like no one cares at all—in other moments, I am stunned by just how much people care.

As the sun set, I snapped the picture above through my window—a tiny moon rising above the fray of so much good and evil. If we can all rise above the ruckus to be our highest selves (everything is much clearer from that angle), if we can picture our home from highest point in the sky, maybe we can bring a little more of that heaven down to earth. Happy Earth Day…every day.

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Posted in Environment, Health | Leave a Comment »

How to Make Healthier Choices with Zero Effort

April 17, 2013

When I meet someone new, it’s inevitable that just past introductions, we end up talking about healthy living. It’s not just L.A., I swear. I see guys I never imagined would give two shits about inner health suddenly buying juicers!  Everyone is seeking a higher quality of life through the simple intangibles—health and personal development, namely.

I think with our economy in the gutter, we’ve shifted our priorities and we’re seeking control where we can find it—in our personal lives. Like I imply in my children’s books, we’ve arrived at a time that holds profound potential since the only way to change the public realm is through individual agency anway! We’re over chanting “hope” and “change” to our politicians. We’ll just do it ourselves. If a broken economy is what it took to get our priorities straight, then it needed to break.

So with interests and markets shifting, I am really excited to be the May 2013 curator for a resource that allows anyone to make healthier choices with ZERO effort…meet Conscious Box!

This affordable service delivers a boxful of products to your doorstep every month. The first time I got mine, I received raw vegan chocolate bars I’d never heard of, chemical-free laundry detergent, a biodegradable non-toxic toothbrush, and other items that have become pantry staples. Sign up now (you pick the frequency) and you’ll get some of my personal favorite products in the May vegan box. Or if you’re like me and you’re constantly recommending healthy products to your family and friends? Just have a box sent to their doorstep.

Know someone who would love Conscious Box? Send them this link: http://cbox.co/rubybox

Happy receiving!

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Posted in Health, Resources | Leave a Comment »

See you in Michigan April 21!

April 16, 2013

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This is my favorite lecture yet! I promise you haven’t heard one like this. I can’t wait to meet all the vegheads in Michigan and find out what work you all have been up to…so be there! Let’s make this the largest VegFest Michigan event ever! Early tix available at a discount.

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Posted in Animals, Health, Politics | 1 Comment »

Allermates Health Alert Wristband Giveaway

April 8, 2013

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Is your kidlet the only vegan in his or her class? Could the teacher use a reminder? These “V-Man” wristbands by Allermates, (originally designed for kids with allergies) can help day guardians remember that your little one doesn’t eat meat or dairy! Drop me a line and tell me why you NEED this! Winner will be contacted via email 4/13/13.

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White People Wednesday: A Vegan Expat Shares Her Feelings

March 6, 2013
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Do you own Vegan Cooking for Dummies? No refunds!

The confession letter I would have preferred from vegan expat author Alexandra Jamieson:

•I’m no longer vegan.
•I believe in the good of veganism but I’ve decided to oblige my cravings for meat.
•The values I have preached can not be reconciled with the violence required to take the life of an animal on my behalf.
•I accept the contradiction.
•I will be donating the royalties from Vegan…for Dummies to Farm Sanctuary in perpetuity.

Instead, her letter hit me with—this is the only description I have—a tsunami of whiteness. A boatload of faux-spiritual, pop psychobabble about her “truth” and happiness, along with an “it’s-not-me, it’s-my-body” argument to displace any agency in the matter. It’s Manifest Destiny, it’s eugenics, it’s fundamentalist religion—everyone’s got God on their side. Except those being preyed upon.

I accept that some people depart. I don’t accept the justification. Even if you want to, you can’t die on a  diet of nutrient-dense natural foods. It can’t be the protein or the texture of meat that Jamieson missed—because by all measures those can be replicated to a level of placebo—I suspect it was the idea, the culture, and the “forbidden” that was nagging at her. If, in the wake of her cravings, she had written a public letter in which she confessed her cravings for meat, asked for ideas, or promoted ways to deal, she would have been overwhelmed by the support and compassion she implies her now-critics lack. That level of candidness would have been a better qualifier of the “honesty” Jamieson is being lauded for now. But she didn’t decide to keep it real during her cravings for a reason—she really didn’t want any advice or encouragement to stay vegan. She wanted to do what she wanted without interference. Same story from dominant classes throughout history—and no amount of soft-spoken, aha-moment, self-congratulatory rhetoric hides it.

When Jamieson advertises “Lose the Cravings” on her site, I guess she means give in to them (I’m sure she would still draw the arbitrary line at Twinkies, however). Great coaching for addicts.

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Posted in Health, People, Politics | 8 Comments »

Eat Meat = Get Played

February 12, 2013

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Sometimes our vegan passion gets mistaken for aggression. It’s only because we’re urgently trying to share what we know with you! If we didn’t care, we’d do what meat companies do—we’d keep you in the dark. When news like the #horsemeat found in Tesco’s Spaghetti Bolognese hits, guess who isn’t surprised? Vegans. What have we been trying to tell ya?! Your meat isn’t what you think it is. Eat animals? Get played. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

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Posted in Animals, Foodology, Health, Politics | 1 Comment »

Stand Up For Yourself (Or, Creating Happiness at Work)

February 5, 2013

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As an artist, graphic designer, writer, and someone who slips into “the zone” and stays there all-day-what-happened-it’s-4pm-I’m-still-in-pajamas, I can easily be on my butt for eight hours at a time. I love what I do, but our human bodies are designed for far more than small finger-extensions. We are built for survival in the wilderness—for reaching, bending, picking, twisting, climbing, squatting, ducking, walking, and running (although, I know, who even wants to survive this Earth without Instagram?).

Some days I just don’t make it to dance class or yoga…and I end up feeling like a squished marshmallow walking on two toothpicks. With a sunburn from the computer screen.

But who doesn’t sit too much these days? Every freakin’ part of life runs through the computer, it’s crazy. I can’t take it anymore. So, inspired by friends who came before me, as well as a chiropractor’s advice, I did something to change.

I raised my desk. I am writing to you while standing, looking ever-so-slightly up at my monitor, my keyboard comfortably on a riser at my fingertips. Suddenly, I have a spine. My legs are moving, my core is engaged, my neck is long(er). You can do this too, don’t argue! It is an option, whether you work in an office or at home. Start a revolution where you work. Let me tell you, this is a life-changer. Now I take breaks to sit or even squat (easier in pajamas) instead of breaks to stand. At the end of the day, I feel all around solid—more carrot-like than marshmallow.

So go. Stand up and browse the heck out of Pinterest for “standing desk” ideas. Google automatic desk options, search for risers at office supply or home-organization stores (in the cabinet and closet areas), or build your own raised contraptions using boxes, cinderblocks, or inexpensive wood planks from a hardware store. I don’t need to list the benefits, you can imagine them—from your heart, spine, and neck, to your core strength, neurological systems, and fat-enzyme efficiency, your whole body will benefit from getting up offa’ that thing. Stand and deliver!

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Posted in Health | 2 Comments »

Waste Not! Green Gift Guide

December 11, 2012

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I am a wastophobe, which means December used to induce a Grinch-like symptom by which presents appeared to me as nothing but measured degrees of landfill potential. With this special neurosis, the delight of unwrapping a colorful, cozy scarf could easily be overwhelmed by the seconds-later guilt wrought by the pile of tissue paper, box, lid, wrapping paper, and god-forbid—ribbon—that it came in. Cantankerous, I know, but maybe you can relate. It’s an unfortunate consequence of eco-consciousness, especially because in our proselytizing, we wish, of course, only to convey that at all times being green is pure bliss.*

But! It’s fun to give. So I’ve changed. Now I simple seek gifts that may save lives, that keep on giving, or that can be used up, eaten up, recycled, or require no shipping or wrapping at all. And if one does, you can bet it’s coming from me in a brown grocery bag-turned-wrapping-paper diddy, tied with threads of rattan, topped with a bougainvillea flower from my yard. Besides being bio-degradable, it is actually very pretty. Even I would like it.

So here are some green, animal/planet/health-conscious gift ideas that won’t end up in landfills, but rather do some good. Enjoy giving. Happy holidays!

1. “Adopt” an animal, $10 and up
Sponsor a rescued farm animal or even an elephant (lunches and medical kits available, too) from a reputable organization in a friend or family member’s name. This is so great for kids! The recipient receives an email, picture, or other sweet note, and you make two animals happy—the adoptee and your loved one.

2. Yoga Passport Card, $30
 I can’t think of anyone who couldn’t benefit from a good yoga class. This gift certificate allows the recipient to try yoga classes at multiple participating studios in their neck of the woods. Or for the more ambivalent friend who might only attend one class and never go back, just Google “yoga + zip code” to find a local studio near them and a single-class gift certificate.

3. Longevity Warehouse Gift Card, $25
Encourage superfood ingestion! Get a gift card or pick out products at the Longevity Warehouse—raw cacao, medicinal mushrooms, and tons of other superfoods and super herbs from the highest-quality source you can trust. Check out the immensely-popular Immortal Machine drink mix—a blend of non-GMO vegan superfoods and herbs that tastes like a chocolately Yoo-hoo! Riiiidiiiiculously good…kids love it!

4. Natural Cures ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About, $1 and up
Kevin Trudeau’s best-selling book is a great buy for your friends who are doubtful about alternative health and healing. Geared toward the mainstream, this mind-boggling book is filled with simple lists and enumerated explanations that make it an easy read.

5. Food Matters Online Screening, $4.95
A must-see documentary you can watch online—accessible and captivating. Food Matters uncovers the “sickness industry,”  providing viewers scientifically verifiable solutions for overcoming illness naturally. Features interviews with key world leaders in nutrition and natural healing who discuss how the right kind of foods, supplements, and detoxification can be used to heal chronic illnesses.

6.  Forks Over Knives DVD, $19.99
Forks over Knives examines how degenerative diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods. The film focuses on the the personal journeys and work of Dr. T. Colin Campbell (The China Study) and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn.

7. Earthlings DVD or pack, $17.50 and up
This documentary is a must-have in any vegan’s lending library. Buy a single DVD or a pack as a gift to other activists to have on hand for the veg-curious people they come across time and time again. Viewer discretion advised.

8. The 30-Day Vegan Challenge with Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
A multimedia online program featuring premium written, audio, and video content to give recipients the support they need on their journey towards optimal wellness and compassion. Click “The Perfect Gift” button to purchase the program as a gift subscription for special recipients.

9. DIY Recipes
Look up recipes for homemade vegan or raw granolas, jams, pies, cookies, brownies, kombuchas, etc. If you have an herb garden, dry some out, blend, and pack as gifts for spice racks or teas. You can buy fillable tea bags or simple glass jars from your local kitchen supply store (if you’re at a loss, there’s always Cost Plus, the Container Store, Sur La Table, Crate and Barrel, etc). Wrap the jars with rattan ribbon or string and tuck in some flowers.

10. Essential oils and non-toxic body care
Introduce your friends to the wonderful world of non-toxic and cruelty-free body care products—share your favorite body oils, cremes, botanical perfumes, moisturizers, etc. A tiny glass bottle of treasured oil provides a loved one some aromatherapy for everyday well-being or for stress, migraines, and pick-me-up dabs of energy when needed. Encourage the recipient to keep a vile in a purse, on a desk, or bedside for spontaneous use. Heavenly! Check out some of the best:
•Persephenie: Hand-made botanical oils, body care, and perfumes. Sample bags are very affordable. Rose Paka creme is to die for.
•Living Libations: Everything is amazing. Best Skin Ever Seabuckthorn is my favorite for dewy moisturizing and/or makeup removal.

11. Mushrooms in a Box Kit, $19.95
Founded by two college kids who bucked corporate America in favor of mycology, Back to the Roots is a growing company that recycles coffee grinds as a base for DIY mushroom-growing kits. These guys will send you a self-contained box that will grow up to 1.5 lbs of gourmet oyster mushrooms! All you have to do is mist! SO great for kids—it’s hard to resist tasting something you’ve grown yourself!

12. Organic heirloom superfood seeds, $5 and up
With their mission to “replant paradise on Earth,” how can you not love Blackbird Naturals? Gift someone an incredible variety of superfood and immunity food seeds to plant in their gardens—they’ll reap the rewards all year long.

13. DIY Kombucha kit, $50
There’s no wrong in enabling a Kombucha addict. This everything-you-need kombucha tea kit will pay for itself in no time—especially if you live so close to your friend that you can make them share their batches.

14. Good news, $20 (buy 1 subscription, get 1 free!)
Tired of bad news? Subscribe to YES! Magazine and get international good news you won’t hear in the media. Non-profit, independent, and subscriber-supported, YES! Mag delivers powerful ideas and practical actions to your door (on 100% post-consumer waste, chlorine-free paper, no less)! Imagine that? The world is looking better already.

15. A Scent of Scandal candles, $15
Get your friends to think of the bees by gifting them an alternative to beeswax candles. These beautifully scented candles are made of soy wax, how cool?

*To preempt the “See?-Even-you-think-being-green-sucks” comments, I wish to say that at this moment I am enjoying the sight of a hilarious squirrel outside my window while sipping a cold-pressed organic green juice and having the best time ever.

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Posted in Resources | 2 Comments »

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