Here I think about how some of our choices to protect animals can lead to scarcity-based thinking, which in turn makes it tough to accomplish big things for animals. (3 Minutes.)

Is something you’re spending lots of time doing making you sad? Then you need to step through your fear and stop doing it. You will find something better, that accomplishes more and brings you joy. (5 minutes.)

Thanksgiving inflicts all sorts of emotional distresses on vegans. This video talks about how to channel your sadness and disgust in a way that will help as many animals as possible.

11 minutes. Mentioned in this video:

• Vegan Outreach’s Adopt A College Program.
• Change of Heart
• The Ultimate Vegan Guide

Six minutes. Mentioned in the video:

• Eating Animals
• Meat Market
• Vegan for Life
• Free Vegan Outreach literature
• Mercy For Animals’ Undercover Investigations page

Imagine if you decide that eliminating animal agribusiness is the most important thing in the world to you. What then?

Recommended in this video:

• Ethics Into Action, Peter Singer
• Change of Heart, Nick Cooney

Mentioned in this video:

• Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
• Ruled Index Cards, 3×5 Inches
• Reminders (App bundled with all new Macs.)

Here’s a four minute video I tossed off this morning. Maybe I should do more short videos? Anyway, if you’re so inspired, you can pick up one of the 146 last remaining copies of Meat Market from Amazon.com.

If you could share this video I would be grateful.

The biggest animal story of the month regards this week’s Compassion Over Killing investigation of an In-N-Out Burger supplier. Shocking footage displaying all manner of cruelties was shown last night on ABC News.

Unfortunately In-N-Out’s response so far has been both inadequate and inept. The company’s Chief Operating Officer wrote in this public statement:

In-N-Out Burger would never condone the inhumane treatment of animals and all of our suppliers must agree to abide by our strict standards for the humane treatment of cattle.

If In-N-Out Burger’s standards for animal welfare are indeed “strict,” then what accounts for the horrifying scenes shown on the video? It’s clear the company isn’t yet taking the matter seriously, and it has yet to enact measures to ensure comparable cruelties aren’t happening right now at its other suppliers. Here’s the response I would write, describing the actions I would initiate, if I was put in charge of leading the company’s response:

In-N-Out burger has always aspired to be the best burger chain in the United States. We don’t just lead the way on taste, we lead the way in both working conditions for our employees and living conditions for the animals we source. This past week, we discovered that we’ve failed as a company to live up to our obligations to animals.

While we had an employee in charge of checking up on Central Valley Meat, he somehow didn’t detect the apparently rampant cruelty happening at the facility. We sincerely apologize for this failure, and will do whatever it takes to ensure it will never happen again. Therefore, starting this autumn, we are going to require video cameras to be installed at every slaughterhouse that supplies us. And these video cameras will not just be for our use—they’ll be for yours as well. Beginning in December of 2012, all our cameras will go live on the web.

For people who love hamburgers and fries, we want In-N-Out burger to not just be the place for the best burgers, but also the place you can always feel good about patronizing. And we hope our response to this week’s tragic disclosure convinces you that we deserve your business more than ever.

You might read this and respond that In-N-Out Burger would never agree to go this far, but the truth is they can’t afford not to. Video streaming is the only method by which In-N-Out can offer adequate proof that their welfare standards are consistently being met. And the money required to install webcams at their suppliers is so tiny as to be trivial.

If In-N-Out Burger refuses to lead its industry by installing video cams, I bet they’ll find themselves at the center of another investigation in 2013—and what could the company possibly say then?

To subscribe by email or RSS to Erik Marcus’ occasionally-updated blog, click here. 

It occurs to me that quitting a blog may be like suicide: some people require more than one attempt. In any case, I know I can accomplish a lot more for animals if I stop spending several hours each morning thinking and writing about stuff that distresses me.

I hope you’ll stay subscribed to this feed or join my special announcements email list. I’ve got a couple big projects underway and I’ll announce them here and on my email list the moment they’re released.

We were nearing the time for my semiannual donation drive. Obviously your donations won’t be funding my future blogging, but if you want to throw some money my way, you can do that knowing that nearly all my productive hours are being spent working on behalf of farmed animals. I took in barely more than $10,000 in reader donations last year, and this cash gave me a lot of freedom to take on a variety of work that I don’t see anyone else in the movement doing. I think I may be the best deal in town for people who want their dollars to accomplish as much for farmed animals as possible.

The work I do will continue and, with the cessation of my daily blogging, accelerate. The main project I’m working on right now is the most exciting and important thing I’ve ever done. It’ll fill a gigantic hole in the farmed animal protection movement’s offerings.

To be clear, I absolutely don’t want your donations if you’ve got credit card debt or other obligations that would make giving difficult.

If there’s one thing my past six months of blogging has made unarguable, it’s that we’re nearing a tipping point in the struggle against factory farming. I hope you’ll continue to follow my work. For the immediate future, any interesting stuff I want to share will be through Twitter. Factory farming’s days are numbered, and I hope we can work together to bring about its end.

I love you guys. The attention you’ve given my work means the world to me.

California State Senator Ted Lieu wrote a letter asking the USDA to investigate the use of meat glue in the beef and restaurant industry. The American Meat Institute’s Janet Riley says her organization called Lieu’s office to ask him to stop using the term “meat glue.”

Memo to Janet Riley: the only way to stop a shady meat industry practice from getting a name you don’t like is to not allow the practice to become widespread in the first place. Because once that practice gets exposed there will invariably be a name tacked onto it that you don’t like—and all the pestering phone calls in the world will never make that name go away. Link.

Vegan Cooking for Carnivores just got another big push to a mass audience. Portia de Rossi and Roberto Martin appeared on The Today Show this morning to cook Roberto’s fried chicken recipe. Roberto’s idea of using rice paper as the “skin” for vegan chicken is incredibly creative.

Considering that the show typically has almost six million viewers, this morning’s segment was a big win for farmed animals. Segments like this just didn’t happen five years ago on national television.

Click through for the five minute video, plus recipes for Roberto’s chicken, mac ‘n cheese, and chocolate chip bars. (Thanks, Karen.) Link.

A beautifully written Los Angeles Times story from Tiffany Hsu and Ricardo Lopez. The piece fades about two-thirds through with some annoying digressions but ends strong. I love this quote from beef historian Maureen Ogle, about how the beef industry dealt with the pink slime media debacle:

They did exactly what they always do, which is really not much of anything. Frankly, they’re going to get killed from now on because of social media. It can do more damage in a day than old media used to be able to do in a month.

It’s not social media that does the damage—it’s ordinary animal advocates, like you and me, using social media as a tool to inflict damage on the industry. We’re the people who recognize stories that would otherwise be neglected, and make them blow up on Facebook and Twitter. And once that happens, we see follow-up coverage from the likes of Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Jane Velez-Mitchell, and so forth—and we promote that stuff too.

There are two reasons that social media is a problem for the meat industry. First is that we win the numbers game: there are countless more animal advocates than there are people who are passionate about defending animal agribusiness. And second, the meat industry engages in all sorts of practices that an informed public would condemn—and one by one, these practices are coming to light.

Those big heavy American V8 cars were perfect for the late 1960s, back when gas was 35 cents a gallon, but demand for that sort of car is now dead. Likewise, factory farming could thrive at a time when the only way ordinary people could find out about industry misdeeds was through the major media—which had no interest in taking the subject seriously. But now, thanks to animal advocates using social media to ignite breaking news, those days are over.

From here on in, expect monthly PR disasters for the meat industry until it fundamentally restructures into a far smaller industry that takes the environment, food safety, and animal welfare seriously. (Thanks, Paul.) Link.

Did they ever pick a stinker. The winning essay begins:

As a vegetarian who returned to meat-eating…

Then comes about 550 words of blather, culminating with this infuriating conclusion:

For me, eating meat is ethical when one does three things. First, you accept the biological reality that death begets life on this planet and that all life (including us!) is really just solar energy temporarily stored in an impermanent form. Second, you combine this realization with that cherished human trait of compassion and choose ethically raised food, vegetable, grain and/or meat. And third, you give thanks.

Sure, just go ahead and eat animals, so long as you give thanks. After all, animals are merely “solar energy temporarily stored in an impermanent form.”

Maybe in the long view it’s good that such a pathetic essay won. If a panel of experts thinks that, out of thousands of entrants, this essay represented the best defense of meat eating submitted, then the case for vegetarianism and veganism is resounding. Link.

The movement to keep foie gras legal in California just got a stake driven through its heart. The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

California’s legislative leaders said Wednesday they will not help a group of chefs who want to overturn an impending foie gras ban.

Good deal. Fuck those people. This loathsome bid wouldn’t have gotten anywhere in the first place had it not been for the Chronicle constantly slanting its coverage in favor of the foie gras industry.

Nate Ballard, the mouthpiece for the push to overturn the ban, says:

Even if the ban does go into effect, we will keep moving forward. Prohibition has never worked in this country.

I get Ballard’s 1920s Prohibition metaphor, but it’s inane and easily dismissed. Prohibition works admirably as a strong deterrent against every kind of violent crime I can think of. It’ll work splendidly against these foie gras peddling criminals as well.

As to those chefs who intend to keep up the fight; they’ll quickly discover they can’t afford the damage that being associated with foie gras does to their reputations. Only one side in this struggle has the commitment, numbers, resources to step up this fight until foie gras is gone for good, and it isn’t the chefs. Link.

The Oregonian reporter offers up his recipes for Lemon-Basil Greek Orzo Salad, Mexican Black Bean Pasta Salad, and Minestrone Pasta Salad. Here’s his accompanying article. Now that the weather’s warming up, a pasta salad is a perfect dish to add to your cooking rotation.

In the wake of last month’s mad cow discovery in California, the Consumers Union has just publicly asked the USDA to ban several risky cattle feeding practices—specifically brains, blood, and poultry litter.

Agribusiness newspaper Feedstuff’s has a distorted take on things:

FDA currently prohibits such materials from older cows, but not from younger ones. The reason is that BSE has never been found in cattle of less than 30 months of age.

No, the reason is that the beef industry has insanely powerful lobbyists who convince the government to permit this kind of insanity.

Consumers Union Senior Scientist Michael Hansen says:

Beef slaughterhouse waste is fed to chickens, and a lot of the chicken waste then ends up being fed back to cattle. This should not be allowed, as we are turning cows into cannibals, the practice that started the mad cow problem in the first place.

Over the past year or two, we’ve seen food activists gain tremendous amounts of power—witness what happened earlier this year with pink slime. Just a few years ago, there’d be no chance that the Consumers Union could prevail in their request for far-reaching reforms in cattle feeding practices. But today they’ve got a real shot. And the reform they’re asking for, if enacted, would dismantle yet another important asset of animal agribusiness: in this case, the beef industry’s ability to feed cattle low cost, revolting, dangerous food.

The public’s no longer cool with any of that, and they finally understand what’s going on. Link.

If only Michael Pollan could think things through with half the care that Adam Merberg does. Link.

The Farm Bill is a thicket of corruption and wasted money. Kari Hamerschlag has the best short breakdown of the bill that I’ve seen:

Without the efforts of Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), the chair of the committee, the bill would have been even worse, but as it is, the proposal will continue to give away tens of billions of taxpayer dollars in subsidies to the nation’s largest, most profitable and environmentally damaging farm businesses. To pay for this giveaway, the Agriculture committee’s proposal would slash programs for conservation, nutrition, rural development and beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers.

If you want a detailed analysis of how one Farm Bill after another has shaped America’s disastrous food policies, Daniel Imhoff’s Food Fight is the book to read.

Compassion Over Killing announced this morning:

For the first time in its 10-year history, the Grilled Cheese Invitational (CGI), hosted at the Pasadena Rose bowl on April 28, handed out an award for a vegan sandwich. First-time competitor vegan chef Gwendolyn Mathers, who works for and was entered by non-profit animal protection organization Compassion Over Killing (COK), took home the trophy for third place in the professional category.

Chef Gwendolyn describes her recipe:

My winning Honey Pot (dessert) entry, The Aurora Borealis, featured sourdough bread fried in vegan butter and maple syrup; filled with Daiya Mozzarella, Tofutti Cream Cheese, and brandy soaked peaches; and was topped with swirls of blueberry and strawberry reductions made from scratch. Judges had no idea it was vegan until they announced the winners!

That sounds irresistible. If you really want to get fancy, you could use Bryanna’s Vegan Butter instead of the Earth Balance called for by Gwendolyn’s recipe. Recipe here.

The New York Times with another round of the same old horse shit about plant suffering:

Is it morally permissible to submit to total instrumentalization living beings that, though they do not have a central nervous system, are capable of basic learning and communication? Should their swift response to stress leave us coldly indifferent, while animal suffering provokes intense feelings of pity and compassion?

Yeah, our feelings of pity and compassion toward animals are so intense that, in America alone, we raise 9 billion animals in factory farms, and then cut their throats.

Michael Pollan nevertheless cheerleads for this piece on Twitter—doubtless out of a bizarre belief that if he can put vegans on the hook for plant suffering, he can get himself off the hook when it comes to thinking about animal suffering:

Cool piece on how pea plants communicate with one another, possibly raising some tough issues for vegetarians.

It’s galling to see a guy who regularly sidesteps and dismisses the tough issues facing omnivores trying to assert that the rudimentary perceptual and communication capacities of plants may constitute an intractable vegan dilemma—particularly since vegans cause the death of vastly fewer plants than do omnivores once the grain cycled through poultry and livestock is taken into account.

Pollan’s a gifted and entertaining writer who consistently demonstrates he lacks the capacity to think deeply about anything. I’ll start thinking about plants the moment Michael Pollan shows any willingness to think carefully about the ethics of eating animals. Link.

Writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, Stacy Finz and Paolo Lucchesi report:

More than 100 of California’s best-known chefs have joined forces to fight the nation’s first state law banning the sale of foie gras.

Typical for the Chronicle, this story is heavily slanted in favor of foie gras producers, who get their absurd talking points quoted at length without any direct rebuttal from advocates:

“We’re trying to create a humane market, not a black market,” said Rob Black, the restaurant association’s executive director who is seeking a legislative sponsor to carry a new foie gras bill or amend the old one.

“By repealing the ban and enacting strict new standards, we will send the message to the world that California is the leader in the humane and ethical treatment of animals.”

Strict new standards my ass. Note that this article ignores the recent foie gras investigation carried out in late 2011 by the Animal Protection and Rescue League (APRL)—this despite the fact that reporter Paolo Lucchesi spoke yesterday with APRL’s Bryan Pease. Here’s that investigation’s video:

Foie gras is down in California but it’s not out. This could be the industry’s last gasp in the state, so it’s crucial for California animal advocates to make one last push to knock the industry out for good. How do you do it? Contact your state senator and assembly members, and let them know you strongly oppose any efforts to rescind the July 1st statewide ban of foie gras. Link.

Dan Noyes of San Francisco’s ABC News reports:

It’s commonly called meat glue — and it does just that — glues bits and pieces of less desirable meat together, back into one single piece. But while pink slime is simply gross to think about, glued meat that’s not handled properly could make you sick.

American Meat Institute mouthpiece Janet Riley responds:

There’s just no way that gluing chunks of chuck meat together is going to give you filet mignon.

A typically shifty response, which is really the only job requirement for employment at the American Meat Institute. Meat glue may not give you filet mignon, but it could give you something close enough to fool restaurant diners. Notice that Riley doesn’t actually deny the practice. Noyes nicely describes the transformation wrought by meat glue:

Our humble $4 a pound stew meat is now a $25 a pound prime filet…We confirmed this with an industry trade group that meat glue is common where filet mignon is served in bulk—at a restaurant, banquet, cafeteria or hotel.

It’ll be another kick in the beef industry’s ‘nads if ABC’s story goes viral. Please do your part. (Thanks, Venkat.) Link.

Even simple vegan meals can still be incredibly elegant. From the La Vida Vegga blog.

Uploaded by: keddylee

In response to the New York Times’ problematic “The Case for Eating Meat” essay contest, the Our Henhouse gals started an essay contest of their own about why it’s unethical to eat meat. They announced the winning entry this morning, written by Alan W. Peck. Peck’s piece doesn’t really make any original points, but perhaps there’s not much new on the subject that can be said. At any rate his piece is short and engaging, and something that could easily inspire an omnivore to reconsider whether it’s ethically acceptable to eat animal products. Link.

An incredible activist and the nicest guy you’ll ever meet.

If you want to help fund Jon’s efforts, sign up for Team Vegan. It’s a fun way to meet other animal advocates, get fit, and raise money that will save countless animals. Link.