Philip Wollen – Australian philanthropist

Philip Wollen OAM (born 1950) is an Australian philanthropist who went to school at the Bishop Cotton Boys’ School, Bangalore. He is a former vice-president of Citibank and was also a general manager at Citicorp. Wollen became a vegetarian following his departure from Citibank and is a prominent member of the Animal Rights movement. He conducts intervention programs to rescue abused animals and funds outreach programs that promote animal welfare and abstinence. At age 34, Australian Business Magazine named him in the top 40 headhunted executives in Australia. In 2005 he received the Medal of the Order of Australia and in 2007 he won the Australian of the Year (Victoria) award.

Philip lives with his wife Trix and his four dogs in Melbourne, Victoria.

Philip Wollen’s main project, the Winsome Constance Kindness Trust, is a global initiative whose mission statement is “to promote kindness towards all other living beings and enshrine it as a recognizable trait in the Australian character and culture”.The Trust emphasizes ethics, compassion and co-operation, and opposes cruelty to humans and non-human animals. In 2006 the Trust had initiatives in 34 countries and is growing.

This passion, alongside WCKT’s first core belief: “Act. Don’t react. See a need, fix it first. Worry about the details later. If you wait until you are asked you have just missed a golden opportunity. They are fleeting and rare.” sums up Phil as a man of action who has all bases covered!

Each year the Winsome Constance Kindness Medalis awarded to an individual who has devoted his or her life to the protection of all living beings.

The award includes a cash prize of USD 25,000.

Recipients of the Kindness Medal have been;

• 2012: Sir David Attenborough
• 2011: Dr Profesor T. Colin Campbell
• 2010: Dr Ian Gawler OAM
• 2009: Dr Jane Goodall DBE
• 2008: Smt Maneka Gandhi
• 2007: Captain Paul Watson
• 2006: Dr Jill Robinson MBE
• 2005: Ms Christine Townend
• 2004: Sri Pradeep Kumar Nath

Q What made you become vegan and when?

Phil: I was the merchant banker whose favorite meal was fillet mignon and lobster. Around twelve years ago I was mandated to act for a large corporate client and visited one of their main subsidiaries. It turned out to be a slaughterhouse. And I had never seen a slaughterhouse before. My blood ran cold. This didn’t just turn me into a vegetarian. It turned me into a genuinely compassionate human being. Anybody who eats the murdered carcass of an innocent animal cannot claim to be compassionate – not with a straight face anyway.

The slaughterhouse turned my life around. I ultimately became vegan eight years ago when I saw what happens to millions of chickens – their beaks burned off, millions of tiny male chicks being hurled to their death into grinders, premature calves being deliberately induced and being killed by crushing to death. It is a crime of unimaginable proportions. It is so tiresome to still hear the hideous lies and self delusion from those who profit from this ghastly trade.

I am a vegan because I love life in all its forms. The life of a human necrovore (eating of dead flesh) is not a life. It is a life sentence. Short, nasty, and brutish.

Q What’s your favorite meal?

Phil: Trix is the best vegan cook in Australia – so anything she cooks is a banquet!

Q What do you cook the best, do you have a favorite recipe you’d like to share?

Phil: Mexican Beans I do quite well, here is the recipe

Ingredients:
1 can 4 Bean Mix (rinse well)
1 stick of celery
1/2 yellow capsicum (bell pepper)
1/2 red capsicum (bell pepper)
1 onion roughly cut
1 tbsp of good quality mild curry powder
1 dessert spoon soynaise (vegan mayonnaise)
cooked rice for two people

Put a dash of oil in the pan, add onion celery and capsicum
stir fry a few minutes (don’t let the veggies get too soft or soggy)
Slide veggies to the side of the pan and add curry powder
fry the curry powder for 30 seconds
add the beans and cooked rice – continue to stir fry add Soynaise and stir fry some more until all ingredients are well mixed

This is delicious hot or cold or as a side salad or in a wrap. It lasts about 3-4 days in the fridge

Q Are many of your family and friends vegans?

Phil: Yes my closest family are all vegan and 90% of my friends are vegan or vegetarian

Q What makes you happy?

Phil: Using the word ahimsa in a speech or saying the ‘V’ word without getting a blank stare. When someone actually “gets it” is a great feeling. And best of all is unexpectedly finding time to spend with Trix and not having the phone or email to interrupt.

Q What do you do to relax and unwind?

Phil: Meditation, music, and reading.

Q How do you keep fit?

Phil: Golf; long walks with our four rescued dogs; Pilates, and the physical work of running Kindness House www.kindnesstrust.com/KindnessHouse.html

Q Do you have a favorite movie/book/blog that inspired you that you’d like to share
Phil: The simplest book of all – by John Waddell But You Kill Ants; Gary Francione’s Rain Without Thunder; The Abolitionist website www.abolitionistapproach.com ; Singer’s A Companion of Ethics and I recommend the films: Earthlings, Peaceable Kingdom and A Delicate Balance.

Q Do you have a favorite restaurant?

Phil: Yes right down the street from Kindness House – The Veggie Bar www.vegiebar.com.au located at 380 Brunswick St Fitzroy VIC 3065.

Q What’s been the best part of being a vegan?

Phil: Being able to look in the mirror without feeling profoundly ashamed.

Q Have you found any difficulties being vegan?

Phil: Being vegan is the easiest thing in the world! I think you asked precisely the wrong question. You should have asked “have you found any difficulties being a necrovore?”. And then I could have written several books on this particular subject without pausing for breath. I would find being a necrovore utterly impossible!!

Q Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Phil: We now know beyond any shadow of doubt that the livestock industry releases more greenhouse gases than cars, trains, buses, ships, planes all put together – by a country mile.

We now know that meat and milk are four letter words for good reason. They kill. These noxious products are grossly inefficient sources of food for a hungry planet. They are profligate wasters of precious drinking water. They are indescribably cruel. And they are horrendous polluters of our rivers and oceans.

Clearly, it is no longer (just) an animal rights issue. It is a social justice issue. Make no mistake about it. Every morsel of meat we eat is slapping the tear stained face of a hungry child.

Unfortunately, flaccid governments are influenced by lobbyists who don’t care if our planet ends up in a ditch, as long as they get to drive. So we continue this ludicrous charade of governments pretending to be concerned about jobs – and caving in to the industry with subsidies for low paid jobs for unskilled work. So much for being the clever country.

But the writing is on the wall. Intelligent people are fast learning that this planet is being trashed by an industry that is well past its use by date. The Stone Age did not end because we ran out of stones. The meat industry will end because we run out of excuses.

source veganeasy.org

How to Make Peace on Earth – part 4

My purpose is not to preach Buddhism or Christianity. All these things you can read in books, you can inquire from churches, temples or from many other monks or nuns. All of them can tell you what Buddhism is, what Christianity is, etc. I have no intention to preach about these things, but I have the intention to build some peace in this world because we are all brothers and sisters.

Peace can only be obtained through wisdom and enlightenment, not through any illusionary imagination and money wasting talks at any table or in any nation. Everyone thinks if he becomes a politician, a priest or a monk, he can bring some peace to this Earth, or at least to their nation. But without wisdom, what can we do? The more we do, the more we go wrong. Also, if one person has wisdom and most of the people in the country have no wisdom, what shall we do? Only if we can get in contact with the original wisdom can we ever do things in the right way. Otherwise, even if we want peace and sincerely want to build peace in this world, we make war. That is because some people believe in making peace with force “If you don’t listen to me, if you don’t listen to my country, I will force you to listen.” Only when we have God’s wisdom and enlightenment, we can  then do things in the correct way. Therefore, we see many kings and queens come and go and the world is still at war. Maybe we have not had enough enlightened kings and queens!

In Au Lac and in China also, we call a good king an enlightened king. This is very clear that even if we want to govern a nation, we should also be enlightened. What is meant by enlightened? It means that our wisdom is opened. We are more intelligent, super intelligent, so we see things differently than we did in the ordinary state. Just like when we were babies or children, even though we could speak, eat, and understand, we were not wise enough to take care of our parents’ business, and not wise enough to take care of the household.

So, if we use our brains only 5%, how can we talk about governing the nation and the world? In China they say, “First, be enlightened, then you can take care of your household, then you can govern the nation, and then you can bring peace into the world.” “First be enlightened,” Practice, and your virtues and light will develop. Only then you can take care of your household. Can you imagine? To have a good household, we have to be enlightened? Only when you can take care of your household then you can talk about peace in the world.

Therefore, man like Jesus and Buddha were truly messengers of peace, truly kings of the world. Therefore, in India, they call such a person “the great king,” or “the king of kings.” We must not have any ambition to be “the king of kings”; but we should have ambition to contribute to the peace in this world, to construct a beautiful structure for this world, where our children and grand children will live in prosperity and happiness. So, that is what we call “First be enlightened, then we can take care of the household, then we can govern the nation, and then we can bring peace to the Earth.”

If we only talk about peace and want to bring peace to the Earth, and we ourselves are not peaceful, then it is a joke. If we only build churches and temples, but we do not care for the living temples, then it is a wrong attitude, because in the Bible it says, We are the temple of God and the Holy Spirit lives here. (Master points to her heart) God lives here, God lives in you. Make the temple pure. If we begin with ourselves and let peace begin from here, (Master points to her forehead) and from every person, then we don’t need any church, we don’t even need the Bible or the Buddhist Sutras. We don’t even need any master, we don’t need any organization or the United Nations.

So, I hope that whatever I do, I would bring some inspiration to you so that you might also be inspired to find peace, to find wisdom and God within yourselves. That is why I am here; not for Buddhism, not for Catholicism. I just want to offer you enlightenment so that you might take care of your household better, so that you might take care of your nation better, and so that we might together bring peace on this Earth. Amen!

How to Make Peace on Earth – part 3

December 16, 1989 Argentina

At the moment, we are abusing the natural resources. For example, hydrogen is for us to breathe, also to make the universe stable. If we draw hydrogen into a block and make a bomb out of it, which we call a hydrogen bomb, then our air will become thinner, there will be less hydrogen in it, and the whole universe might be disturbed. Just like when we use bricks and visible materials to build houses, the universe has invisible materials to build the universe. If we disturb this structure in any place, then the universe might not be stable. Similarly when we destroy part of this house, or break one wall, the whole house is affected.

Therefore recently we have seen many UFO’s, or space ships. Someone asked me about extra-terrestrials yesterday, “If they exist why didn’t they come before?” They didn’t have to. “Why do they come now?” Because we are too threatening to them and to ourselves. We are too ignorant  playing with dangerous things.

Do not think I come to preach Buddhism or want your sympathy or any of your properties. I want nothing. I only want the world to have peace so everyone can have time and a chance to develop their own talent, or their own capabilities. Humans should live together as humans, not as beasts. Up to now, most of the things we do are just similar to that animals do, nothing for humans to be proud of. Animals eat, make children, and love each other. We do the same. If we do not know God or the Buddha Nature within us, we are not much different. Is that not so? Please don’t be angry with me, someone must tell the truth sometimes. Otherwise, we all sleep, dream our dream, and feel proud of ourselves. Proud of what? What can we be proud of? All these atomic bombs? All these hydrogen bombs? All the poverty in this world? All these miseries? Hatred? Violence? Over-population? Hungry kids? What have we made out of this Heaven?

You were told that this world was Heaven before. What have we done to make it become like this? A handful of people are worrying about this beautiful planet. Other people sleep, eat, make love, and make money. Even when they go to church, I don’t know if they pray. Even if they go to the temples, I don’t know what they pray to the Buddha. Yes, they do pray! They pray for their own welfare, for their own business and for their own sons and daughters. How about the neighbors? Should we pray for them also? Praying is not a very active thing. We should also do something, but it is very difficult for most people to realize it.

Therefore, you see, when someone goes to a lecture like this, a few hundred, a few thousand people come to listen. But, when you go to the football game, theater or to hear pop singers, you see many tens of thousands watching a ball, watching people fighting over a ball. Isn’t that amazing?! It isn’t even the people on the outside who play, it is the people on the inside who play. If all the people would play, then I can say, “OK. They are exercising; it is good. Everyone is excited, because they are competing in a game.” But no, only a group of people are playing and forty thousand of fifty thousand people outside are excited. I am always amazed to watch the illusion games of this world. I cannot understand it either.

But I do understand why we do not have peace. It’s because everyone just does not care. We can watch football, it is no sin. We can get to the theater; it is good sometimes, to pass time, and to make a change in our life. But, we should also remember who we are and where we will go after this life. We must also give time to prepare for this departure. We prepare for everything – for birth, for death, for old age, but we don’t prepare for the next life. And even if we don’t care for the next life, we should care for this life. We should work together to make our world more beautiful, more peaceful.

How to Make Peace on Earth – part 2

Now, I will explain to you what the Three Worlds are. The Three Worlds are very well known in Buddhism, but in the Bible, it is hardly mentioned. Have you heard of the Third Heaven? In the Bible, someone was brought up to the Third Heaven when the Holy Spirit had lifted him. The Third Heaven is the highest of the Three Worlds. It is the end of the so-called spiritual world. Our world is called the Earth world or material world. Besides our world there are another Three Worlds which are invisible, but visible to the heavenly eye. If we practice some kinds of meditation, sometimes our heavenly eye will be opened and we may be able to see higher invisible worlds. These worlds are sometimes similar to ours.

For example, in the Astral world, which is the nearest to our world, the scenery, the structure of the houses and the wishes of the people there are very similar to ours. Most people after they die will stay in the astral world. The astral  world also has heavens and hells. Heavens are the places for the virtuous people, hells are so-called “hospitals” for the sick. If our bodies have cancer in some places, then the doctor will operate on those places and remove the cancer to make our bodies well. If the whole body is sick due to hatred, greed, lust, etc., then all the cells are sick. Therefore, they have to be put in a so-called hell, and there they use a kind of laser beam to operate on all the cells and remove all these traits. This is why we say that hell burn people with fire. It is actually a kind of treatment to remove all our mental sickness. If we are unloving to ourselves, and unloving to other people, that means we are in some kind of mental sickness. If we continue to do so during our life or for many lives, then every cell in our bodies will be afflicted by these unloving actions, thoughts or habits.

Therefore, the Astral so-called doctors have to cure our astral bodies, putting all the cells back in order by using very high frequency beams of Light, and it is very painful. They keep doing so until we are cleansed of all traits of greed, hatred, lust, etc. This is a kind of treatment actually, but we call that hell because it is very painful and full of suffering. It is just like when we are in a hospital; there is also a lot of suffering due to the treatment given by the doctor.

Now, the Astral world is one of the Three Worlds. Above the Astral world there is another world, which is the so-called Mental world. Above the Mental world, there is another world called the Third Heaven, or the world of Brahma. The higher the world, the more beautiful, the more light and the more power there is. Therefore, if someone is the king of the Three Worlds, he is so-called on top of the creation. Therefore, to be the king of the Three Worlds is a very great position.

The king of the Three Worlds is what we call the king of Maya. However great his position is, he is a king of illusion, and he has not enough wisdom and love. Everything in this physical world is made and created by this king, therefore it is not perfect. So we see roses with thorns, and people sometimes with ugly-looking faces; sometimes there are human beings who look like beasts or act like animals, with no dignity as human beings. This is the result of the Maya king’s work. Anyone who descends to one of the Three Worlds, including ours, has to wear this kind of imperfect apparel, although originally we are perfect. When we are above the Three Worlds, when we are back at our Home, then we are different.

Now, I’ll give you a very clear example. When you go swimming and diving into the sea, you have to wear very big eye-glasses, an oxygen mask, a big oxygen tank and a kind of frogman’s clothing. You look neither like a fish nor like a frog… even not like a human! But these are the things you need when you dive into the world of the sea. If you stay in the sea and wear these kinds of things long enough, you will become used to it and you can never take them off, as you need them in the deep of the sea. Every day if you look in the mirror, you will see yourself like that and you will think you are like that. Once you go back on land, you no longer need these, and you are beautiful again. So, that is the problem with us when we are in this world. We need many instruments.

For example, our mind is also an instrument, but the instrument sometimes becomes an obstacle, it is not natural. Just like when you wear the frogman’s clothes, your feet become so large like this (Master shows everyone) that they are hard to control, and your nose is bundled with the oxygen mask, which is very troublesome. Your movement is not really very natural due to the equipment on your back, on your face, on your hands and on your feet, etc.

Now we are in this world and the brain is a kind of computer which our souls need in order to gather information. But when we use it too long, we are kind of dependent on it; so dependent that sometimes even when the computer goes wrong, we still do not know that we are getting the wrong information. You know computers sometimes go wrong. For example, I heard of a computer which can translate many languages. A German person brought it to China to translate from German into Chinese, and there was one idiom in German which meant golden but it was translated to blond. That is how we get stuck in this world, because of wrong information.

Yesterday someone asked me, “If God decides everything, how come there are wars, disasters and miseries?” It is very simple.  For example, sometimes you wanted to do something. Inside, you have an intuition that you should do it this way, and then suddenly you say “No. My mama never did it like this, my teacher would not approve, or my girlfriend, my boyfriend, my whatever… “So, you start to do it the way you learned from the people in society, and then it went wrong. You knew you should have done it the other way, your original intuitive way, so you tried again, and you succeeded. Is that not so? You know many times that it is so.

That is the difference between wisdom and knowledge. Wisdom is intuitive, that is what we call the original Self and God wisdom. Knowledge is what we have from other people, from books, from tradition, from national customs; it is not necessarily correct. Sometimes it helps but mostly it doesn’t. Therefore, we have many conflicts and incorrect incidents in this world, because most people do not use the direct wisdom; we only use second-hand, third-hand or fourth-hand knowledge.

If we want to use the direct wisdom, then we must be in contact with that original wisdom. In order to do so, we must open some of our inner compartments, we must put some of the apparatus in use. We all know that our brain contains 95% unused capacity. These are places we must open if we want to have peace on Earth, if we want to know how to make peace on Earth. Everyone wants it but does not know how to go about to making it. Instead of using scientific research and inventions to serve humanity, we use it for destruction.

How to Make Peace on Earth – part 1

Spoken by Master Ching Hai
December 16, 1989 Argentina

I would like to offer some good things to your country, and I would like that my stay will be of benefit to your hearts, your souls and your bodies, at least from human to human.  Also that we may understand something about the cultures between the East and the West, which sometimes we have very little chance to do, to understand. Because I will stay here for only four days and if I have not brought some good to your country, I will feel very sad to leave.

Everyone thinks that to propagate peace is the work at the United Nations, or to preach the Kingdom of God is the duty of priests or monks. But it is not so. We all have this duty. If the priests preach about God and we do not listen, then what is the use? If I talk about enlightenment, and you do not come to listen, then shall I talk? So, your presence is very much appreciated. I thank you for giving me a chance to fulfill my duty towards God and towards humankind, because I am also citizen of this world. We cannot think that one person or a group of persons is responsible for peace or anything in this world, because we are all part of the system.

Yesterday, someone asked me if we were living next to a holocaust, and I answered, “Yes, every minute, every day.” Why? Because we are always in danger, we are always in constant war. If not in an atomic war, then in a hydrogen bomb war; or worse, any other kinds of bombs! If not with these bombs and other weapons, then we are at war with anxiety, with jealousy, with hatred and with ignorance.  Anyway our hearts are constantly at war. So, to propagate peace is not only my duty. I am happy that you have come so that we may join together and do something about it.

Everyone’s heart, thinking and actions always affect everyone else. For example, if you go to the office and you see your boss or secretary, and that boss or secretary is very angry, not at you, maybe at someone else, at his wife or her husband at home, and you walk in, how will you feel? Very comfortable? No, not comfortable. Maybe you would like to hide somewhere first.

Sometimes, we go on the street and we meet a friend or an acquaintance, who is smiling, and their heart is happy. We also feel affected by his or her happiness and then we also feel happy. So, from these small examples, we can think a little deeper and know that everyone affects everyone else.

Therefore, my work is your work also. I am concerned about peace in the whole world, so this is also your concern. Therefore, if you have come to support me by your attentiveness, your love and open-mindedness, then you support yourself. Some people do not understand this simple logic. If they see someone doing something good, but that person will be threatening their own personal business or their reputation, then they try to break, try to destroy that person. But this is only an illusion, because a good person, a selfless person, would never affect anyone else business or reputation.

For example, when Jesus was preaching the Truth, the high priest at that time was very worried. The kings and the political leaders at the time were very anxious. They worried that Jesus might affect their fame and business, that everyone would follow Jesus and give him all their money and their properties, that nobody would give them anything, that nobody would join their churches or organizations, and that no one would give them any donations or listen to them. These were the worries of the priests.  The kings and political leaders were worried. They worried that Jesus would become too famous, that people would love Him too much, and that they might select Him to be their king. So they worried! That was the political worry.

But Jesus had never cared for the church nor for the kingdom of this Earth. He said, My Kingdom is in Heaven. Indeed, it is so.  Because for real enlightened Masters or persons, they do not care for anything in this world. They have looked through the illusion play of material existence. They have been through and through it. They understand everything. They have all Heavens and Earth. They have everything they want. Seek you first the Kingdom of God and all other things shall be added onto you. They do not care for material wealth and fame.

People are automatically attracted to these enlightened persons. It is because of their light, their invisible wisdom, their compassion and boundless love. Love is something we cannot see but we can feel very clearly. Therefore, a man is attracted to a woman by her love.  Children cling to their parents because of their love. An enlightened person has much greater love than these. Therefore, people are attracted to their love. People feel welcomed, loved, secure and protected by that enlightened person. But the worldly people do not understand this. They look at Jesus or enlightened persons with their mundane, greedy and worldly eyes.

If Jesus was given the whole world to rule, he wouldn’t care a bit. When he was meditating in the desert for forty days, Satan appeared to him and offered him the Three Worlds. If someone refuses the kingdom of one nation, he is already very great. If someone refuses the whole world, he is very great indeed!

V is for Vegan – New Book from Ruby Roth + Interview

In V is for Vegan, Ruby Roth introduces three-to-five-year-olds to the “ABCs” of a vegan lifestyle. A must-have for vegan and vegetarian parents, Roth brings her characteristic insight, compassion, and good humor to a younger audience, presenting the often-controversial and challenging subjects of animal rights and the vegan diet in an easy-to understand and teachable format.

Roth introduces little herbivores to the major vegan food groups (beans, grains, nuts, vegetables, and fruits) as well as the ways we can protect animals and the environment. Colorful, upbeat, and fun, V Is for Vegan helps boost the confidence of vegan children about to enter school and helps parents explain their ethical worldview in a way their young children will grasp.

Ruby Roth is an acclaimed activist, artist, former teacher, and author whose children’s books have been featured in the San Francisco Chronicle, The Huffington Post, The Washington Times, Change.org, Glamour, and Wired as well as on The Today Show, FOX, ABC, CNN, and other major media outlets. She first discovered children’s interest in veganism while teaching art at an elementary school. Complementing her degrees in art and American studies, she has researched animal agriculture, health, nutrition, and the benefits of a plant-based diet for nearly a decade. Her first book, That’s Why We Don’t Eat Animals, was published in 2009. A vegan since 2003, she lives in Los Angeles.

What inspired you to write V Is for Vegan?
Vegan babies are everywhere! Since 2009, the work of dedicated activists has been successful, and the population of vegans has more than doubled. A growing number of parents are raising vegan and vegan-ish kids. These parents are committed to the ethics of veganism as well as the health and environmental benefits, but they’re still learning how to explain often complex motives to the kidlets. I wanted to make that task easy and fun with a rhyming prequel to That’s Why We Don’t Eat Animals and Vegan Is Love. V Is for Vegan is a really fun way to teach the youngest of kids an A-to-Z vocabulary to encourage a conscious and engaged life—in a light-hearted, hilarious way. And for vegans without kids, V Is for Vegan is a great novelty item to keep on your office desk, in your classroom, waiting room, or on your coffee table so your non-vegan friends might take a look. Flipping through an illustrated kids book is totally non-intimidating and they might learn something, too. Like I always say, my books are so easy even adults can understand.

Do you think that vegan parents might be forcing their views onto their kids?
No way! Kids can’t make choices if they don’t know there are any. On the daily, every vegan child will be exposed to the option of eating meat and dairy because it is omnipresent as soon as you walk out your door—but most meat-eating children will never be exposed to the effect that eating animals has on health, the animals themselves, and the environment—at least not until later in life after eating meat and dairy has become completely habitualized and normalized. What choice did they have in that matter? The reality for every vegan parent is that even if we wanted to, we can’t enforce our views about veganism onto our kids, but rather only normalize an alternative to the status quo.

Why do you think that early childhood is an appropriate time to introduce kids to veganism?
We can’t afford to wait until they’re older to teach a new generation new ways of loving, thinking, and behaving. Health, pollution, animal abuse, water waste—these problems are getting exponentially worse—but exponentially better at the same time. Through the work of individuals creating changes in their thinking and behavior, we can encourage societal solutions that will last lifetimes—and with this kind of education our children will do even better than we did.

With a rhyming alphabet book, you can only fit in so much! How did you choose what to include?
The rhyming structure was a self-imposed—but fun—limitation. It pushed me creatively to fit in everything I wanted—the main plant-based food groups, a couple nods to the groups we consider non-food, and some concepts about rescuing, the environment, recycling, clothing, animals in entertainment, and animal testing. It took some humor and clever wording, but I got everything in. There is always more to say, but you have to leave room for a child’s imagination. It’s more important to me to create a jumping-off point for endless learning than it is to cover every idea in the world.

What is the message you want adults and children to take away from this book?
Veganism is a joy and something to be very proud of! It is a life of heart, thought, and action. I hope reading this book with children creates laughter, learning, confidence, eagerness, and a shared feeling of love.

by Leigh-Chantelle vivalavegan.net

How to Tolerate Humans!

Master Tells Jokes

A hen complained to a cow, “Humans are intolerable. They use contraceptives every day, but let us lay eggs.” The cow replied, “So what? They drink my milk every day, but nobody calls me ‘Mommy.’”

Basic Meat

Beside tofu, gluten is the main ingredient in many vegetarian dishes in my country . It’s made from whole wheat flour after remove starch from it. The remain is called gluten.  It’s  high in protein.     Here in the US, it’s so convenient that we have gluten flour.   Today I’d like to share  with you how I make the basic meat from this gluten flour.

You will need:

2 cups vital wheat gluten flour

2 cups water

1/2  tablespoon cumin

1/2  tablespoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2  teaspoon baking powder ( I use 1/2 tsp,  more if you like softer texture)

3 pieces cheese cloth or white fabric

Directions

1-Mix gluten flour with cumin and garlic powder.

2– Mix water with salt and baking powder.

Mix 1 and 2 together and knead  for 1 minute.

Divide it into 3 parts, then wrap them into cheese cloth.  (You can use string to tie it if you like,  but you don’t have to.)

Put them into the pot, cover with water and bring to boil for 30 minutes.

After they’re cooked, soak them into cold water then remove cheese cloth. If you can’t use them all that day, then cover with water and keep in the refrigerator.  Change water daily.  If you want to keep more than 3 days, then you could freeze them.

You can use this basic meat in many dishes that called for meat.  You can also make ground meat by blend them in the food processor with onion. (I like to make taco this way). If you like different taste, you could add rosemary, thyme, sage… or whatever you like to make it difference every meal.  You see, we don’t have to kill animals for good food.  So, save some lives today,  and be healthy and loving by choosing plant-based diet.

Good luck and have fun!