We had a much needed volunteer day up at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary yesterday! Volunteers are ALWAYS needed, particularly during the winter months, so instead of laying around when it’s cold outside, head up to the farm and work on your muscles! Yesterday, a crew of us cleaned out the entire goat area… the goats are always a hoot. We then got to work in with the steer, where I was able to get a much coveted Dylan Hug. The best.
Vegan Like Me aims to profile fellow vegans, from all walks of life from everywhere in the world! We’ve all been beginners and I think its important for folks to hear people’s stories in order to motivate themselves to keep going. This feature is intended to do just that. If you are vegan and would like to participate, get in touch with me and I’ll be sure to send our questionnaire along to you.
Name: Ellen Mass
Ellen (far right), vegan 3 years, and her family – also vegan!
Where do you live? Northern NJ
How long have you been vegan? ”3 years”
What inspired you to take on a plant-based (vegan/vegetarian) diet? ”Three years ago my husband and I visited Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary because I heard how wonderful it was. We were vegetarians for years, but when we took the tour and I saw how the chickens were treated (for eggs) and the cows were treated (for milk) I said “I’m done” and became vegan. When I got home my older daughter, then 17, said she would join me. My husband and younger daughter, then 14, joined shortly after.”
What do you love most about being vegan? “The belief that I am doing the right thing, for my ethics, my health and for the environment. It becomes hard to understand why everyone doesn’t feel the same. I also love that I haven’t given anything up, just found substitutes, for ice cream, cheese, meat, etc. (Who knew!?) I also am vegan in my clothes, so my favorite designer brands are Vaute Couture and Matt and Nat, and favorite shoe store is MooShoes in NYC. Actually, my favorite part is being vegan with my family.”
What three items do you always have in your pantry? “Standard vegan items include nutritional yeast, Braggs kelp seasoning and Marigold vegan vegetable bouillon. Also lots of different grains.”
What is your favorite vegan comfort food? “As a foodie, anything that is cheezy or creamy. We all love Daiya cheese when the soaked cashews and nutritional yeast homemade version takes too long. (Huh? This is why you need new cookbooks!) There is also Vegenaise for a good homemade potato salad.”
What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about taking on a plant-based (vegan) diet? “Talk to vegans and read their blogs. Toss your old cookbooks and buy new vegan ones. Read about health benefits. Join Farm Sanctuary and Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. If you are doing it for health, read “The China Study” or “Eat to Live.” If you are doing it for the environment, read “Animal Factory.” If you are doing it for compassion, read the upcoming “The Lucky Ones” by Jenny Brown and Gretchen Primack or “Farm Sanctuary” by Gene Baur. And check out your local farmers market for veggies that you never tried before!”
Do you find anything difficult about being vegan? “People who think being vegan is a joke and like to shove bacon in your face. And restaurants that don’t offer vegan options. And coffee places that don’t have non-dairy milk.”
Any other comments you or words of wisdom you would like to add? “I am 50 and so many of my friends are starting to need drugs for cholesterol, diabetes, etc. It is often as simple as changing your diet. Don’t always trust your doctors. Depending on your current diet you may have to go slowly or your stomach may have issues and you will give up. And always believe in the right thing to do. It will keep you going when no one else does. (Also, have your answer ready when (often unhealthy meat-eating) friends ask you where you get your protein! )”
Ellen (right) with Jenny Brown (left), co-founder of Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary
Ellen offers some AWESOME book suggestions! I just finished “The Lucky Ones” and it was incredibly moving and wonderful read. I also love the fact that Ellen has made veganism a family affair. Thank you so much, Ellen!
It’s no secret that I am hopelessly devoted to Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. It is a magical place that changed my life. I discovered it by chance, back in 2007. Melissa and I were getting ready to celebrate our one year anniversary. She had always wanted to take a class at The Center for Photography at Woodstock… so we ended up booking a weekend up in the area so she could take a class and we could spend some time away together. Her course was two days long, during the daytime hours, so I was on my on for several hours during the day. I knew the town of Woodstock was adorable, so I occupied myself discovering all the sweet shops and flea market on the first day up there. While I was walking around town, I kept seeing posters for something called “The Blessing of the Animals” at a place called “The Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary”… I thought, oh, I love animals, this sounds right up my alley! At the time, I was still eating meat and dairy full-time – the complete opposite of what I am now. I even remember going to Woodstock Meats to buy some bacon! Regardless, I decided to attend the Blessing ceremony, conducted by some peaceful Buddhist monks from the nearby monastery. That was when the seed got planted. I recall driving away from our rental cabin expressing feelings about wanting to give up eating animals. I felt timid and overwhelmed at first, but knew that there was something to be said with that, and it was going to be the beginning of my journey.
Over the next few weeks, I had this nagging thought that was always in the back of my mind… I really don’t think I want to eat meat anymore. It only took a few weeks before we took the plunge and gave up eating animals. We made attending the Blessing a yearly anniversary tradition. Each time I went, the nagging changed, and got louder and louder, urging me to go vegan. Finally, last year we made the connection and went vegan. And it’s all because of a woman named Jenny Brown, her husband Doug Abel and their magical farm sanctuary.
Jenny Brown’s journey was similar to mine in the fact that her enlightenment came in increments. The path might have been different, but the final destination was the same. And it is all recounted with joy, humor and honesty in her first book, The Lucky Ones: My Passionate Fight for Farm Animals. Co-written by Gretchen Primack, Brown recounts her journey from a cancer-stricken 10-year-old amputee to her thriving career in film which led to passion projects for PETA and finally turned her into a full-time animal activist, hero and co-founder of the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary.
Interspersed with her personal journey, she includes mini-biographies of past and present residents of the farm. She tells their story, as well as hers, in truth and with love. She doesn’t shy away (nor does she ever) from exposing the truths of animal agriculture. The key thing, though, is that she does so with such finesse that she leaves you willingly questioning your own contribution (read: consumption of animals) to the industry. She makes you think. She helps guide you to make that connection. While she admits that she didn’t always have this knack of graceful truth-telling, it is something she can do now with ease.
This book was a pleasure to read. It reminded me of my own journey, why we do what we do, and inspires me to continue in my own form of activism whatever it might end up looking like. This world is a better place because of Jenny Brown, Doug Abel, and the other devoted animal caretakers and volunteers at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary… and for that, I am grateful.
If you live in or close to the New York City area, there will be a party to celebrate the release of The Lucky Ones tomorrow night (August 7) at MooShoes. Jenny will be there, signing and selling her books. Stop on by for some vegan camaraderie and to celebrate the release of such a wonderful book. Hope to see you there!
I had the distinct pleasure of attending The Seed: A Vegan Experience this past weekend. As you might remember, earlier this year I attended the Vegetarian Food Festival, which was fantastic. However, the idea of an entirely VEGAN expo really tickled me. I must say, a lot of my excitement came from the fantastic job that the organizers did in building anticipation via different social media outlets. They really exemplified prime use of social media in order to promote their event. In the days and weeks leading up to the event, they announced vendors, speakers, movie screenings and more and it really built up the anticipation. Well done.
My first red carpet pic! (Does it count if it was taken by your partner?)
The main draw for me to this event was that Colleen Patrick-Goudreau would be speaking. She is from the West Coast, and produces a podcast that I love called Vegetarian Food For Thought. She presents veganism in such a positive, inspiring way that it often is very re-affirming and helpful to have a listen, particularly when I’m feeling down and/or defeated. She didn’t let me down, either. Her talk left me feeling great! Afterwards, I was able to get her to sign my copy of Vegan’s Daily Companion as well as snap a photo together.
Another great speaker, one that always moves me (and I quite often refer to like being at vegan church), was my friend Jenny Brown, co-founder of Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. Both she and Kathy Stevens (of Catskill Animal Sanctuary) told personal stories of these animals as individuals. They are all sentient beings, with personality quirks and preferences, and hearing some personal anecdotes was so wonderful. Jenny’s talk, however, took it a step further and was exactly what this conference needed — someone who isn’t afraid to address the issue of what actually happens to these animals in this industry. Sure, the talks about all the health benefits are great, and people skirt around the topic or gently word what actually happens to these animals, but Jenny was the only one to put it out there, right in front of you and told you what it is for what it is. I believe this is necessary. One of the biggest reasons why so many vegans become vegans IS because of the animals. Yet for some reason, people want to shy away from the truth of it, they’re either afraid to offend, to alienate, to frighten. Yes, it is graphic. Yes, it is upsetting. But it is the reality for the over 300 billion farmed animals in this world. I always think of the now infamous Gretchen Wyler quote – “We must not refuse to see with our eyes what they must endure with their bodies.” Thank you, Jenny, for being brave and sharing the truth.
There was a great panel on effective vegan blogging, moderated by friend of WFAS and Jersey City Vegan, JL Fields. Her fantastic blog, JL Goes Vegan, is such a source of inspiration for me. I related to her experience as a blogger the most, her story of the how and the why she got into it, and that it ended up leading to more opportunities for her. She is a great blogging role model and I am grateful for her contributions to the vegan community.
That’s JL on the left in the blue KALE shirt!
The food at this event was also of the highest quality. While most were ones I was familiar with, I was introduced for the first time to Foodswings who have a restaurant in Brooklyn. They were selling these delectable vegan chickun wings – complete with hot sauce AND bleu cheeze! Talk about yum to the tenth power! I coulda had several more of these things, but refrained due to the fact that they were deep fried. Another new yum? All the way from Miami came the Mac’n Food Truck. They were parked outside along with The Cinnamon Snail (whom I LOVE!) and are up in NYC for the summer. Since the Snail had lines pretty much out to Chicago, and partly because we’ve had the Snail many of times, we decided to give Mac’n a try. Oh boy. Ohhhh boy. Well, let’s just show you what the food looked like…
Frannie’s Southern Fried Tofu Sammie
Garden Mac’n Cheeze
Holy vegan gods can you please send me to vegan food truck heaven?! Between these two food trucks, I could eat well for the rest of my life. The mac n cheeze was creamy and delicious. The breaded tofu spicy sammie (served on a killer wrap, cause they ran out of buns) is probably in my top three vegan sandwiches that I’ve ever had. I loved it so much, I had it the second day of the festival as well (and served on that wrap, even though they had buns!). Other notable foodstuffs from this event? Ella, The Regal Vegan herself (of Faux Gras fame!), shared her new spread called Basilicotta, a cashew-based ricotta-like creamy spread. They were selling vegan banh-mi made with the Faux Gras and oh man was that good. Anyone who knows anything about banh-mi knows that traditionally, it is made with pate. There has not been a vegan version of that kind of banh-mi – until now! A round of applause for Ella and her vegan pate and creamy spread.
The second day of the festival I was lucky enough to be able to table for the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. If I ever had an opportunity to gush all day long about my beloved friends there, this was it! All day long I talked about Star, my chicken buddies, the sweet piggies, everyone. I was all talked out by the end of the day. But it was a blast and I look forward to more opportunities to do this for them.
All in all, I think most were in consensus that this event was superb. I raise my glass to the founders of the event, the organizers, the volunteers and anyone who made it possible. My only suggestion? More please!!!
I know you all LOVE to see photos from my trips to the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary, right?! Well here are some more, from last weekend. Highlights of this trip include meeting the new lambs and their mamas and a tender moment I shared with Emmet the goat.
Mel & I spent the weekend helping out with some regular farm stuff as well as helped out with their “Veg-Curious?” event. It was a great event (with a huge turnout!) where folks could learn about what it meant to take on a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle. Speakers included Will Tuttle (author of the World Peace Diet), Sharon Gannon (founder of Jivamukti Yoga), Kris Carr (author of Crazy Sexy Diet) and of course Jenny Brown (co-founder of Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary). There was also a cooking demo by Pamela Brown, chef at the Garden Cafe in Woodstock. A vegan lunch was provided by area restaurants and resources were made available to all who attended. I think workshops like this are a great way to get a dialogue going with folks who are flirting with the idea of taking on a vegan diet, but aren’t quite sure how to begin. I hope events like this continue to occur all across the country!
We went up to volunteer again at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary and just had to share our photographs (and some video!) of the day. Some highlights included lots of loving from Seth & Sam, two little baby goats, the never-taken-for-granted attention from Star, worm adventures with one of the chicken flocks and seeing all the naked sheep!
There was a Girl Scout troop that came to visit and we got to chat with one of the leaders and her daughter before they went on their tour. They told us that they try to eat vegetarian as much as possible, but the mom then said “OK, as a vegan, how do you cook?!” This was a great opportunity to share our little tips of the trade, and I let her know that my blog has a whole section called “Vegan-ize It!” where I take favorite recipes and vegan-ize them. The daughter shared that one of her teachers gives a select group of her classmates vegetarian/vegan info (articles and such) to those that are interested, and I think that is great. Hopefully all of the girls learned a lot and that maybe it might inspire them to make more meat-less choices.
As always, can’t wait for our next day up there!
I can’t think of a better way to spend the first Spring weekend than by volunteering at the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. This visit was so different from the last time we volunteered — last time it was a cold February day and it was snowing! This time we didn’t even need our jackets, and the critters were all out and about enjoying the rebirth of the season.
It’s safe to say that Melissa & I are officially hooked on volunteering here! While visiting the farm for special events and getting a farm tour is great and educational, you just don’t get this one-on-one personal access to the critters unless you take a day and go volunteer. We had a motley crew that hung with us the entire day — Beatrice, the beautiful white turkey, Timmy the heritage turkey, Star, the intersexed goat, one half of the Emmet/Jasper goat twin pair and Anne, the sweet goat with horns.
We happily cleaned up and refreshed the turkey pens, picked up pig poop in the pig pasture (a very strangely zen experience) and refreshed their hay, and then tidied up the main visitor arrival area in preparation for opening weekend next week! We are so grateful for having the opportunity to go and give back to the organization that has done so much for our lives, making such a positive impact and life change. It’s the very least we can do, and we love every minute of it. Now, when can we come back?!
WFAS opens next Sunday for the season, offering farm tours until the fall. WFAS is only two hours from NYC and is the perfect place to get away from the city, trading honking horns and sirens for cock-a-doodle doo’s and moos! Or, if you’d like to make a weekend of it (highly recommended!) you can book a stay at their new Bed & Breakfast!
The speakers and organizations at this food festival were as informational and plentiful as the actual food. It’s only fitting that they include animal rights organizations as they are the ones that advocate on behalf of the animals that most folks only know as food.
Mercy For Animals had an incredibly compelling booth which hit you as soon as you walked into the main hall. They had a big sign that read “Get paid $1 to watch a four-minute video” along with volunteer who would approach fellow attendees asking them if they’d like to make a buck.
Mercy for Animals booth at the 2012 Vegetarian Food Festival
On the table, they had three mac computers set up, with two sets of headphones per computer (so you could watch with a friend), and chairs. On those computers they had a four-minute video, a compilation of footage of factory farms edited together that shows what chickens, pigs and cows are forced to endure in order to end up as food on your plate. I was fascinated by watching people as they watched the video… some you could see the shock and horror on their faces – appalled, with their hands over their mouths, sad eyes and physically wincing as they watched the footage. Some couldn’t finish the video, standing up saying it was too much for them to take. Some watched and not a blink of an eye, almost like they were watching something boring. At the conclusion, they were handed a vegetarian starter kit along with their dollar. More often than not, during the time I observed the booth, folks put their dollar directly back into the donation jar on the table.
Another advocacy group on hand was my personal favorite, Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. This organization, hands down, is the reason I became vegan. They had a lovely booth set up, complete with their fantastic gear along with faithful volunteers ready to speak with you about the farm. Their latest big development is the opening of their new Bed & Breakfast, The Guesthouse at Woodstock Sanctuary, which is located right next door to the farm and available for members to stay at when they come to volunteer. Only two hours from Manhattan, WFAS is the perfect destination for a day trip, to get out of the city and meet your meat, and hopefully plant some seeds into adopting a plant-based diet. Hey, it worked for me!
Eat kale, not cow!
I had the pleasure of meeting Juno, Rescued Beagle. Juno’s story had a sad start, but the happiest of endings. Juno was formerly a laboratory beagle for household items and cosmetics. She had no name at that time, just numbers, tattooed in her ears that left a permanent reminder of her past.
Juno's mommy showing us her ear tattoos.
Juno’s mommy told us that her life changed forever when she was chosen to take Juno home as her adopted family! She also told us that when she first brought Juno home, she was very afraid, and still slept on the hard floor, backed into a corner, even though she was given nice fluffy soft beds to sleep on. It was from that point on that Juno’s mom decided she would do everything she could to educate folks about the importance of choosing cruelty-free products in their homes. They are working on a cruelty-free products app that you can download to your phone so you can have all of that information on hand at all times. For now, they have a comprehensive Compassionate Shopping Guide on their website that is print ready.
Juno is happy and safe now!
Ellen Jaffe Jones, aka The Veg Coach, gave a great talk on her book, Eat Vegan on $4 A Day.
Ellen Jaffe Jones
Her tips are simple and smart. Here are a few of my take-aways:
The two books I purchased at the festival.
I purchased her book which lays out her money-saving techniques as well as a comprehensive cookbook section. Each recipe even has how much it will cost you to make it! Highly recommended!
The speaker who I was most excited about seeing at the festival was Dr. Michael Greger. He is the founder of nutritionfacts.org which is my go-to site for nutrition facts and figures. He reads all the big medical studies that come out and presents them to us in laymen’s terms so we can understand them.
Dr. Michael Greger
I can’t recommend his website and videos enough! He presents the case for a plant-based diet time and time again. His presentations are witty, informative and most of all QUICK. In this day and age, no one ever wants to sit down and read anything, much less a study from a medical journal on information that is pertinent to everyone. His videos solve that problem completely. Here is one of my favorites, clocking in at a whopping 1 minute and 26 seconds.
The Special Saturday Night event featured a screening of Vegucated with the director and one of the cast members. This film is brilliant – it documents three meat eaters and challenges them to go vegan for 6 weeks. It chronicles their journey, their ups, their downs, challenges while being on vacation as well as trips to some farms and a vegetarian convention. After the screening we had a talk back with Marisa Miller Wolfson (Writer/Director) and Tesla Lobo (cast member). We were happily informed that all three of the folks featured are still enjoying a plant-based life today!
Marisa Miller Wolfson (Writer/Director) and Tesla Lobo (cast member) of Vegucated
Jenny Brown, one of the founders of Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary gave a passionate talk after the film. She discussed the mission of WFAS, her experience and journey as a vegan and provided an honest and inspiring perspective into the lifestyle. I felt I was in vegan church! Jenny’s passion and drive is so apparent while watching her speak. It makes you want to join her plight, and speak up on behalf of the millions of farm animals in this world that are enslaved for food. I have visited WFAS on a yearly basis over the past 5 years so I’ve had the opportunity to see her speak several times and every time I’m left inspired. She also had some great news to share: she is coming out with a book! Entitled Lucky Ones, its is available for pre-order on Amazon, iTunes and other major booksellers. Congrats, Jenny!
Jenny Brown, co-founder of Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary (and my personal hero!)
And that, my fellow plant-based foodies, are my highlights from the 2012 Vegetarian Food Festival. I’m already excited for next year’s festival… who’s coming with me?
