YOU can control how your food is produced...

In the light of yet more food scandals (horsemeat in beef burgers, pig meat in kosher foods etc), I've never been more pleased that I made the decision to become vegetarian!

Do we ever really know how our food is being prepared?

This posting is a plea for your help to take a small amount of action on the back of these high profile food scandals to do something that could make a difference not only to what your food contains but the way in which the animals are treated.

It's a great opportunity to exercise consumer power!

Quite simply, it should be mandatory that CCTV is installed in slaughter houses. It's proven to make companies work to higher standards and to weed out (and then prosecute) those workers who take a sadistic delight in torturing animals - yes you heard right - torturing (doesn't bear thinking about does it?).

For this to happen - we need to put pressure on DEFRA and get our MPs to sign what is called an EDM (Early Day Motion) that will enable the issue to be raised in Parliament so that a decision can be made to pass legislation forcing companies to install the CCTV.

It's high time this was done to help safeguard your welfare and the welfare of animals.

 

Take action now!

• You can see EDM 951 here: http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2012-13/951

• You can contact your local MP here: http://www.writetothem.com/

• You can write to DEFRA here: defra.helpline@defra.gsi.gov.uk

• You can email this post to all of the people you care about.

Below is a sample of what you could perhaps write to your MP and adapt for DEFRA too:

Dear Sir / Madam, Given the recent horsemeat in beef burgers and now pigmeat in kosher
foods scandals, I'm writing to urge you to sign EDM 951 to bring
legislation for all slaughterhouses to install CCTV. Not only would
this improve food standards but animal welfare. The animal cruelty that
has been filmed by organisations such as Peta and Animal Aid prove
how necessary this is. If the UK could lead the way on this it would be a step in the right
direction of proving we are the civilised / compassionate nation that
we aim to be. Please please please give it your consideration.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,

Thank you.

Chantal xx

 

 

p.s. If you'd like to know more about how your food is produced:

PETA have a great informational video narrated by Paul McCartney here:

http://action.peta.org.uk/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=5&ea.campaign.id=5133

Animal Aid also have a brilliant expose here:

http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/CAMPAIGNS/slaughter/ALL///

and if you'd like to talk to me about any issues raised or any concerns that you have I'll be happy to chat xx

Ecover - new look, same ethos?...

Well my first post of February (hurrah!) and I managed to achieve 12 in January (blimey I've impressed myself). The house is without plumbers for the first time in two weeks, the sun is out, the heating is on full blast (great timing) and all is well with the world. Or so I thought...

On the weekly trawl around Waitrose (actually I quite enjoy it because they give you free coffee if you get their loyalty card) low and behold a shock awaited me.

I usually use the brand 'Attitude' for cleaning products as its gentle, effective, ecologically OK and not tested on animals, but through poor housekeeping have run out and thought I would try Ecover. I've got to say that when I used Ecover in the past it didn't impress me much on its power to clean things but I persevered with using it on the grounds of it being a 'better' product for the environment / animals etc.

On checking the label there was no bunny symbol though - the one to reassure that the product and / or its ingredients are indeed not tested on animals. I checked all of the products and none of them had it.

I'm trying so hard to avoid products that have been tested on animals that I really didn't want to buy it without making sure so I asked a member of staff for help.

The great thing about the Exeter Waitrose that we go to is the staff - they are beyond excellent - I have never been to a supermarket like it. They are so happy to help and check things for you and they let you carry on shopping and come back to find you.

The lady there kindly phoned Ecover who reassured her that they NEVER test on animals and that in fact the symbol has been left off in error when the packaging was redesigned recently.

Oops, I bet someone in the design department is in trouble!

So - with a huge relief I bought what I needed.

So there you have it - and you're welcome!. I know this is the most scintillating blog post that you will ever have read. A day in the life of my shopping and label checking - its all rock n roll here you know.

Anyway, it means actually that perhaps one animal less has had to endure unbelievable suffering so that I could get my whites that little bit whiter. So perhaps that is quite rock n roll after all...

Have a great cruelty-free February.

Chantal xx

* * * UPDATE * * *

Have had a reply to my email to Ecover as follows:

Dear Chantal

Thank you for taking the time to contact us.

Ecover do not do any animal testing, nor do we commission anyone to do so on our behalf. Please find attached our company statement, which we hope will answer any questions you may have. We have recently made our cruelty free status official, and have been awarded the leaping bunny symbol from Cruelty Free International. Further information can be found here: http://www.the-splash.co.uk/articles/cruelty-free-products.

We hope this information has been useful to you.

Kind Regards

Sarah Kiely

ECOVER UK Customer Service

Tel: 08451 30 22 30

www.ecover.com

www.facebook.com/EcoverUK

Reduce your risk of heart disease by a third...

Finally a substantial scientific report that shouldn't be ignored.

A vegetarian diet can reduce your risk of heart disease by up to a third.

 

It's been the largest research project of its kind (done by Oxford University) to prove something that I strongly suspect many vegetarians / vegans have known for years and deep down that meat eaters have suspected as well.

The health benefits of eating a vegetarian diet are substantial and given that heart disease is the biggest killer in the UK it could save so many human lives.

But I heard this headline on Channel 5 news purely by accident - so will anyone else have heard it and will they take notice?

It appears that Channel 4 reported it too and in their piece several key people have optimistically predicted a change in attitude away from eating meat (perhaps in the wake of horsemeat-gate?).

I live in hope.

Perhaps if the Daily Mail run with the story to the deluded masses...

Anyway - you can find out more here and YOU could improve YOUR health today.

Chantal xx

Secret Recipe - deliciously warming vegetable chilli - shhhhh...

There's a few meals that occasionally I'll get a real craving for and this is one of them.

I spent years cooking it with minced beef and beef stock and now that I've created this veggie version - it's no less tasty, because the secret is to make it very rich and to ideally eat it 2 or 3 days after you've made it.

It's possibly one of my signature dishes and definitely something not for the faint hearted if you eat it in my house!

Go rummage in the fridge and larder:

1 tbsp olive oil

2 large onions diced

2 peppers diced

6 cloves garlic

2+ fresh chillies (I often use 2 large jalapenos - use more if you like)

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp hot chilli powder (mild if you prefer)

2 tsp dried oregano (or marjoram)

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 veg stock cube

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 tin chopped tomatoes or half a jar of passata

1 tin mixed beans or red kidney beans rinsed (I used Epicure) 

300g bag frozen quorn mince (or extra veggies  such as carrot, courgette, mushrooms etc)

water to top up (approx 250ml)

6 squares dark chocolate (I only use Green & Blacks Organic)

Get cooking:

Gently sautee the onions in the oil over a medium heat until soft then add the chilli and garlic for a couple of minutes, then the peppers and finally all of the spices. Keep stirring and cook out gently.

Add the puree, stock cube (if you are using one) and continue to cook out gently for a couple more minutes - stirring all the time.

Add the tinned tomatoes or passata, the Quorn or extra veg and the water to top up.

Simmer gently for 30 minutes and then add the beans and simmer gently for around another 15 or until most of the liquid has been absorbed (chilli, to my mind, should not be a runny sauce - but thick and unctuous). Finally add the chocolate, stir in, taste and re-season if necessary. And you're done!

Tuck in!

So many ways to eat this - simply with rice, in taco shells, on nachos, on spuds.....

This time though it had to be a huge pile of nacho chips, topped with cheese, melted under the grill, topped with sliced jalapenos and served with sour cream, guacamole and salsa.

Total and utter fiery bliss. Arriva!


p.s. I love these chips - gluten free as well.