Gobbler not on this Thanksgiving menu
The Stamford Advocate
By Natasha Lee
Staff Writer
NORWALK - The traditional Thanksgiving feast features a golden roasted turkey flanked by mashed potatoes, stuffing, yams, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.
But recent emphasis on healthy eating and the environmental effect of meat diets on global warming has many opting for alternatives this Turkey Day.
Vegan Priscilla Feral has ditched typical Thanksgiving dishes for those based on soy and inspired by vegetables.
Feral, president of the Friends of Animals, a nonprofit advocacy group, adopted a vegan lifestyle 15 years ago and has been championing a plant-based diet for more than 20 years.
“I don’t think there’s a benefit in meat. I dispute it. The more we get away from meat, the better we are,” Feral said yesterday from her kitchen as she gathered ingredients for her chestnut soup.
Feral’s “veganized” menu has all the fixings with appetizers, a main course and dessert.
For starters, guests will enjoy carrot pate seasoned with olive oil, dill and miso. There are side dishes of green beans with almonds cooked with vegan margarine and Feral’s favorite, mashed Yukon potatoes whipped with soy creamer, sea salt and chives.
The main dish, tempeh London broil, a soy bean-based cake marinated in olive oil, wine, lemon juice and tamari - a wheat-free soy sauce - is a “crowd pleaser,” Feral said.
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6 Comments
On November 30, 2007, Mike wrote:
Great article! The fact of the matter is, that many people don’t need to consume meat at all, and even those who do, need only a few ounces a week. I know a few body builders who have absolutely massive, beautiful, strong physiques who consume very little animal-sourced protein.
Of course, not all metabolisms are alike, and some people may require more animal protein than others. But I think fast food chains would quickly shift to more vegan offerings on their menus if people popularized the need for the experience of the sustainable joyful feeling that comes with a vegan diet rather than seeking the brief comfort attained from fatty meat items.
Unfortunately, I don’t think the movie “Supsersize Me” put enough of a scare in people and even though some fast food chains, have incorporated some vegetable offerings, the vegetable portions are disproportionately undersized, offer little nutritious, little taste and are then wrapped in some form of white-flour breading and gobbed in entirely too much mayonnaise.
I firmly believe that a more vegan lifestyle (if not a complete one) can boost the autoimmune system and stave off diabetes, normalize blood pressure and cholesterol, reduce the occurance of arthritis and a huge number of other illnesses without the need for anything more than lots of good vegetables.
Maybe FOA can generate the cash to open a McDonald’s style restaurant (drive thru and sit-in) chain that offers only whole food choices at fast-food prices. There is nothing cheap about McDonald’s; I really believe that whole food options could be served at the same prices and be very profitable!
Peace & Love
On December 2, 2007, James wrote:
Actually, Mike, no one needs to consume any meat, dairy, or eggs (animal protein) at all! I believe Carl Lewis won nine gold medals while on a vegan diet! However, a vegan diet must be well-planned. It’s prudent for vegans to take B12 supplements since B12 is made by micro-organisms on the surface of plants and rinsing fruits and vegetables may rinse them away. (Pre-historic people didn’t rinse fruits and vegetables and therefore got B12.)
The dairy industry has lots of people brainwashed into thinking we all need huge amounts of calcium to build strong bones or prevent osteoporosis and I actually think many people think dairy is the best if not the only source of calcium. Having strong bones and preventing osteoporosis is more complicated than simply consuming enough calcium. Actually, a well-planned vegan diet has plenty of calcium. After all, billions of people in the world are lactose intolerant after infancy and they aren’t all walking around with multiple fractures!
On December 11, 2007, Tony wrote:
Well. If you wish to be vegan thats fine by me but I won’t stop eating meat and I won’t make my kid stop eating it either.To each their own.I’ve eaten meat all my life and I’m 28 and healthier then most of you probably.But unlike most ( not all ) vegans, I will not force my meat eating nature down your throat or say you are bad for being vegan.To many vegans think it’s their duty to try and force people to become vegan.Not gonna happen that way.Most PR vegans groups put out about meat is usually false or overly blown out of perportion.
On January 5, 2008, Fabiano Muner wrote:
Great article ! There is no reason why we need to celebrate a holiday by having to kill an innocent creature. Of course, then we have to see shots on television of barns packed with turkeys, etc. Perhaps these images sould be interspersed with the brutality of the slaughterhouse.Maybe then people would view meat as more than a package on a shelf.
On January 7, 2008, Fabiano Muner wrote:
Tony, may I ask you, why would you come to this sort of message board? It is true that we feel it is a duty to educate individuals like yourself about the consequences of your food choices. We do not “force” people to do anything. To say that animal rights groups put out false information about meat is irresponsible. Perhaps you are just uncomfortable with facing the realities that eating meat has on you, the environment, and of course the defenseless creatures who die by literally the millions each and every year?
On February 16, 2012, Junior wrote:
Farmer Jefferson: There is a difference between the science of genetic engineering and the business practices of large agricultural corporations. Nothing in the methods of genetic engineering requires the creation of monopolies and patented seeds nor the suing of farmers. The bad behavior of corporations should not be seen as a wholesale indictment of a useful tool.