The alarming incidence of mass alarming deaths is plotted on this Google map.
Farm Rescue Facebook Game
The clever folks at Animal Graphics produce for people on Facebook a new game, Farm Rescue, which
you can adopt chickens who were rescued from battery cages and bring them back to health by helping them practice their natural behaviors, like perching, nesting, dustbathing, exercising, and exploring. The more you help your chickens practice their natural behaviors, the faster they will recover and grow their feathers back. When they’re at full health, you can adopt them out to good homes.
The Grumpy Vegan has to admit that he’s not a game player but this one looks to not only fun but educational!
Factory Farming in the USA
Food and Water Watch recently published an excellent report on factory farming in the USA and a companion map detailing the location of factory farms state-by-state. The report’s Key Findings are
Between 1997 and 2007, there was a geographic and economic shift in where and how food is raised in the United States. Even a few decades ago, there were small- and medium-sized dairy, cattle and hog farms dispersed all across the country. Today, these operations are disappearing. The remaining operations are primarily large-scale factory farms that are concentrated in specific regions, states and even counties where the thousands of animals on each farm can produce more sewage than most large cities, overwhelming the capacity of rural communities to cope with the environmental and public health burdens.
Battery Cages and Salmonella
Animal Visuals produced an excellent presentation on the increase in risk from Salmonella from eggs produced by chickens battery cages. Click here to access it.
Vegan Sponge Cake–the Recipe!
The recipe for the now famous vegan sponge cake is from Rose Elliot’s The Complete Vegetarian Cuisine. The recipe for Vegan Chocolate Sponge Cake can be found on page 303. The cocoa powder was omitted and lemon essence added to make it into a Victoria sponge. Subsequently, the same recipe was made again but this time a little more flour was added and the batter cooked in individual muffin trays. Delicious, again! Also, in our home, Rose Elliot’s recipe in the same book (ours is a much battered copy–no pun intended) for Vegan Fruit Cake (310) and Whole-Wheat Banana Tea Bread (often cooked as muffins) are perennial favourites.
Vegan Sponge Cake
The Grumpy Vegan didn’t make this vegan sponge cake but someone in his household did! It was delicious and still moist one day later!
