Progressive Kitch

Did you know Pythagoras had a mathematical musical vegetarian cult? Have you heard about the Manchester Victorian vegetarian church? Did you know early vegetarians weren't called vegetarians, but Brahmins? As interest in veganism and vegetarianism soars, there's no shortage of recipe sites, food documentaries, and information to help folks go vegan. But if you go looking for a a cohesive picture of our movement's history, your brain will be left hungry. BBC radio guy, vegan podcaster, and history enthusiast Ian McDonald envisions a cure for this sad situation -- wait til you hear what he's working on! Better yet, wait til you hear how you can be part of it. Listen! Linkfest: Progressive Kitch Episode 6: Anti-Veg Myths -- Debunkery and Social Navigation, The Vegan Option -- Judgemental: social attitudes towards vegetarians, Rynn Berry, Best of the Left. Braingarden: Vegetarianism: The Story So Far - A Radio History, The History of the World, by J.M. Roberts & O.A. Westad. Image credit: History photo via Shutterstock.

What are you thankful for? We're thankful for the opportunity to visit with Victoria Moran, vegan lifestyle coach, radio host, and author of Main Street Vegan -- and we're also extra-super-thankful that our Thanksgiving table won't feature any dead birds! Like Halloween, Thanksgiving poses special navigational challenges to plant-eaters. We sort right through the holiday's ambiguous history, the nature of tradition invention, and the fine art of dealing constructively with friends and family members who can't imagine a turkey-free Thanksgiving table. Listen! Your Episode 11 Reference Link Library Nation's Top Airports Offer More Plant-Based Meals Fran Costigan, author of Vegan Chocolate: Unapologetically Luscious and Decadent Dairy-Free Desserts "Vegan Chocolate," With Chef Fran Costigan Main Street Vegan with Victoria Moran, on Unity FM Radio If you're approaching Thanksgiving for the first time from a vegan or vegetarian perspective, the nature of tradition construction and defense deserves reflection. Progressive Kitch, Episode 6 -- Anti-Veg Myths: Debunkery and Social Navigation Turkeys, Marketing, and Thanksgiving Tradition Invention Vegan Thanksgiving: Celebrating a Turkey-Free Table Eating Vegan: Responding Constructively to Anti-Veg Myths Once you've got Thanksgiving sussed out, by the way, swing by EatDrinkBetter and check out my new series Top News from the Food Front, for a weekly roundup of stories that deserve attention from conscious eaters. It publishes each Saturday -- watch for it! BrainGarden Check out Victoria's shenanigans at Main Street Vegan! Whether you're looking for a great book, a radio show, or a vegan lifestyle coach training program, you'll find something amazing there. Recommended viewing: The Ghosts in our Machine Blackfish Also be sure to join the Facebook group Thoughtful Thanksgiving, for some wonderful vegan feast ideas! This group is brought to you by friend of the show Marla Rose, who also created the very fabulous Humane Halloween event last month. Thankfulness! Thanks to Victoria Moran for serving as co-host for this PK episode! Thanks to all of you for listening, and for sharing, and for rating Progressive Kitch on iTunes so that other conscious eaters can find us. Look for us on Facebook and Twitter, and we'll see you there! Thanks for all you do to build a better world, by embracing traditions that reflect your values of compassion and nonviolence. Happy (Vegan) Thanksgiving! Image credit: cornucopia photo via Shutterstock. Music credit: Hot Swing by Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech.

Cooking vegan for omnivorous kiddos? Transitioning towards plant-based habits with your family in tow? Worried about the horrors of navigating a certain candy-centric holiday with your vegan child? Don’t be scared! Humane Halloween creator Marla Rose joins us to explore tricks, treats, and tactics for feeding kids at a vegan table — or from a vegan-candy-stuffed punkin’. Listen! Your Episode 10 Reference Library The myth that ‘pushing your values onto’ your children is somehow different than ‘parenting’ deserves debunking — after listening to the takedown of that particular bit of foolishness, please proceed to Progressive Kitch Episode 6: Anti-Veg Myths — Debunkery & Social Navigation, where we tackle all’a the other ones! For many of the tips and tricks mentioned in this podcast episode, in a less wordy and more visual format, please check out The Rainbow Feast: Vegan Cooking for Omni Kids. Best effing pie chart ever — yes: EVER! — What Vegans Eat. (Great: now I’m hungry for pie!… and granola. Or maybe a nice slice of question mark...) There do exist a few notable exceptions to the no-feaux rule, for kid-friendly vegan cuisine: Gardein Field Roast Beyond Meat If you’re looking for dairy workarounds, for yourself or young people in your care, these are excellent for that purpose: The Joy of Vegan Baking Artisan Vegan Cheese Online resources: nooch sauce, cashew cheese Otherwise, look for recipes that don’t need cheese — the plain vegan cheeses and milks go over better with the grownup set. The Lorax — READ IT! (yes: again… the more often, the better!) Regarding All-Hallows ‘traditions’: like all other traditions in the human social sphere, they are freakin’ fluid. Dear world, please accept and deal with this premise appropriately! It is not only POSSIBLE to build Halloween (or Thanksgiving or Christmas or Arbor Day or WHATEVER) customs that match your family’s needs and values: it is both desirable and — wait for it! — traditional. BrainGarden This month’s BG picks are Vegan Street and Humane Halloween. Mwhahahahahahaaa! Spooky, eh?! If you’ve enjoyed this PK episode, check out our podcast archive for more happy vegan-revelry-type goodness — or find us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and/ or subscribe via iTunes or your podcatcher of choice — if you have a second to rate us on iTunes, it really helps people stumble across the PK groove. We love feedback: email progressivekitch@gmail.com with any comments, concerns, questions, complaints, requests, thoughts, insights, etc. etc. etc. Thanks for listening, and Happy — er, wait, no — SPPPOOOOOKKY! (kid-friendly vegan) eating! Image credit: punkin’ kid photo via Shutterstock. Music credit: Hot Swing by Kevin MacLeod, via Incompetech.

We recently had an opportunity to visit with one of the creators of Vegan Food Magazine, a brand-spanking-new online publication preparing for blast-off next month. And o-my-goodness, what fun we had! Misconceptions about vegan eating, shocking revelations about the Parisian vegan scene, implications of ‘the health argument’ for veganism, the moral schizophrenia surrounding horse vs. cow slaughter, and rowdy discourse regarding those pasturbatory ‘Paleo’ diets… naturally, it’s all interspersed with random cat-vs-podcaster maulings, for your listening enjoyment. With a couple/ three glasses of vegan wine to grind our gears, we sort it all right out! OH YES: also in this episode, learn about beans that can ‘toxic’ you if you don’t hang’em in the river first. (Curious? Listen!)

This week we delve into headlines: Paula Deen, disgraced and disgruntled -- but mysteriously it has nothing to do with her cooking. Monsanto's claims fail to stand up to scientific scrutiny (yet again!), vis a vis improved crop yields. Chipotle's Mexican Grill boldly goes where no national restaurant chain has gone before, with voluntary GMO labeling. A cookbook called 'Kale' should actually be called 'Pig-n-Butter.' The USDA drops many balls, and some legislators are a**holes. (Ok, well, maybe that last part isn't news... but hey: listen anyway! We also have goat stories!)

So you've decided to go vegan -- CONGRATULATIONS! It's a journey well worth making, and a joyfully satisfying way to eat. Habit is comforting, and change can be intimidating; but armed with some knowledge and a world of resources, the transition to a vegan kitchen doesn’t have to be anything but exciting and delicious!

'You need meat for protein! Eating meat is natural! Lookit my pointy teeth! What about the poor plants?!' When you go vegetarian or vegan, you'll almost certainly (and almost immediately) encounter a specific set of myths and assumptions that serve to rationalize the dominant meat-soaked food paradigm. To navigate this cultural game of Fact or Crap, it's important to understand why these perennial arguments are bunk; and it's (maybe even more) important to know how to respond to these myths, when you hear them. Because you will! And what happens next can change the world. Listen!

There's a secrecy craze sweeping the nation right now, fueled by the animal-ag industry's deep lobbying pockets: bills pending in several states would criminalize whistleblowers and undercover investigators at animal facilities, towards the ignobal goal of protecting criminal abusers and mandating consumer ignorance. Cheryl Leahy (COK) and Mathew Dominguez (HSUS) join us for an in-depth discussion of what 'ag-gag' means, and why it matters -- and most importantly, what you can do to stop the madness!

This week we delve into why food tends to get a pass, from progressive thinkers -- and why it surely shouldn't! We also tackle the mysteries of the deep: how marine-life-under-cellophane (aka 'seafood') labels mislead consumers, and why it matters (hint: it really really really matters). Mediterranean diet advocates encourage fish-eating: so should we do it? Also, we have exciting Kickstarter news to report, some great new recipes, a cookbook review, and even (gasp) some sweetness and light from the food-news dispatch. Listen!

What's a GMO, and why should you care? If you value health, environmentalism, social justice, corporate accountability, and functional democracy, the issues surrounding genetically modified food deserve your ear! GMO Free USA's Diana Reeves pops by for an in-depth discussion of genetically engineered food crops, the need for GMO labeling, and strategies by which 'we the people' can agitate for meaningful change. Join us!

We cover some serious ground this week, so buckle up and hang on! HSUS offers a Congressional report card, on ag legislation affecting animal treatment. We embrace a diverse food ethics community, then throw stuff deliciously about the kitchen (recipes included!). Dawn cooks for vegan hounds. Food industry inches towards federal GMO labeling — but don’t get too excited, rotten motives may be in play. And we’re tickled to announce our first cookbook giveaway — comment to enter!

Before we unpack the heavy stuff, maybe we should get to know each other a little bit — listen, to find out Everything You Ever Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask, about who we are and exactly what we’re up to! Meanwhile, new study links fast food to pediatric asthma, eczema, and hay fever. Another new study finds animal agriculture hugely wasteful of resources (I know: shocking, right?!). In both studies, researchers tiptoe away from the possibility that changing our behavior in these domains might just perhaps be something like maybe sort of a good idea. One of my recent EatDrinkBetter articles addresses the foolishness of the ‘everything in moderation’ argument, when applied literally to food issues; and o-yes-maam-and-sir, it’s relevant here! In what must surely be one of the seven signs of the apocalypse, I actually agree with something written in National Hog Farmer! Yes: people should definitely do their homework and seek out food meeting their values as well as nutritional needs. Finally, some sense from that bunch — excellent! (I’ll try not to get used to it…) Dawn raised The Lectin Guy’s allegations that beans are vicious health-damaging devil-fruits, in which convo we explore some silly ideas perpetually circulating within popular culture. Discussion includes capitalism, fads, evidence, soy, and marketing. Melanie Joy’s new article at One Green Planet offers a beautiful summary of why it’s so important to examine the stories we tell ourselves about our food choices. This inaugural episode of Progressive Kitch has been brought to you by the words ‘radical‘ and ‘moderation,’ and by the number 10 billion. Thanks for listening, and happy radical eating!