SoulVeggie

Special! 200 Recipes: "No More Bull" (H. Lyman) & HHPizza Together!

While going through some boxes in my office, I found a box full of "No More Bull!" books by Howard Layman, aka, "The Mad Cowboy" (see description below). I helped edit this book, as well as select and manage the recipe section.

What a time interacting with some of the top vegan chefs ever! I've decided to share my find.

With Howard's permission, I'm offering a copy of "No More Bull!" and MY book (the 1st vegan pizza cook book) "Heart Healthy Pizza: Over 100 Plant-Based Recipes for the Healthiest Pizza in the World" for a special discount. I'm willing to autograph either or both. 

You get around 220 vegan recipes. 

"NO MORE BULL! The Mad Cowboy Targets America's Worst Enemy: Our Diet" by Howard Lyman with Glen Merzer & Joanna Samorow-Merzer 

"Howard Lyman, who told the story of his transition from cattle rancher to vegetarian in Mad Cowboy, exposes the flimsy lies sustaining the meat industry in this new volume.  With an update on the Mad Cow threat, an eye-opening discussion of the link between Alzheimer's and meat consumption, and a raucous dissection of the folly of high-protein diets, "No More Bull!" makes the case for a plant-based diet as clearly and powerfully as it's ever been made. 

Features over 100 vegan recipes from Howard's friends, cookbook authors, award-winning chefs, and easy-to-follow tips for those transitioning to a vegan or plant-based diet. 

Includes recipes from Robin Robertson, Nava Atlas, Chef Ron Pickarski, Chef Ken Bergeron, Bryanna Clark Grogan, Dr. Neal Barnard (President, PCRM), Brenda Davis, Chef Beverly Lynn Bennett, Patricia Bertron, Dr. T. Colin Campbell ("The China Study"), Albert Chase, Robert Cohen (the NotMilkMan), Joseph Connelly (VegNews), Sally Errey, JoAnn Farb, Dr. Alan Goldhamer ("The Pleasure Trap"), Dr. Michael Greger (Nutrtionfacts.org), Francis Moore Lappe ("Diet for a Small Planet"), Dr. John and Mary McDougall, Vesanto Messina, Marie Oser, Tanya Petrovna (founder, "Native Foods"), Jennifer Raymond, Jo Stepaniak ("The UnCheese Cookbook," Larry Wheat (Owner of the "Millenium Restaurant"), and many more! 

Pass this unique deal around.  You can learn more at:

http://www.hearthealthypizza.com/NMBHHP.html

 

Audio: Orson Welles Meets "Vegan World"

Dr. Don Wagner and I did an "Orson Welles War of the Worlds" in a radio interview last week, with the concept of "what if the world went vegan last night?" 

It was quite the improv experience. 1st few minutes, my book, the rest, a "thought experiment" in real-time on what the implications would be for the planet and global society.  Apparently, some listeners actually thought it had happened and went looking online social media for reference to the event!

It's about 45 minutes streamed or as an MP3 audio download:

Don and I had talked about the possibility the night before, and I said, "sure, you lead, I'll follow."  We were basing the idea upon a recent blog anniversary essay I wrote, "While You Were Sleeping..." 

A wild ride ensued.  We covered, among other things, farm animals, Global  Climate Change, water, companion animals and cancer, the entertainment industry, the health profession, the military-industrial complex, and more. Don has interviewed so many "biggies" the past several years (Barnard, Esselstyn, Tuttle, Goldhamer, Greger, etc.) and was quite knowledgeable and obviously "on fire" during the discussion.

In many ways the interactions encapsulated some distilled essences of many of those interviews and what he's learned in his efforts to "change the way we eat, and in effect, change the world." We riffed on a war between two worlds: plant-based and current.

My thanks to Dr. Don for a wonderful bit of time thinking about the future, and the fun we had.  It was a tightrope walk, and I'm honored to have been on the rope with him.  We all DO need to ponder about and plan for the future inevitability of most of the planet being whole foods plant-based.  It's gonna happen.

Check out his archives for so many marvelous and informative interviews (over 600 he's done, don't know how many are in the archives) with authors, nutritionists, scientists, and movers'n'shakers swimming upstream society's river of ignorance.  You won't be disappointed.

Eat a Breast to Save a Breast?

The following is excerpts from an article about KFC's "pink" buckets for donation to a breast cancer charity.  Personally, I find this offensive.  It's like "pink soda cans" to fight childhood obesity, or "pink cigarette packs" to combat lung cancer.

Some excerpts from the full article:

"Kentucky Fried Chicken is fighting breast cancer one big pink bucket of chicken at a time.  In the latest incarnation of pink ribbon promotions, the prominent breast cancer advocacy group Susan G. Komen for the Cure has teamed up with KFC in a national "Buckets for the Cure" campaign which will run until May 23... For each pink bucket of chicken purchased, KFC will donate 50 cents to Komen with the ultimate goal of $8 million -- which would be the single largest donation ever received by the organization.

The campaign has already raised $2 million in its first week alone.  While corporate partnerships like the "pink bucket" provide essential non-profit funding for breast cancer advocacy, Komen's current campaign raises the question among some critics: is pink promotion being taken too far?

... KFC has over 5,000 restaurants nationwide, 900 of which are in communities that Komen currently has no presence or outreach in, so when the fast food chain expressed interest in a partnership, Komen took it as an "opportunity to connect and educate," Rader says.  "Mother's day is typically KFC's biggest sales day, so the idea was that this would be a good window for this promotion," Rader  [director of marketing and communications at Susan G. Komen for the Cure] says. "We find that when people see these kinds of promotions, they act on it, whether by going to the website, talking to a neighbor or a doctor, and that's critical to us -- that awareness."

...According to medical experts, there is an established connection between eating fatty, high caloric food and the risk for breast cancer [apparently, the "experts" haven't read history's largest study on diet, "The China Study," where Campbell pretty much implicated all animal protein as cancer enablers]...

... Still, for all the progress and all the research, the number of women dying of breast cancer has not really gone down, she [Rock, who researches the connection between diet and breast cancer at University of California, San Diego] says.  "We're doing something wrong [in our prevention efforts], and one of the things we're doing wrong is how we eat."

I watched my mother develop breast cancer and die on Mother's Day when I was 14 years old.  It was awful, and Komen has sold their soul to KFC for tainted donations, taking those funds from the people who can least afford such, and who, ironically, because of their ignorance, will most likely to pay a helluva cost in heart disease, cancer, and Type II Diabetes as a result of what they eat.  This is blood money, and hypocritical to the max.  The Susan G. Komen for the Cure group should be thoroughly ashamed.

Rant: On "Comfort Foods" & Related Issues

IMHO, by characterizing foods as "comfort foods" we draw upon emotions rather than intellect.  Many of the food products (or, as Pollan would put it, "food-like substances") we were given as children have been shown to be rather unhealthy.  They have become "unhealthy" attachments and, in many cases, taste addictions.  The topic came up in a list I belong to (fatfree vegan).  My response got too long, hence this post.

Plastic white Wonder Bread, Cocoa Puffs, Campbell's Soups, Pizza, McDonald's Fries, Gummy Bears, and the list goes on and on.  I remember when doctors would SMOKE in their offices (one in particular, advising me that my being a vegetarian was risky to my health).  It's not a coincidence that food companies spend most of their advertising dollars targeting children ("hook 'em when the're young, you get them for life").  Then there's the "bond" to these unhealthy foods that comes from the fact that it's those we trust when we are young, (our parents and relatives) who give us that stuff.

It takes determination, will, and mental discipline, to remind ourselves that emotional attachments to unhealthy food are one of the reasons we have around 24 million diabetics in this country (6 million of those unaware of such), and lose near half a million (not counting those deaths from other cardiovascular-related problems) a year to heart attacks.  Our public and governmental institutions have failed completely, for the most part, in helping people understand what is healthy and what isn't.  Considering the amount of money spent on advertising bad food products it's not surprising how screwed up the conventional views of good nutrition are ("Over 10 billion dollars is spent on fast food advertising to children annually in numerous fashions.").

I see many vegetarians and vegans gleefully substitute high fat faux cheeses and meats, lots of sugar, excessive sodium, and/or added oil to recipes to duplicate "comfort foods."  Large amounts of sugar and refined flour as "they deserve a treat" on Valentine's Day.  "Deserve?"  Hardly.  They misleadingly believe that because they are vegan, they have removed the risk of having cardiovascular issues or diabetes.  Far from it.  It might be reduced some, but they can still get fat and saturated fat from non-animal sources that, from the body's risks standpoint, is essentially the same as from animal sources.  Added oil fuels development of plaque that causes strokes (that's not a cholesterol issue) and inflames your blood vessels.  One fatty meal decreases your blood vessels elasticity for several hours (that's a measured fact).  Using more sugar in a meal than recommended per day by the American Heart Association is not a "treat."  It's potential long-term suicide.  Over time, it's probably gonna kill ya.  A la McDougall, Esselstyn, Barnard, and Campbell:  "Moderation kills."

This is why when celebrated vegan chefs like Tal repeatedly say, "Fat is Flavor," I believe he isn't really helping the human animals and is basically a nutritional moron.  PCRM recently praised his cookbook, "Conscious Cooking" while dissing Julia Childs, mentioning heart disease, yadda, whereas in fact, some of his recipes are significantly higher in added fat then hers!

"Daiya Cheese," which so many vegans worship, has more fat per serving than WHOLE MILK mozzarella.  It's essentially a nutritiously vapid food-like substance that's mostly oil.  "But it melts!" proclaim the fat-addicted vegans.  "It saves [non-human] animals!" yell the animal rights activists.

Big whoop.  Remember that when they put the stents in.  Which reminds me:  how ironic that many articles about President Clinton's recent surgery mentioned that his last one (quadruple bypass) was successful.  Successful?  That means he didn't die from complications.  If it were successful, he wouldn't need the stents.  You see, modern medicine CANNOT cure heart disease, only extend one's life a bit.  Yet, two people, independently, 20 years of peer-reviewed research, have REVERSED IT through a no-added fat diet (one was vegetarian, one was vegan).  Both men recommend NO added oil, not even in moderation.  Here's 15 documented and referenced reasons to avoid added oil to help elucidate the problems.

How can anyone intelligently argue against this?  Added oil/fat, salt, and sugar is killing us in huge numbers.  It's not just a meat or dairy issue.  To argue against no added fat and limiting sugar and salt in your diet is like arguing against evolution, gravity, and the Earth revolving around the Sun.  We're talking facts here people, not theory, conjecture, or educated guesses.

My "take no prisoners" approach stems from Dr. Esselsytn telling me in that interview I did with him three years ago this week.  He didn't want to just reduce the numbers (a la Mediterranean Diet as he pointed out in someone else's interview), he wanted to crush it (different phraseology).  By thinking of such fatty, salty, and or sugary foods as "comforting," it's too easy for many people to justify consumption of same, and continued addiction.  Making a fatty vegan mac'n'cheese for your kids is not loving, it's potentially killing.  Creating future fat addicts.

Re-training your taste buds to not crave excess salt, sugar, and fat, is doable (around 14 wks.), but, imho, like an alcoholic, it's usually an "all or nothing" situation for most of us.  Fortunately, many of the so-called "comfort" foods can be duplicated, to varying degree, without the fat, sugar, salt, and unpronounceable chemicals.  Perhaps, though, the best strategy, is to create new and healthier comfort foods.  We can then  break with the unhealthy past and establish new rituals based upon new knowledge.

For those interested, Jonathan Foer goes into the issue a lot in his book, "Eating Animals."  His work surprised me in depth of thought and overall approach.  The issue of family rituals and eating was one of the book's arcs that he was wrestling with in his eventual decision that eating factory farmed meat was wrong.  There would be new family rituals regarding food, they would be healthy, and they would not involve meat.  In effect, "healthy" comfort foods would be emphasized, and his child would have a better chance of living longer and healthier as a result.

Optimally, the healthiest comfort food is no-added oil, minimal sugar, minimal salt, and vegan.  The evidence is in, and if one can eliminate the emotional attachments and taste addictions, one can drastically increase opportunities for a longer and healthier life. 

For me, that's a comforting thought, and, the real treat.

Myths: Fruit Juice and Antioxidanted Water

Thanks to notmeat.us for posting about the NY Times article the source of this excerpt (and supportive of McDougall's viewpoint which I blogged about last week):.

"One big myth is that fruit juice is a healthy part of our diet. Wrong. Drinking a glass of fruit juice a day — which is the equivalent of one soft drink of 110 to 180 calories — has been linked in the U.S., Australia and Spain to increased calorie intake and higher risks of diabetes and heart disease.

Eating a piece of fruit provides vitamins, fiber and, best of all, tends to reduce intake of other food. Most fruit juices are just sugary beverages, providing extra calories — all from refined carbohydrates — without sating appetite. And this is true whether you drink apple or orange juice or one of the fancy new juices like acai berry or pomegranate juice. The added calories can contribute to weight gain and increased risk of both diabetes and heart disease.

A second myth surrounds foods and waters, which are heavily marketed for their antioxidant properties. Consumption of fruits and vegetables is linked with decreased risk of coronary heart disease and stroke and some benefits for various cancers. Some foods, like dark chocolate, which has antioxidants, are also linked in careful scientific research to reduced risk of heart disease.

But none of the antioxidant waters, which are very popular, have shown any health benefits, despite their indirect marketing pitches. Essentially, what one is buying is expensive water with sweeteners and some flavorings and supplements added. However, just as almost all studies of antioxidants provided as supplements have found no benefits, we would not expect to find them added to water to produce any benefits, either."

--- Barry M. Popkin, an economist and nutrition epidemiologist, directs the Interdisciplinary Center for Obesity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is author of the “The World Is Fat: The Fads, Trends, Policies and Products That Are Fattening the Human Race.”

Why 10% Fat?

"The diet I recommend for most people comprises approximately 10 percent of calories from fat.  The average American [and many vegans or vegetarians] eats a diet that's about 40% fat.  Why 10 percent?

Your body only needs about 4 to 6 percent of calories as fat to synthesize what are inown as essential fatty acids.  The Life Choice diet, also called the Reversal Diet, is about 10 percent fat, because it proviees more than enough fat without giving you more than you need.  It's the excessive amounts of fat and cholesterol in your diet --- that lead to obesity, heart disease, and other illnesses.

You don't need a computer to calculate a 10 percent fat diet.  When you eat primarily fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans... and no added oils, that's what you end up with.  And that's what your body has evolved to handle.

For most people, a 10 percent fat diet allows approximately 20 to 25 grams of fat per day. [Note:  1 tablespoon of any oil is 14 grams of pure fat.] This "fat quota" will increase or decrease to some degree based on you frame size, gender, and exercise levels, but it's a good place to begin... If you eat some commercially prepared products, then read the nutritional label on the package.  Since you want to keep your total fat onsumption per day around 20 to 25 grams, try to choose foods that hae no more than 3 grams of fat per serving.  Even less is better."

--- Dr. Dean Ornish, p. 9, "Everyday Cooking with Dr. Dean Ornish"

[Ornish is one of the ONLY two guys to reverse heart disease, and both he and Dr. Esselstyn (independently) provided over 20 years of peer-reviewed research that substantiates their "no added fat" approach.  Coupled with Dr. Barnard's research reversing Type II Diabetes through the same "no added fat" diet, it's hard to fathom why some vegans and vegetarians still proudly claim "moderation is king" and that "a little bit won't hurt" when all three experts, plus Dr. McDougall, say that "moderation kills."  The faux cheeses, the addition of liquid fat (olive oil), the often fatty meat substitutes --- all affect your circulatory system and cause temporary constriction (this has been measured).  The continued assault on your biology via fat eventually takes its toll.  But by eliminating the craving for fat, you also eliminate the fuel for plaques to develop (leading to strokes).  It's doable --- just takes willpower (the same kind you used, maybe, to go veg?).

Anyway, the above ain't theory, folks, it's based on fact, measurements, and solid research.  Besides, oil is not a food, and too many people are oblivious to that reality.  Go no-added fat vegan, live longer, be healthier, and drastically reduce your risk for heart disease, diabetes, and a host of other diseases.

It's that simple.]

50 Ways to Lose Your Ticker

Wow... here's a "vegan" blogger going "whole hog" on promoting added fat  (a nutritionally useless non-food, Vegenaise) in your diet, by having the dietary callousness to list 50 ways to add fat to what you eat, labeling this effort "creative and yummy, " and in effect, demonstrating a stunning complete obliviousness to the many heath issues that have been shown to be problematic with all that added fat:

http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2009/11/fifty-yummy-uses-for-vegenaise-spread.html

Sure, let's ignore 20 years of peer-reviewed research regarding added fat & heart disease, as well as the American Heart Association's recommendations regarding added fat.  After all, you're being "creative" and this is all "yummy."  Right?

How bad is this?  Vegenaise is 9 grams of canola oil fat per tablespoon (about a half a day's worth of fat from the guy's who've reversed heart disease, Ornish and Esselstyn) and one sixth a day's worth of fat as advised by the American Heart Association.  Kat lists fifty ways to ADD FAT (Vegenaise) to your food...  Obesity, heart disease, and a host of physical disorders plague society, and she's is advocating adding more fat to your diet 'cause it tastes good.

My favorite is:  "50. Eat it with a Spoon..."

That's not funny.  It's sad.  To Kathy, all that matters is that it "tastes good," regardless of the impact that added fat can have on your cardiovascular system, brain (Altzheimer's,), pancreas (diabetes), and overall health (obesity).  Added fat-related disorders are bankrupting health care and destroying the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of people, and she gleefully advocates adding "vegan mayo" to oatmeal cereal for breakfast (#46), yogurt (#14),  as a dip for tempeh (#21), with pancakes, (#36), and in sorbet (#37).

Check it out.  It doesn't get more ignorant than this.  Another "must see" post by probably the most nutritionally misleading and myopic "vegan" blogger on the Internet.  And she has the audacity to egotistically self-proclaim her ideas on adding fat to everything but drinking water as "uber-creative."  Yeah, right.

I suggest that "uber-oblivious" might be a more accurate description.  "Uber-deluded" a close second.

Anyway, have a "healthy happy life."  Ignore Kathy's advice at "Healthy Happy Life."  You'll live longer, happier, and with greater chanes of avoiding Heart Disease, Altzheimer's, Obesity, and Diabetes.  After all, can someone really take the advice of a fat addicted blogger who recommends putting vegan mayo in sorbet seriously?

"A Vegan Zombie's Vegan Twinkie'

In a short article about how Woody Harrelson, while acting in his new movie, "Zombieland," insisted on vegan twinkies made from corn with no sugar.  Says Woody:

"I'm not a Twinkie lover. I don't do sugar or dairy either. When we finally shot my Twinkie-eating scene in the movie, they had to give me a specially made mock Twinkie made of corn meal. It could spur a healthy Twinkie revolution."

The author of the article then recommends a vegan twinkie recipe from Schmoofood & Vegan Lunchbox (here).  How unfortunate.  I've blogged about the clever author of Vegan Lunchbox years ago when it started out, but in recent times I stopped reading her blog for the most part when she was praising "Pringles."

Anyway, I checked out the "Schmooed Food" twinkie recipe and did the math:  28 grams of vegan olive oil/shortening/margarine fat per twinkie, and a whopping 52 grams of sugar per serving.  Oh, and there's 7 grams of saturated fat per twinkie.

Put into perspective:  Ornish & Esselstyn (who've reversed heart disease) recommend between 14 and 24 grams of fat per day (around 10% of your total calories), the Feds no more than 60 grams of fat per day.  Regarding sugar:  the American Heart Association recommends no more than 37 grams of sugar PER DAY for an ADULT man, and no more than 16 grams of saturated fat per day for an adult woman.

Wow... a day's worth of useless added non-real food fat, a half day's worth of saturated fat, and over a day's worth of sugar in ONE "healthy" vegan twinkie.  Now imagine the physiological effect on a child's body.  Reminds me of some dialogue from the 1984 movie version of "Ghostbusters:"

"Dr. Egon Spengler: I'm worried, Ray. All my readings point to something big on the horizon.

Winston Zeddemore: What do you mean, big?

Dr. Egon Spengler: Well, let's say this Twinkie represents the normal amount of psychokinetic energy in the New York area. Based on this morning's reading, it would be a Twinkie thirty-five feet long, weighing approximately six hundred pounds.

Winston Zeddemore: That's a big Twinkie."

Fitting too, that one actually "injects" the filling into the twinkies.  That's not unlike injecting sugar and fat into your cardiovascular system when you eat one.  And It's ironic that the standard definition of the Hebrew term "shmoe" is essentially a "stupid" person.  But regardless, there's just no way I'd ever eat this schlock, vegan or not.  It's a nutritional short-range missile with multiple warheads of fat, saturated fat, and sugar.  Best to avoid it's negative impact on your body and target instead, real food.

[BONUS: check out the excellent summary article concerning oil, it's impact on your body, and cited articles, at the "Happy Healthy Longer Life" blog.  For a graphic of a real vegan zoombie, click here.]

[NOTE 10/16/09:  Happy Healthy Longer Life Blog link fixed... apologies!]

A "Mighty O" Heart Attack

A usually interesting vegan blogger today was praising "Mighty O Donuts" in Seatte.  To quote the blogger:

"Their donuts are all vegan and organic. Because there are no animal derived ingredients they are cholesterol free. Mighty O's are made locally, right in the shop and contain no trans fats, artificial colorings or ingredients and are calorie free."

Well, let's glom the nutritional numbers see if we can figure out what the little kid shown in her photo is actually eating.  Sure, it's going to be essentially flour, fat, oil, and sugar (that's what's in a donut).  I'm guessing it's the "peanut sprinkles" chocoloco (BTW: most of the other donuts are much HIGHER in the numbers below).  They don't note the fat content of the peanut sprinkles.

Here's the numbers and percentages for a 2,000 calorie a day grown ADULT:

FAT:  16 grams (almost a third of the total fat for an adult for a day a la Federalists, essentially full-day for Esselstyn and Ornish (who've reversed heart disease:  14 to 24 grams of fat per day)

SAT FAT:  7 grams (about 35% of what the American Health Association recommends for AN ADULT)

SUGAR:  16 grams of sugar (a little under half what the AHA recommends daily for ADULT MEN)

Wonderful.  At least, as the website notes so loudly, that their donuts are "organic," "clean," "non-gmo," and contains "nothing artificial.  After all, we wouldn't want a dirty heart attack.  What the are doing might sound noble ('environmental," "free trade," yadda yadda yadda...), but in reality they are making and selling a highly addictive and decidedly unhealthy VEGAN processed food fat, sugar, and oil delivery vehicles.

...and some wonder why are kids are showing such high obseity and Type II Diabetes rates!  It ain't just because the're not vegan, kiddos.  It's the glazed or sprinkled ticking nutritional time bombs served with a smile.  But, since the saturated fat can feed Altzheimer's, maybe they'll forget about it later.

Here's the company's "core values" (no direct link, badly designed Flash navigation):

• "Respect for individuals, community, and culture" (but we don't care if our products are nutritionally useless and promote heart disease, diabetes, Altzheimer's and obesity)
• "Respect for nature and the environment" (except for your cardiocascular system)
• "Recognize that continual improvement is necessary for our growth and existence.  Be innovative."  (...find new ways to package fat, sugar, salt, and flour, with a high profit margin, to sell to taste addicts)
• "Preserve modesty as an essential tenant to serve others" (WTF? Well, maybe it's "clean" modesty)
• "Be truthful.  Recognize that our success is based on more than profits." (that's true!  It's based on selling fat and sugar-ladden flour products with nano-nutritional value that significantly increase the odds for a shorter life span, while feeding the buyer's addictions)

It's also ironic 'cause they list a ton of artificial food-like ingredients they are avoiding and even include a link to a webpage about "Food Additives" that can cause cancer.  Pity they've missed the heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and Altzheimer's potential from their "natural" ingredients (oil is natural?  I've yet to see an "olive oil" well.).

Transcend your taste bud's addiction to fat, sugar, and salt... transform them into discriminators of REAL food, and not such deep-fried or baked sugar, fat, and flour nutritionally vapid nonsense as "Might O" Donuts.

That's PRESERVING LIFE... and being seriously RESPECTFUL to your body and to those people that love you.  Your health is based on more than taste... And that's the recognizable truth.

Whole Foods Lunchbox Program: Whole Foods Bull$hit

This is a wonderful example of a vegan blogger's absurdity regarding veganism, corporate PR, and nutrition (http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com --  she won't allow links from my blog to hers and re-directs them (that's how proud she is of her work), which, if you think about it, is pretty stupid.  Why wouldn't she want people to read her posts?).

In this post, http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2009/09/whole-foods-healthy-school-lunch-video.html, she promotes the Whole Foods Lunchbox Program and a video contest.  A classic Corporate PR attempt to spin Whole Foods stuff into healthy meals for kids.  And yet, she promotes it.  WTF?  Here's the link to their recipes (the sub-links sometimes don't have URLs):

"Does your child's school need a healthy lunch revolution? Well you're in luck because Whole Foods is sponsoring the Healthy School Lunch Video Contest featuring Chef Ann Cooper, "The Renegade Lunch Lady". The contest is all a part of their "School Lunch Revolution" campaign currently underway. "  (words of wisdom from Kathy)

Here's the catch:  check out the link to their website.  NOTHING under vegetarian yet (guess they were too busy).  Here's the recommended "cheeseburger" recipe link, and there's nothing without dairy in the "calcium" recipes menu option.  There's also no recipes under "Fruit" (guess that's a toughie).  Most of the Whole Grain recipes involve dairy, and or meat.  Oh, it's got a "great" section on "Red Meat" recipes.  And ALL the category "protein" recipes contain meat.  Whole Foods ain't got beans?

Way to go Kathy!!  Whole Foods is promoting largely meat and dairy based lunches for kids, and you in turn, probably without bothering to look at their website, are doing the same.

And you have the nerve to call yourself a "happy, healthy vegan."  You're promoting an unhealthy meat and dairy-based lunch program that is anything but lucky.  It encourages obesity, cancers, diabetes, and heart disease.  And in children...

What is lucky, is maybe some people will read this and realize that this kind of lack of basic research into nutrition, content, ingredients, and the demonstrable adherence to whatever a product's company says on their website without analysis, isn't doing anyone any good.  Digital fluff, nutritional hype.

IMHO, promoting a meat and dairy-based lunch program, as a self-proclaimed vegan, is hypocritical.  And, again, imho, you should be ashamed.