4 videos: Pink Slime in 70% of Ground Beef? + How hotdogs are made:

Hello my lovelies!
I have wanted to put these videos up for a long time now, but never got around to it until today. I re-watched them, and oh my god its CRAZY. As you probably know by now, I pretty much don't put up graphic images or videos, and these ones are also non-graphic, just GROSS!

Here is Jaime Oliver explaining that Pink Slime is a cheap, chemical-riddled filler that used to be suited only for the pet-food industry, but is now found in over 70% of ground beef in the U.S. and other countries too.



If you still eat hotdogs after this next video, well I don't even know what to say...

I used to work with a woman who had the same lunch time as me, and one day she asked why I don't eat meat or dairy, and how on Earth did I get my nutrients. This coming from someone who brought noodles and beef, (No veggies or fruit, like ever), or shrimp and noodles to pop into the staff kitchen microwave. She then realized that I might be feeding my son with this strange vegan diet and said to me: 

"No no no no! How will he grow if you only feed him fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds?? You don't even give him HOTDOGS??" I am not kidding. I just laughed and said "My son is already taller than you, and he's 11. And even if I did feed him meat I would NEVER ever give him hotdogs.
Here is a "How Hotdogs Are Made" Industry video, (not graphic, just really gross):



And one last video- Move over Pink Slime, it's Meat Glue!?: Meat Glue is used to stick non-choice meats together to make them seem like one whole piece. Fish, chicken, beef and pork industries love it.Watch the video to see why this may be dangerous:



After I have shown you all this, my question is, what's the difference, other than the chemicals used? It most definitely has a huge yuk-factor, but it's still a dead animal, and that doesn't seem to set off any alarms for regular folks. I cannot believe I was fed hotdogs as a kid. My parents didn't known better, but holy crap I wish I never put that in my body. 

Did it not freak anyone out when Jaime Oliver spray-painted the live cow to show where all the cuts would be made? I really hope this will be shared. I love every one of you. Thank you for all that you do. 

Welcoming Vulnerability:

Hello my lovelies! 
Lately I have been thinking about what this world would look like if we all welcomed vulnerability into our lives? When we admit that we don't have it all together instead of pretending we do, interesting things happen. 

Is your ego freaking out right now as I say this? Because if anyone got a glimpse of who we REALLY are they might not like us. Actually we are SURE they won't like us, so we put on a little show. This show probably involves what you wear, how you behave in public, what you say to your boss, what you put up on facebook, and a million other things. 

So in the spirit of making myself vulnerable, I will give you a few examples of things I know I do to make people believe I am a fully confident and well put together human... 

1. I have never mentioned on this blog that I have always had a completely unrelated job aside from all the stuff I do for beautiful-vegan. That's because I feel embarrassed that I am not savvy enough or popular enough to only be running this site... (some day though).

2. I also pretty much never mention that I have had a cane for the past several years due to a brutal accident I was in, because it makes me look like I am not able to heal myself, even as a mostly raw vegan who does yoga...

3. I do feel beautiful now, but in my school years I felt like a real loser, had no confidence and saw myself as ugly. I pretended I didn't care when people made fun of me, even though I wished I could just sit down and tell them that it hurt me so badly... Actually I still have people leaving me comments like "tattoos are ugly", or "you're not that beautiful", but I delete them...

There are so many more, but I'll tell you what it means to me to be honest with you; Freedom. I have been writing these posts and making silly videos for over 5 years now, and I want to just be myself around you :)

I can promise you that even though I am nowhere near perfect I am really trying my best to inspire positive change on this planet through my little blog, and with my every day interactions. It's all I think about. And how do I change the world? I change myself. I bust through my obstacles one by one, and I give as much of myself as I can.

Maybe you will try this exercise yourself. It's liberating to be vulnerable, and I think it might invite people in more, and make them feel comfortable around you. As for politicians admitting imperfection... don't hold your breath; but each one of us is a leader! 

 Ps. I will inevitably find spelling mistakes in this post after it gets sent out to all my subscribers :)

The Toronto Veggie Pride Parade 2013!!

Every day is Veggie Pride Day for Vegans and Vegetarians, but once a year we celebrate our lifestyle choice by throwing a big parade! If you are anywhere near Toronto please join us!

 Get dressed up or come as you are, to show your veggie love!

 

And at the end of the parade we have a big after-party with vegan food and entertainment!

See you there ;)

I went Fiddle-head Foraging Today!!

Today James took me on another secret date! He brought me to a beautiful forest I had never been to, just north of Toronto. It really felt like summer this week, and everything is in bloom, including these fiddle-heads we found! 

I was so excited because there is such a small window of time to harvest these little beauties, and even though I am doing a detox right now, I can freeze them for another day. I grew up eating fiddle-heads, and they certainly cannot be eaten raw because they can cause great stomach upset, so they must be steamed or boiled twice, with water discarded each time. Of course I eat mostly raw, but once a year I have a big bowl of these greens.

The last secret date James took me on was to a raptor sanctuary, where we took a private tour and I got to hold a tiny screech owl! He was such a little cutie! These birds are taken in because they have been injured in the wild, or people tried to raise them as pets, unfortunately, so they lose their ability to hunt and live in the wild.
Well that's it for today. The cleanse is going well, although I find myself cranky around food...

Why James Toth Loves Wildlife Photography!

Hey guys! James here. Just wanted to tell you a little about why I love what I do, and what it means to me :)

I have an admitted passion for birds and wildlife.  Influenced by the world around me as I traveled for almost a decade, I see that the world is changing very rapidly. Whole species are becoming extinct every day and I feel the need to capture things as they are right now, so future generations can see how beautiful this place used to be. That being said, I feel some amount of faith that things can improve; that we can turn it around before it’s too late.

Forests, lakes and mountains are a testament to the fluctuating natural rhythms of this planet, and I feel most comfortable listening to it. I try to render that feeling through my images, the reverence I experience while quietly walking in the woods, turning my head to the sound of a bird I don’t quite recognize.  This is what it’s all about.

 

We all need to slow down, remember who we are, and take stock of what is really important to us. If a photograph of mine on a wall can stop someone from their rushing around during the day, even for a few seconds, it would give me a sense of accomplishment. 

Nature is perfect. People behave differently in front of a camera, but animals are always themselves. They are connected to pure instinct instead of ego, and we can learn a lesson or two from them. Capturing the personality and of these creatures is a goal of mine, as they seem as varied and different as ourselves, and are the innocent victims of the damage we humans create.

Many artists use photography as a memory tool to mark their journey, and I like that idea. I want to look at an image and remember exactly how I felt in that instant. Patience and luck play a big part in me getting the shots I want, as much as trying to have fun with it.  I primarily use colour digital photography, but more subtle, toned down images do have their place as well- depending on what feeling I’m trying to pull out of an image.

Digital allows me to relax in any situation, because I can take as many shots as I care to. While I was traveling years ago, I felt tremendously limited by the film cameras I was using, and still have a massive pile of untouched negatives in my basement as a result.  I have also grown to love stitching photos together to produce large, panoramic scenes that hopefully will inspire awe and a sense of humility in the viewers. Only when we see a bigger picture can we step back and really observe what we’re doing. I know that there are a countless numbers of photographers out there, but this is what I’m good at, and it’s what I can contribute to the world.

So all I can say is find a way to do what you love, because it's what you are here for. Hope you are all having a great evening wherever you are :)

Visit my website when you have a minute:
JamesToth.com

Join Us In A May DETOX!

Hello my lovelies!
It's that time of the year again! We are doing a DETOX CLEANSE! (starting May 1st, if you would like to join us!) I get very excited in the spring because it's a time of new beginnings, fresh starts and healing the body from the inside out. Two weeks is a good amount of time, but you can go longer or if you are just starting out, try it for a few days at least.

We will do the Master Cleanse (click on the detox button at the top of the page for all the details), and this time I will add in two fresh, organic juices per day (strained so very little pulp will activate the digestive juices). I will choose any juice combination I feel drawn to on any given day.

Some people are purists on either side of the Master Cleansing or the Juice Feasting, but I am in the middle. I have done it many times over the years, and feel comfortable doing it this way. You can do which ever kind of cleanse works for you :)

What toxins are we talking about? Why do we need to do a cleanse? There are many sites that will go into all of that detail if you like, but I will just tell you a few of the major contributors of toxins building up in the body: 
1. Stress
2. Non-organic food: You know the deal by now...
3. Environmental Toxins, including obscure things like particle board and plywood furniture in our homes and offices that contain formaldehyde, a known carcinogen that has been directly linked to nasopharyngeal carcinoma (throat cancer). The chemical can also cause, headaches, allergies, nausea and a burning sensation in the throat.
4. Cooked (dead) Foods, Alcohol, Caffeine, Dairy, Meat: These are all highly acid-forming, and acidic environments in the body invite disease. The more raw vegan, the more alkaline the body, the less disease.
5. Lack of exercise
6. Lack of good water: We are made of water. If we do not hydrate ourselves adequately and eat enough raw food we become constipated, and what most people don't realize is that our bowels reabsorb toxins right back into the body if we do not eliminate every single day.
7. Medications: Don't even get me started on this one. I will go nuts on you. All I can say is 'let thy food be thy medicine'.

Alright so follow along with us on facebook for updates, videos and inspiration! You can do it!

Happy 20th Birthday Josh!

Josh, of the beautiful-vegan crew, turned 20 today, and I couldn't be prouder. 

He requested his favourite cake,  Lemon Poppy Seed Love Cake, (click link to get the recipe), so I made one for him, and I topped it with a blueberry compote!
I also made him a wicked Vegan Pad Thai :)

I have known Josh for his entire life, and now he's all grown up. I sometimes miss him being a little kid though. He would follow me around everywhere on our crazy adventures, and I wouldn't have traded raising him for anything in the world. Whoever said having a kid slows you down or stops you from being able to travel and do exciting things, was making up those impediments for themselves. Children grow up so very quickly that we have to just go for it and try to remember everything.

I love you :)
xoxo
Mom