bon poisson d'avril or "where's the beef?"

Happy April Fool's! Bon poisson d'avril!

Hey, my peeps! I've been taking a little break from the blog. Those 30 tiny moments ran me ragged. Actually, no, they were rather exhilarating--but they did take time, and although I'd like to think I have a lot of other wonderful attributes, I'm not convinced that I've mastered time management. Case in point: I spent almost all Sunday afternoon contemplating what types of organizers might help me control my clutter. (More about this in a future post.)

So then, what have I been doing lately? I've been checking into vegetarian/vegan/organic options. Below are a few of the items I've sampled.

clockwise, l-r: granola, Rice Dream, it's all good chick'n, almonds, tofu

not pictured: So Nice, Licks veggie burgers, veggie ground round,
Amy's tomato bisque soup, pistachios, riceworks rice crisps, Tostitos blue corn chips

Here are my ratings:

• Duke's Gourmet French Vanilla Granola ~ 5/5 ~ I put some in a bowl, add some vanilla yogurt (I found plain yogurt too bitter), and fruit.
• So Nice soy beverage (original) ~ 1/5 ~ Ewww, too mealy-tasting; the vanilla or chocolate flavors might have improved the experience. I suppose I could have used it for baking instead of pouring it down the drain.
  
• Rice Dream vanilla ~ 5/5 ~ The vanilla is barely detectable, and that's a good thing in my books. No surprise, given its name, but this rice beverage's taste reminds me of eating sweetened cooked rice with milk. Don't tell the people that put out the Milk calendar, but I've used their rice pudding recipe, substituting Rice Dream for milk. I've used it in my instant oatmeal, too.
  
• Licks veggie burgers ~ 1/5 ~ Too gritty for my liking; it was obvious I was eating condensed grains. (I gave away the remaining 3 in the package to a friend.) Then again, I'm not a fan of 100% pure beef patties, either, because I find them too dense. Give me Mom's or Aunt Mary's burgers any day!
  
• it's all good chick'n lightly seasoned ~ The verdict's still out on this one. The one time I made it, the chick'n breast had the texture of tough, dry chicken; however, it didn't taste like chicken to me (perhaps more what I'd expect frog or snake to taste like?). Call me crazy, but I'm thinking that I may prefer to eat veggies that retain their veggie-like appearance instead of veggies that masquerade as meat.
  
• Silken tofu ~ I've been too petrified (not "chicken"!) to try it as of yet. Apparently tofu is best marinated, so that it absorbs flavors. Many years ago I had an excellent stir fry dish with tofu cubes in it at some now long-defunct Asian restaurant in the Exchange District with CWB co-workers.
• Yves veggie ground round (Mexican) ~ 3/5 ~ I incorporated this soy product into my portion of the Old El Paso taco kit and it wasn't half bad, probably in large part due to the Mexican seasoning.
  
• Amy's tomato bisque soup ~ 4/5 ~ Tangy tomato soup with a touch of sweetness. I topped it with croutons and shredded cheddar.
• Almonds & pistachios ~ 5/5 ~ Great snacks.
• riceworks gourmet brown rice crisps ~ 5/5 ~ I tried them in the Sweet Chili, but they come in Sea Salt flavor, too. They're billed as "wheat and gluten free" and "vegan and celiac friendly" rice chips. I've bought them at Loblaws, so there's a chance that Superstore also stocks them.
• Tostitos blue corn tortilla chips ~ 5/5 ~ We tried another brand of blue corn chips, but they were not nearly as light and crisp as the Tostitos. And blue corn chips are just ever so much more festive than regular tortilla chips.
  

I doubt I will ever go vegan. I can take or leave eggs for the most part, and I've switched over from butter to margarine, but I don't know if I want to give up my glass of milk with chocolate chip cookies. I'm not sure I'll make a very good vegetarian. I'm not going to be super-strict about it. Still, I have decided to eat less meat.

Why the sudden interest in a change of diet? The Winter 2008 issue of The Winnipeg Humane Society News contained two articles that prompted me to search out a few Web sites and evaluate my eating habits. One article described how foie gras is produced; the other detailed abuses of farm animals. I have never, to my knowledge, consumed foie gras, nor have I been tempted to. Yet I never before knew how this "delicacy" is made; now that I’ve read about, I hope nobody ever eats it again. I can’t even write about it without feeling ill about the horrible cruelties people are inflicting on numerous ducks. These ducks are kept penned up and then force-fed, actually force-overfed, with rods rammed down their throats. They are all but drowned in cornmeal (many of them probably do drown in it). I can’t get these images out of my mind. How can people be so cruel? I feel like throwing up when I read about those poor helpless little ducks trying to comfort each other.

And it doesn’t stop there. From what I understand, our North American insistence on a very meaty diet means that more and more animals are raised en masse for butchering purposes. That means that they are coldly viewed as expendable commodities, so less and less care is given to their creature comforts. More and more grain goes to feed these animals bred only to die. I’m not sure about all the logistics, but I’ve read that if we were to eat less meat, we’d raise less animals, and there would be more grain to feed the starving millions of the world. Like I say, I’m not sure about the logistics, but that’s the argument.

There are other offshoots to this: because animals are treated as commodities, they are often mistreated during transport. If the plight of animals doesn’t get you, think about the injustices to workers at the slaughterhouses. Extreme and hazardous working conditions lead to high turnover. The way I see it, such companies are taking advantage of a workforce low in socioeconomic status (immigrants, poor, with little education). There is further fallout: don’t forget the wear and tear on the truckers who have to work umpteen-hour days to haul the food so the livestock can eat, eat, eat their way to higher production quotas.

I suspect we may be called to account for actions such as this. If so, I want to end my complicity. I'd like to think I can contribute to a solution rather than be part of the problem. Like I say, I have eaten, and may continue to eat, meat occasionally. I'm not coercing anyone else to adopt my perspective. I'm just saying that you're more likely to find me in the aisles with fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains these days.