Sad about seitan

I'm sorry I've been slow about posting blog entries. I have several I want to get off my chest soon (with pictures). I only have a week left in this semester, and maybe (perhaps I am being too hopeful) I will be able to get some of my mind back then. I just wanted to relay my birthday experience (from April 16, I'm slow). My wonderful wife made me sesame seitan for my birthday. It was so delicious. I've had similar dishes in the past, but now I'm learning I don't feel so well after having such a mega-dose of wheat gluten. After I eat it, I start getting a headache and feeling flushed. It's hard to explain, but I really don't want to experience that ever again. I know for certain it was the seitan because I ate two plates of leftovers, and the symptoms returned. The strange thing is I don't think I am overly sensitive to gluten in foods. I'm guessing it is just having such a concentrated amount in one dish. Well, at least my last seitan dish was a winner, and so much for snubbing my nose at others who balked at seitan. I understand how they feel now.

Spit out that mystery meat and get on over to the Great South Texas Meatout

Are you ready to treat your body right, be consistent in your moral values and help the environment? Then you might want to put down that barbacoa taco and head over to the third-annual Great South Texas Meatout at the Good News Mennonite Church in San Juan (on the corner of Raul Longoria and Eldora) on March 30 from 2-6 p.m.

The free Rio Grande-wide festival will feature vegetarian cooking workshops and demonstrations, with a wide selection of delicious meat-free dishes available for purchase from a cash bar. Samples of the classes include Growing a Salad on Your Front Porch, Vegan Nutrition, Easy Bake Recipes, Mexican Vegan Cuisine, among others.

Visitors will get to sample food from the classes, and for $5, visitors can purchase the Rio Grande Veggie Cookzine, a magazine complete with numerous original South Texas-inspired recipes.

The Great South Texas Meatout is sponsored by the Association for Vegan and Vegetarian Awareness (AVA) and the Cochehua Vegetarian Collective.

AVA (www.myspace.com/ava_utpa) is a student organization on the campus of the University of Texas-Pan American. Cochehua (www.myspace.com/cochehua) includes vegetarian (and non-vegetarian) members from Cameron and Hidalgo counties and conducts regular meetings in both counties.

For more information about the festival, please contact Sara Alvarado, AVA president at (956) 330-3721 or tataboxbp@gmail.com.

For more information about the Great American Meatout, visit www.meatout.org, and for a free download about the reasons and concerns of switching to a vegetarian diet, go the Web site for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine at www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk.

Bummed

I do not like writing when I only have negative things to say, but I am really saddened by the announcement of the impending deah of Herbivore Magazine. I guess I should have seen the writing on the wall when they reduced the size of the publication to a tiny booklet and reduced the number of issues per year. The magazine was the one real true voice for vegans. The magazine made me feel less like a freak and more a part of a greater community of people who have similar beliefs. It was edgy and provocative. It cut straight to the heart of the issues more politically correct publications (i.e. Veg News, Vegetarian Times) wouldn't dare cover. Herbivore Magazine once bravely asked meat-eaters, "Why not eat your pets, too?" That isn't such an outrageous statement considering our bloody habits toward other creatures. I learned about people who promoted vegan issues I might never have learned about otherwise, including the singer, Michael Franti. The death of Herbivore Magazine comes on top of the recent closure of Satya, another publication that highlighted vegan issues. To make all of this bad news worse, members of our local vegetarian society recently expressed a desire to allow dairy and egg dishes at our local potlucks. They say that the rule of vegan dishes is discriminatory against vegetarians. Um, isn't vegan food vegetarian? Ugh. It's not like vegans can eat dairy and eggs. Which rule is more discriminatory? Anyway, I'm not posting again until I have something positive to say. RIP Herbivore Magazine.

Losing a great man

Jim Koch sings to his daughter, Anita, the night before her marriage to me.


From left to right are Jim Koch, Anita, me and Sylvia Koch.

It has been a rough two weeks. I lost my father-in-law, Jim Koch, to heart disease on Feb. 13. He was just 68. I enjoyed his passion for left-wing politics and for life. One of the most touching experiences in my life was during the rehearsal dinner on June 22, 2001, for Anita and me. During the dinner, a mariachi band performed, and to the surprise of everyone, my future father-in-law got up and sang several songs in Spanish to his daughter. And you know what, he sang beautifully and powerfully. He cared deeply about his family and was always there when we needed him. He enjoyed being the caretaker for family history. He spoke three languages, English, Spanish and Portuguese. He was a retired public school teacher, an election judge and a political activist. During the last few years, he translated Brazilian poetry. Unfortunately, he had diabetes and was overweight. He liked his fast food. As vegans, Anita and I tried to encourage him to eat less meat. When he came over to our place, he enjoyed the vegan food we prepared. We also made food during the holidays and brought it to his house, such as tamales. At his home, he ate lots of hummus and some tofu. He switched from chorizo to soyrizo. Despite his positive changes, it wasn't enough. He needed to do so much more, namely avoiding fast food. His last heart exam had been 10 years ago. If he had gotten the exam every year, I believe they probably would have caught the build up in his arteries and could have provided him with some treatment. It simply was too late when he was taken to the emergency room. Heart disease, especially build up in the arteries, can easily be remedied with a good diet and exercise (read "The China Study"). I hope anyone who reads this will take better care of their heart and encourage their family members to do the same. We will miss you so much, Jim.

The not-so-smart car: Where veganism and environmentalism clash

I was so excited that the Smart ForTwo car was coming to the United States this year after being available for years in Europe. It is the most fuel-efficient nonhybrid on the market. Only the Toyota Prius gets better highway mileage (45 mpg to 41 mpg, according to the EPA's 2008 standard). Unfortunately, the ForTwo comes standard with a leather steering wheel and leather gear-shift knob. I e-mailed the company about it, and here was their response: "Dear smart Enthusiast, Thank you for your interest in smart USA. Unfortunately at this time leather is the only option available for the steering wheel." It makes me so disgusted. I am trying to be a good environmentalist and want to do the right thing, but I will not buy a car that's dressed up with the skin of another animal. The idea that you can't even special order a non-leather steering wheel and gear-shift knob is just amazing. I'm so glad a company is making a small, reasonably priced and fuel-efficient car. Unfortunately, there's too much cruelty in its make-up for my green.