Toronto Veggie Event- Not to be missed!

Now I'm starting to get bossy... Well, I hope that if you are anywhere near Toronto that you will come to an event that is happening on August 10th called 10,000 Tastes, 10 Billion Reasons . Here is a description of what's going on that day:

"Empathy Unlimited and the Toronto Vegetarian Association present '10 000 Tastes, 10 Billion Reasons', a two-part event on Wednesday, August 10th featuring Gene Baur, President and Co-Founder of Farm Sanctuary, as part of the sanctuary's 25th anniversary tour.

The afternoon portion of the event (10,000 Tastes) will run from 12-6pm at Yonge-Dundas Square, Canada's busiest intersection. The event, which is free and open to the public, will include:

* The opportunity to meet Gene during a free veggie dog giveaway

* Free samples of some of the best vegan foods on the market

* Vegan celebrity appearances (TBA)

* A free lunch hour concert (TBA)

 The evening portion of the event (10 Billion Reasons) is a ticketed presentation that will take place in Hart House at the University of Toronto. This portion of the event will include:

* Gene's presentation highlighting the founding of Farm Sanctuary and how we can create a more compassionate society
* The Canadian Empathy Awards, an awards ceremony in honour of Canada's most diligent and outspoken animal defenders
* A book signing and vegan raffle

Proceeds from the event will be donated to Farm Sanctuary, the Toronto Vegetarian Association, We Animals, and Snooters Farm Animal Sanctuary.

Please check back often as we will be adding lots of event details (like how to purchase tickets for the evening program!) in the next few days/weeks!

And please MARK YOUR CALENDAR!!!"

When? August 10th

Where? Yonge-Dundas Square (from 12-6pm), and then at Hart House (University of Toronto) in the evening.

Why? Just get your ass over there, no more questions.

The Vanishing of Bees movie trailer:

The Vanishing of honey bees across the world has drawn some very serious attention from scientists and farmers, but most of us go through our day to day lives without ever thinking of the consequences of a dying population of tiny creatures that are literally responsible for delivering us 1/3 of our food.

Albert Einstein said that “If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live. No more bees, no more pollination … no more men!”

We should all be very concerned. This should be top story and top priority, outlawing pesticides and genetically modified food until we have solid evidence that it is not the problem. Instead, we are guessing that it probably has something to do with it, but we don't really know, and we have billions of dollars invested in these chemicals, so let's just wait it out... 

Honey bee colonies can be vibrant one minute, and completely decimated withing 3 hours. In the trailer a bee keeper said that when one colony died in the past, another would take over and move in, but now when a colony dies, the bee hive remain empty even if there are other colonies close by. They know something is wrong.

 

(Image of a dead honey bee colony)

Some scientists believe that the pesticides we have been spraying on our crops has somehow weakened the immune system of the honey bees, so when a normal bee disease comes up, they can no longer fight it off. For now it is a mystery, but a ton of money should be thrown at this to figure it out, with egos set aside.

Our entire food supply is hanging by a thread, and only a few giant corporations are holding onto it. That should scare us. So what can we do? Support local organic farmers by going to farmer's markets, and raise the issue with politicians by contacting them directly and signing petitions. You can also host a screening of this movie with your friends (buy the DVD for for $11.99 on their website). 

I'm looking forward to the day we figure it out- hopefully that day will come sooner than later :)
xo
Lyn

Free Veggie Challenge banner for you!

Hello my lovelies! I just finished making this banner for our Veggie Challenge, so feel free to use it if you would like to issue a Veggie Challenge to any of your friends and family! (you should be able to copy and paste it wherever you like).

This is a Thank You to everyone who is making effort to create positive change in this world :) Keep it up! Everything counts.

Vegan Goddess Pink and her new video:

Pink has never been shy about speaking up on any issue, and veganism is a subject close to her heart. I happened to see this video of hers where she, with a sense of humour, is playing a sort of Animal Liberation Front role, and feeding a calf a bottle of human milk hooked up with tubes to a series of blindfolded women sitting, and strapped to chairs. She is in another scene, still dressed as A.L.F. with two others standing with a bull in the background, while Pink prepares to put a blade through a true matador who is crying.

This is ballsy and profound. For a mainstream pop singer to say what she actually feels is, in my opinion, marvelous. I just started to like her a little bit more. Way to go Pink! xoxo.

Here's some behind the scenes footage:

And here's one she did for PETA about wool boycott (which is very well done. I had no idea how bad it was before I watched this video):