The Ultimate Veg Thread

Thank you! Definitely, a lifestyle I want to commit to. : )
Subscribe to Veg News Magazine...it is eye opening how much the food has evolved. Seriously. I was looking at my December issue with the yearly awards and it’s amazing. It’s the best time to be alive and go vegan. Do wanna know how good a vegan diet is for humans? I have been approached about selling my stools for Fecal transplants to heal the sick! Didn’t see that coming! Mfers need to start putting some real respect on the Vegan lifestyle.
 
It's so fucking sad that the demons of animal agriculture have brainwashed us into accepting the mass slaughter of these intelligent sentient beings. I'm 10,000% ashamed of my utter ignorance for decades regarding how I was paying men to torture these beautiful animals just so I could have a slice of their guts. Unreal. I hope lab meat works for the carnivore because I'm tired of a society that knows it can change and doesn't, even knowing that the change will benefit the environment, innocent animals, and their own health. I wish I had been born to an intelligent mother and not the cookie-cutter "everyone does it", no research human that had me eating animals when I did not need to.

Pigs can be taught how to use joysticks, experiment finds
By Sara Spary and Ada Wood, CNN

Updated 1:14 PM ET, Thu February 11, 2021

210211062932-restricted-02-pigs-joystick-scli-intl-exlarge-169.jpg


The pigs were found to be capable of operating a joystick to trigger an automatic treat dispenser.
(CNN)The intelligence of pigs has long been renowned -- and scientists in the US have now found that they are clever enough to be able to use computer joysticks.

Researchers from Purdue University in Indiana said they were able to train four pigs to carry out a "joystick operated video game task" to get treats.
The pigs' success rate in the task was described by researchers as "remarkable, and indicative of their behavioral and cognitive flexibility."
The animals -- a pair of two-year-old Panepinto micro pigs and two three-month-old Yorkshire pigs -- were trained to manipulate a joystick in order to control a cursor on a computer monitor, researchers said in a study published Thursday.

That cursor could be used to hit three targets -- of varying difficulty -- on the screen. When the target was hit, an automatic pellet dispenser released the food.
Ahead of the experiment, the scientists from the university's Center for Animal Welfare Science trained the pigs until they learned the behavior, using voice commands, mock joysticks, and manually dispensed treats.
The animals had to approach a computer, which had "walls" -- or thick blue digital lines -- scattered around the screen.
They then had to select one of the "walls" with the cursor to get a treat. As the pigs' accuracy improved, the number of "walls" reduced to two, and then to one, becoming more difficult.
The Panepinto pigs, Ebony and Ivory, both performed well -- 84% success rate -- when presented with three-wall targets.
But a skill gap appeared between the two pigs as the number of targets reduced, with Ivory able to hit one-wall targets 76% of the time, versus Ebony's 34%.
Meanwhile, Yorkshire pigs Hamlet and Omelet managed to complete the task "above chance" when presented with two walls or a single wall on screen, but not when presented with three walls.
The researchers determined "above chance" to be over and above what targets the pigs could have been expected to get right, at random.
The pigs spent between three and four months taking part in the experiment.

'Impressive learning abilities'

The paper's authors, Candace C. Croney, professor of animal behavior and well-being and director at the university's Center for Animal Welfare Science, and Sarah T. Boysen, a senior researcher at the university, said the experiment suggested the animals had an intelligent understanding of the task.
"The video task acquisition required conceptual understanding of the task, as well as skilled motor performance," they said in the paper.
Speaking to CNN, Croney said she hoped the paper would inspire further research into the cognitive abilities of pigs.

"It would be nice for people to realize how unique pigs are, and how much more mentally sophisticated they may be than we previously recognized," she said.
She hoped research would help people to understand how to better "enrich" the lives of the animals.
Commenting on the significance of the findings, Christian Nawroth, who was not involved in the study and is a researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology in Germany, said the paper demonstrated "the impressive learning abilities of pigs."
"We already know that pigs are good problem-solvers, but the ability to use a joystick to navigate a cursor on a screen is certainly something that has not been on the list of any farm animal so far," he told CNN, adding that the task the pigs were given was "not an easy one to solve."
"We still underestimate the smarts of pigs and farm animals in general. As this avenue of research, farm animal cognition, is taking off steam, we will likely see more research on more sophisticated learning and cognitive skills of farm animals over the next years," he added.
The results were published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.
 
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This person has no clue how much suffering is involved for these sentient and intelligent beings.

Don't let Event Horizon get to you. He's banned now anyway.

Also, could you open another thread for Animal Rights stuff, please? This thread is for recipes. I'm not opposed to there being an AR thread, or opening that discussion, but I'd like this space to be for everyone who wants to eat more veggies and try vegetarian and vegan diets. I've turned more people vegan with good food than with propaganda anyway.
 
Don't let Event Horizon get to you. He's banned now anyway.

Also, could you open another thread for Animal Rights stuff, please? This thread is for recipes. I'm not opposed to there being an AR thread, or opening that discussion, but I'd like this space to be for everyone who wants to eat more veggies and try vegetarian and vegan diets. I've turned more people vegan with good food than with propaganda anyway.
Sorry about that.
 
Just got a delivery from "GTFO It's Vegan". Yes!!!!!!!!

There are a few vegan groceries that ship across the US. Cold pack shipping is pricy but it's worth it to splurge occasionally to stock up on hard-to-find products. My heart belongs to "No Pig Neva" because they are such great people and a great company that has gone above and beyond what I think a company would do for customers in the 21st century (and we didn't ask for special treatment, they're just that amazing), but I wanted to try GTFO. The grocery that's been around forever is "Vegan Essentials". Annnnd of course, May Wah in NYC is queen of mock meat.

There are others, but these are the ones on my radar.

So, now I have a freezer stocked with all kinds of gluten-free vegan protein options, plus Just Egg, and some other scramble choices, and cashew cheeses like gorgonzola, brie, etc from the Uncreamery. Most of this will last us a while because we usually eat "whole foods based" and only eat these kinds of products once a month or so.


I have a friend with a shellfish allergy who orders from these places, too. Vegan products are great options for anyone with a dairy, egg, seafood, or meat allergy. The flavor and texture are not "the same" and I think that approach is the wrong one and turns some people off. Just think of the foods as their own thing, but prepared in the style that is best paired with certain dishes. "Mung beans prepared like eggs", "Pea protein prepared to go in seafood dishes", "wheat protein prepared to go in beef dishes", etc.

PS: If you're a non-vegetarian wondering why we eat foods that taste like meat it is because many vegetarians gave up meat for ethical reasons and because most food culture revolves around a big protein centerpiece. I eat mock meats once in a while because it is fun to have different flavors and options. Except for being vegan, I'm a pretty adventurous eater and now that I am gluten-free I am really bored with what's usually available.
 
@Asa have you tried the avocado ice cream ??? I would like to, but the only recipes I Google have Nutella and I'm not a big fan of that.
 
@Asa have you tried the avocado ice cream ??? I would like to, but the only recipes I Google have Nutella and I'm not a big fan of that.

I have, but I don't remember being impressed by it enough to try it again. I used to be an ice cream maker for a place that was a big deal (LOL- but it was), so I'm a snob about ice cream. I think we made avocado ice cream back then, though. We made so many strange flavors for chefs.

It's popular to make chocolate pudding with overly ripe avocadoes, too. I'm not the biggest fan of it, but it is OK.
 
I have, but I don't remember being impressed by it enough to try it again. I used to be an ice cream maker for a place that was a big deal (LOL- but it was), so I'm a snob about ice cream. I think we made avocado ice cream back then, though. We made so many strange flavors for chefs.

It's popular to make chocolate pudding with overly ripe avocadoes, too. I'm not the biggest fan of it, but it is OK.
LOL, an ice cream snob?

Maybe I should stick with fruit whips, ;)
I've had an addiction to strawberry culattos lately. :D
 
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