Native Foods Blog

FRESH FOOTPRINTS-PAWS

BY CHEF TANYA

My blog two days ago discussed the FORMER Bolivia Circus Lions that has been transported to PAWS in northern California. Bolivia has outlawed circuses with live animals. Hopefully the U.S. will follow this 21st century civilized law! 

These lions have only lived in rusted cages and for the first time in their lives have now set foot on real dirt and grass, can you imagine? These are pictures from their first day in their new home. New area fencing was built by ADI (Animal Defenders International) as was the whole process to ban animals in circuses in Bolivia. Bob Barker paid for their transportation. If we all worked together in such a way for all things we know to be good and true what a wonderful world it will be, notice my words..."it will be!"  

And the elephants roam free here at Paws Sanctuary! Hopefully Billy from the L.A.Zoo will get to come here too.

   

HEALTH CARE HELP-VEGAN STYLE

by Chef Tanya

There's this new thing going on called Meals For Health. This great idea was thought up by EarthSave whose founder as you may know is John Robbins, the man that revolutionized the world as we know it by educating the public about modern day farming and agriculture procedures in his book Diet for a New America, and was known for walking away from his father's fortune (Baskin Robbins) wanting to help the world in a different way. 

In collaboration with the Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services, Meals For Health is setting out to improve the health of a group of underprivileged individuals. They will begin a 60 day disease reversal program this August by not just telling the people to eat more fruits and vegetables but by adding in the love factor  by giving them education, demonstration, guidance and medical support with a lifestyle and plant based diet program.

Currently these kinds of programs are available only to wealthy individuals or employees of progressive companies.

Hunger and obesity are often symptoms of poverty. Obesity, heart disease, diabetes,etc. flourish in impoverished communities and when you are are both poor and have serious health problems, you have obstacles to success. You will also find disproportionate amounts of public funds pour into these communities, such as Emergency Room visits, etc.

Now at no cost to needy families wanting to participate, Meals for Health offers opportunity. John McDougall MD is the Medical Director of this project. Other communities around the country are excited to also get involved.

Native Foods is lucky to be providing food for the fundraiser EarthSave will be hosting in Beverly Hills on June 20. It's $100, I'll make sure the food is worth it! There are other ways to help if that is out of your budget. If you are in the Sacramento area and wish to volunteer contact FoodBank@earthsave.org or go to EarthSave's homepage and learn more. Their website has some great Resources to gleam from as well.

Eat Peace!

BREAKING NEWS!-LIONS LOOSE NEAR SAN FRANCISCO-yeah!

By Chef Tanya

 

Breaking News! The country of Bolivia has officially banned the use of live animals in circuses and some FORMER circus lions have just arrived in San Francisco on a flight from Bolivia. I am typing and dancing simultaneously!

-2005 ADI (Animal Defenders International) www.ad-international.org  began gathering evidence on circus cruelty in South America via undercover investigators , what they found was horrifying to say the least. ADI’s  mission is:

To educate, create awareness, and promote the interest of humanity in the cause of justice, and the suppression of all forms of cruelty to animals; wherever possible to alleviate suffering, and to conserve and protect animals and the environment.

-2008-Congresswoman Ximena Flores tables the Bill to ban circuses.

- 2009- President Evo Morales signed the LAW.

-Now-One of the circuses (Circo Abuhabda) that was featured in ADI’s investigation handed over it’s 5 lions and 1 baboon to ADI. One lioness had to be euthanized and the baboon is going to sanctuary in the UK. The other four lions are going to PAWS Sanctuary  in nor Cal.

-RIGHT NOW-The plane has landed in SFO and they are in transport NOW and you should be at PAWS by 11 am today! These lions have lived in rusty cages their whole lives and soon will feel and roam a field of grass. Now I am typing while streaming tears of joy!

Watch their travel diaries and see current updates from Jorja Fox. A super special ROARING thanks to BOB BARKER for funding this incredible journey.

Ah and what rises to my mind but the famous Margaret Mead quote:Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever does.

 

Birthdays, Birthdays!! Gotta Love Birthdays!!

By Jerry Mendivil
Native Foods Tribe Member

I have been working for Native Foods for almost 3 months now and was immediately struck by how into astrological signs everyone (well not everyone, but a definite majority) is.  I am a Gemini  and am writing this the day before my birthday(May 24^th). Tanya as most of you know is also a Gemini  and it has been great fun interacting with another Gemini who,  can seem to be distracted and all over the board,  with too many  irons in every fire, but in actuality is hyper focused and accomplishing a great deal.  A classic Gemini trait.   I have watched her in action and only have one word to describe it—AMAZING.   I once told Tanya that the way we bounce off the walls and each other when we are working, all we are missing is the third stooge: Emerson (another Gemini) or Einstein maybe??!!

I have often heard people denounce astrology as hogwash, but I am such a classic Gemini (in as much as I am exactly the person described in almost every book or article I have ever read about Geminis) that I figure there must be something to it. Yes I admit it, I read my horoscope everyday in the Times and lately it has been so dead on that it is scary. Even the negative ones that I tend to ignore somehow end up having some connection to something that happened to me.

Tanya often does second interviews for me and I realized that she was doing something that I never did (but do now!!). She asks everyone their sign. This is awesome. It really can give you a bit of insight into the person you could potentially hire and how to best manage  and work with them.  I hear this works for choosing a pet too, but that is for another blog.

    You probably have heard about the “Birthday Problem”.  Wikipedia states that in probability theory, the birthday problem or birthday paradox pertains to the probability that in a set of randomly chosen people some pair of them will have the same birthday. In a group of at least 23 randomly chosen people, there is more than 50% probability that some pair of them will have the same birthday.   For 57 or more people, the probability is more than 99%, and it reaches 100% when, ignoring leap years, the number of people reaches 366 .

I witnessed this paradox first hand today.  I was at the ” Pupperatzi “ fundraiser for the new Palm
Springs Animal Shelter.  It was winding down and there were maybe  25 to 30 people max present. A woman walked by and Tanya stopped her and introduced her as Margaret and told me she was also a Gemini.  I told her it was always nice to meet a fellow  Gemini and that my birthday was the following day, the 24^th. You guessed it,  her birthday is the 24^th also!!  Don’t ya love it when problems and paradoxes actually work out and these “theories” may really have some basis?

 

The pic is Margaret the birthday girl and me at the fundraiser.  Have a great week.  Jerry

Addictions Can Be Great For Your Health?!

By Angie Weaver
Native Tribe Member

Before anyone thinks I've lost my mind, let me explain myself.   I know we are used to thinking about addictions in negative terms like a drug addiction.  The word ‘addiction’ has such a bad connotation.  But I think some addictions can be beneficial for your health, so I’m reclaiming this word for my story.  I will admit to everyone that I have a Scorpion Burger addiction and I'm not sorry about it.  I know many of you reading this are shaking your head in agreement.  How do I know this?  Guests at Native Foods tell me about their addictions all the time from the peanut butter parfaits to the Oklahoma Bacon Cheeseburger to the sweet potato fries.  The list of addiction worthy dishes goes on and on.  Everyone has their own reasons why they just can’t get enough of their favorite dish at Native Foods. 

The Scorpion Burger

The Oklahoma Bacon Cheeseburger

 

The addiction starts out simple I’m told. First, you wake up in the morning and wish Native Foods was open for breakfast.  We can dream right!  I can only imagine what Chef Tanya's Tofu Scramble and Kissed French Toast would be like. (By the way, you can find these recipes in the cookbook). 

 Before you've even had breakfast, you are thinking about what you will be having for lunch at Native Foods.  When dinner time rolls around, you justify that you've had a long day and how much more tasty and convenient it would be to let Native Foods cook you a healthy, delicious meal plus we clean up and do the dishes for you.  You reason with yourself, well, Mondays are double- points for rewards cards day and Fridays have happy hour from 4-6pm with ½ price beer, wine, and appetizers.  It’s such a great deal, how can I not go?  The weekend rolls around and you say, “Who wants to cook on the weekends anyways.  It’s time to play and have fun.”  It becomes all too apparent when you start thinking I should just get a part-time job at Native Foods since I’m there so much.  (I’ve heard these exact words on numerous occasions!) 

One would be mistaken to think that this behavior is going overboard…maybe the addiction has gotten the best of you…but, my friends, on the contrary, your taste buds will thank you, your body will thank you, and since you will be reducing your carbon footprint by eating vegan, the planet will thank you too.  It’s okay… Native Foods’ addicts of the world.  We can proudly look each other in the eye and know we are not alone.  As you may have heard, Chef Tanya will be rolling out some new menu items in the beginning to mid-June.  I am delightfully anticipating her newest masterpieces.   Stay tuned!

Three addicts including Angie:

Soda Pop Crack Rock

by Holladay Allen

Native Foods Tribe Member

 

“Yahoo Mountain Dew!” my grandfather Gus would exclaim as we scurried across Bayview Park toward the soda machine near the tennis courts.  My mouth watered as I anticipated the explosive sugary rush of the highly caffeinated neon green liquid.  Once there, we would go through the motions:  drop the coins in, triggering the familiar clankity clank as the change finds its way down to the “soda pop bank” and then the tumultuous banging of the can as it heads toward the daylight to be greeted by my dirty little kid hands.  Pop that metal tab up and press that ice cold rim to my lips and Voila!... there it is, that old familiar taste of artificial citrus and several pounds of sugar and… hold on a minute… here it comes…  creeping into my bloodstream, and I am off!  I can climb the highest playground set in two seconds flat!  I feel fantastic?  My brain is going a million miles a minute.  I am running circles around my grandfather. After a couple of hours of zipping around like a petite psychopath, I start to crash and we head home, my legs dragging behind me. 

 

 

 My parents owned their own business so they both worked a lot when I was younger.  My grandfather (who rocks!) would entertain me everyday in the afternoons after school.  Like a good grandparent, he indulged practically every desire I had.  Since the only soda to be found in my house was of the diet variety (which I thought was completely gross), soda pops in the park were out of this world!  Yes, soda was my drug (especially Mountain Dew) and my grandfather was my soda pusher.

 

Since transitioning to a vegan diet 11 years ago, my taste buds and “general food cravings” have changed drastically.  The idea of drinking an entire soda is now slightly repulsive. It reminds me of drinking syrup without the thick texture, which is essentially what soda is: diluted syrup with a variety of flavors to choose from.  Last year, I was watching a news program that featured a segment on a certain region in Kentucky, in the Appalachian Mountains, where a majority of the population suffers from a self inflicted oral hygiene problem they are calling “Mountain Dew Mouth.”

 

 The following quote is from the ABC News website: “It's a stereotype rooted in a terrible fact. Central Appalachia is No. 1 in the nation in toothlessness. According to dentists, one of the main culprits is Mountain Dew soda. With 50 percent more caffeine than Coke or Pepsi, Mountain Dew seems to be used as a kind of anti-depressant for children in the hills.” 

 

This addiction starts early, as some dentists are seeing parents giving bottles filled with soda given to infants. 

 

 Yikes! Coca-Cola was introduced in 1886 as "a valuable brain-tonic and cure for all nervous afflictions". It was marketed as a temperance drink "offering the virtues of coca without the vices of alcohol". The new beverage was invigorating and popular. Until 1903, a typical serving contained around 60mg of cocaine (www.cocaine.org).  They gotta get you hooked.  Whether it is sugar, caffeine, salt, or fat, there is a big business in feeding these addictions. 

 

 

What exactly are we consuming when we pound one of these obnoxiously sweet carbonated delights?  Well, there are websites dedicated to the many uses of Coca-Cola: cleaning coins, tires, toilets… the list goes on.  In Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation, he describes how flight attendants will often use a can of Coke or Diet Coke to clean an airplane toilet in a pinch.  Yuck!  So while the ingredients may be short list of corn syrup, caramel color, and a few other additives, watch out!  If these ingredients can deoxidize metal and scour bacterial scum, imagine what they’re doing to your insides!

Tanya's Gone to the Dogs!

Well, she will be and hopefully you can come along too!  Save Tuesday June 15 for Tanya's Birthday Bash!

 

Tips from Cooking Demo yesterday!

by Chef Tanya Petrovna

Native Foods Founder & Tribe Leader

What a beautiful day.  Fresh off the plane from the Howard Lyman and Nicolette Niman debate in Berkeley,  back in the Tustin kitchen roasting Moroccan cauliflower, then a stunning day in Orange County giving cooking demos to the nicest groups of people,  I love my life!

Over 325 guests attended Native Food's SEXY SALAD demo yesterday!  Check out our recipes at www.nativefoods.com

 

 

Demos were fun today. "Fun" is the word of the day. We laughed, danced and ate and then we did it again! Here were some Q&A's from the day:

 

Is it more nutritional or generally better to buy and cook dry beans instead of canned beans?

 

Yes. One, you get to add your sodium, they generally taste better I always find I have to rinse canned beans to get the canned flavor off so what else am I rinsing off. Also just the amount of energy needing to go into the whole canning process and the can etc it is much more Carbon Footprint friendly. Once you become a bean master and start cooking your own, it's hard to go back to cans. Plus the dried beans are almost free, so cost effective. Save some money to donate to your local animal shelter! One little bag of dried beans feeds about a million people, that's a lot of beans for not a lot of beans.

 

Are carbs in brown rice bad because there are a lot of carbs in one cup?No they are great carbs, the brown rice has a ton of nutrition and a smaller amount fills you up then the same amount say of bread. Fiber content is important and this does it. Never have fear about whole feeds and also look at your entire count of whatever it is you are  counting for the day, don't just look at individual items. Remember the whole food, whole meal, whole day approach and then exercise more!!

 

Happy prize winners....new Native Tote bags, Spring Wellingtons and T-shirts!

 

Can you puree/make the dressings with any kind of blender? Yes!

 

How long will they hold up in fridge?   2-3 weeks...but they're soooo good they'll never last that long!

 

Taste testing new recipe creations for our June menus:  Organic white bean & kale hummus

 

 

Can anyone come to our birthday celebration in Palm Springs on Tuesday, June 15 and enjoy some complimentary appetizers and 50 cent beer and wine, then dinner with portion of proceeds going to help build new Palm Springs Animal Shelter? YES YEs Yes!!!  I'll write more on that tomorrow.....

 

 

 
  
Thanks to our neighbor, Whole Foods, for generously contributing the ingredients for Sexy Salads. (That's Ryan and me!)

 

Lyman v.s. Nyman debate

Berkeley, Ca. May 20, 2010

by Chef Tanya Petrovna

 

David Rosenthal Center

Host-Earth Island Institute and VegNews magazine.

 

Berkeley, Ca. May 20, 2010- The only place in the world where a debate would take place with a vegetarian turned cattle rancher v.s. a cattle rancher turned vegan.

Synopsis:

Howard Lyman-5th Generation cattle rancher and farmer, took his organic family farm and made it a "modern" farm, didn't like the results he saw and became vegan and started a grassroots movement to educate other farmers and consumers on the the negative impact of factory  farming and modern chemical agriculture. Began to be very active in the 90"s

informing the public about the threat of Mad Cow Disease and landed on the Oprah Show, where Oprah made her classic statement that she'd never eat another burger and was sued by the cattle industry which led to a famous trial in Amarillo, Texas. ( Oprah won and upheld our first amendment right for free speech-but that's another blog).

--

Nicolette Hahn Niman- A vegetarian and biology major who worked for Bobby Kennedy doing full time work to reform livestock & poultry issues. Did a lot of lobbying to EPA to get Clean Water Act inforced. During her work she met a cattle rancher who believed in humane raised beef and small farm ranching, his name is Bill Niman and his ranch is called Niman ranch. They fell in love and got married. She now advocates for humane raised meat, though still a vegetarian.

Chef Tanya Petrovna of Native Foods Cafe with Howard Lyman

 

The debate centered on if meat can truly be sustainable. Bottom line is both agreed any kind of meat from factor farmed animals can not, is not and will not ever be sustainable (99% of farms in the US are factory farms). On the topic of concern if even humane raised meat is sustainable Howard argued not, as deforestation of the Amazon is due to livestock raising and those animals are humanely raised (not factory farms), he brought up the huge amounts of not only CO2 but methane that are caused by animal agriculture, and that bottom line you can'ttake animals raised as humane and increase and  increase the livability of the planet.He called the Amazon rainforest the "lungs of the earth."

 

Niman argued that most of the problem of global warming was not from the gases emitted from animal ag but by the decrease of healthy soils and stated David Pimental research. She said he said (hey it's a debate, that was ok writing style) promoting livestock helps build the soil. 

 

When the ethics issue came up Nicolette felt it much better to keep animals in good condition on ethical farms than to fend for themselves in the wild and that killing each other is a natual cycle of all animals and we are animals. Howard said cows (and domestic farm animals) aren't wild animals they are raised to be killed and that all animals have the will to live, avoid being killed and feel pain. Howard then mentions what I call to"Howardisms" and  said "Nothing has to die in order for me to live. Nicolette's rebuttal was that many animals are killed for the vegan diet too, she didn't elaborate, and Howard then made it clear he was talking about farm animals.

 

When asked the question if either had an animal on the farm that they befriended and just could kill, Nicolette has a cow named Girlfriend of 14 years and one other cow. Howard had a few and most notably was the pig that stood on his back legs and opened the door with his front legs. It scared his mother and law so much that each time the pig did this she left. Howard said he never got rid of that pig.

 

Mrs. Niman mentioned that she had just read Howard Lyman's book Mad Cowboy just a few months ago as she was asked to do this debate. In the audience participation we were allowed to ask questions, so I asked if she had read Howard's book before she met her husband would she have married him? The event ended with all sides laughing.

 

Worldfest 2010

By the Organized Vegan

Every year I have the pleasure of volunteering for Worldfest, a festival that is completely vegan, solar powered and all around amazing day that happens once a year in Woodley Park in the San Fernando Valley.  My job is to help organize the food and drinks for the bands and speakers in the backstage area.  Everyone is always so nice and this year was no exception!  We had so many amazing speakers and rock out/hip out/ska out bands for dancing and swaying. 

The weather was beautiful..not too hot but not chilly either.  This year the food was donated by Native Foods Café and Follow Your Heart.  From Native Foods we had delicious Scorpion Burgers and Ensalada Azteca, perfect combo for a Sunday afternoon.  We had so many advocates for plant based, healthy and yummy foods that I just had to get their photos!!

 

Here we have the beautiful and talented Mariana Tosca with Sun Flour Baking Company founder Rey Ortega.  Mariana was our host for the day and Rey supplied delicious vegan cookies and sweets at a booth.  Both Mariana and Rey are advocates for the animals and delicious vegan food!

Lorrie Houston, founder of Animal Acres was there looking as pretty as ever!  She is a fan of Native Foods and has been for many years.  Her dedication to the lives of so many factory farm animals in need is something to behold indeed.  If you’ve not toured Animal Acres yet, please treat yourself! It’s an experience you will not forget.  I volunteered there one day and my job was to clean out and organize a little goat hut!  I think this goat’s name was Chocolate.  He let me arrange his hay just the way I wanted to!!  Who says billy goats are stubborn??!!! 

Two more advocates for delicious vegan fare are author and vegan Kathy Freston.  Her book Quantum Wellness has changed the lives and diets of hundreds of people. With her is Chef Tal Ronen, also an author of best selling cookbook The Conscious Cook.   Here they are having a chat before they talk to the crowd about how easy it is to be vegan in today’s world.  Chef Tanya and Chef Tal should get together and have a cooking extravaganza!!!!

 

Singer/songwriter (and my new friend) Gayle Day was there with her almost all girl band, The Brunette’s.  How I love seeing an almost all girl band on the stage.  No offense fellas, but it’s about time more women were on the stage instead of behind it!!  Gayle is a vegan activist as well and hails from outside of London.  She now resides in Los Angeles and frequents Native Foods Café when her schedule permits.  She loved the Ensalada Azteca! 

Dan Piraro,  a.k.a Bizarro has been at Worldfest all three years that I have volunteered there.  He’s such a snappy dresser and so talented in cartoon and wit.  He was lovin’ the food and fun backstage!  He seems to always give his time for the cause of the animals and the environment.

Here is Rip Esselstyn, author of the best selling book The Engine 2 Diet.  Rip is a top professional triathlete as well as a fire fighter!!  He turned his whole engine company on to the health factors of a plant based diet and showed them how easy and delicious it really is!!  He is based out of Austin, TX…hmmm…time for a NFC in Austin don’t you think?  I can help get that organized!  Here he is showing how strong he is from eating a delicious Scorpion Burger!!! 

John Salley was on hand as one of the speakers.  Man is he ever awesome!  Besides being a professional basketball player, he’s an actor, philanthropist, environmentalist and best of all animal activist!  He told me that 9 years ago Chef Tanya was at Worldfest.  She called him over and suggested he try one of her burgers.  He told me that he was so blown away by her food! From that day forward he was vegan and that Chef Tanya’s delicious food convinced him that this way of eating is the only way to go! He told me she changed his life that day, with that burger!!  I can relate John!!  The same thing happened to me with the Native Wings!!!   

And last but not least is Debra Wilson.  What can I say about Debra?  She’s talented and beautiful and just an all around wonderful person!!  She told me she has yet to go to Native Foods!!!  I said WHAT??????????????????  I will take you there!!!!  Haha..she looked at me like a crazy stalker and said that’s ok..she’ll take herself!  I told her I could easily organize her transportation there..and closets if she wanted me to!   She was blown away by the menu so I hope she gets there soon!!!

All in all it was an amazing and fun day.  Being surrounded by like minded people at a festival where I could eat anything and everything without asking any questions was just so fun!  And I’m so grateful to Billy Hulting who, along with many, many volunteers, puts this festival together each year.  It’s a massive undertaking and he pulls it off year after year.  Thanks Billy!!!!