Native Foods Blog

Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary

by Arabella Watters

Native Foods Cafe

 

I grew up in a household of animal lovers, there’s no disputing that. As a child, my weekends were filled with trips to the zoo and aquarium, as well as adventures traipsing around the Santa Ynez Mountains (the name of the range that slope ups quietly behind my home in Santa Barbara, California) looking for whatever species of bird or butterfly I had pinpointed as exciting from whatever wildlife guidebook I was obsessed with that week. My parents were absolutely nuts about whale watching. Despite my sometimes-jaded perspective at the ripe old age of twenty, I have to say that there’s something about that rush of watching the dolphins bump intimately against the bow of the boat in the thousands or the otherworldliness of a humpback whale rising out of the sea that gets me. My childhood was relatively inundated with a very hands on education about animals.

Native Foods Cafe vegan restaurant uses this photo courtesy of Woodstock Sanctuary.

 It wasn’t really a surprise to me when my Dad and stepmom decided right about the time that I was starting high school that they wanted to become vegans. For both environmental reasons and animal rights activism, our home, became a full-fledged shrine to kale, tempeh sausages, quinoa, and a variety of mildy spiced curry tagines. Cream-based soup and cream cheese frosting both became persona non gratis.

All that being said, now that you know a little bit about me and my past both as an animal lover and a quasi-by-association-vegan it would make sense for me to introduce one of my favorite animal organizations that I think is completely worth every second of the day I spend distracting myself on their website.

Native Foods Cafe vegan restaurant uses this photo courtesy of Woodstock Sanctuary.

 The Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary, located just a it’s name would suggest right outside of Woodstock, NY was started by couple Jenny Brown and Doug Abel in late 2004. The sanctuary rescues hundreds of animals from abuse and slaughter and gives them a home, hopefully either to eventually be adopted out or simply to live our their lives in peace. I don’t think any of the animals are complaining about the large open spaces, grassy pastures, and unconditional love and nurturing they receive at Woodstock.

Native Foods Cafe vegan restaurant uses this photo courtesy of Woodstock Sanctuary.

My mom turned me onto the sanctuary about a year ago, and I have to say, its one of my goals to visit it sometime before I graduate from college. The sanctuary is home to over 200 cows, chickens, pigs, rabbits, goats, sheep, turkeys, duck, and geese and plays host to a a multitude of vegan friendly events such as the Sanctuary in the City Benefit on April 30 cohosted by Alexander Gray Associates. Open to the public and always looking for volunteers, the sanctuary radiates a warm, unadulterated love for animals, as well as a fierce dedication to their rights. Also, if you have any inclination towards cute animal pics, the photos of the farm residents on the sanctuary’s website, including Ashton the sheep, Stanley the pig, and Binky and Bella the rabbits will make productivity relatively impossible. I also find myself wanting to adopt every single animal on the farm, which despite being tempting, is a little unreasonable since I’m currently residing in a 12x12 college dorm. Check out the site and all the ways it lets you help all the awesome creatures who live on the sanctuary. I guarantee, it will make your day.

 

Native Foods Cafe, vegan, vegan food, vegan restaurant, animal sanctuary, Woodstock Sanctuary

Penguins Are Cool

by Native Foods Cafe

 

Today is World Penguin Day!  And penguins are cool, didn’y ya know?

Native Foods Cafe vegan restaurant uses this photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

• Penguins are ancient species that first appeared around 40 million years ago. 
• Prehistoric penguins were large and in charge.  Some prehistoric species attained enormous sizes, becoming as tall or as heavy as an adult human.  A prehistoric skeleton of a penguin was found and is bigger than any living penguin that exists, it is believed they were up to 5ft tall (1.5 metres).
• They use their wings to swim, not fly.  Penguins lost the ability to fly millions of years ago, but their powerful flippers and streamlined bodies make them very accomplished swimmers. They are the fastest swimming and deepest diving species of any birds.
• Penguins are carnivores and their eyes work better underwater than they do in the air, giving them superior eyesight to spot prey while hunting, even in cloudy, dark or murky water.  But they are extremely short-sighted on land.
• A group of penguins is called a colony or rookery.
• They wobble, and fall down.  Two studies in Antartica have reported that penguins fall over backwards when looking upwards at planes flying overhead.
• Penguins engage in prostitution! Research was published in 1998 concerning female Adélie penguins in Antarctica selling sex in exchange for gifts of rocks.  “In a paper entitled 'Female Adelie Penguins Acquire Nest Material from Extrapair Males After Engaging in Extrapair Copulations' in the journal Auk (vol. 115, number 2, pages 526-8), F.M. Hunter and L.S. Davis report the first known case of prostitution among birds.  Several female penguins were seen to mate with males who were not their usual partners in exchange for gifts of rocks which they then used as nesting material. Some birds even indulged in courtship behaviour, then took the rocks without mating.  One particularly flirty example was seen to take 62 rocks from one male without ever delivering on her apparent sexual promises.  Source: Wakkipedia.

 

 

Native Foods Cafe, vegan, vegan food, vegan restaurant, National Penguin Day

Test Tube Burgers: Are they the future, Or just freaky?

by Cassie Younger

Native Foods Cafe

 

There are so many reasons why people go vegan; for health, for animals rights, and for the earth. All of these are sound and dignified reasons to switch up your diet. The production of factory farmed meat is unethical, environmentally destructive and completely inefficient. But there can be a lot of hurdles to making the vegan plunge. For those of us raised in meat-eating homes, one might still crave the tastes and textures of burgers, chicken and fish that kale and quinoa simply cannot satisfy. (Sorry kale, I do love you!)

Luckily, restaurants like Native Foods Café have fixed many of these problems by creating delicious sandwiches like the “Chicken” Run Ranch Burger and the Portobello and “Sausage” Burger  that are made from soy and gluten but taste freakishly true to their animal counterpart. These meals make going vegan a seamless transition that satisfies your chicken-wing craving without compromising your ethics.

Portobello & sausage Burger at Native Foods Cafe vegan restaurant.

But what if you didn’t have to compromise? What if you could have your meat and eat it too? A new wave of animal products is in development that could change the way we eat and think about meat. Newly developed “in-vitro meat” takes animal cells and grows their muscle tissue in a lab, with the end product being the same animals parts we cook for food, without any animal having to die or suffer in the process.  It’s real meat, but without the animals. It’s a test-tube burger, baby.

Native Foods Cafe vegan restaurant uses this article courtesy of Jezebel.

 

Not only does this new meat eliminate animal suffering, it’s also insanely more efficient than its natural counterpart. It uses 99% less land (laboratories are way smaller than cattle farms!) and uses 45% less energy, by some estimates (Walsh, TIME). There are clearly economic benefits to this system, and PETA has even endorsed it as a ethical meat- replacement! Many are hailing this as a huge part of the solution to the growing demand for animal products in our current unsustainable food system.  

Native Foods Cafe vegan restaurant uses this image courtesy of In Vitro Meat.

 

Although the facts and numbers sound very convincing to gather my support for this in-vitro meat, part of me a bit skeptical.  My belief that science can actually keep up with the world demand for meat as it is now, and what it will be in the future, remains doubtful. Also, in its current stage of development, an in vitro hamburger would cost over $100. Technology would have to advance pretty rapidly and cost-effectively for this to be considered a truly viable and realistic replacement. 

Something also disturbs me about relying solely on science and men in white lab coats to feed the world. Call me a romantic, but I like to imagine a my food coming from a farmer working with the land, getting his hands dirty and providing society with the bounty that earth has provided for us through fruits and vegetables. A scientist in a lab coat experimenting with muscle-cells and creating some sort of franken-burger isn’t exactly what I had in mind in our food revolution. This disconnect with nature is kind of what started all this trouble in the first place, right?

What do YOU think? Is in-vitro meat ethical? Sustainable? Realistic? Would YOU eat it??

Native Foods Cafe vegan restaurant uses this photo courtesy of Jerrod Litwinenko and Blogto.com.

 

Cassie works at our Lakeview location in Chicago and loves Scorpion Burgers. 

Native Foods cafe, vegan, vegan food, vegan restaurant, test tube meat, in vitro meat

Overview from Planetary Collective

by Victoria Swaney

Native Foods Cafe

When we wake up every day, we look at what seems like an endless sky above us. Sometimes we forget that the clouds and blue sky is the only thing that’s protecting us from the harshness of space. Imagine being an astronaut and looking back at the planet and having an overwhelming emotional connection with Earth. What will it take for us non-astronauts to realize how fragile Planet Earth truly is?

  Native Foods Cafe uses this image courtesy of Getty Images.


 

In Planetary Collective’s short film, Overview, you hear life-changing stories from five astronauts seeing the Earth as an outsider, a perspective-altering sense of awareness often called the Overview Effect. This term is commonly used by astronauts but was first described by author Frank White in 1987. The Overview Effect encompasses a reflective understanding of all life and a renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of the environment. 

OVERVIEW from Planetary Collective on Vimeo.

 

 

So maybe we’ll never get the chance to go to space, Earth gaze, eat pre-packaged freeze-dried food or float around for hours upon hours, but we can get the perspectives from others. We can listen to their stories of seeing the Earth as a functioning thing and transfer it into our every day lives.

If you look at the land from an airplane, everything looks very organized and efficient, but what about eco-efficient? There are so many little things we can do to maintain a healthy Earth.

• start a small compost simply with a tin/plastic container and lid (i.e. coffee container)
• rent a garden/make a container garden
• volunteer to plant trees/flowers
• don’t waste water
• use cold water for laundry/washing dishes
• bring your own bag to the grocery store/market/restaurant
• ride a bike or walk when possible
• reuse plastic wrap and plastic bags - just rinse and let dry
• purchase food from local farmers/farmers markets as often as possible

Native Foods Cafe uses this image courtesy of Getty Images.
 

Sometimes all we need is that extra push in the right direction to get on board. If we all had the opportunity to float in space and get a chance to see Earth from the other side, we’d probably all have an overwhelming sense of responsibility for the planet. Until we have that opportunity, though, we’re stuck with doing the little things.  After all, we have to pay Earth somehow – we’re just renting her space, she shouldn’t have to clean up after us.

Victoria works at our Lakeview location in Chicago.  She like eating, cooking, and having fun.

 

Native Foods Cafe, vegan, vegan food, vegan restaurant, Planetary Collective Overview

What the Frack?

by Holladay Allen

Native Foods Cafe

 

Awhile back we had a group of Illinois farmers and anti-fracking activists passed through our Loop location in Chicago.  They were a passionate group and dead set on spreading their message to the masses:  Fracking is bad, real bad.  To tell you the truth, I did not even know what fracking what was until they contacted us, but it has a lot of people frazzled and scared… and really angry. 

 

So what is fracking?  Well, there alre alot of photos online that illustrate it to be some sort of black magic that can turn plain old tap water to fire!  

Sherry Vargson, of Granville Summit, PA, lighting her fracking-contaminated tap water.

But really it is methane that has seeped into the water supply.  What does Wikipedia have to say about Methane?

Methane is not toxic; however, it is extremely flammable and may form explosive mixtures with air. Methane is violently reactive with oxidizers, halogens, and some halogen-containing compounds. Methane is also an asphyxiant and may displace oxygen in an enclosed space. Asphyxia may result if the oxygen concentration is reduced to below about 16% by displacement, as most people cantolerate a reduction from 21% to 16% without ill effects. The concentration of methane at which asphyxiation risk becomes significant is much higher than the 5–15% concentration in a flammable or explosive mixture. Possible health effects of breathing in methane at high concentrations, resulting in oxygen deficiency, are increased breathing and pulse rates, lack of muscular coordination, emotional upset, nausea and vomiting, loss of consciousness, respiratory collapse and death.

 

The Dangers of Fracking Website offers a great illustrated break down…. Here it is in bullet points:

 

• Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, is the process of drilling and injecting fluid into the ground at a high pressure in order to fracture shale rocks to release natural gas inside.

  Native Foods Cafe vegan restaurant uses this image courtesy of The Watchers

.

• There are more than 500,000 active natural gas wells in the US & each gas well requires an average of 400 tanker trucks to carry water and supplies to and from the site.  It takes 1-8 million gallons of water to complete each fracturing job.

 

• The water brought in is mixed with sand and chemicals to create fracking fluid. Approximately 40,000 gallons of chemicals are used per fracturing.  Up to 600 chemicals are used in fracking fluid, including known carcinogens and toxins such as…
  • LEAD
  • URANIUM
  • MERCURY
  • ETHYLENE GLYCOL
  • RADIUM
  • METHANOL
  • HYDROCHLORIC ACID
  • FOR MALDEHYDE

  From The Great Energy Challenge Blog: Natural gas flared as waste is a new sight on the Dakota prairie, where fracking—a way of extracting hard-to-reach oil—and directional drilling have sparked a boom. (Photograph by Eugene Richards)

• The fracking fluid is then pressure injected into the ground through a drilled pipeline.
  • 72 trillion gallons of water 
and 
360 billion gallons of chemicals 
needed to run our current gas wells.

 

• The mixture reaches the end of the well where the high pressure causes the nearby shale rock to crack, creating fissures where natural gas flows into the well.  During this process, methane gas and toxic chemicals leach out from the system and contaminate nearby groundwater.
  • Methane concentrations are 17x higher in drinking-water wells near fracturing sites than in normal wells.
  • Contaminated well water is used for drinking water for nearby cities and towns.
  • There have been over 1,000 documented cases of water contamination next to areas of gas drilling as well as cases of sensory, respiratory, and neurological damage due to ingested contaminated water.
  • Only 30-50% of the fracturing fluid is recovered, the rest of the toxic fluid is left in the ground and is not biodegradable.  The waste fluid is left in open air pits to evaporate, releasing harmful VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) into the atmosphere, creating contaminated air, acid rain, and ground level ozone.

  Native Foods Cafe vegan restaurant uses this photo courtesy of woodleywonderworks, Flickr Creative Commons.

 

In the end, hydraulic fracking produces approximately 300,000 barrels of natural gas a day, but at the price of numerous enviromental, safety, and health hazards.  Is it worth it?

 

Eek! 

Even if you don't live in an area affected by fracking, or more specifically an area the water affected by fracking, keep in mind that others do, as well as animals and wildlife that play a crucial roll in our ecosystem and our future.

 

Oh, and they cause Earthquakes in previously inactive areas.  I mean we are literally jacking up the Earth's infrastructure in a sense.

  From Mother Jones: 3.0-plus magnitude earthquakes in the midcontinental US. USGS

 

From Wilderness.org:

Hydraulic fracturing involves pumping massive amounts of water into the earth's crust to break apart rock, so it should be no surprise that small earthquakes that have occurred in Ohio and Arkansas have been linked to nearby wastewater wells. The wastewater wells take in the water used to fracture the rock, and because the water is thousands of feet underground, it is under very high pressure. Since thousands of these new wells are being developed in populated areas, even small earthquakes are alarming for most of these areas haven't been seismically active in the past.

  Native Foods Cafe vegan restaurant uses this photo courtesy of No Fracking Way.

 

Uh oh.  Fracking is bad, real bad, but so is our dependency on natural gas... and I am not throwing any stones here because I definitely use my fair share of natural gas... so what is the solution?  Collaborative efforts to reduce the need for natural gas by coming up with alternative sources?  Perhaps..... but when money (lots of money) is involved things always get weird and biased and messed up.  

There is a great documentary released by HBO about fracking called Gasland.  Check it out, keep the conversation going... get involved!

 

 

Native Foods Cafe, vegan, vegan food, vegan restaurant, fracking, anti-fracking, fracking causes earthquakes

A Week in the Desert: The Creosote Bush

by Native Foods Cafe

The Desert Facts continue with the creosote bush, also known as Larrea tridentata or chaparral...  there is an 11,700-year-old creosote bush in the Mojave Desert!

• Creosote is known as "gobernadora" in Mexico, Spanish for "governess," due to its ability to secure more water by inhibiting the growth of nearby plants. 
• In the Sonora desert, Creosote is called hediondilla, which means "little stinker."
• The Creosote Bush has branches that live up to 90 years!  And there is one living creosote bush that is estimated to be nearly 12,000 years old!
• The  FDA  has issued warnings about the health hazards of ingesting chaparral or using it as an internal medicine, and discourages its use. Health Canada issued a warning to consumers to avoid using the leaves of Creosote species because of the risk of damage to the liver and kidneys. But many holistic doctors praise chaparral for its detoxification capabilities in small doses.
• Creosote emanates a very unique odor when it rains... Almost a smoky smell, very unique. Also, if you rub it's leaves together in your palms, it will release the same odor as well.
• The leaves of the creosote bush are coated with a resin to prevent water loss in the hot desert. The resin of the creosote bush also protects the plant from being eaten by most mammals and insects. 
• Creosote was used by Native Americans in the Southwest as a treatment for many maladies, including sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, chicken pox, dysmenorrhea, and snakebite. The shrub is still widely used as a medicine in Mexico in the form of a medicinal tea to cure such ailments as flu, stomach cramps, cancer, colds, and others.  

 

Native Foods Cafe Palm Springs re-opens on Tuesday, November 20th!  See you guys in the desert soon!

 

Native Foods Cafe, vegan, vegan food, vegan restaurant, Native Foods Cafe Palm Springs, creosote bush

A Week in the Desert: The Burrowing Owl

by Native Foods Cafe

And we continue with our week of desert facts!  Mostly desert animals....  Cause they're so cool.  Today we are spotlighting the burrowing owl.  The burrowing owl is so adorable, it's ridiculous.  With long ballerina legs, bright yellow eyes and a pancake face... OMG!  

 

And they have some very interesting habits....

Hand-Me-Down Homes   They  nest and roost in pre-made burrows, like the old digs of prairie dogs

Day Owls   Burrowing owls are easier to spot because, unlike most owls, burrowing owls are often active during the day. But they still do most of their hunting from dusk until dawn, when they can use their night vision and hearing to their advantage.

True Carnivores  Burrowing owls have a varied diet of small mammals, such as moles and mice, insects, birds, amphibians and reptiles.

Dung Decor  Burrowing owls will collect a wide variety of materials to line their nest, the most common material being mammal dung, usually from cattle. At one time it was incorrectly thought that the dung helped to mask the scent of the juvenile owls, but researchers now believe the dung helps to control the microclimate inside the burrow and to attract insects, which the owls may eat.

 Danger Rattle  Juveniles can mimic a rattlesnake when threatened in the burrow, and adults give a short, low-level "chuck" call to warn of approaching predators. 

Native Foods Cafe re-opens on November 20th!  Come join us in the desert and enjoy the biodiversity of this incredible region.  And see some burrowing owls!

Native Foods Cafe, vegan, vegan food, vegan restaurant, burrowing owl, Native Foods Cafe Palm Springs

A Week in the Desert: The Phainopepla Bird

by Native Foods Cafe

 

In continuing with the celebration of the re-opening of Native Foods Cafe Palm Springs, we have some more cool desert facts for you guys!  Today we are presenting the Phainopepla Bird.  Besides being pretty darn cute, they are kinda really cool too:

A female Phainopepla.

1. Its name is from the Greek phain pepla meaning "shining robe" in reference to the male's plumage.
2. Phainopepla have a specialized gizzard that shucks berry skins off the fruit and packs the skins separately from the rest of the fruit into the intestines for more efficient digestion. So far this is the only known bird able to do this.
3. The eggs are incubated by both the male and female, which about takes fifteen days. The chicks are then reared by the parents for up to nineteen more days.
4. The Phainopepla can imitate the calls of twelve other species!
5. The Phainopepla has a very special relationship with Desert Mistletoe, a parasitic plant that grows on the branches of other trees.  It eats the berries of the mistletoe, and cannot digest the seeds.  So if it happens to defecate on a branch or tree, the seeds can then germinate and produce a whole new crop of mistletoe berries, therefore ensuring its next meal.... amazing!
6. The Cahuilla Indians used to ground up the mistletoe berries and use the powder to treat wounds and as a natural Visine to treat irritated eyes.

Mistletoe Berries in Palm Desert.

Palm Springs is such a cool place with an amazing desert ecosystem.... And you can come explore it for yourself this weekend!  Enter our Win a Weekend Stay in Palm Springs Contest on Facebook! It is for this weekend to celebrate the re-opening of Native Foods Cafe Palm Springs.  But hurry, contest ends tonight at midnight!

Native Foods Cafe, Native Foods Cafe Palm Springs, vegan, vegan food, vegan restaurant, facebook contest, phainopepla bird, mistletoe berry

 

Native Community Days in October!

by Native Foods Cafe

 

It's that time of the month... you know, when you get free dessert* and a portion of profits is donated to some fantastic local animal rescues, environmental protection groups, children's education programs and community farms & gardens.  Yes!  Native Community Days at Native Foods Cafe in October is on!  Today and tomorrow, October 9th & 10th, you can score some free* dessert... like the new Pumpkin Cheesecake.  (vegan pumpkin cheesecake!)

And a portion of profits will benefit the following groups, who are amazing.  Click the link to learn more and get involved!

 

Tuesday, October 9th:

Southern California

Red Bucket Equine Rescue     

http://www.redbucketrescue.org

Chicago

Wagner Farm Rescue Fund  

http://www.wagnerfarmrescuefund.org

Portland

Hopes Haven    

http://www.hopeshavenfriends.com 

Boulder 

Every Creature Counts   

http://www.everycreaturecounts.org

Wednesday, October 10th: 

Southern California

One World One Ocean Foundation

http://www.oneworldoneoceanfoundation.org

Chicago

Young Chicago Authors   

http://www.youngchicagoauthors.org

Portland

Zenger Farm   

http://www.zengerfarm.org

Boulder 

SPLT (Southern Plains Land Trust)   

http://www.southernplains.org

 

*Free Dessert with the purchase of an entree, side and drink at Native Foods Cafe during Native Community Days only.

Native Community Days!

by Native Foods Cafe

 

Native Community Days is today and tomorrow, September 4th & 5th!  And you know what that means?  Free Dessert for you with the purchase of an entree, side and Native drink) and a portion of profits at all locations will benefit some amazing local community groups!  So come join us at one of our locations throughout Southern California, Portland, Boulder and Chicago.  And we have a very special dessert for these two days only...

The Oatmeal Creme Pie

Native Foods Cafe, vegan, vegan food, vegan restaurant, free dessert, Native Community Days

 

A portion of profits will benefit the following groups for Native Community Days... click the links below to learn more about the wonderful work they do & get involved:

 

Southern California

Tuesday, September 4th  The Dawg Squad

Wednesday, September 5th  Orange County Coastkeeper

 

Chicago

Tuesday, September 4th   Precious Pets Almost Home

Wednesday, September 5th  Build Chicago

 

Boulder

Tuesday, September 4th  Greenwood Wildlife Rehabilitation Center

Wednesday, September 5th  Boulder B-cycle

 

Portland

Tuesday, September 4th   Meow Village 

Wednesday, September 5th  Northwest Environmental Defense Center

 

 

 

Native Foods Cafe, vegan, vegan food, vegan restaurant, free dessert, Native Community Days