Editors' Note

You may have noticed that this newsletter has a vegan flair to it. While we ourselves are not quite vegan(yet) we do feel that it offers the most acessable format. If we offer a recipe and its vegan, then we know that almost anyone will be able to use it as is. To start off the very first issue of Trade-Jacker, Renee wrote a piece that briefly describes a few of the reasons why we're trying to go vegan and what that actually means. She also included two recipes: blackberry almond scones and Pesto. We hope you enjoy.

Trade-Jacker

It has come to our attention that there may be misconceptions, misinformation, and simple lack of understanding regarding the how's and why's of vegan/vegetarian lifestyles. So here are the basics, as we have decided they are.

There are several different types of vegetarians. Vegans eat a plant-based diet, and raw-food vegans eat plants that are uncooked. As you can imagine, raw foodies are hard-core! Lacto-vegetarians include milk and cheese products in their food, ovo-vegetarians eat eggs, and lacto-ovo vegetarians eat (all together now) milk, cheese, and eggs. Pesco- or pesce-vegetarians eat fish and sea creatures. People choose a vegetarian diet for various reasons, a primary one being health. Animal products are high in cholesterol (the bad kind), and are more difficult for the body to break down. In these days of high demand and mass production, farm animals are kept pumped full of chemicals and hormones, and are raised on unhealthy diets themselves. You eat what your food eats.

Many more vegans object to the conditions in which farm animals are kept. Even eggs from "free-range" chickens are misleading: free-range only requires farmers to let their animals have access to outdoor areas for an unspecified amount of time each day. And that applies only to chickens used for meat, not eggs. Dairy cows are kept permanently pregnant so that they continuously produce milk. Their calves are usually taken away immediately so that they don't consume a sellable resource, and/or to be raised as veal. That's what happens in the best of conditions. The average process of providing meat and dairy to the masses should turn even the strongest of stomachs, and we'll save that for a later issue.

Vegans do not eat any meat, dairy or eggs; they do not use gelatin or glue made from horse hooves; they do not wear leather,wool, down, or fur of any kind; they do not use lotions with lanolin; they do not use cosmetics or household products that have been tested on animals; most vegans do not eat honey or use products made from beeswax.

Vegans eat a diet of grains, fruits and vegetables. Foods like beans, tofu, and peanut butter provide protein, and seeds and dried fruit are great sources of concentrated vitamins and minerals. Do we feel that we are missing out? Though occassionally a greasy slice of pizza sounds like just the thing, 95% of the time, we don't miss anything. We have a greater appreciation for the simple, natural goodness of fresh fruits and vegetables, and have become more adventurous about trying new ones. We also feel better physically, rarely get sick,� have more energy, and have lost weight. We don't feel sluggish after meals. We do get hungry between meals (vegan food burns off more quickly than meat), but we make sure to have yummy snacks on hand, and that's hardly a sacrifice. Fortunately, it's easier to be a vegan now than it was even ten years ago. There are more substitutes available, and more restaurants have vegan options, or are at least willing to modify dishes. Our local pizzaria is more than happy to fix us a pie with no cheese, and loaded up with peppers, onions and mushrooms.

For more detailed information on vegan lifestyles and the farming industry here are some good places to start:

www.farmsanctuary.com

VegNews and Vegetarian Times, available at organic/natural food stores

Don't Have a Cow, a zine available from the author : John Johnson, P.O. Box 8145, Reno, NV 89507 (the zine is free, though donations are accepted in forms of cash, check made out to "cash", postage stamps, or a copy of your own food zine)

And here are two of our favorite recipes:

2 cups spelt or whole-wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup sugar, +2 teaspoons
2 tablespoons orange zest
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup non-hydrogenated margerine
6 ounces plain soy yogurt
1/4 cup soy milk or orange juice
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup fresh or frozen blackberries
3 tablespoons sliced almonds, +2 tablespoons

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup sugar, orange zest, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt.

2. Using a pastry cutter or fork, cut the margerine into the dry ingredients until it resembles the size of small peas. Add the soy yogurt, soy milk and vanilla, and stir until the mixture becomes a soft dough. Add the blackberries and 3 tablespoons almonds, and lightly fold into the dough.

3. Transfer the dough to the cookie sheet. Lightly dust your hands with flour and gently pat the dough to form a 9-inch circle. Using a sharp knife, score the circle into 8 wedges, but leave the circle as a whole to bake.

4. Bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the tray, and reduce the heat to 350 degrees, and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove the scones from the oven, and sprinkle with two teaspoons of sugar, and 2 tablespoons of sliced almonds. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Serve warm with jam or margerine, and a nice pot of tea.

2 bunches fresh basil
3 or 4 cloves fresh garlic
1/2 cup pine nuts
olive oil
salt

Put basil leaves and 1/4 cup of olive oil in blender or food processor. Add garlic, pine nuts, and salt to taste. Continue blending, adding oil as necessary, until pureed into a light paste. Serve over potato gnocchi, or pasta with chopped tomatoes, or spread on fresh bread with slices of tomato.

Keep un-used pesto in fridge for several weeks, or freeze. Pour a thin layer of olive oil on top keeps pesto from turning brown (browning does not hurt flavor or mean it has gone bad, it just doesn't look as good)