Issue 10: The Vegan Issue

September 2016 Elle Mint er

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Welcome to

The Vegan Issue of Yes, Ma’am!

In this issue, contributors explore

connections between feminism and veganism.

You will find connections of

compassion, ecofeminism, motherhood, marketing, body image, ethics, and consent, amongst others.

Not to mention tasty vegan recipes!

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Contributors: Michi Fink....................................7, 34-35 Gretchen Primack.............................8, 38 Michael Menchaca..................................9 Tara Booth............................12-13, 32-33 Martha Saenz Buchanan..................16-17 Mary Agnes Rodriguez.....................18,39 Kate Kitchens.......................................19 Laura Kaplan...................................20-22 Ben Stubbs......................................23-25 L.A. Watson......................................28-29 Lucy Gonzรกlez.................................30-31 3

Vegan Vocab

absent referent - a term coined by Carol J. Adams, and defined as “that which separates the meat eater from the animal and the animal from the end product. The function of the absent referent is to keep our “meat” separated from any idea that she or he was once an animal, to keep something from being seen as having been someone.”

B12 - a vitamin needed in small amounts that has a role in the functioning of the brain and nervous system, and the formation of red blood cells. It is synthesized from bacteria found in dirt and soil, and is found in animal food products because the animals consume these soils. Root vegetables that are not fully cleaned are a good way to consume B12, as well as through fortified cereals, granola bars, nutritional yeast, and supplements. calcium - calcium is important for keeping your bones strong, but does not need to come from consuming dairy products not meant for human consumption. Some vegetables that are high in calcium are kale, collard greens, broccoli, almonds, spinach, quinoa, and soy beans. If you’re eating your greens, you should be good. compassion - “...although compassion arises from empathy the two are not the same. Empathy is characterized by a kind of emotional resonance...Compassion, in contrast, is not just sharing experience with others, but also wishing to see them relieved of their suffering. Compassion means wanting to do something to relieve the hardships of others, and this desire to help...actually gives us energy and a sense of purpose and direction.”

-the Dalai Lama from Beyond Religion 4

ecofeminism - a movement originating in the connection of feminist ideas and ecological concerns, that has grown to include an intersectional discourse concerned with animal rights, race relations, disability rights, and LGBTQ rights. feminized protein - “We all get our protein from plants.

Some people get it directly, and some choose to let animals process it for them. I coined the term feminized protein for eggs and dairy products: plant protein produced through the abuse of the reproductive cycle of female animals. Feminized protein is taken from living female animals, whose reproductive capacity is manipulated for human needs.”

- Carol J. Adams fruitarian - anyone who consumes a plant-based diet made up entirely of fruits. human exceptionalism - the popular hierarchical idea that humans are greater than all other species. intersectionality - termed by Kimberle Crenshaw, it’s the study of overlapping or intersecting social identities and related systems of oppression, domination, or discrimination. nutritional yeast - a vegan’s best friend. Can be used to make vegan cheez and to sprinkle ALL over popcorn. It contains protein, iron and B12 if fortified. plant based - animals and humans who do not eat animal products are considered plant-based. protein - Plant foods high in protein include beans, peas, lentils, kale, broccoli, asparagus, spinach, potatoes, brussel sprounts, corn, artichokes, nuts, nutritional yeast, chickpeas, peanut butter, oatmeal, tofu, quinoa, and plant milks.

Protein can also come from meat substitutes made of soy or wheat protein (seitan).

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seitan - a wheat protein meat substitute often used in Asian cuisines. soy - soybeans are used to make tofu, plant-based milk, tempeh, miso, soy sauce, and meat substitutes like veggie dogs. speciesism - discrimination of other species, particularly that of humans and their exploitation towards non-human animals. tempeh - originating from Indonesia, tempeh is made from fermented soybeans and packed into a firm textured cake form. Makes for great vegan bacon! vegan - “Vegans do not eat, wear, or use anything that came from someone else’s body. We don’t eat meat or drink milk or eat cheese. We don’t consume eggs or honey. We don’t wear leather, wool, silk, or down. We don’t use products that were tested on animals or contain byproducts from their slaughter. And we don’t attend circuses, zoos, aquariums, or any other event that exploits living beings for our entertainment and pleasure.”

-Emily Moran Barwick from Bite Size Vegan (Check her out on Youtube!)

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come and come again nice to meet you my new friend the leafs do not lie I heard you threw the trees could it be that we are meant we make each other free the golden ticket was giving up carnivorism understanding specieism living true equality in this society figuring out realism Universal secrets whispered in my ears I asked, I committed, I fulfilled this is where I want to get me where I need to be free, you and me grateful for my opportunities I once waited for chances now I take them knowing that we are living our dreams --- Michi Fink 7

Love This If you permit

this evil, what is the good

of the good of your life? —Stanley Kunitz The body floods with chemicals saying, Love this, and she does, and births it; it is a boy she begins to clean and nose, but he is dragged away by his back feet. She will never touch him again, though she hears him howl and calls back for days.

Her breast milk is banked for others. Her son is pulled away to lie in his box.

He will be packed for slaughter. How ingenious we are! To make product from byproduct: make use of the child, kill and pack and truck him to plates.

And when the gallons slow, we start over, and her body says, Love this! And she does, though in a moment she will never touch him again. His milk is not for him.

And when the milk slows too slow, she will join him on the line, pounds of ground. How we will dine!

And talk of our glossy dogs! Her body will break up on our forks, as mothers beg us for the grain we stuffed her with, and children beg us for the water scouring her blood from the factory walls.

And when her wastes and gases and panic heat our air so hot our world stops breathing—then will we stop?

Then will we grow kind, let 8 the air cool and mothers breathe?

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Lolita Devoured 10

suzygonzalez.com

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Dear Body: It took me a long time to realize you are the only consistent thing I have in my life. Friends come and go, memories fade, relationships end, possessions get lost. No matter where in the world I go, you are the only familiar thing I see and touch.

I think it’s time to apologize.

I’m sorry.

I’m sorry I used to spray shower cleaner on your legs because I wanted to hurt you I’m sorry I used to think about how to harm you as I stared at the medicine cabinet I’m sorry I used to lie awake at night, whishing I could trade you for a smaller version I’m sorry I believed people when they said you were ugly and fat I’m sorry I didn’t wear sunscreen at the beach and burned your skin every summer I’m sorry I felt you were worthless and didn’t deserve to be taken care of I’m sorry I starved you and then made you run sprints in soccer and tennis practice until you passed out I’m sorry I ignored when you were trying to tell me things weren’t working properly and gluten was making you sick I’m sorry I didn’t enjoy you when boys were interested in you I’m sorry I didn’t eat better food to prevent you from developing gallstones I’m sorry I compared you to other bodies and felt you were inferior I’m sorry I got mad at you when you shut down after that boy we really like kissed you I’m sorry I’ve let you go untouched for so long, it’s been hard on me, too I’m sorry I look in the mirror and hate you most of the time I’m sorry I let you gain so much weight and now we have stretch marks to prove it I’m sorry I haven’t appreciated you I’m sorry I try to hide you most of the time and feel uncomfortable in you I can apologize over and over again, but what I really need to say is this: Thank you.

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Thank you for always being there for me Thank you for being strong, athletic, and tall Thank you for growing curly hair that I honestly love Thank you for healing after surgery, a bad car accident, and many broken bones Thank you for responding positively to me trying to take care of you and feed you better food and for thriving off of a plant based diet Thank you for allowing me to travel all over the world safely Thank you for being active and enabling me to hike, bike, play sports, kayak, camp, and have my best memories with you Thank you for not having sex with anyone who would have harmed you Thank you for finally being attracted to someone, even though it was a difficult situation, we both learned so much from it and that’s all I can ask of you Thank you for having an intuition for art making and feeling at home with clay Thank you for holding the capability to give life Thank you for laughing until crying, that is one of my favorite feelings Thank you for forgiving me Thank you for allowing me to look at you positively Thank you for finally wanting to be naked in front of someone else Thank you for having a beautiful smile, not only is it aesthetically beautiful, but it genuinely reflects how happy you have made me It took me a long time to put together this list. You and I have come a long way over the past few years and we still have a long way to go.

This is the happiest I have ever been with you and I want you to know that. You are my everything. You get me through each day. You are capable of more than I realize and I am trying my hardest to truly appreciate you.

Whatever we encounter together in the future, just know this: I’m sorry.

But, most importantly‌

Thank you.

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Recommended Readings The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory

Decolonize Your Diet Vegan’s Daily Companion: 365 Days of Inspiration for Cooking, Eating, and Living Compassionately

Sistah Vegan: Black Female Vegans Speak on Food, Identity, Health, and Society Sister Species: Women, Animals, and Social Justice

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Beasts of Burden: Animal and Disability Liberation

How it All Vegan!

Irresistible Recipes for an Animal-Free Diet

The Art of the Animal: Fourteen Women Artists Explore the Sexual Politics of Meat Ecofeminism: Feminist Intersections with Other Animals & The Earth

Never Too Late to Go Vegan Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook

Eat Raw, Eat Well: 400 Raw, Vegan & Gluten-Free Recipes

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Why Because it is like being in a poem I wrote where I feel what I feel choose what I choose to do or not do.

It is yes and no: somewhat political, sometimes emotional like a craving, a hunger, a need to feed.

Definitely a conscious act taking effort and possibly more money than most people care to spend on a perishable although it really isn’t that much more unless you go out of your way to make it so.

It is about saving faces and creating clean spaces inside me without having to explain why for the tenth time of what I prefer to eat.

I once did things without thought had been trained with what was put into my mouth by someone else; told to ingest what was on a plate when I sat at his table.

I was well trained and learned to mimic savory behaviors.

Adopted and adapted without conscious thought of reasons below which was like a Hemingway passage.

My food was inert, dead, doing nothing at all and even less for me.

Sometimes, it looked like what it was: oddly synthetic.

Dyed with suspect orange and panicked red colors spray-painting my tongue instead of the sweet, garden greens, yellows, and browns where my beet-red tongue looks not defaced, but enhanced.

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Somewhere between what I was and what I wanted to be self-awareness kicked in and then those family marketing ploys plummeted and I was left to my own changes in direction.

Breaking with the past was not so painful, just a different step to fill my own bowl and lick my own spoon.

Now it is like being off the ground, pedaling faster, and finally hearing my own sound.

by Martha Saenz Buchanan

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PERSISTENCE OF LETTUCE Blue and black dots stain my face from the skin pills and they notice—like bee-bees embedded in a plucked chicken’s back. My face becomes a cemetery for mortician assistants to grope towards as they creep through the halls. They say inappropriate things that makes my complicated mandible bend. My awkward jaw poppings.

I worry that one day I’ll awake with a locked jaw cemented ajar like a partially opened soup can, and I can’t prevent people from throwing mechanically separated turkey parts into my mouth. Or those hard things in fast food burgers. They say I’m full of lettuce, but I say they’re whacked to high noon with a papier-mâché spoon and proceed to munch tofurkey giblets in the corner—quaking like a person with low blood sugar. I awake feeling bloated skin pills in my hand, thinking, they must’ve gotten wet and expanded. But they’re just earplugs, so maybe I really am full of lettuce.

By Kate Kitchens 19

Kale Mint Chip Cupcakes with palm oil-free frosting

By Laura Kaplan of Banana Curl, Vegan Girl (bananacurlvegangirl.com). She has also started a new youtube channel called Laura Has Heart that will feature this recipe in some capacity.

Okay, so this sounds a little weird! But it’s super delicious!

There are two options for the frosting. I made it with the mint fudge flavor, but it looked a little unappetizing when I piped it on until I stuck pieces of kale into it and then it looked a little better. If you’re serving these to people who you want to impress or are not used to silly vegan kale antics, stick with the vanilla peppermint frosting option.

You can barely tell there is kale in them unless you draw attention to the fact!

Note: you will need some kind of baking mixer with a stand (like a Kitchenaid or equivalent) and a blender or food processor for this recipe to come out well.

Cupcake Ingredients: 1 ½ cup unbleached all purpose flour 1 tsp baking powder ¼ tsp baking soda 2 tbsp water mixed with 1 tbsp flaxmeal, whisked together and left to sit for at least 5 minutes ½ cup applesauce ½ cup vegan sugar ¼ cup organic brown sugar 3 tbsp melted coconut oil ¼ cup non dairy milk of choice (I use original almond milk) 1 tsp vanilla extract ½ tsp peppermint extract 20

1 cup kale, chopped in a food processor or high speed blender (or very finely chopped by hand) ½ cup vegan chocolate chips (I use a brand called Pascha, it’s fair trade, organic, and all that good stuff) Frosting: Mint Fudge or Vanilla Mint Palm free “butter” cream ½ cup completely solid refined (or extra virgin if you don’t mind a coconut taste) coconut oil (the solid part is very important! If it’s the summer or you live in a warm place, stick it in the fridge until it becomes solid! I hear it should only take 5-10 minutes in the fridge, but I didn’t have this problem so I don’t know! but a melted coconut oil will not yield the same results, believe me, I have tried making similar stuff, it gets all clumpy and separates easily. Ew.) 4 cups vegan (organic) powdered sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract ¼ tsp peppermint extract ¼ cup raw cocoa powder (omit if making vanilla mint option) 6-10 tbsp non dairy milk Directions for cupcakes: 1.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 2.

Stir together flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a large mixing bowl.

3.

Combine flaxmeal-water mix (after it’s gelled up a bit), applesauce, sugars, coconut oil, vegan milk, and extracts in another bowl.

4.

Slowly pour the dry ingredients into the liquid ingredients while slowly running the mixer.

5.

Continue to mix until a batter forms.

6.

Fold in the kale until combined.

7.

Fold in the chocolate chips until dispersed throughout the batter.

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8.

Evenly place into cupcake liners.

9.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. They are done when a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center.

10. Allow to cool for ten minutes in the cupcake tin. Then transfer to a cooling rack until fully cooled before frosting.

Frosting directions: 1.

Place the solid coconut oil into a bowl with a mixer attached.

2.

Place one cup of powdered sugar at a time and mix slowly at first, then pick up the speed.

3.

After placing two cups of powdered sugar, put 2-4 tablespoons of non dairy milk into the bowl and continue to mix. As long as you can get it to mix without it all clumping up into a ball, stick to the lower side of the milk number.

4.

Add in the rest of the powdered sugar slowly, and another 2-4 tablespoons of the milk.

5.

Add in cocoa powder (if using) and add 1 tablespoon additional vegan milk.

6.

Add the extracts, and additional vegan milk if necessary to get a good spreadable (or pipe-able) frosting consistency. If you accidentally made it too runny and it’s not because the coconut oil melted, add more powdered sugar and adjust as necessary.

7.

You may want to put the frosting in back into the fridge for a bit to get a little more solid if it’s warm out. You will probably have some leftovers too which I recommend you keep in the fridge and eat as you please ;) 8.

Assemble the cupcakes!

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On Reconciling with My Diet and My Culture

For most of us, a meatless diet was not the norm growing up. We have been brought up in a carnivorous culture and thus the majority of the food we have been raised on contains animals.

When I stopped eating animals, my craving for the comfort foods of my childhood didn’t necessarily go away (although, I’m doing alright without my dad’s “spaghetti”). Since eliminating animals from my diet, I’ve been working on developing new and improved versions of the foods I grew up with. Just because you don’t eat animals, doesn’t mean you can’t eat Frito pie, barbeque sandwiches, or homestyle beans and cornbread. Here, I’ve included a recipe for my favorite meal of all time.

For the beans: ½ lb pinto beans 1 yellow onion, sliced 1 jalepeno or hatch green chile, chopped (optional) 3 strips vegan bacon (Smart Bacon and Tofurky are both vegan), torn into pieces For the greens: 1 bunch collard greens, roughly chopped 6-8 cloves of garlic, chopped 2 Tbsp olive oil Salt, to taste For the cornbread: 2 cups cornmeal 1 cup all purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/3 cup canola oil 2 Tbsp maple syrup 2 cups milk (soy, flax, almond, etc) 2 tsp apple cider vinegar ½ tsp salt 26

For the beans: 1.

Rinse beans and remove any pieces of dirt. Place beans, chopped onions, chopped peppers, and bacon pieces into a slow cooker.

2.

Fill to the rim with water and stir so that everything is distributed 3.

Cook on low 8 hours or on high for 5 hours.

4.

Let cool before serving.

For the cornbread: 1.

Preheat the oven to 360 and spray a 9x13 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.

2.

Whisk together milk and vinegar. Set aside.

3.

In another bowl, sift together dry ingredients.

4.

Add oil and maple syrup to milk and vinegar. Whisk for 2 minutes or until foamy and bubbly.

5.

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and fold together until there are no more dry lumps.

6.

Pour batter into baking pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

For the greens: 1.

While the cornbread is baking, sautee garlic until it begins to turn golden.

2.

Toss in collard greens and fold until the olive oil coats the greens and the garlic is mixed in.

3.

Cover and turn off heat. Allow to steam for 5 minutes or until the collard greens become tender.

In a soup bowl, top the pinto beans with the sauteed collard greens and salt to taste (I use Lawry’s garlic salt, because that’s what I grew up with). Serve the cornbread warm with a pat of Earth Balance.

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My work explores our ethical relationship to non-human animals, while employing critical tools and strategies of feminism.

In the photographic series A Bird at My Table, I wanted to begin to shed light on the horrific practices that both chickens and turkeys are subjected to from birth until death on their way to the dinner table. Literally consumed more than any other domesticated animal, yet denied protection by any federal laws, these birds suffer both mental and physical

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abuse from over-breeding and confinement. I wanted to complicate the rigid boundaries between the human and nonhuman animal by positioning my own body in such a way as to resemble the cooked corpse of a chicken or turkey. My intention was to foster a sense of connection between the human body (which is typically viewed as someone) and that of the nonhuman animal’s body (which is typically viewed as something).

How does something that is appetizing become someone who is not?

A Bird at My Table, 2008

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Vegan Banana Bread Muffins 3/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 cups white sugar 1/2 cup earth balance, at room temp 4 very ripe bananas, mashed up 2 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 cup almond milk - vanilla almond milk adds a little sweetness 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon allspice 1/2 teaspoon salt Directions Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray muffin tin with non stick cooking spray, or lightly coat with earth balance.

Cream together the earth balance and sugars. Add bananas, almond milk and vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet. Mix well. Pour batter into muffin tin. Sprinkle a pinch of brown sugar on top of each muffin. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

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Tara Booth’s work is about feminism, the body, and the stigma attached to weight and food for women.

Wrap ceramic 2015 30”x24”x28 When I work with clay, I build quickly and as mindlessly as possible. It is easy to get wrapped up in perfection, to spend hours smoothing, and to end up with something I have nothing in common with. I feel the most connected to clay as a material since it greatly relates to the body. Clay is malleable, heavy, and fragile like the body. It can be made into any shape; it can gain and lose weight. Clay can fall over, collapse on itself, crack, split open, and be mended. I feel connected to clay in the way I feel connected to my body. I control what I can and the rest is all part of the process.

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Haptic cast latex 2016 70�x70�

The tongue is a fascinating place. It serves purposes both inside and outside the body. It is the holder of sensory memory. Vegetables fresh from the garden, excitement of another tongue on mine, smooth chocolate when it is most needed, conversations until the sun rises. Some of my fondest memories have started at my tongue.

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When one has the choice to make a compassionate decision I just do not understand not making the compassionate decision. Choice, ok, is privileged, some, I often, may say. But I dislike when people are against Veganism and one of their arguments is that it is privileged. Well, so is that phone, that car, that coffee, that beer, that ganja, that day off and that awesome consensual sex. All privileges. We should all be blessed that we have choices, a lot of people do not. I do understand survival. I am in no place to argue how to survive when there are no choices, even right here in America, in poor (and fancy) communities. But this is not about survival. This is about making responsible decisions. For yourself, the animals and the environment. Taste buds only satisfy momentarily. But, see the moment for what it is. The whole picture of the moment. When you eat plants they live again/still through you, within you. Meat is just dead, you take that in, become what you eat. I am a rainbow of fruits and vegetables, and that is a bright feeling. And, then, the connection between Feminism and Veganism. Respect all Womyn of all species, not just humans.

Speciesism is a real term. Those lady animals bred for consumption are raped and forced pegnant, put in pain and made uncomfortable for their milk from their often swollen “tits� and for their periods (eggs), overworked with no proper way to sleep or stretch/move around, their babies taken from them never to be seen again.

People argue we are supposed to eat meat, though, we have not the teeth nor claws for this as a survival method.

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We are the only species that must use tools to catch (most of) its prey. Then (with most people, with most meats) a somewhat cooking must happen due to our digestive systems. Again, the only animals that use fire or heat before eating its meal. Nothing wrong with a cooked meal … if no one had to be tortured or die for it.

There is no humane way to kill, none when it’s not your choice to die. Some think it’s evolution that led to us not having the claws, teeth nor digestive system to be carnivorous as once perhaps, and if so, then trust evolution for us to survive as a species. And, even say for a moment, we do have the body to catch and digest dead meat, flesh, dairy and periods (eggs), we have been proven long healthy lifes on a plant based diet, so simply based on compassion itself, (outside of survival) I do not understand not making the compassionate decision, not only if this were the case, but, in any case. And people are riding their bicycles to save the environment to go to the hottest joints to eat hamburgers and hot dogs. If they drove to eat a salad that would save the environment more so, when you look at it on the bigger scale. Green house gas emissions are not ruled number one by not even all the transportation combined but by the factory farming industry. So, ride your bicycle on your way to eat a salad. Love all genders and non genders of all species and non species with respect equally. Make compassionate decisions when given choices. Compassion feels good given and received.

— Michi Fink

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Papas con “Huevos” Papas con “Huevos” or potatoes with tofu scramble makes for a great breakfast taco! Adding curry powder and turmeric gives it the yellow look of eggs plus a yummy new flavor to a tex-mex favorite. This is great if you want a super simple, yet filling meal.

Ingredients: 1 package firm tofu 3-5 medium potatoes, cubed 1 tbsp. olive oil 1tbsp. curry powder 1 tsp. turmeric 1 tsp. cumin 2 tsp. salt 1 tsp. pepper

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Directions: Pan fry papas in hot oil until soft. Pat tofu dry with a few paper towels, squish it into large crumbles, and add to potatoes. Add spices and be careful to fold them in as the more aggressive you are, the smaller tofu crumbles you will have.

Cook until tofu begins to brown.

Top tacos with some raw spinach and your favorite ranchero salsa.

Taco yield: 8 Spice-o-Meter: Mild

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Restriction So this is restriction, this pack of tastes, the crisp and the dissolving, the bowl of comfort and bowl of brace, the mashed and crunched, split and whole.

The zippers of wheat, the burst of a mango, the tiny skin peeling from a bean, a hundred plump grains and a hundred plump nuts, the seeds, the geneses of tall green stretches and fat green leaves.

That is what becomes my mouth and body and my heart, and it is my joy, and plenty.

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Thanks for reading Yes, Ma’am!

Contribute to Issue 11 by emailing yes.maam27@gmail.com

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