If you dont eat animal products and you dont go, what are you even doing with your life?

March 24, 2017 Maddie Crichton Dining, Food

Veggie loversor anyone who just loves delicious foodunite this Sunday, March 26 at the third annual Vegan Street Fair in North Hollywood. Local vegan restaurants, food vendors, and shops will line up on Chandler between Tujunga and Vineland from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Over 150 vendors will be dishing out snacks and samples, as well as other goodies. Admission to the event is free, and the portions go for$4 a pop.

You can get ahead of the game and use this map to plan your day of non-stop eating before you get to the fair.

RELATED: Your Indispensable Guide to Vegan and Vegetarian Taco Bell Hacks

Tags: Burgers, fair, Food, sliders, vegan

The rest is here:

Cancel All Your Plans. The Vegan Street Fair Is This Sunday in NoHo - LA Magazine (blog)

A group of 19 nurses decided to test a plant-based diet, heres what happened.

One day at Virginias George Mason University, Joanne Evans, M.Ed., R.N., P.M.H.C.N.S.-B.C., gave a presentation to her nurse colleagues about the health benefits of a plant-based vegan diet. Nineteen of the nurses decided to see the science for themselves by test driving a vegan diet for 21 days.

A recent review about plant-based diets published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found that a vegan diet has all kinds of health benefits, including reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes by 62 percent, reducing the risk of death or a hospitalization from a heart attack by 32 percent, and reducing the risk of developing all forms of cancer by 18 percent. But what more-immediate results would the nurses see?

The findings for this self-reported plant-based dietary review appear in the March 2017 issue of the American Journal of Nursing. They include the following.

After 21 days:

Ten of the nurses lost weight, with an average weight loss of 4.4 pounds; from a range of 1.5 to 9 pounds.

Six of the nurses reported gains in energy.

Seventy-four percent of the nurses (14 out of 19) lowered their cholesterol, with a mean average of 18 mg/dL.

But six of those 14 lowered their cholesterol by a notable 45 to 60 mg/dL!

Eight of them reported feeling highly satisfied with their health, while only one nurse reported this before the test began.

After the program concluded, the nurses reported eating more fruit and vegetables on a regular basis.

After the program concluded, the nurses reported eating less meat and dairy.

The nurses in the program achieved metabolic benefits without counting calories, measuring portion sizes, or adhering to strict rules, explains a statement for the review. They received support through weekly webinars with Evans, who answered questions about day-to-day challenges, provided advice about nutrient intake and cooking procedures, and offered feedback about how to integrate options for family and friends into every meal.

The nurses also used a free program, the 21-Day Vegan Kickstart, created by the non-profit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. The meal-planning program launches the first day of each month and works as a support tool that offers dietitian-created meal plans, grocery shopping lists, inspirational tips, videos of cooking demos and grocery store tours, interactive tools, et cetera.

Large bodies of research show a plant-based vegan diet boosts weight loss, lowers blood pressure, improves cholesterol, and stabilizes blood sugar, says Neal Barnard, M.D., F.A.C.C., creator of the 21-Day Vegan Kickstart, president of the Physicians Committee, and an adjunct associate professor of medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. We now have preliminary evidence that this way of eating boosts energy, too. The secret is to stick with the prescription since the health benefits last as long as youre putting the dietary principles into practice. A plant-based vegan diet is not a fad diet, but a new approach to eating, a new approach to health, and a new approach to life.

If you eat meat, would you consider changing to a plant-based diet for 21 days? Even the short-term results are pretty impressive.

Read more:

7 things that happened to these nurses after going vegan for 21 days - Treehugger

STOCKTON, Calif. Her chill playlist, as South Carolina point guard Tyasha Harris dubs it, is full of rapper Drakes more emotional tracks along with the likes of Lupe Fiasco and Eminem.

She pauses for a second to rack her brain, then remembers.

Oh, and some Chris Brown, Harris says. I listen to slow, chill music to calm my nerves.

The routine started around her freshman year of high school in Noblesville, Ind. Harris said she would have one set of music to relax her on the bus ahead of any given game, then another one full of hype music to get her going during pregame warm-ups. Five years later, almost the exact same playlist still blasts through her headphones before every game, and Saturday will be no different.

Thrust into a starting role midway through the season, the freshman point guard is in unchartered territory as the No. 1 seed Gamecocks take on No. 12 seed Quinnipiac at Stockton Arena in the women's NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.

Unable to control the ebbs and flows of the tournament or how others around her might perform, the one thing Harris can control is how she spends her downtime. And while the Gamecocks wait for Saturday afternoon, Harris has made it a point to spend hers doing things she finds relaxing.

I dont watch Netflix. I dont know what (my teammates) are watching, but Im just really watching all the NCAA Tournaments, the boys and the girls. (Friday) night there were a lot of good ones. The Michigan game and then West Virginia, that game, and then definitely the Arizona-Xavier game because I know a person who plays on the Xavier team, Trevon Bluiett, Harris said.

We watched the whole tournament on TV and laid down and chilled and then some of us went downstairs to play ping-pong (at the team hotel) for a little bit, too. So that was fun.

Harris has played in all 33 of USC's games in some capacity this season, starting in 23 of them, which marks a first for USC coach Dawn Staley.

In 16 previous seasons as a head coach, Staley never elected to have a freshman start at the point guard position. After Christmas break this season, she changed her mind.

We got back and coach sat us down before practice and was like, Were going to make some changes. Were just going to clarify everybodys role so we can know what were going to do, and kinda just told the team, thats when she named me as starting point guard, Harris said.

I still think Bianca Cuevas-Moore is still our starting point guard, just that shes now a spark off the bench. She helps me throughout everything. She teaches me stuff in practice and stuff like that if I dont understand anything, shell help me through that. So its an amazing feeling. They all help me and they all have trust in me, so it just gives me confidence.

So far, Staleys decision has paid off. While teammate Allisha Gray said Friday she wants to see Harris (5.3 points per game) become more of a scoring threat, its clear Harriss youth has not been a factor as South Carolina presses on. Harris was recently named to the SECs All-Freshman team and ranks ninth in assists for the conference despite not starting for nearly a third of the season.

To date, she has 109 assists to 52 turnovers, averaging 25.8 minutes per game. Against Arizona State in the round of 32, Harris admitted her nerves got to her down the stretch she even missed a pair of free throws but with more time comes more comfort. Staley hopes that holds up when the Gamecocks (29-4) play Quinnipiac (29-6) at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Ty's been calm, cool and collected all season long. She's a point guard that's probably far beyond her years. She's got a great approach to the game. She's just composed, Staley said. When you've played as many games and you've started as many games as she has in our league; she's battle tested. This stage, I don't think this stage will faze her. She will approach it the same way. Hopefully she'll continue to have the success that she's had.

Follow Grace Raynor on Twitter @gmraynor.

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South Carolina freshman point guard Tyasha Harris 'calm, cool, collected' as Gamecocks face Quinnipiac in NCAA's ... - Charleston Post Courier

MINNEAPOLIS | Organic cotton textiles register no more than a footnote in the worlds cotton production, but Vishal Naithani wants to change that.

His company, Sustained Organic Living in suburban Minneapolis, selects certified organic cotton grown in India with non-GMO seeds. The products are made using only fair trade labor on the farms and in the factories.

The challenge for Naithani and his company, which is known as Sol Organics, is to be able to create the level of interest among consumers for organic apparel that has been generated for organic food. For now, his chief weapon is price: He aims to price his products significantly lower than his online competitors and on par with high-quality bedding that is not fair trade organic.

Every family should have access to affordable organic cotton just like they have access to affordable organic food, he said. It shouldnt be only the wealthy who can afford premium products.

Sol Organics is one of a number of companies offering organic, fair trade textiles online or in stores. Companies such as Boll &Branch and Patagonia sell them. West Elm, Pottery Barn, and Target feature organic cotton that may or may not be fair trade. Naithani said Sol Organics is the only Minnesota-based company to do so.

Part of the reason Naithani acts as a maverick is that organic cotton hasnt grabbed the consumers attention like organic milk, produce and poultry.

Shoppers arent ingesting organic cotton as they do organic foods, so they may not see the benefit, said Mary Brett Whitfield, senior vice president at Kantar Retail, a retail consulting business. We havent trained shoppers to think about how cotton is grown or how it fits in the environmental food chain.

Conventionally grown cottons critics say the so-called fabric of our lives is a crop that requires lots of water and chemicals to grow. A pesticide-intensive crop, conventional cotton uses more than an average amount of pesticides, although the amount is in dispute.

Cotton covers 2.5 percent of the worlds cultivated land, yet growers use an estimated 10 to 25 percent of the worlds pesticides, according to Rodale Institute, a Pennsylvania organic farm and researcher. AMIS Global, an agriculture data firm, estimates the pesticide usage for cotton at closer to 5 percent, according to Cotton Inc.

In India, where more than 20 percent of the worlds cotton is grown, child labor is common. According to a Harris Poll conducted in 2016, three in five consumers would not purchase a cotton product if they knew it was picked by children or forced labor.

Naithani and others in the business believe that, in time, more consumers will search out organic sheets, towels and clothing. Only 5 percent of consumers purchase organic clothing, slightly higher among millennials, according to Kantar Retail.

At the wholesale level, organic, fair trade cotton costs only about 15 percent more than conventional cotton, Naithani said. He doubles the cost of the goods for his retail price while competitors triple the cost, he said.

The only way to get people to convert to buying organic cotton is to keep prices competitive. Costco and Wal-Mart have made organic food affordable, he said. We want to do the same for organic cotton.

At $119 for a queen set and $139 for a king set at solorganix.com (after a $40 instant savings), his prices are 30 to 50 percent less than comparable products online, but still nearly double what a conventional set costs at Kohls or J.C. Penney.

Naithani hopes to drop the price of his queen-sized set to $99 within two years, once the product reaches critical mass. Affordability is the tipping point, he said. It promotes access, which in turn creates demand and conversion to organic cotton.

Naithani, who also sells his product on Amazon, hopes to break $1 million in annual sheet sales by next month.

Thats still a fraction of the online retailer Boll &Branch, which sold about $40 million in organic fair trade sheets and towels in 2016.

Sols products are getting four- and five-star reviews online.

Increasing the demand for organic cotton creates this tremendous upside where everyone wins, the farmer, the consumer and the earth, he said.

Sustained Organic Living at a glance

Origin: Health and wellness market for 20 years; added organic sheets in 2016.

Revenue: $7 million in aromatherapy wraps and candles in 2016 and $1 million (projected in 2017) for organic bedding.

Products: Certified organic cotton, fair trade sheets, duvets, shams, and crib sheets plus warming therapy and diffusers. Coming soon: Sol Baby starter kit, flannel sheets, down and wool comforters, alpaca blankets.

Certification: Sols farms use Fair Trade USA and Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). The factories use Fairtrade Labelling Organization.

Advantages/disadvantages of organic cotton: Reviewers say the cotton is softer but wrinkles a bit more. Naithani said organic cotton lasts longer.

About the company: Sol Organics

Origin: Health and wellness market for 20 years; added organic sheets in 2016.

Revenue: $7 million in aromatherapy wraps and candles in 2016 and $1 million (projected in 2017) for organic bedding.

Products: Certified organic cotton, fair trade sheets, duvets, shams, and crib sheets plus warming therapy and diffusers. Coming soon: Sol Baby starter kit, flannel sheets, down and wool comforters, alpaca blankets.

Certification: Sols farms use Fair Trade USA and Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). The factories use Fairtrade Labelling Organization.

Advantages/disadvantages of organic cotton: Reviewers say the cotton is softer but wrinkles a bit more. Naithani said organic cotton lasts longer.

Originally posted here:

Can organic cotton become as mainstream as organic food? - St. Augustine Record

Organic Trade Association

WASHINGTON, D.C. New Nielsen findings released by the Organic Trade Association (OTA) on March 23 show things have changed in the kitchens of American households across the country, from small towns to the big cities. Organic can now be found on the shelves of kitchen cupboards and in the refrigerators of 82.3 percent of American households.

In the first comprehensive look at organic purchases by households on a state-by-state level, the nationally representative Nielsen study of 100,000 households conducted in 2015 and 2016 reported that more households than ever bought organic food on a regular basis throughout 2016. The national average climbed 3.4 percent from 2015 to 82.3 percent, while in Georgia, the number of households buying organic rose by a solid 4 percent to 81.5 percent. The state showing the biggest jump in households purchasing organic was North Dakota, where 85.6 percent of households participating in the Nielsen study reported buying organic in 2016, up a robust 14.2 percent from 2015.

These new findings show how important organic has become to millions and millions of American families everywhere to more than 80 percent of our nations 117 million households*, more than 80 percent of Georgias 3.5 million* households, more than 85 percent of North Dakotas almost 300,000 households*, said Laura Batcha, CEO and Executive Director of OTA. The organic community is looking forward to working with the new leadership at USDA. We are eager to show how important adequate funding is to support a strong organic program and to help organic to continue to become a part of healthy diets of households throughout our nation.

The Nielsen findings show a number of states in which 90 percent or more of households now buy organic on a regular basis, with even the lowest levels all hovering around 70 percent. The five states seeing the biggest increases in households reporting organic purchases were:

North Dakota, where 85.6 percent of households participating bought organic in 2016, up 14.2 percent from 2015.

Rhode Island, with 88.3 percent buying organic, up 12.3 percent from 2015.

Wyoming, where 90.0 percent of participating households bought organic in 2016, up 10.8 percent.

South Dakota, which had the lowest percentage of any state at 68.9 percent, but still recorded a 10.0 percent increase.

Wisconsin, where 77.6 percent of participating households bought organic, up 9.1 percent from 2015.

Organic provides a healthy choice for consumers everywhere, and a profitable choice for farmers, said Batcha. The industry relies on a few critical public institutions to support this burgeoning industry, including the National Organic Program for global oversight and uniform standards and research investment targeted to organic production. Organic is fueled by consumers, and it thrives when USDA recognizes the importance of organic to rural economies and to rural households.

Organic food sales in the United States now total around $40 billion annually, and account for around five percent of total food sales in this country. According to the Organic Trade Associations 2016 U.S. Organic Industry Survey, total organic food sales in 2015 were $39.7 billion, up 11 percent from the previous year. This spring OTA will be releasing its 2017 industry survey, which will look at the U.S. organic market in 2016.

The Nielsen data comes from 100,000 participating households in the 48 contiguous states that are geographically and demographically diverse to represent the national population. Participating households record with a home scanner all food purchases for in-home consumption from any retail outlet, including organic items. Participants scan the Universal Product Codes (the bar codes that cashiers scan at the supermarket) to track their purchases. Nielsen has been tracking food purchases with its home scanner household panel since 2002.

*According to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau statistics

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Study: Organic food in 82% of US households - Farm Forum

Springtime out here has a fairytale-like quality to it. Beyond the enchantment of renewal, the hope that comes with promise, the optimism emerging from the realization that we dont have to wear those Michelin Man-inspired overcoats for a while, spring offers something of a wake-up. No, we do not hibernate all winter in Western New York; the feeling is more of a wiping of cobwebs from the pursuit of aspirations.

My personal theory is that winters are three months long out here. It can snow, heavily, prior to those months and yes, it can snow in May, but if you make it through January, February and March youve made it through a Western New York winter. With an upcoming rainy week forecast by those paid to know, I predict were free of winter. I have no doubt my email box will be full of messages from razzers when some April blizzard hits, but I feel comfortable about this. Then again, I expected Villanova to win it all this year.

Its time to refill my little basement chamber of horrors, the space my shovels, scrapers and bags of rock salt inhabit when theyre not on duty. And then, its on to what?

Yes, baseball and drinking beer outdoors and walks instead of drives, and girls wearing shorts, the tracking-down friends unseen since the autumn and learning about who died and whos getting married and that myriad of things to do once the weather turns less hostile. Then theres income taxes due, the end of the semester if you keep time that way, examinations of whatever winter did to the outside of property, the next wave of watching that slow shipwreck in Washington. Mowing the lawn. Some people are so into lawn care they dream about it and television advertisements and entire channels are dedicated to the joy of it all, a personality disorder which has somehow long escaped me.

You could say that, if you regulate your life according to the change of season, each change will offer you a mixed bag of activities as the old bag gets thrown into the closet. No doubt about it, but that winter-turns-to-spring has more motivational mojo than the others, at least around here. You can almost sense the opportunity in the air, whereas just a few weeks ago all you had was snowflakes in the air.

Temperatures will eventually rise this year to the point they may break the 100 degree mark, something which has never occurred in Buffalo. In history. The maximum was 99 degrees in 1948 as the winters have gotten weirder, so have the summers.

An aside: I grew up in North Buffalo, and remember as a kid playing touch football in the street with my friends, more-or-less every Thanksgiving morning as we awaited whatever celebrations our respective families were planning. So it was a point of interest whether or not it would snow on Thanksgiving; these days I suspect no one even considers the possibility. Our street, incidentally, was not a fancy one but had medians of grass, which we called islands, separating the traffic lanes. Our football games offered few opportunities for end-around runs but we developed a hell of a passing attack.

I am the last person to coach anyone on the topic of spiritual renewal, but if thats what you seek then nows the time. Its the time, actually, for the renewal of New Years resolutions, or the start of a few. When you sluff off that winter coat and remove yourself from those boots, youll feel ten pounds lighter anyway.

You know, better than I ever will, what you need and want from your life, as well as what youre prepared to do about it. Take winters end as a signal that growth is about to begin.

All right, the motivational speech, like the Sabres season, is over. Some things will remain the same: however you feel about the Trump regime, I suspect its future actions or inaction will not change your attitude about it much. Life will go on whether the United Fighting Championship is a hit in the area, whether Uber ever hits the area, whether your daughter marries for money or for love. If you cannot play the piano today, you wont be able to play one next winter, unless you do something about it now.

Its such a do-something time, spring in Western New York is! This part of the world is crawling with creative writers, poets and others ready to pour out such expressive declamations, on paper by the yard, so Ill leave it to them. Snow and the rumors of snow get shoved aside for opportunities to do things instead of talk about them. Anything! Except, in my case, lawn care.

Contact Ed Adamczyk at EdinKenmore@gmail.com.

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ADAMCZYK: A meditation on spring. So wake up! - Niagara Gazette

Francois Ozon Paula Beer, Pierre Niney, Ernst Sttzner (Music Box Films) US theatrical: 17 Mar 2017 UK theatrical: 12 May 2017 2017

Here Lies Frantz Hoffmeister. Its 1919 Germany and, in the wake of World War I, a young man and woman, practically strangers, stand together by the grave of a man they both loved. Francois Ozons haunting, silky-smooth Frantz follows the bizarre, ever-distorting relationship that develops between Anna (Paula Beer), the titular vanished mans fiance, and Adrien (Pierre Niney), a Frenchman who claims to have befriended him in Paris before he fell on the battlefield. Like his best film, 2004s Swimming Pool, Frantz elevates a relatively conventional surface story with an understated but powerful sense of psychological terror.

Freely inspired by the 1932 Ernst Lubitsch film Broken Lullaby, Frantz takes place mostly in the small town of Quedlinburg, Germany, where the beautiful, broken Anna is living with her dearly departeds parents, Hans (Ernst Sttzner) and Magda (Marie Gruber), whom she holds so dear they may as well be her own. While visiting Frantzs empty grave, shes surprised to find Adrien tearfully leaving behind flowers. Anna introduces him to Magda and Hans, with the latter staunchly opposed to hosting a Frenchman in their home, considering their son died at the hands of his compatriots.

Adriens sheepish charm eventually wins them all over, and before long, theyre swooning as he regales them with stories of teaching Frantz to play violin and marveling at Manet paintings at the Louvre. Anna is flustered to find herself growing more and more attracted to their sinewy visitor: she fixes her hair in the mirror before meeting him at the door, admires his war wounds as he lays on the grass after a dip in the lake, has a laugh twirling with him at the town ball. Adriens none the wiser, however, as hes too consumed by the dark secret hes keeping from his new friends.

The true nature of Adriens relationship with Frantz propels the narrative forward in the way any good mystery should, but the real substance of the story lies in the reactions of Frantzs family and the less welcoming townsfolk to the Frenchmans presence. Each character is wrestling with their own inner conflict in the shadow of war, and with each interaction, the movie slowly develops into a deeply affecting examination of xenophobia and acceptance that feels strikingly relevant to our current political climate. While the Hoffmeisters and Anna see Adrien as the last friend Frantz ever made, their fellow denizens only see a face of the opposition. The war may be over, but their sons lives remain lost forever. Thus, the anti-French antagonism endures.

The story is far more emotionally charged than it is political, however, thanks to a couple of genuine plot surprises and Ozons focus on the progressively forbidden, delusional nature of Anna and Adriens relationship. The film is presented mostly in black and white, though some scenes transition slowly, gently into full color in a device that at first appears to be an emotional indicator but later reveals itself to serve a more specific narrative purpose. The elegance and timelessness of Ozons storytelling, both visually and structurally, makes Frantz exceptionally riveting, at least for the first hour or so. The third act, in which the film shifts into an odd, out-of-left-field procession of private investigating, is sadly quite flat, though the eerie final moments do cap the tale off nicely.

Music is used sparingly and deliberately throughout Frantz, with Ozon instead reveling in the music of natural noise. Every clunky footstep of the characters heavy shoes on the wooden floors of the Hoffmeisters cushy abode adds to the atmosphere and even, at times, creates a sense of tension and anticipation, like a slo-mo drum roll. The beautiful contrast of the black and white imagery is mirrored by the sound and music. The sound design elevates the narrative in a meaningful way, which is increasingly becoming a rarity in modern movies.

Beer and Niney, both ravishing, are endlessly watchable on screen, with each doing a fine job of building their characters inner strife layer by layer. Theyre tasked with conveying myriad conflicting emotions at once, often silently, with only their face, and they both rise to the occasion. Theres a lack of a certain electricity between them, however, that makes one wonder how the film might have been something very, very special had they found that spark. Still, Frantz is deceptively intoxicating film that further establishes Ozon as one of the most singular voices in world cinema.

Bernard Boo is a film critic, interviewer, podcaster, and proud member of the San Francisco Film Critics Circle. He writes stories weekly for DenofGeek.com, WeGotThisCovered.com, WayTooIndie.com and other online publications.

Go here to see the original:

'Frantz' Unfolds Elegantly Into a Haunting Meditation on Xenophobia and Acceptance - PopMatters

March 23--There were hardly any empty seats, or dry eyes, at the Ames City Auditorium Thursday, as family, friends, co-workers, and members of the community paid their final respects to fallen Ames firefighter Steve Buser.

Buser, 51, died unexpectedly last Friday morning at Fire Station No. 2, where he had served for over 17 years. He had returned from a call the previous evening, and was found unresponsive in the station's excercise room.

Ames Fire Lt. Doug Neys served with Buser at the station, and considered him to be his "go-to guy."

"Steve was a true professional firefighter," Neys said. "If I needed something done, and I wanted it done right, I went to Steve."

Neys told the more than 800 people who crowded into the auditorium for Buser's memorial service, that Buser was a free spirit, whether he was wearing his kilt, riding a bike in freezing temperatures, or walking around in sandals to show of his painted toenails (courtesy of his daughter Braxton). He also reflected on Buser's propensity for working out and eating healthy while on shift. He said that Buser would often cook fish, and that the smell would circulate throughout the station.

"The only time we could get him away from that is when we'd cook fajitas," Neys joked. "We tried to have fajitas a lot."

Prior to the service, parts of Sixth Street were blocked off to allow the procession to pass by a Nevada fire engine flying the American flag. Once the procession finished, firefighters formed a lane as the flag and the urn carrying Buser's ashes were brought in, followed by the family as bagpipes played in the background. Once inside, a firefighter placed Buser's coat, boots and helmet at the foot of a white-cloth covered table holding his urn, a medal and a folded American flag. The table was flanked on one side by a larger picture of Buser and a flowered wreath.

Neys emphasized that the Fire Department is a family, and that everything they go through, and everything they see, is done together. He said that everything they do is for the community, and that no one seemed to exemplify that more than Buser.

"Everything he did, he did it with dedication," Neys said. "We could all learn some dedication from Steve, what he did, and the way he lived."

Ames Fire Chief Shawn Bayouth used statistics to show just how much Buser had done for the Ames Fire Department. Bayouth said that Buser had responded to over 3,000 incidents in his 17-year career with the department, and logged over 20,000 hours on duty.

In addition to speaking about Buser's accomplishments, Bayouth spoke directly to Buser's family, particularly his wife Angie, and daughter Braxton. Bayouth said the Fire Department is also feeling the loss of a brother, but is dedicated to helping Buser's family get through this difficult time.

"You both lost a loving husband and devoted father, but on that fateful day -- March 17, 2017 -- you gained 57 big brothers and big sisters," Bayouth said in reference to the number of firefighters in the department. "In Steve's far too short 17 years with the Ames Fire Department, he created lasting bonds with the brotherhood and sisterhood of the fire service that even death cannot break."

Family friend Scott Mills -- donning a kilt as Buser liked to do -- spoke about Buser outside of the department. An avid cyclist, Mills said that he and Buser completed RAGBRAI seven times, and how the latter always seemed to be the leader of the pack, and a man that made an entire group feel safe.

Buser and Mills created cycling jerseys for RAGBRAI, which were present onstage, with Buser's fire suit, helmet, and bikes. According to Mills, the jerseys had both of their names on the back, which though he admitted seemed silly at the time, have new meaning now.

"I know he always has my back," Mills said.

And rather than strictly speak about his memories with Buser, Mills at one point spoke directly to Braxton, and said that she could not have received a better father.

"You probably already know this, but on May 16, 1998, you my dear won the daddy lottery," Mills said. "Of all the dads you could have got, you got Steve Buser."

And Mills addressed the entire family, and auditorium, when he promised to never speak of Buser in the past tense.

"He's still here' he's in all of you guys," Mills said as he pointed around the auditorium. "He'll never be gone."

The service concluded with the striking of the four fives, a tradition that dates back over 150 years, which consists of four sets of five bell strikes with pauses in between, to signal to the department that a firefighter (important official or personage) has died in the line of duty.

___ (c)2017 the Ames Tribune, Iowa Visit the Ames Tribune, Iowa at http://www.amestrib.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Firefighters Remember Fallen IA Colleague - Firehouse.com (press release) (registration) (blog)

I used to be judgmental of vegetarians and vegans.

I had a friend back in middle school who was vegetarian and all I saw her eatwas pasta and protein bars. How could she give up on all the meaty goodness? I couldnt understand it.

Plus, mostof my vegan friends over the years were animal lovers. So, I thought in order to be vegetarian or vegan, I had to want to save all animals all over the world.

But one day, I came across an Eastern nutrition concept called Food Energetics, and I was hooked. The basic concept is that all foods are made up of energies, and the best way to rebalance your body is to combine foods for energy balance with the least amount of stress.

(That might sound pretty woo-woo, but I lost 40 pounds and havent had weight issues, since. So, dont knock it til youve tried it. )

Anyway, when I was learning about Food Energetics, I decided to try a meatless diet because animal products can take a much longer time for the body to digest compared to plant-based options.

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If you have any kind of digestive issues like constipation (which means your system is backed up), then the last thing you want to do is to eat foods that take a long time to process.

And I was surprised to discover that going vegan wasnt so hard, at all. Here are some of the thoughts and discoveries I had over my two years of being vegan, plus why I eventually quit.

If youre the kind of person who has eggs for breakfast, a sandwich with cold-cuts for lunch and meat for dinner, then cutting out animal products can feel like youre cutting out every possible food you know.

I remember thinking nothaving turkey in my turkey and lettuce sandwich would mean that Id just have, well, a lettuce sandwich. And the last thing I wanted to feel was that something was missing.

But there are a lot of foods I hadnt explored before being vegan, and I grew to love them. Here are some examples:

Another fear I had about being vegan was that Id never be full enough. All I could think about was how unfulfilling boring salads were, and how theyd leave me hungry afterward. I didnt know what I could possibly eat in a vegan diet that would keep me full.

But as mentioned above, once I started adding in whole grains, beans, mylksand root vegetables, my meals started to really bulk up in fiber and volume.

And the best part was that I could eat a hearty meal and not feel gross afterward, like how I used to when Id have a big steak. I felt really full, but then would feel hungry again another four hours or so later. There was never this feeling of overeating.

My body went through a dramatic change when I was doing veganism (in a way thats based on Food Energetics). I lost 40 pounds, felt a bounty of energy and felt lighter in spirit.

I was excited every day about exploring new foods, whereas I used to be scared of trying anything new back when I wanted to lose weight but was not vegan.

But after a couple years, I started to crave animal products again. And for several months, I was scared to death to touch animal products, mainly because I had spent so much time reading about the benefits of veganism that I was convinced animal products were horrible for our bodies.

But the thing is, all diets can be argued positively or negatively. And our bodies are constantly going through changes, which means what serves you now might not serve you in years to come, and thats OK.

We have to learn how to respond well to what our bodies need, and a big part of that is to stop thinking and start feeling.

So, little by little, I started to eat animal products again, and I felt really good about it.

Now, I eat a variety of everything. Im so glad food energetics and veganism opened up my world to the possibilities of so many other foods and cuisines. I follow what my body needs, and sometimes thats a juicy steak, but other times its a vegan day.

I like to think of a whole foods vegan dietas a great way to reset our bodies. Its a chance to get our digestive systems flowing properly, gain nutrients from easy to digest plants, lower inflammation and feel refreshed.

But if youre main motivation to be vegan has nothing to do with saving animals, then I dont think you have to do it all the time if your body is telling you otherwise. Use it as a tool to find what works best for your body, and adjust accordingly.

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In 2016, Gavin Fernback went vegan. Like many people making the switch to a plant-based diet, the decision yielded profound resultsnot just for his health, but his worldview, too. Gavins decision, though, didnt just impact his own life. Hes the owner of The Fields Beneath, a coffee shop located in a residential neighborhood in London, serving 200-300 people every day.

The Fields Beneath had been open for nearly four years when Gavin stopped eating animals; it had a following and a mostly non-vegan menu.

[I]t was only a matter of time before I could no longer slap slices of ham and cheese down on slices of bread, he says. So, in October that year I committed myself to making the cafe vegan. If it didnt work, Id sell up/close down and find something else.

But it worked.

The caf began to serve vegan croissants, breakfast pots (porridge, granola, muesli, chia seeds etc), we make amazing hot dishes, Gavin says of the tagines, curries, even burgers. After several years, theonly thing not vegan on the menu was milka staple for many coffee drinkers. Thats all changing in a few days, when the caf will officially replace all cows milk with plant-based milks like oat, almond, and soy.

[Half of] our sales are from coffee, Gavin says, so the milk thing was always going to be the last to go for us, and the one that brought a little concern. But with signage that went viral on Instagram and earnest conversations with his customers, Gavin thinks the transition will be smooth even for his non-vegan customers.

Were talking to them as much as possible, Gavin says. Very few have challenged it, although one has gone as far as to buy his own espresso machine so he can make milky coffees himself from Sunday.

As sales of plant-based foods continue to rise and dairy and beef sales continue on a steep decline, the industry is rapidly changing. Restaurants are offering more plant-based options than ever before; Starbucks also just announced the addition ofvegan items to its menu. Supermarkets are no longer segregating out plant-based food, but finding homes for them next to meat and dairy products.

Last year, El Segundo, Calif. based Beyond Meat gave Whole Foods Market a deal it couldnt pass up: an exclusive launch on Beyond Meats pea-protein-based Beyond Burger, but only if it would merchandise it next to the meat counter. The nearly indistinguishable from beef product was a huge hit with vegans and omnivores alike. The brand got the attention of Tyson Foods, the largest producer of beef, chicken, and pork products in the world, which invested into Beyond Meat for a five percent stake in the business.

Plant-based proteins are definitely a critical part of the food system moving forward, Beyond Meat founder Ethan Brown told Organic Authority in a recent interview. We think theyre the future of protein.

Elmhurst Dairy, a 90-year-old dairy producer out of Queens, New York, has reinvented itselfnot necessarily out of a vegan ethos, but out of sheer necessity. The brand, now going by simply Elmhurst, debuted a line of vegan nut milks earlier this month at the Natural Products Expo in Anaheim, Calif. It stopped producing dairy milk last year.

In the 1980s, Elmhurst, like other dairy producers in New York, took a hit after a federal court deregulated milk sales, which led to price wars throughout the region.

That was the beginning of the end, CEO Henry Schwartz, who ran the family dairy business, told the New York Times last August. Elmhurst Dairy scored a deal with Starbucks in 2003, but that ended in 2011, and from there it seemed its days were numbered as the company kept taking losses from rising production costs and declining dairy salesbut as the last dairy in New York City, it held on as long as it could. Last October, Elmhurst Dairy found new homes for its cows and prepared to shut its doors for good.

And then, a revelation. If you cant beat em, then Elmhurst was ready and raring to join emstepping into the $1.4 billion plant-based milk industry with four delicious varieties: almond, cashew, hazelnut, and the surprisingly outstanding walnut milk.

The brands sleek cartons bear its historysimple cursive lettering hardly seen on todays sans-serif-obsessed styling, and a stamp that reads Est. 1925, which is when it began selling cows milk throughout the city.

With the help of award-winning culinary innovator Cheryl Mitchell, Ph.D., Schwartz now applies his knowledge about the process of dairy-making to create creamy plant-based milks that use four times more nuts per serving in their formulation than competing brands, reports VegNews.

While the shift from cow to walnut is certainly significant from a production standpoint, the rest is second naturefor Elmhurst. Milk is milk, after all, even if the dairy industry is contesting that issue;and today many customers love to experiment with different milkseven enjoying regularly switching between cow and nondairy milks.

Theres no telling what the future holds for Elmhurt 2.0, but the brand is off to a strong start with placement in more than 1,100 Publix supermarkets across the Southeast next month, and a warm reception at the Natural Products Expo where the nondairy milk category was among the shows top trends.

For The Fields Beneath, the caf has become more than just a coffee shopits taking the opportunity to embrace veganism and talk about the state of our food industry, our health, the planet, and the plight of factory farmed animals.

I think you cant deny the logic of veganism, Gavin says, but theres a lot in between that logic and any of us making the choice to become vegan. And for the sake of a glass of milk ora steak, he says, we dont need to kill cows.

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Jill Ettinger is a Los Angeles-based journalist and editor focused on the global food system and how it intersects with our cultural traditions, diet preferences, health, and politics. She is the senior editor for sister websites OrganicAuthority.com and EcoSalon.com, and works as a research associate and editor with the Cornucopia Institute, the organic industry watchdog group. Jill has been featured in The Huffington Post, MTV, Reality Sandwich, and Eat Drink Better. http://www.jillettinger.com.

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