Luiz is only three years old but he has made up his mind that he is not going to eat anything (or rather, anyone) with a head. In the last couple of days, he's become an internet sensation, with over a million views on YouTube.
There comes a time in every child's life when they realise that meat used to be an animal. I remember the day my little sister realised that 'pig' and 'pork' were one and the same. She put down her fork and cried. I'm embarrassed to say that at the time I laughed at her and told her to eat her chops.
Now, it seems perfectly reasonable to me that she should have this reaction and I wish I could go back in time, give her a cuddle and make her a veggie burger. But at that age I had already learned to accept what society says is 'normal' and 'ok'.
Children don't just accept. Children ask questions. A lot of questions. All the time. The questions Luiz asks his mum are questions that I wish I'd asked earlier. It was only years later, that I realised, like Luiz, I wanted animals to 'stay standing up'.
When did you first make the connection between meat and the animals it came from? How did you react?
Ok, so maybe I am getting a little bit too old for cartoons, but you have to admit that there is nothing better than an episode of Scooby Doo with your cornflakes on a Saturday morning. And the little kid in me absolutely LOVED this episode of Arthur:
How cute is Sue Ellen's new bestie Sally? You know, Sue Ellen and I have something in common – almost four years ago I made a new friend called Joey. He lives in a monkey sanctuary in Cornwall, England. (Luckily he is very hairy because it gets FREEZING there!)
For 9 years, Joey had been kept as a pet in a cage, which was MUCH too small for a monkey, and he had become physically disabled as a result. Luckily the sanctuary rescued him and he now has plenty of space and other monkey friends. When Joey looked at me, poked his tongue out and threw an apple at my face, I knew that I could never eat animals again!
Sue Ellen and I are not the only ones who have made a friendship with an animal that has changed us for good. Lisa Simpson beat us to it when she became vegetarian in 1995 after bonding with a lamb. That means Lisa has been vegetarian for over 17 years! Strangely enough, she hasn't aged a day. Could this be the consequences of living meat-free?Â
By deciding not to eat animals, Sue Ellen is going to save up to 100 cartoon lives per season! And Lisa has saved thousands and thousands of cartoon sheep, cows, pigs,chickens and fish. If you want to save real animals you can make the pledge to be veg! Start with my personal wintery favourite – minestrone soup!
And while you are warming up with a bowl of delicious cruelty-free goodness, why not tell us about your special animal friend in the comments below?
I just love seeing a big, burly bloke go all Superman to help an innocent animal, don't you? Well, Damien Mander's story is just that. And it's got buffalos and elephants and snares and rangers and special ops and ... how about I just let him tell you about it:
Wow! What a great question Mander poses to everyone at the end! Now I know, as an Unleashed member, you're brave enough to speak up for animals, so I'd like to pose a different question to you:
What are you going to do this week to make a difference for animals?
Run Cow Run is my new favourite phone game. Sorry Candy Crush Saga, I still love you, but who wouldn't want to save this little cow from being turned into steak, and help her rescue other farm animals?!
The creator of this marvellous (and FREE) app, Oren Bengigi, describes it as the game that the meat industry doesn't want you to know about. We think this game is just great and so we picked the creator's brain about where the idea came from. Turns out, it's based on a true story!
What inspired you to make Run Cow Run?
I saw a YouTube video about a cow called Maxine, who escaped from a slaughterhouse and was rescued by a farm sanctuary. I really liked the story and decided to make a game based on the idea of a cow that runs for her life. I was a vegetarian for 13 years and at that time I decided to become vegan and also started developing the game.
What do you want people to take away from the game?
In most games, players identify with the main character. The message I'm trying to pass on is that animals are not a product - they have feelings and needs. During the game the cow escapes and on the way she can rescue other farm animals (pigs, chickens, ducks and goats). They are locked in cages, just like in real life, but the players have the possibility to save them and lead them to a nearby animal shelter. (They also have the possibility to save animals in real life!)
Most people don't know what it took to produce the food they are eating. The meat and dairy industries are cruel and the only way to stop it is by not eating animal products. Nowadays it is very easy to go vegan, there are lots of tasty alternatives and the food is healthier too.
How has the response been so far?
Most of the players like it and say that the cow is very cute. Some are annoyed when the cow is caught by the farmer, but I can't make the game too easy! Our current game ratings are 4.6 out of 5.0, so there aren't many complaints.
What is the cow's name?
Her name is Maxine. And her number is 269, based on this campaign.
You can start saving farm animals NOW. Download Run Cow Run using the links below. It's FREE! (It's also free to save animals in real life. Here's how.)
If you had a chance to sit down with Prime Minister what would you talk to her about?
Unleashed member ecochick (or Leah to her mates) was faced with just that question recently, when Julia Gillard paid a visit to her school. Check out what Leah and her best buds had to say to the PM, and you'll understand soon enough why she's our latest Activist Challenge winner.
Speaking to the PM about factory farmingand live animal exports is fantastic. But the cherry on top is that Leah and her friends challenged the Prime Minister to go veg for two weeks. And she accepted!
I'll be crossing my fingers that Julia tries out my mum's vegan lasagne recipe in her two weeks of meat-free meals.
Mum's lasagne + a few vegan cupcakes to sweeten the deal, and with any luck Ms Gillard could become the next cruelty-free world leader. Bill Clinton and the ex-President of Slovenia (yup - random fact of the day - he was vegan), would be proud.
But now I'm getting off topic... We were talking about future leaders (I'm looking at you Leah). You can find out more about Leah's meeting with Julia Gillard here and show her some love for her efforts here!
Have you been getting active for animals too? Tell us your story and go in the running to be an Unleashed Activist Challenge winner, just like Leah :-)
How many people do you know who have won three Paralympic medals, have their own Mini-Me made out of Lego, and loved animals so much they went vegan while still in their teens? Not many? Well, prepare to meet one - the amazing Sarah Stewart!
Sarah has represented Australia over 150 times in wheelchair basketball, is studying towards a PhD at Sydney Uni and hangs out with pandas when she's in China. She's even been described as a "whirlpool of talent". As a comparison, the only natural disaster I've been compared to was a "blizzard of dandruff". (I haven't worn black t-shirts since.)
Sarah took up wheelchair basketball in her early twenties. At first describing it as "Quidditch on wheels", she now sees it more as a game of chess. She got really good, really quick and debuted for Australia against the United States on her birthday. That's an awesome b'day present!
Sarah has gone on to win three Paralympic medals for wheelchair basketball, and is nice enough to show them to me when we're talking. I ask her if she wears them to parties instead of normal jewellery. "No - they're really heavy! After the Paralympics for a couple of months, I do tend to just carry them around with me. People really like to see them and get a kick out of them so it seems like a nice thing to do."
Sarah went vegan when she was about 18, and did so out of her love for animals. "I didn't like the idea of causing pain and suffering and taking life. I wouldn't want to cause pain to my dog, or kill and eat my dog, so the idea of doing that to another animal just because I hadn’t met him or her seemed quite wrong." Her dog Chandler (who is sitting quietly through our talk) was no doubt relieved to hear that!
I was surprised (and happy!) to hear that one of Sarah's Australian team-mates is vegetarian, and one of her Sydney Uni team-mates is also vegan. (Discover more compassionate athletes here!) Sarah says that her coaches are cool with her vegan meals, and she rattles off a list of good places to get something to eat in Sydney.
Sarah's list of favourite animals is as long as her list of suggested places to eat in Sydney! "I like a LOT of different animals. I do have a bit of an obsession with cephalopods. And I also like bats. And seals . And dogs, and cows, and cats, and horses and wolves and pigs ..." She trails off laughing.
It turns out that Sarah is also a bit of a Lego nut. "Just a smidgen. I've always loved playing with Lego and building Lego ... and I just didn't stop!" She has a MASSIVE collection of awesome Lego, but definitely the coolest piece is her Lego version of herself, in her Australia uniform, name and number on the back and everything. You know you're a superstar when you've got your own Lego figurine!
So now you know Sarah Stewart - Australian Paralympian, lego addict, and vegan! You can connect with her on twitter: @SarahStewartAus and can catch her playing for the Sydney Uni Flames in the Women's National Wheelchair Basketball League when the season starts in the middle of the year (June through to September - no excuses!)
Two things bring us together as Australians - we're all mates and we all love a day off. This Australia Day, YOU can join the campaign to give our animal mates a day off too - a day off the menu! It'd be un-Australian not to...
Shane Warne, the cast of Home and Away, and a Bondi lifeguard. What do they all have in common? They're all Australian and they all love a day off. Every year across this great nation, Australians unite on January 26th to celebrate our shared love of having a day off. (Umm ... that's right, isn't it?) This year you can make a stand for our four legged mates, by keeping them off your plate. On Australia Day ... Everyone Deserves a Day Off.
However you choose to celebrate your day off, fight un-Australianism, and bring a plate of delicious veggie tucker. Going to a barbie? Cook up some true-blue veggie snags. Picnic? What could be more Australian then taking some lamingtons! Beach party? Wrap yourself in an Aussie flag and take some veggie wraps. The options are as wide as this dry, brown land we call home. You could even host a barbie yourself, encouraging friends to bring a cruelty-free plate.
There's heaps of other ways you can get involved but the best way to celebrate all that's good about Australia is to keep meat off the menu.
Being Australian means more than just ending all your words with the letter "O". So this Australia Day, stand up for the underdog (undersheep?), because Everyone Deserves a Day Off!!
If you're over the idea that being Australian means eating animals, then share this campaign far and wide! You know it makes sense. ;)
This one simple (non-gory) image will change the way you think about animals who are born to be slaughtered in Australia. Prepare to have your mind blown.
Nearly every animal in Australia born to be eaten or have their eggs or milk taken, will not live their full natural life. This chart shows to scale how much of their life they experience before they are killed to be eaten, or because they are no longer 'productive' enough to be kept.
To give it some perspective: the average life expectancy for an Australian is almost 82 years. If you were a 'dairy cow', it would mean you shouldn't bother planning your 21st b'day. If you were a veal calf, you wouldn't even reach 2 years old.
That's a really grim way to look at it - but the sad truth is that most animals in Australia are killed as babies.
There are some lucky ones, though. They find their way to sanctuaries, rescue shelters and into the care of kind individuals and families. Pigs like Hope who ended up at Edgar's Mission, and calves like Esther at Brightside Farm Sanctuary.
You don't have to rescue a pig and have her live in your backyard to be a lifesaver for these animals. All you have to do is decide not to eat them. It's such a simple change in your life, but it will make the world of difference to animals you no longer eat. Take the pledge to be veg, now!
What two things do Joaquin Phoenix, Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway all have in common? They've all just been nominated for Academy Awards, and ... well, you'll have to read on to find out the second thing!
These three big-time Hollywood stars are all in the running to win Oscars in February, and they're also all vegan! So for being such amazing role models and for saving lives by refusing to eat animal products, we'll be cheering for these cruelty-free candidates on Oscars night.
Joaquin Phoenix is up for a Best Actor nod for his movie, The Master. A long-time voice for animals, Joaquin's best work would have to be his narration for the doco Earthlings. This documentary is the most comprehensive film ever made about the ways people use animals for food, clothing, experimentation and entertainment. One reviewer described it by saying, "For those who watch Earthlings, the world will never be the same." Find out what other Unleashed members are saying about it, and then watch it for free online here.
Anne Hathaway has also been getting active for animals lately. As well as refusing to eat meat or any animal products, Anne made a stand for animals (literally) by having designer Tom Ford create her custom non-leather boots to wear to the opening of her smash hit Les Mis. You can follow in her animal-friendly footsteps by taking the pledge to avoid fur and leather, and leave animals to wear their own skin!
And third on the list of nature-loving nominees is Jessica Chastain who is up for a Best Actress gong for her movie Zero Dark Thirty. Jessica was named as one of the "100 Most influential People in the World" for 2012, so hopefully she'll be influencing plenty more people to join her in living a cruelty-free life!
It's awesome to see celebs make compassionate decisions like the three here. They can reach such a massive audience with their lifestyle choices; it's bound to help animals. But even if you're not a worldwide star (yet!) you can still make a world of difference for animals by choosing to go veg. Head here to make the best decision of your life, and get tips to help you on your journey!
When I was really young I wanted to have lollies for every meal. I spent all my pocket money on them. I was jealous of Americans because they had Halloween - a whole night dedicated to scoring free lollies. That was until I found out that some lollies out there are actually made with pig skin and cow bones!
I would never have suspected that lollies would ever be made with animal ingredients! You can see for yourself on the pack though - the ingredient is called "gelatine". Gelatine is made from pig skin, cow skin, and the bones of both animals! Gross, isn't it? But look out, 'cos it gets grosser - here's a couple of pictures of the gelatin making process.
The lollies that gelatine is usually found in are the gummy/chewy types like Snakes Alive and Starburst. Animals aren't killed expressly so they can be turned into gelatine - but still, it's pretty rank to know that Gummi Bears have pig skin in them.
There are also plenty of gelatine-free lollies on the average supermarket shelf too. So next time you're deciding what lollies to buy, try one from the list below. And make sure you share them with your friends and fam too, making sure to mention what you know about gelatine ;) So enjoy the lollies - they'll taste good, and you'll feel good!
Fruit Tingles
Skittles
Chuppa Chups (the non-milky ones)
Pascall Jelly Beans
Natural Confectionary Co. Jelly Beans
Most liquorice
Wizz Fizz Sherbet
Sherbies
Lifesavers
(p.s. Here's a tip for American kids next Halloween: have two costumes, do two rounds ... receive double the lollies. Thank me later.)
What lollies have I missed on the list?? Let me know in the comments below.
Proving once and for all that people who work at NASA must be pretty brainy ... scientists there have developed over 100 different meals for future manned trips to Mars. And each and every one of those meals is vegan! Maybe it's time to rename Mars from the 'Red Planet' to the 'Green Planet'?
Mars has been seen as the most likely planet for humans to live on in the future. NASA has a whole program dedicated to researching the place, and the plan is to send astronauts up there by the year 2030. At first it might sound like a 'world's worst job' kinda thing. It'll take astronauts 6 months to get there; then they're going to spend 18 months doing 'sciencey' things; then another 6 months to return to Earth. But throw in the all-vegan menu, and pics of the pizza that'll be going with them - and all of a sudden it doesn't seem too bad! Time to start paying attention in science class...
The reason NASA has gone for cruelty-free space food is that it'd be impossible to preserve meat and dairy products on such a long journey. There's also an idea being floated that the Mars astronauts will be able to grow their own greens and eat them. It's common knowledge now that the farming of animals for human consumption is contributing to environmental destruction and wasting water here on Earth, so making the first human contact with a new planet vegan is a pretty good idea I reckon.
There's no word yet if the astronauts will be able to swing through Lord of the Fries to grab takeaway for their trip, but I'm betting that the boffins at NASA will have come up with plenty of meal ideas to keep them happy and healthy while they're up in space. If they need some more inspiration - there's plenty of delicious, cruelty-free eats here.
What food could you absolutely NOT do without if you were sent off to space for 3 years?
It's official: I've got Olympic Fever (or rabies ... I'm waiting for the doc to call with the results)! To help get you in the spirit of the Games, I've put together an international dream team of vegan and vegetarian Olympic athletes. These athletes became stars for their sporting achievements and became heroes for their refusal to eat animals. Now let's introduce the team!
In track and field we have Carl Lewis and Edwin Moses - who have a combined 3 gold medals between them. Oh wait, did I say 3? I meant, 13!! That's right, these guys won more gold medals between the two of them then almost the entire Australian team at the 2008 Games. Moses also set the improbable record of winning 122 races in a row. He didn't lose a single race he started for 9 years, 9 months and 9 days!
Running middle distance is the Flying Finn, Paavo Nurmi who bagged 9 gold medals over three Games. Vegetarian since the age of 12, Paavo has set world records in distances ranging from 1500m all the way up to 20kms, and his 5 gold haul in one Olympics is a track record that still stands.
Over in the pool, we have an Aussie *whistle* *cheer* And not just any Aussie, but the one with the best nickname ever in international sport - Murray Rose ... the Seaweed Streak! Born and raised a vegan, Rose set an amazing 15 world records, and bagged 4 Olympic golds in his stellar career. He claimed very clearly in interviews that it was his vegan lifestyle that helped him achieve such great success.
You don't need to be an Olympian to feel the benefits of cutting meat from your meals, either. People often report fewer pimple problems and glowing skin after going veg; and those looking to shed a few excess kgs might be interested to know that vegetarians have an average body weight up to 20% lower than meat eaters! Even "armchair athletes" can reduce their chances of obesity, diabetes and strokes by being vegetarian (even more true for vegans)!
Keep your eyes open for compassionate competitors at the Games this year (Lizzie Armitstead is one, and she's already won a silver!), and enjoy the events. Check out some of the easy and tasty snacks you can make for in front of the telly here.
CONTENT WARNING: If you're too young to remember when Pokemon first went nuts, or if you're squeamish, you might want to tune out now.
Here's a blog to sink your teeth in to! Umm ... or not. A Serbian chef has released a cookbook/great-conversation-starter on how to cook testicles! Which I assume someone would then actually eat.
"Waiter - there's a hair in my testicle soup! Oh ... no."
I don't want to go into the gory details (because I just ate lunch), but the recipes include a Testicle Pizza, and the book also shows the correct way to "peel a testicle", to help beginner cooks get the balls rolling. Har-har-har.
If you think that's pretty wrong, then you probably don't want to know what goes into meat pies in Australia. (I'll give you a clue - it involves rind, connective tissue, nerves and blood vessels). And don't get me started on hamburgers.
But seriously, once you know some of the things animals killed for food go through, the whole idea of eating any part of their body becomes a bit cringe-worthy.
The good news is that it's easy to avoid these mystery meats, and in the process improve your health, help the environment and save animals all at the same time! By going veg, you'll find yourself in the company of people like Leonardo da Vinci, Missy Higgins and the Incredible Hulk! Which would also make a pretty interesting dinner party. Bags sitting next to Missy!
So next time you're making a pizza at home, perhaps consider one of Ward's Easy Peasy Cheesy Vegan Pizzas, hold the testicles. Wait, that ... came out wrong.
Sportswear giant Puma have scored some big points on the 'animal friendly' score board with news that it's considering giving leather the boot!
In an interview on the weekend, Puma's chairman, Jochen Zeitz said that given the environmental damage caused by raising cattle, "I think eventually we'll have to look at alternative materials, there's no question about it. We should eat less meat, all of us, and we should use less leather, I mean that's reality."
This move would save millions of animals from being abused and killed in the leather industry, not to mention cutting down on greenhouse gases and the toxic chemicals used to preserve dead cow's skin. Hopefully the other big shoe companies will come to the party soon too!
Luckily, Puma isn't the only one in the sporting world that is kicking out cruelty. From sports companies to sports teams ... Last year, the English football team, Forest Green Rovers lived up to the 'green' in their name and went vegetarian! The club announced that "on nutritional advice, it was decided to no longer feed our team red meat for health and performance reasons". But they didn't stop there: "If red meat was not good enough to feed our players, then it wasn't good enough for our staff, fans and visitors too". And so meat pies and hot-dogs were shown the red card, substituted by mushroom pies, polenta chips and felafel wraps.
I don't know if the new menu at the club can take all the credit, but the Rovers improved from 20th in 2011 to finish 10th in the 2012 season (after meat had been cut)! Even if the new menu can't take credit for all the points on the pitch, the players and fans can take heart in knowing that vegetarians are less likely to be obese or have high levels of artery clogging cholesterol, and enjoy a range of other health benefits - simply by choosing not to eat animals.
Ever go to the footy? What do you think of the food on offer at the games? (Apart from the fact that it's overpriced, I mean). What do you think they should be serving?
ps. When you've got a sec, please send Puma a supportive message to let them know that you think getting rid of leather would be a slam dunk for animals and the environment: info-au@puma.com
I've had vegan pizza and vegan lasagne. I wear vegan shoes and a belt. I've even got some amazing vegan music in my collection! But all I want for my next birthday ... is the same vegan carrot cake that P!nk got for her baby girl's first birthday party last week.
Look at that thing! It's making my mouth water.
P!nk is famous not just for her music and live shows, but also for her willingness to speak up for animals. She's supported campaigns against mulesing, fur, bullfighting and puppy mills. With all that action, it's no surprise that little Willow's first b'day cake was cruelty-free.
While a vegan b'day cake is a pretty sweet pressie just by itself, it's actually a gift that keeps on giving. As well as being 100% kind to animals, avoiding animal products at meal-time has all kinds of positive spin-offs for you. A study just published in the Medical Journal of Australia outlines all the benefits that going veg has. There's less chance of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and colorectal cancer. I particularly don't like the sound of that last one.
The study also found no noticeable difference in the growth of vegetarian kids compared to meat-eating kids, which doesn't surprise me one bit. Cough-Billy Simmonds-cough.
So happy birthday little Willow, hope you had a great day! And if there's any cake left over ... I'm on my way.
Florence, a nurse shark in England, has recently joined the growing movement toward eating cruelty free, and now chooses to chow down on only vegetables. Florence must have good taste as she particularly likes celery, cucumber and lettuce, which sounds suspiciously like what I'll be having for lunch today. Maybe we could organise a lunch date?
Florence made the switch to vegetarian eating after surgery to remove a rusted hook from her jaw. Perhaps she's wised up to the dangers involved in eating meat? (ok... ok... the truth is that Florence will in fact need to start eating meat again to be healthy, but fortunately, you and I definitely don't!) After all, carp have been reported to change their behaviour after an experience with hooks, and trout can remember how to avoid fishing nets months after their first experience with one. And I thought Nemo was pretty smart because he could talk!
Fish experience a whole range of the same sensations that other animals do. A hook in the mouth hurts. Suffocating to death is as awful as it sounds for us. And when fish are brought to the surface too quickly, the change in pressure causes eyes and organs to explode. More and more people are realising the stress and pain caused to fish by recreational and commercial fishing.
The underwater world really is an amazing place. There's sharks who can bark like dogs; tiny creatures that light up whole waves; and fish using rocks to open clam shells. If you want to take a small step to protect some of our marine mates, you don't need to buy them tix to an AC/DC concert (good luck, they sell out in like 8 minutes flat). Just head here to join others in taking a stand against the sale of shark fins in Australia.
If you've ever seen Earthlings, then you'd already know that what happens in slaughterhouses is pretty horrific. Really, if most people could see what happens to the animals that end up as meat on their plates, they'd seriously reconsider whether they want to eat meat.
Here's another reason why people would rethink their dinner plans: The NSW Food Authority has just finished a review of all the domestic slaughterhouses in NSW. Guess how many of those places needed to be told to clean up their act?
a) none of them
b) some of them
c) most of them
d) ALL of them!
If you guessed "All of them" ... you were right! Animals were observed being mistreated in every domestic abattoir across the state. The review found that slaughtering staff didn't always know what they were doing (what the...??!) and that some animals were not being stunned properly before being killed. That means they may have still been conscious when their throats were cut :(
The review started after nightmarish footage was taken at Hawkesbury Valley Meat Processors by Animals Australia member society, Animal Liberation. But hey, this is hardly the first shocking footage to come out of a slaughterhouse recently ... remember the pigs being stabbed in the eyes at a Victorian slaughterhouse late last year? If you've already seen it then I'd say you probably do remember it.
The reality is that what goes on in slaughterhouses on a daily basis is ugly -- even when no laws are being broken. And it's so well hidden from public eyes that we can never really be sure how an individual animal on the supermarket shelf was treated. The only way to be certain that animals aren't suffering for our food is also the simplest way: take meat off the menu. The animals will thank you for it ;)
Disclaimer:
We’re supposed to let you know that the ideas expressed here are the views of the individual authors, and may not necessarily reflect the views of Animals Australia or Animals Australia Unleashed. So now you know.
For 9 years, Joey had been kept as a pet in a cage, which was MUCH too small for a monkey, and he had become physically disabled as a result. Luckily the sanctuary rescued him and he now has plenty of space and other monkey friends. When Joey looked at me, poked his tongue out and threw an apple at my face, I knew that I could never eat animals again! 
Sue Ellen and I are not the only ones who have made a friendship with an animal that has changed us for good. Lisa Simpson beat us to it when she became vegetarian in 1995 after bonding with a lamb. That means Lisa has been vegetarian for over 17 years! Strangely enough, she hasn't aged a day. Could this be the consequences of living meat-free? 
Sarah took up wheelchair basketball in her early twenties. At first describing it as "Quidditch on wheels", she now sees it more as a game of chess. She got really good, really quick and debuted for Australia against the United States on her birthday. That's an awesome b'day present!
Mars has been seen as the most likely planet for humans to live on in the future. NASA has a whole program dedicated to researching the place, and the plan is to send astronauts up there by the year 2030. At first it might sound like a 'world's worst job' kinda thing. It'll take astronauts 6 months to get there; then they're going to spend 18 months doing 'sciencey' things; then another 6 months to return to Earth. But throw in the all-vegan menu, and pics of the pizza that'll be going with them - and all of a sudden it doesn't seem too bad! Time to start paying attention in science class...
Running middle distance is the Flying Finn, Paavo Nurmi who bagged 9 gold medals over three Games. Vegetarian since the age of 12, Paavo has set world records in distances ranging from 1500m all the way up to 20kms, and his 5 gold haul in one Olympics is a track record that still stands.
Over in the pool, we have an Aussie *whistle* *cheer* And not just any Aussie, but the one with the best nickname ever in international sport - Murray Rose ... the Seaweed Streak! Born and raised a vegan, Rose set an amazing 15 world records, and bagged 4 Olympic golds in his stellar career. He claimed very clearly in interviews that it was his vegan lifestyle that helped him achieve such great success.
Keep your eyes open for compassionate competitors at the Games this year (Lizzie Armitstead is one, and she's already won a silver!), and enjoy the events. Check out some of the 
I don't want to go into the gory details (because I just ate lunch), but the recipes include a Testicle Pizza, and the book also shows the correct way to "peel a testicle", to help beginner cooks get the balls rolling. Har-har-har.
In an 
Luckily, Puma 
The study also found no noticeable difference in the growth of vegetarian kids compared to meat-eating kids, which doesn't surprise me one bit. 
Florence, a nurse shark in England, has recently joined the growing movement toward 
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