Given the severity of global warming, European countries are now using legal avenues to voice their concerns and urge policy change. For over two years, the non-profit vegan advocacy group Humane Being has been preparing to challenge the British government through their campaign called “Scrap Factory Farming.”For their noble vision and endeavor, in 2021 Humane Being received the Shining World Compassion Award from Supreme Master Ching Hai, along with a US$10,000 contribution from Master as a loving token of support. Earlier that year, the Humane Being team applied to request a judicial review of the government’s approach to animal-people factories. The claimants were Dr. Alice Brough, a former pig-person veterinarian, and Jane Tredgett, founder of Humane Being and Scrap Factory Farming.“So, the judicial review process, essentially, what we're calling for, is that the government actually acknowledge the risks posed to human health, assess them fully, do a full review, and then distribute that information to the public. That's what we can hope to achieve with our specific legal case.”On the 25th of January 2022, the Humane Being team took the government to a hearing at the London Royal Court of Justice in the United Kingdom. Before the hearing, supporters outside the court held slogans and participated in a peaceful theatrical demonstration. The science behind this legal case points out explicitly that more needs to be done to prevent future pandemics. The most important action we can take is to stop animal-people raising operations, especially considering that the public is unaware that our food habits are what led us to this dire situation. We were honored with the opportunity to interview several doctors who participated in the demonstration.For many years, Supreme Master Ching Hai has been advocating for veganism and has repeatedly warned the public of the harsh consequences of killing billions of animal-people for food. In a recent phone call with the Supreme Master Television team, She shared urgent advice on how to save the planet. “The only solution, in the desperate situation now, is to turn vegan.” “Just turn vegan and be repentant, and if possible, do good, help others. Otherwise, be repentant, be vegan, minimum.”

As you drive from Berlin to Hamburg, which, by the way, tied in fifth place for “The 15 most vegan-friendly cities in the world,” you will find the charming Ahead Hotel nestled in the heritage castle named Burg Lenzen, on the banks of the River Löcknitz, offering close to 40 hotel rooms and four buildings designated for accommodation, gastronomy, conferences and yoga. We were delighted to have a conversation with the hotel manager Mr. Jonas Mog, who in July 2021, took over administrating the historic site. Mr. Mog, a vegan himself, oversees operations at this vegan hotel, where no efforts are spared towards eco-friendliness, wellness and sustainability. “Actually, [out of] my own conviction. I have been vegan for approximately eight years. I buy organic products, and have been working in the hotel sector for many years. And then it made sense to fulfill the dream of owning a hotel that would use no animal products, of course. We have a total of thirty-nine rooms here and about twenty employees working for us. The whole spectrum ranges from accommodation to food, from breakfast, lunch, coffee and cake to dinner, and we also offer space for conferences, weddings, meetings, and events. Furthermore, we have a wellness area with sauna and massages, and we also offer classes like yoga and meditation.” “Of course, there are always a few (people) who are skeptical, who have not yet come into contact with the topic of veganism, but there are also very many who are curious and who visited us and said that they ate vegan for the first time. Some of them are now inspired to eat less meat, to consume fewer animal products. We've received an incredibly positive response here from the local press, from newspapers, radio stations and television in Germany. There has been an incredible amount of feedback. And also, online in social media we've received an incredible volume of messages.” We are certain that vegan and not-yet-vegan visitors alike more than appreciate a wonderful stay, guilt-free of the suffering caused to the animal-people and to nature.

Sunflower seed flour is packed with protein and is a very versatile product that can be used in a wide range of dishes, like pancakes, chapatti, roti, tortilla, bread, cookies, crackers and lots more. Today, we will cook a delicious savory Vegan Crepe. We will start by making a Vegan Hollandaise Sauce to go with the sunflower crepes. Now let’s prepare the batter. In a mixing bowl, add one cup of all-purpose flour, three tablespoons of sunflower seeds flour, and a pinch of salt. Mix well. Gradually whisk in 300 milliliters of unsweetened soymilk or oat milk, then add one tablespoon of sunflower oil and continue whisking until the batter is smooth and runny. We are now ready to cook the crepes. Place your pan on medium heat and scoop two ladles of the batter into it. Then tilt and rotate the pan to spread the batter as thin as possible. The crepe is ready when both sides turn light brown. Now we will cook the fillings for the crepes. Next, assemble all the components together. Place the filling on one half of the crepe and then fold to cover the filling. Then add the sunflower sprouts, Vegan Hollandaise Sauce, and herbs. These savory crepes look so delicious, so indulge while they are still warm. Now, let’s start making Ukrainian Sunflower Seed Halva by preparing the syrup mixture. Pour three tablespoons of water and half a cup of organic sugar into a saucepan and put on medium-low heat. Stir constantly until the sugar dissolves. Add one tablespoon of coconut oil and half a teaspoon of salt and continue stirring. Stir in half a tablespoon of lemon juice and then turn off the heat. Combine two cups of sunflower seed flour with the syrup mixture we just made and thoroughly mix until well incorporated. Transfer the halva mixture into the pre-oiled container, press the mixture in till tightly packed and flat on the surface. Place the already chilled cut halva pieces on a serving plate and garnish with your favorite accompaniments; we use roselle, fresh mint leaves, kiwi, kumquats, blueberries, and sunflower seeds. Now there is only one thing left to do, and that is to sit back, relax and enjoy these sumptuous sweet treats with your favorite cup of tea!

Today, we will use these marvelous sunflower seeds to make some very tasty comfort foods. Let’s start with our first dish, Vegan Artichoke, and Sunflower Seed Patty Burgers. We will first make the vegan patties. Start by using a blender to puree the vegetables. Put in half a cup of cubed carrots, half a cup of basil leaves, one cup of oil to marinate the artichoke hearts, and one cup of cubed cooked potatoes. Cover the lid and puree for one minute. Then we add one tablespoon of fruit vinegar, half a tablespoon of vegan Dijon mustard, half a cup of sunflower seeds, half a tablespoon of olive oil, half a teaspoon of smoked paprika, half a teaspoon of cumin powder, and half a tablespoon of white vegan miso. Puree for 20 seconds. Next, we will fry the patties. When the bottom of the vegan patties turns golden brown, top it with one slice of vegan cheese on each one and leave them in the pan for one more minute until the vegan cheese slices begin to melt. Spread a generous amount of vegan mayonnaise on both sides of the bun. Place some lettuce leaves on the bottom half of the bun, then add the fried vegan patties with vegan cheese slices, a tomato slice, another layer of lettuce leaves, a handful of sunflower sprouts, and finally cover with the top side of the bun. Use a skewer to secure the burger bun. Voilà, our delicious homemade vegan burger is ready. Now we will cook our second dish, Vegan Sunflower Seed Basil Pesto. First, we put two cups of freshly washed basil leaves into the blender and use a spatula to press down. Then add half a cup of raw or roasted sunflower seeds, half a tablespoon of nutritional yeast, salt to taste, some freshly ground mixed peppers, half a cup of olive oil, and half a tablespoon of lemon juice. Let’s sauté the vegetables first. It’s time to cook the pasta. When the pasta is cooked, let the water drain away and transfer the pasta into a large bowl. Add three to four tablespoons of Sunflower Seed Basil Pesto and drizzle a similar amount of boiled water onto the pasta. Toss the pasta and pesto until well mixed. To plate the pasta, first place some freshly cut lettuce leaves, the pesto tossed pasta and some of the stir-fried veggies. Finally, sprinkle some sunflower seeds and garnish with fresh basil leaves. Here is our delicious and aromatic Vegan Pasta with Sunflower Seed Basil Pesto.

The sunflower is known as a happy flower and brightens one’s mood when in full bloom! Therefore, different cultures associate it with various positive meanings. As its sun-facing attribute resembles the longing to seek the light and the truth, the sunflower was revered by the Incas and the Aztecs. In Ukraine, it represents the power and warmth of the sun since pre-Christian Slavic times, therefore the sunflower has always been deeply embedded in their culture and honored as the Ukrainian national flower. In more recent times, it has also become a global symbol of solidarity with Ukraine in its struggle to defend the freedom of its citizens. The flowers have dazzling color combinations and patterns, ranging from common yellow and orange to unexpected white, deep red, and purple. But they have one thing in common, they all have a sun-like appearance and attributes. The central disc of florets in the flower head resembles the shape of the sun; the outer petals are like the sun emitting energy and light. More intriguingly, the growth and arrangement of sunflower seeds follow the golden ratio and golden angle, which provide the maximum room for each seed to grow, resulting in a stunning aesthetic arrangement to accommodate about 1000 seeds on one giant sunflower head. Sunflower seeds can be classified into oilseed and confectionery seeds. They enhance heart health as they are rich in unsaturated fatty acids that help to reduce “bad” or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, lower blood sugar, and help relax blood vessels, thus controlling high blood pressure. Sunflower seeds also contain vitamins and minerals that boost the immune system. Other than its nutritional and economic contributions, sunflowers also have amazing earth healing quality. After the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, researchers noticed that sunflowers could absorb highly concentrated toxic heavy metals and clean up radiation from the ground and water at a high rate, which is much more effective than excavating and disposing of polluted soil to a hazardous landfill. After the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, hundreds of volunteers planted eight million sunflowers across the region to soak up radiation and at the same time bring smiles to the faces of passersby.

On today’s program, Andrea tells us about the mission of the sanctuary. “So, we have a dual mission. Our most important part of our mission is catering to, caring for, and providing a safe and smart home for animals who really truly have no place else to go. The second part of our mission is to allow the animals here to advocate for themselves by having meaningful interactions with humans.” “I could talk all day about how sensitive a pig is or how joyful a duck is. But letting people see that firsthand, letting those animals communicate it from their own behavior, from their own interactions, is going to be so much more powerful than anything that I could ever put into words. And so ultimately, I feel we've been extremely successful in truly giving these animals a voice to advocate for themselves and for other animals of their kind.” “I would say that every time we have an event, a new vegan is born, whether it's instant or it comes a couple of months later, from the interactions that they have.” “I think that veganism is the thing that will heal so many different human problems and environmental issues. And I think it's that one step in the right direction that makes us all start caring about everything else. I think everything else sort of falls into place environmentally.” Our most courageous Supreme Master Ching Hai tirelessly reminds us that, to save our world, humans must quickly transition to the compassionate vegan lifestyle. “It is better we concentrate on the solution to save the Earth. We can still do it, if everyone becomes part of the solution, which is the organic life-saving vegan diet. Organic vegan diet, that’s all we need to do, for the time being. And any other green technology, we can slowly develop. We need the solution, which is (the) organic life-saving vegan diet, then our future is transformed. Life will quickly become better than what you could even imagine. Greener, lush, tranquil, contentment, happiness, healthy, and more intelligence, more incredible inventions will come out of it. That’s the outcome. With no more killing, humans and animals alike will flourish in peace, and the world will be restored to beauty and happiness.”

Indonesia is well-known for its delicious and mouth-watering street foods, and corn is commonly sold as street food in many forms. For example, they are steamed and sold as snacks in their eco-friendly husks. “Today I am pleased to invite you to join me in cooking Indonesian Corn Fritters and Clear Vegetable Soup, which are dishes from East Java.” “Let’s start cooking the first dish, which is Corn Fritters. The first step is to cut the corn off the cob. Now we process the chili. We will remove the seeds first. After we remove the seeds, we cut them into small pieces. Next, we will also cut the celery leaves into small pieces. These celery leaves will give our food its green color. Now we remove the skin of the galangal. Make it loose by pressing it with a knife, then cut it into small pieces. Put the galangal pieces into the mortar. Add vegan sugar. Add coriander, pepper, salt, vegan seasoning, lime leaves, and vegan butter. Now we are going to transfer these into a big mixing bowl. Then we add in the wheat flour and rice flour. Gradually add water and mix the ingredients well. Here is what the batter looks like. It is ready to be deep-fried. Scoop a ladleful of the corn fritter batter and gently place them in the hot oil. When the corn fritters are golden brown, scoop them out and place them in a sieve to drain away the oil. When the color looks all right, we can turn off the stove. Our Corn Fritters are ready.” “Clear Vegetable Soup is a typical Indonesian dish that we normally eat with corn fritters and a bowl of rice. It’s time to cook the Vegetable Soup. I will cook it without sautéing. As we don’t use oil, it is better for our health. First, we heat the water, one liter of water. Turn on the stove, and wait for about three minutes. When the water comes to a boil, add the galangal. This galangal releases a fresh and delicious aroma. Add the pieces of cut sweet corn when the water returns to a rolling boil. The corn will soften in about three minutes. The sweet corn looks soft. Now let’s add in the chayote. The chayote and sweet corn have started to change color, so it’s time to add in the spices. Finally, we put in the spinach, which softens very easily. Now we ladle it into a bowl. Our Clear Vegetable Soup is ready.”

Broken Shovels Farm Sanctuary in Colorado, USA, was founded in 2017, by Andrea Davis. Formerly a goat-people and chicken-people farm, it is now a safe haven for almost 500 formerly exploited animal-people. “25 years I was a vegetarian and assumed that there was nothing wrong with eggs, and there was nothing wrong with milk. I regret, I regret not knowing. But also, this industry is set up to keep its consumers not knowing. Because I think the majority of people would never want to participate in cruelty, would never want to hurt an animal or another human, but they keep them not knowing.” After realizing the myth about so-called “humane farming,” Andrea quit her egg and cheese business. She deeply regretted the suffering she had caused to the animal-people and wanted to make amends. Caring for all the needs of hundreds of animal-people every day is an immense task. To provide the best care possible, Andrea and some of her helpers live at the sanctuary. “The stress of the money to be able to continue doing what we do, plus all this other stuff. And then, the big picture of knowing that we may save 500 animals, but 70 billion are killed every year in the food industry.” “The reward is in every face here every day, where every person who tells us that their life changed for the better for themselves or for animals by experiencing the work that we've done or listening to the stories that we tell for the animals. I think everyone wants to change lives for the better. And that keeps all of us going.” Supreme Master Ching Hai: “Thankfully present Broken Shovels Farm Sanctuary with the Shining World Compassion Award, plus US$10,000 as a humble token of appreciation and support for your noble work saving precious lives, with high praises and best wishes, in Heaven’s blessings and mercy.”

Let’s hear how Dr. McDougall and his foundation work to reach the people who need to hear this crucial message. “The foundation is dedicated to trying to convince the rest of the world that we need to make these changes, not only for personal health, but to save the planet, because what scientists tell us is, that even if everybody converts off of fossil fuel, it's not going to be enough. We've got to fix the food. Planet Earth has to become a population of people who eat the human diet. The human diet is a starch-based diet.”“The first thing I want to make clear to you is, everything you need to know is free on my website, DrMcdougall.com. There are probably 800 recipes. There's a meal plan. There's a 12-day program, right there free, you can have it. There are articles on breast cancer and diabetes and weight, all free. So, you know, you don't really have to join us to get the benefits. It's all there.”Let’s hear Dr. McDougall explain the science of why the plant-based diet provides the most protection from COVID-19. “So what's been discovered is that when people are trim, and especially when they're trim, because they ate a really good diet, a starch-based diet, they have a rather mild disease and that's been a discovery all over the world.So here you are, you've got this multi-facet win with the right diet, you can cure high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, constipation, arthritis, etc. You can save the planet. And if you have the misfortune of getting infected with this coronavirus, you're going to have a good chance of surviving, you know, and there are things you can control. You can't control your age, but you can control your physical health. And that's just a matter of stopping the food poisoning. It's the food!”Dr. John McDougall’s presentation on food poisoning at his website is presented in 24 different languages and dialects. So, if you have friends, family or acquaintances who don’t yet follow Dr. McDougall’s wholesome vegan diet, please visit DrMcDougall.com for more information.

Dr. McDougall is a distinguished American physician, author of “The Starch Solution” plus 12 other books, a public speaker, and a famous proponent of the low-fat-starch-based diet. “What happened is I was a young doctor. I was working on a sugar plantation on the Big Island of Hawaii. And what I had an opportunity to do was to take care of people who ate differently. And so, I saw the first generation always trim, never with heart disease, never with diabetes, working hard into their 80s and 90s, living on rice and vegetables. And the children who developed a more “well-balanced” diet: They got fatter and sicker, you know, as they added the meat, the protein, the dairy, the calcium, they got fatter and sicker. And what I found is that it's the food. That's why people are sick. They eat like kings and queens; they eat like aristocrats. And the wealthy throughout history were obese. They had the gout; they had diabetes. They had the sicknesses from eating the rich food.” “And so, I realized I couldn't ask my patients to eat a starch-based diet, to give up the ice cream and the pork chops, and the pizzas, unless I did it. And so, I changed my diet back in 1976.” “Now, I have a whole different dedication of my life, and that is to try and get people to understand that if we're going to save planet Earth, we must do the same things that I've done for 44 years to save my patients. You know, some scientific research says your burden on the planet will be reduced by 80% if you switch to a vegan diet, but it must be a starch-based diet.” Dr. McDougall explains that this offers great hope for a return to our God-Given vegan diet. “Well, people naturally like starches. The human being is a starch eater. People find eye appealing, various curry dishes over rice, marinara sauce over pasta. You know, moo shu vegetables over rice. These are appealing to people: They not only look good, but they also smell good.”

“So, we talked a lot about sustainability. And we talked a lot about the bees, and bees really matter to this planet because if we lose our wild and native bees, the surface of the planet Earth would look like desert or like a surface of Mars.” “Making real honey without bees is very, very exciting. But it's really hard. Honey is a very complex product. So, we at MeliBio have developed and are developing our proprietary technology to make real honey without bees.” “Now with the precision fermentation we are learning how to control the environment, we as a humankind are advancing science in a way that we can collaborate, work with those microorganisms and get to teach them to behave in a way to help us to build the building blocks of our favorite products now coming without animals.” “Our first product is more like a commercially used honey, light honey, inspired by clover that's used in baking. But as we progress with our R&D , we'll be looking into more complicated and complex varieties of honey. I'm talking about different types of honey-like buckwheat honey or linden honey or acacia honey, or you know many other honeys that are really powerful, and we are looking into all of these honey varieties and we as a company want to produce them all.” “So, if you walk into a supermarket, you will find honey in every product category, from food to beverage and cosmetics. So not only that we’re looking for the food industry, we’re also looking at the beverage industry, and also, we're looking at the cosmetics industry because there are amazing cosmetics products formulated with honey, but because there isn't the honey vegan, vegan honey yet, those products are not kind, those products are not ethical, those products are not vegan. So MeliBio gives an opportunity for all these cosmetics companies to finally make their products sustainable, kind, and entirely vegan by introducing vegan honey.”

“What we’re going to make today is vegan prosciutto. I have to admit I’ve never had prosciutto made from an animal. Thank God. Prosciutto is thinly sliced ham that’s been smoked. So, we’re going to attempt to make that out of rice paper, and I guarantee you it’s so delicious and it’s so satisfying. I’m going to use vegetable stock, liquid smoke, and sugar. Once we make the prosciutto, traditionally it’s wrapped around something like melon or asparagus. The melon is going to remain fresh, but for the asparagus, we’re going to roast it. I have about a pound of this lovely green spring asparagus, which I’m spreading on a sheet pan. I’m simply going to toss it with a little bit of olive oil, a little bit of salt, and some black pepper. I’m just going to toss it all. So, it’s evenly coated in the oil, salt, and pepper. Now I’m going to put this in the oven at 220°C (425°F) for about 10 or 15 minutes until it’s nice and brown and tender. We’re ready to move on to the marinade for the rice paper, which will transform this rice paper into something that’s like prosciutto, but a lot kinder. I’m going to add a quarter cup of Bragg’s liquid aminos. You can use soy sauce or tamari. A quarter cup of beet juice ; and this will turn the rice paper into this lovely pink color. Add two teaspoons of sugar for just a touch of sweetness and finally, a little splash of liquid smoke. Mix all of that up to dissolve the sugar. Now we’re going to take about two or three sheets of this paper and put it into the marinade. After a couple of minutes, you can feel the rice paper and see if it’s softened up.” “I’ve got melon. I have asparagus. I have my vegan prosciutto, and now we’re ready to rock and roll. So, I’m going to take a piece of this vegan prosciutto. There we go. Isn’t that lovely? I’m going to cut this in half. And depending on the size of what you’re rolling, you can cut this even into quarters. Take two of these pieces of asparagus and roll them like that. If you have guests that pop over, for example, and you haven’t prepared anything, you have some veggies in the refrigerator or some melon, just think of this as an easy appetizer. You could also roll these around a grilled king trumpet mushroom or portobello mushroom. OK. My beautiful platter of vegan prosciutto wrapped melon and asparagus is ready and I am ready to entertain all of you. Bon Appetit.”

Honey, the golden nectar produced by the hard-working bee-people, has existed for thousands of years. As demand for this sweet substance increased around the world, the mass production of honey has unfortunately led to a decline in the precious bee-people population, which is disastrous to our own survival as bee-people are responsible for pollinating up to 80% of the world's agriculture. “So, honey is a food for the bees that bees first and foremost made for themselves. It has proven antimicrobial, antioxidant, and many other properties that make it really great.” “However, it comes with a flaw. And that flaw is that it’s an animal-based product and animals making it for humans is not the way nature was set up to bring honey to this world.”“So, MeliBio is a food biotechnology company, working on a technology to produce real honey without the use of bees. So, we finally make honey vegan, and we're really excited about bringing this technology and product to the market.” “So, out of 20,000 wild and native bee species that populate our planet, there are 4,000 wild and native bee species in North America. It’s really interesting that European honeybees that are being used for honey production and pollination in the US are actually not native to the US.” In addition to the harm caused by the non-native honeybee-people and the effects of increased commercial bee keeping, the production of honey can also disrupt the very ecology of nature. “So, we at MeliBio have developed and are developing our proprietary technology to make real honey without bees. And when I say real, I don't only mean the real taste, the real looks, the real feel but also the real nutritional benefits of real honey. So, we finally take this approach of making honey perfect, meaning that we are inspired by the bees - looking into making bio-identical products to the ones that bees, make just without the use of bees.”

Today, we are pleased to have a well-known vegan chef, best-selling vegan cookbook author, entrepreneur, and animal-people advocate, Miyoko Schinner, back on Supreme Master Television. “What we want to do is create people that are compassionate towards animals. So, with that in mind, I want to show you how to make a vegan ‘Pulled Pork’ from my latest book, the ‘Vegan Meat Cookbook.’ That doesn’t exactly taste like pork, but it has every bit of that satisfaction, and umami, and chewy quality that people are looking for. This is one of those foods that can help people transition to a healthy, sustainable, compassionate, vegan diet.” “The first thing we’re going to do is to shred these mushrooms with a fork to create sort of the texture or look of what you might see or think as is ‘pulled pork.’ So, now I’m going to make my simple marinade and start with three tablespoons of soy sauce. Add two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, and for a touch of sweetness − a tablespoon of maple syrup. And then a teaspoon of smoked paprika, or you can use liquid smoke. Put the mushrooms in there. Mix it all up. After you get it all nice and mixed up and everything looks beautifully brown, we’re just going to set this aside for 10 minutes. We’re ready to move on to the salsa. So let me introduce you to the ingredients. I’ve got tomato, jalapeno, lime, and cumin. I’ve got a pan heating here, and we’re going to put some olive oil here in the bottom, and we’re going to cook the mushrooms until they’re super brown. So we’ll get the mushrooms in there. There’s no liquid in the pan. We don’t want any liquid. We just want them chewy, succulent, smoky, delicious. I’m going to throw the cashews in here, and they’re going to add this wonderful sweet crunch, which will make the smokiness so perfect.Let’s start assembling these tacos. We’re going to put a little bit of this wonderful King Trumpet Mushroom Pulled Pork in the middle here, a spoonful of this salsa right on top, and a few radish slices for some freshness and some extra crunch. Top it off with some fresh cilantro and my tacos are ready to devour.”

“When I look at industrial animal agriculture, I look at an industry that has just caused a tremendous amount of havoc in our society, and a lot of pain, a whole lot of pain. It's just filled with misery, (and) a disregard for the suffering of animals.”In 2011, Josh founded Eat Just Inc. with Josh Tetrick. The two co-founders believed that in order to win non-vegans over to the plant-based lifestyle, they would need to use technology. The two co-founders hired a team of scientists and culinary experts who began testing countless combinations of plant proteins, hoping to find a delicious, plant-based alternative to eggs. Eventually, they were successful, and Just Egg, made primarily from mung beans, was created.The sales of Just Egg have been skyrocketing. After only 3 years of production, the company reported, in March 2021, that it had sold the plant-based equivalent of 100 million eggs. “And of course, it's all plant-based, made from delicious mung beans. It tastes just like eggs! No cholesterol though, just as much protein. And according to surveys, the vast majority of people who buy it aren’t vegan or vegetarian. And so that's exactly what we're hoping for with the company.” “The key with Eat Just is twofold. One is that the products have to be delicious. No matter what clever marketing you do, whatever beautiful design you can create, if the products don't taste good, you can only go so far. So, the first basic way to start is to have a delicious product. After that, the mentality has to be, ‘How do you reach the ordinary American?’”For two decades, Josh Balk has worked tirelessly to promote the plant-based lifestyle. He says a global shift to the vegan diet would have many benefits. “If the world ever goes completely plant-based, it's going to save a whole lot of animals. It's certainly going to be a major reason why we (will) have solved the climate crisis. There is going to be a dramatic reduction of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity. We're going to have less land we have to take up. And so forests are going to regrow. We can shift our economy to an economy that actually focuses on healing our world and healing ourselves versus destroying it. So, if that day ever occurs, then certainly a lot more happiness will probably exist; a lot less suffering will occur.”

In today’s show, we will show you how to make kombu broth and how to use dried and fresh shiitake mushrooms to add flavor to the dish. Let’s now begin making our delicious vegan meal by preparing the vegetables. First, take four fresh shiitake mushrooms and slice them into thin pieces half a centimeter in thickness. Now we’ll prepare the vegan kombu broth which is called dashi in Japanese. For this, we have pre-soaked five grams of dried kombu in 200 milliters of water till it becomes soft and flexible. Now pour the water and kombu into a pot and bring the water to a boil at medium heat. Remove the kombu from the pot as soon as the water starts to boil and leave the broth standing to cool; we will use it later in making the pancake batter. To make the batter, add 200 grams of all-purpose flour to a large mixing bowl, then slowly pour in the vegan broth we just made and stir. Keep stirring until the mixture becomes a smooth batter, free of lumps. Using the kombu broth instead of water gives the Vegan Okonomiyaki a deeper flavor and taste. Preheat some vegetable oil in a large pan on medium heat. When the oil is sufficiently heated, pour in half of the batter, as we have prepared the ingredients for two servings. Use a spatula to shape the pancake so that it has a flat round shape of five to six inches in diameter. Gently press the batter into shape as we want a fluffy pancake. Continue frying for another three minutes. Now we can add the two slices of vegan bacon on the top of the pancake so that the vegan bacon sticks to the batter. Cover it with a lid for another three minutes to allow for the batter and cabbage to cook through. The pancake is now cooked, so we will transfer it onto a plate, with the vegan bacon on the topside. Squeeze the vegan mayonnaise with a squeezy bottle, forming wriggly lines horizontally across. Then using a knife or a chopstick, draw straight vertical lines from top to bottom to create a wave-like pattern. Then sprinkle some seaweed powder evenly on the vegan mayonnaise decoration. Finally, to enhance the flavor of the vegan pancake, we will add some grated dried shiitake mushroom using a microplane grater. There you have it, a deliciously mouth-watering Vegan Okonomiyaki with Vegan Bacon!

Today, we’ll learn about the ways in which Animal Aid chooses its campaigns and the challenges they face in lobbying governments on behalf of the animal-people. “(At) Animal Aid, we do like to work with other groups and organizations who align with our own ethics, because then we can work together and really try and speed things up to make things better for animals. For example, our recent Snares Campaign, where we worked with Lush, was also a collaboration with the brilliant Hunt Investigations Team as well as the National Anti Snaring Campaign.” Fleur tells us that it’s especially important to reach young people. “Our target audience is actually anybody who is open to living a life without cruelty, anybody who cares about animals and wants to live with compassion.” “One of the biggest challenges that we face as an animal rights interest group, shall we say, is that there is so much power in the political lobbying from the meat and the dairy industry. We see it time and time again. We've seen it in a recent move towards plant-based milks, for example. The dairy industry got absolutely terrified, and started trying to do everything they could to ruin the reputation or damage the ability of plant-based milks to succeed, for example, saying that they can't call it milk, or they can't use the adjective ‘creamy’ to describe the taste.” “However, we are still seeing that our governments are being incredibly inconsistent. There's a lot of lip service being paid. There are some moves to do the right thing; don't get me wrong. But it needs to be across the board. You can't be saying: ‘We need to fight climate change’ on the one hand, and then giving a million pounds to the milk industry to shore up this damaging, unhealthy and unethical industry, that we know is very carbon-heavy, also. I mean the links between climate change and animal farming are incredibly well known. So what we do need from our governments is a consistent approach. They need to do what they say they're going to do, and they need to stop trying to get the last bit of money out of whether it's the oil industry, the meat industry, the dairy industry. We know that oil needs to stay in the ground, and we know that we need to move all of us towards a vegan lifestyle.”

Josh Balk is the vice president of Farm Animal Protection for the Shining World Benevolence Award recipient, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), and co-founder of Eat Just, Inc., one of the first companies in the world to produce a plant-based alternative for eggs. He is also the co-executive producer for the widely acclaimed documentary “The Game Changers.” After graduating from college, Josh joined Animal Outlook (formerly Compassion Over Killing). One of his first assignments was undercover filming in a chicken-person slaughterhouse. “Being inside a slaughterhouse, seeing what happens to the animals just tears your soul apart. And eventually, one chicken got to me. And I'll never forget her. And what she taught me was that each and every day, this is real-life consequence stuff that we're doing. We have to, for her and for the billions of others like her, help as many people as possible eat less meat because it leads to less of that suffering.”Currently, as the vice president of Farm Animal Protection at HSUS, he works tirelessly to encourage veganism. One of his primary focuses is the US foodservice industry that serves millions of meals each day. “We’ve got companies to commit to shifting their menus from roughly 0% plant-based to 20% plant-based. We've even got a food service company to set a goal that, for every animal-based item on the menu, they're going to [have] a plant-based right next to it. And so, we're working together to shift the food system to plant-based foods.”Josh Balk and his team constantly strive to reduce the suffering of animal-people, by criminalizing some of the most inhumane practices in animal-people factories. One such inhumane practice is imprisoning chicken-people and pig-people in tiny cages. In 2018, the HSUS scored a remarkable win in California, with the passage of Proposition 12. This legislation will improve living conditions for nearly a million pig-people and 40 million egg-laying hen-people each year. “Just in the past couple of years, we've passed laws in California, Oregon, Washington, Michigan, Colorado, Utah and Nevada. That's the fastest stretch of law passing for farm animals in the history of the United States.”

Food culture in the land of the rising sun, Japan, is unique, and every process is a work of art from the preparation, the cooking; to the final dish presented on the dining table. Takoyaki is a round fried savory snack made from batter and filled with other ingredients such as vegan seafood, vegetables, tempura bits (tenkasu), and pickled ginger. They are a popular street food in Japan and are also found in restaurants, shops, supermarkets and convenience stores.First, we will prepare the fillings, starting with the Shredded Red Ginger Pickle. Slice 50 grams of young ginger into thin pieces and then cut into thin strips. The Red Ginger Pickle is also called Beni Shoga, a refreshing palate cleanser. We use konjac jelly to produce the texture of octopus. Cut four vegan shrimps into one-centimeter cubes. Peel off the skin of the Chinese yam. Grate the yam into a gluey blob. The stickiness of the grated yam serves as a binder, helping the takoyaki keep its shape and fluffy texture. Let’s now make the takoyaki batter. Into a large mixing bowl, add 100 grams of cake flour, 20 grams of rice flour, half a teaspoon of baking flour, 10 grams of the natural flavor enhancer we just made, and 180 grams of grated yam. Gradually add 300 grams of water and keep stirring till the ingredients are well incorporated into a smooth and lump-free batter. We will now prepare the two sauces for garnishing our Vegan Takoyaki. First is the Vegan Mayonnaise. Into the blender jar, put 250 grams of vegetable oil, 200 grams of unsweetened soy milk, one tablespoon of vegan sugar, two tablespoons of lemon juice or white vinegar, and one teaspoon of salt. Blend for approximately 10 seconds and you will have a healthy, tasty, and creamy plant-based mayonnaise. To make the Takoyaki Sauce, we will mix together two tablespoons of vegan oyster sauce and one tablespoon of pomelo jam. The last filling we will make is the Tempura Bits (Tenkasu) which provides a crispy texture in our Vegan Takoyaki. Now that we have prepared all the ingredients for our Vegan Takoyaki− let’s assemble and fry them in a takoyaki pan that has half-sphere molds in it. Garnish by brushing the Takoyaki Sauce onto the top of each ball. Then drizzle the Vegan Mayonnaise to form a criss-cross pattern, and finish with a sprinkle of seaweed powder on the top. This is our delicious, hot, crispy, and freshly fried Vegan Takoyaki or Vegan Octopus Balls.

Animal Aid is one of the United Kingdom and the world’s oldest organizations fighting for rights of people from the animal kingdom. Founded in 1977, by Jean Pink, a vegan, Animal Aid groups campaign peacefully against the consumption of animal-people as food and against other forms of cruelty to them, such as their use for medical research - and promotes a cruelty-free lifestyle. “Hi, my name’s Fleur, and I do the communications for the wonderful Animal Aid. I stopped eating animals when I was two. And actually, Animal Aid have been in my life ever since they supported me on my journey to going vegan and living an entirely cruelty-free life.” “Animal Aid currently has about eight different campaigns going, including slaughter, farming, veganism, animal experimentation, living without cruelty, shooting, horse racing, and wildlife. So, we do try and address all areas that impact animals and their rights.” “One of our biggest successes is that our campaigning for CCTV in slaughterhouses has finally reached the point where it's now a legal requirement to have CCTV in English slaughterhouses, and more recently in Scottish slaughterhouses.” The world-famous English musician, Sir Paul McCartney, once famously said: “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian." Having cameras in slaughterhouses is a step closer to them having “glass walls” and the end of slaughter altogether, but Fleur explains that the next important step is to make sure that the footage is actively monitored. “When it comes to farming, obviously Animal Aid believes that we should not be using animals at all. But, more than ever, this pandemic has shown us that it is not healthy for humans either, it's not good for the environment, and, in fact, it's a very dangerous practice that we are insisting on keeping up. The world has turned to veganism in a big way recently, which has been fantastic.” Supreme Master Ching Hai: “Gratefully present Animal Aid with the Shining World Compassion Award, plus US$10,000 as a humble token of love and support for your noble work, with high praises and best wishes, in Heaven’s blessings and mercy.”