The Summary: Good afternoon VegNews Book Clubbers, and I hope everyone had a happy turkey-free Thanksgiving! Today, I'm going to wrap up last week's discussion on the conclusion of My Year of Meats by Ruth L. Ozeki, and then next week, we will begin to discuss Quantum Wellness by Kathy Freston. There's actually a correction for the homework—please read part one and two of the book for our discussion on Monday, December 6. I look forward to chatting about the book with you guys!

Last week, we discussed whether or not My Year of Meats is effective in teaching the readers the importance of vegetarianism. Second, Jane makes a comment in the book regarding ignorance, and how many people cultivate it in order to be protected from the horrors of the world, which we also talked about. It was a busy, holiday week, but I want to thank Kim for her wonderful comments!

I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your week and the first two sections of Quantum Wellness. See you next week!

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Gist: Good afternoon VegNews Book Clubbers! It is the final week of reading My Year of Meats by Ruth L. Ozeki, which we have now finished. Also, it is the week of Thanksgiving, meaning a short week for many of us, so instead of wrapping up our conversation this Friday, I will post the wrap up on Monday, November 29. That will give us a week off next week, and then we will begin to discuss December's book, Quantum Wellness by Kathy Freston. In addition, the next three books for the first quarter of 2011 will be announced next Monday, along with the wrap up. I'm looking forward to a great New Year with the VegNews Book Club!

Back to My Year of Meats, a lot takes place in the last several chapters of the novel. Jane is off to Colorado while pregnant to film a slaughterhouse for the next episode of My American Wife! The wife of the ranch's owner, Bunny Dunn, is Jane's cover, due to her being the typical American wife—blonde and big busted. Bunny has a five-year-old daughter, Rose, who rubs Jane and the rest of the crew the wrong way. They later realize that the little girl is already developing as a woman, which is obviously incredibly early. The reason for it happening is because Gale, the son of the ranch's owner, and operator, is feeding the cattle illegal DES as well as many other terrible things, such as other hormones, dead cattle, and even the excrement. The hormones being used have poisoned the little girl, causing her to go through puberty very early.

When Jane and the crew go to the film the slaughterhouse, it is very intense, and they get great footage. Unfortunately, Jane is knocked unconscious after witnessing the slaughter of a cow, due to the commotion. When she comes to, she finds out that she has lost her baby. She blames herself, even though the main reason for its death was due to her abnormal uterus.

Akiko also finds herself in a hospital after fainting from loss of blood, due to her husband raping her. While there, she realizes that she is pregnant, which inspires her to begin a new life. She finds out that her husband will be in the US until a certain time, and she decides to leave the night before he gets back, and she heads to New York. She contacts Jane on her way who meets her, and helps her to get her new life started, by introducing her to two of the families featured in My American Wife!—the Boudreoux family in Louisiana, and the lesbian couple, Lara and Dyann. Akiko decides to settle in New England, in a small town close to the two women.

Jane takes some time to deal with the death of her baby, but then sets her mind to editing the footage saved from the slaughterhouse, making it into a feature documentary. At first, she thinks that no one would want to see it, but after sending a copy to Bunny Dunn, the media has a feeding frenzy to get their hands on the tape. Jane is able to sell the film, giving her some hope that the problems of the meat industry will be exposed.

The Discussion: Here are three discussion points to help get the conversation started. I look forward to hearing from you!

1. Do you think this book is affective in teaching the readers the importance of vegetarianism? In other words, if you were not yet a vegetarian/vegan, would you have been affected by this novel? Why or why not?

2. In Chapter 12, Jane says,"If we can't act on knowledge, then we can't survive without ignorance. So we cultivate the ignorance, go to great lengths to celebrate it, even." Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?

3. Violence is clearly a theme in the novel. What parallels did you draw between the depictions of violence toward women and violence toward animals?

The Assignment: Please read the part one and two of Quantum Wellness by Kathy Freston for our discussion on Monday, December 6. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Summary: Good afternoon VegNews Book Clubbers, and welcome to yet another Friday! We are quickly coming to an end of My Year of Meats by Ruth L. Ozeki, which I have found to be a very good read. I hope you're enjoying it too!

This week, we discussed how culture shapes a person, by comparing Jane and Akiko. Also, I asked you what you would cook for My American Wife! if you were chosen to host the show, and I appreciate those who participated. It sounds like we're all already in the mood for a Thanksgiving feast!

I know it's a busy week next week, but we will be discussing the rest of the book beginning Monday, and I will wrap it all up the following Monday. Have a great weekend!

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Gist: Good afternoon everyone! It is the third week of reading My Year of Meats by Ruth L. Ozeki, and we're really getting into the storyline, specifically with the two main characters, Jane and Akiko. Jane has found out that she is pregnant, even though she thought that she was unable to conceive due to a deformed uterus, that she believes was the result of her mother taking the pills containing DES when she was pregnant. At first, Jane wants to get an abortion, but decides against it, because she realizes that she really wants a child. The father, Sloan, also tells her that he wants to be a part of her and the baby's lives, making their relationship stronger.

Jane has also taken more risks with My American Wife!, which has greatly angered Joicho Ueno, Akiko's husband, who is the representative of BEEF-EX. First, she features an Indiana family who cooks lamb chop instead of beef. Ueno is very upset by this due to the fact that Japan gets most of their lamb from Australia, and not the US. Second, Jane features a lesbian vegetarian couple, which completely sets Ueno off, and Jane almost loses her job. Luckily, she doesn't, and she decides to feature a slaughter house in the next episode, but hides the fact from Ueno that she will be using the episode to expose the meat industry.

Speaking of meat, Jane is finding out much more about the industry, and the terrible conditions within it. She finds out a lot about it through the lesbian couple, but she also does a lot of her own research. It seems as though she is on the edge of going vegetarian, but she admits that being pregnant makes her want meat, so she buys organic meat instead.

Over in Japan, Akiko is facing much more physical abuse from her husband, Joicho Ueno. The worst happens when she connects with Jane after the episode about the lesbian couple. The episode makes her realize that she does not want to be with Joicho, but does want a child of her own. She gets ahold of a fax number for Jane and writes her a private letter asking for advice about leaving her abusive husband, as well as asking about the problems with meat. Jane writes her back urging her to leave her husband, but Joicho discovers the letters, and beats Akiko, and even rapes her. That's where chapter 9 ends, on a decidedly sad note.

The Discussion: Here are two discussion points to help get the conversation started. I look forward to hearing from you!

1. Although Jane and Akiko are both of Japanese descent, they are very different. How much do you think culture takes part in shaping a person?

2. The lesbian couple cooked pasta primavera for the episode of My American Wife! If you were on the show, what would you cook, and why?

The Assignment: Please read the rest of the book for our discussion on Monday, November 22. We will start our discussion on that day, and I will wrap up on Monday, November 29 due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Summary: Happy Friday! We are at the end of the second week of reading My Year of Meats by Ruth L. Ozeki. We are learning more about the two main characters, Jane and Akiko, who are both very different people, but share some similiarities.

I asked about The Pillow Book excerpts, as well as if you think Jane or Akiko will eventually become vegetarian. I appreciate the thoughtful comments from Kim. It seems like Jane will most likely become veg, due to the fact that she's learning more about the meat industry while working for My American Wife!, and what she's learning is unflattering, at best. I look forward to seeing if my guess is correct. Have a good weekend everyone!

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Gist: Good evening VegNews Book Clubbers! It is the second week of reading My Year of Meats, a novel by Ruth L. Ozeki. We read a good chunk of the book for this week, and both Jane and Akiko, the two main characters, have further developed. Jane has been able to direct several of the My American Wife! episodes, allowing her to make more authentic choices for the show, including a Mexican family, a large family through adoption, and Polish family with a handicapped daughter. Jane has also started to learn more about the meat industry, finding out about the antibiotics in meat after the previous director, Oda, had a seizure after eating some veal that a featured wife for the show had made, due to the fact that he was allergic to antibiotics. Jane also is learning more about the hormone diethylstilbestrol (DES), an artificial growth stimulant for farm animals.

Akiko is having problems of her own—she is unable to keep down food which is making her infertile, and her husband, John, is becoming more and more abusive. She is definitely unhappy, but due to her culture, she feels trapped in the marriage, which was arranged by her boss and John's boss.

The Discussion: I hope you're enjoying the book as much as myself. Here are two discussion points to help get the conversation started. I look forward to hearing from you!

1. As you may have noticed, each chapter opens with an excerpt from Sei Shonagon's The Pillow Book. Do you feel that this interjection from another work enriches the novel? How so? If not, why?

2. Do you think that either Jane or Akiko will eventually become vegetarian? Why?

The Assignment: Please read chapters 7 to 9 for our discussion on Monday, November 15.

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Summary: Good afternoon everyone, and happy Friday! We are at the end of the first week of reading My Year of Meats by Ruth L. Ozeki. I am very much enjoying this work of fiction, and I think it's going to get even better. I've heard through the grapevine that the book will depict the abuses of the meat industry in the coming chapters.

This week, we discussed the two main characters, Jane and Akiko, as well as reality television. I appreciate those who commented, and I look forward to discussing more of the book during the month. I'm off to work the San Francisco Green Festival this weekend, so if you're in the SF Bay Area, be sure to come say hello. Happy weekend!

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Gist: Good afternoon VegNews Book Clubbers! It is now November, and we have begun to read the novel, My Year of Meats by Ruth L. Ozeki. The book has two main characters—Jane Takagi-Little and Akiko Ueno. Jane is an American documentary filmmaker with an American father and a Japanese mother. At the start of the book, she has been offered a job to run a television series called My American Wife!, which documents "real" American women, their families, and the meat they cook for them, in order to bring the American Heartland to Japanese women—Akiko being one of them. The shows only sponsor is the Beef Export and Trade Syndicate (BEEF-EX), who has its sights set on Asia. Hence, the new show.

We're only three chapters in so far, but so far the narration has gone back and forth between Jane's point of view to Akiko's, who lives in Japan, and whose husband is the representative of the ad agency in charge of marketing the meats. Akiko's husband has pretty much ordered Akiko to watch the show and to participate by cooking the meat recipes displayed on the show. Akiko is extremely unhappy, and her health is a reflection of it—she's bone thin and cannot menstruate. Her husband, Joichi (or "John"), wants her to put meat, literally, on her bones so that they can have a baby together.

Already, there are connections between the two main characters, particularly with The Pillow Book—Sei Shonagon's book of observations and musings. It is mainly a diary of sorts. They also both seem to be unhappy with their lives at the moment.

The Discussion: I am really enjoying this book so far! I have always been more of a fiction reader myself, because I love to lose myself while reading, and fiction helps me to do just that. Here are two discussion points to help get the conversation started. I look forward to hearing from you!

1. What do you think of the two main characters so far? Are there any similarities between the two? How do they complement each other?

2. It's sad, but My American Wife! sounds an awful lot like current reality TV shows on air. What are your thoughts on reality television? Do you think it shows a negative portrayal of American society?

The Assignment: Please read chapters 4 to 6 for our discussion on Monday, November 8.

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Summary: Happy Friday VegNews Book Clubbers! We are at the end of October, meaning we are finished with another great book, Animal Camp by Kathy Stevens. Next week, we'll begin our discussion of My Year of Meats, a novel by Ruth L. Ozeki. I look forward to delving into some fiction with you guys!

We are very lucky to have Animal Camp author Kathy Stevens answering readers' questions for us, and without further ado, here are the questions and Kathy's responses. Have a great weekend!

Geneveive Gates: How "easy" is it to get a sanctuary/rescue started? Do you need a lot of money behind you? What is the one thing someone should know?

Kathy: Geneveive, I get literally two to three requests a week from people wanting to start their own sanctuaries, and they're all looking for "the formula." I hope the following will help:

a. It's hard to start a sanctuary and hard to grow and sustain a successful one. Unless you have extraordinary energy, plenty of skills, and a keen awareness of your strengths and weaknesses, find another way to participate meaningfully in the lives of animals. Don't romanticize the life: It's a beautiful life, mind you, but it's a relentlessly challenging one. And like most businesses, most sanctuaries fail.

b. There is no formula! If you interview 10 sanctuary founders, you'll get 10 different responses to the question, "How did you get started?" Better to have an understanding of all the components of running a business and to know when you start that someone is responsible for each component. You don't need a lot of money to start if you've got a crackerjack volunteer fundraiser or PR person! Sanctuaries fail because their founders didn't do their homework—they simply started taking in animals and naively hoped, I guess, that the rest would magically fall into place. You have to have all the pieces accounted for from the get go: Who's going to feed and clean up after the animals? Who's going to determine their optimum diets? Who's going to stay up at night with the sick ones? Who's going to look for the best deals on supplies and develop relationships with businesses in order to get stuff donated? Who's going to raise the money? Who's going to recruit and train the volunteers? who's going to write the press releases and monitor the website and tweet out your news? Who's going to do the bookkeeping?

c. Be clear about your mission and stick to it, rather than trying to be all things to all animals. First of all, that's impossible. Second, if you don't have a clear identity it will be tough to garner support.

Nicole: Have you had any more “summer-camp”-like experiences since Animal Camp?

Kathy: If you mean, "have there been more wonderful connections between animals of different species?" then yes! The relationship between Rambo and Barbie described in "The Audacity of Love" is one. Our turkeys Ethel and Blue seem to love everyone, as they wander slowly through the barnyard, checking on the sheep, sometimes clustered with Barbie. It's wonderful to watch them standing guard when the farrier comes to trim the horses' hooves— they hover around him, all day long, seeming simply to want to be in the company of man and equine. It's lovely to witness.

Elizabeth: What relationship between two animals of different species surprised you most?

Kathy: Oh my word—absolutely the relationship between Rambo and Barbie the hen. She truly dotes on him, and Rambo, the most extraordinary animal I've ever met, at least tolerates, if not enjoys, all her overtures. Having watched Rambo for nine years now, I believe he's aware, somehow, of his power and his unique and important role in the barn. So many animals gravitate to him.

Riley: I once visited an exotic animal sanctuary, run by a very compassionate and committed couple. They loved their animals so much and had such deep connections to them, that when one was sick, they would let her sleep in their bed, including tigers and mountain lions! When one of the animals at Catskill Animal Sanctuary (CAS) is under the weather, what special treatment do they get?

Kathy: It depends on the animal. If it's a small animal, like a chicken, duck, or rabbit, the animal goes up to our animal care director Abbie's house to make round-the-clock care (if that's what's necessary) easier. If it's orphaned newborns who need bottle feedings every two hours, we set up shifts and various folks take turns. If it's a gravely ill horse who needs constant monitoring, we either stay up all night, setting a cot up in the barn, or again we take shifts. The situation always varies depending on the species and the nature of the illness, but essentially, one does what it takes to provide what an animal needs, even if it's at the expense of human sleep or comfort. And we do it joyfully: it comes with the turf.

Anonymous: How do you deal with all the losses of animals you come to love at CAS?

Kathy: You've probably read the chapter "Carpe the Diem" by now. Knowing when to let an animal go and sending him or her off with as much love as we can possibly muster is our final gift to those we've had the pleasure of caring for. The chapter about sweet Maxx will give you a glimpse into how we say goodbye. We've gotten really good at staying strong for our friends until they've taken their final breaths. After they're gone, that's when the sadness comes. But in some ways, it gets easier over time. If one is going to survive in this work and to be there for all the animals in her charge, it has to.

Leslie Lantz: I found the book so enjoyable I finished it in three evenings. How do you differentiate to the uninitiated the difference between a farm sanctuary and a petting zoo? In particular I was thinking about very young children who see both experiences as an exciting time to get close to farm animals. The animals at the sanctuary of course are being treated like royalty and “run the place” so to speak whereas the animals in a petting zoo are transported from one outdoor fair to another for about a year until they are no longer cute baby animals and then they are slaughtered because they no longer serve any purpose. How does the sanctuary caretaker diplomatically explain the differences between the two when the people who are participating in the one-on-one attention with the animals receive the same type of enjoyable feedback from the animals regardless of whether they are at a sanctuary or petting zoo?

Kathy: What a fabulous question! Our weekend tours are run by educators (or in my case, former educators!) who are superb at gauging the composition of a particular tour group and how much they can, or cannot, say. If there are lots of extremely young children in the group, then one says in her intro that there is a great deal she won't be able to say, but that the adults are encouraged to take plenty of literature from the Welcome Hut to help fill in the blanks. Another way we provide information is by displaying posters that depict the realities that most farm animals endure. We also try to have enough guides scheduled so that groups can be divided by age so that we maximize the opportunities for more people to ask tough questions and hear the truth. Finally, though, and this is key: I don't believe that it's our job to turn every visitor vegan the first time she sets foot on CAS grounds. Rather, I believe in assessing each guest's "state of readiness," and sharing as much as she's ready to hear. The animals so very often do the rest of the work for us! It's essential that all folks feel comfortable here, not just vegans. The more frequently folks come, the more they'll learn, the more they'll see the animals for who they are—that's how change happens.

Jill: How many of your volunteers are vegan?

Kathy: I'd guess about half, though we have so many volunteers that I don't know for sure. We encourage everyone to be vegan when they're on CAS grounds, and we watch all the time as folks fall in love with the chickens, pigs, cows, and all the rest, and then make the decision to go vegan because they now understand who these animals are. How many folks with standard diets have begun volunteering and then very quickly gone vegetarian and then very quickly gone vegan? Dozens. That feels good.

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Gist: Welcome to the final week of October, and our last discussion of Animal Camp by Kathy Stevens! Thank you for all of your questions for the Q+A with Stevens this week—her answers will be posted this Friday.

As I said previously, we finished the book this week, which consisted of more touching stories from Stevens regarding Catskill Animal Sanctuary. She also ends with her plea for people to adopt the vegan lifestyle, which she believes to be a very important step in helping to stop the atrocities of factory farming, as well as saving the environment.

The Discussion: I leave you with two final discussion points to start us with the conversation. I look forward to reading your thoughts!

1. What is your number one reason for being a vegan or vegetarian—ethics, health, environment, etc.?

2. What are your final thoughts on the book? Did it make you hopeful, sad, or inspire you to action in some way?

The Assignment: Next week, we will begin our discussion of My Year of Meats by Ruth L. Ozeki! Please read from the prologue through chapter 3 by Monday, November 1.

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Summary: Welcome VegNews Book Clubbers to the conclusion of our second month of the VN Book Club, in which we are discussing the final chapters of Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. We will be taking a break next week, but will start right back up on September 7 where we will begin talking about the first five chapters of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. I hope you guys are as excited as me to read this classic novel about the atrocities of the Chicago meatpacking industry in the early 20th century, and hope that the extra week gives you plenty of time to read.

Back to our discussion on Skinny Bitch! I first asked how you maintain a positive attitude, and the answers mainly focused on exercise, particularly yoga, but Changeintomule even mentioned being a part of CrossFit, which is awesome! Personally, I have started to ride my bike much more, specifically to work and back, which has really changed my mood for the better. I also feel much more focused during work, and even at home.

Finally, I asked about your thoughts on some controversy of the tone of the book, as well as if you think that "skinny" equals "healthy." This question definitely spurred different answers and opinions, both negative and positive. I think that it's important to have these types of discussions, because these are the issues that matter most. The book can be interpreted in a variety of ways depending on your outlook. If you consider yourself a feminist, there is some troubling language in the book that does not help the cause. But if you look at it in a casual matter, it could be read as a close friend giving it to you straight.

Please feel free to share anymore thoughts on Skinny Bitch in this post's comments section. It was a great month of sharing and I look forward to discussing The Jungle!

I would also like to announce the books we will be reading for the next three months of the VegNews Book Club, beginning with October:

October: Animal Camp by Kathy Stevens
November: My Year of Meats by Ruth L. Ozeki
December: Quantum Wellness by Kathy Freston

I'm very excited about this lineup, and I hope you are, too. Have a great weekend!

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig