Making Some Phone Calls

Sorry.

I thought, for sure, that I had posted on my blog. 

Nope! 

Apparently, I got distracted editing posts I had already started. <sigh>

Been making some phone calls to Kraft and Harley Davidson.
I called Kraft a couple weeks ago to find out if their Premium Plus crackers are indeed vegan. The ingredients are. Except the amylase is questionable. Amylase has plant and animal sources. I tried Googling(yes, it's now a verb), with little luck.
No, that's not true. I didn't try for very long.
I got frustrated and phoned Kraft instead.
Right to the source.

I neglected to write the lady's name down that answered at the call center. I wrote down other key points though, but this isn't necessarily 'word for word'.

      "Hi, in your, well no, in Kraft's Premium Plus crackers, the amylase, is that sourced from plants or animals?"
      "Let's see...'amylase blah blah blah'"  she read me the definition and use of amylase
      "Right, I understand what it's used for, I just wanted to know if the source was plant or animal-based."
      "It doesn't say here. . ."
      "Okay, is there someone I can talk to that would know?"
       "Just a moment, do you mind holding?"   she was very nice
                 <<<<H.O.L.D.I.N.I.N.G>>>>
       "Hi, apparently amylase has many sources."    I remember grinning widely when she said that
       "But we use barley."  HOORAY!!
       "Well, thank you."

See, took no time. 

Okay, that's not true either(look at me lying today!),
 the phone call probably took about 40 minutes.

Today, I called Harley Davidson Canada.
I called because Troy's dad maintains that the leather used is from cows we eat anyway. From everything I've learned about the leather industry, I was pretty sure this wasn't the case. My response to this assertion has been(till I could confirm), "whatever makes you feel better."
Well no more! I tried to sound strong and determined there
I thought I'd start with Harley Davidson because Troy, his dad, and his dad's side are all really into the Harley stuff and motorcycles, etc.
"Hi, where do you get your leather?"
"I don't have that information."
"Is there someone I can talk to that knows?"
"Not sure, let me check."
   <<<<HOLDING>>>>
"Can I help you?"  Different guy
"Yes, where do you get your leather?"
"Hmm, good question, I know China is one place...but other than that I'm not sure. Could I put you on hold to look into that?"
"Definitely."     
     <<<<HOLDING>>>>
"Hi, mostly from China, from what I could find. Why do you ask?"  He seemed genuinely interested.
<grin> "I'm vegan. My husband and his family are really into your stuff and they ride, and my husband's dad always says that leather's from cows that we ate, but from everything I know about the industry, it's from completely different animals on other continents. I just wanted to confirm before saying anything, you know?"
"Yeah, I really do. Yes, mostly from China, leather from cows, sheep, and some goats. There are some small leather patches that are sourced in North America or in Canada. Does that help?"
"Yes. Now I can talk and know what I'm talking about."
"Yeah, I-told-you-so's are good."  We shared a laugh and said good-bye.

So next time, I'll be sure to be confident in my response.
Makin' phone calls. Oh yeah.

Becoming Vegan

Becoming Vegan by Brenda Davis, RD and Vesanto Melina, MS, RD. was delivered around the same time as The Vegan Scoop. According to Amazon.ca, they came in September 2010. Again, another great book with loads of information about vegan nutrition. Every vegan should have this book! Seriously.

I wasn't totally confident in my nutrition knowledge, so it was nice to have a reliable reference tool. I don't check that I'm 'doing it right' anymore. However, I did keep a scanned and printed copy of the nutrition guidelines, on my person, for 4 or 5 months. Just while I was brand new to this foreign lifestyle, and trying to introduce these new ideas(new to me) to my recovering brain.

I like to be an ambassador for veganism. Show people just how healthy and safe it can be. Granted, there is plenty of vegan junk food to be had. I had plenty, boy howdy!

Oreos are evil.
Okay, maybe not evil-evil, but it's definitely not ideal to eat half a bag of them! <embarrassed grin>
Certainly not healthy . . . other than no cholesterol . . . So yes, I didn't want to be a junk-food vegan, living on oreos and coke. In high school I was a junk-food vegetarian, living on Kraft Dinner. I have zero interest in going back to that life.

I also wanted to be able to answer people's vegan nutrition questions. No pressure! I remember being totally and completely stumped when my younger brother asked about complete protein. To be fair, this was asked when I had just begun to research veganism, and my severe brain injury was younger than a year. I know the answer now.
And here it is!
The Protein Myth and Vegetarianism  (audio podcast=8 minutes long) by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.