Vegan dessert delivery for Valentine’s Day!

Classic Southern desserts made vegan—the kind you can bring to family reunions, church events, and holiday gatherings, and nobody would know the difference. Marcus and Cara Pitts grew up on rich Southern cooking, and knew that in order for their Texas vegan bakery to be a success, they’d have to recreate the sweet, buttery desserts so cherished in their community. Well, after three years in business, they’ve done just that. Today, Southern Roots Vegan Bakery has become a statewide sensation, baking up those classic Southern favorites (think glazed lemon cake, sugar cookies, and chocolate chunk brownies) for vegans and non-vegans alike. And guess what? Nobody knows the difference. With Valentine’s Day just days away, we wanted to bring Southern Roots’ famous desserts to you or your Valentine.

How does a thick slice of strawberry cake sound, made with fresh, luscious strawberries drizzled with a sweet glossy glaze? Or fresh-baked, fluffy sugar cookies covered in sprinkles, just like Cara’s grandmother used to make? Or a jumbo slice of red velvet cake made extra decadent with chocolate chips, cocoa, chocolate liqueur, and a silky frosting? Yeah, now you understand our obsession with these out-of-this-world desserts. So whether you’re gifting a box to your Valentine, treating yourself, or want to enjoy a Southern dessert spread with your family, you’re going to LOVE these cakes, cookies, and donuts. But here’s the deal. For guaranteed delivery by Valentine’s Day, you must place your order by 1pm EST on Thursday. Marcus, Cara, and the Southern Roots’ team will be baking around the clock to fulfill every order and ensure that you have the sweetest Valentine’s Day ever. We’ve already placed our orders and can’t wait to feast on these incredible vegan desserts, all baked from scratch with love. Copyright © 2021 VegNews, All rights reserved.

https://mailchi.mp/fa00a1f842c6/vegan-dessert-delivery-for-valentines-day?e=342068e824

“Why Coming Home To Your Dog Is The Best Feeling Ever”

Petition: Don’t Dredge Up Marine Habitats With Destructive Sand Mining

forcechange.com

Target: Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China

Goal: Halt sand dredging that threatens marine ecosystems and habitats of Taiwan.

China has begun a fresh round of obliterating the sand banks that separate it from Taiwan. This maneuver is believed to be a tactic for intimidating the smaller region and attempting to wipe away its natural defenses. The strong-arm method is also taking a hidden but no less devastating environmental toll.

The operations involve mining sand by essentially displacing and pumping it up with large dredging ships. Hundreds of these vessels often conduct illegal dredging around Taiwan’s waters, but as tensions have risen between the regions the activity has become more frequent and more overt. The estimated 100,000 tons of sand dredged on a daily basis are already likely devastating the delicate marine ecosystems that call these waters home.

The centerpieces of these systems, small seabed-dwelling organisms, lose their lives directly as their habitats are destroyed and their bodies sucked up and spit back out as carcasses. A devastating domino effect could collapse the entire food chain. Worse yet, the loss of sand creates shoreline erosion that could even adversely impact life on land.

Sign the petition below to urge an immediate cease and desist to this wholesale environmental degradation.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear President Xi,

China wants to position itself as a leader on clean technology and environmental sustainability. Yet this country continues to conduct arguably the most devastating and least-regulated form of mineral extraction on a wide scale. So-called sand mafias have made blood money from the destructive practice of sand mining. The world’s most populous country has created an empire out of this environmentally unsound practice.

The continued dredging of the Taiwan Strait is the most egregious example. You may see these exercises as a short-term power play, but the decades’ worth of damage you are inflicting on vibrant marine ecosystems will last several lifetimes. Nearly 100,000 tons of sand are likely lost in one day alone. With this loss comes habitat erosion, a seabed strewn with carcasses, and a food chain without its most critical links.

Please stop these dangerous dredging exercises before they fuel a catastrophe beyond your control.

Sincerely,

Photo Credit: Vince Beiser

https://forcechange.com/580104/dont-dredge-up-marine-habitats-with-destructive-sand-mining/

Petition: Protect Sacred Native Land From Massive Copper Mine

Target: Chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Vicki Christiansen

Goal: Terminate plans to develop a copper mine on Oak Flat.

Oak Flat in Tonto National Forest, a sacred land to the Apache people, was sold to a London based company to build a massive copper mine. This will not only cause grave destruction to this ancestral land and burial site, but it will also seriously damage the environment. Oak Flat is an important habitat for endangered wildlife and migratory birds.

The project is sure to deplete water supply and quality in the region. It is predicted that the mine would eventually cause the land to cave into a crater a mile wide and a thousand feet deep. The decision to sell this land to a multinational corporation was a disturbing betrayal to the local Indigenous communities and it must be stopped. Sign the petition below to demand cancelation of the copper mine on Oak Flat.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Mrs. Christiansen,

The sale of Oak Flat to a London based copper mining company is a violation of local Indigenous communities and will be detrimental to the region’s wildlife and water supply. Oak Flat is sacred ancestral land and must be protected and regarded with respect. 

President Joe Biden has spoken extensively of his desire to address the climate and ecological crisis. That being said, this environmentally harmful project is not in alignment with the current administration. Plans to place a copper mine in the Tonto National Forest must be terminated immediately. An apology also needs to be issued to the surrounding tribes for this vial disregard of their land and culture. 

Sincerely,

Photo by: David Pinter

https://forcechange.com/579748/protect-sacred-native-land-from-massive-copper-mine/

China adds more than 500 species to wildlife protection list

www.reuters.com

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China has added 517 species to its list of major protected wild animals, part of its campaign in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to end the wild animal trade and destruction of habitats.

A joint statement on Friday by the forestry and agriculture ministries said adjusting the list had become “extremely urgent” because of recent changes in China’s wildlife situation. A total of 980 wild animals are now under state protection.

The ministries promised to work with local governments to identify and protect the habitats of the animals added to the list, which include the endangered large-spotted civet and several species of birds that have dwindled in number in recent years.

Those who hunt and traffic the animals face fines and even custodial sentences for “level one” protected species, such as the critically endangered panda, pangolin and Yangtze finless porpoise.

China has been trying to crack down on the wildlife trade since January 2020, after the first cases of COVID-19 were linked to a seafood market in the central city of Wuhan that was known to sell exotic animal species.

Scientists speculate that the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 could have crossed into humans from bats through an intermediary species, with pangolins often identified as a potential candidate.

China has also promised to step up efforts to protect forests and wetlands, and to seal off nature reserves behind “ecological protection red lines” in a bid to reduce human exposure to virus spillovers.

China’s parliament announced plans to implement a permanent nationwide ban on wildlife trade and trafficking in February, though it left big loopholes for the captive breeding of animals traded for fur or used in traditional Chinese medicine.

In the first nine months of 2020, China prosecuted more than 15,000 people for wildlife crimes, up 66% from the same period a year earlier, state prosecutors said.

Reporting by David Stanway; Editing by William Mallard

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-environment-wildlife/china-adds-more-than-500-species-to-wildlife-protection-list-idUSKBN2A604H