So you want caffeine. Or maybe you're craving sweets. Or maybe you just see a Starbucks and think sure, why not? Because we all know they're everywhere...
Then the problem becomes figuring out what can be made without dairy! Well, your friendly badger barista is here to help with some quick, rule-of-thumb things to remember.

What things ARE vegan-friendly?
-All the hot and iced coffees are vegan-friendly from the base, but if you get milk, make sure to ask for soy or coconut!
-All coffee based lattes - hot or iced - can be made vegan-friendly by substituting soy or coconut milk for the normally used 2%. It's important to note some lattes (cinnamon dolce comes to mind) come with whipped cream and there are NO nondairy whipped cream substitutes available at this time! When in doubt, just say "no whipped cream," just in case.
-All syrup flavors (that is, the liquid flavorings like caramel, vanilla, raspberry, cinnamon dolce, toffee nut, etc.) are vegan friendly and can be added to any drink. If you like the taste of coffee and just want it sweetened, "classic" is your friend!
-Mocha is vegan! Bear in mind, however, that if you're getting a mocha (hot or iced), you'll want to get it with either soy or coconut milk and no whipped cream!.
-Almost all frappuccinos can be made vegan-friendly. Substitute soy or coconut for the whole milk normally used... and make sure to specify no whipped cream (only coffee and espresso frappuccinos don't get this). Caramel drizzle is not vegan-friendly, so if you get a caramel frapp, make sure to ask them to leave this off as well! Vanilla bean is vegan-friendly, as is the green tea/matcha, strawberry, and other non-coffee flavors. Some of the seasonal frappuccinos cannot be made vegan (I'm lookin' at you, S'mores), so be careful! When in doubt, ask what's in the drink.
-All iced refreshers, teas, and tea-lemonades are vegan-friendly.
-Hot cocoa made with soy and no whipped cream is vegan-friendly.
-Green tea lattes can be easily made vegan by substituting soy or coconut milk. Same rules apply to earl grey tea lattes and any tea or tea latte made with a tea bag.

What things are NOT vegan-friendly?
-White mocha contains dairy.
-Chai and Oprah chai from concentrate both contain honey. If you would like chai, the tea bags that Starbucks offers are vegan-friendly! Just make sure you specify you'd like your latte made with the tea bags instead of the liquid concentrate. And note that the bags are the Oprah (cinnamon) chai, but not sweetened. As always, soy or coconut milk is the rule.
-Caramel drizzle contains dairy. Caramel syrup does not. This rules out caramel macchiatos, but not caramel lattes.
-Light frappuccino base contains dairy. Coffee and creme bases are vegan-friendly.
-Caramel apple spices can kind of be made vegan, but they get the "caramel" from drizzle, which contains dairy... so if you got it without whipped cream, without drizzle, and add a little caramel syrup, you could get something similar... but it would not be the same. Same goes for macchiatos.
-Smoothies get special mention here, because making them vegan is possible... but you have to remember some specific things. Soy or coconut milk, of course, but all smoothies contain whey protein as well, so be sure to ask them to leave that out... otherwise, smoothies are not vegan-friendly!

This doesn't cover food, but there's not much to be said there. No pastries are vegan-friendly except the plain and multigrain bagels... but the oatmeal can be made with steamed soy milk, and it's pretty tasty!
A few special tips: get vanilla syrup in your soy green tea lattes and iced green teas instead of classic. Graham cracker frappuccinos are pretty amazing (and if you get mocha in it, it's like a dark chocolate covered graham cracker). And cinnamon dolce+toffee nut is weirdly delicious, but extremely rich/sugary.

I think that about covers it, but if you have any specific questions or requests, feel free to ask!

So what fast food places do you visit when you're on the road/in a hurry? What adjustments do you have to make? Or do you have questions for others? Comment away.

(this is )

Firstly, hello fellow vegan furs!
I've been away for a while. Personal life overwhelmed me, and I wasn't sure I wanted to stick around on furaffinity... and although I doubt I'll be posting much in the way of personal art here, I've been feeling guilty for leaving this group high and dry.
So I'm going to step back in and try to keep this place active and interesting. If you guys have any suggestions for topics of discussion, recipes, or anything else to make it a bit more lively, feel free to comment or note! You can also note my personal account, in case I'm not paying attention (it happens!).

I also need to figure out what to do, mascot-wise, because we got one entry... but it's been a very very long time and there are a lot of new faces! I'm pretty keen on the idea of keeping the one entry we got as the "first" mascot and holding another contest for the second. Will discuss with fellow admin and let you all know soon!

And, finally, the point of this post: Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret
The documentary is available for free above, and I highly recommend it. It's a comprehensive and very straight-forward look at how animal agriculture affects the environment, how animal products affect human health, and how animals themselves are treated within the industry.
WARNING: animal death and some graphic/disturbing imagery in this film. Please keep this in mind if you're sensitive to such things!
(And for any interested in other documentaries on a variety of topics, feel free to note me for a link to my tumblr's documentary cache! I'm happy to share, just not so happy to post publicly here.)

Okay, I think that's it for now! I hope everyone is faring well. Gimme some activity here so I feel guilty for ignoring it!
-jive

Hello, lovely vegans of FA! It's Jive, reporting in. First, this is an apology for ditching this group so suddenly and for so long without notice. I'm sorry I left everyone hanging.
To clarify: I am no longer active on this site due to admin decisions and policies, and I have moved my personal art and such over to weasyl. (For those of you who are there, my username is still just jive.) I do not wish to support or be active on a website with certain kinds of people in charge... and I'm sure you all know the incidents I'm alluding to, so I won't go into more detail here.

I wasn't sure whether or not I would remain active here simply to run this group and keep it going as a support and soapbox for vegans on furaffinity... and I think the answer is "sort of." I will post journals with animal rights-related news articles (and personal essays, if anyone's interested in those) and maybe a small number of art pieces/recipes that are relevant... still debating that one. I will also try to keep up with answering questions, notes, comments, etc.
I've been considering starting a group over on weasyl to the same effect, but I don't know their policy on group accounts. I hope they come out with a group option that is unlike a normal user account, but we'll see. Nothing set in stone, yet.

First order of business on my return is to sort out the mascot business. We only got one entry, but I was also inactive much of the time the contest was running... so maybe we'll start that over and just keep that one (fantastic adorable) entry, see if there are any others to come... and if not, that one will win by default and us admins will hash out the details when the time comes.

I think that's all I have to update with, for now... questions, comments, etc. are welcome, since I'm still very iffy about this decision. I really would rather not come back to FA at all, but I feel that the message of this group is an important one, even if the site sucks. Feel free to discuss in comments!

(admin)

https://youtu.be/p_vi_c6E534

On the night of September 18, 2007 a cow was spotted on the streets of Queens. She was tagged for slaughter, but she escaped that fate and literally ran for her life. Police and firefighters captured her and brought her to Animal Care and Control in Manhattan. From there, Farm Sanctuary's rescue team stepped in. Video produced by Joshua Katcher. For more information please go to: link

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There are some very sad scenes of neglect and cruelty in feedlots, all involving cattle, but the end of the video is worth waiting for. And the article at the link above is worth a read, too.

This whole video is beautiful, but I especially love the interview with the woman who worked at animal control. She made the connection between this sweet, loving, obviously frightened individual and the dinner on her plate, and she resolved to change. It's that simple. It's that easy.

Sea Shepherd’s Win: Japanese Whalers Have Worst Season Ever

It was a short, dismal season for the whalers, who were followed and harassed by four Sea Shepherd vessels across the waters off southwest Australia. They returned to Japan with their lowest Antarctic catch ever: just 103 minke whales, far short of their stated goal of 935. The whalers had also set out to kill 50 humpbacks and 50 fin whales, but took none.

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Some good news for once! While it's sad that they killed over a hundred minke whales and frustrating that the Japanese government continues to push for continued whaling at all, that's 932 whales below their stated quota. 932 whales that weren't horrifically murdered, that are still swimming free.

Sea Shepherd is a fantastic example of an animal rights group making a difference. I'm so glad to hear they're making progress, and I hope they have as much success with their attempts to help tuna populations.* Our oceans and the animals that depend on them can use all the help they can get.

*For reference: pacific bluefin tuna numbers are down 96.4% due to overfishing. Sea Shepherd has various campaigns working against this.

BREAKING: Undercover Investigator Charged with Animal Cruelty for Videotaping Farm Abuse

Today the Sherriff’s department announced additional charges were filed against the young woman who filmed the abuse and turned over the footage to the police.

In a press release, the police admit as much: “The video footage was eventually provided to law enforcement by representatives of Compassion Over Killing approximately 2 months after Radig’s employment ended with Quanah Cattle Company… Radig’s failure to report the alleged abuse of the animals in a timely manner adheres to the definition of acting with negligence and substantiates the charge Animal Cruelty.” Radig is also accused of participating in the abuse.

Compassion Over Killing said in a statement that the prosecution is retaliatory: “The charge against our investigator is unsupported by the law and it reeks of political motivation fueled by an agribusiness industry that is once again lashing out in desperation to stop undercover investigators from exposing the truth.”

The prosecution of a whistleblower who exposed animal cruelty in this way is unprecedented.

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Absolutely disgusting. Yet another attempt to shut up the people exposing the cruelty instead of actually doing anything about the system causing it.
As for their reasoning: I'm sure she had hours and hours of footage to wade through. 2 months for editing time is actually very short. There's no precedent or reason behind this. Pure political motivation.

Edit: apparently, Colorado is home to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association PAC. Funny how that works.

I thought the journals for this group might be slow, but it looks like we're going to be more active than I thought.

Warning: the following text and video contain very graphic and disturbing descriptions and footage of animal abuse.

Throughout September and October, an undercover activist recorded footage at a former Tyson Foods farm in Oklahoma.

The footage released on Wednesday by Mercy for Animals shows workers at West Coast Farms slamming piglets on the ground to kill them, castrating others without anesthetic, kicking pigs in the head, gouging eyes, and even hitting an animal with a bowling ball.

Tyson Foods is one of Walmart’s biggest suppliers and among the largest meat producers in the United States.

Link to Video
(Viewers are asked to confirm that they are 18 before they can watch this footage.)

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Someone submitted the following to me on tumblr, and as soon as I read the description, I knew the kind of footage I'd be seeing upon clicking that link... but it still makes me sick with anger. This kind of thing is industry standard. This kind of thing is common. This footage was taken on a random farm in Oklahoma, over only 2 months' time. And the fact that you know it's happening over and over, throughout not only the US but the world, makes it so much worse.

I have a personal hatred for Tyson Foods because I grew up near their base of operations. I constantly saw semis stuffed with pathetic, sickly, terrified looking birds, with no protection from the elements or the 60+ mph winds that the drive to their deaths would require them to endure. It's time that people wake up and realize what their actions are causing.

My heart hurts after viewing this.
Discussion of the footage is encouraged.

Hello, you awesome vegans. This is Jive, and I'm here with a little announcement.

It seems there's been some confusion about just what this group is here for. We've had several invitations to affiliate with dietary and/or cooking groups and been linked to several others, and we appreciate the effort... but this isn't a dietary group!
We will post recipes and discuss plant-based diets and the health benefits of them, of course, but veganism, by definition, is about an entire lifestyle and moral code. For example, if you don't eat animal products, but still buy leather and wool and products tested on nonhuman animals, you are on a plant-based diet... but your commitment to veganism is questionable.

This group will begin featuring news, articles, and other media about animal rights, veganism, the environment, and other relevant topics in journals at least once a week. These will not be about animal welfare, as we believe it is not morally acceptable to exploit and harm other living creatures, even if their exploitation benefits us. If you are not okay with that premise, we won't ask you to leave... but be prepared to see a viewpoint that you perhaps weren't expecting upon joining. If it offends you, you can discuss (civilly) the topic(s) at hand or you can leave. No grudges here about losing watchers/members, even if we think you should change your mind.

We encourage discussion of these things, and we would love for our members to send us links and discussion topics!
To drive this point home: we are not a recipe group. We are a vegan and animal rights group and journals/uploads will shortly start to reflect this. Consider this fair warning!

---

Also, our mascot contest deadline's going to be extended to the end of the year. We have so few watchers, so far, and we've gotten no entries! Here's me giving you the stink eye.

Here's the link to a journal with details about the contest (and prizes!) for those interested.
If we receive no entries by the deadline, I'll tackle one mascot and Ash can tackle the other. So if you don't want this to be a dictatorship, get us some art!

Hello, vegans! Your admins, here, with a few bits of news.

Firstly, we've tallied up all the votes, and there were a couple of pretty clear winners. Deer came in first with cow a (sort of) close second! Both are great mascots, considering what they represent.

And here's where we'd like to hand the mascots over to you, the members, so we're having a contest to design and name them!

Design contest
Each user may submit up to 3 designs per character. All designs will be posted to our gallery if the artist wants, and the winning designs (selected by the admins) will be our mascots.
Additionally, the winning artist(s) will get a prize! Both admins will draw something for the winner(s).

--1 flat colored sketch
--1 flat colored sketch, icon, or simple badge

Basically, the rules are as follows:

1. One character must be a cow/bull, the other a deer of any species. You can draw one or both characters.
2. Artwork can be feral or anthro.
3. No adult artwork, please!

That's it! Any gender is fine. We'll be accepting submissions until Wednesday, November 20th--that's one month!
UPDATE: deadline extended! Accepting entries until Jan 1, 2014!

We hope to see lots of entries. Good luck!

Hey, veganfurs! This is Jive, and I wanna apologize for being gone so long. My computer crapped out, but I have a laptop now, so let's see if I can't be a little more reliable on here!
It's been a while since our last journal, so let's recap.

There was some discussion of a mascot, and the reactions seemed to be mostly in favor, so I'd like to put it to a vote! We had a lot of suggestions, so I made a list from comments on the last journal.
Since there are so many, though, everyone vote for three. One is your first choice, two is your second choice, three is your third. Of these 8, the 2 that average highest in votes will be our "mascots!"

cow
goat
pig
deer
rabbit
eastern dragon
alpaca
gorilla

We have 52 watchers, now hopefully I can get some of you to come out of the shadows to vote!
Once we have our species decided, we'll have a contest to design and name them! But more about that in the next journal.

Voting will end Wednesday, October 23rd, at 8pm, PST!

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If anyone wants to submit an article, recipe, or artwork, by all means send it to us in a note! Either myself or Ash will get to it as soon as we're humanly able.

Hello, fellow vegans of furaffinity!

I recently asked you all for suggestions on what the group should be doing, what kind of art and journals you'd like to see, etc. One suggestion that caught my eye was that we might want to have a group mascot. I'm curious to see what our members think!
Would you like the group having a mascot? Why or why not?
If you're in favor of a mascot, throw some ideas our way! Obviously, any herbivore could fill the job, but I'd like to hear your reasons behind liking one species over another. If the idea of a mascot catches on, we might run some sort of contest for designing them, with members voting on which they like best. So suggest away!

Other than the mascot idea, let's talk submissions: I'd love to add recipes to our gallery! We have nothing there, yet, and it looks pretty bare. If you have any favorite dishes that you can snap a photo of, send them our way! I'd consider food to be an art form just as much as any other, so we'll submit them as such.
It was suggested that we have a monthly food photo competition where we submit pictures of things we've cooked. It wouldn't prevent anyone from submitting any other recipes, but it might add a little fun competition to the group. Would any other members be interested in participating in something like this?

If you want to submit art, a recipe, photos, written works, whatever, just note us with a link to the image and be sure to include a description! If it's a recipe, we might do a little proofreading to make sure everything is easy to follow, but we won't change any ingredients or instructions. We just require that any recipes are--obviously--free from all animal products.

Gimme any and all feedback or critique! Go on, do your worst. I can handle it.

Your "this is my first time helping to run a group" admin,
 Jive

Hello, members of VeganFurs!

My name is Ashton, and I am one of the administrators here. Through this group I hope to make some new friends, learn a few things, share recipes, and of course discuss vegan related topics.

I've been vegan for about 6 months now, and was vegetarian for about 5 months before that. Upon cutting meat from my diet, I quickly realized that a vegan lifestyle was the right one for me based on my beliefs. Vegetarianism unfortunately still supports the suffering and deaths of millions of living creatures - just like the meat industry - and I wasn't comfortable with that.

I'm always willing to help anybody who is looking for advice, trying to make the switch, or might be interested in learning more about veganism in general!
I look forward to getting to know you guys!

- Ashton/jezbeljackal, administrator.

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Hello, vegans of FA! I'm the co-admin of this group, and the reason this journal's so late, and you can call me Jive.

I'd been vegetarian for a majority of my life, but sometime in 2010, I heard about a documentary called "Earthlings." I'm sure a lot of you know it. I watched it, and that started me on a trail of research that's still ongoing. Sufficed to say, however, I decided veganism was the only ethical option open to me, and I've been vegan for going on 3 years!

I'm still learning and processing all the information that's available, how I can change my life in ways to benefit others, both human and non-human. I am an ethical vegan, even though veganism has had some positive health effects for me, those are just a bonus. I don't believe non-human lives are any less valuable than human lives. As such, I'm a proponent of animal rights, and a lot of people would classify that as pretty radical, but I'm not ready to say that's a bad label.
Although I'm an admin for the group, I realize many may disagree with me on some topics. I welcome discussion, so please don't feel like because I'm an admin of the group, you can't argue with me. I like a lively debate, so I'll usually reply... and I'll do so from my own account. I'm just a user here unless things get heated and people start slinging insults. Feel free to tell me if you think I'm wrong!

If anyone ever needs help or advice regarding going vegan, my inbox is open. I'm always willing to help those who want to make a positive change.
I think that covers it! Welcome to the group, and thank you for joining!

- Jive, admin.