Dessert Bar

174 Ninth Avenue (20th/21st)

Telephone: 212-242-3339

Telephone: 212-875-2600

Telephone: 212-627-1144

Please Vote For  BLOSSOM

For Best Vegetarian Restaurant

Setting: Intimate, Warm, Candlelit

Location: 187 Ninth Avenue, NYC 10011 // Phone: 212-627-1144 // Fax: 212-627-8216

Reservations are strongly recommended.  Please call us or email us at BlossomNYC@gmail.com

Hours: Sunday-Thursday 5-9:30, Friday/Saturday 5-10.  We also serve lunch on Friday thru Sunday from 12-2:45pm

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Cafe Blossom is located in the heart of the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Offering the same unique innovative vegan cuisine and ethical principles as it’s sister restaurant, Cafe Blossom has developed a steadfast following of it’s own right.

Setting: Stylish & Casual

Location: 466 Columbus Avenue, NYC 10024 // Phone: 212-875-2600// Fax: 212-875-8041

Cafe Blossom does not accept reservations

We are open Monday thru Friday from 11am to 10pm, Saturdays from 11am to 10:15pm and Sundays from 11am to 9:15pm.

Controlling diabetes

The latest studies on diabetes show that a vegan diet high in complex carbohydrates and fiber (which are found only in plant foods) and low in fat is the best dietary prescription for controlling diabetes. A diet based on vegetables, legumes, fruits, and whole grains, which is also low in fat and sugar, can lower blood sugar levels and often reduce or even eliminate the need for medication. Since individuals with diabetes are at high risk for heart disease, avoiding fat and cholesterol is important, and a vegan diet is the best way to do that. This doesn’t mean you have to cut out flavorful foods.  Prepared the right way, you can still enjoy a delicious meal and have chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

Cancer prevention

A vegan diet helps prevent cancer. Studies of vegans show that death rates from cancer are only about one-half to three-quarters of the general population’s death rates.

Breast cancer rates are dramatically lower in countries where diets are typically plant-based. When people from those countries adopt a Western, meat-based diet, their rates of breast cancer soar. Vegetarians also have significantly lower rates of colon cancer than meat-eaters. Colon cancer is more closely associated with meat consumption than any other dietary factor.

Why do vegan diets help protect against cancer? First, they are lower in fat and higher in fiber than meat-based diets. But other factors are important, too. Plants contain other cancer-fighting substances called phytochemicals. For example, vegans usually consume more of the plant pigments beta-carotene and lycopene. This might help to explain why they have less lung and prostate cancer. Also, some studies have suggested that diets that avoid dairy products may reduce the risk of prostate and ovarian cancer.

Some of the anti-cancer aspects of a vegetarian diet cannot yet be explained. For example, researchers are not quite sure why vegans have more of certain white blood cells, called “natural killer cells,” which are able to seek out and destroy cancer cells.

The calcium connection

Vegans are less likely to form either kidney stones or gallstones. In addition, vegans may also be at lower risk for osteoporosis because they eat little or no animal protein. A high intake of animal protein encourages the loss of calcium from the bones. Replacing animal products with plant foods reduces the amount of calcium lost. This may help to explain why people who live in countries where the diet is typically plant-based have little osteoporosis, even when calcium intake is lower than that in dairy-consuming countries.

Planning vegan diets

It’s easy to plan vegan diets that meet all your nutrient needs. Grains, beans, and vegetables are rich in protein and iron. Green leafy vegetables, beans, lentils, tofu, corn tortillas, and nuts are excellent sources of calcium, as are enriched soymilk and fortified juices.

Vitamin D is normally made in the body when sun shines on the skin. People who are dark-skinned or live at northern latitudes have some difficulty producing vitamin D year-round. Vitamin D can easily be obtained from fortified foods. Some sources are commercial breakfast cereals, soymilk, other supplemental products, and multivitamins.

Literally translating to ‘fatty liver’, the production of this French delicacy is widely regarded to be the most inhumane of any food commonly consumed in the developed world. Large metal pipes are routinely used to force feed ducks or geese, in order that their livers become extremely engorged. If the animals make it to slaughter without dying prematurely, they are so obese that they are barely able to move.

At least 15 countries have banned the production or sale of this product, and it will become illegal in California in 2012. There are only three producers of foie-gras in the United States – one in California and two in New York.

Blossom Restaurant supports the efforts of the Animal Protection and Rescue League (APRL), among others, to encourage restaurants not to sell this cruel product.  In addition, these groups are diligently working to pass legislation to ban its production and sale in New York State, and nationally as well.

To learn more about foie gras and the campaign to end it, please visit http://www.banfoiegras.org

Got Milk? We hope not!

We once took it for granted that cow’s milk was a crucial component of good health for both children and adults. In recent years, it has become more apparent that milk isn’t the ‘wonder food’ we thought it was. Instead, it has been demonstrated that consuming cow’s milk is actually a detriment to good health.

Milk is perfectly formulated by Nature to provide the exact balance of nutrients required for good health. However, the cow’s milk we consume is actually Nature’s recipe for the proper nutrition of a calf, just like human milk is the perfect formula for the health of a human baby. Since the nutritional needs of an adult human are significantly different from those of a baby cow, the consumption of cow’s milk by humans is both unnecessary and harmful.

Listed below are a few quotes about milk from respected nutritionists, researchers, etc, excerpted from http://www.notmilk.com/ and http://www.milksucks.com/

“Dairy products may play a major role in the development of allergies, asthma, sleep difficulties, and migraine headaches.”

Israel Journal of Medical Sciences 1983;19(9):806-809 Pediatrics 1989;84(4):595-603

In 1990, the Journal of Pediatrics (Vol. 116) reported: “Cow’s milk can cause blood loss from the intestinal tract, which over time, reduces the body’s iron stores. Blood loss may be a reaction to cow’s milk proteins.” “Many cases of asthma and sinus infections are reported to be relieved and even eliminated by cutting out dairy.”

Frank Oski, M.D., Chief of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins Medical School Natural Health, July, 1994

“Introduction of dairy products and high milk consumption during childhood may increase the child’s risk of developing juvenile diabetes.”

Diabetologia 1994;37(4):381-387.

“Poor absorption of lactose may more than double the risk of ovarian cancer in women.”

American Journal of Epidemiology, 1999;150

“Those who consumed cow’s milk were fourteen times more likely to die from diarrhea-related complications and four times more likely to die of pneumonia than were breast-fed babies. Intolerance and allergy to cow’s milk products is a factor in sudden infant death syndrome.”

Clin Exp Allergy, 1998 Jul, 28:7

“Cow’s milk is one of the most frequent food allergens. Whole casein appears to be highly allergenic…85% of the patients presented a response to each of the four caseins.”

The Lancet, vol. 344, November 5, 1994

“As pointed out by Dr. Jerome Fisher, ‘About 80 percent of cows that are giving milk are pregnant and are throwing off hormones continuously.’ Progesterone breaks down into androgens, which have been implicated as a factor in the development of acne…Dr. Fisher observed that his teenage acne patients improved as soon as the milk drinking stopped.”

Don’t Drink Your Milk, by Frank Oski, M.D. (Director, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine)

“Cow’s milk in the past has always been oversold as the perfect food, but we are now seeing that it isn’t the perfect food at all and the government really shouldn’t be behind any efforts to promote it as such.”

Benjamin Spock, M.D.

“The recommendation to drink three glasses of low-fat milk or eat three servings of other dairy products per day to prevent osteoporosis is another step in the wrong direction. … Three glasses of low-fat milk add more than 300 calories a day. This is a real issue for the millions of Americans who are trying to control their weight. What’s more, millions of Americans are lactose intolerant, and even small amounts of milk or dairy products give them stomachaches, gas, or other problems. This recommendation ignores the lack of evidence for a link between consumption of dairy products and prevention of osteoporosis. It also ignores the possible increases in risk of ovarian cancer and prostate cancer associated with dairy products.”

Harvard School of Public Health, on the Consumption of Dairy Products (2005)

The authors of www.milksucks.com sum of the health risks of milk with the following:

Dairy products are a health hazard. They contain no fiber or complex carbohydrates and are laden with saturated fat and cholesterol. They are contaminated with cow’s blood and pus and are frequently contaminated with pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics. Dairy products are linked to allergies, constipation, obesity, heart disease, cancer, and other diseases.

The late Dr. Benjamin Spock, America’s leading authority on child care, spoke out against feeding cow’s milk to children, saying it can cause anemia, allergies, and insulin-dependent diabetes and in the long term, will set kids up for obesity and heart disease, America’s number one cause of death.

And dairy products may actually cause osteoporosis, not prevent it, since their high-protein content leaches calcium from the body. Population studies, backed up by a groundbreaking Harvard study of more than 75,000 nurses, suggest that drinking milk can actually cause osteoporosis.

In addition to posing serious health risks, the consumption of cow’s milk has environmental and ethical consequences as well.

Corporate-owned factories where cows are warehoused in huge sheds and treated like milk machines have replaced most small family farms. With genetic manipulation and intensive production technologies, it is common for modern dairy cows to produce 100 pounds of milk a day— 10 times more than they would produce in nature. To keep milk production as high as possible, farmers artificially inseminate cows every year. Growth hormones and unnatural milking schedules cause dairy cows’ udders to become painful and so heavy that they sometimes drag on the ground, resulting in frequent infections and overuse of antibiotics. Cows— like all mammals— make milk to feed their own babies— not humans.

Male calves, the “byproducts” of the dairy industry, endure 14 to 17 weeks of torment in veal crates so small that they can’t even turn around. Female calves often replace their old, worn-out mothers, or are slaughtered soon after birth for the rennet in their stomachs (an ingredient of most commercial cheeses). They are often kept in tiny crates or tethered in stalls for the first few months of their lives, only to grow up to become “milk machines” like their mothers.

Cow’s milk is an inefficient food source. Cows, like humans, expend the majority of their food intake simply leading their lives. It takes a great deal of grain and other foodstuffs cycled through cows to produce a small amount of milk. And not only is milk a waste of energy and water, the production of milk is also a disastrous source of water pollution. A dairy cow produces 120 pounds of waste every day—equal to that of two dozen people, but with no toilets, sewers, or treatment plants.

In Lancaster County, Pa., manure from dairy cows is destroying the Chesapeake Bay, and in California, which produces one-fifth of the country’s total supply of milk, the manure from dairy farms has poisoned vast expanses of underground water, rivers, and streams. In the Central Valley of California, the cows produce as much excrement as a city of 21 million people, and even a smallish farm of 200 cows will produce as much nitrogen as in the sewage from a community of 5,000 to 10,000 people, according to a U.S. Senate report on animal waste.

excerpted from www.milksucks.com

Dairy Product Alternatives:  Tofutti Cream Cheese, Veganaise, Follow Your Heart Cheese

Milk Alternatives: Soy Milk, Almond Milk, Hemp Milk, Rice Milk, Oat Milk, Silk Creamer

Good Sources of Calcium: Blackstrap Molasses, Collard Greens, Kale, Tofu, Soymilk (Fortified or Plain), Turnips, Okra, Bok Choy, Tahini, Broccoli, Almonds

WFAS is planning to expand their farm animal rescue and shelter mission to include ducks — a species that continues to be factory farmed, and is killed for one of the most egregiously inhumane products on the market worldwide, foie gras. Ducks and geese used for this “delicacy” are kept indoors in pens and force-fed corn mush and oil via a tube shoved down their throats 2-3 times a day. The Hudson Valley in New York, where WFAS is located, is also home to Hudson Valley Foie Gras, the country’s largest producer of foie gras.

Two duck residents have a temporary pond

We get calls about ducks frequently — they’re dumped in city parks or abandoned after the novelty of a cute baby ducky at Easter has worn off. Our new duck habitat will include a 20×50 lined and filtered pond, heated shed, and predator-proof fencing. The cost of excavation, materials, labor and new water and electric lines is $30,000. Please help us take in more ducks in need by making a donation today to our Duck Habitat Capital Fund.

MEET QUINCY

Quincy is a domestic Pekin duck, the kind often seen in rows hanging by the neck in Chinese restaurants. Some misguided person probably bought her as an Easter gift and then did not know how to properly care for her. She was found abandoned as a tiny duckling in a NYC park. Sadly these “post-Easter abandonments” are all too common.

Mere weeks later, Quincy was joined by Teddy, who was found on the side of the FDR highway in NYC by a loving family who wanted him to find sanctuary.

At first Teddy had to be in medical isolation for an upper respiratory condition and malnourishment, but now he and Quincy are the best of buds.

In the past we’ve temporarily taken in ducks only in emergencies due to our lack of a pond and a proper shed and fencing. But with these two heartbreakers, we’re determined to build a proper duck habitat so we can say “yes” when the calls come in for ducks in need.

Please DONATE Now and help us make our new duck pond and housing a reality!

SPONSOR A DUCK AS A GIFT TO YOURSELF OR A LOVED ONE

Call The Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary 845-679-5955

When it comes to diet what could be more eco-conscious or “green” than eating vegan? Plain and simple, a well balanced plant based diet is healthy and harmless. Living a green lifestyle shouldn’t stop with what we eat, it should extend to what we wear, which products we purchase and which companies and organizations we support.

All over the world, farmed animals are kept in the most appalling conditions and exploited to the limits of their endurance. Deprived of their basic freedoms, separated from their children, closely confined, forced to undergo stressful and often painful procedures, neglected, abused, ignored. Then slaughtered and butchered and eaten. You can help end their suffering today by adopting a plant based diet!

Your Daily Diet – It’s s very important to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables daily. These foods are naturally low in calories and provide essential nutrients and dietary fiber. They may also play a role in preventing certain chronic diseases. When compared to people who eat only small amounts of fruits and vegetables, those who eat more generous amounts as part of a healthy diet tend to have reduced risk of chronic diseases. These diseases include stroke, type 2 diabetes, some types of cancer, and perhaps cardiovascular disease and hypertension. Some heath experts believe that certain diseases can actually be reversed by eating a plant based diet. It’s also important to eat whole grains and to cut down on, or preferably, to eliminate processed foods especially hydrogenated fats. Generally, the more processed a food is the less nutrients it contains.

Agriculture — Agriculture in general is one of the most resource-intensive and environmentally damaging aspects of industrialized living. What this means for us as individuals is that if we are trying to reduce our car use, limit the amount of water we waste, become more ‘energy-efficient’ and generally lessen our environmental impact, then we should also examine our eating habits.

People are increasingly becoming aware of the direct correlation between what they eat every day and the health of the planet. Environmentally conscious consumers are concerned not only with food miles, over-packaging, pesticide use and GM foods, but also question the environmental sustainability of modern animal husbandry. Farmers used to be seen as ‘custodian’s of the countryside,’ but the overriding image of modern industrial farming is one of destruction and waste.

World meat production has quadrupled in the past 50 years and livestock now outnumber people by more than 3 to 1. In other words, the livestock population is expanding at a faster rate than the human population. This trend contributes to all of the environmental problems already outlined.

A report commissioned by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Bank concluded that factory farming, “acts directly on land, water, air and biodiversity through the emission of animal waste, use of fossil fuels and substitution of animal genetic resources. In addition, it affects the global land base indirectly through its effect on the arable land needed to satisfy its feed concentrate requirements. Ammonia emissions from manure storage and application lead to localized acid rain and ailing forests.”

Each year billions of animals are killed for food. The vast majority of these animals will have spent their brief lives in the cramped, distressing conditions of the factory farm. Their close confinement and the overworking of their bodies will have led to increased susceptibility to injury and disease. They will have been reared on an unnatural diet designed to increase productivity and many will have undergone various painful and traumatic procedures.

Those that make it to the slaughterhouse (and many do not – dying of neglect, exposure, disease, and starvation) must endure a final journey in over-crowded, under-ventilated vehicles, by land or sea, before they are killed and butchered.

The obvious way to help stop this suffering is by giving up meat. There is another step one can take which is to give up dairy. Dairy cows and laying hens are amongst the most ill-treated of all farm-animals. With their bodies being viewed as factories for food production, they are often over-worked and neglected. When they have been worked to the point of exhaustion, they end their days in the same way as those raised solely for the meat trade. No farm animal can avoid the slaughterhouse and the plate. Eating a vegan diet is the best way to prevent their suffering.

INSERT HERE INFO ON DISEASES DAIRY CREATES

Commonly Asked Questions

Where Do I Get Protein From?