After a young woman is sexually assaulted and murdered, Detectives Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Eliot Stabler (Chris Meloni) track down the woman’s boyfriend – their first suspect – but learn that he is a devout vegan who wouldn’t hurt a fly. They soon find that the victim had been deeply involved in the fight to expose questionable practices in the meat-packing industry, even going undercover at a large company to find out the truth. Benson goes undercover herself to retrace the woman’s footsteps and to identify who the victim might have angered along the way.

“Beef” will air this Wednesday, April 21, on NBC at 10PM EDT.

(Many thanks to Vegan Burnout and POP! guest-blogger Shannon for the heads-up!)

Probably you’ve already heard the news: Discovery is working with Sarah Palin to develop an environmental/wildlife documentary for its TLC network. Sarah’s Palin’s Alaska, will reportedly earn the animal-killing, aerial wolf hunt-sanctioning, corporate polluter-protecting ex-presidential candidate $250,00 per episode (that’s $2 million spread over eight episodes, y’all!) – and cost Discovery its credibility (which was already nil with this vegan; Deadliest Catch and 19 Kids and Counting, anyone?).

Led by Defenders of Wildlife, animal advocates are loudly voicing their opposition to this most unholy of partnerships; you can add your voice to the chorus here. Happily, rumor has it that advertisers are also unimpressed.

Through Whole Foods’s main website, I stumbled upon its letsretakeourplates.com campaign, wherein the company encourages consumers to “know the story behind [their] food” (cue: happy meat nonsense; groan!). While the website isn’t nearly as vegan-oriented as it should be, try to overlook the speciesism – at least long enough to browse the Film Series page. The list features a number of eco-/animal-friendly food-themed films that are currently being screened throughout the United States, including: Food, Inc.; King Corn; End of the Line; The Future of Food; No Impact Man; Fast Food Nation; Tapped; even Soylent Green! Whether you missed any of these the first time around, or want to treat a friend or two to a night out, check out the Film Series for entertainment with an activist edge.

Here are the details, via New American Dream:

It’s the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. Let’s do something about it! Turn off your TV. Stop shopping. Eat a carrot. Get on a bike. Put a moratorium on litter. And join our friends the No Impact Project, Slow Food USA and 1Sky for an action-oriented screening of No Impact Man. During the week of Earth Day 2010, you are invited to bring your community together to watch, discuss and act. The theme of this event is the impact of food production on climate change and what your community can do to take action. Check out the No Impact Man trailer and contact Lindsay to learn how you can become a host. To find a screening in your neighborhood, click here.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to attend (or host!) a local screening, boxes of vegan baked goods and vegan starter kits in tow!

Here is a short clip from the film, as aired on PBS’s “Independent Lens” program:

I’ve actually been meaning to write about this documentary for quite some time now (ditto: An American Opera); the issues raised in MINE deserve serious exploration (and most certainly from an anti-oppressive perspective!) as well. Until then, you can learn more about the film at minethemovie.com. MINE is currently being screened at select theaters throughout the United States; to find a full list of dates, look under “Events” on the main page of the film’s website.

Possibly the most important event Portland, nay, the WORLD has ever known…

From the trust fund punx at Food Fight Grocery:

“OUT TO PASTURE BENEFIT (PUNK) SHOW

Friday, February 26, 2010 @ 7pm / Laughing Horse Books, 12 NE 10th St

Hey everybody, wanna come out to an old fashioned good time punk rawk show? We do, too. Want the money you spend at the door (a whopping $5) to go to a good cause? Well…save the date.

Who’s playing? Glad you asked:

Attica! Attica! (PDX political acoustic good stuff)
Fuck You, Dad! (featuring current and ex members of Food Fight Grocery and Sweetpea Baking Company. Yes, they will be playing only covers.)
Mark Twain Indians (Portland, fantastic)
Calvin Johnson (Olympia, WA, kinda famous)

All money raised will be going to Out to Pasture Sanctuary.

Food Fight will be shelling out gas money for the out of town band. Feel free to dig deep and give more than $5, the animals would be stoked.”

Here’s a trailer for the film, which RAN describes as “a gripping documentary about the humanitarian crisis caused by oil production in the Ecuadorian Amazon”:

You can sign up to screen Crude – or find a house party near you – at events.ran.org/crude/signup.

We believe that this upbeat and highly watchable film, featuring a Moby soundtrack has the artistic merit and content to make people re-think their meat consumption and its impact on the planet.

Titled ‘What a difference a day makes’, its purpose is to encourage people to have at least one meat-free day a week and then hopefully move on to a meat-free Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday as well.

While I’m not quite sold on the transitional potential of ‘Meat-Free Mondays,’ I don’t think it’s necessarily harmful, either. At the very least, it’s a nice way to reduce “meat” consumption in public facilities (such as schools), that is, until we uppity vegans are able to convince government institutions to promote veganism exclusively. Given the influence of animal ag. on politics and politicians, that’s not likely to happen any time soon, so… yay, Meat-Free Mondays?

I’ve embedded the video below; you can learn more about the film here. AA also has banners available to promote Meat-Free Mondays here.