Author: Tracy I
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The “Wellness Industry” Is Not Kind to All
I recently celebrated my birthday by spending the day at Thermea Spa Village in Whitby, Ontario. These Nordic-style spa villages are a thing now, where different temperature pools and saunas are interspersed among loungers and hammocks and wood-burning fire pits. You’re encouraged to do a “thermal cycle” of heat (sauna or hot pool), cold plunge,…
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Travelling while Vegan: Vancouver
Vancouver is a great place to be vegan if you have a way to get around. We rented a car because we are visiting family on New Westminster. I did some research and made a reservation at VietFamily Vegan Restaurant on Commercial Drive. What a good idea that was! Upon landing in Vancouver we picked…
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Vegandale Toronto 2025
Vegandale is a vegan festival with lots of vegan food options, some information about cruelty in animal agriculture, and a very small (disappointingly small) amount of non-food vegan merch. The Toronto event in Woodbine Park is also adjacent to a coffee rave, which means the entire time a DJ is spinning loud dance music with…
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Is McDonald’s new McVeggie worth supporting?
McDonald’s Canada has been trying out a new veggie offering. According to the McD’s website, the McVeggie “features a breaded veggie patty made with a blend of vegetables (including carrots, green beans, zucchini, peas, soybeans, broccoli and corn) and seasoning, topped with shredded lettuce and mayo-style sauce served on a toasted sesame bun.” PETA says…
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Comfort food: Plant-based mac and cheese does the job
I’ve noted before that cheese is a huge obstacle for people who might otherwise consider going vegan. Mac and cheese in particular has a nostalgic place in lots of people’s lives. Maybe you fought with siblings over the crustiest golden bits of luxurious baked mac and cheese casseroles topped with sliced tomatoes that sweetened as…
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Is it rude to eat animal products in the presence of vegans?
Awhile back I foreshadowed some future topics for the blog, all of which took up the intersection of ethics and etiquette in a way I find interesting. I find it interesting because mostly I think it’s a matter of ethics and environmentalism; but since so many people don’t consider the ethical or environmental impact of…
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Vegan at the CNE 2025…Yum!
In the past week I’ve gone twice to the Canadian National Exhibition for the first time since 1989. The CNE or “the Ex” as we used to call it when I was a kid holds so many wonderful memories for me, but it has changed a lot over these several decades. Familiar landmarks like The…
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Vegan Pizza: the summer 2025 edition
I’m not sure if you love pizza as much as I do, but it is up there with my favourite foods. In 2011 when I first started to eat vegan, cheese was a challenge and therefore pizza was a challenge. Back then, I substituted hummus for cheese with reasonably good results. But it just wasn’t…
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Travelling while vegan: Longpoint, Port Dover, and Stratford in Southwestern Ontario
Summer is such a great season in Ontario and I have had lots of outings, with more to come. Most recently, I attended a wedding in the Longpoint/Port Dover area and a few days later went to Stratford for lunch and a play. They’re not really the sorts of day trips or even weekend trips…
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Do vegans have obligations to non-vegans?
A couple of weeks ago I raised three topics for future discussion. Last week I discussed omni restaurants that include vegan options. Today I’m skipping past the second question and instead going on to the third (I’ll go back to the second next time). In the original post I put it as “how tolerant should…
Vegan Practically 