Category: Environment
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Can Jane Goodall inspire you to go vegan?
The world lost Jane Goodall last week, but her legacy of advocacy for non-human animals will have a lasting impact. Many people have lamented her death, posting tributes and professing to share her values. In 2017, Jane Goodall wrote: “There are three main reasons why we should eat less – or preferably no – meat.…
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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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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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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 options at non-vegan restaurants
Last week I posed three questions for future discussion. Today I’m going to focus on the first of these questions: If you’re a restaurant offering vegan options, is it right to frame them as burdensome favours for difficult guests? It’s not the best-worded question because it seems as if the obvious answer has got to…
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Thoughts to foreshadow future topics
Getting back to the blog after an hiatus, you’d think I’d have no end of topics lined up. Instead, I just have a swirl of thoughts that I need to wrestle into some sort of order before I can give them their due. So today let me get started on taming the swirl by identifying…
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Reconnecting with the blog’s purpose
I’ve been flailing around quite a bit with respect to the blog this year. A number of things have contributed to the wildly inconsistent post schedule (if you can even call it a schedule these days). Sometimes when I’m faltering with something I care about I find it helpful to remind myself why I care…
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Has beef really been “unfairly” vilified? Spoiler: no.
A while back a few people sent me an article from the New York Times about meat “making a comeback.” To believe that you need to believe it went anywhere. The narrative reminds me so much of when people start wringing their hands about “unqualified workforces” because suddenly there is a small percentage of people…
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Study shows meat-eaters make up bad excuses to keep eating meat
A group of Danish researchers has done a study to show what most vegans (and lots of non-vegans) already know: people make up excuses to keep eating meat even when they know that it would be good for the climate. According to the lead researcher: “All of the participants – predominantly meat eaters – agree…
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Maybe it’s time to rethink eggs if you’ve not yet done so
Avian flu has created an egg shortage in the United States and other parts of the world that has driven up prices and reduced supply. And that means it’s getting the attention of consumers of animal products. I’ve seen friends in the US post photos of empty supermarket refrigerators or of egg fridges showing astronomical…
Vegan Practically 