Category: Practice
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Travelling while Vegan: St. John’s, Newfoundland
Back at the beginning of June, which now seems in the very distant past, I spent a few days in St. John’s, Newfoundland. It was a great opportunity to explore, among other things of course, the local vegan fare. My partner, Diane, and I started doing our research some time before we went. We also…
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Fun food for Fun Friday
Maybe I’m the only one who has noticed that my two-posts-a-week schedule has faltered of late. I’m trying to ease back up to speed, and I’d really like to get back on track with Fun Fridays. When I first started blogging, my promise was that Tuesdays would be for thinking things through and Fridays would…
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Paris Olympics’ sustainability-agenda is good news for plant-based options
Adopting an agenda of sustainability for the 2024 Olympic Games, the Paris organizers have pledged to deliver meals with half the carbon footprint of most French meals by “doubling the proportion of plant-based ingredients and increasing the plant-based options for everyone, including spectators and the workforce.” Even if you think, as some argue, that the…
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The plant-based milk recall doesn’t mean we should reject plant-based milk
Anyone who uses plant-based milks in Canada is surely aware by now of the recall of various Silk and Great Value products — refrigerated oat, almond, and coconut milks — because of listeria contamination. I remember when I used to think that only animal products were susceptible to contaminants like e-coli, listeria, salmonella, and such.…
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Travelling while vegan: Brittany and Normandy — the struggle was real
Content warning: apparent griping about “first world problems.” For ten days I finessed my way through a triple-challenge. Brittany and Normandy are tough at the best of times. So that was challenge #1. Add to that being on a tour with omnivores, where for the most part the dining venue was organized and not up…
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The ableism of arguments from intelligence
A friend to whom I recently recommended Ed Yong’s An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms around Us thanked me this week. He loved the book, and rightly so. It’s stellar, as I reported when I read it some time ago. And I was happy to have it brought back to mind.…
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Are vegan foods “highly processed” and is that an objection?
Earlier this week a friend tagged me in a post, suggesting a possible blog topic (thanks, Sam!). The gist was that they keep hearing complaints about how vegan foods are “highly processed,” and yet the Gusto vegan sausages they had for dinner didn’t seem to be. The ingredient list, which my friend included a photo…
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What is a vegan to do when a favourite plant-based business expands to include animal products?
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve heard of two example — one local here in London, Ontario and one elsewhere, in LA — where a formerly fully plant-based business has decided to “change its business model” to include animal products. This decision always generates backlash among vegans, who see it as a betrayal and,…
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The threat of vegan cheese
An interesting story from The Washington Post came across my desk the other day about a vegan cheese that was a finalist in a cheese competition “A vegan cheese beat dairy in a big competition. Then the plot curdled.” The Good Food Foundation is an organization whose “Good Food Awards” recognize exceptional producers in the…
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Happy Earth Day 2024
Today is Earth Day and it’s an opportunity for us to reflect on our relationship to the only home we have. As with any of these “days,” they are moments to focus and regroup, not one-offs where we can be observant today and then return to old habits. I heard someone talking about Earth Day…
