Category: Reflections
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Meditation for vegans
A recent study shows that being vegan in a non-vegan world has a psychological cost. I know this from both my own experience and the experience of others, not just friends but also a broader community of people in online vegan groups to which I belong. It’s hard to care about animal suffering in a…
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Is eating vegan healthy? It’s complicated
It may be old news to many that Lizzo gave up being vegan, but for me it was news that she ever had been. Apparently she had a moment where she decided to follow “a vegan diet” and became something of a poster girl for a time. And then she decided her body needed animal…
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Travelling while vegan: Costa Rica gets a B
I am travelling home today from Costa Rica, where I participated in a long-awaited wildlife photography tour. As I like to do when I travel, I want to comment on what it is like to travel as a vegan in this part of the world. My comments won’t be representative of the whole country because…
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On the matter of protein and dessert
It’s a well-known fact that if you tell someone you’re vegan there is a very good chance that they will ask you what you do for protein. People picture a plate. It is divided into three parts; meat or fish, potatoes or rice, and veggies. When you say you’re vegan they imagine an empty third.…
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Saying good-bye to my mother: the blog loses its biggest fan
May was a tough month. Two days after Mother’s Day I lost my mum. Though she had some health issues, her passing was sudden and unexpected. We were making summer plans for July and thinking optimistically about what we might do for her 90th birthday at the end of this year. She and my dad…
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Jump into Veganuary
On this second day of the year it’s a good day to start Veganuary. Going vegan for one month offers a wonderful nudge that could carry you into a year of being kinder to animals and the planet. Veganuary is a great way to show yourself that it’s not nearly as difficult as you might…
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The future is (alt) meat
We have a breakfast and lunch place near us in Toronto called Evviva. They have two menus. One is “regular” and the other is a full plant-based menu, the most extensive I’ve ever seen for breakfast and brunch. You can get scrambled or sunny-side up eggs with your plant-based bacon and sausage. You can get…
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You don’t have to eat dead birds on Thanksgiving (or ever)
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the US. It’s an occasion where millions of people give no thought whatsoever to their tradition of eating a dead, stuffed bird. 46 million turkeys die to become the focal point of festive tables across the country. That volume of production means factory farming, which accounts for 99.8% of all turkey…
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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,…
Vegan Practically 