Category: Reflections
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Ten reasons to try more vegan living in 2024
As the new year approaches, it’s a great time to think about what sorts of positive changes might make 2024 better than 2023. On Friday I’ll be more specific about ways to insert more vegan options into your life. But today I am going to offer a few reasons worthy of consideration for anyone who…
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Myth-busting: vegan athletes? Yes!
Early into my veganism I co-founded a blog with my friend and colleague Samantha Brennan called Fit Is a Feminist Issue. The purpose of the blog at the time (blog established in 2012) was to try to articulate a feminist approach to fitness in a way that captured a decades-long conversation we had already been…
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On being vegan in a sea of omnivores whom you love
I’ve just finished reading Ed Winters’s book, This Is Vegan Propaganda: And Other Lies the Meat Industry Tells You (Vermillion 2022). It’s a great book with really good info about the impact of animal agriculture (particularly factory farming) on the animals, the planet, and humans’ health (not just the claim that veganism is a nutritionally…
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The perverse tradition of “pardoning the turkey”
It’s Thanksgiving in the U.S. today (we had our Canadian Thanksgiving back in October). Frequently called “Turkey Day,” Thanksgiving is a day when the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates 46 million turkeys will be eaten. Another 22 million will find their way onto Christmas tables. Altogether, Americans consume an estimated 245 million (PETA) to 250…
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Vegan catering fail—gluten free pizza, no cheese
I think “Vegan Catering Fail” and “Vegan Catering Win” are going to become blog series because bad vegan catering is just so common and good vegan catering is just so refreshing. I know some people might think I should be happy, grateful even, that there was any option at all that I could eat. But…
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Happy World Vegan Day / Month!
Happy World Vegan Day to one and all! Since November 1, 1994, this day has been set aside for vegans to celebrate. I got an email from Veganuary this morning that offered five things we can celebrate today: If you’re not vegan but have been thinking about it (or not), here are five things you…
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Why single out horses?
Did you know that Canada is the leading exporter of live horses for meat? This fact hit the news this week because of a private member’s bill introduced to Canadian Parliament calling for a ban on these live exports. In 2022, 2600 live horses, bred specifically as livestock for consumption, were shipped to Japan. Once…
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Should vegans be eating “facsimiles of flesh”?
I just read a paper called “Facsimiles of Flesh“ by philosophers Bob Fischer and Burkay Ozturk that goes against my long-held belief that there is nothing wrong with eating realistic facsimiles of animal products. Indeed, I have even made the case that from a harm reduction perspective these imitators are welcome additions to the vegan…
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On leading a “less hypocritical or richer or better life…”
One of the great things (for me) about starting this blog is the steady stream of recommendations people (especially Shelley and Samantha) send my way. This week, it was Lorna Finlayson’s London Review piece, “Let Them Eat Oysters” (thanks, Shelley!). Ostensibly a review essay of Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation Now (Harper 2023) and Martha Nussbaum’s…
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Hope for Defending Animals
I’m a bit late with my “Tuesday-post” this week (it’s Thursday now) because I wanted to report on Kendra Coulter’s book launch for her new release, Defending Animals: Finding Hope on the Front Lines of Animal Protection. I attended the energizing launch on Tuesday and purchased myself a copy of the book. So far I…
Vegan Practically 