Category: Reflections
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Plant-based and synthetic yarns have lots to offer
For lots of us, figuring out our food options when we start trying to make vegan choices is just the beginning. It slowly radiates out from there when it becomes clear just how much our commitment can have an impact on other areas of our lives. I am an enthusiastic knitter, and used to love…
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The amazing sensory worlds of non-human animals
I just finished reading An Immense World by science writer Ed Yong. While it’s not immediately relevant to veganism, being more about animals in the natural world than about farmed animals, but it is worth a read for anyone who cares about animals and wants to learn more about how they experience the world. The…
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Some Reflections on Fish and other Seafood
A lot of people ease their way into vegetarianism or veganism through pescatarianism. Pescatarians avoid meat and poultry products, but they still consume and enjoy fish and seafood. In the past, I used to eat fish and seafood despite eating mostly vegetarian. So many “mostly-vegetarian” people will eat seafood on occasion (sometimes as a treat…
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Ways to be imperfect
Ever since I started my project on imperfect veganism, thinking of it more as a practice than as a theory, I’ve been reflected on the various ways a practicing vegan, who is vegan for ethical reasons, might be imperfect. I mention ethically-motivated vegans in particular because I think that someone who is vegan for health…
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Kindness Matters
kindness noun /ˈkaɪnd.nəs/ the quality of being kind kind adjective /kaɪnd/ generous, helpful, and thinking about other people’s feelings (from the Cambridge Dictionary) When vegans talk about their stance towards non-human animals, they often offer thoughts about the importance of kindness and compassion. The slogan “Kindness Matters” comes up a lot, and it is not…
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Yes, vegans have a sense of humour
A friend sent me a funny vegan thing the other week and I just have to share it. It’s a humourous piece by Jessica F. Lillian, published in the Belladonna Comedy, called “Things People Say When You Tell Them You’re Vegan BINGO.” I would love to just show you the whole thing here, but I…
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An Invitation to Be Imperfect
Really I don’t need to invite you to be imperfect. We are all already imperfect in so many ways. A frequent rejoinder these days is “don’t be so hard on yourself.” Few people are harder on themselves (or frankly on others), than people who have strong ethical convictions that they sometimes fail to live up…
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Dining with omnivores: It takes some finessing
I belong to a local vegan group on Facebook, and people are forever asking for input about where they can go out for a meal with omnivores — “nice” restaurants, family restaurants, special occasion restaurants, kid-friendly restaurants that don’t break the bank. Almost as often, someone will name a particular restaurant that they are going…
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Why “Consider the Lobster” by David Foster Wallace Is My Favourite Essay
In 2003, Gourmet Magazine sent David Foster Wallace to do a story on the Maine Lobster Festival (MLF). The resulting article, “Consider the Lobster,” appeared in August 2004. In my view it’s one of the best pieces of non-fiction writing to question the ideology of eating animals, in this case lobster, ever written. It starts…
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Welcome to Vegan. Practically.
Welcome to Vegan. Practically. I’m Tracy Isaacs, a philosophy professor, author, co-founder of and blogger at Fit Is a Feminist Issue, and, since 2011, vegan, if sometimes imperfectly so, for ethical reasons. I offer this blog as an invitation to anyone who is curious, considering, or already committed to making lifestyle and eating choices guided…
Vegan Practically 