Food For Thought: The Joys And Benefits Of Living Vegan

This end-of-year episode is based on my motto that life is made up of a series of lessons and gifts, an appropriate topic as we reflect on the lessons of the past year, create plans for the next, and offer gifts to one another. This episode is about creating meaningful holidays (and lives) and includes a list of 25 Meaningful Zero-Waste, Ethical Gifts we can give during the holidays or anytime of year. Thank you, listeners and supporters.

Every year as Thanksgiving approaches, it seems there isn’t a magazine, newspaper, or website that doesn’t feature recipes for every means and method of stuffing, brining, and roasting turkeys. And every year, vegetarians, vegans, and animal advocates urge the public (and their family members) to leave the turkey off the menu in favor of plant-based sides and mains. The problem is that by the time these well-intentioned campaigns begin, it’s already too late.  Not only do most people not want to forego their butter-basted bird, by October 45 million turkeys will have already been brought into this world, confined, detoed, slaughtered, eviscerated, trussed, and frozen. Let's try this instead. (The Food for Thought Podcast is brought to you by listeners. Become a listener supporter at Patreon.com/ColleenPatrickGoudreau!)

I'm gobsmacked by the number of people who think traveling while vegan is difficult or who tell me they just accept "good enough" because they don't want to put anyone out. If you're staying at a hotel, eating in a restaurant, or booking a room at a bed and breakfast, you are engaging with someone in the service industry, and as such...they want to make you happy. Enjoy this episode about how I found happiness on Vancouver Island.  This episode is brought to you by listeners! Become a supporter today at Patreon.com/ColleenPatrickGoudreau.

What does it take to become (and stay) a joyful vegan? The answer is in ... The Joyful Vegan. Listen to today's podcast episode. JoyfulVegan.com

One of my goals has always been to take the word "vegan" out of the box called "vegan." My goal is constantly thwarted by *the overuse of the word vegan *the use of "vegan" to refer to people as well as food *the attempt by some vegans to narrow the definition and make the word "vegan" refer to every social problem that exists in the world If you call yourself vegan or have ever been told you can't call yourself vegan, this episode is for you.  JoyfulVegan.com  

There has been such a proliferation of such terms as "eco-tourism," "wildlife tourism," and "sustainable tourism" that one wonders what is legitimate and what is just greenwashing. But is there such a thing as wildlife tourism; i.e. paying to see wild animals in their homes, without contributing to exploitation, such as going on a safari in Botswana or a mountain gorilla trek in Rwanda? Today's episode answers that question. Thank you to listener-supporters. Become a listener supporter at Patreon.com/ColleenPatrickGoudreau 

Remember when Lisa Simpson proudly declared to her eco-warrior idol that she was vegetarian? He poo-pooed her. When she said she was thinking of becoming vegan, he haughtily responded that he "doesn't eat anything that casts a shadow" and declared that he was a "Level 5 Vegan." When she said she started an organic compost pile at home, he said, "Just at home? You mean you don't pocket-mulch??" While at one time I was able to identify with poor Lisa, I now fear I've crossed the line. Hear my confession, and take from it what you will.

"When creatures don't have an extraordinary beauty, it's because the person in contact with them is not seeing it," said pulitzer-prize winning poet Galway Kinnell, whose poem about pigs ends this episode. It's not an easy episode, but nothing worth talking about ever is.  From Original Broadcast:  Today’s episode is dedicated to pigs – how wonderful they are, how we misrepresent them, and what affect our perception of them has on our treatment of them. Pigs are exploited and used by humans in a variety of ways: as research tools, as “food animals,” in high school science classes, as entertainment in a blood sport called “hog-baiting” or “hog dogging,” as victims of hunting and the cycle of violence inherent in slaughterhouses. Even our language about them contributes to our abuse of them. Take a listen, share, and let me know what you think.  Today's episode, like all episodes, is brought to you by listeners like you. Become a supporter today at patreon.com/colleenpatrickgoudreau.

Just coming up for air as I finish re-writes and edits on The Joyful Vegan: How to Stay Vegan in a World That Wants You to Eat Meat, Dairy, and Eggs. Here are some updates with light at the end of the tunnel.  RECEIVE SPECIAL RECOGNITION IN THE BOOK! Become a patron at $20/month or more, and your name will be printed in The Joyful Vegan as my thanks to you!

Being animals ourselves, it makes sense that we share many of the same diseases as our non-human cousins. We aren’t – after all – plants. We aren’t at risk for catching aphids or sooty mold or downy mildew. In fact, many of the major killer pandemics we’ve been plagued with were acquired from non-human animals. Here are just a few: we got tuberculosis from cattle, influenza from pigs and birds, whooping cough from pigs and dogs, smallpox from cattle, and of course cowpox from cows. Even HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is believed to have been first transmitted to humans through the butchering and consumption of infected chimpanzees. It is our very consumption of animals and their products that has bestowed upon us what Guns, Germs, and Steel author Jared Diamond calls the “lethal gifts of livestock.” Our abuse of nature comes full-circle and at a heavy price for both the consumer and the consumed. Listen. 

There’s a presumption among some vegans that if you’re vegan, you’re also liberal, socialist, atheist, feminist, intersectionalist, progressive, and leftist, that you’re pro-choice, anti-vaccine, anti-GMO’s — and that if you’re not any or all of these things and everything that they entail, you’re unwelcome — or at least you don’t belong. Or that you’re an imposter. Or that you welcome oppression.  We are living in a time when group loyalty and identity politics are valued more than reason, critical thinking, tolerance for another point of view, and compassion. And it scares the bejesus out of me. Today's episode is (yet another) call for compassion. Listen to Food for Thought Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or JoyfulVegan.com⁣⠀

Though we tend to forget, cattle (cows, bulls, and steers) did exist first as wild animals before humans began domesticating them for our own purposes. Before we got our hands on them and turned them into a commodity for human gain, what was their history? What was their background? What is their ancestry? Today I explore the answers to these questions, trace their fateful encounter with humans (leading to the extinction of their ancestors), document our use of them as instruments of cruel entertainment, and draw the connections between our contact with cattle and the many deadly diseases that continue to plague humans today. Listeners make this podcast possible: Patreon.com/ColleenPatrickGoudreau

The world lit up on fire with stories (from vegans and non-vegans, including on the BBC TV show QI) that these plants — and more — are "not vegan" because of the way they're pollinated. Listen to this episode for my thoughts. (JoyfulVegan.com)

Starting in Paris, then moving onto Alsace (which included day trips to Germany and Switzerland), then back to France to the Normandy region and a stop-over in the Swiss Alps, our recent travels is the focus of this travel edition, giving you ideas of enjoying your own European vegan vacation, whether you go on your own or as part of a CPG Vegan Trip.  

CPG Vegan Trips creates one-of-a-kind travel experiences with a focus on the interest and needs of adventurous and compassionate vegans and their vegan-friendly friends and family members. It's all about the food, the animals, the wildlife, the sanctuaries, and the small details and experiences that shape life-long memories. Here's what's coming up in 2019, 2020, and 2021, so start packing!  www.CPGVeganTrips.com

A small subset of opinionated, passionate, well-intentioned people perpetuate the stereotype of the angry, self-righteous, perfection-focused animal rights vegan when they spew invective at anyone who is not "vegan enough" in their eyes. They are otherwise known as The Vegan Police. Listen to today's episode for my perspective on how we can speak up for animals — online and in person — without alienating people who are trying to make compassionate choices. SUPPORTERS make this podcast possible. Thank you!

Raising cattle for beef is the number one cause of the destruction of rainforests and global warming, but today we're going to talk about palm oil. Grown in tropical regions, palm plantations are displacing rainforests, destroying orangutan habitats and wreaking havoc on the ecosystem. With good intentions, some vegans have called for a boycott of Earth Balance, a vegan butter that uses palm oil as its primary fat, even though it doesn't source its palm from native orangutan habitats. Is it possible to source palm oil sustainably? For that matter, is it possible to source any historically unsustainable crop in a sustainable way? In today's episode, I weigh in on this issue and offer some food for thought. Not a supporter? Change that today: Patreon.com/ColleenPatrickGoudreau.

It’s one thing to opt out of eating animal products at home and in our personal lives, but what about adhering to our values in the trickier, grayer areas of our lives, such as in the workplace? What if you work for a software company and you’re put on a project to build a website for a fishing company? What if you work in a restaurant and have to serve meat? What if you work in a job that requires you to cook meat? These are real scenarios for many people, and the answer isn’t to “stop being vegan” because things are complicated. Take a listen to my thoughts in today’s episode of Food for Thought.  

I’ve heard every justification for the consumption of animals, but I was a bit stunned when I heard someone claim that vegans should eat oysters because bivalves are “basically plants.” No doubt there are grey areas in this whole attempt to live as compassionately as possible. But even the fuzzy lines are still lines. If I let you eat oysters, would you stop eating cows? Support this listener-sponsored podcast.  

There is a prevailing myth in our culture, played out in our language and in marketing, that meat is masculine and plant foods are for wimps. Meat is a metaphor for strength, virility, and manliness, while vegetarianism/veganism is feminine, effeminate, and even emasculating. “Real Men Eat Meat” and “Tofu is Gay Meat” are just two examples of advertisements that perpetuate this myth and secure it in our consciousness. Studies show it’s working. Join me for a meaty episode that will shake you out of your vegetative state. If you don’t want to be a fruit, learn how you can be a beefcake. Your support makes this podcast possible.