Have Gone Vegan

animal justice academy

Hello folks! Hope to return to regular blogging again soon, so consider this a PSA.

There's an excellent FREE online boot camp for animal advocates going on right NOW called Animal Justice Academy. Currently in week 3, this one-of-a-kind informative and inspiring 6-week course covers almost everything you need to know to become a better advocate for animals. It's Canadian-based, but the knowledge and tools will be invaluable wherever you're located.  Each week there are video/audio modules for you to go through at your own pace, and twice a week there are live panels with a variety of speakers. 

Offered by Animal Justice (Canada’s only national animal law advocacy organization) this is an amazing educational opportunity that I can't praise highly enough. It's not too late to register, so check out the faculty and curriculum of Animal Justice Academy, and help yourself help animals even more! :)

thanksgiving/taking, it's gotta change however you pronounce it

I've written about Thanksgiving (October in Canada, November in the US) more than once on this blog, but the posts have mostly boiled down to this: giving versus taking. Specifically, why can't people GIVE thanks without taking?

Expressing gratitude is a lovely thing, and having a national holiday where folk can celebrate the good things in their lives is fine too, but can't this be done in a way where other lives aren't taken? Why is it necessary to kill in order to say, thank you? 

The hypocrisy of this is even more blatant at Christmas when people worldwide celebrate the birth of Christ (whether they believe or not) by partaking in death.

So I ask again, why does being thankful for good fortune have to involve the taking of life? I would argue it doesn't, and would urge you to rethink why and how you celebrate, if it does.

In these times of anxiety and turmoil it can be difficult to be truly appreciative, but we have to try. With Covid-19, good health is something no longer taken for granted, so if you and those you love are healthy, then that already is something to be thankful for. Still working and making an income? Also something to be extra thankful for. Not separated from your family? Again, no longer taken for granted.

I take it back about it being difficult to be appreciative right now. Perhaps this year like no other people are even more acutely and consciously grateful for the things in their lives still going right, and are more aware than ever of how it can be going so incredibly wrong for so many others.

Happy Thanksliving everyone (to our southern neighbours, we are hopeful that this year you can be thankful for a new President), and please consider the many ways in which you can celebrate life by respecting the lives of all living beings. Thank you (especially from Corno the turkey below, best friend of Esther the Wonder Pig.)

what will it take for people to go vegan?

Well, that's the million-dollar question isn't it? And if the answer was an easy one, an awful lot more people would have gone vegan by now.

We also would have avoided the bickering between camps advocating different approaches. Abolitionists, incrementalists, welfarists/new welfarists, reductionists and utilitarians, whatever term you want to use; you can find a group that most closely matches your own philosophy or perspective. Mine, by the way, is one I termed pragmatic abolitionist about five years ago.

One of the many frustrating things for long-term vegans is the amount of time we've spent trying to achieve our goal, but with seemingly little to show for it. As one reader shared when I first starting writing again this year, I am bone-weary of trying to find new ways to say the same thing. It is frankly exhausting. Yes, yes it is. 

Vegans and animal rights activists have been saying the same things over and over and working for a long time in trying to bring about change. Here are a few of the tactics we've tried:

• education
• protests and demonstrations
• undercover investigations
• direct action
• leading by example
• changing laws and legislation
• animal sanctuaries
• introducing new vegan products
• incremental steps like Meatless Mondays 
• appeal to logic and rationality
• appeal to emotion
• media (books, blogs, documentaries, vegan characters in movies and TV, etc.)

Which ones have worked better than others? Hard to say. 

I view education as a cornerstone and vital part of reaching people, but remember reading that Vegan Outreach had distributed something like over a million pamphlets (don't remember the exact number) one year and thinking, but if you multiply that by the number of years you've been doing exactly that, shouldn't there be more vegans by now? How much more information do people need? Apparently, lots. So I don't want to denigrate that particular organization (indeed, I was a financial supporter for a long time) or any other as I realize that educational materials still have their place, but it's only one avenue of outreach.

Leading by example is crucial, I think, as the ripple effect of that can't be underestimated. Set a good example, and that may influence more people than any loud in-your-face exhortations to go vegan.

Two people, who I believe have probably contributed to more people changing their dietary habits than they may ever know, are Steve and Derek of HEEFS. They exemplify kindness in a way I never could, and if ever a couple found their right mission in life it would be them. Opening an animal sanctuary is a purpose they probably couldn't even have dreamt of in their prior lives, but seems like the magical fit that has changed multiple lives for the better.

And animal sanctuaries are a great way for people's minds and hearts to open unreservedly. Because if folk only think in terms of products on their plates without even connecting them to the animals they're derived from, than sanctuaries place those animals directly where they belong: in the center. In the center as individuals with personalities, a desire to live, and a wish to form bonds with others. I would think it'd be very difficult to interact with a cow or a pig or a chicken and then have their cousins for dinner a few hours later. At least, one would hope.

Vegan products? If I think of the range and accessibility in just the past 12 years, well, to say it's exploded is not much of an exaggeration. There was a time when your options for anything vegan was limited to either specialized health stores or huge grocery chains. Now even the most generic stores like Food Basics and No Frills carry a lot of plant-based items as well. That would have been unthinkable 12 years ago. 

But what I love about the ubiquitousness of vegan products is that it normalizes veganism. People may still not always react kindly to the word or idea, but they sure know what it means now. And while it's thought that some of the sales can be attributed to meat-eaters instead of vegans, so what? Isn't that what we actually want? Vegans are already part of the choir so to speak, and in my opinion, who eats vegan items is less important than that fewer animals are consumed.

I'm not going to go through every item on the list as I'm sure it's evident that each approach has its potential merits and downfalls. And because we don't know what will eventually turn a person vegan, having a multitude of ways, entry points, and even reasons will likely help turn more people vegan than just one approach.

Because the one answer that we do know for sure about what'll take for people to go vegan is that we just don't know.

We don't know what will be the societal tipping point. What environmental, economic, or health factor (or something that we haven't even thought of) will be the one thing that changes everything. Possibly in the future we'll be able to look back and say, there, that day, or that event, or that incident is what really got the ball rolling. In the meantime though, I think we just have to go with the approach that makes the most sense to us personally, and that gets us to stick with the mission. I'm also all for groups (like Faunalytics, for example) that can quantify for us what approaches do seem to bring about the best results.

In short, be wary of anyone who feels they have the answers, or worse, THE answer, when it comes to ending animal exploitation.

Note: still haven't read How To Create A Vegan World: A Pragmatic Approach by Tobias Leenaert. Wouldn't be surprised though if our perspectives greatly align, but will post before dipping into his book and come back to expand (if need be) after reading. 

remembering all beings who mother - 9 years later

This is a partial throwback post (see the 2 links), but also my way of letting you know I'm still around, still vegan, still looking after my mom (for now), and still hoping to see a more vegan world someday. 

a Mother's Day post from nearly a decade ago

a Mother's Day challenge from Vine Sanctuary 2014

I'm also drafting a more in-depth post on the impact of Covid-19 on other animals (stay tuned!), but thought that today I'd briefly point out how this pandemic has disproportionately affected women and mothers. While Covid-19 has impacted everyone, it has hit women particularly hard in terms of both paid and unpaid labour. A few cases in point:

• the number of female front-line essential workers 
• the number of mothers who now have extended hours of childcare
• the number of mothers (and fathers, hopefully) who now have to home school
• the number of women who still provide care for elderly family members
• the number of women who have lost their jobs given their over-representation in the service sector 

This all adds up to an awful lot of gained or lost labour, on top of the stress created by the pandemic itself. Another area of concern is safety; not only in the workplace, but at home. Added isolation, service cuts and shelter closures, and bam, gender-based violence rises exponentially, making 'stay safe' more of a challenge than a wish.

But please, do stay safe yourself, and be sure to thank anyone who does any form of mothering today. 

Back soon...

have you met Cornelius the Wonder Turkey yet?

Okay, that isn't his real name (it's just Cornelius -- or Corno/Corny for short), but I'm hoping he'll prove to be as wonderful an ambassador for turkeys as Esther the Wonder Pig has been for pigs. Because it's that time of year when turkeys, though slaughtered and consumed by millions, are essentially rendered invisible. Sentient and smart and social as they are, they're horrifically reduced to single body parts and not given a second thought.

That is, until folk get to know a turkey personally or virtually (as they have come to know pigs through Esther), and realize they don't want to eat someone as classy and sassy as Cornelius. And that gives me hope. Statistics rarely sway, and numbers that are too big to fathom, too big to relate to, are easily dismissed. But the power of one is almost always more effective in changing hearts and minds. When people start seeing an animal of another species as having a personality, as having their own quirks, and having social connections much the same as we do, then it's harder not to recognize that they have feelings and would prefer not to be eaten. Or be deprived of the ability to live their natural lives with their own unique behaviours. 

So go, Corny, go! Show people worldwide how fabulous turkeys really are. Show us your true essence, and help educate people in ways that we mere human mortals too often fail to do. Be the Wonder Turkey that so many of us know you to be. :)

p.s. gosh, I haven't written regularly in a long time -- hope to remedy that soon!

new year, old battle

Can you believe 2017's here? At the beginning of each new year I like to start with an encouraging/optimistic post, and my favourite of that kind is one I sometimes feel could be reused every year. This year, however, no such post is bubbling up. 

I'm still struggling with the disappointment of the US election and the reality of the Donald being in power, and I resent the fact that December 19 (the anniversary of my cat's death) will now always be linked to his official election by the Electoral College. My antipathy towards this doofus was made clear in prior posts, and while you may wonder why the election of an American president would bother this Canadian resident so much, it's because I fear that social justice for all creatures will take a huge step backwards. His cabinet picks so far bear this out.

I will outline why the election was a bad one for animals, and then hope to be done discussing this despicable man once and for all. It's the only way I can cope I'm afraid, and as childish as this outlandish man is himself, I may have to resort to shutting my eyes and ears whenever I hear his name on any kind of media. I know, that means I won't be hearing or seeing much over the next four (two?) years, snort.

Stress and sadness over other non-political issues have also been key this past year, and while I posted earlier about burnout, acknowledging and addressing it are two different things. I hope to recover a bit more joy and enthusiasm before year's end, write the posts I've been meaning to, and focus on how to be a better advocate, because sometimes I feel that my having been vegan for the past eight years has accomplished diddly squat for those I'm fighting for.

So, who has Donald picked so far and why is that bad for animals, human and non-human alike? Well, in a nutshell, and with few exceptions, Trump has surrounded himself with old, ultra-rich white men who have shown no interest in protecting the environment, animals, or humans who don't fit their own demographic. Far from draining any kind of swamp, Trump is simply making it swampier and more dangerous for those who don't look like him. 

Flooding the swamp he promised to drain with people who are anti environment, pro oil, pro gas, climate-change skeptics, pro big business, pro animal agriculture, pro factory farming, anti animal-rights, and anti public health care folk who tend to see everything in black and white, they wouldn't recognize a nuance if it bonked them on the head. The only regard they seem to have is for dollar signs. To people, sentient beings of all kind, and the planet itself, they're saying a big FU.

Trump's own two sons show complete disregard for wildlife by participating in the "sport" of trophy hunting, something that Donald is actually proud of. And given that the elder Trump is babysat by his own kids, their influence on his stance where animals are concerned can only be suspect. No, I'm afraid that the trumpnoxious (Trump-style brand of obnoxniousness) President-elect, his silly trumptirades (usually conducted on Twitter), and his downright scary-as-hell cabinet picks are filling me with nothing but trumpidation (the specific trepidation felt by almost everything the Trumpster says and does). The only silver lining is that perhaps things really do have to hit a rock bottom we didn't even envision before the world wakes up to the nightmare that the human species has created.

The stakes have NEVER been higher. And if we thought it was a battle before to have the rights of sentient beings recognized and respected, to have veganism be more than a scoffed-at movement consisting of a few, than I would say it's looking more like a war. As I said, I don't feel particularly encouraged or optimistic right now, and that's something I hope will change over the course of this year. In the meantime, let's all soldier on, because every single living being is counting on us. 

Not a great way to begin the year and end this post I know, so please reread my way-better-way-to-begin welcome of a few years ago. :)

mercy and Thanksgiving

Tomorrow, Canada celebrates Thanksgiving. (Although in some ways, in my opinion, it may as well be called Thanks-taking for all the harm done to innocent beings.) And while last November I took a different (more generous?) approach when I talked about the occasion as Americans celebrated it, this year I want to focus on mercy. Or the lack thereof.

Because this past week has been merciless when it comes to animals in Canada, and even though it's Thanksgiving weekend, I'm still feeling more angry than thankful. As most of you may know, there was a horrible incident involving 180 pigs in a trailer rollover that left many vegans reeling. I don't want to retell the awful details (some of which you can find in the links posted below), but this incident (in many ways the word accident is insulting) demonstrated just how vile and merciless this industry actually is. 

These posts will fill in the background for those not familiar with what happened, and provide good commentary for those who are:

• The Crime of Indifference
• Blinders, Barriers, and Bearing Witness
• After the Fearman's Pig Tragedy

On the same day that this travesty occurred, Bill C-246 (which would have updated Canada's antiquated animal cruelty laws) was defeated 198-84. This bill originally included things like changing the definition of bestiality, banning the import of shark fins, cat and dog fur, and making it a crime to profit from or breed animals for the purpose of fighting. This, apparently, worried supporters of hunting, trapping, fishing, ranching and medical research. So they said, essentially, screw animals.

My Houghton Mifflin Canadian Dictionary of the English Language defines mercy as "Kind and compassionate treatment of an offender, enemy, prisoner or other person [being] under one's power." 

Where was mercy shown this week? 

• not by staff of Fearmans Pork Inc.
• not by management of Sofina Foods 
• not by the manager of communications with Ontario Pork
• not by Halton Regional Police officers (they charged Anita Krajnc AGAIN)
• not by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency
• not by vets
• not by representatives of the Ministry of Transportation
• not by some of the media outlets and consumers, and
• not by members who opposed Bill C-246

In fact, more mercy was shown by some of the injured and needlessly killed pigs themselves (this haunting photo and others was originally taken by Andrea White), toward each other:

 

But I'm trying to remember that there ARE a lot of folk to be thankful for, and that mercy IS plentiful, as shown by:

• members of Toronto Pig Save (including Cow Save and Chicken Save)
• hero Anita Krajnc
• supporters of Anita and all those who attend vigils and bear witness
• everyone who expressed outrage at what happened in Burlington
• sanctuary supporters and founders (including Esther's dads of course!) 
• animal rescuers who work tirelessly without being in the spotlight, and
• anyone trying to bring about change for all animals

I'm also thankful that I can virtually visit with Esther and other sentient beings. They give me strength, respite, resolve, and comfort. 

Rest in peace, sweet pigs. We will NEVER forget you.

 

hug a vegan day (and other upcoming notable dates)

Today is Hug a Vegan Day, so consider yourself officially hugged! :)

Spread the love and if possible go hug every vegan you know. Give yourself (and any farmed or animal companions nearby) a huge hug too!

This time of year is filled with occasions to commemorate, celebrate or even mourn, so here are a few to keep in mind as the weather finally and blissfully gets cooler:

• September 30: Hug a Vegan Day
• October 1: World Vegetarian Day
• October 1: National Cut Out Dissection Month begins
• October 1-2: Worldwide Vegan Chalk Bomb
• October 2: World Day for Animals on Farms*
• October 10: Thanksgiving is Murder on Turkeys Day (in Canada)
• November 1: World Vegan Day (launching World Vegan Month)
• November 8: world watches anxiously to see if Clinton trumps Trump
• November 9: world still in disbelief that Americans let a reality star get this far
• November 24: Thanksgiving is Murder on Turkeys Day (in USA)
• November 25: Cruelty-Free Friday
• November 29: National Giving Day

Being vegan, even when it feels that progress is maddeningly slow, is the best gift you can give yourself, your loved ones, and even those you find a bit more challenging to love. The world IS changing, and we WILL get there!

* Ironically, the next court date for Toronto Pig Save's Anita Krajnc takes place the day after World Day for Animals on Farms, and the second court date falls right on World Vegan Day.

what every vegan should know about burnout (resource list included)

Which rather makes it sound like I have all the answers, but clearly I don't, otherwise I would've been able to avoid burnout myself. At least, I'm wondering if I've reached burnout given the tone of some of my previous posts (we-animals-deserve-to-rot-in-hell in particular), and my more-than-usual cynical mood of late.

For example, while I like the oft-used quote about slaughterhouses being made of glass walls, I don't think it's actually true, and in general think it's less a lack of awareness than an agreement that other animals are ours to use as we see fit mentality that's at play. Sadly, as long as animal use is profitable or pleasurable or both, a vegan world seems a long way off to me. On the other hand, I realize my the-human-species-as-a-whole-is-insufferable conclusion isn't really effective, and isn't going to help. And while the people-who-consume-animals-are-bad labeling syndrome may be tempting; it too is not strategic, and not likely to increase the number of vegans.

But, back to burnout. Is this a condition that every vegan can expect to face at some point? Given that I'm eight years into the vegan journey, should I be surprised or happy that at least it didn't happen sooner? Is it in part what can make a vegan become ex-vegan? (Thankfully, I don't anticipate that happening with THIS particular vegan at any time.) And is burnout the same as compassion fatigue? Are the two terms interchangeable? Nope, apparently not. Here's a helpful article outlining the difference between compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma and burnout.

In my own case, there's also a degree of caregiver fatigue thrown in, which makes me wonder if vegans acting as caregivers for elderly parents are even more at risk for burnout. It's a bit of a double whammy methinks, and given that most vegans and most caregivers are female, you could have fatigue coming at you from all sides. Actually, forget about double whammy. If you're female and part of the sandwich generation looking after kids and parents, AND participating in the labour force, you're likely looking at at least a triple or quadruple whammy, eek!

At any rate, since I don't have the answers that the post title implied I might have, I thought I'd look around and share what I find. Especially since if the statistics on recidivism are correct (I've yet to be convinced they are, but that's a topic for another post), and if some form of burnout precedes recidivism, then nearly most of us will face this battle at one point or another.

As with many other problems, prevention is always better than solving, but given the continual assault on the beings of our concern and the huge scale of what we're up against, I would say that it might be a big battle to prevent or overcome this too-common occurrence. Luckily, there ARE also many resources that can help, whew, so I've compiled a short-ish list (a long one can be overwhelming in itself if you're already stressed) and for convenience sake divided it into books, websites, PDF material, and articles. Take from them what you can, as other animals need us to be strong, resilient and healthy. As do other vegans!

BOOKS:

• The Power of Joy in Giving to Animals
• Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others
• Aftershock: Confronting Trauma in a Violent World: A Guide for Activists and Their Allies 
• Compassion Fatigue in the Animal-Care Community (see FREE PDF version in PDF Material section below)
• The Lifelong Activist: How to Change the World Without Losing Your Way
• Chapter 9: Veganism and Caregiving in Never Too Late to Go Vegan

WEBSITES:

• The Animal Activist Support Line (24-hr email, text or online chat support) 
• In Defense of Animals -- Upcoming Events
• In Defense of Animals -- Animal Activist Helpline
• In Defense of Animals -- Activist Resource List (very extensive)
• Compassion Fatigue Resources List by Jessica Dolce
• Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project
• Resources list -- TEND Academy (Françoise Mathieu and Dr. Patricia Fisher)

PDF MATERIAL:

• Self-Care Assessment PDF worksheet
• Sustainable Activism and Avoiding Burnout (nifty flyer)
• Transforming Compassion Fatigue into Compassion Satisfaction: Top 12 Self-Care Tips for Helpers
• FREE PDF version of the Compassion Fatigue in the Animal-Care Community book listed in BOOKS above

ARTICLES:

• Activist Burnout: Understanding, Preventing, and Healing
• How To Still Create Change While Burnt-Out
• Self-Care Strategies: 100 Places to Start
• the personal stories of two activists (article on vegan mental health)
• should vegans be issued with mental health warnings?
• What is Compassion Fatigue?

MY OWN FAVOURITE QUICK PICK-ME-UPPERS:

• Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary
• Esther the Wonder Pig

So there you go. That should be enough to keep all of us busy(ier) for a while, snort. Let's take nasty burnout, turn it inside out and nip it in the bud. Let's Keep Calm, Keep Vegan, and Keep Going. (Which is also my new motto and blog byline, woot!) 

be kind to animals week 2016

Begins today!

What sorts of animals should we be kind to?

• old ones
• young ones
• cute ones
• not-so-cute ones
• sick ones
• healthy ones
• big ones
• small ones
• companion animals
• farmed animals
• land animals
• aquatic animals
• all animals, actually
• including, ahem, human ones

What does being kind not include?

• eating them
• breeding them
• experimenting on them
• turning them into clothes
• stealing their young
• stealing their milk
• withholding care and respect
• confining 
• mutilating 
• killing 
• or using them in any other way for human gain

What are the best ways to be kind?

• rescuing them
• treating them as beings rather than things
• seeing them as kin -- the word kind is very useful for this
• unless already living with you (or in need of help), leaving them alone

So please be kind to animals this week, next week, and every week. Thank you! 

happy world day for farmed animals?

October 2 is World Day for Farmed Animals, and in looking for an image on Google, I came across several graphics with sweet lambs, ducks or calves sporting an enthusiastic "Happy World Day for Farmed Animals!" caption. Totally understand, and yet the word happy threw me off a bit as life for farmed animals is anything but happy, no matter what day it is. I truly hope no one still believes that farmed animals lead an idyllic life as illustrated in the awesomely cute image below, with the exception perhaps for those lucky enough to live in a sanctuary.

I even ran across one image that really had me gobsmacked until I went to the blog where it was linked to (not the blog mentioned in the pic) and realized that the dairy farmer in question was so thoroughly indoctrinated that they truly believe all sorts of nonsense such as: cow's milk is nutritious for humans, cows enjoy being milked by mechanical means, dairy farming is a noble and praiseworthy endeavour, blah blah blah.

Reality for farmed animals, as we all should know, is the exact opposite of happy and then some. Words like misery, suffering, cruelty, torture, hell and death are the words that I associate with this day (and every other day that sentient beings continue to be farmed), and it's up to vegans to remind others of the horrors that no farmed animal is spared.

Some are even willing to show their solidarity for farmed beings by participating in a one-day fast, and I would urge you to do the same if you can. 

But whether you're able to fast or not (disclosure: I'm working that day and the physical nature of the job will prevent me from doing so), there are 364 other days where you can make your position on farmed animals and every other form of animal use known. Join others in the fight to make the rest of human society (ha ha, almost used the W word here, veganelder) wake up to the fact that animal use is not okay. Let's try to make each day a truly happy day for other sentient beings by:

1. letting them stay alive
2. letting them stay together with their offspring
3. letting them stay together with the friends of their choice
4. letting them participate in their natural instinctual behaviours
5. letting them make their own choices as much as possible

(Don't like the phrase "letting them" in the list above, but it shows the absolute power human beings have over others they deem less valuable.)

In short, let's leave them the hell alone! 

"love means never having to say you're sorry"

Is probably one of the most asinine set of words ever stringed together. If you're of a certain age you'll likely remember where this line came from, but if not, well, never mind. Suffice it to say that I tend to consider Valentine's Day just as senseless (as I do any holiday that celebrates something that ought to be recognized and validated more than once a year -- think Mother's Day, for example), but what the heck, let's take the kernel of this schmaltzy, sentimental, overly hyped, marketed, and commercialized day and do something useful with it. Let's look at love from a vegan perspective. 

So what is love? I'm no expert, but thought I'd start a list. Feel free to add.

True vegan love means:

• saying sorry whenever you've goofed up, which means you'll be saying sorry many more times than never (and if you're the exceptional human who rarely slips up, you could always say a general sorry on behalf of the rest of us)
• respecting your animal companions (this means not declawing your cat, docking your dog's tail or ears, or any other number of practices that don't benefit other animal household members in the least)
• extending your respect and compassion to sentient beings not viewed as companion animals (just because they don't happen to live in someone's home doesn't mean they shouldn't be present in your area of concern)
• getting out of your comfort zone to assist other sentient beings in concrete and off-line ways 
• remembering that "other sentient beings" includes the human kind
• not holding yourself or other vegans to impossibly perfect standards
• not getting too hung up on what label (or non-label) other vegans use to describe their identity or advocacy if they're actually doing something helpful
• being patient and kind with non-vegans even (or especially) in the moments when a part of your brain feels that violence could be a valid and useful tool
• recognizing that love, respect and compassion towards all are supposed to be the cornerstones of being vegan
• remembering those cornerstones when you're having difficulty feeling love, respect and compassion because someone or some group is pissing you off
• seeing that "love" works better as a verb than a noun
• preparing food that sustains rather than hurts (whether in sourcing or consuming)
• accepting that you can only change yourself, provide information without demanding results, and lead by example
• realizing that veganism is a means to an end, not an end in itself (the real end is for the need for veganism to become obsolete*), and ultimately about other animals and not ourselves
• disagreeing without hurting and agreeing without competing (this, if I remember correctly, was a line -- I've roughly paraphrased it -- by Lee Hall that I saw referenced in one of veganelder's posts or comments a couple of years ago, and it stayed with me because it struck me as possibly one of the most difficult things for members and factions of the vegan movement to do)
• remembering to take the time to take care of yourself
• being willing to have an open mind when new information presents itself
• being willing to have an open heart when new feelings present themselves
• forgiving others
• forgiving yourself
• learning from other species who in some ways are much smarter than we are 
• showing gratitude for what you have and anything that IS going right
• knowing that real change will likely take far more time than you'd like
• pacing yourself for the long haul, and

• did I mention being humble enough to say you're sorry? ;)

* obsolete in the sense that we longer need to convince folk to go vegan as animal use and consumption will be a thing of the past, hurrah!

the simplest guide to vegan eating ;)

 Regular programming to resume shortly (she says keeping fingers crossed.)

don't know what to do with your money?

As if! I can already hear you saying. But if you do have some extra dollars lying around, then June is a great month to donate. Here are a number of campaigns running right now:

• Mercy for Animals 15 days celebrating 15 years
• Mercy for Animals Canada Brave Biker
• Vegan Outreach Team Vegan 2014
• VINE Sanctuary Hike or Bike for VINE
• The Vegan Road Trip
• PlantBuilt Vegan Muscle Team
• New Moon Farm Goat Rescue and Sanctuary Land Purchase

And a campaign close to my heart: Esther! 

(If any of these don't tickle your fancy, there are sanctuaries, rescue groups and animal shelters in your own area that would be delighted to receive some help.)

Don't know what to do with your time?

Ha, as if! again, right? And truthfully, I don't know of anyone complaining that they have too many hours in their day, and you certainly won't hear that coming from me. Just the opposite, in fact. It's been over a month that I've blogged, and I've missed it terribly. Even though my words probably don't reach that many, or make any kind of dent in the animal use and abuse industries that I despise, the writing of those words is one of the most satisfying things I do, something that puts me in the flow more than anything else.

So why haven't I been flowing more of late? In part because taking care of elderly animals (human and nonhuman) is both time-consuming and tiring, and because I have the bad habit of tackling chores before I do anything else. It's almost as if I'm trying to clear the way of obstacles before I do what I love most. Silly of course, because that means that what matters most gets left to the end and often undone. Obviously, I should tackle what's important to me first!

The elderly animals I mentioned often throw a wrench into my plans as well. My dad (my parents divorced nearly forty years ago) has recently moved into long-term care, but is still experiencing confusion, e.g., dressing himself at 2:00am. He lives about two hours away and I can't visit him often, but a trip is planned for this weekend. My mom is increasingly forgetting the names of things and is resorting to describing them instead, e.g., that place beside the big drugstore, instead of Tim Hortons and Shoppers Drug Mart. As a retired nurse who used to take care of patients with dementia, she is angrily in denial of any symptoms in herself. She has fallen about ten times since her hip replacement, but only remembers falling once. My cat is experiencing "senior moments" herself more frequently, and is taking the expression outside the box a little too litterally, snort. Plus working in a retirement home whose residents are aging can sometimes make me feel that I'm surrounded by beings who are all falling apart. Sad, and frustrating too.

The point of what I'm saying is that time is not on our side, and we have to do what makes us happy, and what we feel to be worthwhile, NOW instead of tomorrow. To that end, I need to be kind to myself and blog, even when I feel guilty for not keeping up enough with other blogs. Another source of guilt I've been wrestling with is that I've neglected my Etsy shop -- my heart just isn't in it anymore. But I've got all this stuff in my overstocked house that I want to get rid of, so luckily, inspiration struck the other day. Since I can't seem to get motivated for myself, why not for my favourite pink pig? Maybe by donating any net proceeds to the Esther campaign for the rest of this month, my enthusiasm will come back. To sum up, time and money are finite, so use wisely. Oink! ;)

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now.
-- Chinese proverb

Q: how many pigs does it take to change the world?

A: One.

At least, it took only one to change the world for guardians Steve and Derek, and in the process, Esther the Wonder Pig is continuing to change the worlds of numerous folk who follow her adventure. Not surprising, not only because Esther is just so darn cute, but because human animals seem hardwired to like a) stories, and b) specifics. 

Yes, data and facts are important, but throw in a great narrative and we're much more likely to remember and respond to the material. Make the subject of the story a hero (especially animals defying human injustice) and you've got your audience's attention. Finally, make the story about a living being we can relate to (wouldn't each of us try to escape slaughter?) instead of an object that the ag death squads keep trying to turn animals into, and we're really hooked. We like stories, and why not?

As for numbers, even though billions of sentient beings suffer and die, the word billions doesn't seem to give us puny humans enough details. And that makes sense actually. Isn't $549.36 easier to comprehend than $1,000,000? Even in a mere million all those zeroes give us exactly nothing to grasp onto, which is why telling the story of one individual is often more effective than talking about billions of beings. We can't see the faces of that many, can't know the names, and can't follow a heartbreaking or heartwarming tale when too many are included. No wonder that even meat-eating omnivores may cheer on an individual pig or cow or chicken who has managed to escape the clutches of their otherwise familiar fate. We can and do relate to individuals and individual stories of chutzpah. 

So on to the story of Esther, the 450lb "mini-pig" who's changing the world. She's become a celebrity, and you've probably heard of her already, but the exciting part is that the couple who adopted her, the couple whose world changed completely, is now trying to change more lives and more worlds by starting a sanctuary. Right here in Ontario -- yes! So let's just have Steve and Derek tell their tale, while I continue to tell you why I'm so pleased. First, a sanctuary. Always a good thing because the more rescued animals who can live out their lives in peace and safety, the better. Restitution, as I believe veganelder would call it. Second, in my province, woot. There are lots of famous sanctuaries and rescues south of the border, but I'll never step across, so it would be fabulous to have more places closer to home. Third, the guardians of Esther are a gay couple, so not only will they show that animal beings are part of the larger Family, they'll demonstrate that all kinds of human families make the world go round and that love and devotion are what counts, not blind allegiance to more traditional models of family. They're a world-changing couple in more ways than one. Finally, and most importantly, Esther the Wonder Pig!

So check out the campaign. Spread the story, and if you're able, please contribute financially. You could do it for yourself, or as a gift on behalf of a favourite mother for Mother's Day. Just think, if 100 readers donated $10, that would be a grand already. Now wouldn't that be just grand! :)

till the cows come home

Yep, been gone a long time. I last posted on the last day of last year, so I suppose it hasn't been that long, but it sure feels like it.  I've been busy with eldercare, my Etsy shop, plus my casual job is now permanent part-time (and as permanent is getting rare these days I guess I can't complain about it too much, snort), so this blog (and commenting on others) was put on the backburner for a bit. But I didn't want anyone to fear I'd completely disappeared, so thought I'd pop in for a spell and talk about cows coming home.

The title of this post is an idiom of course, and it's always struck me as odd that for a species who tries to deny its animalness as strongly as we do, animal references litter our linguistic landscape as often as factory farms dot the physical one. Sadly, while some cows may indeed have come home when the colloquial phrase was first coined, cows haven't been coming home for a long time. Factory farms aren't home by any stretch of the imagination, and you certainly can't talk about "coming home" when you can't even leave in the first place. So I was happy to see, and happy to share, a couple of instances where we CAN talk about genuinely happy cows and cows coming home. Home to safety, warmth, and comfort.

The following cows (in case you haven't seen them yet) are joyful indeed, and remind us of why happy cows (unless living in a sanctuary) are usually found only within scare quotes:

 

Then, there's Sweety, who truly has come home to not only find warmth and safety, but also genuine friendship:

 

This, my friends, is what love (rather than the saccharine slop dished up by the media) is really all about. More about actions than words, and never species-specific. So find your true heart this Valentine's Day, and go vegan if you haven't already. :)

guess who got to meet Ginny earlier this month!

*** For anyone who subscribes to my blog (and why would you not? especially if I promise to post more frequently!) via Google Reader, please don't forget that the nitwits wise folk who run the world's largest Oggle show have declared Reader dead and defunct as of July 1, which means that you'll have to find another reader OR subscribe via email instead. Yes, do that and I may even promise to be more (less?) snarky than I just was, snort. ***

(And by "earlier", I mean June 2. Why have I not told you about this before now? Heat? Laziness? Life got in the way? Take your pick. Okay, back to post.)

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Well, it was more of a greet than meet, but still! Plus, she signed my copy of Vegan for Life, so that was pretty cool. And how did I get the rare opportunity to see one of my vegan heroes in the flesh? Why, by attending Niagara VegFest of course. Where I also ran into the famous (infamous?) John Sakars. Poor guy. Still doesn't know who I am, but I know who he is, boo haha... 

Back to Niagara VegFest. Sure, it's not as flashy or famous as Vida Vegan Con, but it's free (my very favourite F word, snort) and I was impressed with their speaker lineup. Well done, organizers! Attracting more than 4000 people in your second year in a not-too-big-of-a-city is awesome, so can't wait to see what magic you guys conjure up in the third year.

Went by bus this time so wasn't able to hear all of the speakers, but the three sessions I did attend were fantastic. Plus I learned a phrase that sums it up for many vegans -- WTFork. Love it!

Sessions I missed: Susie Coston "The Over 9 Billion Reasons To Go Vegan -- The Sentience of The Animals We Call Food" (bummer, I was still on the bus), Dr. Michael Greger "The Role of Diet in Preventing, Arresting, and Reversing the 15 Leading Causes of Death (stuffing my face I'm afraid), and Linda Grago "Lessons in Diversity: Growing Heirloom Vegetables" (darn, was taking the last bus out.)

Sessions I didn't miss: Victoria Moran "Main Street Vegan" (great speaker, and great topic -- yep, we so need to make veganism mainstream!), Ginny Messina "Happy, Healthy Vegan for Life: Ten Tips to Guarantee Success" (this session was a success for sure), and JL Fields "Healthy Food Preparation for the Busy Non-Cook: Tips, Trips and Techniques to Eat a Balanced, Compassionate Diet" (JL is funny, informative and sassy -- a classic combo, plus she made us creamy kale miso soup!)

Now, and because I really don't think Ginny would mind if I shared the bullet points of her presentation, here in a nutshell are her ten tips:

1. Eat legumes: 3+ servings per day
2. Choose healthy fats: eg nuts and seeds, making sure to include omega-3 fats
3. Take appropriate supplements: B12 and D daily, iodine several times weekly
4. Enhance iron absorption: eat vitamin C-rich foods often
5. Get adequate calcium
6. Stay up to date with good information
7. Add umami: such as tomato paste, ketchup, miso, nutritional yeast
8. Opt for convenience when and if you need to
9. Stay connected with other vegans
10. Celebrate realistic expectations: while health benefits are a wonderful bonus, it's about compassion 

She also introduced a cool diagram from her new book Vegan For Her:

So, lots of good vegan food, info, and fun. Who could ask for anything more? ;)

being vegan means many things

It means, if nothing else, that you are a witness.

On a continual basis, you are bearing witness to the cruelty and atrocity waged on innocent sentient beings, and while that may sound passive, it really isn't. Seeing, recognizing and acknowledging what others refuse to see, is the first step in changing reality.

Being vegan also means that you're a humanist and a feminist. A human rights advocate, animal rights advocate, a poverty advocate, and a peace advocate. In short, and to sum it all up, YOU are a truth advocate.

You're a student and a teacher, learning and imparting knowledge as you go. You may be a mentor and/or mentee, a mover and a shaker, and some of you are even leaders.

You're an artist and a rebel, a dreamer and a visionary (What is now proved was once, only imagin’d. --William Blake), and a poet.

You're an optimist, an idealist, and a realist all rolled into one.

You're a gardener. Literally, if you happen to grow your own veggies or flower beds, or figuratively as you plant seeds of compassion and change. You're an environmentalist, championing the cause of our host planet and ALL her guests. You're even a nutritionist of sorts, as you pay more attention to what your body needs than most.

You're a warrior for all sentient beings, plus a conscientious objector to the unholy and horrific war on animals.

You're an intersectionist, deconstructionist, and systems analyst as you figure out how justice issues intersect, and how different political, economic and cultural forces collide and collude in keeping oppression alive.

You may be tired, or suffer from compassion fatigue, or even PTSD as unrelenting cruelty will affect anyone trying to make this world a better place. What you are NOT though, is crazy (although living in an insane world can certainly be crazy making), and you are definitely not a domestic terrorist no matter what the real terrorists may claim.

What you ARE is strong, and motivated, and perhaps even a bit of a hero.

So don't ever think of yourself as just a vegan.

Because you're not.

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Easter always makes me angry

Other holidays do too, but the more dominant emotion that both Thanksgiving and Christmas evoke for me, for example, is sadness. Sadness at the senseless slaughter of all those sentient beings who would rather stay alive. Who so deserve to stay alive.

Easter, on the other hand, being such an important Christian holiday, stirs up more anger in me not only because animal beings and products are the theme of this equally secular holiday, but because of the Christian justification of animal use. This justification hits even more close to home as all of my siblings and parents are active church members, I currently work in a Christian retirement home, and live in a small town with a seemingly disproportionately large and vocal Christian population.

This isn't to say that I'm anti-Christian per se. Religious upbringing (indoctrination some would say) can be hard to shake, and I believe that being vegan is the Christian thing to do. (In my opinion, you can be vegan without being Christian, but you can't be a true Christian without also being vegan. Otherwise, it would render the term "Christian" empty and meaningless.) It isn't to say that Christianity doesn't have lots of doctrine that supports veganism. Christ himself, I believe, (whether you view him as a once living or mythical figure) was vegan at heart, and would be vegan if he were alive today. And it isn't to say that I don't know of some very fine vegan Christians. 

But the fact of the matter is that most Christians aren't vegan, the Bible does not explicitly endorse veganism enough, and Christian teachings are actively misused to justify animal exploitation. The word dominion, for example, has been bastardized to mean domination instead of stewardship. And if ANY group of people could be thought of as having a mandate to care for all of God's creation (if you happen to believe in any of the various forms of creationism), wouldn't it be Christians? Secular vegans rightly believe that all sentient beings are worthy of respect, that caring for them is the ethical thing to do, the morally right stance if you will. But Christians, one would think, would have an even deeper reason to not use and abuse any living creature if they truly believed that God loves all. Sadly, most Christians do not adhere to this. And in a sense, I believe this makes animal cruelty all the crueler and morally wrong when inflicted by a person who espouses to being Christian.

On a more personal level, it irritates me that my Christian family has no real interest in why I'm vegan. They're all smart, so unfortunately I can't lay the blame on them not being bright enough to grasp vegan principles. And while it's possible (okay, likely) that I'm hugely projecting here, I sometimes get the sense that while they're a bit sad I'm not "saved", they're actually quite pleased with themselves for tolerating my "vegan lifestyle" and for not saying too much about it. Actually, for the most part, not anything. In this way, they can view themselves as liberal without having to examine their own morals and their own role in perpetuating animal violence. Can you tell this bugs me? Because a part of me feels that if they truly thought I was an intelligent and moral person, they would actually listen to what I have to say. Ah, family dynamics. No wonder so many vegan organizations suggest concentrating on strangers rather than family!

Another aspect of Christianity and veganism is that on a certain level I think Christians are even harder to reach than folk who aren't religious. Because while you would think the Golden Rule would hold even more weight with those religiously inclined, Christians in particular seem to feel that their god has given them permission to do whatever the fuck they want with animals use and abuse other animals as they see fit. It's almost as if you have to do an extra layer of work: No, the cruelty and death we inflict on other sentient beings is wrong, no, we don't have the right to do that, AND no, we don't have God's permission to do so.

Where I stand on animal sentience and rights is pretty clear to me. Not so clear is Christianity. Having been immersed since birth (similar to how society immerses us in trying to accept animal use/abuse as normal), I still want to accept the good of this religion while rejecting the bad. I remember as a small kid arguing with my mom that if God was perfect and just then of course Jews and Muslims would be going to heaven as well, in large part because I think kids naturally have a strong and innate sense of justice. By the time I was twelve I vacillated between thinking I'd be a church minister when I got older, or an atheist. Talk about all or nothing, snort. Instead, I've been on the believer-agnostic-atheist circular loop numerous times, and that will likely not change. Which is fine, because ultimately what you DO is more important than what you say or believe. 

I still believe that the Christ figure (whether real or mythical), was a fine dude and a social revolutionary of his time. An early feminist (he believed women could be teachers, and working women, even prostitutes, were not untouchable), animal liberator (that whole Temple thing), and champion of the poor and downtrodden. I often quip that I get along with Jesus just fine, but that it's his dad I have issues with. And would give a real piece of my mind to, if, um, given that chance.

Anyway, thanks for listening to my Easter rant. Please hug a bunny if you can this weekend, or donate to a rescue organization that provides homes to these fellow beings.

A peaceful and blessed Easter to you all! :)

the road to vegan happiness

The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. --JOSEPH ADDISON

So does this mean that vegans are the happiest humans on earth? Snort. Because boy do we have enough to do, enough to be passionate about (including enough someones to love), and hopefully have enough belief that change will happen. But happy? I try to be, but am not quite sure I can truly say I've become happier since becoming vegan. Being vegan brings with it a mixed bag of emotions, and while being vegan is generally much healthier, there are days where I think I can literally feel my blood pressure going through the roof while reading about yet another atrocity. For someone who still struggles with anger issues from pre-vegan days, anger specifically related to the abominable use and treatment of other sentient beings is another form of anger that rises up almost daily. And underneath that anger is sadness and fear. Sadness at the amount of unacceptable and seemingly unlimited pain needlessly suffered at human hands, and the fear that it can't or won't be stopped quickly or wholly enough. 

And what about the sentient beings we're fighting for? What about their happiness? If the author of the above quote is right, then what about all the animals who don't have something to do? Who don't get to exercise their basic right to do what their species is meant to do? Who are physically confined so that they literally don't have a choice? Who are prevented from having something or someone to love? Who can't possibly have any hope other than perhaps of having their miserable existence ended sooner rather than later? Why shouldn't their right to happiness be as inalienable as ours?

And is it selfish of vegans to want to be happy despite the massive suffering we are witness to? How do we reconcile happiness and grief? How do we continue to be effective activists amidst the emotional flux of anger, sadness and fear swirling all around or inside us? How do we be strong activists for life and prevent burnout, compassion or even vegan fatigue? How do we find that right mix of hope, inspiration, action (vegan + nonvegan), and rest that will serve not only ourselves but also others?

As usual, I have more questions than answers...