Food for Thought: Eat Healthfully, Live Compassionately, and Be Joyful

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.  But there is hope. Try this, inste

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. 

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

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." 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. 

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! patreon.com/colleenpatrickgoudreau

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. 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.” Listen.

We are living in a time when group loyalty and identity politics are valued more than reason, critical thinking, tolerance (just basic tolerance) for another point of view, and compassion. And it scares the bejesus out of me. Here's my call for compassion.

The Taming of the Cattle (REBROADCAST)

Are Avocados, Almonds, and Figs Vegan?

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