So I'm Thinking Of Going Vegan

earth hour

One hour. One measly little hour. This one hour translates to 1/24th of your day, 1/168th of your week, and 1/8760th of your year (if my calculations are correct, snort). Earth Hour will be celebrated from 8:30 to 9:30pm on Saturday, March 31, 2012. Please take this time to show a little love for this lovely planet we're allowed to live on, the ultimate mother of us all, in a way. Think about how we treat our hostess, all her other guests, and give thought as to whether our manners could improve. ;)

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. --WILLIAM JAMES

make your vegan goals SMART ones

Resolutions, as I briefly mentioned back in January, are related to, but different from, goals. An easy way to differentiate between the two is to think of resolutions as wishes and goals as plans. And while the ultimate goal of veganism is animal liberation (or is that more of a resolution?), every vegan has (or should have) their own set of goals towards achieving this. So why not make those goals SMART or even SMARTER? 

I'll stick with the SMART acronym for now (although I like the idea of also making goals E = enjoyable and R = rewarding), and for the purposes of this post it stands for:
S = specific, M = measurable, A = achievable, R = realistic, and T = time-based. 

For example, let's say that I want to work on one of my original goals from 2011 and blog more frequently. Using the SMART method, I could state this goal as follows:

Starting in April of 2012, I will post on my blog a minimum of 1-2 times weekly.

This goal would now be specific, measurable, achievable (if the prolific James McWilliams--excellent blogger and writer by the way--can pump out a post daily, surely I can do it at least once a week?), realistic, time-based, and hopefully also enjoyable and rewarding. Now I realize that my little blog won't do much for animal liberation overall, but I think this SMART method is great for accomplishing all sorts of vegan goals e.g., increasing the distribution of vegan literature, trying other methods of outreach, deciding what and how many organizations to support financially, and any number of other vegan objectives.

Remember all the things I wanted to see more of in my veganpreneur post? Well, someone asked if I had tried any of those ideas yet, and as I would love to edit a vegan anthology one day, perhaps I'll make that one of my future goals. So what about you? What would you like to be SMARTER about? :)

springing into action

Well, not quite. After having found my groove again (snort, thanks veganelder), I ended up working full-time for a spell (debating whether I should fight the flu shot requirement or not) and didn't have the energy to blog, or do anything particularly useful for other animals. But today is the first day of Spring, yay, so I hope to be back in action soon. In the meantime, here are some other dates to keep in mind this week: 

March 20: Meatout

March 22: World Water Day 

March 23: One Life -- although not a vegan documentary, I'm always hopeful that films of the Planet Earth genre will at least inspire more respect for other species

March 19-25: Canada Water Week -- discover your water footprint!

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Also, for any Canadian reader interested in working with an animal sanctuary, there's an Executive Director position available with the Donkey Sanctuary of Canada main farm in Puslinch, Ontario. I would encourage you to apply! :)

top ten reasons to go vegan

In a comment on my previous top ten carnist phrases/excuses that drive me crazy post, I mentioned that I might compile a vegan list as well, so here goes. The Top Ten Reasons to go vegan are:

1. other animals shouldn't have to suffer and die for us
2. other animals shouldn't have to suffer and die for us
3. other animals shouldn't have to suffer and die for us
4. other animals shouldn't have to suffer and die for us
5. other animals shouldn't have to suffer and die for us
6. other animals shouldn't have to suffer and die for us
7. other animals shouldn't have to suffer and die for us
8. other animals shouldn't have to suffer and die for us
9. other animals shouldn't have to suffer and die for us
10. other animals shouldn't have to suffer and die for us


11. it's better for personal health
12. it's better for the environment
13. it has the potential to increase global peace
14. it has the potential to decrease global hunger
15. it'll expand culinary experience (your palate will thank you!)

There you go, my hand-picked top ten, snort. I included reasons 11-15, but really, they could easily be thought of as benefits primarily for human animals as opposed to reasons per se. Because what struck me as I was Googling top ten lists was how many did not have animals at the TOP of their list. Human concerns such as living longer, better, healthier and even sexier, for Pete's sake, seemed to crowd out concern for other sentient beings. Well, as nice as those things may be, they're not the primary reason I became vegan. For me, it's all about the top ten. Okay, I can see why these lists would be put together the way they are to entice others to join the fold, but we know better, eh? ;)

top ten carnist phrases/excuses that drive me crazy

Speaking of crazy, is it true that Melanie Joy is now being considered a "new welfarist" by some abolitionists after having written An Introduction to Carnism? I haven't read it myself yet, but that would seem like a stretch. Even if the main focus of animal use in her book is on eating meat, surely it's recognized that while she's dealing with one form of speciesism, she's not denying there are others? Anyway, Top Ten, take it away!

Top Ten Carnist Phrases Or Excuses That Drive Me Crazy:

10. "I respect your personal choice, so you have to respect mine."

 9.  "But what would happen to all the animals otherwise?" 

 8.  "It's not natural because you have to supplement with vitamin B12."

 7.  "The proof is in our teeth."

 6.  "Our brains wouldn't have gotten so big without meat."

 5.  "God said we could."

 4.  "But plants have feelings too!"

 3.  "If lions can kill gazelles..."

 2.  "top of the food chain"

 1.  "circle of life"

Obviously there are more than ten annoying excuses and phrases and no doubt you have your own favourites (let us know in the comments!), but the above ten seem to rankle me the most. Or at least, the quickest. The last two in particular really bother me because they're lazy clichés that folk frequently spew out to justify their habits so that they don't have to spend any real time contemplating why they do what they do.

For a complete dismantling of the above lame phrases and excuses (plus many more) check out Vegan Poet's comprehensive responses to typical comments so that you'll always know how to reply to those still not vegan yet. I'd do it myself, but I'm lazy too. ;)

take a leap

No, not a hike, a leap. Snort. A leap of faith (the world CAN become vegan), a leap in action (eliminate one animal product if you haven't already), or a leap in beliefs (animals DO deserve to be treated as sentient beings rather than inanimate objects). And do it today while you can because February 29 only comes around every 4 years, so why not celebrate by leaping, especially if you're not vegan yet? :)

"I'm not an animal rights activist, but..."

Funny how this sounds awfully familiar to what I used to hear all the time back in the 80s and 90s when a person would announce to me, "I'm not a feminist, but..." before proceeding to tell me something they believed or did that sure seemed like a feminist thing to say or do, snort. I hear the animal rights line up above quite a bit, so maybe "I'm not a vegan, but..." will soon become an oft-heard line as well? What comes first? Beliefs or actions? :)

drum roll please!

Ahem, it's that time, dear readers, to announce the lucky recipient of my first vegan giveaway contest. So, let's stroll over to the random number generator site. Ready? Let's go!

Ta dah! The number is 6. And that corresponds to joy olivia. Woot! Congratulations, you'll be receiving Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's Vegan's Daily Companion.

I'll email and ship said book before you can even trip over these tongue-twisting words: I have won Have Gone Vegan's (also formerly known as So I'm Thinking of Going Vegan) first vegan giveaway contest! 

Thanks to everyone for participating. Aw, I wanted you ALL to win, but my wallet's not THAT full. It was fun though, so maybe I'll do it again sometime. :)

"you're in here for life"

This cartoon amused me greatly as I happened to be finishing my sociology degree a little over a quarter century ago (why does that sound a lot longer than 25 years?), and it has graced more than one refrigerator. At the time I didn't give much thought to the quite literal prison sentences served by sentient beings in zoos, circuses, laboratories (I hadn't even heard of the term factory farms yet) and all other manner of places, although I could relate to questioning the usefulness of this particular degree. And to be fair, I haven't reaped the economic benefits that post-secondary education usually confers, although that was totally through my own doing.

But I like to think that my relatively useless degree HAS contributed greatly to my "I'm in here for life" vegan journey. I initially wanted to major in psychology as I was interested in what made people tick (although to be honest I bet most psych majors, myself included, enter the field trying to figure out what the hell makes them tick, snort), but soon realized that examining why groups of people behave as they do is even more interesting. My education and on-again off-again career in non-profit community research helped me to develop critical thinking skills (I hope), a healthy disdain of academic jargon, life-long impatience with committees and meetings, an awareness that statistics can be manipulated any which way you like, and if nothing else, shaped how I view pretty much every issue, including veganism. In other words, I'm hopelessly sociologically bent. ;)

p.s. Don't forget that my vegan giveaway contest ends tonight. I'm working tomorrow, so plan to draw and post the results late afternoon or early evening. See you then!

p.p.s. In order to make it easier for drawing purposes I did not respond to any comments in the giveaway post, but would like to thank everyone for participating. Good luck to all! :)

Valentine's Day vegan book giveaway

Yep, don't blink, you read that right. And because today is supposed to celebrate cheesy soppy over the top schmaltzy commercialized sentiment love and generosity, I've decided that the best way to show appreciation for my readers is to hold my very first vegan book giveaway. Plus, it'll be fun, and who doesn't like fun in February?

One of the most loving vegans I know of is Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, and I continually marvel at her ability to show understanding and compassion toward folk who would possibly receive sarcasm and snark if they were on my receiving end, instead of hers. I'm quite sure her strategy is more effective than mine is, and she's a definite vegan hero. So I'm pleased to offer her Vegan's Daily Companion in my giveaway. But, in case you already have the book, and to make this giveaway doubly fun, I will let you choose between her book and the nutritionally wise and easy to read Vegan for Life. Already have both books? Then pass it along as a gift. Woot!

How exactly is this contest going to work? Good question. Leave a comment indicating which book you would prefer, and on February 21 (a week from today) I will pick a winner lucky and-the-book-goes-to recipient using a random number generator. So remember, let me know in the next seven days* which book you would like to receive via Amazon (one comment per person), and always ALWAYS follow your vegan heart.

Three things in human life is important. The first is to be kind.
The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind. -- HENRY JAMES

Speaking of kind, I somehow missed the kind of vegan I want to be back in November, but it's excellent reading for Valentine's Day as well. So go read. Now. 

* deadline for entry is Monday, February 20, 2012, 11:59pm

Psst! Checking to see who won? Then click on the drum roll post pronto.

vegan lit for little ones

Because, after all, A person's a person, no matter how small. -- Dr. Seuss, Horton Hears A Who!

Have to admit I never gave much thought to vegan kid lit until Harry lamented the lack of vegan nursery rhymes in response to my last post. The only children's book I had actually heard of before was Ruby Roth's That's Why We Don't Eat Animals, but luckily, Bea provided a great Vegetarian-friendly Kids Book List. Thanks Bea! And this prompted me to do some rooting around on my own. So here's a few other booklists to peruse in order to help our pint-sized vegan heroes of tomorrow:

• 10 Great Books for Vegan Kids
• Vegetarian & Vegan Friendly Books for Kids
• Top 5 Books for Kids
• Vegbooks -- Reviews of Kids Books and Movies

If there are any specific books that you would like to recommend (To Market, To Market, for example, looks fabulous!), please let us know in the comments.

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better. It's not. -- Dr. Seuss,
The Lorax

p.s. I was actually, and quite tragically, Seuss-deprived as a child (didn't even know any English until I was nearly eight), but I figure it's never too late... ;)

wanna be a veganpreneur?

Excellent! I hope many of you do because we sorely need vegan goods and services. And as a consumer wanting to spend my measly dollars in humanitarian sentientarian ways, here's a small sampling of what I personally would like to see more of:

• vegan-themed calendars (both wall and engagement planners) -- because how many did I come across scouring Amazon back in December? Nada. Tsk, tsk.
• vegan books that aren't cookbooks -- because not every vegan is infatuated with food. At least, I'm not.
• vegan books discussing the politics of food, however, are always welcome
• vegan anthologies -- because it would be cool to have collections of authors discussing their vegan journey or other aspects of the vegan experience
• vegan documentaries -- because they rule!
• vegan humour -- more jokes, comics, standup comedians and funny books, please
• vegan art
• vegan plays and musicals -- why not?
• vegan apps 
• vegan directories
• vegan databases, studies and surveys
• vegan classes and courses
• vegan job boards -- there's one or two, but we need more
• vegan career counsellors, and
• vegan life coaches -- with special emphasis on stress and anger management, snort

So, step up to the plate all my vegan entrepreneurial friends and let's fill in the gaps! :)

how long will it take? MLK

Excerpts from the "How Long, Not Long" (aka Our God Is Marching On!) speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on March 25, 1965:

I know you are asking today, "How long will it take?" Somebody's asking, "How long will prejudice blind the visions of men, darken their understanding, and drive bright-eyed wisdom from her sacred throne?"  

Somebody's asking, "When will the radiant star of hope be plunged against the nocturnal bosom of this lonely night, plucked from weary souls with chains of fear and the manacles of death? How long will justice be crucified, and truth bear it?"

I come to say to you this afternoon, however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, because "truth crushed to earth will rise again." How long? Not long, (Yes, sir) because "no lie can live forever."

How long? Not long, because "you shall reap what you sow." 

How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. 

 

A few more quotes by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. can be found on Seth Godin's blog. I particularly like:

The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority.

While Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did not have all sentient creatures in mind in his original sermons and speeches, I am sure his vision of justice would extend to all living and oppressed beings were he to be alive today. 

so what are YOUR vegan resolutions?

While resolutions are usually different from tangible and measurable goals (I'll address goals in a later post), they can certainly be useful in their own right. I made a number of vegan resolutions/goals here and there last year (with a bit of success in attaining some of them), but want to start 2012 with two primary aims:

1. To become more focused on solutions rather than problems, and
2. To become more effective in helping reduce animal use and suffering 

The first resolution stems in a way from a selfish desire because 2011 was personally challenging in ways that I don't even want to talk about, and I can only deal with so much added anger, frustration and sadness. Thus, I don't want to be stuck in what the problems are, but rather dwell on ways to overcome them. I need more hope and optimism if I'm going to be in this movement for the long haul, plus I'm starting to think it's more pragmatic to focus on what's working and to celebrate the gains rather than being mired in the muck all the time. What's that saying again? It's better to be pro-peace than anti-war. Not that I think I'll ever turn into a Pollyannaish good-news-only vegan (and I'll definitely still churn out snarky and/or depressing posts now and then), but for the most part I want to become more positive, and frankly, I want to have more fun on this blog. So, the three keywords this year will be solutions, effectiveness and fun! 

Happy New Year. May 2012 be your most awesome vegan advocacy year yet! :) 

maybe it's not too late? ;)

Have a happy, safe and animal-friendly holiday everyone! Hope to be back soon.

* The cartoon above is by the well-known vegan genius Dan Piraro. He's awesome. 

on hips and hopes

I have never been more excited or hopeful about being vegan. This also means I'm frustrated that I don't have the time right now to tell you about the advocacy experiences I've had of late. In the first three years of being vegan practically no one asked me why. In the last three weeks however, I've discussed the answer with seven different people with some pleasantly surprising results. Am I all of a sudden giving off a "ask me why I'm vegan" vibe? ;)

Alas I'm swamped with taking care of my elderly mom who just had her hip replaced, and even though the surgery went well, her recovery is a different story. Thus, I can't share just yet, but if you're patient I promise it'll be worth the wait. 

the fowl/foulness of Thanksgiving

Yep, it's Thanksgiving Day here in Canada (we Canucks are way ahead, snort), and as a vegan I don't have to tell you about the accompanying sadness that this day brings. Sure, I'm grateful for all personal blessings and am happy with whatever gains have been made by the animal rights movement this past year, but the idea of so many folk celebrating by indulging in cruelty and either not giving it a thought or excusing it by citing tradition overshadows what is supposed to be a joyful occasion.

In the days leading up to this annual glorification of unnecessary slaughter of innocents I found myself increasingly in a foul mood, so to make myself feel a bit better I finally (yes, I've been meaning to do it for ages!) mailed out some of the Would Jesus Eat Meat Today? pamphlets produced by the Christian Vegetarian Association. Had no idea my little town has so many churches covering so many denominations, but 16 of them received the "good news", snort. Have to admit I was a bit tempted to mail them out anonymously, but instead I attached a short note saying "Thank you for reading!" a smiley face, my email address and a postal address on the envelope in case any of them want to get in touch. I also made sure to address them to the person in charge. See, I'm hoping for a trickle-down effect so that if even one pastor/minister/priest takes the message to heart then perhaps they will relay it to their congregation.

I don't know if mailing them out so close to Thanksgiving was such a great idea, but since a fowl stench is in the air anyway I figured it was a good a time as any. And, I was pleasantly surprised to have received one response already:

Dear [my name]
I have received the info booklet that you have sent
It is very informative and well presented
Thanks and God bless
Msgr [name]

Who knows? Even if one little seed gets planted...

p.s. I apologize for being WAY behind in commenting (the human animal I call mom is taking up more and more of my time these days), but I hope to catch up soon.

yes, Virginia, there is at least one other vegan in your hometown

And statistically speaking, even if only 1% of the population identifies as vegan that means there should be 220 of us here. The reality though is that I feel pretty isolated in my hick of a hometown as I haven't met another single vegan in the over two years that I've been back already.  

So you can imagine my surprise and delight when I came across a car in the thrift store parking lot covered with vegan and animal rights bumper stickers. (By the way, if you DO have a car, please use your bumper as a beacon of hope for other isolated vegans.) Pure coincidence too as the only reason I had gone back to the store (I'd been there earlier already) was to get out of the rain. I had no idea of course who or how long the car owner might be, but I had one scrap of paper on me so I decided to be bold and leave my thanks and contact information on their windshield. Wrote something like "Hi, love your bumper stickers! Maybe I'm not the only vegan in [name of town]?" Then I left my first name, email address and phone number, put it in a small clear plastic bag so it wouldn't get wet, and hoped they would notice.

Got back on my bike and just as I was about to leave saw the owner approaching their car! Introduced myself, found out her name was a variation of my own, and we had a pleasant if brief chat before going our separate ways. Have no idea if she will indeed ever phone or email (I didn't get her contact information so can't get in touch myself), but no matter. Just knowing that there's another one of us walking around in the flesh instead of only statistically was enough to make my day! :) 

the stories we tell ourselves

"I don't have a choice."

"I don't have time."

These are two stories (not facts) that many of us tell ourselves constantly. At some point, I caught my own inner voice saying I don't have a choice and then noticed just how often that sentence floated through my mind whenever I made a decision. Balderdash. The beauty of being a human adult (in the free world at least) is that we have the power to make (and change) choices all the time. Every thought, feeling and action can be viewed as a choice, and even choosing not to make a choice is in fact a choice. So the real responsibility is to own your choices and to know what they cost. For the flip side of this however read veganelder's proxy post on how our choices are not always our own as much as we like to think.

The fiction of I don't have time is so universally accepted and repeated that it's become clichéd. We all have the same 24 hours and it comes down to choosing (ah, there's that word again) what to fill it with. What would be more accurate instead of claiming we don't have time is to state that a certain activity is not our top priority at the moment. I mean, most of us watch TV or a movie (not that there's anything wrong with that) when we could also be reading a book, watching a sunset or handing out leaflets. The important thing is to recognize that we constantly make choices about time as well. 

Other stories that we tell ourselves (or are told to us) is that we need to eat sentient beings (we call them animals or meat to make it easier) to be healthy, and that their purpose is to serve us in whatever way we choose. In essence, what we're telling ourselves (until we recognize the stories as fiction) is that their time and the choices they would likely make on their own behalf don't matter. Sound fair?

So, what story are you telling yourself right now? ;)

are YOU a sentientarian? ;)

You know, a person concerned with the needs of mankind allkind and the alleviation of sentient suffering. Also, one who is devoted to the promotion of sentient welfare (I use the term here in the traditional sense of well-being) and the advancement of social reforms. Although closely related to the (speciest?) term "humanitarian", think of sentientarian as going one step (or a hundred miles) further, snort.

If you haven't already switched over, please do so now. There are no forms to fill out, and no fees will mysteriously show up on your credit card. Thank you, and Welcome!