Resources

Vegan Food for Everyone

On a recent trip to Costco, I found seaweed salad (vegan in my Costco, although in some areas it contains fish sauce), big cheap packages of tofu, little travel packs of hummus, and delectable stuffed grape leaves.

I was thrilled to come across these and other vegan goodies. But when I reported my finds on facebook, a few people voiced concerns. Was the tofu GMO? Wasn’t there sugar in the seaweed salad? And shouldn’t I be shopping locally?

I do shop mostly—but not exclusively—locally. And there is no shortage of tofu in my life since I live five blocks from the local […]

By Ginny Messina|2013-05-10T12:14:20-04:00May 10th, 2013|Tags: Books for activists, Resources, Vegan activism, vegan products|29 Comments

Ten Tips for Staying Happy and Healthy on a Vegan Diet

There is a long list of reasons why people fail on a vegan diet and return to the world of cheese sandwiches and fish fillets. They might have developed overt deficiencies or vague symptoms of poor health. Some ex-vegans say that they experienced depression or foggy thinking or fatigue without animal foods. Others struggled with challenging social situations or with cravings for animal foods.

The following ideas for staying happy and healthy on a vegan diet are all things I’ve written about before, but I wanted to condense them into a sort […]

By Ginny Messina|2017-11-01T17:14:47-04:00September 12th, 2012|Tags: Beans, convenience foods, Ex-vegans, Fat, glycemic index, Health, Iron, legumes, Mental health, Nutrition, Omega-3 Fats, Resources, Supplements, Umami, vitamin B12, Vitamin D|77 Comments

The Plant-Powered Diet and Best Resources for Vegans

I’ve been a quiet blogger lately. Yesterday’s post on eating disorders was probably my first in a couple of months. It’s mostly because I’m in workaholic mode these days—lots going on in my personal life (nothing bad) and professional life (all good). The big thing that has me glued to the computer some 60-70 hours a week right now—and waking up at 3:00 a.m. to email myself ideas and reminders—is a book that is due to the publisher later this year. I’m excited about this book for a number of reasons, not the least is that it’s going to include […]

By Ginny Messina|2012-08-09T11:41:08-04:00August 9th, 2012|Tags: Resources|33 Comments

Vegan Diets, Critical Thinking, and 9 Blogs You Need to Read

I had the great pleasure of speaking to the members of the Vegan Chicago Meetup last week. In addition to being warm and welcoming, this is another group on my list of organizations that aim to promote an evidence-based approach to vegan advocacy. Before my talk on the Seven Habits of Healthy Vegans, event organizer Dave Sutherland introduced the group’s Vegan Chicago Baloney Detection kit—a guide to critical thinking for vegans, which is based on material from Carl Sagan’s The Demon-Haunted World.

Detecting baloney is no easy thing. Resources on veganism are packed […]

By Ginny Messina|2012-02-21T13:35:28-05:00February 21st, 2012|Tags: Health, Nutrition, Resources|40 Comments

Vegan Non-Profits, and How I’m Spending My Money this Holiday Season

It’s that time of year when my stack of unpaid bills is not the tallest structure on my desk; it’s outranked by the mountain of holiday appeals from non-profits. Most of my end-of-the-year donations go to organizations that work to relieve poverty, promote animal rights and veganism, or help animals in my local community. But with so many groups doing exceptional work, I have to prioritize.

Of the groups that are devoted strictly to promoting vegan diets, I’m pretty picky about where my dollars go. Given my own professional and activist efforts, I’m very disinclined to support those organizations that endorse […]

By Ginny Messina|2011-12-17T13:54:38-05:00December 17th, 2011|Tags: Resources, Vegan activism|3 Comments

An Essential Resource for Pregnant Vegans

If you aren’t a regular reader of my examiner column, you may have missed my review of a new book for pregnant vegans. The Everything Vegan Pregnancy Book is written by my friend and colleague Reed Mangels, PhD, RD.

Reed is an instructor at the University of Massachusetts, co-author of the ADA’s most recent position paper on vegetarianism, editor of the newsletter for the ADA’s vegetarian group, and also the nutrition expert at the Vegetarian Resource Group. I’ve worked with her over the years on many […]

By Ginny Messina|2011-10-31T10:00:53-04:00October 31st, 2011|Tags: Pregnancy, Resources|6 Comments

Reliable Nutrition Information for Vegans

There is tons of vegan nutrition information on the internet and a whole lot of it stands on pretty shaky ground. Last month I read an article—written for vegans—about tree nuts and their effects on health. The writer built what seemed like a rock solid case against consuming nuts by:

referencing some outdated science
misrepresenting the findings from one recent study, and
blatantly ignoring the rather impressive number of studies that have linked nuts to protection against chronic disease.

The article had references and sounded authoritative and […]

By Ginny Messina|2010-05-06T09:15:00-04:00May 6th, 2010|Tags: Nutrition, Resources|7 Comments

Five Must-Read Blogs for Vegans

In preparation for World Vegan Day (today!) I’ve been looking at some of the best resources for new and aspiring vegans. I posted a list of really good free vegan starter guides on the examiner site this past week and a list of five of my favorite new cookbooks over there as well.

Continuing with that theme, here are five blogs that I love. It’s not that easy to choose. I subscribe to around 50 blogs (including a fair number from the meat and dairy industry). I don’t read them all every day, of course, but there […]

By Ginny Messina|2009-11-01T09:37:00-05:00November 1st, 2009|Tags: Resources|2 Comments

Ten Tips for Animal Activists Based on the Life of Henry Spira

In 1973, when Henry Spira was 45, two things happened that sparked his interest in animal rights. A friend gave him a cat (he had no personal relationships with animals until that time) and he met Peter Singer. It was a turning point that gave way to full-time activism on behalf of animals.

Ethics Into Action, written by Singer, is the story of Henry’s work. It reads like an inspirational tale of one activist’s life as well as a manual on how to get things done. The lessons in this book for activists are not to be missed.

By Ginny Messina|2009-10-09T11:53:00-04:00October 9th, 2009|Tags: Books for activists, Resources, Vegan activism|5 Comments

Why I Love the USDA’s New Tip Sheet for Vegetarians

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has just released 10 Tips for Following a Vegetarian Diet, and you could knock me over with a feather. It’s not just that it takes a positive approach; it actually takes a vegan approach.

While the fact sheet lists some nutrients that vegetarians need to focus on, it doesn’t have any of that annoying verbiage about the need to carefully plan meals. (Vegetarians and vegans should, of course, carefully plan their meals; so should everyone else.) More importantly, there isn’t a word about animal products in the whole fact sheet, other than […]

By Ginny Messina|2009-09-25T15:03:00-04:00September 25th, 2009|Tags: Resources|6 Comments