Vegan activism

I was watching the video in which Ellen Degeneres describes her reasons for being vegan. Since a number of articles have put the spotlight on the health aspects of Ellen’s diet, it was nice to hear her talk about ethics and animals as her sole reason for choosing veganism. But, at the end of the interview, she uses the dreaded H word—saying that it is “hard,” and “takes a major shift” in one’s life to forego all animal products.

Around the internet, there is often discussion about whether it is okay to ever admit that being vegan can be “hard.” After […]

I don’t think I could live without Vegenaise mayonnaise. It’s so handy for making vegan potato salad and pretty nice to spread on a sandwich with a few slices of Tofurky. I feel the same way about Tofutti brand vegan sour cream; a dollop on top of a burrito or in a bowl of black bean soup makes all the difference in taste and texture.

But some vegans choose not to eat these foods. They object to the environmental and health costs of highly processed products made from soy and other plant proteins, and might even shun […]

Is a vegan diet cheaper than one that includes animal foods? I recently read a comment on the internet about this—saying that a vegan saves $4,000 per year on food.

I don’t think so.

First of all, according to the USDA, food costs for a family of four following a “liberal” plan—that is, one that includes a fair number of higher-priced foods—are $954 per month. That comes out to $11,448 per year for a family of four, or $2,862 per year for an individual. So in order to save $4,000 on food—well, the grocery store would […]

Some friends who work for non-profits—smaller groups in particular—tell me that donations are down this holiday season. It’s not surprising, of course, at a time when many are feeling the economic pinch. And with so many expenses at this time of year and the pressure to create a good holiday for family and friends, it’s easy to put charitable donations way behind other bills.

Because I read Peter Singer’s The Life You Can Save this fall, I’ve been inspired to work harder at giving more. Singer’s focus is on the billion people who live in extreme poverty, and about […]

I’m always curious about what causes a person to go vegan and I always ask. As an educator and an activist, I’m interested in knowing exactly what message grabbed someone’s attention and put them on the road to veganism. My own background is in public health nutrition which means that I studied both nutrition and education. I’ve also taught Nutrition Education courses to dietetics students, and spent a lot of time looking at the literature on how we craft messages to convince people to change their behavior.

But the answers remain elusive for public health experts, and are […]

I have quite a few friends and acquaintances who are vegetarian. I’ve talked with them, of course, about why it doesn’t make sense to give up some animal products and not others. And about the horrible suffering involved in egg and dairy production. Some are making the effort to move toward veganism, and some are almost there. But, sometimes, when I talk to vegetarians about this issue, they are sort of stunned. They thought they had already done something very significant in giving up meat, chicken and fish. They thought they had done enough, and finding out otherwise takes some […]