Traveling can present real challenges for eating vegan. Recently, though, I’ve been encouraged by several kind and curious interactions. Here are three scenes to illustrate: Scene 1: When ordering off-menu at a local café, the café owner says, “You know, we should really have more vegan options. I’ll work on that.” Scene 2: When placing an order with modifications, the waiter asks me to explain: “What’s vegan?” Scene 3: When visiting a chain restaurant, the waiter ... Read more ...
Recipes and Why Vegan?
Everyday living for justice includes eating in a way that minimizes harm and nourishes the body, so recipes here are vegan, gluten-free, and mostly whole food plant based (WFPB). In these posts, I also answer the personal question of why I’m vegan by describing the political work of pursuing the rights to existence and self-determination for all humans, non-human animals, and the earth. Posts in this category link ecofeminism and anti-speciesism with movements for social, racial, gender, economic, and environmental justice.
Why I’m Vegan: Ecofeminism
I’ve been holding myself up, preventing myself from writing about why I’m vegan and how central food is to my understanding of justice. I’ve been holding myself up because this writing feels especially important, like it needs to be good, and, therefore, is triggering my need to counter perfectionism. I’ve also been holding myself up because it’s so damn hard to write about being vegan without re-inscribing notions of whiteness and privilege. Especially from my ... Read more ...
Three Chocolate Smoothies for Fueling the Road Ahead
This week’s post picks up on threads about changing my relationship with sugar, rethinking self-care, engaging in everyday resistance, and refueling for continued action. Over the past few months, as I dealt with energy loss and the mind-body split, I also found myself eating so much sugar—more sugar than even is typical for me. Now, as I move into summer and invest in resting, recovering, and restoring for what’s ahead, I’m also practicing a deeper self-love through a ... Read more ...
Why I’m Vegan: Doing Something Small and Sustained
Being vegan, for me, is about imperfectly striving for justice. Rather than all-or-nothing thinking, it’s small-but-sustained action. It’s not a finished state, but about always being in the middle (and mess and muck) of it all. It’s constant, everyday, and enduring—something that keeps me focused daily on the long haul toward justice. Of the many reasons why I’m vegan, an important one is the ritual of doing something every day (actually many times ... Read more ...
Why I’m Vegan: Cookie Dough!
To start a series of posts on why I’m vegan—answering this question that I’m so frequently asked—I’ll begin with perhaps the silliest answer: cookie dough! Since I was little, I’ve loved cookie dough. I’ve also been cautioned not to eat it: “Beth, stop! You could get sick.” The risk of salmonella from uncooked eggs loomed in the air as I stole spoonfuls of raw dough. Though I never got sick, the fear certainly hampered my enjoyment. Since I’ve been vegan, however, I’ve ... Read more ...
Potato & Kale Casserole (vegan + gluten-free): Finding Comfort in the Growth Zone
These days I’m experiencing a lot of stress, finding myself quick to cry, and noticing both tightness in my chest and shallowness of my breath. Undoubtedly, this stress is both personal and political, particular to me and shared in our collective. Conversations throughout the day address concerns about the Muslim ban and travel restrictions, ongoing deportations and abuses of power, challenges to health care, an unwillingness to look for missing black and brown girls, ... Read more ...
Banana, Chocolate, and Peanut-Butter Mash: Changing My Relationship with Sugar and Rethinking Self-Care
The Recipe Ingredients: 1 banana mashed 1 tablespoon of raw cacao or unsweetened cocoa 1 heaping tablespoon of peanut butter Process: Mash the banana; then mix in the cacao and peanut butter (or other nut butter). Enjoy for breakfast, snack, or whenever a boost is needed throughout the day. Rationales: This recipe has just three straight-up ingredients: ground peanuts, cacao/cocoa, and banana. Unlike many sweets, this one is exactly as described (no ... Read more ...
