Veganism in Politics-- Britain's new All-Party Parliamentary Group on Vegetarianism and Veganism

Good news-- in the UK, an "All-Party Parliamentary Group on Vegetarianism and Veganism" has been formed. This group will be made up of politicians from various UK political parties, and it will aim to promote legislative change that will have a positive impact for vegetarians, vegans, and the issues that matter to us (which may include "food and medicine labelling, vegetarianism and veganism as protected beliefs, impact of diet on climate change, and institutional catering provisions", according to the group's website,).

Photo from the Vegan Society's website.

The Vegan Society, the Vegetarian Society, and Vegetarian for Life are collaborating to form this group. The groups has four "Officers": Christina Rees (Labour MP), Kerry McCarthy (Labour MP), Henry Smith (Conservative MP) and Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party Peer).

I don't know whether all the Officers of the group are vegan or not, but I do know that Labour MP Kerry McCarthy is vegan, according to The Vegan Option podcast (see link below).

According to the Vegan Society,

"The APPG on Vegetarianism and Veganism will be a great platform for discussion and learning, with the aim of encouraging legislation change.

This will be a forum for exchanging ideas and concerns relating to vegan and vegetarian issues. Speakers will be present at each of the quarterly meetings, providing an insight to their various expertise. Experts, leaders in their fields and parliamentarians are all welcome to join."

As the Vegan Society mentions, "The APPG on Vegetarianism and Veganism is an important opportunity to get veganism on the political agenda."

I think that it's extremely important for veganism to be acknowledged in political forums. If we want to create a world in which all animals are free from abuse and exploitation, it's important for veganism and animal rights to enter all major areas of society, including (but not limited to) popular culture, industry, media, commerce, law, education, and, indeed, politics.

I'm glad that this group plans to put a focus on veganism, rather than farm animal "welfare" reforms. Although I respect my fellow vegan activists who take a "welfarist" approach to farmed animals, I never spend my time advocating for farmed animal "welfare" reforms. The problem with simply enacting more farmed animal "welfare" reforms (such as putting chickens in bigger cages, etc.) is that "welfare" reforms don't work to eradicate the underlying exploitation of the animals, and they often don't translate into a big change for the animals, anyway. Rather than encouraging people to go vegan and therefore stop the inherent cruelty of exploiting and killing our fellow sentient beings, arguing for farmed animal welfare reforms is ignoring the fact that exploiting and killing animals is fundamentally wrong. Although I wouldn't advocate against farmed animal welfare reforms, I believe we can save more of these animals and transition to a vegan world faster if we focus our energies on veganism and animal rights. I hope, therefore, that this group will keep the focus on veganism and the rights of vegans and vegetarians.

If you're interested in learning more about vegan politicians and how veganism has begun to make its way into the political realm, The Vegan Option podcast has a three-part series called "Veganism in Politics". Part 1 includes interviews with some vegan or vegetarian MPs from Britian, the US, and India who were in office at the time the episode was recorded. Part 2 has a Q & A with three vegan British MPs, and Part 3 is the recording of a debate in the British House of Parliament on World Vegan Day. You can also read about two more vegan politicians in a blog post on The Vegan Option's website here.

If you are a member of the British public and would like to attend the first meeting of the APPG on Vegetarianism and Veganism, you can RSVP on the group's website. If I lived in Britain, I would be very keen to go!

Come on out for Ottawa VegFest 2015!

Hi everyone!
Ottawa VegFest 2015 will be held from 10am to 4pm on June 6th-7th at the RA Centre this year!
For those of you who don't know, Ottawa VegFest is an almost-annual event in Ottawa that celebrates the vegan lifestyle. It is a great event to attend to sample tasty food, converse with the exhibitors, get some free activism material, attend presentations as part of the speaker series, or simply meet like-minded people. Whether you are a vegan or a non-vegan, this event is fun and exciting, useful and informative.
If you live in Ottawa or surrounding areas, I hope you can make it!
Cat

Animal-Rights-Friendly Presents to Give and Recieve

Hi!
Every time Christmas and my birthday approach, I make a wishlist of what presents I'd like to get, since my family asks for ideas of what to get for me. I love the idea of giving and receiving gifts that do good in the world, so I'm planning to ask for some animal-rights-related things on my own next wishlist. If you are making a wishlist for your birthday, Christmas, or another holiday, why not consider asking for a gift that helps the animals, or at least something related to animal rights?
On the other side of things, if you don't know what to get someone else for their birthday or a holiday, you could also consider giving them a gift that "keeps on giving" instead of giving them something that they may never use. (Of course, if you're the one giving the gift and you know the recipient is really never going to use a vegan cookbook or activist material, you might not want to give it to them. That being said, many non-vegans can still use, learn from, and enjoy a vegan cookbook, so whether or not each gift is suitable for a person really depends on the situation and the person.)
Here are some ideas of gifts that you could give or ask for:

• A donation to a charity, such as the Vegan Society.
• A membership to an animal rights or vegan organization, such as your local vegetarian/vegan association, The Vegan Society, or Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine. (Bonus: you may get some cool free stuff when you become a member of some of these organizations.)
• A subscription to a vegan magazine, like VegNews magazine, or one of the other vegan magazines.
• Leaflets, buttons, posters, booklets, pamphlets, brochures, stickers, and other activist material!
• Clothes, lunchbags, mugs, stationery, and bags that have animal rights slogans on them.
• Books/movies to educate yourself or others more in-depth about veganism and animal rights issues.
• A vegan cookbook!
• Other things that will help you with your animal rights activism!

 

If you have any other ideas, feel free to post them below!

Cat

P.S. Have you heard about the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale in April/May? I may write more about that another time, but either way, here is the link to the website: http://www.veganbakesale.org/veganbakesale/index.html.

Colgate and Tom's of Maine-- Not Animal-Friendly in My Books

Hi everyone!
I've recently learned that the company I get my toothpaste from-- Tom's of Maine-- is owned by Colgate-Palmolive, which tests on animals. Although Tom's of Maine itself does not do animal testing, the fact that their parent company does has persuaded me to switch to a different brand of toothpaste.
I've also decided to send a message to Colgate-Palmolive asking them to stop testing on animals once and for all. Below I've pasted a copy of this message. If you would like, feel free to copy and paste the message (with any edits to make it more applicable to you) into the online form at http://www.colgate.ca/app/Colgate/CA/EN/Corp/ContactUs/ConsumerAffairs/ContactForm.cvsp to increase the number of people who are demanding this company to go cruelty-free. Or, if you'd like, you can write your own message (which is probably a better way of getting the company's attention, so they'll be more likely to read each individual message instead of just skimming a lot of them).


"Hello,
I am writing to you because I have recently learned that your company does testing on animals. I am appalled that there are still companies such as yours that do animal testing. Animal testing is unnecessary and terribly cruel. It also dissuades potential customers from buying your products in the future.
There are alternatives to animal testing that many other companies employ. Now that I know about your animal testing record, I have decided to switch to a different brand of toothpaste that is not owned by a company that tests on animals.
Colgate, please stop animal testing and using animal-tested ingredients. In doing this, you may be able to win back some of your ethically-minded customers, or at least prevent any more damage from being done both to your fan base and the animals, the latter having no voice in this matter.

Sincerely,

[Cat]"

The Leaping Bunny: www.LeapingBunny.org

To find out which companies that make cosmetics, personal care products, animal care products, and household products are animal testing-free, you can go to the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics' website, http://www.leapingbunny.org/shopping.php, and do a search-- or, if you'd like, you can scroll down on that page, look beneath the "Get Your Own Shopping Guide" heading, and order a guide or download the PDF guide for free. Their guide notes if the company is owned by a parent company that tests on animals.

Picture from  https://www.facebook.com/leapingbunny/photos/a.365637005501.152863.48644720501/10152533914655502/?type=1&theater or https://www.facebook.com/leapingbunny

Remember, every time you spend (or don't spend) money on a product, you're letting the companies know what you want and what you don't want in a product and company. It's even better if you can specify what exactly you like and don't like by contacting the companies, too! I think it's best to not buy very much in general, but when you do buy things, it's important to support the most ethical and sustainable companies.

Being a Vegan at the Dentist

When I first went vegan, I dreaded the dentist. I was too shy to speak up about what they were putting on my teeth, so I unhappily let them do whatever they wanted to do, even though I knew that the products they were using may have contained animal products. Fortunately, my mom eventually called the dentist in advance of one of my appointments to let them know that I was a vegan. This led the dental hygienist to search around for a vegan tooth-cleaning product. Since then, whenever I go to the dentist, the dental hygienist uses an animal-free product on my teeth!
You can maintain your vegan values at the dentist, too. All you need to do is call in advance-- let them know that you're a vegan, and you want to only have products used on your teeth that are vegan and free of animal testing. It's best to call at least a few weeks in advance so they have time to do their research and order/recieve the product.
Other things to keep in mind:

• Not all toothpastes are cruelty-free/vegan. Many of them contain animal products and/or are created by companies that test on animals. There are companies that do provide vegan toothpaste, however. Here is a list of a few companies that sell vegan and cruelty-free personal care products, including mouthwash and good toothpastes (note: some of these companies may sell both vegan and non-vegan products, so check their websites for more information!):
• Kiss My Face
• JASON
• Tom's of Maine
• For an more comprehensive list of companies that may be vegan (again, check the company websites or product labels to be sure!), see PETA's "Beauty Without Bunnies" list at http://www.peta.org/living/beauty-and-personal-care/companies/search.aspx?Product=6.52
• Oh, and if you floss, make sure that your floss doesn't contain animal products such as beeswax or silk!

Photo courtesty of jpockele on flickr



Vegan Thanksgiving and Halloween!

Thanksgiving

Here in Canada, Thanksgiving is tomorrow! For Thanksgiving dinner, many people go to family parties that unfortunately often involve a killed and cooked turkey and other non-vegan foods, such as gravy, mashed potatoes with milk, etc. If the other attendees/hosts are not vegans or even vegetarians, you might be worried about what you'll eat and how you'll cope!
I had my Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, and I can assure you that your fears are probably unfounded. I brought my own main dish-- Eden rice and beans-- and I brought vegetables for the potluck, so I could have those, too.
Although every family is different, many of you probably won't have to worry about being criticized for your vegan lifestyle. More and more people are following "special" diets nowadays, so it has become pretty commonplace for people to eat different things at parties.
In fact, if you are going to a Thanksgiving potluck party, you could even try promoting veganism-- bring a delicious vegan dish to the party, for instance, for everyone to try. Or, if you're hosting a party, make all the dishes yourself so that it'll all be vegan. This will help people understand just how easy and tasty it is to be a vegan!
If you're seriously worried about how you'll cope with your family and friends at parties involving food, see my post, "Surviving Non-Vegan Meals with Family and Friends".

Halloween

Granted, most of you probably don't go trick-or-treating anymore. But there are still lots of occasions when food might become an issue on Halloween-- for example, if you want to hand out candy at the door of your house or if you're going to/hosting a Halloween party.
Although some sites claim that many conventional candies are vegan, these "foods" often contain truly unhealthy ingredients that no kid should be eating. They also may contain sugar that's been processed with animal bone char.
There are some specialty vegan Halloween candies (made with much healthier ingredients!) that you can hand out instead. Here is a list of some of them:

• Sweet and Sara Marshmallows
• Go Max Go Candy Bars
• Panda Licorice
• Surf Sweets Gummy Candies

If you're going to or hosting a Halloween party, never fear! Just make one of these vegan Halloween-themed recipes (http://www.care2.com/causes/11-vegan-treats-for-kids-and-parties-this-halloween.html) for a frightfully good treat!

Happy celebrating!