Colleen Patrick-Goudreau - On Being Vegan: Reflections on a Compassionate Life

On Being Vegan: Reflections on a CompassionateLife

by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

No book can replace the diagnostic expertiseand medical advice of a trusted physician. Please be certain toconsult with your doctor before making any decisions that affectyour health, particularly if you suffer from any medical conditionor have any symptom that may require treatment.

Published in the United States by MontaliPress.

The Joyful Vegan is a registered trademarkof Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2013 Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoymentonly. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people.If you would like to share this book with another person, pleasepurchase an additional copy for each recipient. If youre readingthis book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for youruse only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase yourown copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of thisauthor.

Praise forOn BeingVegan

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau has once againmanaged to pack a small, easy-to-read volume with invaluableinsights that are enlightening for both new and longtime vegans.Even though I've been active in the vegan movement for over 20years and have written my own books on the subject, On BeingVegan provided me with new wisdom and a deeper level ofpersonal empowerment. ~Melanie Joy, Ph.D., Author of Why WeLove Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows; President and Founder ofthe Carnism Awareness and Action Network

"With her unending wealth of knowledge,insightful personal experience, and authentic affection for herreaders, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau offers this deeply engagingmanifesto on just about everything the conscious consumer pondersin a way that everyone can digest. ~Jasmin Singer, ExecutiveDirector of Our Hen House

With On Being Vegan, ColleenPatrick-Goudreau demonstrates once again why she is a leading voicein the worldwide movement toward a more compassionate way ofliving. Drawing on her years of experience as an animal activist,vegan cookbook author, podcast producer, cooking instructor, publicspeaker, and confidante, Colleen explores what it means to live afully awakened lifea life steeped in an abundance of choices,flavors, and new experiences. Whether youre a longtime vegan orthinking of taking the leap, youll find On Being Vegan tobe a healthy helping of commonsense advice and myth-busting. ~MarkHawthorne, author of Striking at the Roots: A Practical Guide toAnimal Activism and Bleating Hearts: The Hidden World ofAnimal Suffering

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau is a visionary. Shetranslates vegan ideals into accessible prose and practice moreeffectively than any animal advocate I know. The fact that she doesso through the seductive conceits of cooking, eating, and personalnarration allows her authentic voice of compassion to echo across adivide too often marked by acrimony and confusion. Relentlesslypositive, her message will intuitively appeal to vegans,almost-vegans, and no-way-I'd-ever-be vegans alike, which is tosay: all of us. ~James McWilliams, vegan advocate, blogger, andauthor of A Revolution in Eating and Just Food

As veganism continues its unremitting expansion intoour culture, there are few working as persistently and creativelyas Colleen Patrick-Goudreau to help people understand the profoundbenefits of vegan living, and what it actually is. In On BeingVegan, she provides a solid foundation for both the theory andpractice of vegan living, and covers, in a concise and readableway, the immense breadth of veganism as well as how it affects thedetails of daily life. This is the first in a series, and in thisoverview, she brings her characteristic thoughtful and empoweringperspective that has endeared her to so many people searching forguidance and clarity in their quest for living more compassionate,healthy, and aware lives. Highly recommended. ~Will Tuttle, Ph.D,author of the acclaimed best-seller, The World Peace Diet;pianist, composer, Dharma Master in the Zen tradition, and joyfulvegan since 1980

More by this Author

(New Edition)

On Being Vegan : Reflections on a CompassionateLife

Vegans Daily Companion: 365 Days of Inspiration for Cooking,Eating, and Living Compassionately

Color Me Vegan: Maximize Your Nutrient Intake and Optimize YourHealth by Eating Antioxidant-Rich, Fiber-Packed, Color-IntenseMeals That Taste Great

The Vegan Table: 200 Unforgettable Recipes for Entertaining EveryGuest at Every Occasion

The Joy of Vegan Baking: The Compassionate Cooks Traditional Treatsand Sinful Sweets

Dedication

To my amazing husband and fellow joyful vegan DavidGoudreau, whose unshakable support and unconditional love form thefoundation on which I stand.

Tableof Contents

Bibliography

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Thank you so much for picking up On BeingVegan: Reflections on a Compassionate Life. The essayscontained within address the core aspects of what it means to bevegan.

• In the first chapter, I recount my own personal storyfrom compassionate child to desensitized adult.

• Chapter 2 explains the origins of the word vegan,its definition, and its meaning, as I understand it.

• In Chapter 3, I offer a brief history of ethicalveganism, demonstrating that it is a means to livingcompassionately.

• Chapter 4 provides an overview of some of the mostcompelling reasons people choose to leave animal products off theirplates and links them together under one umbrella of socialjustice.

• Chapter 5 offers a response to some of theromanticized excuses we make for eating and using animals.

• Chapter 6 offers some insight into the ethicalconsiderations around the consumption of chickens eggs.

• Chapter 7 answers the questions about humanelykeeping female animals for their milk output.

The topic of veganism is massive, as ittouches every aspect of our lives, and this book is just the firstin a never-ending endeavor to change the way we think about, treat,and relate to non-human animals. My hope is that the content hereinprovides a foundation on which you can begin to build your ownstory.

As you enjoy this book and await subsequentcompanions, I invite you to explore my other works and books,including:

• my other books: The Joy of Vegan Baking,The Vegan Table, Color Me Vegan, Vegans DailyCompanion, and The 30-Day Vegan Challenge. Availableeverywhere books are sold.

• my online multimedia program, The 30-Day VeganChallenge: provides everything you need to make the vegantransition confidently, healthfully, joyfully, and deliciously. 30DayVeganChallenge.com

• my podcast, Food for Thought: addresses every issuerelated to being vegan, including food, cooking, nutrition, animalrights, family dynamics, food politics, and social psychologyanddebunks the myths surrounding these issues. Its free and availableon iTunes, on Stitcher, and wherever podcasts are played. FoodforThoughtPodcast.com

• my website: recipes, resources, videos, andeverything you need to live compassionately and healthfully. JoyfulVegan.com

Thank you for letting me be a part of yourjourney. Im so glad were on this ride together.

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

I was raised in a typical American familyeating the typical American fare: anything that walked, swam, orflew. My father owned ice cream stores, and we had a separatefreezer to store the gallons he brought home. Veal Parmesan was acommon menu item in our house and in local restaurants, Chicken ala King was my favorite dish, and I drank chocolate (cows) milkwith abandon. I didnt necessarily choose these foods. They werechosen for me. Nobody told me what they were made from, and when Iasked, my parents and the adults around me either evaded thequestion entirely or deceived me completely.