Sea Shepherd
Sea Shepherd
La Panthere Verte Food Truck
La Panthere Verte Food Truck

There have been a lot of wonderful firsts in my life since I sat down last New Year’s Eve to a create a blog  that has since morphed into this  website about veganism. My initial goal was  to contribute, to ease suffering and to educate myself. Along the way I reconnected with a friend who was a vegan long before I understood what being vegan meant. I attended a demonstration calling for Quebec to recognize and legalize the moral status of nonhuman animals,  another calling for the closure of all slaughter houses and most recently, The People’s Climate March, where I walked under the banner for Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret.

I joined a Vegan Meetup Group, visited three Farm Sanctuaries and attended a Plant Stock Engine 2 Diet Retreat with my husband. I continue to watch many wonderful documentaries about nonhuman animals, our destructive eating habits and the planet we call home. I have read a ton about advocacy, human health, veganism, kindness and compassion. I have seen some images and read some things that make me incredibly sad and others that give me hope.

Despite my ongoing struggles trying to forge a friendship with my computer, I have managed to ramp up my presence on social media and have met, online, many like minded people who are willing to share and discuss their views about all things vegan. It has, and continues to be, a valuable learning experience.

Dr. Michael Greger
Dr. Michael Greger
Lunch by Veganessa
Lunch by Veganessa

Most recently I have met, in person, some  wonderful  people who are vegan and who bring their own unique perspective to the vegan movement. This vegan wave was more than apparent at the First Annual VegFest that I attended in Montreal this past weekend. My lovely vegan daughter spent the weekend with me as we walked the crowded halls of UQAM and witnessed and participated in the excitement and enthusiasm of everyone there. There were fantastic lectures, workshops, booths of people and groups presenting their vegan wares. Thank you to the organizers who did a tremendous job in bringing this event to fruition.

Some of my new found friends were there and I am happy to be able to share with you their thoughts about this grand and hopeful event. Without further adieu, here they are. Enjoy!!!!

Allison 

allison and me
Allison and Me

I was most excited by the turnout to the festival. To see so many like-minded (though with many different perspectives) individuals coming together to advocate for animals was inspiring. As a vegan with very few vegans in my life, the connection I felt to the vegan community at large felt like a relief – like finally getting something that had been missing, What surprised me, however, was the subsequent disconnection I felt from others when returning to the ‘real world’ – the world we want so much to change. It was eye-opening for me, reminding me that veganism is not just about refusing to participate in the use of animals, but also about advocacy. I’m not yet sure what changes this experience will effect in me, but I imagine there are some on the way. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to attend the festival, and hope for many more in the future.

Jimmy Videle

Jimmy and Friend
Jimmy and Friend

Leading up to the first annual vegan festival in Montreal this past weekend , September 26th and 27th, I had been posting on my own Facebook page a poignant variety of topics related to switching over to a plant-based diet. Everything from the disturbing documentary ‘Meet your Meat’ to statistics of the enormous animal agriculture industry in Quebec. They were difficult discoveries, but as a new vegan (just in the last two months) it was like there was a 1000 page book sitting on a table that I passed every day of my life, and one day finally opened it to page one which blew my mind wide open.
My personal role for the festival was in presenting the documentary ‘Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret’ which originally turned me on to a vegan diet which was better for my personal health, the earth that nourishes us and the animals we share it with. I was hoping to find community that understood and accepted these values.
What I found during the course of two days was inspiration taking me to new heights, food paradise that made the taste buds dance and a compassionate community with the moral and ethical responsibility that I believed. From Dr. Greger’s invaluable research on the health benefits of a whole food, plant-based diet to Elise Desaulnier’s panel discussions on animal advocacy; from Steve and Derek the compassionate parents of Esther: The Wonder Pig to Ori Shavit’s personal vegan story and the monumental shift of the Israeli people.
It confirmed deeply in my soul that my decision to become vegan was not just the right choice for me but also greatly benefited every other being on the planet that we share a breath with.
Positively transformative.

Lily Visco

Lily
Lily

The First Ever Vegan Festival in Montreal ~ Wow I’m surprised! Being vegetarian and then vegan for well over 20 years now, but thank goodness for Cowspiracy (great timing!) It was screened at the Festival, which could make up for all the years Montreal has not had a Vegan Festival.
No matter what angle people first come to deciding on a plant based vegan diet, whether for the planet or for ethical treatment of animals or personal health reasons, I believe soon enough we become aligned with our true nature of non-violence toward nonhuman and humans alike. As well as wanting to have a long healthy life for ourselves and our loved ones and treating the planet as a living thing, take sustainable actions so we and the others to come can enjoy to the fullest!
I won’t spend too much time trying to understand why this has been kept from us ~ why our leading environmental organizations have not been addressing the number one cause of our planet destruction. I pretty much know what I need to know on that end, rather I will do all I can to spread the word. And now with Cowspiracy along with Colleen Patrick-Goudreau and Gary Yourofsky, etc., it will make it that much easier and faster to inform people, therefore, allowing for informed decisions.
… This is huge – we have never had such crucial information out like this before, and I for one do not see it going away no matter what the unconscious greeds try to do or the silent side-steppers continue not to do!! The time has come and the pendulum is swinging toward the right =D The people on the right stand united! =)
Btw, a quick note on how wonderful Dr Michael Greger’s talk was and of course Jimmy and Melanie’s great ways of spreading the word and last but not least Anne my awesome vegan friend.
To Freedom

Mélanie Bernier

Mélanie & Guizmo
Mélanie & Guizmo

Le tout premier festival végane de Montréal a eu lieu le 26 et 27 septembre dernier.
Ca tombe bien je suis devenue végane il ya à peine deux mois.
Curieuse d’en savoir plus et de sentir le mouvement végane de Montréal prendre place. J’ai été agréablement surprise de voir autant de monde. C’était carrément remplie le vendredi soir avec la conférence du Dr. Greger et le samedi tout autant. Wow!
Ce qui m’a beaucoup plu et inspiré,
Ori Shavit, et la révolution végane en Israel. What! Amazing!
Rencontrer les Papas d’Esther la miliante végane la plus populaire sur les médias sociaux présentement.
Quelle famille hors de l’ordinaire.:)
Le panel avec les trois avocates en droit animal avec Sophie Gaillard,Valéry Giroux et Kristin Voigt,. Merci cela m’apporte à pousser ma réflexion plus loin , et il est temps dès maintent de changer le statut juridique des animaux. Je lis présentement la libération animal de Peter Singer pour en savoir davantage sur l’éthique animale.
Il ne faudrait pas oublier la nourriture, des chefs, des créateurs qui m’ont découvrir en autre que le fromage aux cajous est totalement délicieux. La nourriture végane, ce n’est pas seulement enlever tous les produits animaux de notre diète mais c’est surtout partir à l’aventure et rajouter tout plein de nouveaux produits de grandes qualités, qui goutent bons, ne nuisent pas à notre santé et qui surtout n’esclavagent aucun animaux.
Cette journée m’a fait du bien. Ca m’a fait du bien de voir autant de monde curieux, ouvert et à la recheche d’un monde meilleur. Des gens qui se préoccupent du bien être des animaux, de l’environnement et de leur santé. Ce que l’on retrouve beaucoup trop peu dans les masses médias.
Merci au festival et à l’an prochain.

Annie’s Vegan View

“Be the change that  you wish to see in the world.”  Mahatma Gandhi

Join the voices working for the freedom of all living beings on this earth.

May all beings be happy and free.

Anne

 

Vegan Views and the First Annual Montreal VegFest

5 thoughts on “Vegan Views and the First Annual Montreal VegFest

  • October 8, 2014 at 10:10 am
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    Thanks so much for sharing this. Always interesting to hear what other people took away from it.

    Reply
  • October 16, 2014 at 8:35 pm
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    And you got to see Esther’s dads! 🙂

    Great idea sharing other people’s perceptions. Thanks for doing so.

    Reply
    • October 16, 2014 at 9:56 pm
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      Hi friend,
      You are welcome. I learn so much from the way people look at the same issue, so I guess I am actually doing myself a favour when I share these perspectives.
      Esther’s dads gave a very heartwarming and hopeful talk. To hear about their commitment to Esther and about their understanding of what it means to be vegan is inspiring.
      Many thanks,
      Anne

      Reply
  • October 20, 2016 at 8:11 am
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    Hi Anne!
    I am so glad you enjoyed the vegan festival! I went to my first one last month in Hull. I think it was the second year of them having one in Hull. I went with my vegan friend and her vegan husband and her 8 year old daughter, Isabel who they are bringing up vegan. I only have two real-life friends who are vegan and they both live in Hull. When I say real-life, I mean I have met them personally and are not people I met on social media.

    I immediately felt welcomed and like I was amongst fellow compassionate people in which we all shared the same goal. We all wanted a vegan world! The vegan festival was held in a two storey building. The ground floor contained lots of foods from all over the world. Indian food, Mexican food and Chinese food and it was all vegan. I felt spoilt for choice and it was great not to have to ask about whether the ingredients were vegan or not. I had a wrap that contained salad and falafels and it was delicious. There were lots of cakes too. Upstairs there were lots of stalls from people like Sea Shepherd and The Dr Hadwen Trust. It was great to have the opportunity to talk to so many interesting people about how we can help the animals. There were lots of stalls selling T.shirts and vegan products, including toiletries and chocolate and sweets.

    I really enjoyed the day and can’t wait to go to my next one. I am hoping to go to one on the 20th November this year at The Stadium of Light in Sunderland. I am going to try and get my brother to go with me He isn’t a vegan and I am not sure he will go but I will be happy to just go on my own. I’m not sure I could ever really feel on my own at an event like that!

    Take care

    Rachel

    Reply

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