Oh my, oh my, oh my, have I ever been sick. People often say that this is the worst time to get sick or that they can’t afford to be sick, but I ask you, when is a good time? I have been burning the candle at both ends getting our house ready to sell, getting knocked out of my socks when it sold right away leaving us scrambling to find a new abode. All done in less than a month and now we are moving the first week of May. We will be doing some renovations at the new house before we move in, so decisions about and shopping for said renovations need to be accomplished pronto.
So, of course, I got sick one week ago and still am a little bit sick. To answer the age old question, “Do vegans get sick?”, I say, “Indeed they do.” Even vegans like me who follow a low fat, high carb plant based diet with minor indulgences. But, I must say that I get sick much less often and have much more energy than I used to. I am sure that many vegans don’t get sick at all and some non vegans, too and my hat is off to them, but I don’t seem to be one of the lucky ones.
All these sniffles, congestion, sore throat and barking cough led to a lot of sitting around. One does get tired of the stream of dumb shows on TV, so I decided to read the paper, which I must admit, I don’t do very often. I spend much more time researching AR issues and don’t have a lot of time left over. So, picture this – a red nosed lady wearing a nightgown and a sweatshirt and slippers with a box of Kleenex by one side, a vat of water by the other, a blanket and a cat sitting on my lap while I peruse The Montreal Gazette, looking for anything that might be interesting. Not pretty, right, but I do need to set the scene. LOL!
I stopped really looking at the Food Section years ago because, quite frankly, the recipes for Pig Tenderloin, Roast Cow and Desserts made using chickens’ eggs and the milk of cows leave me appalled, saddened, frustrated and discouraged. But, I was desperate for a distraction. Lo and behold, nestled amongst the regular carnistic authors and their cruelty filled recipes, I find, on the front page no less, an article about a recipe developer who features plant based food. Her name is Reveena Rothman-Rudnicki and she is from NDG of all places. I live 20 minutes from NDG. How cool is that?
She is a sweet young thing who overcame a diagnosis of Crohn’s disease and the medication that further compromised her health by giving up refined sugar, dairy, caffeine, alcohol, and gluten. She was already a vegetarian, so meat had long been out of her diet. Reveena manages her disease with plant foods. What a concept!!! And, the good news is, she is sharing what she has learned with us. She has a website and a YouTube Channel on which she demonstrates her recipes.
In her own words, Reveena states:
I want to cook and eat in a way that’s good for my body and for the environment. And I want to help others learn to eat in a better way, too.
Oops! This is where she loses me a bit. Her statement is perfectly fine and has great value, but does not fit in with her use on her website of the words vegan food, rather than plant based food. I am sure that it is an oversight or a misunderstanding of the ethics of veganism. It is a common occurrence these days. But, in my humble opinion, it sends out a wrong message-the message that one becomes vegan to benefit one’s health and that of the environment. This is simply not the case. Veganism is about the 65 billion non human beings who die annually in our death for profit industries. We must not forget about these beings or lump them in with a food, health or environmental cause.
That having been said, I am delighted to see anything that raises awareness about plant based eating and hopefully, veganism. Her recipes are a breath of fresh air in a sea of cream, butter, eggs, pig, cow, lamb (horror!), veal (more horror!), fish, seafood, and the list goes on….. Be aware that some of Reveena’s recipes are not 100% plant based.
Annie’s Vegan View
Making it to the front page of a mainstream news rag is golden.
I encourage my readers to send a polite, congratulatory e-mail to Reveena complimenting her on her work and suggesting that she redefine her use of the word vegan on her website. If you do, be kind.
Clarity, not condemnation paves the road to a vegan world.
May all beings be happy and free.
Sorry to hear you got sick. 🙁 I hope by now you’re all better. I’m seeing this a few days after you posted it.
Yep, the whole vegan diet as opposed to lifestyle seems to be a factor more and more. About a year ago I read that Mayim Bailik is vegan so I checked out a post she’d written for a website that I now can’t remember the name of. And it was very similar….she is vegan, but it came across as being vegan for health and environmental reasons. She did write a bit about not hurting “animals”, but it wasn’t much and I remember being just a little disappointed by that. Admittedly I haven’t looked her up since then so maybe it was only that article or, she’s developed as a vegan more by now. But I sort of feel like any way to get people on board. They might start out for their own selfish reasons (to look better, cure some illness, etc.) but when they see the amazing results I would hope that would encourage them to look further into it and adopt the entire lifestyle because they want to, because they know it’s the right thing. I think it would be possible for a non-vegan to adopt a vegan lifestyle even if they don’t have the same deep love and kinship with other animals as a lot of us vegans do. Simply to have a conscience would be enough for someone who isn’t maybe as emotionally close to our fellow beings as we are to become fully vegan – and not see it as simply a diet or environmental issue. Although those are definitely huge benefits of being vegan, they aren’t the *reason* behind what the spirit of truly being vegan is. Hm, and leave it to us humans to have developed languages the way we did so that words aren’t just straightforward in so many cases. We certainly make things much more complicated than our fellow beings do!
Again, I hope you feel better by now! Congrats on the new home and I wish you a smooth transition and much happiness in your new place. 🙂
Hey Krissa,
As always, it is good to hear from you. I must admit to trying out a vegan lifestyle partially for health reasons. But it was certainly not very long before I understood the importance of standing up for the nonhuman beings who suffer greatly for our proclivities. I certainly welcome anyone in the door for a personal reason and then invite them to stay for reasons of kindness and compassion. Still believe it is essential to keep making the distinction between plant based and vegan, hoping all the while to inspire people to see veganism as an opportunity rather than an obligation, health issue, environmental issue etc…. Veganism is freeing, loving, fun, peaceful….all good things.
Yes, we humans do complicate and confuse almost any issue with hyperbole, language, personal agendas, avoidance of the truth and change and the list goes on. If we could only bring everything down to the common denominator, life might be a little simpler.
My cold has decided to take root, but hopefully for not too much longer. Thanks for your good wishes for our new home. We are sorting, packing, selling stuff, organizing…You name it, we are doing it, but it is all for a good cause.
Many thanks,
Anne
Hi Anne
I think managing diseases with plant based foods is brilliant but like you said we have to be doing it for the animals not our own gains but this is a way into veganism for a lot of people and then they learn about the difference they are making to animals later. Which way round we do it doesn’t really matter in my book. As long as we get there in the end, that is the main thing. We need to look after ourselves too.
Its really encouraging to see that you saw this in your local newspaper. I am noticing more and more of this kind of thing where I live too, but sadly not enough. The Phyllo parcels Reveena makes look delicious. I am learning more and more about vegan cooking and baking through your website. Thank you!
I hope you are well and truly settled in your new house now!
Hi Rachel,
We definitely do need to look after our own emotional and physical health. I am glad that you are enjoying the food articles on my website.
Take care.
Anne