I guess that it is safe to assume that we all enjoy personal achievement in this life as well as accolades from friends, family and the world at large. And I am no different. But I had a different motive when I created this website for myself and for others of all species, both human and non human. I wanted to be better able to navigate the sometimes murky waters of being vegan in a non vegan world. I wanted to become informed, to ascertain for my myself exactly what I do and do not believe and know to be true. I wanted to answer with some authority the questions, queries, curiosity and often flippant and derisive remarks of people who view my veganism as an affront to their way of life, traditions, wants and perceived pleasures. I wanted to be able to get the word out, to sow seeds of inspiration and to help people understand that paying for these products of cruelty makes them complicit in and responsible for the deaths of billions of animals and trillions of aquatic animals every year. I wanted and still want other species to be free, to live their own lives as they see fit, to raise their children without fear, to love their families and to be respected and honored by humans. To this end, I have become a “somewhat” knowledgeable pebble in the collective shoe of non vegans.
I have been at it for just over two years and I have learned the following:
The right to personal choice can never be used as a justification for the exploitation of other species.
Clarity, not condemnation paves the road to a vegan world.
All vegans are plant based eaters, but not all plant based eaters are vegan.
Veganism is both a means and an end.
If we fast forward to the last year of my journey as a blogger, I am pleased to say that the websites and vegans I have contacted have shown interest and have actually published several of my articles and recipes. Now this is great news for me and for the animals for whom I advocate. I do it for them, even though being recognized does tickle my fancy on some level. I am super pleased that the way I write speaks to some people. I am always hopeful that my views confirm what they already know and give them the courage to carry on in their advocacy and/or present them with a perspective that gives them pause for thought and perhaps some new ideas about how to deepen their resolve. And of course, it goes without saying that changing people’s hearts and minds and saving animals, even if if only one at a time is huge for me. A life saved is a life saved and a heart changed and open to kindness and compassion is a heart changed and open. This is how progress is made.
I would like to share with you the websites and vegans which and who have picked up some of my articles. it is my hope that you will check them out, read them, comment on them and share them widely-not for me and my tickled fancy, but for all the ducks, chickens, turkeys, foxes, chimps, birds, horses, bees, dogs, cats, pigs, badgers, fish…who are relying on us to help them out now and forever, Amen!!!! I will also be giving these featured posts a permanent home on my Home Page Menu. I encourage you to click on the Menu Tab entitled Publications from time to time for an update on new publications. If you have any suggestions for any other publication or website that might be interested in my two cents, by all means, please let me know.
The Dodo:
- Saying Goodbye To The Cat Who Changed My Life
- I Was A Hypocrite About How I Treated Animals
- We Choose To Ignore Farm Animal Abuse
VeganMuch:
Veganuary:
- Coconut Rice with Beans and Sausage
- Anne E. McGuigan – Veganuary People Bio
- Shortbread – Recipes
- Mexican Rice – Recipes
I AM A VEGAN: One Movement, Many Voices – M. Butterflies Katz (editor)
On a related note, I do believe that 2016 will see the galvanization of vegans, animal rights advocates and activists working to bring to mainstream media and the world even more attention to our goal of animal freedom.
I encourage everyone to:
Support your fellow activists by sharing and commenting on, where possible, their websites, YouTube Videos, books, published articles, books, Facebook pages and other social media.
If you have a website or blog invite others to contribute articles.
Attend lectures, symposiums, lectures, vigils, marches and Veg Fests sponsored by devoted and dedicated vegans and animal rights activists.
Join those who are chalking, creating advertising campaigns, leafleting and the list goes on.
If you have forged friendships with other vegans in your neck of the woods, invite them to a Vegan Potluck and discuss how to work together to achieve our common goal. Be open to other ideas about how to go about this.
Annie’s Vegan View
Be guided by the knowledge that we all want the same thing.
May all beings be happy and free.
Yay for the Esther photo and link!!!! 🙂 … Thank you for sharing the links. I will try to read as many as I can in the coming days/weeks. I hope your 2016 is going well so far. I’m as well as can be right now…tonight is 3 weeks since Spike passed away. But I will be reading and commenting as much as I can. Thanks again for taking the time to post the links!
Hi Krissa,
Once again, so sorry about Spike. Getting used to the loss does take some time. I am still missing my Chimpy Boy and it has been five months.
Yes, gotta love Esther and her dads and everyone at HEEF, including the volunteers.
2016 is off to a fine start and I hope that continues.
You are welcome for the links. Some of them are repeats of info that is already on my site, but it is nice to get comments on the other sites on which the articles and recipes are published. This helps to create interest in my website and perhaps in the views I have to share.
As always, thank you for your support.
Take care,
Anne
Hello Anne,
Kudos to you for adding your voice to the movement with your blog, articles, actions and much, much more.
I find great comfort in seeing exceedingly more on the Internet and other places about veganism, plant based recipes, blogs, vegan Facebook groups, vegan festivals, vegan groups, vegan restaurants, books, documentaries and so much more. It’s truly heartening.
The voices are getting more numerous and reaching more people. When institutions (for example medical and educational), organizations and governments stop supporting and subsidizing the animal industries, we will see huge changes. People need to hear it from these organizations that animal industries are negatively impacting the planet and that we don’t need to eat animal products to live a healthy life…. in fact, we need to get them out of our lives.
I stopped eating animals 14 years ago and today I am still met with doubt and disbelief when I say to a family member or to a friend “stop eating all animal products to see whether or not your ailment will go away or to see that you will feel better”. The very thought of not eating animals is implausible to them! They won’t even give it a try.
And then, every once in a while, I’m so happy to find out that someone I have know for many years tells me that she has not eaten meat in (3) years. Once again, I am encouraged that eventually people will become enlightened. I hope it won’t take hundreds of years as with other social justice movements. I’m hopeful and confident that a move to plant based eating will occur much sooner because of the speed at which information travels today and becasue of people connecting through social media. Years ago, wherever I went, I was usually the only vegetarian in a group and then later the only vegan in a group. Today, this has noticeably changed.
Hi Cindy,
Good to hear from you and thank you for your kind words. People sometimes ask me why I am vegan and why I do what I do and I tell them I do not know how to do otherwise knowing what I now know.
I hear you about the internet and other venues on which veganism is featured. I certainly have noticed a marked difference in this last year, even though I may not agree how some topics are being covered. But hey, I am sure that lots of people do not agree with what I have to say and how I say it.
The World Health Organization made a huge impact when they published their report about the dangers of eating animal products, especially highly processed meats and sausages. Health and medicine are big money making institutions, so I don’t know how soon it will be before they blow the whistle on the pharmaceutical companies who are pushing drugs on people to treat diseasescaused by our animal ingesting ways.
I don’t usually approach friends and family with this kind of advice unless they ask. they know that I am vegan and they know how I feel about all of it. I think that the inner circle is the most difficult to approach, although my daughter was successful with me. You are brave.
I do find that people barely bat an eye anymore when I tell that I am vegan, whether it be at a restaurant, or in a clothing store or shoe store, or grocery store. Some are even fairly informed about what being vegan means in terms of the products I will and will not use, so this is big progress and I expect that it will continue.
I am delighted to hear that your words has some impact on a friend of yours. These really are very positive victories. I had an e-mail recently from a family member who was proud to share with me his progress in eating fewer animals. Of course I congratulated him, with the caveat that I, as he knows, do not believe in or recommend or support baby steps when it comes to the exploitation of animals. Still, I appreciate the fact that he is thinking about these issues and I did tell him so.
As a good vegan friend of mine says, “I have hope”. I follow his lead for to advocate for a cause that one believes is hopeless is mostly likely a fool’s errand.
Take care,
Anne
I love that quote too: “The best advocacy is the one you are most passionate about. Take your individual talents and use them.” For some it might be to write a blog about veganism.
Someone else will put stickers on fur coats.
Someone else will stand holding a screen for The Cube of Truth.
Someone else will try to gather vegans to promote more vegan options in restaurants.
Someone else will compose a vegan songs.
Someone else will talk directly to vegans in their lives on a regular basis.
Someone else will organize monthly vegan potlucks.
Someone else will wear vegan slogans on clothing.
Someone else will have a vegan tattoo.
Someone else will buy a megaphone and stand alone for 5 minutes a day in front of various businesses to speak out against animal use there.
Someone else will have vegan signs or bumper stickers on their cars.
Someone else carries chalk everywhere and writes messages on sidewalks.
Someone else tries to educate their doctor. Someone else asks their local baker to start watching Bosh videos to learn how to make vegan brownies.
Someone else promotes vegan products by buying vegan dog food for their pets.
Someone else reminds the car dealer that, “no, leather seats are not a bonus because that animal did not want to die and be sat on”…
The list goes on. There is so much we can do – it is in fact endless. And truth be told, we don’t need anyone else to be there with us. We can do activism every single day alone. Each “click” that non-vegans hear or see helps. When they are exposed to 99, the 100th will be the final click that sticks. We are all part of that chain of events. Nobody, regardless of what they say, turns vegan overnight. It takes a village to create a vegan. Each of us has their part.
Hi Kadie,
Welcome to my website and thank you for your thoughtful comment. I particularly like your last selection. when I bought my Mazda 3 almost four years ago, I asked them to switch out the leather steering wheel and stick shift. It was a condition of the sale and they did accommodate me and I had an opportunity to tell them why.
Take care,
Anne