Learn and Celebrate with the Bite Size Vegan at the Central Florida VegFest

What a great time to be in Florida! Yeah... Not only has the weather been gorgeous but in just a few days on Saturday Oct. 25th I'll be attending the 9th Annual Central Florida VegFest. As in every year I have attended there will be lots of incredible booths filled with goodies, useful vegan information, delicious food and outstanding speakers.

I am thrilled that this year's speakers will include Emily Moran Barwick who is the sharp mind behind Bite Size Vegan. Her 3:00 PM talk will be on Veganizing Via Video: Effective Digital Activism & The Bite Size Vegan Story.

In this day in age people connect the most through digital means and social media. We are a visual culture with a waning attention span and it's important that those working to spread the message of veganism find ways to educate within this paradigm. Emily will share with you her personal journey with video activism, including her inconvenient tech-phobia and missteps, as well as speak to the key components of developing your own digital activism. She will also share some of the Bite Size Vegan videos and save time for questions.

Emily says "my hope is to help people really look at our reasoning behind what we do to animals; to examine our justifications more deeply than 'that’s the way it’s always been'.

I'm taking notes! ;)

In the meantime if you can't attend this fabulous VegFest celebration --- Check out her awesome videos that pack so much useful information in an easy to swallow little nugget... Below are two of my favorites - The first is from the Vegan Ethics and Morality Playlist:



And this 3 minute gem is jam-packed with cleverness, talent and truth!



For me hearing Emily speak in person will be the highlight of this VegFest... I'm certain her humor, enthusiasm and well-reasoned communication will make its due impact here in Florida... I know her high energy is just the jump start I need! 

Thank you Bite Size Vegan for all you do and for coming down to the Sunshine State! :D

PETA - The Wacky Relative That Sometimes Gets It Right

As I mentioned here almost two years ago I don't often post much from the PETA camp... But I could find nothing in what Ms. Kirk has to say in this video that I disagree with. Can you?



If you do disagree and believe that violence towards nonhumans is acceptable... Please re-examine why you think that. Please question your premises with a critical eye. Please put yourself in the place of that other animal in order to come to a better conclusion. If you refuse to do so... You are a danger to us all.

As often as Herman had witnessed the slaughter of animals and fish, he always had the same thought: in their behavior toward creatures, all men were Nazis. The smugness with which man could do with other species as he pleased exemplified the most extreme racist theories, the principle that might is right.
Isaac Bashevis Singer, Enemies: A Love Story

*Thanks to VeganElder for the title inspiration

Compassion Is The Only Way To A Happy ThanksLiving Day

With gratitude to all those who live compassionately. <3

A Tradition Of Compassion - A Vegan Heritage

There's this tradition:

Heritage Turkey Processing

Or you can make a new ones:

In Thanksgiving For the Birds, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau eloquently debunks the myths around the "traditional" foods surrounding Thanksgiving.

"Most people don't know that our contemporary customs at Thanksgiving, namely the serving of turkeys, were shaped and popularized by a magazine editor, Sarah Josepha Hale, in the mid-1800s. Whatever meaning we attribute to this Thanksgiving holiday is most certainly not lost (in fact, it is enhanced) by creating food-based rituals that affirm rather than take life, that demonstrate compassion and empathy rather than selfishness and gluttony, that celebrate the fact that no one need be sacrificed in order that we should eat."

And in Talking Turkey she speaks truth to power: "If you've never met them, turkeys are magnificent animals, full of spunk and spark and affection. I've introduced many people to the critters at farmed animal sanctuaries, and the animals with whom people have the most transformative experience are the turkeys. Every time. Never fails. Join me as I tell some stories of special turkeys I've had the privilege of meeting and as I explain why I'm still making amends to the animals, whose breasts, legs, and wings used to darken my dinner plate." 

*****

“A farmer gave his son a hatchet and a turkey saying, "Take this bird out behind the barn where no one can see you and kill him.”  Being an obedient son, the boy vanished behind the barn only to return several minutes later with the still very much alive turkey.  “What is the matter?” asked the farmer. “Did you not understand my instructions?”  The son looked his father in the eye and said, “But Father, everywhere I went the turkey could see me!” The son in this story has made the shift in awareness that we feel the people of this world need to understand. Just because a sentient being cannot talk does not mean they don’t have a point of view on whether they live or die.”

Seth Tibbott

President and Founder

Turtle Island Foods and Tofurky

You can read about Seth Tibbott, who has literally saved the lives of millions of birds, here, here, and here.

photo courtesy Leilani Münter for The Ghost In Our Machine

Thanks to all who have made compassion 

part of the vegan heritage. :)

Interview with Shaun Monson on Unity and Earthlings

I was elated to listen to veterinarian and vegan advocate Dr. Armaiti May interview Shaun Monson about the making of the movie Unity whose four chapters Mind, Body, Heart and Soul weave the hopeful vision of the movie's title.

In this interview there are several clips from just a few of the 80 voices that contributed to the intensely powerful narration.

My favorite lines are these that help define that what we feed the body reflects how we nourish the Mind, Heart and Soul:

And so we must reconcile consciousness to this rather monstrous self consuming thing and not remain on the primitive level indefinitely.

This is what we call metamorphosisThis is how we evolve beyond one's primal image of life.Wherein living by killing is transformed into living by loving.

More interviews by Dr. May can be found here at Animal Issues.

The Irony of Boxed Bacon and Boxed Pigs

In this most depraved set of conflicted realities there's the ostentatious, limited edition, presentation of parts of a pig carcass delivered in a black velvet box.

There are three "elite" options: As pictured - The Commander, (note the "truth in advertising" disclaimer on the cash), The Matador and The Woodsman. I'll spare readers the narratives of each... For a chuckle you know where to find the pseudo-hyper-masculine bravado and pretentious video launched for this orgy of perverted, self-indulgent excess. (Ancient Rome anyone?)

Meanwhile... We have millions of pigs that live their miserable short lives enslaved in tiny boxes that are lined only with pain and despair.

The Oscar Mayer folks compare their pig-meat to the quality of diamonds citing 4 critical "c's".

Here's my 4 that count more: 
Consciousness, Consideration, Care, and Compassion 





It is so wrong to treat these innocent pigs so harshly when there are many other kinder options. 

Unbox your heart... Unbox the pigs... Thank you.

Earth Mother's Love - Across the Species Divide

I stumbled on these videos by the artist Louise du Toit and found her songs worthy of sharing - Especially in recognition of Mother's Day and the nurturing qualities I know my readers embrace. 

I think you'll agree the messages that urge us to work for a better world are appropriate especially for a day that values healing kindness and love for our Earth Mother and all her children.


THE TIME HAS COME: "To do no harm, to help rebuild the lives that have been wrecked"


Earth Waltz 



As fellow earthlings sharing the same planet, may we always strive to obtain, enhance and nurture each of the following virtues:
Altruism
Benevolence
Compassion
Devotion
Empathy
Freedom
Goodwill
Harmony
Indulgence
Joy
Kindness
Love
Magnanimity
Nonviolence
Order
Peace
Quiet
Respect
Salvation
Tolerance
Unity
Veracity
Worth
Xenial
Yot
Zeal



If you enjoyed these I know you'll find more here that you'll like as well.

Happy Mother's Day to all who repair, renew and restore - Unconditionally. 

On Having Faith In Kindness

I wanted to post this video after the high holy days of Easter were over. I didn't want it to be lost in the mix of other religious festivities. And yes the disappointments too, as many of us will agree that most religions haven't been particularly kind to nonhumans.

But I'm pleased as I think you will be too, that the interview with Father Frank Mann is nonsectarian and the biblical reference to any god is mentioned only once in regards to his idea that we should be treating others with justice.

Father Mann has created a Tablet Forum to explore the ethical dimensions of our society's relationship to animals. The first event is scheduled for May 10th and will host the NYC free premiere of Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home, an award-winning documentary about farmers and their change of heart about animals.

Be sure you check out the Australian premier of Peaceable Kingdom.

Change only the name and this story is about you. ~Horace

So no matter if you just got done celebrating Easter, Passover or if you hold no faith in any deity, it's fine to know that you won't betray your beliefs if you choose to be kind.

An Invisible Soul - And a Stingy Heart

We may have started out great... At least our ideals were worthy of admiration. Mankind ever in pursuit of the rational way to live. With goals of fairness, justice, equality and all the other things to which the "GOoD" species should aspire to. We took responsibility to become civilized and ethically consistent. It seems that would be the minimum effort to make, given what was bestowed to us.


Regardless of the circumstance of how we got on this very special star called planet Earth, no other species has been so able to manipulate the star's contents to its own benefit as we Homo sapiens. We're able to discover and influence all matter. And to define it in relation to us. No other creature can use mind or might like us. We could evolve to improve and preserve. Or degrade and destroy. I'm always sad to see we're on the latter course. We could do so much better!


It's tragically disappointing that our species has thus far failed to rise to the challenge of genuine greatness. With these "gifts" of intelligence, and conscience we even gave ourselves the notion that we possess a  soul that uniquely exalts us above the rest. All the more cause to be generous to others not so "special." In this vast, unlikely universe -  We alone can determine fairness to countless others by the simple act of what we choose to put in our shopping carts. Still - We humans are so stingy and petty to those who aren't in charge of even the smallest portion of their fate.


While seeing ourselves better and "blessed," we use these reasons of "exclusive privilege" to take from those who have no defense at all... We needlessly take their freedom.  Their sexuality. Their chosen mates. Their children...  


We hunt them.  Enslave them.  And torture them. 


We reduce them to objects and instruments... Products and commodities... Goods and consumables... Breed them. Tag them. Brand them. And eat them. Most of the time because we can - Or we want to - Or because it's inconvenient not to. Barbaric cruelty has become a justifiable habit for us. It's not even killing for survival. It's killing for gluttony.


Nonhumans can be owned as property. Bartered as profit. They are widgets to be marketed. Things to be caged, "harvested", trapped, trained, skinned, dressed, cleaned... They live in a state of constant flux - Being adapted to fit our intent. They are appropriated and subjugated and "processed"  to the fullest extent of our wants. Those pitiful ones whose existence for our benefit is their only recognized purpose. Yet they are, as we call them, the souless ones. And without a soul they have no claim to our humanity... We owe them nothing, save a "humane" passage on the way to being "utilized". In the scheme of things - The sincere concern and respect most humans give to other species looks something like this:

So while it may be true that man is the possessor of a soul - That invisible attribute that no one can prove or disprove... I'm here to say that the symbol that represents the values of kindness and compassion - The one meant to illustrate abundant love and life is sadly absent in our species. A heart.  Oh we may have a physical one that ticks and beats - But our intangible heart -- the one that's supposed to feel for others -- is that's hollow, puny and incomplete.

And then there are those who have chosen a different way - To help not harm. To give not take. To expand love not in a miserly, cheap and exclusive kind of way... But in an inclusive, magnanimous, bounteous way: 

Mankind will not suffer if it chooses to be kind.  

Please if you haven't already done so - Unflaw your heart. Widen it to include all others. Be generous. Extend your empathy to every living being who would benefit from it. Leave the bodies and minds of others alone. Let them live. Open the universe of Earthly possibilities to them! Go Vegan. And thank you to all who have done so already! <3 xox

Being Thankful for Living Turkeys - A Compassionate Holiday

I sure don't want to leave this blog in a cranky or unhappy state during what should be a nice celebration of abundance!  Tomorrow for the 4th year I'll be feasting at a banquet spread consisting of beautiful plant based foods. My group calls it ThanksVegan - And indeed the food and the company make me very grateful for Vegans who are thankful and thoughtful.

So in pre-holiday festivities I thought I'd leave Provoked on a pleasant note with some of my favorite messages of a compassionate nature:

The story of Sadie and her three sisters rescued and residing at Safe Haven Farm Sanctuary.

This affectionate and very vocal turkey at Animal Acres is guaranteed to make you smile!

And the recent rescue of one super lucky turkey hen by Animal Place Sanctuary. Someone to be Thankful For

But all of us who are opting for other choices during holidays - before and beyond - give sanctuary to all birds and beings all the time!  We've found a way to feast on "life-giving not life-taking foods" :

With bountiful gratitude to all who have done so!
Happy ThanksLiving!

Vegans Judged 5 Star In Compassion Rating System

For those who may have missed it here is A four-part video presentation and companion essay by James LaVeck titled Let's Not Give Up Before We Even Get Started

What the British anti-slavery movement can teach animal advocates about overcoming the politics of pessimism

In this essay the historical perspective of social struggle is examined.  It's used as a reference to compare today's "compromise" with advocates of "humane" meat to efforts of slave owners who warped language and used other cultural conditioners to maintain acceptance.  Nothing illustrates this shift more than Whole Food's deceptive 5 point animal "welfare" system.  And this essay exposes the con for what it is... 


I think LaVeck's words and powerful ideas stand on their own merit - But I would like to take this opportunity to interject a little project I've been working on regarding the notion of eating animals "compassionately".  


Whole Food's standards on the surface seem to successfully convince some consumers that their flesh choices are honest and pure... It involves human"e" 3rd party auditors and "experts" that define what would make a meal gotten from spilling blood tolerable to one's "sensitive" conscience.  Of course these steps to a "clean" conscience come with a price tag... And one can spend just a few minutes in front of a Save-A-Lot chain to see where and how most meat clients shop. This insures that WholeFoods will maintain their elitist brand of "compassion".


Even so, their 5 tier "kindness" system deserves a closer look.  If one were to imagine two shoppers at a register - One with a high rated #5 welfare chicken carcass among the top honored to be killed, and the other customer with a bird who's "value" scores only a 1 or 2.  What oh what are we to think of her?!?  Is she not "as kind" as the other?  Couldn't she have done without the $12 jar of imported pomegranate jam to compensate for the taking of this poor, poor chicken's life in a more friendly way?  I know it's absurd - but stay with me please...


Doesn't this WholeFoods 5 tier welfare standard also attempt to reflect consumer kindness or lack thereof?  And if so... If we could have visual models defining "conscientiousness",  might they not look something like this?


Let's say there was a 

And if the legend could show that red was reserved for those who would be genocidal maniacs...
Then dark green would symbolize those who'd never take a life unless absolutely necessary. That bar would be raised to uphold vegan standards.


This could even be illustrated with the good old fashioned grade-school "gold-star" system:

Now somewhere in between those who have total disregard for life... And those who champion to save lives, are those who would use war as offense, war as defense, pleasure killers - like hunters or hit men.  There would also be people who in their considerations would privilege humans exclusively to that "life right".   And others... Who would not condone taking any life unless it was under the extreme urgency of survival to do so.  Yep again.  That would be the 5 star vegans!


Now, I'm not judging anyone harshly without some reasonable position to make these claims.  Killing without necessity is never kind!  Besides... I'm not WholeFoods putting levels of "value" or price tags on other's lives, and then assigning some type of false "conscientiousness" rating to it.


So does it make any sense for a society to encourage anything less than the highest criteria?  Shouldn't our culture be demanding the most elevated standards to live by? Shouldn't we be encouraging non-violent, inclusive kindness to all beings - Rather than making pitiful excuses to permit the middle of the road compromises?  More importantly... If you are not vegan - Shouldn't you expect this from yourself?  And if not - Why not??? 


In truth... There is no "5 star" prize for being vegan.  It is the very minimum one can do to lead a compassionate life... No bravery required.  You don't have to be an ALF liberator or an "animal rights" activist.  The very minimum of true kindness mandates someone who doesn't want to take anyone's life, for any reason.  And in my book... Buying 5 star "compassionately" slaughtered animals in Whole Foods fails that test miserably. 


Please do not buy into the humane myth.  No being, no matter how happily he or she is killed wants to die.  You already know those rules... Please live by them.

Kill the Wild Cows... Slaughter the Docile Ones???

A cow-slave transport truck toppled on a freeway, ejecting 16 beings into the air to land onto the asphalt of the highway... One cow died... Six had to be "euthanized" because they were "wild".

Makes you wonder though - What was the planned destination for all these unwilling, (peaceful and not so) captives?  Surly it isn't only the gentle ones that meet their end at the knock box?

No... I think there are the frightened ones too... And the ones that panic... And desperately fight for their very lives!

I think there are even brave ones who plot and struggle with the intention of just turning around - So they might escape the terror and fear.

Might there even be sad ones... Because they suffer the treachery of it all?




No, I don't think it is the "wild cows" that we need worry about... But the savageness within us.

Should anyone doubt that our species is vicious in it's treatment to other living beings please watch Earthlings.  Then EVOLVE.

Beyond Vegan: Compassion is the New Intelligence.

DAIRY FREE - CRUELTY FREE COMPASSIONATE DREAM

There are those who will say that animal advocates become vegan because of feelings of guilt due to the harm caused to animals. But this is not so. Guilt is something one feels when they continue on a course that they know is responsible for suffering or pain to another... Once one knows that their continued actions is the cause of this abuse; and they choose to ignore this suffering - then they can (and should) feel "guilt".

On the other hand, vegans are not motivated by "guilt" but rather by compassion. It is compassion that makes them choose different options.... Fortunately with no extreme self-denial along the way:

Click here for 75cent coupon off yummy Dream Products!

Happy Cows - Behind the Myth Cut Dairy Truth or Dairy

Kindness and Compassion Through Vegan Choices

I know what kind of person we were all taught to be... yet, it's so odd that when we attempt to live that way we are considered radical or "fringe". Being consistent and compassionate is the right thing to do... our parents had it right all along - they just forgot to follow their own wisdom - Go Vegan

COLLEEN PATRICK GOUDREAU COMPASSIONATE VEGAN IN FLORIDA

The compassion so many feel for animals should be remembered when making food choices.

I'm thrilled author and founder of Compassionate Cooks, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau will be hosted by Florida Voices for Animals on Feb. 15th!

More of her thoughtful podcasts and writings can be found here as well as links to a feast of recipes, health tips, Vegan resources and shopping.

If you're already vegan or vegetarian - or interested closer examination of your SAD diet (Standard American Diet)... if you love good food, if you care about animals... You'll discover fun new ways to look at healthy and compassionate alternatives. See ya there!

No Holiday for Carraige Horses - Christmas Compassion -

We picture this romantic scene: And here is the reality: As you can see these horses lead a very sad life... After years of labor in some other "life" they "retire" to a traffic-congested concrete city... Pulling an exhausting burden in the blistering heat and frigid cold. For most of the day... till the end of their days. After age, injury or illness leaves them "unproductive", their depleted bodies are hauled hundreds of grueling miles to slaughterhouses in Mexico or Canada. There they succumb to the last of brutalities and are butchered into *meat* for Europe and Asian markets...

So during your holiday travels... if you happen to think for a moment that a nice ride around the park would be pleasurable - please think again at what cost to whom? Happy Holidays. Please consider going Vegan.

Life is So Cheap When You Eat Meat... Vegans Do Not Play With Their Food

Video: Turkey Bowl In Cincinnati An Annual Tradition - Strange & Interesting News: The Post Chronicle - And Cincinnati folks aren't the only ones partaking in this event... Seems pretty ordinary if you search Google or Youtube. The frozen carcasses are propelled for fun and pleasure at bowling pins, coke bottles etc... What a game huh? The "meat" is then discarded as it then becomes unsuitable for consumption... So let me get this right... As a "humane" culture, society professes to use/kill animals only because it's "necessary" - Animals and meat sustain us right? But instead of being reverent to the "sacrificed" (murdered) animals what's left of their once tortured bodies gets further defiled in death for "entertainment". Hey world... and omnivore people I share the planet with... the absolute irreverence for life - FOR SHAME! And if your stuck in your kitchen now - disposing of a half-eaten bird because yet another time you bought way too much, please consider this: it took 12 pounds of grain to create each pound of turkey that you are no doubt now dumping in the trash. And a sentient being spent 6 months of torture to make it's way to your "festive" table - FOR SHAME! If each of us had to live only one hour of these poor miserable birds - I'm sure we would all be vegan...

VEGAN CRUELTY FREE THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY TURKEY

There's absolutely nothing I wouldn't eat on this bird It all looks like delicious, safe, nourishing, cruelty free - Real food to me. I am thankful for a VEGAN Holiday

Calf Cruelty - Vegan - Why I Don't Do Dairy

About the "veal" industry... could there be any more a vial business... keeping cows constantly impregnated... removing their young - to either be killed immediately, live short lives in little sunless stalls/igloos or perish forbid... to be born female and become a "replacement calf" for her mother. Please, let us fess up - to the industry these animals are machines... The saddest part is that it is unneccessary... man lives fine on a plant based diet - without all the issues surrounding the meat/animal agriculture industry. I would think soon that we will all be more than ready to ditch meat for the more sustainable, compassionate vegan alternative.

Slaughterhouses - A Vicious Cycle of Shame

I've been following this Iowa slaughterhouse immigration raid that has lead to 10 million in fines. Of course they are not being fined for the other crimes and abuses - those done to the murdered animals that are essential to their business. As is cheap labor... who else wants to slit throats, eviscerate, chop off hoofs, tails and udders all day? Only the desperate do those kinds of jobs. "U.S. immigration agents have arrested a former manager of a kosher slaughterhouse in Iowa on immigration charges. He faces charges related to the company's hiring of illegal immigrants, including aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft." NPR podcast It's terrible, these crimes - crimes against the animals, against the workers... Even against the pitiful consumer who is duped into (not) thinking that they are purchasing a certain "food" item that is hardly that at all... it's all so distasteful. It's an unforgiving cycle of victims - that this "meat" product puts us in. Man would do himself (and the animals) a world of good to reevaluate the losses - and go Vegan.