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In all my time as a vegan I’ve met a lot of other vegans, but mostly I’ve met people who used to be vegan. “Oh yeah,” they’ll say. “I was vegan for a while, but I just like food too much.” Or they couldn’t stop craving a favorite food, or they just didn’t have the discipline. The list goes on …

If you’re wanting to cut down on the amount of meat you’re eating or, if you’re ready to completely cut out all animal products and adopt a veg*n (vegetarian or vegan) lifestyle, read my recommendations below to gain some insight into the pitfalls you might encounter and how you go about overcoming them.

What is your motivation?

Ask yourself one question – and be completely honest – why do you want to go veg*n? Being a veg*n has its challenges. Going out for a group meal, having a first date surprise, traveling to countries where language is a barrier and in which meat is a diet staple, attending a dinner party where the host has a shaky understanding of what is and is not appropriate, or worst of all getting an unexpected hunger when the only place to eat is a McDonalds. You may be tested when your family are enjoying a favorite meal that you can no longer tuck into. I’m not about to lie to you and tell you it will be an easy transition, everyone is different. So you need to be sure your reasons for becoming a veg*n will keep your principles intact.

If you’re thinking of going veg*n to impress a new partner, to fit in with a group of friends or as quick weight loss trick you’re going to struggle with the choice you’re about to make.

What are the food options like where you live?

Lets take somewhere like Vancouver, where you don’t even have to try to be a vegan, you’ll be tripping over vegetarian restaurants, vegan friendly cafes, veg*n bakeries, community garden plots and fresh fruit and vegetable markets. However, if you live in Bratislava where vegetables are usually pickled to preserve them through the winter months it makes getting a variety of vegetables or even fresh vegetables at all be a struggle. Become familiar with what your options are based on where you are.

How much time can you dedicate to making food each week?

In order to ensure you’re getting a large enough variety of foods to  which encompass you’re getting all the nutritional elements your body needs you’ll need to invest some time in the kitchen. The grab and go lifestyle no longer applies to you. You’ll need to apply some thought and planning into what you’re going to eat if you don’t want to be caught without options. Bags of chips and plain garden salads get very old, very quickly. If your lifestyle doesn’t allow for you to plan your meals, shop for quality foods and cook, cook, cook. Of course then you may end up with a bored, limiting with a limited revolving menu or (worst case scenario), you’ll make yourself very sick because you wont be getting enough of the good stuff you need.

What are your favorite foods?

I met a girl once who was attempting to go vegetarian – the only problem was that she didn’t like vegetables. Her main meal of the day was a large portion of take away french fries. When you look at your list of favorites how many of them are vegetable based? Is the lure of a bacon sandwich going to be your downfall?

The desire to go veg*n is just the start. If you’re thinking it’s for you then resources like HappyCow are an absolute blessing as they help you locate restaurants and food centers catering to veg*n diets. Ease yourself into your new lifestyle. Cut out meat, then fish and eggs, then dairy. Or whatever system suits you. If you slip up and go out for a steak dinner, don’t stress about it. Even reducing your overall meat content benefits you and the world around you. Take your time and go as far into the the world of veg*nism as suits you. Educating yourself on how animals are treated while they’re being reared to feed the masses can help strengthen your resolve. Getting friends and family involved, cook them a completely veg*n meal to show them how tasty it can be. Embrace a healthier new you and good luck!

When we choose to become vegan or vegetarian these are choices we make for ourselves. For health, for the environment, for the promotion of humane treatment for animals, whatever the reason, it is ours. But veganism isn’t a diet, it’s a lifestyle, therefore it encompasses all areas of how we choose to live our lives.

So what about our companion animals? Our pet cats and dogs – should our own veganism, as mammals, be extended to other species that we care for? According to a recent article in the Globe and Mail, a lot of people are starting to pick up on the trend of raising a vegan pet. Search the world wide web and it seems that the Globe and Mail is not only right, they’re already highlighting old news for the veggie community. However as this was a mainstream national publication, the focus of the piece was the emotive nature of the argument between those for and those against veganising our pets.

Dogs, natural omnivores like ourselves, are catered for much more easily. It can be argued that larger dog species should be spared a vegetable dominant diet as based on their size alone and the inability for their nutritional needs to be met. But this is easily countered by top competitive athletes who lead a vegan lifestyle and boast about improved performance since making the switch.

So it’s fair enough to say with dogs – the choice is left to those doing the rearing.

The more challenging consideration can be with cats, which are obligate carnivores, meaning they are not meant to be able to survive without meat.

The UK based Vegan Soceity stands in the ‘for vegan cats’ camp championing a brand of vegan cat food called Vegekit and Vegecat. One of the biggest concerns you’ll read about with vegan cats is the risk of a taurine deficiency which can lead to blindness and death if not treated. Vegekit and Vegecat both have added taurine to their recipe. They also point out that most meaty cat food have taurine added back into it as the processing of meats removes the natural taurine.

In the ‘against vegan cats’ camp are organizations such as the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty Against Animals who don’t recommend a vegetarian or vegan diet. Their reasons begin with the taurine deficiency but also say that although the cat may seem healthy, there could be a deficiency built up over time that will harm their overall health.  In their argument against veggie cats, the ASPCA quotes the Vegetarian Society who also recommend against a turning your cat vegan.

From the Vegetarian Society’s website they go on to say that when cats aren’t fed meat at home they will seek it out elsewhere, hunting small rodents and birds. And expanding beyond the taurine deficiency, which is sourced in nearly every argument for or against, the Vegetarian Society looks at the loss of vitamins A and B12 as well as the essential Arachidonic fatty acid, which are all needed for a healthy cat, but are unavailable in plant based foods. Unlike humans, cats can’t absorb vitamin A from non-meat based sources.

So now the question is where to drawn the line? This isn’t to say the decision is made and it’s wrong for cats to be vegan. However, it is not a decision to be taken without arming yourself with as much information as possible. To help you in your decision making it is best to consult your family veterinarian – not only can they help you understand the nutritional needs of your pet, they can also help to monitor the health of your feline friend to ensure they’re leading a safe, healthy and balanced life.

Even VeggiePets.com, an online pet store selling vegan and vegetarian alternatives for food, supplements, litters and medicines, stress the fact that should you choose to raise a vegan cat you need to take responsibility for carefully planning their diet to ensure optimum health.

If you’re looking for a  less complicate companion alternative, there’s always cuddly herbivore pets like rabbits and guinea pigs or an iguana.

Passion.

If you were looking to describe London’s newest vegan and raw food restaurant, Saf, or the Director and Executive Chef at Saf, Chad Sarno, in one word – passion – would be that word.

I sat down with Sarno just over a month after Saf (meaning ‘pure’ in Turkish) had opened its doors, a busy man, he sits down with a smile and a glass of water and within seconds he’s yawning. Apologizing, he explains that everyone is overworked; they didn’t expect to be so popular straight out of the gates. Already they’re booked out each weekend and turning people away on a regular basis.

The popularity has attracted much media attention with most reviews talking about bandwagons, buzz words and the latest fad.

‘They can’t bash the location, the restaurant or the food,’ says Sarno. ‘So they attack the veganism.’

However, he’s wary of affixing a label to his restaurant because he says by calling Saf vegan, (raw-food, green …) he’s welcoming the next review to focus solely on one of his servers wearing leather shoes and ignoring the food completely. He says it’s a bonus if the people wanting to work with him are vegan as it shows their commitment, but he’s not going to turn away talented people just because their personal ethos differs from his own.

Ask Chad Sarno what Saf’s all about and he’ll tell you it’s all about health. Sarno saw it as his challenge to create a menu, made from organic, locally sourced ingredients, that tasted good for meat lover and the meat aversive alike. All the while escaping the feeling that something was missing. Something like unnecessary fats and oils, processed foods or animal products that people have learned to associate with a complete meal.

‘Just because it’s vegan,’ he says. ‘Doesn’t mean it’s healthy.’

Sarno explained that with the rise in obesity, heart disease and diabetes he wanted there to be a place people could go to experience what good, simple, wholesome food could taste like. It doesn’t have to be bland and boring to be healthy. And having been vegan himself for the past 13-years, Sarno saw a diet free from animal products to be one of the leading components to a healthy diet and lifestyle.

The media’s focus on Saf being part of a growing trend, a fad, they’re overlooking the fact that Saf London has been in the works for over two years. In that time Sarno, and his partners at Turkish based Life Co, have worked to get everything just right. Sourcing non-toxic paint for the walls, finding paintings produced on recycled canvas, ordering recycled floorboards, low flush toilets, energy efficient fridges and non-toxic dishwashing liquid.

That’s before we even get to the food. Almost everything, from the macadamia cheese to the mushroom and truffle croquette is made in house with fresh, seasonal ingredients. Having developed relationships at local farmer’s markets and with neighbourhood providers, those few things that are made out of house are made fresh within the same neighbourhood as Saf’s Shoreditch location. The bread, ravioli, tofu and dumpling skins were the few items that Sarno couldn’t put his stamp on. They have also gathered into their wine cellar a selection of over 100 organic wines.

Going into the menu details would be misleading, as the menu is set to change fortnightly, to keep pace with the changing seasons, to keep the Saf experience dynamic and, I think, to feed Sarno’s passion for developing new, healthy, spectacular dishes.

And to top it off, while they were perfecting their London location, Sarno and company opened 4 other Saf locations, three in Istanbul and one in Munich. And the opening of Saf London is just the beginning, Sarno says. With plans to open a health food store at the Shoreditch locations, as well as opening additional restaurants in different London neighbourhoods are all in the works.

But for now, he’s just working on keeping pace with running a popular, top restaurant in London.

Animal testing for the sake of scientific advancement and human benefit is controversial to say the least. One side arguing that without an extensive history of experimentation on animals we, the human race, would not be benefiting from our current good health and long life. That being said, many more life-saving lessons and advancements in health have been learned by experimenting on humans during such dark periods of history as during Hitler’s Nazi Germany. And we’re no longer doing that, yet progress marches on. The other side is staunchly opposed, more so when these tests are being conducted in the development of a new brand of perfume or kitchen cleaner.However, whether it’s right or whether it’s wrong is a choice each person needs to make for themselves, and now there’s another voice in this sordid affair that needs to be heard. A recent article in the New Scientist shed light on the mental and emotional strain suffered by lab animal carers, people who tend to the animals as they follow a ‘research programme.’ And it is also these same carers who need to end the suffering and take the lives of these animals once, due to age or illness, they are no longer viable test subjects.

Taking away the horribly cold, bureaucratic language, designed to make us feel that animal testing is a natural part of everyday life, what we’re really dealing with are a group of people who have to kill their friends and companions once their usefulness expires. While in the captivity of the lab, animals are tended to by trained professionals who feed, clean and care for them as best they can. Providing as comfortable a life as circumstances allow. Feelings of attachment and affection are natural in these situations, much as anyone with a pet at home who they care for can attest to.

Therefore, with a routine part of the carers job being to end the life of an animal they’ve cared for there’s bound to be some unresolved internal struggle and conflict. Especially when the modes of euthanasia administered include: lethal injections, suffocation by carbon dioxide or breaking the neck of the animal.

There is an expected notion in the scientific community that discourages open discussion about the psychological effects of killing of lab animals. For if the people doing the killing suffer and the animals suffer, maybe the animal activist groups are on to something. This leaves people feeling a mix of guilt, grief and remorse but no outlet for them. Add their own feelings of shame, these same people are often cast as the embodiment of heartless murderers by the animal rights community. However, it seems the time has come to allow the carers to grieve.

As this has long been a taboo topic, with animal care technicians offered no training on how to cope with their feelings or any relevant emotional support from their employer or colleagues, the idea that these people experience any emotional side effects from their job is a rather new discovery.

To illustrate these feelings further a direct example has been borrowed from The New Scientist article previously referred to:

“LARRY will always be in my heart,” says Sally Walshaw. “I cried before and after the euthanasia session, but I didn’t want to upset Larry by crying during the session itself. I spent a lot of time with him on his last day, and gave him lots of treats. Then Larry received a sedative, and about 10 minutes later the euthanasia was administered.” Larry was a 10-year-old rabbit and one of Walshaw’s favourite charges in a lab at Michigan State University, where she cared for animals. Larry had become uncontrollably wheezy from a cancer he had developed due to old age following a research programme and it was up to Walshaw to end his suffering.

So far there have been no solutions proposed or grand gestures extended to ease the inner turmoil of these people with such an ugly side to their job. An unviable solution would be to stop animal testing altogether, thereby sparing the animals and their carers this painful process. But as this is not a realistic solution with the scientific community still championing the need for animal research, the least that can be extended is a professional shoulder to cry on for those who care for animals before they kill them.

What would it mean to have a vegan in the White House? But not just in the White House, but what if that vegan were the head honcho, the President of the United States of America? I’m not talking about Ohio Congressman and the once Democratic Presidential hopeful, Dennis Kucinich, but rather, top runner Democratic Presidential Candidate, Barack Obama.This was an April Fool’s joke that didn’t fool very many people. Google for Obama and vegan and there’s a few posts that spring up proclaiming Obama’s switch to a cruelty free palate. However, this was just another case of Rick Rolling, the internet fad where people are tricked into watching Rick Astley’s ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ video on YouTube. But just suppose it wasn’t an April Fools joke? Just image there was a grain of truth in this.

Veganism is ‘othered’. That’s a fair enough statement. Growing up in the remote north of a country, with a population of less than 5,000 people, vegetarianism is the act of a rebellious teenager that will pass with just a little patience. And usually their definition of vegetarian allows the occasional piece of fish or chicken. Especially when eating out. Being a vegan means stitched eyebrows of incomprehension. Move to the city and those furrowed eyebrows relax a little. But still, even in the most diverse city, vegans are going to encounter people who labels them as different, not like us, other.

But is veganism ‘another white privilege?’

In November the group blog Vegans of Color joined the online arena. Not surprisingly, those who write here are all non-white vegans. Their blogs and discussions look at the intersection of veganism and animal rights with anti-racism and oppression. An offshoot of this blog was a discussion on Livejournal.com about the correlation between veganism and race. There were three separate camps that most people subscribed to. The first being in full support of Vegans of Color as an underrepresented viewpoint, next came those who disagreed with the idea that vegans of colour and vegans without colour had any relevant differences as veganism had nothing to do with race. The last camp carried the slogan, ‘Veganism is another white privilege.’ First what does veganism have to do with white privilege? A lot, actually. Though it has a lot more to do with class privilege. Especially in the West or developed countries. In developing countries people often go without meat, dairy or eggs simply because they’re too poor to afford these luxuries. They’re forced to make due with whatever is available to them. Eating meat can therefore be seen as a sign of status, wealth or power.