MBecker's profile

More About Me

Reasons why I prefer to eat vegetarian or vegan:

My reasons have evolved over time. Initially, I went vegan because I am opposed to cruelty and exploitation, but since then, my reasons have expanded from the political to the spiritual realm. I feel better knowing what I'm putting in my body, that I'm making concerted, compassionate choices, and that I'm more in touch with the earth. Also: read Eating Animals, because there's so such thing as compassionate factory farming -- both "cage-free" and "free-range" are vicious euphemisms.

I joined HappyCow Members Community because:

Great way to find places to eat when you're traveling! My family loves to go to all sorts of exotic locations -- including places that aren't necessarily vegan-friendly, like Iceland -- and we needed a way to make sure I could come along and eat happily :)

Here are some places I've been that I liked... and places that I would like to visit one day:

I've liked: most places. I loved Amsterdam, London, Krakow and Warsaw (SURPRISINGLY vegan-friendly!), Seattle, San Francisco, Vancouver, Boston, Washington D.C. I'd like to still visit: St. Petersburg, Bristol (UK), Republic of Ireland, Edinburgh, Delhi, Kerala, Thailand, New Zealand. I hear that in New Zealand or Australia one can find amazing vegan corndogs.

Some of my favorite veg*n foods include:

Seitan. Love it. Also learned to love avocado and eggplant and asparagus through being vegan. Probably would not have tried for... can't say how long otherwise. I love coconut. And apples. And I love vegan desserts and sauces. A good sauce makes a good meal -- isn't it strangely true?

Here are some books, movies, magazines, and my favorites that I would recommend to other HappyCow members:

Eating Animals (Jonathan Safran Foer) Cadillac Desert (Marc Reisner)