It's time to share! I've been working long and hard, between naps of my little guy, and free evenings, and sneaking out to a coffee shop now and then- it's a new world, trying to carve out time for yourself with a toddler around. But I've managed to complete my project! I've done it and I'm feeling better and stronger having accomplished something so tangible. Shortcut to Vegan has arrived! 

To quote from the website, "Shortcut to Vegan is a 7 day program designed for individuals, and individuals supporting family members. Take a shortcut to vegan, learning the key elements including the whys of veganism, vegan nutrition, preparing healthy meals, and putting it into practice. This one week program includes daily lessons, group discussions and optional assignments." 

Shortcut to Vegan had a soft launch a few weeks ago, and I'm thrilled to have gone through the first session with a few eager participants. I had great feedback on the program and am feeling even more confident now about what Shortcut to Vegan can offer, and how it can motivate people to embark on a new way to live, and eat! 

Check out the new website created just for this program. Sessions bi monthly, and when registered, participants get to create their own login and have access to daily lessons. Lessons are put forward starting on Monday, and finish on Sunday. Participants then get one more week to view the materials and finish up their work online. It's an excellent system to be held accountable and have a somewhat flexible, but firm timeline. I'm truly proud of this program and I think it has the potential to help a lot of people become clear about how they want to live- with intention and responsibility. 

So there you have it, my own little labour of love. I want this program to make the rounds. I want people to know about it, see it, hear buzz about it, and join in! If you're excited about the possibility of more people learning about the ins and outs of veganism, and how it truly can change one's life and the world, then I do hope you'll help me spread the word. Better yet, see what it's all about and join me in an upcoming session! 

Happy Holidays to all,
Andréa 

Interested in what someone who took the course thinks? Here's my first testimonial! (I love receiving testimonials!)

Socializing. We all do it, and it often centers around the wonderful world of food. Pot lucks, open houses, parties, family dinners, brunches, lunch dates, work functions, cookie swaps – I could go on.

For someone following a vegan, vegetarian, or a raw food diet, as well someone with celiac disease, food allergies, or food intolerances, attending events like these can lead to confusion or stress. For both you and your host.

As a vegan I deal with the potlucks where the conceptually challenged meat eater insists there is no meat in their dish, yet bits of chicken are visible. The friend who thought they were doing you a favor by making a vegetable soup only to find out they used chicken stock. Or the restaurant menu that’s lacking even one good vegan option besides straight up greens salad {not a good vegan option}.

Whether you’re a newcomer to your new diet or an old pro, here are some things to think about before exiting your home to socialize. I’ll use my own experience with veganism as an example, but any other dietary restriction can be substituted for vegan.

GIVE YOUR HOST A HEADS UP. Provided your invitation to this occasion involving food has come with some notice, you also will have plenty of time to talk with your host. Depending on your situation people may or may not know your dietary preferences. If a meal is being provided take some time to acknowledge your eating style with your host and be very specific with what you do and do not eat.

Instead of expecting your host to change the menu, why not offer to bring a dish that would suit your needs. This will take the pressure off the host to provide you with a special meal and it will leave you feeling comfortable that you wont spend the night hungry.

You could say: “I’m really excited about {event}, but I want to let you know that I don’t eat anything derived from an animal. So that’s meat, fish, dairy, eggs and no butter. I’d be so excited if I could cook something though. Shall I bring a main dish or a side0?”

CHOOSE RESTAURANTS WISELY. If you’re like me, you know which restaurants in your neighborhood have items available for you and which don’t. If you have yet to compile your list, start now!

Offering up a few suggestions of places to eat and having the other half of the party make the final cut ensures that you will all be satisfied. It can be stressful, especially on an empty stomach, scanning a menu and seeing extremely limited choices.

You could say: “There are about 4 restaurants in this neighborhood that I really love. Any one of them would be a great choice for {meal}.”

SCAN RESTAURANT MENUS BEFORE THE BIG DAY. If you didn't have a choice of which restaurant you are attending, as is the case with large groups, birthdays or work events, see if you can find a website for the restaurant online. This way, you’ll be able to scan the menu for options before the big event.

If you don’t see many choices, maybe you’ll eat something ahead of time and chose a salad for dinner. But in most cases, even with minimal choice on a menu, it’s likely that the kitchen would be accommodating and adapt some of the dishes to suit you.

Any pasta can turn into a vegan feast and salads, pizzas or stir fries are all easy to put together without much fuss. Be gentle yet specific with your server and if the restaurant steps up to the challenge, chances are you’ll end up with a meal that the other guests will covet.

You could say: “It’s often difficult for me to find something to eat on menus. I don’t eat any meat or fish, dairy or eggs, also butter. I noticed the pastas looks delicious. Could you ask your chef to prepare this one in a vegan style?”

BRING A STASH. We all know that life can surprise us, even with the best of planning. The wedding dinner didn’t have enough vegetarian options, the finger food potluck was nothing but fried pepperoni and crab dip, or your new date insisted on a surprise dinner at the local steakhouse {does he listen?}. For this, I say, bring a stash.

In my purse at all times I have raw almonds and some sort of vegan energy bar. You could throw in half a sandwich, some dried fruit and nuts, an apple or some carrots. A little something to tide you over can make a big difference to your stomach, and brain, keeping you calm and happy.

Being social and eating out isn’t something you want to pass on. Don’t let the traditional and typical food world threaten you. Voice your wants and needs and you may just see some changes to your local menu, grocery stores and friends’ houses sooner than you think.

1. Some of the earliest mentions of vegetarianism are in that of the life of Thomas Parr, a vegetarian during the middle ages who is thought to have lived to a great age only to die while eating meat to appease his king.

2. The Vegetarian Society was founded in 1847 with 150 members, while The Vegan Society was founded in 1944.

3. India leads the world in highest rates of vegetarianism with an estimates of 40% of the population eating a meat-free diet. Italy, Taiwan, Germany and Brazil follow with 10%, 10%, 9% and 9% respectively. 

4. Between 2009 and 2012, the number of Americans identifying themselves as vegan rose from 1%  to 2.5% of the population. That's about 7.5 million vegans!

5. The average vegetarian will save approximately 40 fish, 26 chickens, one turkey, nearly half a pig, and a little more than a tenth of a cow per year. 

6. Vegetarian and vegan diets contribute to much higher levels of 'friendly' gut bacteria, which influences our hormones and plays an important role in our immune system, and general health, among other vital functions. 

7. Some of the most influential people throughout history were vegetarian. Included are Socrates, Buddha, Leonardo Da Vinci, Plato, Pythagoras, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Albert Einstein and Gandhi! 

8. The official position of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada states: " Well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence...[and] offer a number of nutritional benefits."

9.  "If all Americans were vegetarians, the resulting annual Medicare savings could be estimated at $7.1 to $12.4 billion for heart disease, cancer, diabetes, gallstones, kidney stones, and appendicitis."*
*Nicholson A, Barnard ND. The Medicare savings attributable to vegetarian dietary practices. Am J Clin Nutr, in press.

And....

10. Vegans and meat-eaters can coexist.  :)

So there you have it. Me, a couple weeks before becoming vegan. And me, a month after becoming vegan. Did I see a big change? No. Did I feel a big change? Enormous. 

It's not that I started loving animals on the very day that I became vegan (I always loved them), but perhaps on that very day, my perception changed. I started seeing animals as things of beauty- individuals that grow up, have a baby, have familial bonds, have friends, feel pleasure and feel fear. Not commodities. Not here for our pleasure and consumption. 

I started seeing food as a business- realizing that corporations are food pushers, leaving little space between advertising at the Olympics, on billboards and in magazines for people to even begin to think about having a choice. And within those corporations, I started seeing the dairy, egg and meat industries as some of the worst! I'd sit down to watch a movie at the cinema and find a commercial promoting milk! I didn't sign up for that! It's advertising, it's money, it's industry- they have your dollar at heart. 

I started seeing the 'green' trend, hybrid cars and climate change actions as beneficial, but kind of missing the mark. Didn't those people know that factory farming is the largest contributor to greenhouse gasses, more than all transportation combined?* That's trains, planes, boats, trucks and cars! Didn't those people realize that it takes 10 times more fossil fuel to get 1 calorie of animal protein vs 1 calorie of plant protein?

I started seeing that food is the main factor in our top causes of death and illness- heart disease, cancers, strokes, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, obesity. Researching how to 'fight' these diseases is not the same as researching how to prevent them. Why did no one tell me that excess animal protein promotes the growth of cancer?** And that any dietary cholesterol is too much!? 

It's hard to learn all of this. It's hard to learn that we've been fooled- that we think there are such things as 'happy cows', or that cage-free means freedom. It's hard learning that cows don't 'give' us their milk. It's extremely hard to know that this food is killing people, and that diseases are passed down through family lifestyle, and very rarely genes. It's hard to realize that most people don't know what's healthy and what's not, and that real food doesn't come from a box or in a package. 

The stages of being vegan? Knowledge and power. Sadness, anger, alienation and frustration. Acceptance- accepting that you can't change everyone, accepting that your loved ones may not understand, accepting that everyone is on their own path. Pride- being proud that being different creates change, that vegans are role-models for a diet and lifestyle that contributes the least harm, being proud to be a leader. 

So I ask you to imagine being told that black is white and white is black. Now I ask you to understand that we're all somewhere within that spectrum of truth. Everyone is at a different stage of life. For everyone, practicing non-judgment and acceptance will bring us all a little closer, no matter which stage of life we are at in our journey. 


*http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?newsID=20772&CR1=warning#.UGctsJjLRLc  
**http://www.tcolincampbell.org/courses-resources/article/animal-protein-as-a-carcinogen/?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=76&cHash=71fee56850fe6ea23c64c2cf54535a38