Coming out vegan

In 1990 I came out of the closet. That is the year I told family and old friends that I was gay. I knew earlier, and there were a handful of very close friends who knew.

I'm not sure where the term came from regarding the closet, but my life before coming out was dark, lonely and I always had a feeling of being trapped.

I believe there is power in coming out. Not only power that one finds, but power in changes that it makes in the world. I have always felt that people who know and love gay people find it harder to hate them, kill them, vote against their rights or condemn them.

These days I use the term coming out of the closet for all sorts of different things. I think when we as vegans come out as vegan we can totally change the world. What I mean by this is basically be open to talk about our veganism with complete strangers. Not in an annoying, condescending way but in  a matter of fact way.

It's a great way to be a voice for the voiceless and you never know who you might meet and befriend. We get emails from vegans all of the time who live in areas where they are the only vegan. I wonder if they really are, or if they just don't know all of the other vegans. I remember feeling the same way when coming out and being somewhere in the world or even on my ship when I was in the Navy and thinking I was the only one.

There are a lot of us out there. Imagine the changes we can make in the world when we meet each other and grab a meal together. Or plan a potluck or meetup. Or ask our local market to carry more vegan products. Or plan a protest.

As many of us who are out and about and  talking about our veganism and why we're vegan, there are many who go about their plant-based life with little conversation about. We can be a voice for the voiceless by letting the whole world know.

Thanks so much for reading. And to our readers who feel alone in their vegan adventure: You are not alone. There is an amazing vegan community, however big or small, out there.

Another Meatless Monday post

Recently I read about another restaurant in Denver that has started offering something special for Meatless Monday. I loved reading about it, a three course meal offered at Ace. Ace is not a vegan or veg restaurant, but they do have one of the areas top vegan chefs, Jesse Moore. I'm just excited that the whole Meatless Monday idea is going strong.

I think Meatless Monday is an amazing way to build relationships and to spread the value of offering vegan dishes. I dream of a day when our city of Lakewood embraces the idea and restaurants throughout the city offer vegan and vegetarian specials every Monday. It would be a win for everyone as Monday is typically not a busy night at restaurants and people interested in healthier food choices would have plenty of places to choose from.

Imagine going to your favorite restaurant and asking them to do something for Meatless Monday. You and your friends would promote it and before you know it Monday night could become one of their busier nights.

There are other ways to support Meatless Monday and to engage people into thinking about not consuming meat for a day: 

Bring a breakfast treat into the office.

Invite a group of co-workers out to lunch or plan a vegan potluck for lunch.

Plan a group dinner in your home. We've heard from our blog readers around the world who have hosted Meatless Monday dinners, one even having 25 friends over!

Create a community Meetup for the first Monday of every month. Choose a different restaurant each month and create an online community of people who are interested in joining you. You might be surprised to see a gathering go from five people the first time to 15 a couple of months later.

Meatless Mondays are awesome opportunities to not only show off how delicious and healthy vegan food can be but also a great way to be a voice for the animals.

Thanks for reading and please keep your Meatless Monday stories coming!

Another Meatless Monday

One of the best ways Mike and I have found to promote veganism is to make delicious vegan dishes for folks and share them. We both make it a habit of bringing in wonderful vegan creations to work and our home is typically filled with people on holidays, not all of whom are vegan. Mike's Thanksgiving dinners have become so popular with friends who are not vegan that we have seen them incorporate more vegan dishes into their world.

And it doesn't have to stop there. All over the world organizations, charities and now even towns and cities promote veganism by supporting Meatless Mondays. We have had a lot of fun with this by asking our readers to support Meatless Mondays wherever they live. Some have had dinner parties where they only invited friends who are not vegan, some have asked their local restaurant to create Meatless Monday vegan specials and some have created potlucks to invite friends and neighbors.

The premise is simple: ask people who are not vegan to not consume meat and animal products for one day. It's a simple request, and we have learned that it becomes much easier when followed by lots of support and options.

Imagine if everyone who read this blog post created some type of Meatless Monday event, whether it was small dinner party at home or a community-wide event? One of my dreams is to have our city (Lakewood, CO) promote Meatless Mondays and have dozens and dozens of restaurants in the city create Meatless Monday specials. Monday is typically a slower night for restaurants so this whole idea could not only benefit those trying a vegan meal but also benefit the local economy by having more and more people visit their local restaurant to enjoy a vegan special.

The Meatless Monday is certainly taking off. Last year I read a New York Times article which was about the town of Aspen, Colorado supporting the Meatless Monday idea! Social media is filled with groups promoting the idea, and also offering great recipes for those wanting to try something at home. My Facebook and Twitter feeds are filled with several delicious recipe options on Mondays!

Let's do it. I invite all of you to think of a great idea to promote Meatless Monday. We will keep you posted on our ideas, as well as what we hear from readers. Let us know how it goes. If a restaurant supports your efforts, tell us. If you tried a new recipe and invited friends for dinner, what was it?

Thank you so much for reading!

Tiny actions that change the world

I was thinking of writing a post about resolutions for the new year. Then I decided that there are plenty of those out there. I have a few things I want to look at in 2013, and one of them is asking our readers to take simple, small actions that can change the world.

In the 1 1/2 years since I started the blog I have honestly been blown away by the action our readers take when I write about an issue or ask them to do something. It started with Meatless Mondays when over 1000 people were touched by our readers in deciding to not eat meat on a Monday. I have also been beyond thrilled when someone writes to me and tells me that they discovered who their state representative is and that they made a connection. The list could go on and on.

So for 2013 I'd like you all to join Mike and I in doing, or continuing to do, small acts that are huge in their affect.

If you are in a relationship, go for a walk with your beloved. Hold hands. Just the two of you. No companion animals. Our actions for change should start in our own lives.

Check out your local shelter and ask if you can volunteer. Clean cages, walk dogs, cuddle with cats. In some shelters there is a specific room for cats with FIV, which is basically HIV for cats. They are tougher to adopt. All three of my cats had FIV. Hanging out in the FIV cat room rocks.

Find out who your state representative is and connect with them. They are your voice in your state capital. Whatever your big issues are, they might be voting on one of them in 2013. Make sure your voice is heard. Go here to find them: http://votesmart.org/

Have a vegan potluck at your home. A Sunday brunch would be awesome. We have done this, with mostly non-vegans attending, and the food is ALWAYS delish and everyone ALWAYS has a wonderful time. My favorite brunch item for potlucks is Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Banana Rabanada French Toast in her "Vegan Brunch" cookbook. Page 102! Mmmm.

While on the topic of making vegan food, make a vegan baked good and bring it to work to share. This can be huge. My whole office has a different concept around vegan food because of what Mike (and I at times!) have made for the office. It's great to see people go from "I don't think I'll like this" to "Holy cow!" in a matter of seconds.

Make a donation to a non-profit that is a voice for the animals. There are SO many to choose from. Some local, some national. I always like to start out by talking about making local change. There is an animal shelter close to everyone. $25.00 can go a long way. It's important for me to financially support those doing the work in being the voice for the voiceless. It's not always cheap.

I think this is a great start. Will you join us?

Thanks for reading! If you would like to communicate with me other than posting a comment my personal email is vegandude@msn.com

A step towards veganism in 2012

As all of our readers know, Mike and I are vegan. We are both vegan because of animal issues, in that we just do not want to be a part of how horribly animals are treated to become food. And since we abhor violence, we certainly don't want to pay someone else to inflict violence against animals so we can eat. The benefit of this for the animals is clear, and the benefit for us is that we get to go crazy with amazing food choices as well as just being healthier.

We get a lot of questions about being vegan, not so much as to why we're vegan but how one can start the process of being vegan. So here are some thoughts about steps one can take if considering veganism.

Try a Meatless Monday. This is pretty simple and has become a world-wide event. Just don't eat meat on a Monday. If you want to go a bit further, go meatless every Monday!

Go to your library and check out a vegan cookbook. There are literally hundreds to choose from. The second part of this action is to actually prepare a meal from the cookbook!

Look for a meetup in your area. There are hundreds of vegetarian and vegan meetups all over the place. Some are potlucks and some are at a restaurant. If you are really interested in trying vegan food and cannot find such a group, start one. We have done vegan brunches where most of the folks who attend are not vegan yet everyone brings a vegan brunch item (you can check out our blog post about this). The food is always delicious and people who are not vegan realize how wonderful vegan choices are.

Check out a local Asian Bistro or Chinese restaurant and ask them to make you their best tofu dish. You might get really surprised!

Switch our your mayonnaise for a vegan version. Our favorite is Veganaise. I can eat it by the spoonful!

Read some vegan blogs. We have several linked from our blog. They are great learning sources and definitely empower you.

These ideas are just a start. Veganism is an incredible way of life and if this is your first attempt to try veganism you'll be blown away by the amazing food choices you'll have as well as all of the incredible flavors and textures that await you.

Let us know if we can help!

Thanks for reading!