Food for Thought with Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

Journey with me through the Sonoma Wine Country as I share my experience eating vegan food, drinking wine, and talking to a wine-making hunter, who invited me to join him on one of his hunts. In this episode, I offer my thoughts about "vegan wines." Support this podcast today at Patreon.com/ColleenPatrickGoudreau Visit my website: JoyfulVegan.com Join me on an all-inclusive vegan trip: JoyfulVegan...

The well-intentioned rallying cry to “change the world” becomes louder and more hashtag-worthy, especially as Earth Day approaches. A search on Google garners millions of results for articles to help people make a difference: *10 Things That Even YOU Can Do to Change the World *30 Things You Can Do to Change the World in 30 Seconds *50 Ways YOU Can Change the World without Leaving Your Favorite Ch...

On my last visit to Seattle, WA 12 years ago, there were just a handful of vegan restaurants. Vegan donuts? Yes. (Yay!) A 100% vegan store? Yes. (Yay!) But vegan restaurants. Just a few. Of course as vegans, we're never at risk of starving, but darnit, it's just so much better when we can enjoy delicious, beautiful, creative food in a restaurant and not have to pick the only vegan-izable thing on...

I’ve heard every justification for the consumption of animals, but I was a bit stunned when I heard someone claim that vegans should eat oysters because bivalves are "basically plants." No doubt there are grey areas in this whole attempt to live as compassionately as possible. But even the fuzzy lines are still lines. If I let you eat oysters, would you stop eating cows? Listen by clicking the pla...

Cat cafes have become a popular trend all around the world, but who do they ultimately serve? Are they just about the schtick, or can they play a role in helping people adopt homeless cats? Today's podcast episode explores this topic, offers some questions we should be asking, and provides a model that other cat cafes might follow. Support this podcast today at Patreon.com/ColleenPatrickGoudreau V...

Today's episode concludes a 3-part series on Animals in Film. In Part One, I talk about the history behind the American Humane Association and its “no animals were harmed in the making of this film" disclaimer. In Part Two, we discuss where things have gone wrong on TV and movie sets that lead to the death or injury of animals and why these productions still received the “No Animals Were Harmed” d...

Today's episode is framed around a conversation I had with a non-vegan German (who lives in the U.S.), who was not only doubtful we'd be able to eat while visiting southern Germany (as vegans) but who also lamented that we would be "missing out" on the traditions of this country. I assured him that when you look through the meat-eating lens, you see only meat and when you look through the vegan le...

Help celebrate the TEN-YEAR ANNIVERSARY of the Food for Thought podcast by sitting back and taking in the love letters I've received from listeners and supporters this past year. The stories are as diverse as the listeners and reflect varied ages and backgrounds, but they all share common threads of hope, transformation, and compassion. I hope you are as moved by the letters as I am humbled by the...

Having experienced all these benefits of getting meat, dairy, and eggs out of our lives and having found our own voice, it's natural to next ask “Where do I fit into this whole thing?” “How can I help?” “What skills do I have that I can use to be part of the solution?” What's my contribution?” Finally, we can relax into this compassionate and healthy way of living and adapt fully and joyfully into...

Every one of us has had to manage what to do when uninvited guests take up residence in our attics, walls, or basements. Sadly, we're too quick to consider them "pests" and take lethal measures to get rid of them. But even when we want to take compassionate action, we may be deceived or making it worse for the animal. Listen to this important episode about how to change our perception and behavior...

We already impact animals so much in our every day lives: we eat them, we destroy their homes, we make them perform for us, we shoot them for sport, we use and hurt them in so many ways. So how can we HELP them in our every day lives?? Listen to my TOP 5 SUGGESTIONS that don't even require much effort but that make a huge difference in the lives of individual animals and that make us better people...

In Animals in Film: Part 1, we talked about the history behind the American Humane Association and its “No Animals Were Harmed” disclaimer. Today, in Animals in Film: Part 2, we discuss where things have gone wrong on TV and movie sets that lead to the death or injury of animals and why these productions still received the “No Animals Were Harmed” disclaimer from the monitors meant to protect the...

Every regular filmgoer is familiar with the disclaimer at the end of film credits that states “no animals were harmed in the making of this film.” This message is given with the approval of the American Humane Association, which has oversight over the treatment of animals in films, but what took place to give an outside group oversight over a private industry? Today we talk about that history, whi...

There are a lot of opinions and theories about whether it’s better to eat more cooked veggies or more raw veggies -- or about whether it's more beneficial to eat 100% raw fruits and veggies and avoid cooked foods altogether. In today's episode I hope to settle this once and for all. Support this podcast today at Patreon.com/ColleenPatrickGoudreau Visit my website: JoyfulVegan.com Join me on an all...

In today's episode, I review a Hungarian film called White God by director Kornél Mundruczó. The film won the Un Certain Regard award at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, and the main canine actor received their presigious Palm Dog Award. This film is at once a revenge film, a science fiction film, a horror film, a political film, a coming of age film, and a film steeped in stark realism. But most im...

Please enjoy this compilation of editorials I've written and recorded over the years for my local national public radio station. With over 10 2-minute episodes heard back to back, you'll enjoy topics such as urban livestock, caring for hurt or injured dogs and cats, having a turkey-free Thanksgiving, the violence inherent in slaugherhouses and how it affects the workers, shark fin and foie gras ba...

Living according to your ethics in a complicated world certainly comes with challenges, but it's not impossible. For vegans trying to do the right thing, it's one thing to opt out of eating the obvious animal products -- meat, dairy, and eggs - but what about the trickier, grayer areas, including work. What if you work for a software company and you're put on a project to build a website for a hun...

It’s in this stage that we might buy our first food processor or high-powered blender or we garden for the first time or we cook for the first time or we try new foods or cuisines or restaurants we never tried before. This is when we learn how expansive it is to live unconditionally compassionately. This is when we may feel more deeply connected to other animals and to other people in our lives. T...

The question I get more than any other is “What do you feed your cats?” Many years ago, I produced a podcast episode that addressed this issue but included additional unrelated information. And so, it was time to dedicate an updated episode to this topic, which also includes how dogs do on a vegan diet. Support this podcast today at Patreon.com/ColleenPatrickGoudreau Visit my website: JoyfulVegan....

Travel with me to southern Italy and France, as I share details of our most recent trip as part of the "Vegan Travel with Colleen Patrick-Goudreau." My intention is to demonstrat e how enjoyable it is to eat an abundance of local food, take in the incredible sites, immerse yourself in local culture, customs, and people -- all while adhering to your vegan values. We explore many towns in Provence,...

Some people say: “Just because you’re vegan, doesn’t mean you’re healthy. Vegans eat a lot of processed foods. Processed foods are killing people. Processed foods are evil.”  In today's episode, I offer my response to this idea that "processed foods" are bad for us or that they reflect poorly on veganism. The truth is we ALL eat "processed foods," and "vegan" is not a diet. Support this podcast to...

There is a prevailing myth in our culture, played out in our language and in marketing, that meat is masculine and plant foods are for wimps. Meat is a metaphor for strength, virility, and manliness, while vegetarianism/veganism is feminine, effeminate, and even emasculating. "Real Men Eat Meat" and "Tofu is Gay Meat" are just two examples of advertisements that perpetuate this myth and secure it ...

When it comes to human and non-human animals, we are more alike than different, especially when it comes to mothering. In today's special episode, I share my thoughts about what it means to be a great mom and why elephants and alligators both meet the criteria. Thank you to  listener supporters  and our sponsors  The American Antivivisection Society  and  Nature's Food . (Shop for Nature's Food at...

Returning to the 10 Stages of What Happens When You Stop Eating Animals, today we wrap up Stage 7: Effective Communication. In Part One, I covered our first five strategies: *Creating Intention *Practicing Active Listening *Asking Questions *Having a Sense of Humor *Knowing Where You End and Another Person Begins In Part Two, I offer five more strategies to help us communicate unapologetically, re...

Returning to our 10 Stages of What Happens When You Stop Eating Animals, today we tackle Stage 7: Effective Communication. This is the stage at which you begin to feel more comfortable in your own vegan skin, including how to speak to people who push back when you tell them you’re vegan or who are hostile or passive aggressive or disrespectful. You learn the importance of finding your voice and of...