Food for Thought with Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

Often when you tell someone you’re vegan, the response is: “Why are you vegan? Is it for health or ethics?” Somehow, the answer matters, and depending on your answer, people respond differently. Join me as I discuss if our motivation to become vegan affects our dedication to remain vegan. I also share my opinion about people who identify as "plant-based" rather than "vegan." Support this podcast t...

The idea of not meeting a deadline or being late for an appointment or letting someone down is the stuff of nightmares for me. Traveling with The 30-Day Vegan Challenge and speaking all around the country made it impossible for me to release this week's podcast episode. That's all you need to know, but if you want to listen to my adventures at the Natural Food Expo and my misadventures in FL and M...

One misconception about veganism I’ve encountered more than once is the assumption that in honoring our values, we must forego tradition - as if these two things are mutually exclusive. Food-related rituals, particularly those involving animals, are likely to be so revered that they supersede consideration for anything or anyone else. Join me today for a discussion of how to honor the traditions o...

When you look at the arc of history in terms of human violence against animals, there is no doubt that things are significantly better than they were in the past. We've still got a lot of work to to, but when we step back and look at it from a broader perspective , we can see the paradigm shifts that took place in terms of how we regard and treat animals. One of those shifts can be traced back to...

Many of us happen upon wildlife in distress in our daily lives, but we don't often do anything about it. We may be afraid, we may not know what to do, we may be too busy. Today I share my brief story about a little raccoon with distemper whose suffering took precedence over my fear. Today's Tweetable: "One life matters - especially to the one whose life it is." Please share and tag @JoyfulVegan Fo...

For millennia, humans have engaged in rituals with the intention of achieving a wide variety of desired outcomes: reducing anxiety, alleviating grief, deepening faith, or even making it rain. Though rites and rituals can be used for positive or innocuous effects, they can also disguise discomfort and make unjustifiable actions seem legitimate. They can be meaningless, arbitrary, and archaic. They...

The 30-Day Vegan Challenge is the ULTIMATE guide for transitioning to a healthy, compassionate lifestyle, and it's the ULTIMATE resource for vegans. Packed with tools, tips, recipes, and menu ideas, it answers every question related to eating, cooking, nutrition, and the social aspects of living vegan, including eating out, holidays, living with non-vegans, etc. We already know the material inspir...

According to a recent study, the majority of people who become vegetarian / vegan go back to eating meat and animal products after a short time. One reason seems to be the lack of support or community. In today's episode, we return to our 10 Stages of What Happens When You Stop Eating Animals / Become Vegan and focus on what I think is the make-or-break stage for people: Stage 6: Finding a Sense o...

Join me today as I discuss the bullhook ban victory in my own city of Oakland, CA and how it is a small step indeed. I believe there will come a day in my lifetime when we see the end of animals in circuses, but until then, we're forced to make frustratingly small, incremental steps toward that aim. I also share a couple phone calls and announce the arrival of The 30-Day Vegan Challenge .    Thank...

Excited to share my trip to Ireland in today's podcast episode, including my meals at vegan (and non-vegan) restaurants, my visits to an animal sanctuary, and everything in between. So, sit back and enjoy! Many thanks to listeners and to American Anti-Vivisection Society  and FakeMeats.com  for sponsoring this episode. Support this podcast today at Patreon.com/ColleenPatrickGoudreau Visit my websi...

Excited to share my trip to London with all of you, including my meals at vegan (and non-vegan) restaurants, my visits to animal memorials, and everything in between. In the next episode, I'll take you to Ireland with me, but for now, sit back and enjoy! I'm also including some questions from callers about the sustatainability of salmon, how to buy a car without leather seats, and if it's okay to...

  I’m fascinated by the origins of words in general and how they relate to our perception of and thus treatment of non-human animals in particular. And so today, we take a look at five common English-language words and how they relate to non-human animals. After listening, you'll never again be able to order a burrito without thinking about my favorite animal. I also include some listener calls, w...

In addition to sharing with you some exciting news in today's episode, I feature questions from callers all of which have to do with dealing with real-world issues. Of course, this is what I address all the time on the podcast, but as I was organizing calls, it struck me as a theme for today's episode. We’ve got one caller asking about how to be the vegan family member who's asked by children why...

The urban agriculture trend is sexy, hot, and extremely popular. It also has the potential to negatively affect thousands of individuals when farming and killing animals is part of the plan. In today's episode, I share my experience working to stop backyard animal farming and slaughter in Oakland and why I think acting locally and politically for animals is imperative in changing the world for ani...

Join me for today's episode filled with wonderful questions from callers, such as what to do when a butcher shop moves in across the street; how to deal with "compassion fatigue": coping with the sadness of our society's rampant institutionalized animal abuse; and one from a doctor who looked for some guidance on how to talk to her patients about plant-based options. The main takeaway from today's...

Because I shamelessly share photos of my beloved cats on a daily basis, many of which depict them outside with me, I'm often asked how I'm able to let them experience the outdoors in a way that's safe for them and safe for wildlife. In today's episode, I share my experience and emphasize that it's a custom decision based on situation, location, and individual cat.  —————— Support this podcast toda...

Today’s episode focuses on the fourth stage of what happens when you stop eating animals: Evangelizing (Vegangelizing?). Join me as I talk about the difference between evangelizing and proselytizing and why we can - and should - fully embrace the true meaning of what it means to be an evanglizer, or a "messenger of good news." Sharing our enthusiasm for something we are excited about is a very nat...

In today's episode, I share with you a number of recent scenarios I found myself in where I had the opportunity to represent veganism and chose (choose) to do so in a positive way, whether it's ordering food in a non-vegan restaurant, dropping the "V" word into a non-vegan conversation, or meeting a friend of a friend who is on the Paleo (Pasturbation) diet. I also include a number of "What Would...

Public awareness is growing about the relationship between the production of palm oil and the loss of rainforests. And that's a good thing (though much work needs to be done between the relationship between the production of animal-based MEAT and the destruction of rainforests). Grown in tropical regions, palm plantations are displacing rainforests, destroying orangutan habitats and wreaking havoc...

Italy is one of my favorite places in the world - the people, the beauty, the language, the art, the history, the music, the food. Listen to this episode in which I share the details of our first international "Vegan Travel with Colleen Patrick-Goudreau" trip, which we premiered in Italy. We ate, we drank, we hiked, we cooked, we toured, we laughed, we cavorted, we met animals, and we reveled in t...

In this episode, I answer a number of questions from callers who ask: *what do I say to people who bring up abortion when I talk about animal rights? *how do I not make everyone uncomfortable when I talk about being vegan? *is it ever okay to feed birds, squirrels, deer, and other animals outside my home? *how do I handle the fact that family members want to purchase hens in order to eat their egg...

Many people think of “veganism” as a new reactionary trend against what we call factory farming, but for centuries, men and women have been thinking abo ut, writing about, and expressing distress over the violence inherent in killing animals for human use and consumption. My personal veganism is part of a long continuum of men and women – from ancient times until today – who stopped eating animals...

In today's episode, I talk about my favorite personal care and cosmetics products and how to determine if a company doesn't test their final products or their ingredients on animals. I also discuss the importance of supporting organizations and companies striving to vet this information for us so we, the consumer, can trust that what we buy has not contributed to violence against animals. I also t...

The centerpiece of today's episode is how to be the best advocate for animals and veganism in the age of social media. One of the most common questions I receive is about how to respond to people who make hostile or passive aggressive comments about veganism and animal protection on their Facebook (et. al) page. I share my philosophy about interacting on social media and offer some guidance for pl...

Join me in this episode in which I share with you my recent journey to the Big Apple, lauding the vegan restaurants I frequented and the animal activist/friends I cavorted with. And, amazingly, this California snob admits that NYC does some things better than we do in the Golden State. I also answer a couple questions from some lovely women who are learning to remain joyful vegans in a non-vegan w...