Food for Thought with Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

In celebration of the seven-year anniversary of the podcast, I feature the letters of listeners who have been transformed by "Food for Thought." The stories are as diverse as the listeners and reflect varied ages and backgrounds, but they all share common threads of hope and compassion. I hope you are as moved by the letters as I am humbled by them. If you ever once thought that "people don't chan...

In honor of Schuster, my beloved cat of 17 years, and Michael Scribner, my dear friend, I tell the stories of the lives and deaths of these two incredible beings who left this world days apart from one another. They both filled this world with love and joy, and they live on through the telling of their stories. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get a...

When you look through the lens of compassion, you see our desire for it everywhere you look; you see the human expression of it everywhere you look; and you see our connection to animals everywhere you look – including in art. I’m most excited by the presence of works of art that span mediums, cultures, genres, and decades, which covertly and overtly illustrate the reverence we have for animals bu...

Experience a trip to the United Kingdom through the lens of an animal advocate / literary nerd / vegan. Where else will you learn the origin of the word Shambles, walk on the Yorkshire moors, eat at wonderful vegetarian restaurants, meet British icons Alan Davies and David Mitchell, and hear poetry by William Wordsworth? It's all here in today's episode! Support this podcast today at Patreon.com/C...

I believe that change will occur for animals only as we change their status, and one thing we need to change is the way we talk about them. Every word we choose can contribute to upholding the existing paradigm that sees animals as ours to hurt, ours to eat, ours to kill, ours to use, as ours to do with whatever we please. OR we can choose words that reflect a new compassionate paragigm: one that...

Six years in the making, and it's finally here: The 30-Day Vegan Challenge ONLINE ( www.30dayveganchallenge.com ). Join me today as I announce and describe this unique, first-of-its-kind, life-changing program that enables you to join anytime and immediately log in to your very own password-protected account to access the daily messages, videos, audio podcasts, resources, and recipes! Addressing y...

If you've heard any variation of "Eating meat is a personal preference. I respect your preference not to eat animals just like you should respect my desire to eat them," then today's podcast episode is for you. Is it "respect" someone is looking for when they say that, or is it "approval?" Is it okay for vegans to disagree, and can they still do so with respect? (Pssst...the answer is yes!) Find o...

John Oswald, born in Edinburgh in the 1700s (the exact date unknown), was a philosopher, a writer, a poet, a social critic, a revolutionary, and an eloquent voice for animals and compassion.  Join me as I celebrate The Scottish Voice of Compassion and read excerpts from his essay, "The Cry of Nature: An Appeal to Mercy and Justice on Behalf of the Persecuted Animals.” This is a public episode. If...

Even though I address a number of typical responses and excuses in previous podcast episodes, I felt it was important to return to this topic, because there really is such an interesting dynamic that takes place when someone says "I'm vegan." Some responses can throw the vegan for a loop, including: "I'm vegan, too, but I eat chicken, fish, and eggs" or "I tried being vegan, but I felt tired and l...

In celebration of the six-year anniversary of our podcast, I feature the letters of listeners who have been transformed by "Food for Thought." The stories are as diverse as the listeners and reflect varied ages and backgrounds, but they all share common threads of hope and compassion. I hope you are as moved by the letters as I am humbled by them. If you ever once thought that "people don't change...

You don't really know how opinionated the world is until you become pregnant. And when yiou're VEGAN and pregnant, look out! Tune into today's episode for nutrition recommendations (protein, iron, folate/folic acid, calcium, Omega 3 fatty acids/DHA) and resources and books for being a healthy, happy, pregnant vegan. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or...

The newest fad diet on the block combines all the trends of the day: "low-carb," "gluten-free," and "low glycemic index," instilling fears about healthful foods and waxing poetic about animal flesh and fluids. You might call this a "retro" diet in that in doesn't look forward; it looks backwards. Way backwards! Not backwards 10 years or 100 years but 20,000 years! Join me as I discuss the The Pale...

As we say goodbye to 2011, I wanted to share with you a number of wonderful ways we'll enter 2012 together. Consider this my Happy New Year message to you filled with special announcements and gratitude for all your support. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.colleenpatrickgoudreau.com/subscribe

Traveling to towns large and small, host Colleen Patrick-Goudreau focuses on the vegan abundance in places whose population is between 2,000 and 3,000, including Murphys, CA and New Hope, PA. She shares her experiences from a recent trip to Animal Place, a sanctuary for farmed animals in Grass Valley, CA, whose population is only 200, when you factor in the human and non-human residents. :) In adv...

Navigating through Yellowstone National Park is at once awe-inspiring and thought-provoking. While it is a privilege to experience the natural wonders, the wildlife, and the breathtaking landscape, it's also difficult to see the bison and wolves and not think of the challenges they once faced (both brought to near-extinction) and continue to face now. Join me on a journey through Yellowstone and G...

Manifesting your values of compassion and wellness in your everyday behavior (i.e. becoming vegan) is a profound and powerful way to live. It's quite literally life-changing, and for some people, just making this change is enough to be part of contributing to a compassionate and nonviolent world But you may want to do even more. So today, I talk about an easy and effective form of advocacy that ha...

I first introduced B.R. Myers to listeners in an early podcast episode called The Fall of the Excuse-itarians in which I praised him for being one of the few writers for a prominent publication to openly take Michael Pollan and his fellow Excuse-itarians to task for romanticizing, ritualizing, rationalizing, fetishizing, and sexualizing the consumption of animals and their secretions. They're domi...

WARNING: Radical ideas fill this episode, centering around the suggestion that we try to have compassion for people with whom we disagree or who participate in behavior we find abhorrent. That’s the thing about compassion: it’s gotta be equal opportunity or it’s just inauthentic. It’s easy to be compassionate towards like-minded people; the challenge is choosing to have compassion towards those wi...

Whether you're traveling for work or pleasure, finding abundance and sustenance while on the road is easy once you know where to look and if you plan ahead (which I argue should be done even when you're NOT traveling). With loads of general tips for finding vegan food in airports, preparing for airplanes, choosing veg-friendly hotels, and traveling internationally, I end this episode with details...

Though sheep play a huge role in the consciousness of our culture (through nursery rhymes, children's stories, fables, and religion), our primary relationship to them is through our exploitation of them. Whether it's their wool we're shearing, their skin we're wearing, their flesh we're eating, or their milk we're taking, we value sheep as we do other domesticated animals: simply for what we can t...

All of us have been in a situation where a dog or cat (or other animal) crosses our path and potentially needs our intervention, and we have to decide what to do at that moment - animals who are homeless, lost, in distress, being abused, being neglected, or animals who are dead. Although it would be easier and more convenient to turn away, I can't just write it off as being someone else's problem....

Though some people do lose weight upon becoming vegan (which makes sense because you're eating fewer calorie-dense foods) and though vegans do have a lower body mass index than non-vegetarians, weight loss is not automatic for everyone. Rather than promise that "if you go vegan, you will lose weight," it's much more accurate to say "people who switch from an animal-based diet to a plant-based diet...

All of us have been in a situation where a dog or cat (or other animal) crosses our path and potentially needs our intervention, and we have to decide what to do at that moment - animals who are homeless, lost, in distress, being abused, being neglected, or animals who are dead. Although it would be easier and more convenient to turn away, I can't just write it off as being someone else's problem....

Though some people do lose weight upon becoming vegan (which makes sense because you're eating fewer calorie-dense foods) and though vegans do have a lower body mass index than non-vegetarians, weight loss is not automatic for everyone. Rather than promise that "if you go vegan, you will lose weight," it's much more accurate to say "people who switch from an animal-based diet to a plant-based diet...

Today I share some essential components of what happens to be my favorite cuisine. Learn the different varieties of miso and different ways to use what I think should be a staple in every refrigerator. Get tips on how to prepare the most delicious mushrooms on the planet (whether you get them dried or fresh). Discover the true meaning of the word "sushi," which has nothing to do with one fish, two...