Nessienora Vegan Explorer

Facebook contact

2011-04-05T03:18:00.000-07:00

the following is a copy of a message i sent to someone on Facebook, who has expressed interest in becomign vegan.

Hi

I have been vegetarian all my life, all 54 years, and have not had any ill effects that I am aware of!

Being vegetarian means not eating anything which has been killed for food, so no meat, (including chicken which people sometimes forget!) fish, and avoiding products which contain the by-products of meat, like gelatine in jelly and loads of things, rennet in many, particuarly hard, cheeses.

Becoming vegan is a much bigger step, but logical when you consider what happens to animals to make dairy products etc - eg, the female cattle needing to have a calf once a year to keep milking her, the calf is then either 'wastage' and killed or used for veal, thus further supporiting the meat industry. Mother cows bellow for their young once they have been removed, often for many days. Male chicks are also a 'waste' product in the egg industry. They are just crushed or gassed, in vaste bowls or heaps. It is all kept hidden, try reading 'why we love dogs, eat pigs and wear cows', a briliant book by Melanie Joy, published in US last year. It is probably kinder to the animals to eat beef than it is to use milk, but still hideous.

It was watching a short video on FB about a cow, no idea for beef or dairy, waiting in line in a metal runway thing to go into the killing shed, trying to turn around, that made me go vegan, instantly. It was heart rending, and must happen literally thousands of times a day. There are estimated to be 56 billion animals a year killed for meat etc., and that does not include fish, an estimated further 90 billion.

There are really two aspects to being vegan. There is the dietary componenet and the lifestyle part. I am not there on the lifestyle one yet, it will take a lot longer, maybe I will never get there. the dietary part is easier - no products of animals at all, eg no milk, cheese, cream, eggs, honey, or things with them in, so lots of checking of labels!

The lifestyle part is more complicated and happens gradually for msot people. No leather, eg shoes - I still have leather shoes I bought in the past or from charity shops - no silk, wool. then, household products, no animal ingredients and not tested on animals. We have the Co-op here, which has a lot of its products labelled clearly as nto tested or with animal ingredients, so that helps, but it is a complicated business! We do not live in a vegan world as yet, so we have to compromise, or life would be unbearable, we would be intolerable to live near etc!

I did not go vegan for my health. I initially put on weight, i think I overcompensated with chips and chocolate! But that has settled now and I think i am even losing a little weight. However, i did find, by chance, a major health benefit. A few months before becoming vegan, after a year or two of pain, I was diagnosed with arthritis in my hip. I was even considering surgery. However, when I became vegan, the pain left, almost entirely. I can now walk longish distances again, and rarely experience any pain from it. The problem is obviously still there, and I triggered it once by being 'naughty' and having some stilton cheese, a blue and delicious cheese, and was in agony the next day, but fine again the folloiwng day. I am not saying that dairy is a problem for everyone with arthritis, but I do know that most nutrititionists I have encountered take people off dairy pronto, for all sorts of problems. it is necessary to take vitamin B12 as a supplement or in fortified foods, as this is only found in the soil, we tend to clean things a lot nowadays and so it is usually found now in animal products where it has been digested from the soil. There is plenty of protein in vegan food, most people eat far too much protein and there is protein in all foods, even fruit and vegetables, obviously in nuts and grains and pulses etc.

If you plan to go vegan, fantastic, but take it gradually, do not be hard on yourself if you get it 'wrong', make mistakes, eat something you crave etc. Do not give up, i thought of it day by day for ages, if I fancied something non vegan i told myself I could have it tomorrow if I wanted, now it feels quite normal and I rarely have wobbly moments! Some people go vegetarian first, just as a step towards beicoming vegan, that might be easier, with a plan to move to vegan after a while. Or, you could just eat less meat initially, that is a great help. What does your family think? I am in the happy position of beign supported by my husband, who is mainly vegan, and having lovely vegan guests to stay at our guest house often. i have found much support on here, eg the Vegan Society page, which is brilliant, and have lots of FB friends who I am friends with specifically because they are vegan, round the world. But, I do get sent a lot of gruelling pictures and posts which I can do nothing about, so that is sometimes a bit depressing. There are also loads of links to vegan blogs, recipe pages etc.

Anyway, good luck whatever you do, let me know how it goes. I am delighted you are thinking of this step.

love

Vanessa

getting there

2010-10-20T15:16:00.000-07:00

today, after no further Terrible Incidents, My hip is beginning to feel better. So, 24 hours to feel really bad after eaitng cheese, and a further 24 or more to start to improve.

I am astounded!

2010-10-19T13:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was very 'naughty', or this is how I choose to describe it. I fell off the vegan wagon. I was cooking with stilton. I ate some. No, I gorged on what I was not using in my recipe for guests. I ate a lot. I was choosing 'not to waste it', I was falling for the article I have just read about how 'addictive' cheese is, it was not my 'fault', i could not help it, blah, blah, excuses, excuses.

It was delicious. I felt guilty. My stomach was not pleased to receive it and sent it on it's way quite promptly.

But, exactly 24 hours later, and a few more non vegan morsels later, the arthritis symptoms I had before becoming vegan, are back with a vengeance. I welcome them, they are clear proof, further proof if it was needed, of the connection between the discomfort of arthritis and dairy. I did not wonder if I would get the pain, it is not psychosomatic. It did not occur to me that it could be so instant, so directly connected. It is extreme, I am limping, I am avoiding walking between the kitchen and dining room. It is OK now that I am sitting here and I doubt it will keep me awake. I will be interested to see how soon it will subside, as I believe it will.

I am horrified that when I told the physios of my improvement after giving up dairy last year, they just dismissed it. I wonder if there is much research of the topic, if not, there clearly needs to be a study. Anecdotal evidence such as this will never be acceptable in the scientific world, but it is a powerful anecdote.

wonderful quote

2010-06-26T13:54:00.000-07:00

Sele45 says "The main basis of my vegan life is to refrain from taking things that aren't mine. The word 'arrogant' comes from a word meaning 'to take for oneself.' It's supremely arrogant of humans to believe they have more of a right to the body and life of another being than the being itself."

so many quotes have become hackneyed and commonplace by overuse. this is fresh to me, it really stands out.

animal psychic

2010-04-29T01:02:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Radio 2 had an animal psychic on the afternoon show. What was said has haunted me since. It was on the afternoon show, it was treated very lightly and with some underlying derision I felt. This programme is not one to look at subjects in any depth or with a serious approach.

But, it could have been an opportunity to promote the vegan and vegetarian cause. It was the opposite. After some discussion about the lady's communication with people's pets (I do not know her name, and some Google searches and review of the radio 2 programme content at the time did not reveal it), the subject of farm animals was raised. She said something like 'oh, the vegetarian thing' and proceeded to say that farm animals live in the present, and should have good welfare. With that she had let everyone who eats meat off the hook, dismissed any concern for animals other than people's 'pets' as unnecessary.

A few days later someone was at the house doing a particular piece of work here, and made the same comment about animals living in the present. I do not know if she had heard the programme, but if not it was a strange coincidence, so those 'wise' words had been heard. Whether animals have a concept of the future I do not know, but that they remember events of the past there can be no doubt. Even if they do live in the moment, being in the hell of the slaughter house in the moment is not justifiable, it is just as horrendous, and frequently involves hours of waiting, just to smell and see the animal ahead of you die before you do.

I do not know if people can communicate with animals in any special way, but, if they can, then this has to extend to all animals surely? Otherwise it is just an extension of spciesism and humanocentric, communicating with animals for the benefit and reassurance of people only?

Why vegan?

2010-02-24T15:44:00.000-08:00

I would like to turn this question around the next time I am asked it. Why do you eat meat or animal products? I don't know if I will, but I'd like to, without being aggressive, or defensive, or condescending or nervous.

the bees give us their honey, the hens give us their eggs

2010-02-24T15:41:00.000-08:00

No, they don't, they make them for themselves, for their young, for their future, for their own needs, not out of the goodness of their hearts for us.

2010-02-19T07:41:00.001-08:00

"Veganism is an act of nonviolent defiance. It is our statement that we reject the notion that animals are things and that we regard sentient nonhumans as moral persons with the fundamental moral right not to be treated as the property or resources of humans."

—Gary L. Francione (October 24, 2009)

My vegan decision

2010-01-12T03:40:00.000-08:00

The following is an essay I have submitted and had accepted and posted on a website about why and how people have become vegan. http://www.thevegandecision.com/. It is a very interesting site, well worth a visit, full of useful essays and inspirational thoughts. The following is the full version of the essay, as I had written far more than the prescribed number of words for my post, and could not seem to bring the word count down!:

'I am a life vegetarian, my parents became vegetarian during WWII. I have never eaten meat knowingly, and was always quite happy being vegetarian as a child, was never tempted to try meat, loved animals and made the connection between killing and meat. A lot of the food I grew up on was vegan, pulses, nuts, tinned delights such as Nuttolene (you can still get it in the UK, it is still lovely!). There was no distinction made in our household between a meal that was vegan and one with cheese/eggs, although, given a preference I would probably have chosen the macaroni cheese over the red lentil, lemony splodge! I loved cooking as I grew up and probably used more and more dairy and egg products as my cooking skills developed.

I have been running a vegetarian and vegan guest house in Cornwall, UK. for six years, and have become comfortable cooking vegan meals for many of our guests during this time. Yet vegans always made me feel a bit uncomfortable, there was the reminder that I was not really letting myself know the full horror my dairy and egg consumption was supporting. I recall saying things like ‘I know I should become vegan, but I’m not about to’ to guests, and closing any conversation that might be forthcoming quickly. Cognitive dissonance – the holding of two contradictory views at one time, and rationalising ones way out of the discomfort (‘I’m vegetarian, isn’t that good enough?’ ‘It would be difficult’, ‘less tasty’, blah, blah, blah) is a common experience for many who claim to love animals, yet continue to eat or use their products.

I am an avid user of Facebook, and was ‘friended’ by several animal rights activist vegans in 2009. They posted difficult to watch and upsetting videos. I got angry with these people and contacted one and then ‘hid’ his posts for a while. Then, I forced myself to watch one, just a simple video of a cow waiting to go into the abattoir to be killed, trying to turn around, entitled ‘I am scared’. It brings tears to my eyes just to type that out. I decided, instantly, to try being vegan, just for a week, September 2009. I then carried on, day by day once the week was up, ‘I can have the stilton tomorrow if I want to’ etc. I now rarely even think about it. I still cook some vegetarian meals for guests, and sometimes test them. But, the sense of being vegan grows, and I love it, and it is easy. So different to dieting, which I have always been hopeless at. Something to do with doing it for others, not for me, although I benefit too. I have rarely done anything in my life that I am so happy or comfortable with.

It is not without problems, of course. Socially, it means rejecting people’s hospitality at times. It means justifying oneself, although why I have to justify not eating dead things or their products, beats me. It means checking and asking and getting daft replies – ‘is the soup suitable for vegans?’ – ‘no, Madam, the only item on the menu suitable for vegans is the Cajun chicken salad’, or, in a different café – ‘are any of the cakes suitable for vegans?’ – ‘er, no, they all have chocolate in’. It involves a lot of letter writing to link people in with the Vegan Society and educate them, or thank places for good meals they have prepared for us.

We (my husband is now largely vegan) are many people’s sole representatives of what a ‘vegan’ is. Everything you do, how you behave, is judged (in my mind at least!) in relation to your stance on what you eat. I feel I must not get ill, or it will be seen to be because I have become vegan. I do not seem to be doing well on the becoming ‘pasty and thin’ front, I would like to be a lot thinner! I have however, found that the osteoarthritis I was diagnosed with last year in my hip and which made me limp with pain at times, has caused me virtually no problems since becoming vegan.

The dietary part of the process seems to be the easiest. I am still wearing some leather shoes, although will not buy any more and had made that decision before becoming vegan. I cannot afford to replace everything, and throwing things out (all my leather shoes are way beyond sending to charity shops!) seems worse than using them, although they give non vegans a triumphant – ‘aha, but you are wearing leather shoes’, moment. Although the dogs are mainly vegan, the cats still eat tins of meat. I know they can be vegan, given the right foods, but they are carnivores…

It is a process, and I still have a way to go, but a journey I am very happy to be taking. I feel so much more comfortable with myself, more honest, but far from perfect. Being vegetarian was not enough, I was supporting the veal industry, the idea of male calves and chickens as waste products, I was supporting the removal of newborn calves form their mothers, and the wastage of land to support dairy cattle which could be so much better used to grow food for humans. I want everyone to know what I know and make the same changes, but I know how proselytising is the most off-putting thing there is, how it would have put me off before, so I must ‘be the change you want to see’, not rant at people.

My favourite vegan things

I use very few ready made vegan products or meat substitutes as I feel no need of them. I do like and use Linda Mccartney sausages. I like cooking with herbs, especially rosemary in winter, coriander and basil, and love to add lemon to dishes. I also like to cook with alcohol, rum and wine and brandy in particular! I like to make my dishes delicious ahead of healthy.

‘Vegan Cupcakes take over the world’ - Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero

‘Vegan Feasts’ – Rose Elliot

Vanessa Lackford

www.michael-house.co.uk

age 52

Tintagel, Cornwall, UK

2010-01-03T12:36:00.001-08:00

When I see a pig, I do not think of what a pig tastes like, I just see a lovely, intelligent pink animal, who may enjoy a good scratch between the ears. This is because I have never tasted pig, so do not know what it tastes like and do not associate it personallly with food. And, sadly, I do not see many pigs, they are mostly living their short and unnatural lives in sheds.

Pleasant surprise

2009-12-02T13:09:00.000-08:00

I have been pleasantly surprised by people's reaction to our going vegan. With a few exceptions, people have been very supportive and understanding and respectful, and some have even considered going vegan themselves, and one friend on Facebook, has, I'm sure not just through my influence, but an accumulation of insights and knowledge.

There is the primitive desire to be with ones own, a tribal feeling of safety with those who think similarly to oneself. Running the guest house obviously brings this kinship, and sites such as Volentia, and going to the Animal Aid Fayre in Exeter last weekend do too. The fayre made me feel quite emotional, at home, all warm, no need to explain anything, ah, except i did feel i wanted to explain to everyone why I am still wearing leather shoes, although I doubt anyone even noticed! i may do a separate blog entry about my thoughts on this.

Vegan cupcakes

2009-11-22T06:07:00.000-08:00

Vegan Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

Makes: 12 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS
8fl oz - 1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar - or any vinegar, I used wine vinegar
5 oz - 3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 fl oz - 1/3 cup canola oil - I used sunflower oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract, chocolate extract, or more vanilla extract
4 oz - 1 cup all-purpose flour - plain flour
1 and a half oz - 1/3 cup cocoa powder, Dutch-processed or regular
3/4 teaspoon baking soda - bicarbonate of soda we call it in UK!
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350°F 175c and line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners.
Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and other extract, if using, to the soy milk mixture and beat until foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are OK).
Pour into liners, filling 3/4 of the way. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

icing -

3oz vegan margarine
half tsp vanilla essence
6oz sieved icing sugar
2 oz sieved cocoa pdr.

mix thoroughly and swirl or otherwise decorate the cakes with this. Yum

Anglicised from
From: Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World , by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero

A pig

2009-11-18T12:03:00.000-08:00

When I see a pig, as I did recently on our holiday, a lucky pig with a lovely field to dig up and a shelter to retreat to, I see a pink animal whom I know is intelligent, and with whom I may be able to spend a few moments of quality time, scratching it's ears and grunting together. I also imagine it waiting in the abattoir, smelling death, hearing death, but I try not to dwell on this. I do not think of what it tastes like. I do not know what it tastes like, as I have never tasted pig. When I see a row of peas, an artichoke, a peach, I imagine what they taste like. I know others imagine the taste of bacon when they see a pig. I am so happy that I do not.

Vegan household!

2009-11-04T05:48:00.000-08:00

Simon has today announced that he too has become vegan. I realise that I am currently a dietary vegan only, as there are many products around the house which will have been tested on animals, many may have animal products in, I am still making felt from wool, I am still wearing leather shoes, albeit only old ones and second hand ones, etc. We have a long way to go, and will probably never get there fully. And, we must consider getting the dogs onto a vegan diet.

I so want to get making the vegan cup cakes I had the other day. So yummy, maybe I could adapt them into a dessert?

Bees

2009-10-30T15:40:00.000-07:00

I just read that the average honey bee produces around half a teaspoon of honey in it's lifetime. One morsal for us, a life's work for another.

counter

2009-10-26T16:25:00.000-07:00

I have just added this counter thing, but I find it so upsetting, please let me know if you have any thoughts and are reading this. Is it helpful, or just so shocking that it is a distraction?

2009-10-23T17:03:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GebCr0E-oRg&feature=player_embedded

Coming out

2009-10-22T02:59:00.000-07:00

I have been blogging a little in my craft blog about going vegan, I thought it was time I had a blog largely devoted to the process! I will copy those posts into here and start blogging about crafts once more in that blog!

It is a strange process telling people I am vegan. I have been vegan - more or less- for around six weeks. I started suddenly, didn't even tell anyone at first. I felt a bit of a fraud, vulnerable to being easily persuaded back to being vegetarian. I feel stronger now, comfortable with my choice, but it still feels strange to tell people what I am doing. In this quiet Cornish village, even being vegetarian is considered unusual, so being vegan raises eyebrows! I have been reticent in telling people locally, but am beginning to do so now, and we have had several meals out, and I have had a some good food, as long as we tell the pub/restaurant in advance.

Being vegan has nothing to do with self discipline at present for me. I have terrible self discipline! I cannot diet for long, although I need to. Being vegan is not about my health, although any weight loss (sadly not much yet) and health benefits will be an added bonus! It is purely about animal welfare and the realisation of the intimate link between the meat and dairy industries. If I were ever to feel a bit of a wobbly about being vegan, I can just look at some of the images I have previously managed to avoid for so many years but finally forced myself to look at. Being vegetarian, I have always been vegetarian, is not enough.