Veganism: A Changing World – VEGAN VOICES writer Doreen Rothe

Next in our series on the writers of “VEGAN VOICES –  Essays by Inspiring Changemakers”, is Doreen Rothe.  

Doreen was born in East Germany in 1971. She came to Berlin in 1991 to study Interpreting (English and Spanish). About a year later, she turned vegetarian and became active in an anti-vivisectionist organization. It took her eight more years to go vegan and some more to become a vegan activist. Subsequently she joined the volunteer network Berlin-Vegan, which aims mainly to help people find their way around vegan Berlin, and which established one of the world’s largest vegan street festivals, the Veganes Sommerfest Berlin. By then, Doreen had been working several years as a technical translator. When the opportunity came to work at the Albert Schweitzer Foundation, she accepted the position with great enthusiasm. 

 

 

Extract from her essay in VEGAN VOICES:

“I have the great privilege to be able to work full-time for an animal welfare/animal rights organization, the Albert Schweitzer Foundation. This gives me the opportunity to spend as much time as possible on something I regard as so important for our future. Albert Schweitzer’s fundamental maxim was reverence for life. So we focus on the single greatest source of pain and death for animals: their exploitation and use as products and food sources…

“What I particularly like about the foundation is its pragmatic approach, always based on the latest scientific findings. While we very decidedly work to promote the vegan lifestyle as the most ethical solution, we also try to achieve as many real improvements as possible in the lives of the countless animals who are still suffering for human consumption…

“As humans, we are in the unique position to be able to reduce the amount of suffering and increase the amount of happiness in the world… Never before has it been more urgent for us to act together for a better world, and never before has it been easier.  So let us get together and make the world a better place to live for humans and nonhumans alike”.

 

Review of Vegan Voices by Bruce Friedrich, Co-founder & Executive Director, The Good Food Institute:

“There are as many reasons to be vegan as there are vegans, as this lovely anthology makes clear. So many of my heroes in one place—what a treat. Read it and be inspired.”

 

Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers
Available at Lantern Publishing & Media

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-59056-650-3
eBook ISBN: 978-1-59056-651-0

‘Vegan, Naturally’ – VEGAN VOICES writer Shankar Narayan

Next in our series on the writers of “VEGAN VOICES –  Essays by Inspiring Changemakers”, is Shankar Narayan.  

Shankar is the founder of Satvik Vegan Society (SVS), the oldest Indian vegan organization with ‘vegan’ in its name.  SVS conducts the annual Satvik Vegan Festival (SVF) and International Vegan Festival, (IVF, ranked among the most popular vegan events in the world).  Shankar was an international councilor and regional coordinator (India and Southwest Asia) for the International Vegetarian Union (IVU) from 2006 to 2016.  He currently lives in Sthitaprajna Vegan Forest, a forest regeneration project that he founded in 2009.  Shankar is a member of the Vegan Task Force, which was constituted by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and the Government of India. 

 

 

Extract from his essay in VEGAN VOICES:

“Stealing is taking another person’s property without permission or legal right and not intending to return it. Stealing is not acceptable in our society and is punishable by various statues. When we exploit and kill animals, we are stealing their lives, though most statues do not recognize this as a crime. Ideally, an advanced civilization like ours should criminalize such acts.  The growing exploitation of animals in our current industrial food systems also results in environmental damage and drastic depletion of our resources. The inefficiency and harm of using animals as a food source will affect future generational abilities to live sustainably. We cannot continue to take the lives of our fellow animals, or take from Earth’s natural resources as if they were inexhaustible.”

 

Review of Vegan Voices by Bruce Friedrich, Co-founder & Executive Director, The Good Food Institute:

“There are as many reasons to be vegan as there are vegans, as this lovely anthology makes clear. So many of my heroes in one place—what a treat. Read it and be inspired.”

 

Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers
Available at Lantern Publishing & Media

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-59056-650-3
eBook ISBN: 978-1-59056-651-0

Over Half The World’s Turtles At Risk Of Extinction

End Animal Slaughter contributor Matt Ellerbeck campaigns for turtles, whose survival depends on people changing their habits.

 

Turtles have been on this Earth for well over 200 million years. Now, however, the turtle is facing a grim future. Over half of the world’s turtle species are at risk of extinction.

The turtle’s current state of danger is due to the actions of people! There are several different factors contributing to the endangerment of the world’s turtles.

Chinese Big-Headed Turtle (Platysternon megacephalum). This turtle is a critically endangered species, declining due to being exploited and hunted for meat. Photo credit: Matt Ellerbeck

 

The biggest issue impacting these animals is the loss or fragmentation of their natural habitat. Turtle habitats of all kinds are being degraded and destroyed at an alarming rate. Wetlands are drained, forests are destroyed and waterfronts are developed. Turtles are literally losing their homes.

The loss of habitat and the increase of human activities and recreation on the water and on beaches also affects turtles and their nests in a negative way. Waterfront developments restrict turtles from prime basking and nesting sites. Containments and sewage runoff from such developments can also cause harm to turtles.

Pesticides, oils, chemicals, and industrial pollution may contaminate the habitats of turtles and their local prey items. When the turtles eat contaminated prey, they may become poisoned and die. These developments may also cause water levels to rise which can drown nest sites, destroying turtle eggs.

Plastic waste and pollutants can harm and kill turtles in a variety of ways. Plastic bags and twine can choke and strangle turtles, while ingesting waste can cause death. You can help by properly storing waste, cutting plastic rings, and cleaning litter around wetlands, waterfronts, and beaches 
Photo credit: Ildar Sagdejev

 

Matt with a Chinese Softshell Turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis). Populations of these turtles are decreasing. They are hunted for meat and are now listed as a Vulnerable Species.

 

Recreational activities on the water can also have devastating impacts on turtles, such as being killed or severely injured when they are hit by boats or water vehicles. Fishermen will often kill turtles for fear of their preying on game fish. Driving on beaches with cars and four wheelers can destroy nests in the sand.  Killing turtles for sport is still widespread in parts of the United States.

 

The Reptile And Amphibian Conservancy states that shooting basking turtles for sport remains a persistent problem throughout much of the Southeastern United States. Photo credit without graphics: Danielle Brigida

 

The Indian Tent Turtle (Pangshura tentoria) is impacted by various forms of exploitation. According to the IUCN, this species is collected for both domestic and international food markets and pet trade. Trade and seizures of subspecies circumdata have increased in recent years. Habitat loss and degradation also impacts certain populations of these turtles. Photo credit: Charles J. Sharp

 

The Western Pond Turtle (Actinemys marmorata) is sadly disappearing. The IUCN states subpopulations are continuing to decline and lists the turtle as a Vulnerable Species. The destruction of wetland habitats is a major threat to this gentle species. Photo credit: Yathin S Krishnappa

 

Where good habitat does exist it is often altered by roads and highways. This leads to the deaths of countless turtles on roads when they are struck by vehicles. Legions of turtles must cross roads when looking for nest sites to lay their eggs. This is particularly detrimental to turtle populations because not only does it lead to the death of a large portion of the breeding population (i.e. the mature female turtles) but the next generation of turtles is also killed off when the eggs are destroyed. This can lead to local populations of turtle species becoming exterminated. Even if the female turtles do successfully find nesting spots and lay their eggs, the baby turtles have a small chance of reaching maturity. Nests are often destroyed by predators like raccoons and skunks. While human activities have had negative impacts on turtles, they have helped increase these turtle predators. Human waste provides an unlimited food source for these predators. This has caused their populations to grow and this surplus of predators takes a very heavy toll on turtle nests.

Turtles, including rare and endangered ones, also suffer from being harvested from the wild at an almost unfathomable rate. Turtles and their eggs are collected for the pet trade, food markets, or to be used in traditional medicines. Sometimes the turtles and their eggs are captured right off nesting sites. Many turtle species are also hunted to be killed for meat.

Turtles including rare and endangered ones, suffer from being captured from the wild, sometimes from their nesting sites. Both turtles and their eggs are used in traditional medicines, and their shells are used for trinkets.  
Photo credit: Muntaka Chasant

 

When the factors above are combined, it accounts for massive losses. This is why the conservation and protection of these animals is paramount for their survival.

Follow Protect All Turtles on Facebook

 

 

Canadian reptile advocate Matt Ellerbeck, whose preservation work has earned him both a Green Globe Nomination and an Award from the Cataraqui Conservation Foundation.

Veganism in Japan

Next in our series on the writers of “VEGAN VOICES –  Essays by Inspiring Changemakers”, is Nadia McKechnie.  

Nadia is the volunteer organiser of Tokyo Vegans, a community project that seeks to support the Tokyo Vegan community in growing and connecting to the global vegan movement. Originally from London, UK, she works as a writer and narrator, and has lived in Tokyo for over thirty years. 

 

 

Extract from his essay in VEGAN VOICES:

“Labelling laws in Japan are also somewhat vague, meaning that animal ingredients can be hidden in additives or flavorings. In many cases, the only way to check for sure is to actually call the company… There are also several cultural issues that complicate matters. In Japan, it is common to share dishes when eating out, and there is definitely the assumption that everyone will be able to eat everything that is offered. I recently discussed the reasons behind this with some of my Tokyo Vegan co-organisers. According to Yukari Iwamuto: ‘It’s complicated. In Japan, we have two strong cultural norms surrounding food. The first one is mottainai – you should appreciate the food on the table, thus you should eat everything in order to avoid wasting any food or ingredients. The second one is deru kui wa utareru – literally meaning ‘a stake sticking out gets hammered down.’ ” 

 

 

Review of Vegan Voices by Bruce Friedrich, Co-founder & Executive Director, The Good Food Institute:

“There are as many reasons to be vegan as there are vegans, as this lovely anthology makes clear. So many of my heroes in one place—what a treat. Read it and be inspired.”

 

Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers
Available at Lantern Publishing & Media

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-59056-650-3
eBook ISBN: 978-1-59056-651-0

To A Nation Of Animal Lovers – VEGAN VOICES writer Chris Hines

Next in our series on the writers of “VEGAN VOICES –  Essays by Inspiring Changemakers”, is Chris Hines.  

Vegan since 2014, Chris has been involved in a number of campaigns and actions, working with organizations such as Viva!, Meat The Victims, Plant Based News, Anonymous for the Voiceless, DxE, and the Animal Save Movement. He has been interviewed on both TV and the radio on the subject of animal rights, given lectures at numerous UK clleges and universities, and spoken at events in the US and Europe. Chris is currently working on a feature-length documentary called Taking Note, which details the connection between music and animal rights and which features over one hundred musicians from across the globe.  He is also the editor and founder of the online music and lifestyle website HTF (Hit the Floor) Magazine. 

 

 

Extract from his essay in VEGAN VOICES:

“You see images of undercover investigations and probably think these places are the worst of the worst; I can assure you they aren’t. Most of what we see is, sadly, standard practice: thousands of chickens packed into sheds, dairy mothers struggling to stand after countless births, dead baby piglets found on the floor after being smashed into the ground because they weren’t “up to standard,” and lobsters and crabs with their claws tied together, thrown into piles to be sold and boiled alive. All these horrors I witnessed first-hand are commonplace and something I have seen time and time again.

“Something is incredibly wrong!”

 

Review of Vegan Voices by Bruce Friedrich, Co-founder & Executive Director, The Good Food Institute:

“There are as many reasons to be vegan as there are vegans, as this lovely anthology makes clear. So many of my heroes in one place—what a treat. Read it and be inspired.”

 

Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers
Available at Lantern Publishing & Media

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-59056-650-3
eBook ISBN: 978-1-59056-651-0

Understanding The Power of Compassion – VEGAN VOICES writer Elin Gundersen

Next in our series on the writers of “VEGAN VOICES –  Essays by Inspiring Changemakers”, is Elin Gundersen.  

Elin is a creative concept developer, writer, and coach. Her passion is to spread awareness about the need for a simpler, more sustainable lifestyle. In 2016, she opened vegan café Greenseed with André Gundersen, and in 2017, they created a vegan festival, Green Food Fest. In 2020, along with Kristine Rykkelid and Erik Musum, they founded a development company for sustainable vegan concepts, Greenseed Norge AS. Building concepts, bridgework, and collaboration for improving the world, they enable and inspire people to go vegan. They invite co-creators to contribute to all their platforms, including vegan lifestyle blog ‘Make a Momentum’. They will make history when they open LOCO, Norway’s first full-range vegan grocery store chain. 

 

 

Extract from her essay in VEGAN VOICES:

“I was adopted at thirteen months old and brought up in a Seventh-Day Adventist household. As with veganism, I loved how religious texts spoke highly of love, compassion, and kindness. But in reality, I witnessed how interpretations of the words were also used to justify judgment, hate, and violence. This hypocrisy didn’t fare well with me; nevertheless, I myself was also guilty. Growing up, I just wanted everyone to get along, to be fine and happy. Some people seemed unfazed when witnessing cruelty, but I could feel the pain of every living organism through my bones, as if it were my own. Everywhere I turned, hearts were broken, wounds were opened, and I wondered why I was placed here, if only to suffer.”

 

Review of Vegan Voices by Bruce Friedrich, Co-founder & Executive Director, The Good Food Institute:

“There are as many reasons to be vegan as there are vegans, as this lovely anthology makes clear. So many of my heroes in one place—what a treat. Read it and be inspired.”

 

Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers
Available at Lantern Publishing & Media

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-59056-650-3
eBook ISBN: 978-1-59056-651-0

What Kind Of Person Am I? – VEGAN VOICES writer Jesse Tandler

Next in our series on the writers of “VEGAN VOICES –  Essays by Inspiring Changemakers”, is Jesse Tandler.  

A writer, academic, and educator for over a decade and a half, Jesse Tandler began teaching high school students about the ethics of our food culture in 2008.  During his PhD work, he continued to include our treatment of animals on the syllabi of his undergraduate classes at the City University of New York, where for five years he taught philosophy, literature, writing, and rhetoric. In 2017, he moved to Los Angeles to apply his years of research and educational experience in the nonprofit sphere. He also teaches food politics at UCLA.  

 

Extract from his essay in VEGAN VOICES:

“When confronted with any moral decision, I’ve learned to ask myself, “What kind of human do I want to be?” In response, I do my best to be the kind of human who is honest and generous toward my tribe and others, toward children of humans and children of other animals. Because I no longer can imagine any intrinsic difference between murdering a dog and murdering a pig or a fish or a human, I choose to be the kind of person who eats plants – nutritious, bloodless plants. No other decision in my life has given me such a sense of strength or harmony.” 

 

Review of Vegan Voices by Bruce Friedrich, Co-founder & Executive Director, The Good Food Institute:

“There are as many reasons to be vegan as there are vegans, as this lovely anthology makes clear. So many of my heroes in one place—what a treat. Read it and be inspired.”

 

Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers
Available at Lantern Publishing & Media

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-59056-650-3
eBook ISBN: 978-1-59056-651-0

There Is No Other – VEGAN VOICES writer Rae Sikora

Next in our series on the writers of “VEGAN VOICES –  Essays by Inspiring Changemakers”, is Rae Sikora.  

Rae has been a spokesperson for other species and the environment for over forty years. Her interactive critical-thinking trainings and talks have been presented around the globe. Rae is the co-founder of The Institute for Humane Education, VegFund, Santa Fe Vegan, and Plant Peace Daily. She and her partner Jim “JC” Corcoran cofounded Root 66 Vegan Cafe and Catering. They live in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with their pack of rescue dogs. 

 

Extract from her essay in VEGAN VOICES:

“We do not share other animals’ cultures and languages.  As with other humans, unless we spend a lot of time with an individual of any other species, it is easy to see them as simply a member of their group.  I have seen people who met a pig or a cow or a chicken for the first time have that experience completely change their idea about that group.  Beyond rescuing nonhuman individuals and giving them a good life, this is one of the great benefits of animal sanctuaries. Most people are forever changed when they connect with farmed animals, monkeys, chimpanzees, elephants, and others at a sanctuary. 

Most people are forever changed when they connect with farmed animals, monkeys, chimpanzees, elephants, and others at a sanctuary.   

“Who is included in our circle of caring and compassion is often determined by whether they are familiar to us and whether we have connected with them in some way.  If we let go of fear and take the time to connect with other living beings, even the most unfamiliar, we would never see their groups in the same way again.”

 

Review of Vegan Voices by Bruce Friedrich, Co-founder & Executive Director, The Good Food Institute:

“There are as many reasons to be vegan as there are vegans, as this lovely anthology makes clear. So many of my heroes in one place—what a treat. Read it and be inspired.”

 

Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers
Available at Lantern Publishing & Media

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-59056-650-3
eBook ISBN: 978-1-59056-651-0

SUBMITTING TO PAIN – How The Bit Controls A Racehorse And Why It Is Cruel

Main Points:-

  • The bit is forced against areas of the horse’s mouth that are known to have an extremely high density of sensory receptors. The only possible experience for a horse of this pressure from the bit in its mouth is pain.

  • Studies show Injuries from bit use range from lesions in soft tissue and bruising, to chronic impediment of a horse’s ability to breathe or swallow normally. The bit induces high levels of pain that can override all other pain a horse might experience, including fear. It’s this attribute that makes bits the highly effective, albeit cruel instrument of control they are.

  • Bits allow riders to push horses well past safe physiological limits, control them in painful and frightening circumstances, and are a contributing factor, if not the cause of many of the falls, shattered limbs, asphyxia and sudden death experienced by horses on the racetrack.

  • Because the general horse-loving public and non-racing horse riders often do not recognise the behaviours that indicate pain caused by bits, the magnitude of the problem is hugely underestimated. 

  • In general, people don’t want to contribute to cruelty to horses, so as awareness grows of the suffering, bit use must come under question.

  • If the Industry cannot force horses to run without the infliction of extraordinary cruelty and pain, is it ethical that they should be allowed to practice in our society at all?

 

Read the full Coalition For The Protection Of Racehorses article here

A Birthday Surprise – VEGAN VOICES writer Ingrid Newkirk

Next in our series on the writers of “VEGAN VOICES –  Essays by Inspiring Changemakers”, is Ingrid Newkirk.  

Ingrid Newkirk is the founder and president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, (PETA), the largest animal rights organisation in the world with more than 6.5 million members and supporters worldwide.  She is the author of more than a dozen books that have been translated into several languages, her latest being Animalkind: Remarkable Discoveries about Animals and Revolutionary New Ways To Show Them Compassion.

Extract from her essay in Vegan Voices:
“We were at the fanciest restaurant that served lobster in the Philadelphia area, and we had driven hours to get there. It was my birthday, and I can’t remember now if I was turning twenty or somewhere around there. The place was gorgeous – that I do remember – and the evening was perfect. White wine, freshly baked bread, candles, white linen, soft music, and the man I loved beside me. We ordered the lobster.
The next thing I recall is the waiter arriving with a silver salver, on which there were three lobsters to choose from.  They waved their antennae in our direction, but I thought nothing of it.  I didn’t know then that lobsters flirt, hold hands to guide each other across the ocean floor, and live to be decades old.  I didn’t know what my next words would mean to the one I gestured towards as I said, in answer to the question, “Broiled or boiled?”  “Broiled, please.” “

 

 

Review of Vegan Voices by Bruce Friedrich, Co-founder & Executive Director, The Good Food Institute:

“There are as many reasons to be vegan as there are vegans, as this lovely anthology makes clear. So many of my heroes in one place—what a treat. Read it and be inspired.”

 

Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers
Available at Lantern Publishing & Media

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-59056-650-3
eBook ISBN: 978-1-59056-651-0

Sanctuary: This is What Matters – VEGAN VOICES writers Pete and Kit Jagoda

Next in our series on the writers of “VEGAN VOICES –  Essays by Inspiring Changemakers”, we introduce you to Pete and Kit Jagoda.

Pete and Kit co-founded and operate River’s Wish Animal Sanctuary in Spokane, Washington.  Their rescue work began in 1994 and they incorporated as a 501c3 in 2005.  They care for approximately 140 farmed animals on their sixty-five-acre sanctuary with a team of extraordinary volunteers and supporters.  As artists and teachers, they integrate art with their Sanctuary Based Education Programs.  Peter has an MFA in sculpture and teaches jewelry at Spokane Falls Community College.  He creates reliquaries and sculptures at the sanctuary. Kit is in her thirty-third year of teaching art full time in public schools.  She holds a Masters in Humane Education from the Institute for Humane Education and Valparaiso University.  The Jagodas advocate vegan living for ethical reasons.

Extract from their essay in Vegan Voices:

“Rudy

Rudy was a young Jersey steer when he was brought to us by the local animal protection agency after being seized in a cruelty case.  Rudy was our introduction to bovines, and it didn’t take long for us to realize he needed a companion. Dr. Scott, one of our veterinarians, offered to bring his elderly cow Yula to live with Rudy.  Yula taught Rudy all things bovine. He became calmer in her presence and seemed to respect her matriarchal position. When Yula passed, we were all very sad, but Rudy’s grief was palpable.  He stood steadfast by her body as Pete prepared her grave. When Pete gently lowered Yula into the grave, Rudy followed her down the slope. He stood beside her, bellowing the most mournful sound. Pete stepped down from the tractor and joined Rudy. They mourned Yula together. Over the following weeks, Rudy was a lone silhouette when there had formerly been two.  He was grieving and we felt so helpless.”  

 

Review of Vegan Voices by Bruce Friedrich, Co-founder & Executive Director, The Good Food Institute:

“There are as many reasons to be vegan as there are vegans, as this lovely anthology makes clear. So many of my heroes in one place—what a treat. Read it and be inspired.”

Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers
Available at Lantern Publishing & Media

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-59056-650-3
eBook ISBN: 978-1-59056-651-0