Alisa Rutherford-Fortunati

The Last Fish

March 2, 2013 ethics

When I was a child, I was taught that killing fish was supposed to be relaxing. It was a time to bond with family and friends; a game, or rather a sport, called “fishing”. Thankfully this lesson didn’t stick and even before I became vegetarian and then vegan, I realized that any activity that ends [...]

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Great Reasons to Shop Secondhand

February 1, 2013 the environment

I grew up shopping in thrift stores. I remember my mother searching for me as I hid in between clothing racks, her cart piled high with colorful finds and the happy expression on her face when she found both my hiding spot and the perfect outfit for me. I learned during these excursions about the [...]

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The True Nature of Human Beings

November 26, 2012 ethics

When most people think of nature, their minds fill with soft, clean, green images such as those of a pristine river flowing through a meadow or a lush forest full with life. Our instinctual response to hearing this term is to think of the beautiful, peaceful and vibrant side of nature; to visualize spaces that [...]

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Why Vegans Read Labels

October 24, 2012 ethics

Have you ever enjoyed a “naturally flavored” berry soda? Did you know that the delicious “natural” berry flavor could actually be made from a beaver’s sex gland secretions? This ingredient is technically called “castoreum”, but few (if any) companies put the proper name on their labels, instead simply calling it a “natural flavor”. Ingredients such [...]

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The Story of Stuff

September 29, 2012 the environment

The computer I am using to type this story is about seven years old now and has begun to make those deathly “crunching” sounds, as I like to call them, that signal its potential for a sudden demise. What this means is that soon, whether I want to or not, I’ll be buying a new [...]

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Veganism or Extinction?

August 31, 2012 ethics

Recently The Guardian came out with the headline “Food shortages could force world into vegetarianism, warn scientists”. It appears that leading water scientists are painting a dark picture for our future, entailing catastrophic water shortages unless we as a global community switch “almost completely to a vegetarian diet over the next 40 years.” It is [...]

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Phytochemicals: Eating from the Rainbow!

August 30, 2012 food & recipes

There are many reasons to include plenty of whole foods in your diet, and high on the list of eye-catching colorful reasons are phytochemicals! The word ‘phytochemical’ literally means plant-chemical. From the deep blue hue of blueberries to the pungent aroma of garlic, phytochemicals help give plants their distinctive colors, smells, tastes and other organoleptic [...]

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The Wonders of Comfrey

July 31, 2012 veganic gardening

As I continue my journey deeper into veganic gardening I am perpetually amazed at the wealth of resources present in our own backyard. It seems that anyone with a proper compost pile, a source of mulch or green manure and common beneficial “weeds” scattered about has all the resources needed to help their garden thrive. [...]

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Burying the Past

July 27, 2012 ethics

Let us bury the past in recognition that we will not and cannot own, sell or give away another animal’s body parts, which were never ours to use in the first place.

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A Hen’s Relationship with her Eggs

June 29, 2012 ethics

During my time working around chickens, there were a number of experiences that changed my perspective on eggs and opened my heart to the hens that laid them. The first started with making a homemade “farm fresh” omelet out of eggs a friend had collected…

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