Nick Fewings | Unsplash
Humane Animal Traps
Thanks to the innovative work of companies creating humane alternatives to traditional traps, vegans have a number of options for keeping rodents and other critters away.
Pexels / Pixabay
A Vegan Guide to the Holiday Season
Some of us try and use this time of year as an opportunity to shine a little light on the reality of what Thanksgiving means for those whose bodies are to become centerpieces on the tables of over 45 million American homes.
The Vegan Society
Remembering Donald Watson – Vegan Pioneer
Donald Watson’s legacy extends beyond providing a name for our movement, but creating the term ‘vegan’ is certainly one of the most salient and perhaps widest reaching of his contributions.
The Vegan Society
Excerpts from The Vegan News (1944)
The following is an abridged version of vegan pioneer Donald Watson's writing in the very first newsletter of the UK Vegan Society in 1944, long before factory farming became commonplace.
jplenio / Pixabay
Solstice
This December, I face the winter solstice with perhaps a little more appreciation for what it might mean for others who are struggling to remember that although we have a winter ahead of us, the light will, as it always does, return.
Peter Colgan / Pixabay
The Goddess Needs Blood
Until we in the West acknowledge our responsibility to live according to the nonviolent values we profess to embrace, we are in no position to vilify the priests or the devotees of Nepal's Gadhimai Festival.
Josch13 / Pixabay
Thanksgiving
As we approach the seasonal massacre of which these magnificent birds have become perversely and paradoxically symbolic, the momentary burst of happiness granted by their calls is interrupted by the painful reminder of who these individuals are considered to be by others of my kind: bodies without souls entitled to not even the most basic of birthrights — life itself.
Envato Library
If Not Now, When? If Not You, Who?
If they could, every animal in the world would rise up, and with one pleading voice, say to you: “What on earth are you waiting for?”
Alison Burrell / Pexels
Reborn
There was a time when a girl, with her family, raised chickens. She trapped one or two to sell for money or dinner. She wove coconut leaves and made them…
wirestock / Freepik
My Way Home
I grew up in South Africa and experienced a number of transformative, life-changing events at an early receptive age, like trying to bargain with a female witch doctor who worked…
Envato Library
Pushing Through to Freedom
I will always be vegan: Because of the bear trapped in a tiny cage, continuously drained of the bile so prized by humans. The elephant whose family was shot so…
Jocelyn Zaretsky / Gentle World
The Magic Rabbit
While we were trying our best to ease his discomfort, we were reminded over and over that our special little man, the Magic Rabbit himself, would be seen by many as nothing more than a luxury meal or the makings of a high-end sweater; a bundle of meat covered in the softest fur.
Chris F / Pexels
Mariolana: Life Lessons from a Goat
I hated the idea of Mariolana’s death at any time, but the thought of her meeting the butcher clawed at me. I decided I would do the best I knew how, to keep her alive.
Freepik
30+ Amazing Animal Traits
When we look at the unique evolutionary adaptions pf our fellow animals, it is often with wonder and awe. Their physical and intuitive abilities regularly surpass our own in terms of speed, strength, sight, smell, sense of direction, and at times, group/family unity.
Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary
And These Are The Lucky Ones…
Joanna Lucas' essays on The Peaceful Prairie blog offer remarkable glimpses into the emotional lives of those who have been given ‘a second chance at life.’
Sachin Barodia / Pexels
The Rabbit Story
Gentle World's co-founder reads aloud his piece The Rabbit Story, originally published in 1987.
Desmond Fernandes / Unsplash
The Birds of the Down Industry
Down and feathers are technically "by-products" of the meat and egg industry, and the story of their production is just as disturbing as that of any other animal-sourced product.
Plamil Foods
Veganism Defined (1951)
"In a vegan world the creatures would be reintegrated within the balance and sanity of nature as she is in herself. A great and historic wrong, whose effect upon the course of evolution must have been stupendous, would be righted. The idea that his fellow creatures might be used by man for self-interested purposes would be so alien to human thought as to be almost unthinkable."
Dan Foster / Facebook
How to Treat a Pig (A 30-second lesson!)
Kids of all ages can learn to love pigs. Pigs are easy to love. They are friendly, they come when you call them, and they love tummy rubs.
Butterflies Katz / Gentle World volunteer
The Spirit of Kisses
It was easy to forget that Kisses had good reason for behaving the way she did. She had been taught to fear. She hadn’t just chosen to believe that humans were dangerous. She had been forced to accept it on a very primal level – she had had it beaten into her.
Christopher Dorin / Gentle World visitor
People Like You
When people experience the vegan awakening, it’s awe-inspiring to live alongside them as their thoughts begin to shift. As each of our new friends from around the globe expresses their realizations, we have the opportunity to share in their epiphany.
wirestock / Freepik
It Must Have Been Lovely
43 years after Tom Paxton wrote such poignant lyrics mourning our impending loss, the loveliness of my own garden holds more meaning to me than ever... Will we always have flowers? Will the forest always have trees? Will meadows always be green?
Michael Yero / Unsplash
The Last Fish
I hated eating the fish we caught. Hated their eyes looking up at me from my plate. These and the crabs that we played with and then boiled alive are the only animals I ever watched die before me.
lifeforstock / Freepik
Phytochemicals: Eating from the Rainbow!
To a certain degree, many of the health benefits of phytochemicals still remain a mystery. What we do know so far indicates that they work in harmony with the other vitamins and nutrients present in whole fruits and veggies to keep our bodies in their natural state of health.
patty-photo / Freepik
Felix & Wyatt: Two Modern-Day DaVincis
Several years ago, we received a couple of beautiful letters from an American friend living in China. Julie's letters recounted heart-warming stories of her two vegan sons, Felix and Wyatt (who were six and four years old at the time.)
Alison Burrell / Pexels
A Hen’s Relationship with her Eggs
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.
Freepik
What is Pain to a Fish?
Fish anatomy is so complex that they have even evolved the same “pain-blocking” substances (endorphins) as humans. This leaves us with the question: Why would fish have endorphins in their bodies if they couldn’t feel pain? And why is there still a debate over their sentience?
HistoryAnswers.co.uk
I No Longer Steal from Nature
The following poem was written in around 1000 AD by a blind Arab philosopher, poet and writer named Al-Ma’arri: AD 973 - 1058.
k-life / Freepik
Organic Growing: Supporting Animal Farms?
If you're truly interested in organic alternatives to chemical fertilizers, then it's time to start scrutinizing organic growing practices and store-bought fertilizers a bit more carefully.
Kelsey Brown / Unsplash
3 Reasons Not to Eat Honey
While you may spread a heaping tablespoon of honey on your morning toast without thinking, creating each drop is no small feat. To make one pound of honey, a colony will have to visit over two million flowers and fly over 55,000 miles, at up to 15 miles per hour.
Kirill Balobanov / Unsplash
You Can’t Return to Ignorance
On the one hand, the decision seemed pretty easy. On the other hand, my parents own a farm. They raise animals for meat, and my mum milks cows for a living. So, I had a big crisis on my hands about how to bring those alternative points of view in line.
sippakorn yamkasikorn / Unsplash
The Wonder of Worms
There's no need to contain worms in a worm box to receive the benefits of their activity. In your garden they can choose to go where they want when they want, aerating and enriching the soil as they travel, distributing nutrients throughout the garden without their natural lifecycle being disturbed.
seventyfour / Freepik
Mother’s Milk
Humans are far from the only animals to experience the deep connection between mother and child. In fact, this might be one of the very experiences that is universal -- crossing all boundaries between species.
azerbaijan_stockers / Freepik
Waking Up: Vegetarian to Vegan
I came to Gentle World’s Vegan Education Center inspired by a friend’s email suggesting it as an interesting place to visit and drawn by the veganic gardening concept. I thought, “what the heck, why not WWOOF for a week and see what happens?”
Gentle World
Can Cats Be Vegan?
Raising cats on a vegan diet requires a commitment to ensuring they are getting all the nutrients they need, including taurine and l-Carnitine. Having said that, we have read and heard claims of many healthy plant-powered cats.
Jo-Anne McArthur - We Animals Media
A Call to Ethical Vegetarians
Ethical vegetarians might not be aware that the production of milk and eggs involves both tremendous cruelty and also the deaths of billions every year. Not only are these animals killed just like those raised specifically for meat, but they are kept alive longer and subjected to a tragic lifetime of slavery, including the horrific violations that come from the brutal exploitation of their reproductive systems.
HistoryDisclosure.com
How could his eyes endure the slaughter?
From the pen of Plutarch, eminent Greek moral philosopher and biographer. A.D 46 - 120.
wilcox
Till The World Shall Set Things Right
"I am the voice of the voiceless. Through me, their hearts shall speak; Till the deaf world's ear be made to hear the cry of the wordless weak."