Vegan activism

Body Shaming Fails Vegans and Vegan Advocacy

A couple of months ago, I was among several dietitians who voiced concern to PCRM about their Your Abs on Cheese campaign. Based on the thoughtful feedback I received, I felt confident that this body shaming approach to vegan advocacy wouldn’t continue. So when I saw the group’s latest media effort targeting obesity, I was stunned to say the least.

The “tongue-in-cheek” commercial suggests that airline passengers should be allowed to pay $10 to sit next to a “trim and fit” vegan. For those who don’t opt for this perk, there is the risk of “getting squeezed […]

By Ginny Messina|2012-04-01T12:43:33-04:00April 1st, 2012|Tags: fat shaming, Vegan activism, weight control|142 Comments

Blogging Woes, PeaCounter and Red Meat Revisited

Last weekend was a tough time in my blogging career since, as many of you noticed, my blog was infected with malware. I’m grateful to my web host and especially to Jack Norris for helping me navigate through the ordeal.

In fact, if I couldn’t go whining to Jack every time I have a problem with my blog, I don’t think I could even have a blog. So if you find any of the material here helpful or interesting, please consider making a donation to Vegan Outreach. Or you could buy yourself some treats from Pangea through […]

By Ginny Messina|2012-03-15T12:31:57-04:00March 15th, 2012|Tags: Nuts, red meat, Vegan activism|7 Comments

Making It Easy To Be Vegan

A recent review of 135 studies suggests that it’s okay to consume some refined grains, as long as at least half of your grain intake is from whole foods. I’m not especially surprised. Sure, whole wheat bread is better for you than white bread and brown rice is way more nutritious than white. But the idea that we sacrifice health unless every bite of food lives up to some ideal of whole foods perfection doesn’t usually hold up to scientific scrutiny.

The findings from these types of studies may or may not always be relevant to vegans, though. Although fiber isn’t […]

By Ginny Messina|2012-02-02T17:46:39-05:00February 2nd, 2012|Tags: Vegan activism|16 Comments

Vegan Non-Profits, and How I’m Spending My Money this Holiday Season

It’s that time of year when my stack of unpaid bills is not the tallest structure on my desk; it’s outranked by the mountain of holiday appeals from non-profits. Most of my end-of-the-year donations go to organizations that work to relieve poverty, promote animal rights and veganism, or help animals in my local community. But with so many groups doing exceptional work, I have to prioritize.

Of the groups that are devoted strictly to promoting vegan diets, I’m pretty picky about where my dollars go. Given my own professional and activist efforts, I’m very disinclined to support those organizations that endorse […]

By Ginny Messina|2011-12-17T13:54:38-05:00December 17th, 2011|Tags: Resources, Vegan activism|3 Comments

A Vegan Thanksgiving Celebrates Good Food, Activism and Hope

Clove, a rescued turkey at Animal Place

When I sit down with friends to carve the Tofurky on Thanksgiving, it always feels a little bit like lighting a candle in the darkness. People eat meat every day, of course, but somehow a holiday that places such intense focus on the carcass of one particular animal—and is responsible for the slaughter of some 45 million of them—is especially hard for those who care about animals.

Because Thanksgiving feels so heartbreaking to some of us, it can be […]

By Ginny Messina|2017-11-23T16:36:29-05:00November 22nd, 2011|Tags: Celebrations, Thanksgiving, Vegan activism|16 Comments

Bad news for red meat is bad news for chickens

Red meat has a bad PR problem. Two recent meta-analyses—one published in 2009 and one in 2011—linked red meat consumption to increased colon cancer risk. In May, the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund reaffirmed conclusions from an earlier comprehensive report, saying that the evidence for a relationship between red meat and colon cancer is “convincing.”

And it’s not just cancer; a study published just last week found that adults who consume 4 ounces of red meat per day have a 20 percent increased risk for developing diabetes.

The evidence strongly suggests that it’s a good […]

By Ginny Messina|2011-08-16T15:04:39-04:00August 16th, 2011|Tags: chicken, Meat, Vegan activism|33 Comments

Healthy Vegan Diets Can Include Meat Analogues

A little hot dog stand in my town advertises on a big bold hand-written sign that they have vegan hotdogs. (They used to sell “veegun” hotdogs; I’m not the one who corrected them, but I’m glad somebody did.) Even though I live in a hippie town where this sort of thing isn’t unusual, it makes me happy. Vegan fare at a hotdog stand gives me hope for the future.

The first “meat analog” was invented by John Harvey Kellogg in 1895 and it definitely wasn’t a hotdog. He ground peanuts into peanut butter […]

By Ginny Messina|2011-02-17T10:10:43-05:00February 17th, 2011|Tags: Fat, Health, Nutrition, Vegan activism|44 Comments

How the Health Argument Fails Veganism

When President Clinton went (almost) vegan several months ago, my reaction to the news wasn’t quite as enthusiastic as it might have been. Seeing high-profile people (or anyone for that matter) go vegan for health reasons makes me nervous. First, President Clinton referred to his diet as “strict,” which is not an especially enticing word when it comes to food choices. He also suggested that it was an “experiment,” noting that 82 percent of those who go on low-fat almost-vegan diets see their heart disease reverse. The implication was that, if he turns out […]

By Ginny Messina|2017-11-22T16:03:05-05:00November 30th, 2010|Tags: Vegan activism|141 Comments

Olive Oil, Health and Advocacy

Ten billion (land) animals live and die under the most horrible conditions imaginable in the United States every year. So obviously, our efforts should focus on getting people to consume less…olive oil?

It seems like I run across an inordinate number of anti-olive oil comments these days from vegans on the internet. People don’t pick on safflower or corn oil, probably because no one is out there touting their consumption. But because some health experts have the audacity to suggest that olive oil (a refined food! a fat!) can have a place in […]

By Ginny Messina|2010-10-12T11:01:24-04:00October 12th, 2010|Tags: Fat, Nutrition, Vegan activism|61 Comments

Dietitian Jack Norris Talks with an Ex-Vegan

A couple of months ago I blogged about ex-vegans and mentioned anti-vegan activist Rhys Southan. His Let Them Eat Meat blog is always interesting reading for vegan activists . This week, Rhys interviewed dietitian Jack Norris (co-founder of Vegan Outreach) about animal rights and vegan diets. Rhys asks good challenging questions and Jack responds with some great answers. It’s an excellent interview and you can read it here.