Sunday, November 17, 2013

Thankful for a Gentle Thanksgiving

I do find Thanksgiving a bit of a challenging holiday because I like being with my non-veg family, but I also find the turkey thing awfully sad. According to the National Turkey Federation, 46 million turkeys are killed and consumed on Thanksgiving. That’s a lot of unnecessary deaths.

But instead of writing about those deaths and the woes of being a vegan among non-vegatarians/vegans I thought it would be better to write about why it’s super awesome to be weird and vegan for Thanksgiving. The following is my list of gratitude for celebrating a Gentle Thanksgiving. It is a holiday of thanks after all!


1.     Turkey Trots! According to Active.com there are 316 turkey trots held in the USA every year. They are great ways to connect with your family and community members and get the happy running endorphins. You can also spread the word of a plant-based diet by wearing a Pro-veg shirt. Some ideas: http://store.nomeatathlete.com or make your own cool design with fabric markers and paint.

2.     Family, friends, and other really kind-hearted people.


3.     Protecting the Environment. According to a recent study by Cornell University, it requires a 13: 1 ratio of energy input to food output to produce turkey meat. http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/1997/08/us-could-feed-800-million-people-grain-livestock-eat It’s empowering to think that by being veg for thanksgiving, we’re saving more energy than we would by switching a traditional light bulb with a fluorescent one.



4.      Getting to try different plant strong/vegan meals and the people who oh-so-nicely wrote them down. One of my favorite holiday traditions is Dr. Mcdougall’s stuffed pumpkin recipe: so good! http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2005nl/oct/051000recipes.htm


5.     Feeling Energetic! Plant foods, particularly low fat starches such as mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, whole-wheat stuffing, rice, and corn make you feel full but not sluggish like turkey or other animal foods. Oil-free plant foods improve your blood flow giving your skin a warm welcoming glow. You’ll be feeling energetic even right after your thanksgiving dinner. And you won’t feel like you gained ten pounds in one meal!



6.     Living Turkeys. These sassy and love-able ladies live at the Farm Sanctuary in Poughquag, NY.


Turkeys have been known to be as intelligent as dogs and can form long-lasting and affectionate relationships with other turkeys.

7.     Farm Sanctuaries. Farm Sanctuaries are really magical places. I always think of them as peaceful places that represent the way the world can look like if we let it. Most of them have Thanksgiving celebrations where they feed turkeys pumpkin pie J


8.     Being optimistic about ending world hunger. 40% of the world’s grain is being fed to animals instead of people. By going vegetarian/vegan it’s a vote towards using that grain to help the near 1 billion people who are currently hungry in the world.


9.     The ingeniousness that goes behind making veggie turkey sculptures.



10. Lists of gratitude.




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