Get Real PETA

PETA is known for their controversial ad campaigns including their ad featuring Joanna Krupa with a crucifix, which didn’t sit well with the Catholic Church,



their “Pleather Yourself” ad featuring porn star Jenna Jameson,



and their “All Animals Have the Same Parts” ad featuring Pamela Anderson, which was banned in Montreal for being sexist.

Many of PETA’s ads use half-nude celebrities to grab people’s attention, and according to them, it works.

“We try to make our actions colorful and controversial, thereby grabbing headlines around the world and spreading the message of kindness to animals to thousands—sometimes millions—of people,” said PETA on their FAQ section of their website.

PETA also claims that their ad campaigns helped them grow to gain millions of members.

“From the most conservative to the most radical and from the most refined to the most outrageous—and this approach has proved very successful. In the quarter-century since PETA was founded, it has grown into the largest animal rights group in the world, with more than 3 million members and supporters worldwide,” said PETA.

PETA does stand for good issues, and their offensive campaigns do give them media attention, but do they still need to be so controversial, especially with the objectification of women? If they already have 3 million members, many of whom spread PETA’s messages and participate in protests, is it really necessary to keep using half-naked women to get attention?

It’s time to get real PETA. The reality is that veganism is growing more and more popular; more people are caring about what they eat, the environment, and the ethical treatment of animals. You, PETA, are the largest animal rights group in the world, the largest! Stop focusing on womanizing ads, and put your money into ads with real vegans and vegetarians who are making a difference each and every day.

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Meet Shawn!

I’d like to introduce to you, my boyfriend, Shawn. He is vegan and will contribute to my blog from time to time.     -Kelly



Hi, I’m Shawn, nice to meet you!

 Let me introduce myself, I’m a 21-year-old journalist from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I grew up in Mississauga, Ontario and now I call Hamilton home.

 Let’s rewind about four years, I was in my freshman year at college, and I was on the college diet of hamburgers and Kraft Dinner. So one day I went back to my room in residence after a long day of classes, and I threw a couple frozen burgers on the George Foreman grill. After I ate my dinner, I looked at the nutritional facts on the box, and what I saw shocked me, over 100 per cent of my daily fat, sodium and trans-fat in one meal. Needless to say, I decided never to eat meat again.

Fast-forward about six months from that, after doing some research and watching some documentaries (including Food Inc., a great documentary, check it out if you haven’t seen it) I decided that I’d go vegan. It was a logical move for me; I felt that since I was vegetarian, I might as well go all the way and be vegan.

When I told my parents that I was vegetarian, they thought I was joking at first. I came home from college for the weekend and said that I didn’t want any meat, because I’m vegetarian now. Despite the initial confusion, my parents have been very supportive of my decision and eventually my brother became vegan too. My parents have been very supportive of all my endeavours in my life, and I owe a lot to them, and I’m always happy to have their support. My grandparents don’t really understand veganism, but they support me anyways. My grandma “veganizes” some of my childhood favourite meals when I visit, and she makes her chocolate cake, which happens to be vegan anyways.

I know that not everyone is supportive of the vegan lifestyle, which bothers me because people like to rip on it, without fully understanding it. I believe in tolerance, some people find solace in religion; you wouldn’t rip on someone for their religious beliefs. Some people (including myself) feel that being vegan makes sense to them, so why would it be acceptable to disrespect someone over being vegan? Bob Dylan says it best “don’t criticize, what you can’t understand,” (from The Times They Are a-Changin’)

Aside from becoming vegan at college, I also found the love of my life, Kelly. We started dating when we were both 18, in our freshman year. We have been inseparable ever since. When we first started dating, Kelly was not vegetarian, it didn’t really bother me, but I did want her to consider the change. She tried going vegetarian, but it didn’t last too long. A few months later, she tried again, and was vegetarian for a long time, until she recently became vegan too.

So about six weeks ago, Kelly came to me with an idea. She said how she wanted to do her own vegan lifestyle blog, which I thought was a brilliant idea! Two weeks later, Vegan Advantage was born. Kelly asked me if I would be interested in contributing to Vegan Advantage, and of course, I wanted to. I have to congratulate her on an impressive start-up! Six weeks ago, Vegan Advantage was merely an idea, and today it is an established vegan lifestyle blog.

Not only am I an advocate of the vegan lifestyle, I’m most importantly an advocate for healthy eating. I understand that veganism isn’t for everyone, but that’s okay, every person is entitled to their own decision- it’s what makes us unique. However, healthy eating is important, herbivore or omnivore. The obesity rate in Canada is at about 60 per cent, and our neighbours to the south have a 70 per cent obesity rate. Veganism helps reduce the amount of fats and trans-fats you take in and promotes healthy eating, and many studies show it reduces risk of disease, including heart disease. Vegan or not, eating healthy is important.

My vegan friends, I hope you find Vegan Advantage a resourceful tool for recipes, vegan fashion and even for some DIY projects on your down time.

For my omnivorous friends, please consider eating less meat or trying out the vegan lifestyle, even for just one day, or for one meal. I hope you too can find Vegan Advantage resourceful, try making one vegan friendly meal from one of Kelly’s recipes.

Thank you for reading, I know there are millions of pages on the Internet, and I thank you for taking the time to visit this one. If you have any questions, comments, or would like to say hello, drop Kelly a line at Kelly@veganadvantage.ca

All the best,

Shawn

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Mom and Dad, I'm vegan

Telling your meat-eating family that you are vegan may be a little difficult, at least for me it was. When telling my mother that I was going to make the switch, her instant reaction was “no you’re not.”

I was 21-years-old, and was not asking her permission, I was just informing her of my lifestyle change. Unfortunately, some people like to step into areas that they have no business stepping into.

My mom made the usual comments that most people who are uneducated on veganism make, including “you’re not going to get all your nutrients.”  I was frustrated with that comment because if she had done any sort of research, she would know that veganism is a completely healthy lifestyle. Where does it say that humans have to eat meat anyways?

I think the bottom line was that she didn’t want me to be different from the rest of the family, and unfortunately, I think that’s the typical North American view: not liking what’s different.

But, what is “different” anyways? Every single person is different, with different values and beliefs, so who’s to say what’s right and what’s wrong?

After putting up a bit of a fight, she did start to come around. At family gatherings she has been good about buying vegan products for me.

For all of you vegans out there, and people wanting to go vegan, who are having troubles telling your loved ones; remember that you’re not alone, and that you are doing a good thing for yourself, and the world.

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Month 2 of being VEGAN!

I made it through the second month of being strictly vegan. This month I celebrated an anniversary, Valentine’s day, and my birthday, needless to say I had a lot of vegan goodies.

Before going vegan, I was addicted to cupcakes from my local bakeries and cupcake shops. This month, I made it my mission to seek out some vegan cupcakes, and it was definitely a success! On my birthday, I went to a coffee shop that serves “vegan offerings,” as my boyfriend and I like to say. We sat and enjoyed the chocolate cupcake and a double espresso shot.

I had my family birthday party last night. My grandma doesn’t quite understand what a vegan is, and what I don’t eat- she brought a huge, definitely non-vegan, birthday cake…



It’s the thought that counts, right? My mom, however, planned for this and bought me a pack of cupcakes from Sweets from the Earth Bakery…



I ate the strawberry vanilla one, it was delicious! I can’t wait to eat the rest.

Overall, this month has been great. I’ve been blogging, making videos, and using Twitter (@veganadvantage). The vegan community on Twitter is strong and supportive, which I’m very happy about. I’ve been able to check out other peoples websites and blogs, and I’m learning more and more about this lifestyle everyday.

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a vegan birthday

Yesterday was my 22nd birthday! For breakfast, my boyfriend, Shawn,  made me fried bananas with brown sugar. It wasn’t long until I started craving a birthday cupcake, so we headed over to a local coffee shop. I got an espresso and a vegan mocha chocolate cupcake.



Unfortunately, it was a pretty cold and wet day in southern Ontario. I needed something hot to warm me up. So, for lunch I made a vegan squash soup!



By the time dinner rolled around, I was starvin’. Shawn and I made spicy tvp/kidney bean burgers with chilli-cheese fries on the side, and some homemade chipotle mayo dip!



I was so happy to enjoy some of my favourite dishes on my birthday this year. We are saving my special birthday dinner out at a restaurant for when Shawn is feeling a bit better (he got his wisdom teeth pulled out the other day)… I’m thinking a pad thai. :)

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1 month of being vegan

So I made it through January, with no regrets. At the beginning of the month I still felt the littlest bit unsure about making the switch, but I watched the documentary Forks Over Knives, and never looked back since.

This documentary was definitely the best food industry/vegan doc I’ve seen. If you are thinking about going vegan, or just want to learn more about veganism, I highly recommend this film.

My new day to day life:


Is pretty much the same minus the red velvet cupcakes. I had an addiction.

I don’t have a scale, but from the looks of things, I think I may have lost a few pounds- probably from just cutting out the cupcakes. Unfortunately, I recently stumbled on a vegan bakery that says they make vegan red velvets. I might become the fattest vegan ever..

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officially vegan- day 1

Happy New Year everyone!

I don’t think I’ve made a new years resolution in years, but have been wanting to go vegan for awhile, so why not start today?!

BACKGROUND

I have been a vegetarian for about two years now and my boyfriend has been vegan for about the same length of time.

I went vegan two summers ago and lasted, unfortunately, only a few months. I admit, I was ignorant of the issues associated with eating eggs and dairy but have finally put my foot down and decided to become more conscious.

Advice

Get educated! I watched the documentary ‘Food Inc.’ (which turned me vegetarian) a few years ago and it opened my eyes to how our ‘food animals’ are being mistreated.

I recently watched the documentary ‘Vegucated’ and later looked at myself and asked “Why am I not vegan yet?”

So here we go, day 1 of the rest of my life being VEGAN!



 

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