Years before I went vegan I was vegetarian, and for the longest time my last major holdout was cheese.

The stuff is admittedly delicious.

And even though I knew it was horrible for my health, the environment, and the cows, I felt as though I was addicted.

Knowing this and wanting to be vegan, I tried to find good substitutes. After all, veggie burgers weaned me off beef, almond milk was more delicious to me than cow’s milk, and even other fake meats sufficed in times when I was really jonesing.

So one summer on Cape Cod, my friends and I picked up a package of “rice cheese.” This was 6 or 7 years ago and this seemed to be the best available option on the shelf.

We took it back to our house and opened up a few slices to try.

And it. was. disgusting.

Truly gross. Terrible flavor, awful texture. Just unpalatable.

We tossed the slice out onto a trail in the woods (we lived on a nature sanctuary). Over the next few days I’d pass this slice everyday on my walk to work, and after a week it hadn’t been touched.

Not one bite, nibble. No insect or ants swarming. Nothing.

It was clear. Nature had decided. THIS IS NOT FOOD.

In that moment I declared “I guess cheese is just the one thing they can’t replicate.”

I resigned myself to needing to simply give up that flavor altogether in order to be vegan, and it took me a few years before I could finally let it go.

Well, the funny thing is a lot has changed in the last 6 or 7 years. Not only have meat substitutes become so good they trick meat eaters (I just tricked an entire Final Four party with Gardein Chik’n Tenders — no one could tell they weren’t meat!), but cheese substitutes have officially arrived.

There are a few brands I’ve tried and actually enjoy. Daiya was the original brand where I started to think “ok maybe they’re onto something…”

The latest is Follow Your Heart. My parents love this stuff and while I’m staying with them I have to say I indulge as well. The flavor and texture is spot on.

More artisanal options are popping up everyday as well. In Minneapolis the world’s first vegan butcher shop, The Herbivorous Butcher, sells incredible vegan cheeses that I promise you would fool your most diehard cheese addict.

And in New York and L.A. vegan cheese shops are popping up everywhere.

It appears 2016 is the year to surrender to vegan cheese.

As an illustration of just how good these alternatives are, I present the case of my father.

Growing up he and I shared a Sunday afternoon tradition where we would make what he dubbed the “perfect lunch,” which was a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup.

Long after I went vegan he kept this tradition alive, and I was bummed I could no longer participate.

Those days are over.

Today his perfect lunches are entirely vegan! He’s switched to Annie’s vegan tomato soup (which he claims is better than his beloved Campbell’s!) and his grilled cheese sandwiches are now entirely made with Follow Your Heart vegan cheeses!

Wow!

Incredible.

If he’s making vegan grilled cheese sandwiches and still calling in the “perfect lunch,” you can bet this stuff is good.

If cheese is your last holdout before going vegan, or maybe ditching dairy is your first step into veganism, explore the world of vegan cheeses. We are lightyears away from the days of rice cheese rotting on a wooded trail. This stuff is good.

Can you picture it? A vegan world? When will it come?

A lot of people ask me this when they find out that I am vegan.

“Do you really think all human beings will give up meat??”

“How will you convince everyone to give up meat?

I think I have an answer:

Make meat unappealing.

Now I know what you’re thinking. You’re probably thinking that’s kind of obvious, and you’re probably thinking I mean increase the awareness over the animal rights, environmental and health disaster that is animal agriculture.

And while I do think all three of those things are incredibly important to educate people about, that’s not what I mean.

Maybe I’ll put it differently: make alternatives the appealing choice.

Yes, I’m talking about fake meat.

Here’s the deal — meat from animals is inefficient. You pretty much can’t argue this. It’s just physics. It’s ecology. Eating higher on the food chain is inherently inefficient. Eating lower on the food chain will always be more efficient.

Why? Because things higher on the food chain require more inputs (water, food, fertilizer, antiobiotics, etc). Those inputs cost money and resources and are thusly inefficient.

Plants are lower on the food chain and are more efficient, both from a resource perspective and a cost perspective.

So alternatives (yes, I mean fake meat) outperform meat from animals in cost and environmental efficiency. They also obviously outperform meat from animals from an ethical standpoint. No dead cows means a more ethical burger.

The remaining question: taste.

Well if you haven’t tried fake meat in awhile, they are damn good. I’ve fooled many meat-loving peers of mine with fake meat products. I’ve served them without telling them what it was and they’ve been floored. I’ve asked them “if fake meat tasted identical or better to the real thing would you eat it?” I’ve never had a friend answer anything other than “yes.”

Then there’s this: a vegan burger just won Best Burger in the World.

Note: that didn’t say “Best Veggie Burger in the World.” Meat burgers were in the running, but one made from plants won the day.

So if plants can be cheaper, better for the environment, more humane, more nutritious and tastier???

We may not have to convince anyone to go vegan, we merely have to continue to work to make alternatives win in all these categories. If it’s cheaper and tastes just as good, this will be the end of meat and no one will miss it.

For more meat-free products check out Gardein, Beyond Meat, Tofurky, and many others. If you live in the Minneapolis area you can check out the world’s first Vegan Butcher for artisanal vegan meats and cheeses at The Herbivorous Butcher.

*That burger is 100% vegan. It won Best Burger

A week or two ago I saw a meme on Facebook.

Ok I see lots of memes on Facebook, and to be honest, most are pretty meaningless.

But this one was a quote from the Dalai Lama. He’s a pretty wise man, so I tend to listen to what he has to say.

Take a look:

This meme succinctly describes the hypocrisy of how many modern humans conduct their lives. I’m not here to point any fingers or blame anyone for this imbalance. I merely want to shine a light on it, and suggest that we’ve got it all wrong.

I want to make the plea for health.

We tend to sacrifice a lot of ourselves in the pursuit of attaining more – more money, more status, more clothing, more possessions, etc.

We tend to, as a culture, be over-worked and over-stressed in these pursuits.

We, as the quote suggests, sacrifice our health in the pursuit of wealth, only to, as we get older, use that wealth to try to buy back some health.

As I said, we’ve got this all wrong, and I can prove it.

The future does not exist.

Bear with me for a second here, I am going to get just a bit existential.

The future does not exist. It’s not real. That may or may not sound controversial to you. But it’s hard to argue with.

We can reasonably predict that some future will take place in some way.

Things have continued for however many years we’ve already lived, and with a little luck, we can reasonably assume that we will continue to exist in a relatively similar fashion.

But we have little actual impact on that future. The amount that we control in that future is very very small.

This isn’t to say that we should not work hard or save money. For many life goals, money is essential.

But while the future is and always will be a fantasy, an idea, there is something real that you are experiencing right now.

Can you guess?

It’s… RIGHT NOW.

The present moment is real, it is tangible. You are experiencing it right now, and believe it or not, it’s all you actually have. Even when the future comes you will experience it in the present moment.

So if you are still with me, it stands to reason that we should place more value on what is now than what will be. (Again, I am not saying throw away all planning or forethought toward the future, just stay with me.)

And while a lot of people think that investing in your health is solely for the purposes of attaining more future (increasing the amount of years you have on the planet), the real benefit of health is experienced in the NOW.

Why?

This is the only time when you can experience anything!

That, and because health is a present state of being. I am not a healthy 80-year old. I am a healthy 29-year old, and as such I am fit, in shape, and eat a diet that gives me abundant energy in the moment. It makes me feel good today, not 50 years from now!

If I am fortunate the choices I make today can lead to a better reality for myself in 50 years. But that is simply a fantasy, an illusion. Not entirely unimportant to consider, but not where the real benefit of a healthy lifestyle is conferred.

Look, money, hard work, promotions – these are good things for which to strive. But do not sacrifice your health in their pursuit, because this is a truly foolish trade. You trade your wellbeing now (the only time you can experience wellbeing) for potential future wellbeing. Once this future is achieved, you need to trade back the money you got for the health you gave up in the form of expensive drugs and surgeries.

It’s a raw deal.

Invest in your health TODAY, in THIS MOMENT. It is far more valuable than any sum of money you could possibly dream of.

Have you ever considered the psychic weight of a stapler?

I realize that might be the oddest question you’ve ever been asked, but bear with me… because I have.

See, I am a minimalist. Ok ok, at best I’m an aspiring minimalist.

Ever heard of minimalism before?

Essentially minimalism is the intention to live with as few possessions as possible. If you Google minimalism you will find blogs and books dedicated to the subject. You may encounter people who own just 15 things.

Animals.

Or you may encounter arbitrary numbers of items to aspire to owning. Say, 100 things, or someone who has 288. Something like that. While there is no set number of possessions you must aspire to, the objective is always to reduce your possessions to the bare essentials.

Why do this?

Because things, like staplers, have psychic weight.

Ok what do I mean by that?

Essentially what I mean is that owning things actually costs you something on a daily basis, and I’m not talking about your car insurance. I mean that everything you own, in addition to paying for it at the register, you pay a small cost to have it in your life.

Some of that cost is monetary (paying to operate it, move it, store it, ship it, etc), but much of the cost is mental.

Think of it a different way. Have you ever taken a weekend to “declutter” your house? I’m sure you have. You set out a couple grocery bags of clothes you never wear anymore, maybe some old pots and pans get donated, and some books and CDs end up at the library.

How’d you feel after you got rid of that stuff? Did you feel a certain “lightness,” like a small weight had been lifted? You felt better, didn’t you?

That’s because you released some of the psychic — or mental — weight of the possessions you once owned. You’ve decluttered your life, and in the process you’ve decluttered your mind.

So what’s with the stapler?

Well, last weekend I set myself the arbitrary goal of getting rid of 100 things. I don’t know why I picked 100, just seemed like a nice, round number. And more importantly, it seemed ambitious.

I really want to invest more into having less. And challenging myself to find 100 things I didn’t need felt like a great way to dive in headfirst.

So as I went through my possessions, I was looking for a few key things when determining whether or not to get rid of it. But above all, the most important metric was “when was the last time I used it?”

If it was over a year ago, I got rid of it. Somewhere between 6-12 months was debatable, and anything less than 6 months I generally kept.

This is most (but not all) of the items

I also considered redundancy — do I have two of these things when I could do with one? And I considered whether the possession could serve someone else better than it was serving me, like giving a cookbook to someone that might use it more than I am.

At the very end of this post I’ll list out all 100 items, but I’ll highlight a few that were challenging or had a good story.

A few quick notes about my accounting:

If it was broken, I didn’t count it if it was going to be replaced. That’s a one-for-one substitution and I haven’t reduced my number of possessions. If they were small items of the same category I counted them as one, not however many there were. For example, I got rid of probably 15 old pens and 10 pencils I never use, but I counted that as one item, not 25.

A lot of the stuff was old clothes, old DVDs and CDs, and some old books. Books are especially great to get rid of because 1.) they’re heavy, and 2.) they can have a life well after you get rid of them.

Much of the stuff was kitchen gear — those who know me know I am pretty obsessed with kitchen gadgets, but I had to take a hard look in the mirror and realize I didn’t really need 7 different cooking spoons.

But let’s take a look at a few items in more detail:

The Juicer

Every vegan has to have a juicer, right?? How could I possibly get rid of my juicer? I know, I know… but it failed the “have you used it in the last year” test. The answer is a definite “no.” Haven’t even taken it out of the box since I moved.

Why? At one point I was obsessed with getting a juicer. Thought they were so cool. Thrilled when I finally got mine. But as I made more juices a few things started to concern me: 1.) you strip away all the fiber from the fruits and veggies, losing that key nutrient; 2.) that ends up being a lot of waste, which means making juice is expensive; and 3.) they are reeaaaally annoying to clean.

So I stopped using it and went back to my trusty blender. I don’t need a juicer, sorry (and you’re welcome to whoever claims it from my building’s front hallway).

Incense + Incense Holder

I remember when I bought it about 5  years ago in the summer. I thought “I’ll be the type of person who burns incense.” I am not that type of person. I think it smells really annoying. But I moved it probably 5 times since I bought it. Of course it was stashed away in a box, it’s not like I had to unpack and repack it. It’s not like it’s heavy. What is the real cost of owning it? Probably not much, but I can tell you I feel better getting rid of it, so it had to go.

Old Charging Cables

I used to collect cables. I think I got it from my Dad. You never want to be without the cable you need, and even long after you’ve gotten rid of the device, “you never know…” The “you never know” attitude is killer for minimalism. “You never know” leaves you drowning in things you haven’t used in decades. Those cables gotsta go. Everything you buy comes with appropriate cables anyway!

Pressure Cooker Cookbook and Vegan Cookbooks

I love to cook, and I have many cookbooks. It was easy to pick out a few I didn’t use that often anymore, and the real perk here is I know people who WILL benefit from them! My Mom just got a pressure cooker for Christmas and is learning how to use it. She actually got me this vegetarian pressure cooker cookbook when I got my pressure cooker. But now I know how to use mine and don’t reference it anymore. It’ll serve her better. Similarly, my older brother just decided to embark on his own vegan/plant-based journey! (Which you can read about here!) Since he is new to the path, a vegan cookbook or two will serve him better than they will serve me. Simple. Easy. They gone.

Salad Dressing Bottle

As I got closer and closer to my goal of 100, it naturally became harder and harder to identify things to get rid of. I suppose that’s a good thing — it means I’ve trimmed a lot of the fat. But I really wanted that nice, round, 100 number. So I probably opened every single box I have, checked every cupboard, combed over my stuff ten times, just looking for another thing to toss, one more thing to let go of. And this glass salad dressing bottle kept catching my eye as a possibility. And every time I considered it I thought to myself “ah but it’s a really nice bottle! I really like it, and if I ever make my own salad dressing I’ll have the perfect place to store it!” But the pressure of getting to 100 was weighing on me… And I considered it once more. I asked myself when the last time I used it was, and the answer was not good. Probably 4 years ago… “Ah, but I really like it.. It’s a nice bottle.” The thought kept coming back. And then I finally woke up and thought: “does liking it mean you need to keep it around as decoration? You don’t use it. It’s gotsta go.” And like that I snapped out of the trance, realized “of course this has to go” and it was painless to let go of.

Sometimes we hold onto things simply because we like them. Sometimes letting go of possessions is really hard.. But you have to ask yourself, “is this serving me?” If it’s not, then it’s gotta go!

The Stapler.

Ah, it has come to this… Time to talk about The Stapler. Why has the stapler gotten so much attention in this story? For me, for whatever reason, it’s the poster child of me owning too much stuff. Whenever I’d talk to friends about wanting to cut down on my possessions, my mind would always go first to “The Stapler.” I’d say something like, “yeah I mean, I own a stapler!! Who needs a stapler?” And the answer was always this: “Well you probably use it like once a year, but that one time you use it you’re glad you have it!”

And in a way, that’s so true… In those rare moments when you need it, it is nice to have.

But is that a good enough reason to own it?

Or more importantly, what is the psychic weight of owning a stapler?

How much does that weigh on me? Do I wake up in the middle of the night with cold sweats wondering when I’ll get to use it again? Do I, every time I move apartments (which I seem to do A LOT), look at the stapler and curse it as “one more thing to move?”

The answers to all of these questions are pretty trivial… No, I don’t really think about my stapler much at all. It’s kind of just…there.

But I just don’t want possessions that are just “there.” The stapler isn’t serving me. I don’t use it. Like, ever. Couldn’t tell you the last time I used it. Maaaaybe when I was in grad school, but I don’t even own a printer! So I stapled all my papers at school!

So, I can happily report that I am now stapler-less.

As the fates will have it, I’ll probably find myself in need of a stapler next week and I’ll have to go to a Kinkos or something. But for right now, I do feel a bit lighter without it in my life…

So Where Does It All Go?

That’s the million dollar question. Identifying what to get rid of is almost the easy part! Figuring out where it all should go, responsibly, takes effort. I purged some items in late Summer and I found myself biking all the way across the city to donate a frying pan and some tupperware… I was happy it had a life, but as I felt a little silly as I trucked my way 7 miles across town.

Sure I could just throw it all out, and part of that would be cathartic… But I just can’t…

I mean don’t get me wrong — no one wants my stapler.

But most of this stuff can still have a life.

The clothes are easy to donate. There are bins all around the city that accept donated clothes. Just drop em in, so easy.

The books are relatively easy — I can give them second lives by passing them on or donating them to the library. Pretty easy.

Some of the stuff is trickier. I think my first strategy will be “giant box of FREE STUFF in building entryway.” I’ll monitor it for a day or two and hopefully everything will be gone. But if not I’ll figure something out for the rest of it…

No matter what happens to my stuff, don’t let the fear of getting rid of it keep you from doing it. I haven’t even physically gotten any of the stuff out of my apartment yet (it’s still sitting in a plastic tub waiting for its fate) and I already feel a sense of relief. When the last piece does finally exit, I’ll feel just a little extra relief, a weight lifted. I’ll feel like my remaining possessions are serving me.

Until I get inspired to go for another 100 item purge…

How Minimalism Relates to Veganism

I’ll just throw this out there quickly, since I’m not the only vegan blogger also into minimalism — I think the two are related. In some ways, a vegan plant-based diet is a minimalist diet. You cut out the stuff that isn’t serving you (or the planet, or the animals) and you leave what does serve you — whole plant foods. In both cases it’s about simplicity. How can you cut out the stuff from your life that doesn’t serve you so you have more time for the things that do serve you in life — people, experiences, health.

My List:

1. Kadima Paddles and ball
2. Chess Set
3. Ski Goggles
4. Mini Basketball
5. Juicer
6. Juicing Book
7. You Are What You Eat Book
8. Velvit Elvis Book
9. Costa Rica Track Jacket
10. Old Messenger Bag
11. ZogSports T Shirt
12. Pencil Sharpener
13. Leaf Tray
14. Old Pencils and Pens
15. Old Camera Memory
16. Earbud Headphones
17. Blank DVD
18. Apple Adaptor Cord
19. Stapler
20. Macbook + Accessories
21. Old Charging Cable
22. Leather Belt
23. Blank DVD
24. DVD
25. DVD
26. DVD
27. DVD
28. DVD
29. DVD
30. DVD
31. DVD
32. DVD
33. DVD
34. DVD
35. External Harddrive
36. Whisk
37. Brush
38. Measuring Cup
39. Slotted Spoon
40. Metal Spoon
41. White Spoon
42. Bamboo Spoon 1
43. Bamboo Spoon 2
44. Red Spoon
45. Green Spoon
46. Blue Spoon
47. Incense
48. Incense Holder
49. Boots
50. Chill Pad for Laptop
51. Mason Jar
52. Mason Jar
53. Mason Jar
54. Jeans
55. Messenger Bag
56. Old Razor
57. USB Drive
58. USB Drive
59. USB Drive
60. Old CD
61. Old CD
62. Old CD
63. Old CD
64. Old CD
65. Engine 2 Book
66. Cookbook
67. Textbook
68. Textbook
69. Textbook
70. MBSR Binder
71. Gulp
72. Old Pyrex
73. Eye Ball
74. Old Charging Cable
75. Old Charging Cable
76. Old Charging Cable
77. Gap Jacket
78. Alpaca Sweater
79. Tank Top
80. Blue Dress Shirt
81. Socks
82. Celtics Hat
83. T-Shirt
84. T-Shirt
85. T-Shirt
86. T-Shirt
87. T-Shirt
88. T-Shirt
89. Giant Whiteboard
90. Small Whiteboard
91. Old Laptop Sleeve
92. Pressure Cooker Cookbook
93. Moosewood Cookbook
94. Plastic Pitcher
95. Salad Dressing Bottle
96. Bottle Brush
97. Bike Fenders
98. Reusable Grocery Bag
99. Reusable Grocery Bag
100. Old Candles

As I wrote about two weeks ago, I suffered a bruised rib in a basketball game that made laughing, coughing, sneezing, and lying down in bed particularly excruciating.

I am happy to say that I am 90% recovered, but sneezing still gives me pain.

During the process of recovery, I did a bit of research into what helps speed up the process. I absolutely hate being sick (one of the reasons I love being vegan) and anytime I am not in full health it drives me nuts. All I can think about is when I will feel better, and everything I do is in service of that goal.

Every bite and beverage is calculated, every bedtime precise, every thing I can do I do.

Turmeric

One of the things I encountered was the powerful ability of the spice Turmeric to fight inflammation and help with pain. Dr. Greger of Nutritionfacts.org recently put out a video detailing how surgery patients given turmeric saw less pain and speedier recoveries than those given a placebo.

That has me convinced this stuff is a miracle substance!

I went to Whole Foods thinking I’d pick up a bottle of the stuff in pill form. I hate taking pain killers as well, so I figured I’d pop turmeric pills instead!

At $30 a bottle for the cheapest, I left the supplement section empty handed and upset.

Then it hit me — this is a spice used for cooking! And it’s cheap in that form. I went to the herbs & spices section and found a bottle of organic turmeric for $3.99, a steal compared to the supplement.

But how to ingest it…

After a few days of just mixing a little bit with water and gagging it down like a shot, it hit me — it might make an excellent tea! Mixed with some other Indian spices, it could almost be like a chai!

A quick Google search confirmed I wasn’t crazy (this is something people actually do) and so I set off making my first batch. And it was delicious!

And because it was so helpful with pain and recovery during my injury, I figured I’d share the recipe here! So without further ado, here is my recipe for Turmeric Tea.

Turmeric Tea

In the teapot I combine the following:

1 tsp ground organic turmeric

1/2 tsp ground organic cinnamon

1/2 tsp amla powder (the most antioxidant rich substance ever tested!)

1/4 tsp ground organic fenugreek seed (shown to improve muscle strength and recovery)

a few shakes of ground organic peppercorns

In my mug I place a little minced organic ginger that comes in a jar from Whole Foods. This product has a little rice vinegar and just a hint of sugar, and rounds out the chai-like flavor of the tea.

I let it sit in the pot for 5-10 minutes and then enjoy!

I have been drinking a pot of this a day and have noticed a real benefit in terms of pain and recovery. I’d highly recommend giving it a try, especially as we head into colder months, it is so nice and warming!

Here’s to a speedy recover from whatever ails you. In health

They say you should never meet your heroes because you will just be disappointed. I can say this is not true.

Last Saturday I had the privilege of meeting two of the giants in the whole foods plant-based/vegan movement: Mr. Rich Roll and Mr. David Carter.

I have written about both before on this blog, so check out there posts here (Rich Roll & David Carter).

Each are vegan/plant-based athletes that have inspired my way of thinking in a big way. Rich proved that running on nothing but plants not only isn’t a hindrance to performance, but is a boon in a big way. Rich has defied more odds as an athlete than just about anyone I can think of in the endurance world. And his podcast (The Rich Roll Podcast) is transformative and life changing. Add it to your list NOW.

David Carter has done the same, but in the opposite world — the National Football League, as an offensive lineman. He has proved you can build serious muscle eating nothing but plants.

I recently told a friend about David Carter being 300 pounds and all vegan muscle and he said immediately “where does he get his protein??”

To which I responded, as I always do: food.

Protein is a non-issue, and one I’ve also written about (and here and here and here).

But I am not here to rehash what I’ve already said. Instead, I am here to talk about the vegan and plant-based movement.

On Saturday I attended the DC Veg Fest in the cold, blustery rain that was supposed to be Hurricane Joaquin. And despite the dreary weather, it was impossible to tell if the festival was any less busy because of it. It was packed. And it was awesome.

Both Rich and David spoke, along with Farm Sanctuary founder Gene Baur. And one audience member had a question for Rich that really got me thinking.

She asked if he felt like we are at a tipping point as a movement, that our numbers are increasing as more and more people everyday are awakened to the realities of animal agriculture. She asked about the theory that once you hit 3.5% of the population that any movement takes on its own momentum and grows exponentially greater.

And Rich answered the exact same way I would have:

“Yes.”

Of course he was more effusive on the subject, but a simple answer is appropriate.

Yes, yes it does feel like there is real momentum behind vegan and plant-based eating. It has never been easier to find great tasting and healthy vegan options at restaurants and in grocery stores. That’s a sign that consumer demand is growing.

The Millenial Generation (talkin about my generation) is said to be significantly more prone to vegan and vegetarian eating. Another sign.

And documentaries like Forks Over Knives and Cowspiracy do incredibly well on Netflix and that is a big sign, and a big reason why momentum is growing.

The internet has made it much easier for the truth to get out. We see this in all realms of life, not just eating. Think Ferguson and the issue of police brutality. Has this all of a sudden become an issue? No of course not! It’s been happening for decades, but the ubiquity of smartphones and YouTube makes it easier to shine the light on a dark piece of human behavior.

Animal agriculture is a huge dark spot on the landscape of human behavior. One that is so big and so pervasive that it is relatively easy to shine a light on it.

Which brings me to why I started Plantiful Health

(I’ll get back to how I met Rich and David in a second).

The truth is that I had just finished graduate school and was living at home while job searching and waiting for grants to fund potential projects. After a few months of this I realized that I was helping no one by just sitting on my parents’ couch.

I had just been given a world class education and my head was full of ideas about how to make health, food, and environment better, and yet I was doing nothing.

The internet gave me a voice.

I want to help people improve their lives through their plates, and in the process improve the planet as well. This venture of mine may never generate a single dollar in profit but that’s not the point. That’s not why I got in the game.

Here are some stats that keep me going. Most of my blog posts get between 50-100 reads. In the landscape that is the internet that might sound like small potatoes. But that’s 50-100 people I wasn’t reaching by sitting on the couch doing nothing.

Most of my YouTube videos average around 100 views, with my highest three videos currently at 2,157 views, 5,071 views, and 6,239 views! To date my channel has amassed 20,752 views.

That’s over 20,000 sets of eyeballs I have reached that I wouldn’t have had I just sat here and done nothing.

Which leads me to another thought…

Why most vegans are activists.

It is an unfortunate stereotype that vegans are annoying. We like to talk about being vegan and we aren’t afraid to share that with others. And while I will fully admit that there are many annoying vegans who don’t know when and where to share the message (read: tact), one thing cannot be denied: we are a passionate bunch.

And I think that’s a great thing to be a part of. When you think of it, the fact that most people who go vegan seem to also want others to go vegan, it must mean there is some inherent benefit in this lifestyle, something that we all feel needs to be shared with others. Sure we are passionate about the outside benefits to the environment and the animals.

But for all of you reading this who think “oh man I just could never give up meat, dairy, and eggs” realize that millions of us have AND we think it’s important enough that we encourage others to do the same. Are we really sitting around longing for animal products? Are we just trying to trick you, and once you go vegan we can say “gotcha!!”

Not in the slightest.

This movement is growing in a big way. And meeting Rich and David was inspiration for me to keep going, to keep spreading this life saving, animal saving, planet saving message.

All voices count. If you are passionate about something, sing it from the rooftops. The internet has given you a voice. Use it.

Thanks for reading.