Vegan Thanksgiving: 11 years in the making

I was unexpectedly kept in the Finger Lakes for Thanksgiving this year when I would ordinarily be traveling to be with family, so after 11 years of being an ethical vegan, I had an opportunity to have a truly vegan Thanksgiving dinner. Animals are brutalized every day of every year for food throughout the world, and Thanksgiving is no worse than any other day when it comes to their suffering. But on a day when the highlight is the dead body of a sentient being, and after years of being forced to consume a hastily prepared vegan alternative (or nothing at all) in its presence, it's hard not to long for a holiday that celebrates life and does not center on the death of these complex and wonderful creatures.

For me, that day had arrived.

I had invited a good friend over, and we had decided ahead of time that she'd be bringing a soup, a vegetable, and a dessert. My contribution was going to be garlic mashed potatoes, but I awoke feeling energetic and excited, so I decided to do a bit more. I roasted garlic, cooked down two organic pie pumpkins that had been weighing on my conscience for weeks (I dislike wasting food), and gathered ingredients from refrigerator and pantry.

The result was a hot and comforting meal of squash soup, shepherd's pie with gravy, asparagus, biscuits, chocolate pie, and pumpkin pie, all vegan and all delicious. A glass of Finger Lakes wine and delightful conversation pulled it all together. We spent a brief but enjoyable evening over these simple and satisfying foods, never feeling deprived, and instead being more fulfilled because of the individuals that we spare, on Thanksgiving and every day, by being vegan.

It was a beautiful day to cherish, snow flurries and all. And I am so thankful for all of the beings, two-footed and four-footed, who showed me the things that opened my eyes to this gentle and peaceful way of living.

Shepherd's Pie (serves 4)

1 package TVP (Smart Ground or the like)
1 onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can cream style corn
1 Tbsp (or to taste) vegan Worcestershire sauce (no anchovies)
5-6 Yukon gold potatoes, cooked and mashed with vegan margarine and roasted garlic
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Saute the onion, carrots, and garlic until tender. Add TVP and mix. Season with salt and pepper and vegan Worcestershire sauce to taste. Place TVP mixture in the bottom of a square casserole dish. Spread the creamed corn over the mixture, and top with the mashed potatoes. Bake for 30 minutes until the ingredients are heated through and the potatoes are lightly browned. Serve hot with a side of gravy if desired.

Accidental activism

Recently I've been trying to cut down further on my use of plastics, because I'm hearing more and more about how wasteful and pollutive they are. They're especially bad for a lot of sea animals. I've always carried a reusable bottle or mug for beverages and used canvas bags at the market. (My mom has been reusing paper bags at the market since I was in high school!) But with buying all the produce for the bunnies, I was ending up using a lot of those flimsy produce bags. I was drying and re-using these, but I knew there was a better way.

I started using these canvas produce bags. I wish I had been handy enough to sew them myself, but lacking both the time and the skill, I opted to get them from reusable bags.com.

So nearly every time I go shopping with these bags, someone will stop me to ask about them. Not only are people interested to learn that there's an easy way that they can avoid excess plastic but I also get a chance to connect with other individuals who are concerned about some of the same things I am. These are just random meetings, comments in passing really, but in the face of everything, having a pleasant dialog with someone about the human impact on the environment is a small source of hope. You feel like you've made a difference or encouraged each other to keep fighting the good fight and pondering what more we can do.

I am seeing more and more canvas bags these days, and I love it. Sure, it's not going to solve global warming or end pollution, but it is something that citizens can do. Some of the power still rests in our hands. When we succeed at taking these smaller steps, sometimes larger changes begin to seem more within our reach.

A few factoids to get you motivated to curb your own use of wasteful and damaging plastics:

** Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food.

** Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade—breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways and entering the food web when animals accidentally ingest.

** As part of Clean Up Australia Day, in one day nearly 500,000 plastic bags were collected.

** Windblown plastic bags are so prevalent in Africa that a cottage industry has sprung up harvesting bags and using them to weave hats, and even bags. According to the BBC, one group harvests 30,000 per month.

** According to David Barnes, a marine scientist with the British Antarctic Survey, plastic bags have gone "from being rare in the late 80s and early 90s to being almost everywhere from Spitsbergen 78° North [latitude] to Falklands 51° South [latitude]."

** Plastic bags are among the 12 items of debris most often found in coastal cleanups, according to the nonprofit Center for Marine Conservation.