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I’m a photojournalist; here’s how I advocate for animals using the power of imagery

I’m a photojournalist; here’s how I advocate for animals using the power of imagery

As part of our “Chat with a Vegan” series, Emma Levez Larocque sat down and spoke with Jo-Anne McArthur. Jo-Anne is a photojournalist and the founder of We Animals Media and is based out of Toronto, Ontario. We hope you find her experience and advice helpful no matter where you are on your own plant-based journey.

You can follow Jo-Anne across multiple platforms:

If you’re interested in learning more after reading this blog post, you can find great resources on the Vancouver Humane Society’s PlantUniversity Platform and subscribe to get free plant-based recipes and be notified when the next interview is posted.

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Hello, my name is Jo-Anne McArthur. I’m a photojournalist and the founder of We Animals Media, and I’m based in Toronto, Canada. 

How did you become vegan? How did it change your life?

I became vegan a little bit grudgingly. There was an opportunity at Farm Sanctuary in northern New York state to be an intern for a month and to work with rescued farmed animals. And I really wanted to do this. I was a vegetarian already and I was becoming an activist and I thought this would be a beautiful experience. However, you had to be vegan on the premises out of respect for the animals. 

And I thought this was very extreme, but I would do it because I wanted the experience. Little did I know that after 24 hours of being an intern at Farm Sanctuary, I felt really aligned with myself, my morals, the direction I wanted to go in life, which was to not harm anyone. What I found after 24 hours of being vegan is that I was happy that I hadn’t hurt anybody. 

I was a little scared, honestly, because I thought, oh, being vegan is to be ostracized and maybe to be a bit of an outcast. You know, I didn’t know, but I committed to it. Because I felt emotionally, psychologically, spiritually aligned, and it really did change my life. 

What were the challenges you faced in going vegan?

When I first became vegan, I anticipated a lot of discord between me and friends and especially family members who I had spent a life with eating animals, and I felt that I was going to be disrupting things and I’m a real people pleaser, so this worried me.  

I was worried that it would really inconvenience the people that I loved. But I was wrong about that. Of course, people need to make adjustments in their cooking when you go to their house, there are things like that that you tackle, but I decided not to make it a big overblown issue. I was like, yep, this is who I am. I’m a vegan. Let me help you with cooking. Let me tell you about all the wonderful things I eat. And I made it something joyous instead of something that was going to be stressful for me or for other people. 

And I practiced that. I can’t say that I was great at it from the get go, but over time, people understood that I was vegan. It was fine.  

In fact, when I go to restaurants or events and I’m the vegan at the table, it’s really neat to see people ask questions.

I’m eating differently. Why? And I answer those questions in just an open and joyful way. And I find that that brings people into the conversation about veganism and satisfies some of their curiosity and hopefully inspires other people to eat fewer or no animals as well.  

What is your favourite food to eat?

My favourite thing to eat – well, this is hilarious because it’s a cliche. 

I am a salad girl through and through and I will take big baking bowls and I will fill them with three different kinds of lettuces and proteins and some seeds or nuts and whatever’s in my fridge and make a really big, juicy, creamy dressing. My mouth is watering just talking about it. So I have a big salad like this every day. 

And then I would say my favourite go-to treat right now is vegan cauliflower wings, like buffalo cauliflower wings. Oh my gosh. My mouth is watering just talking about it. 

Discover plant-based recipes

Check out Plant University’s recipe library for tons of delicious recipes to get you started on your plant-based journey.

Recipe library

What is We Animals Media? Why did you start it?

I’m a photojournalist, and photojournalists always have stories that they want to pursue in the long term, and I wanted to cover animal issues. I wanted to photograph the invisible animals, as I call them – those we don’t give much thought to, the animals we eat and wear and use and, you know, medical research and so on.  

I called this project We Animals until I was starting to get a bit of funding, and then we started operating as a photo agency. More photographers were coming on. We were giving assignments, we were licensing work, and we realized we’re more than a project. We are a photo agency. And so we founded We Animals Media, and we launched that officially in 2019.  

What we do, essentially, is we make available images of invisible animals to anyone helping animals for free. 

To date, we have over 25,000 visuals that people can use to improve their campaigning and their messaging, whether they are an NGO or an activist or an academic.  

Why do you think images are such a powerful way to advocate for animals?

Images are a really powerful way to advocate for animals. It’s easier to engage someone in a split second with an engaging, a beautiful, a poignant image, even if it’s a difficult image that will grab people and lead them to the text, lead them to the information that you want them to know. 

What’s interesting about what we do is that we’re often photographing really difficult circumstances. But we have to do that in a way that makes people not want to turn away. And they might turn away, but we want them to look back again at the image and engage in it. 

And so what we do is we create poignant and visually arresting images that draw you in instead of push you away. 

What are some of the challenges in your work?

There are a lot of challenges with doing this work now. First of all, access.  

Unfortunately, animal photojournalists are not always welcome at the places that we want to document.  

There’s also the challenge of engaging people with the images that we capture. When we ask people to confront images of industrial farming, fur farming, animal abuse, we’re also asking them to confront their relationship with these animals and their cultures and traditions. So it is a big ask. I understand that.  

And that’s why when we show images, we include dialogue and conversation and information, because again, we don’t want people to turn away.  

We want to pull them into a conversation, a really important conversation. 

What advice would you give to someone finding it difficult to make a switch?

If you’re thinking about going vegan, just know that it’s quite joyful. 

That was my fear when I became vegan. I thought I would be ostracized and that it would be hard. But I have felt really, really great with the decision. I feel very healthy. There’s lots to eat anywhere I go now. There’s delicious food to eat, whether it’s a veggie burger at your local pub or Indian food or Italian food. 

So don’t be afraid, give it a try. Also, perfection is the enemy of the good. So, just do your best. 

Take the first step

Looking for a simple first step to transitioning your diet? Take the 21-Day Plant-Based Challenge from Plant University!

Take the challenge

What advice do you have for going vegan beyond food?

There are several ways that veganism was incorporated into my life slowly. Certainly, it was through leading with delicious food and sharing delicious food with people, but then there are other kinds of vegan choices that you can make. For example, adopting an animal instead of buying an animal when there are millions of dogs and cats and other animals who are just languishing in shelters. 

What I found when I became vegan is that I was thinking about animals in broader ways. I was thinking about the shelter animals. I was thinking about the needs of the urban wildlife. And so I started putting out water, that I see the squirrels and sometimes the raccoons drinking from. 

Animals have it hard in this human dominated world. We have taken over every aspect and every corner of the globe. And so my veganism led me to think just a lot more broadly about how I could help all animals. 

What do you find most rewarding about the work that you do?

The most rewarding aspect of my work is that as a frontliner who has now seen millions of animals in intense suffering, is that my efforts will make a difference because they do influence others when I speak up, whether it’s through what I’m eating or with my words or my photos. 

I know that that’s reaching people and I’m doing my best and some days are hard because the problems are massive and there’s a lot of suffering and there’s a lot of work to do, but that doesn’t mean that I or anyone else should stop. I think we need to just band together and bring more people into the fold. 

That is the joy of helping others and the joy of being kind to others in whatever actions we can take every single day. So that keeps me putting one foot in front of the other- hope and optimism and doing my best. 

This interview from PlantUniversity’s “Chat with a Vegan” series was hosted by Emma Levez Larocque of Plant-based RHN and featured Jo-Anne McArthur.

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Colourful meal ideas to celebrate Pride 

Looking to put colourful dishes on your table this Pride Month (or any time of the year)? Fruits and vegetables are the best place to start!  

Read on to find some quick, simple recipe ideas to load up your plate with a rainbow of veggies, plus a list of fruits and vegetables in each colour!  

Here’s a bonus: Did you know that eating a wide variety of colourful fruits and vegetables also helps you to get a wide variety of vitamins and minerals? While all vegetables contain fibre and other important nutrients, some colours tend to be higher in specific vitamins to help you thrive. 

Recipe ideas
Veggies in every colour

Recipe ideas to fill with colourful veggies 

Salads

A colourful rainbow salad

Salads are a light, summery dish that’s not only tasty, but also incredibly nutritious and flexible. With the versatility to choose the ingredients and dressings to suit your taste (and use up what’s left in your fridge), you can pack them with a variety of fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, grains, and plant-based proteins. 

Try this colourful vegan cobb salad from registered dietitian Desiree Nielsen or this rainbow raw and roasted salad from Betterfoodguru.

Feeling creative? Whip up your own recipe to enjoy with this vegan Green Goddess dressing from Nora Cooks. Or, try this 5-minute vegan salad dressing from Heartbeet Kitchen. 

Rice bowls 

A colourful rainbow rice bowl

From burrito bowls to falafel bowls, rice bowls have the versatility and ease to be a perfect weeknight dinner option. Here’s one formula for a simple, tasty, and nutritious rice bowl: 

  1. Choose your cuisine, such as Mexican or Mediterranean. Aim to incorporate ingredients that are commonly used in that cuisine or are grown in that region, as flavours that grow together are more likely to go together. 
  2. Choose your rice. Brown rice is an inexpensive and nutritious choice that works well with a variety of toppings. 
  3. Add a variety of colourful vegetables. 
  4. Add a protein (or more!), such as baked tofu, beans, or roasted chickpeas. 
  5. Add a sauce or spread. 

The possibilities using this formula are endless! Here’s one example to get started: 

Falafel bowl 

  • Brown rice
  • Falafel (try this falafel recipe from Minimalist Baker) 
  • Pickles 
  • Tomato 
  • Pickled red onion (here’s a quick pickled onion recipe from Cookie + Kate) 
  • Lettuce 
  • Parsley 
  • Hummus 
  • Hot sauce 

Or, find a pre-assembled recipe like this black bean burrito bowl from Plant University for a pop of colour on your table! 

Sushi 

Colourful vegan sushi

Plant-based sushi, sushi bowls, or sushi burritos are a delicious option if you have a bit more time on your hands. Here is a step-by-step guide on assembling sushi from Love and Lemons. Once you have the process down, fill up your sushi with whatever vegetables and other ingredients you want, cut into strips. Here’s one colourful combo to try: 

Rainbow vegan maki

  • Cucumbers 
  • Carrots 
  • Smoked tofu 
  • Avocado 
  • Red cabbage 
  • Vegan tempura sweet potato (try this vegan tempura recipe from The Viet Vegan) 
  • Rolled in sushi rice and nori (roasted seaweed)
  • Pickled ginger, soy sauce, and/or vegan sriracha mayo for serving 

Vegan sriracha mayo 

  • ½ cup vegan mayonnaise 
  • 2 tablespoons Sriracha 
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice 
  • Pinch of ground pepper 
  • Small splash soy sauce 

Stir fry 

Colourful stir fry in a pan

Stir fry is quick, nutritious, and incredibly versatile with the flexibility to incorporate a variety of colorful vegetables, tofu, and plant-based proteins. The high-heat cooking method preserves the vegetables’ vibrant flavors, while allowing for endless customization with different sauces, spices, and seasonal ingredients.  

Try this colourful vegan stir fry from Nora Cooks to serve over rice or noodles! 

Fruits and vegetables in each colour of the rainbow 

Red vegetables 

A variety of red fruits and vegetables
  • Tomato 
  • Red bell pepper 
  • Radish 
  • Red potato 
  • Chili pepper 
  • Red Swiss chard 

Vitamin note: Red and orange vegetables are especially high in vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium, and Vitamin K. Red, orange, and yellow vegetables can also contain carotenoids like lutein and zeaxanthin, which are important for eye health. 

Orange vegetables 

A variety of orange fruits and vegetables
  • Sweet potato 
  • Carrots 
  • Pumpkin 
  • Orange bell pepper 
  • Butternut squash 

Yellow vegetables 

A variety of yellow fruits and vegetables
  • Yellow bell pepper 
  • Corn 
  • Acorn squash 
  • Spaghetti squash 
  • Yellow cherry tomatoes 
  • Golden beets 
  • Yellow wax beans 
  • Yellow cauliflower 
  • Plantain 

Green vegetables 

A variety of green fruits and vegetables
  • Broccoli 
  • Green bell pepper 
  • Jalapeño pepper 
  • Bok choy 
  • Peas 
  • Green beans
  • Avocado 
  • Zucchini 
  • Cucumber 
  • Spinach 
  • Kale 
  • Green leaf lettuce 
  • Romaine lettuce 
  • Swiss chard 
  • Collard greens 
  • Arugula 
  • Brussels sprouts 
  • Herbs like parsley, basil, and cilantro

Vitamin note: Dark leafy green vegetables like kale, Swiss chard, and collard greens contain lutein and zeaxanthin, which are important for eye health. Dark green vegetables also tend to be especially high in iron, potassium, calcium, and folate, a B vitamin that benefits heart health. 

Blue vegetables 

Blue cabbage
  • Blue cabbage 

Purple vegetables 

A variety of purple fruits and vegetables
  • Red or purple cabbage 
  • Red onion 
  • Beets 
  • Eggplant 
  • Purple cauliflower 
  • Purple sweet potato 
  • Purple asparagus 

Vitamin note: Purple vegetables often contain anthocyanins, a type of nutrient which has been found to possess antioxidative and antimicrobial activities, improve visual and neurological health, and protect against various non-communicable diseases. 

What colourful dishes will you be trying this Pride Month? Let us know at vancouverhumane on Instagram or on the Vancouver Humane Society Facebook page! 

How I get my kids excited to eat plants as a vegan mom

How I get my kids excited to eat plants as a vegan mom

Featured Author: Mercedes Decker

Hi, I’m Mercedes and these are my four kids – [Berkley, Cora, Sybil and Jake]. I’m going to share with you some tips and tricks to how to get your kids excited about plant-based eating.

We decided to become a plant-based family because it was nutritious. It ended up turning into more of an ethical reason because we started looking into animal agriculture. We didn’t want to take the baby cows away from the family. The moms, right? Just like us. There’s no difference from people or animals.

Tip #1: Get them in the kitchen

So one of the biggest tips I could give you to get your kids excited about cooking is to get them in the kitchen. Are you ready everybody? Yeah! Yeah! Let’s go! Pick your veggies!

Kid-friendly recipes

Tip #2: Teach them age appropriate tasks

A great tip to involve your kids in the kitchen is to teach them age appropriate tasks. Chopping. Peeling, licking – that’s not a task, is it?

Tip #3: Pair veggies with a favourite dip

Another tip to get your kids to eat their veggies is to pair them with their favourite dip. We like hummus. You can make your own or store bought is great. And then dressing or vinaigrette, we use this with salads or raw veggies.

Dip recipes

Tip #4: Make smoothies with your kids

Another great tip is to make smoothies. Kids love going to the freezer, grabbing out their favourite frozen fruit. We eat a lot of blueberries. throwing it in the blender with some chia seeds or flax seeds. They like to add either soy milk or water to make it really sweet. You can add orange juice and they really like blending that up.

Tip #5: Turn leftover smoothies into popsicles

And the leftover smoothies can also be used for popsicles. If you have popsicle molds, throw the leftover smoothie in there, pop it in the freezer and the kids can enjoy it the next day for breakfast.

Tip #6: Use leftover jars to store dry produce

When we went plant-based, I decided to switch everything into jars so they were easy to see and the kids like coming and grabbing something for the smoothies, lids that the kids can get into too is an awesome thing. Your local thrift store has probably tons of jars.

Tip #7: Try baking with plant-based ingredients

Another easy win for us is baking in the kitchen. Kids love licking spoons. And a cheap and easy swap in baking is to add ground flax in to replace your eggs. What do you guys like to bake? Muffins, brownies, cakes, more muffins. Apple pies, cupcakes, brownies. Black bean brownies is another hit in the family because you kind of can hide the bean in there. And it’s a good protein boost.

Plant-based baking

Find simple substitutions to make your baking plant-based and delicious!

Baking swaps

Tip #8: Don’t get discouraged

Don’t get discouraged if your kids don’t like the veggies the first or second time they try. Sometimes it can take up to 15 attempts to get your kids to eat the veggies. Don’t give up and keep on persevering. They will try it eventually. I also like coming together and making food together. And it’s kind of just become a way to connect with your kids. And enjoy spending time with them.

If you’re interested in learning more after watching this video, you can find great resources on Vancouver Humane Society’s Plant University platform. And subscribe to get involved in Vancouver Humane Society’s work to help animals, people, and the planet.

Hope you guys learned some tips and tricks to get your kids excited about plant-based nutrition. Remember that it’s a journey, not a destination. So have fun. Good luck. Bye.

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I’m a family doctor; here’s what I tell my patients about going plant-based

I’m a family doctor; here’s what I tell my patients about going plant-based

As part of our “Chat with a Vegan” series, Emma Levez Larocque sat down and spoke with Dr. Jules Cormier. Jules is a family doctor in Dieppe, New Brunswick. We hope you find his experience and advice helpful no matter where you are on your own plant-based journey.

You can follow Jules across multiple platforms:

If you’re interested in learning more after reading this blog post, you can find great resources on the Vancouver Humane Society’s PlantUniversity Platform and subscribe to get free plant-based recipes and be notified when the next interview is posted.

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My name is Dr. Jules Cormier. I’m a family doctor practicing family medicine, lifestyle medicine, and skin surgery, and I’m based out of Dieppe, New Brunswick, on the east coast of Canada.

Why did you go vegan?

I became vegan after about 12 to 18 months of transitioning towards a plant-based diet and this changed my life considerably, considering that I was suffering from asthma, eczema, urticaria, and cholinergic angioedema. which can also be called exercise induced anaphylaxis. So, I transitioned to a plant-based diet for health reasons at the beginning.

But after about a year, once I was fully transitioned, I started to connect even more with the ethical side of it. And after watching Dominion online, I decided I wanted to be 100 percent vegan, and I never looked back since then. That’s been more than a decade now.

What was your biggest challenge in becoming plant-based?

When I went plant-based, my biggest challenge was probably trying to navigate my small town.

 I’m from a small fishing village. So, telling people that you’re not consuming any animal products when you’re surrounded by fishermen and hunters was difficult for me. For a long time, I actually kept it quite secret until at some point I just couldn’t keep a secret anymore. So, just telling everyone around me was probably my biggest challenge.

And after that, well, it was accessing vegan food and plant-based options while eating out because when you’re from a small, small town, the plant-based options aren’t as refined. It was difficult to eat out and travel around from where I live, but once I was at home, I was good to go.

How did you overcome the challenge of eating out, or is it still difficult?

When I started about in 2012, it was more challenging and we found ourselves very often looking at menus beforehand and even emailing restaurants and calling chefs to see if they could prepare vegan options for us. And to my surprise, most of them could easily accommodate us. Nowadays, the vegan movement has grown exponentially.

I don’t meet that much resistance when eating away from home now. It was mostly when traveling that we’ve seen our challenges.

Even if the options aren’t plentiful, at least there were one or two options at most places where we used to go.

Find plant-based businesses

Check out Plant University’s Animal-free Shopping & Eating Guide to find restaurants, shops, and more near Vancouver.

Local businesses

How do you work to spread the message about plant-based diets?

I try to spread the message about plant based diets and the vegan lifestyle pretty much everywhere I go. I have a website called Plant-Based Dr. Jules.

For the general public, I regularly publish free information about tips and tricks on how to transition. I want to make sure that people do it in a healthy way. I do most of that through my social media platforms. At work, I work at a teaching clinic where about 80 percent of future doctors will at some point come through our doors during their medical training. So, I try to have a trickle down effect where I can talk about plant-based lifestyle and ethics and climate change to future doctors, hoping that they’ll then talk to their patients about that.

Also, I have about 15 other doctor colleagues who are super open minded and a lot of people once they’ve read the data on the differences that a plant-based diet can make for health or for the climate, they’re a lot more open to changing. I know that if we can have the medical professionals on board and they can trickle that information down to their patient, I think we can reach a lot more people that way.

How do you encourage your patients to learn about plant-based diets?

I encourage my patients to learn about plant-based diets by simply looking at the data, which often shows that lowering your amount of animal products on your plate is often correlated to reduce risk of most of our chronic diseases. And as a doctor, I’m seeing these chronic diseases daily. So sometimes just linking their health conditions to what they’re putting on their plates is a way to kind of educate my patient on having a more plant-predominant diet.

Now, that being said, I send them to my website very often for free information on how to transition. I send them to my free recipe book, and I give them tips and tricks on how to substitute animal products and replace them with plants.

What advice would you give to someone who is finding it difficult to make the switch?

For someone who’s thinking about going vegan and finding it hard to make a switch, I’d suggest two things.

First of all, I’d say surround yourself with resources of like-minded people. When I started on my vegan journey, I subscribed to YouTube channels, to vegan community groups on Facebook, I watched documentaries. I got educated on all the facts.

My other tip would be start low and go slow.

 It took me about 18 months probably to make a full transition. Within about 12 months, I had almost no animal products on my plate anymore, but I say small incremental changes will add up over time. It’s not about what you’re removing from your plate at the beginning.

That’s the way I transitioned and this way I felt a lot less friction with my daily life by just kind of making small steps in the right direction.

Take the first step

Looking for a simple first step to transitioning your diet? Take the 21-Day Plant-Based Challenge from Plant University!

Take the challenge

What is the biggest challenge you hear about and how do you help people address it?

One of the biggest obstacles in the way of people that want to change is simply our food culture. For a lot of people where I’m from, animal products is simply part of our culture. I very often refer back to the 2019 Canadian food guide, which was based purely on science, because there’s a lot of old traditions and culture that goes into the way that people eat. And unfortunately, people still think that you need meat to be healthy and you need meat to have muscle.

 For a lot of people, it’s just lack of education. So, find solace in knowing that kind of the Canadian government is backing us by having a plant-predominant food guide. I think that that gives a lot of credibility to the movement. I think the Canadian food guide for a lot of people is the way to start.

It at least opens up their eyes to, it’s not just vegan propaganda. There’s a lot of signs behind why we should be eating a plant-predominant diet, regardless if you connect with the ethics of it or not.

What is the Plant-Based Academy?

The Plant-Based Academy is a project that I’m working on. It’s a mix of a podcast, my blog, and an online e-course that people can take and provides them with video lessons on how to transition towards a plant-based diet, step by step. I’ve been working on that for over a year and my goal is to publish it in 2024. Hopefully that can be a great resource for people that want to have the A to Z transition towards a plant-based diet.

What do you find most rewarding about the work that you do?

The most rewarding thing about promoting plant-based diets are the success stories. I mean, just today I had a patient with chronic abdominal pain that said, I just changed my diet and my symptoms went away. We’re talking about a patient that had undergone x-rays, ultrasound, CT scans, blood work- too many investigations where the issue was simply his diet.

And regularly I get messages of people on my Facebook and Instagram of how just making small changes has drastically improved their lives. I mean, I have patient getting rid of their CPAPs because they lost weight on their plant-based diets. I have patients reducing or even removing antihypertensive medication because they changed their diet.

So, I get that validation right from my patients that tell me about the success they’re having in either managing or even reversing some of their chronic medical conditions, basically through diet and through evidence-based plant-based nutrition.

This interview from PlantUniversity’s “Chat with a Vegan” series was hosted by Emma Levez Larocque of Plant-based RHN and featured Dr. Jules Cormier.

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Adapting meals to be plant-based episode 2

Adapting meals to be plant-based episode 2

Featured Author: Alicia MacGregor

Hi everyone, my name is Alicia, and I’m excited to be here with you today to share my passion for healthy and delicious plant-based meals.

Today for the Vancouver Humane Society’s Plant University platform, we’re making a Pastel De Choclo, and it’s a traditional Chilean dish that my mom used to make when I was little and it’s very similar to a shepherd’s pie, where there’s a savoury base and instead of a mashed potato topping, it’s actually a corn meal kind of prepared topping.

Today we’re going to be using mushrooms and onions for the base. She used to actually put raisins in it, so I have eliminated the raisins all together because I don’t like them.

When I did the full switch to a plant-based diet, I really noticed a big improvement in my skin. I used to get a lot of acne, and I realized that my skin cleared up and my complexion became a lot nicer. So when you’re making a switch from a meat-based diet to a plant-based diet, you’ll notice that it’s actually quite simple to simply replace the meat option for vegetables. And you simply need to choose the vegetables with complex carbs, high in protein, high in fiber. It can actually create really original flavour profiles for you that can be even better than the original recipes were.

If you’re interested in learning more after watching this video, you can find great resources on VHS’s Plant University platform and subscribe to get involved with VHS’s work to help animals, people, and the planet.

So let’s get started.

Pastel de Choclo

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Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 1 acorn squash

Corn topper

  • 5 cups corn (6 corn on the cob or 1 bag frozen corn)
  • 2 tbsp cornmeal
  • 1 bunch basil (10 leaves)
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1.5 tbsp coconut oil
  • crushed walnuts

Veggie Bottom

  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 3 small/medium onions, diced
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp pepper
  • 1 can lentils (or equivalent soaked lentils)
  • 2.5 cups mushrooms, diced small
  • 1 sprig rosemary
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 vegetable bouillon cube
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • black or kalamata olives, sliced
  • cayenne (optional)

Instructions
 

Acorn squash

  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  • Slice acorn squash in half and remove the seeds and pulp from the inside.
  • Slice squash in 1/4 thick rounds.
  • Lay squash on baking sheet and baste with olive oil and cayenne pepper if using.
  • Bake until squash is soft and lightly browned.
  • Remove from oven and let cool.

Veggie Bottom

  • Heat a pan over medium heat and sauté half an onion.
  • Once onion is translucent, add the diced mushrooms, salt, pepper, and apple cider vinegar. Cook until mushrooms have reduced.
  • Once the mushrooms have reduced, add the rosemary leaves and balsamic vinegar. Cook for 4 minutes and then add the lentils (if canned rinse and drain fully) and bouillon cube dissolved in 3/4 cup water (or if using soaked/drained lentils, 1 1/4 cup water).
  • Stir in the rest of the onion, ground cumin, paprika, and additional salt and pepper to taste. Cook until lentils are fully soft and the mixture is moist.
  • Turn off heat.

Corn Topper

  • If using fresh corn, boil corn cobs until corn is al dente (not fully soft). Let the corn cool and then use a knife to slice all corn from husk.
  • In a large pot heat and cook corn until soft. Add coconut milk, basil, salt, pepper, paprika, and continue to cook, occasionally stirring for approximately 10 more minutes.
  • Blend the corn mixture with a hand mixer on pulse. Make sure to leave some chunkier parts.
  • Add cornmeal and continue cooking over medium heat for 5 minutes. Consistency should be firm.
  • Taste and adjust seasoning to taste. Cool and then serve. It will thicken slightly when cool.

Assembly

  • In baking dish, layer the veggie bottom as a base, filling the bottom of the dish.
  • Add a layer of acorn squash on top of the veggie mixture and olives sprinkled over the top.
  • Cover the squash layer with the corn topper.
  • Sprinkle crushed walnuts over top.
  • Bake until slightly brown.

Notes

Recipe Cost Breakdown

Ingredients
 Quantity
 Measure
 Cost
Corn
 5
 Cups
 3.49
Cornmeal
 2
 Tbsp
 0.14
Basil
 1
 Bunch
 3.29
Salt
 2
 Tsp
 0.01
Pepper
 1
 Tsp
 0.11
Paprika
 1
 Tsp
 0.06
Coconut oil
 1.5
 Tbsp
 0.69
Olive oil
 2
 Tsp
 0.16
Onions
 3
 Each
 3.90
Ground cumin
 1
 Tsp
 0.18
Salt
 1
 Tsp
 0.006
Pepper
 2
 Tsp
 0.22
Lentils
 1
 Can
 1.79
Mushrooms
 2.5
 Cups
 3.49
Fresh Rosemary
 1
 Sprig
 0.15
Apple Cider Vinegar
 1
 Tbsp
 0.02
Balsamic Vinegar
 2
 Tbsp
 0.30
Vegetable bouillon cube
 1
 Each
 0.75
Paprika
 1
 tbsp
 0.17
Total
  
  
 18.93
Cost per serving
  
  
 6.31
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

And there you have it. A delicious and healthy pastel de choclo. It’s filling and full of flavour and is packed with complex carbohydrates.

If this is the first time you’ve seen a plant-based recipe being made, you can check out some more options on the Vancouver Humane Society’s Plant University platform.

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Chat with a vegan: Stephanie Redcross West, business coach and marketing strategist

Chat with a vegan: Stephanie Redcross West, business coach and marketing strategist

As part of our “Chat with a Vegan” series, Emma Levez Larocque sat down and spoke with Stephanie Redcross West. Stephanie is a business coach and marketing strategist based in Orlando, Florida. We hope you find her experience and advice helpful no matter where you are on your own plant-based journey.

You can follow Stephanie across multiple platforms:

If you’re interested in learning more after reading this blog post, you can find great resources on the Vancouver Humane Society’s PlantUniversity Platform and subscribe to get free plant-based recipes and be notified when the next interview is posted.

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Note: If you’re listening to the video using earbuds or headphones, the interview audio only works on the left side.

Why did you go vegan?

When I think about why I went vegan, a lot of my initial foundation was around health. When I was in my senior year in college, I got E. coli. I’d been traveling around and ended up getting in contact with my food. Through that process, it helped me start to think about what I eat; think about how food and how diseases transmitted. Through that discovery, I started thinking about and learning about more of the chronic diseases that are often linked to the foods that we eat.

As I started to make a better connection between the food I eat and my health, I started to realize that getting on this vegan path was an option. And as I spent more and more time with the vegan community, I started to understand not only the animal rights perspective of it, but understanding how I needed to bring more compassion to what I do. I became much more of a vegan that understood that yes, health might’ve brought me into it, but the reason I stay is for the animals and for the environment.

What advice would you give for making a transition easier?

When you first transition, you should find things that you like. I know a lot of times when people are thinking about going vegan, often they’re trying to be the healthiest, they’re trying to sometimes get the award for putting in all the goodness, you know, chia seeds, flax seeds, all these things that you hear about superfoods and all of that.

But if you haven’t been eating those things, it can be hard to transition to them because your palate hasn’t developed. You haven’t developed a relationship with those foods. What I often tell people is to take the foods that you already have an existing relationship, often a positive relationship with, and transition those and make them and veganize them.

So if you have a favourite cake that you make normally for people for their birthday, or someone made it for you for your birthday, veganize that. If you have a favourite dish from your childhood, veganize that, especially if it brings about a happy memory.

What happens is, you’re not only going vegan, but you’re connecting a positive experience with those dishes and those items, and therefore you start to build those memories that really many of us unconsciously do through our lives as kids and so forth. And I think by creating that new pattern, it will not only help you bring some enjoyment to the transition, because it can be hard, any type of change can be a little bit hard, but it can also build an experience around it that can be highly positive.

What does ‘veganizing’ something mean?

 Veganizing, at least for me, is often about substitutions.

It’s not necessarily what was in that original recipe is the only way to make it. When I was trying to veganize things, I would pick up a recipe that I knew and loved and looked for a substitute. So if it was calling for milk, I would look for a plant-based milk to substitute it with.

This day and age, there’s a lot of one-to-one substitutes for you to take something that was maybe an animal derivative or item and substitute it for plant-based items.

What is Vegan Mainstream?

A coaching and one-on-one business support tool and system for anyone who has or is planning to start a vegan business.

What we do is we help either teach you the marketing through like courses, or through group coaching. Or what we can do is we can work with you one-on-one to help you set up a strategy to help you understand all the marketing tools out there that are available to you at your fingertips and how to ultimately build, grow or scale a successful vegan business.

What changes have you seen in the marketplace?

 I started my business back in 2009. Not only has the world changed, the vegan world has changed. I think the natural evolution of what many of us hoped for, where veganism is a topic of conversation in mainstream media and mainstream discussions.

Even as we’re going through grocery stores, even as you’re going to restaurants, you’re starting to see options on the menu. It’s so exciting to see the increase in demand for vegan products and services out there, not just from the vegan community, but from a larger group of people; maybe people who aren’t ready to buy a vegan t-shirt, but those individuals are showing up consistently and buying and purchasing these products and getting a benefit from it. So it’s been kind of amazing to see the expansion of the market.

However, there’s still so much work to be done. I think we would all hope there was a larger portion of the population that identified as vegan, but I do feel like the world has really shifted and the discussion is less of a “them versus us”. I really feel like more and more people feel like they can step their toes into veganism.

I believe opening up to discussions about things being plant-based has allowed even more people to join in on that discussion, participate, and individuals almost feel like they could be at home in the vegan community now, where maybe five and ten years ago, that wasn’t the case.

Why are vegan businesses so important?

I think vegan businesses are so important and ultimately can change the world is because of the ethics that we bring often to these businesses. And when I say ethics, I don’t want to make it sound like it’s a moral superiority or anything like that. What I mean is often when vegans are in business, they’re looking at a larger picture. They’re sometimes rewriting the way that we see success in a business where traditionally many businesses were just looking at their bottom line.

You’ll see for many vegan businesses, they’re concerned about their footprint. So therefore they’re trying to make sure that every product or service or anyone that they engage in in the entire. You know, supply chain that they can reduce their footprint, ensure that their products and services are more sustainable.

We want to be more compassionate. We want to be individuals that are aware of the impact that we make. Now, we can’t be all perfect. We can’t all do everything without making some mistakes. So I don’t want people to feel like they have to live up to this perfect picture. But what I feel that vegan businesses often do, and this is not just on the product side, but this is on the service side as well, is that we will often bring a different perspective to the party on how we do discussions, how we negotiate, you know, how we are looking to build solutions that benefit all as opposed to winner takes all.

What was your favourite food when you first transitioned?

When I first transitioned, I was much more of a comfort food person. I was always looking for like vegan pizza, that kind of thing. Also, when I first transitioned, I spent a good amount of time eating a lot more ethnic dishes.

Over time, what I’ve done is mash those two ideas together. While I still eat a little bit of vegan junk food, a lot of what I do is I like building bowls. I think the reason I like comfort foods is because they have high taste and comfort. And then, I’d like a lot of ethnic foods because of the flavor that I really love to, like, build a rice bowl and be able to say, okay, I have a rice bowl here with some pickled onions.

I have some seasoned up tofu, maybe it’s Thai seasoned tofu, you know, I may have some cut up cucumbers in there. I might throw some sprouts on top. I may sauté some mushrooms and onions. And then that way I’m able to kind of get multiple layers of flavor and crunch.

And that’s kind of my way of taking a lot of the different elements and styles and flavours that I ate when I first went vegan.

What vegan business are you loving right now?

As far as the landscape of products and services, there’s much more variety out there. When I first went vegan, it was kind of like you had a vegan burger, you had a vegan makeup or a vegan deodorant and everyone was mostly using the same one. It didn’t really cater to the variety of individuals who are in the vegan movement. And what’s so exciting to me today is how much more diversity is in products and services, how there’s more and more products that are available.

So someone like myself, you know, when I’m looking for makeup, it’s hard to have one-size-fits-all makeup. I love that you have brands like The Lip Bar out there that is offering makeup. And then for someone like myself with African American skin, it’s like, all right, I got some foundation that matches my skin like that really makes you feel represented in the movement.

This concept of inclusivity in products is really key, but some people say it, but they don’t necessarily do it.

It inspires me to be more comfortable of being me, of showing up as me in the world and feeling comfortable more and more in my own skin as I see more and more people being comfortable in their skin and more and more brands celebrating it.

This interview from PlantUniversity’s “Chat with a Vegan” series was hosted by Emma Levez Larocque of Plant-based RHN and featured Stephanie Redcross West.

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Festive favourites: Holiday recipes from the staff of the Vancouver Humane Society

Festive favourites: Holiday recipes from the staff of the Vancouver Humane Society

Want to add more plant-based foods into your holidays but not sure where to start? Or maybe you want some new recipes to add to your yearly traditions? The staff of the Vancouver Humane Society share our favourite plant-based winter and holiday recipes for those chilly days and festive feasts. We hope you enjoy, and from our team to yours, we hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

Classic tomato soup:

Chantelle: After scouring the internet for the best tomato soup recipes, I finally made my own version that is bursting with flavour and totally vegan-friendly! I love putting this recipe together on a weeknight and then using the leftovers to have with plant-based grilled cheeses for a couple days. For the grilled cheese, I prefer either Daiya cheddar flavour slices or Chao tomato cayenne. It’s the perfect recipe to warm me up on those cold winter nights.

Get the recipe

Sugar cookies:

Emily: Sugar cookies are a staple of the holiday season for me. This sweet little treat is a real crowd pleaser!

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Anamalai hot chocolate:

Ishtmeet: The holidays look different for my family every year, with us sometimes being on opposite sides of the world. One thing that has remained constant throughout the years is our Home Alone movie marathon (only the first two because we all know those are the best ones) accompanied by hot chocolate. What began as a simple premade mix when I was younger has evolved into a pursuit for making the most delicious, leveled up version of a childhood classic. Good quality cacao powder makes all the difference in this hot chocolate recipe, with some spices for added warmth and a flavour boost. We love to use oat milk and top it off with coco whip (from the can, of course) or vegan mini marshmallows.

Pro-tip: to keep the coco whip from melting right away, add a layer of vegan mini marshmallows first! 

Get the recipe

Trifle:

Katrina: Growing up my mom would make a trifle on Christmas Eve that we would eat for breakfast on Christmas morning to kick off a sugar-fueled day of fun! This vegan version from School Night Vegan is a very similar to what my mom would make – festive and delicious!

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Tourtière with Mushroom Gravy:

Brooklyn: I’ve made this tourtière for the past several years on Réveillon (December 24th) and serve with a generous portion of my spouse’s gravy recipe. The gravy works beautifully and tastes incredible.

Gravy recipe
Tourtière recipe

Homemade vegan Baileys:

Sareeta: One of my favourite recipes is this homemade vegan Baileys, made with Jameson Irish whiskey. It’s delicious in coffee and hot chocolate. I drank it a lot during the height of the pandemic!

Get the recipe

Chocolate peanut butter balls:

Amy: These chocolate peanut butter are a good replacement for peanut butter cups. They’re yummy and easy to make!

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Finnish Pulla:

Heather: I love this vegan Pulla recipe from Philosophy and Cake. My background is partly Finnish so it was a tradition in my family to eat Pulla, which is a Finnish cardamom braided bread, around the holiday season each year. It was something I greatly missed after I went vegan, so I was extremely excited to find a recipe to make it myself. This recipe doesn’t disappoint and tastes just like the non-plant-based version. It uses mashed banana to bind and I loved trying to braid bread since I’d never done that before.  I’ve only made it once since it does take some time to make, but if you want a fun baking challenge (or maybe you’re already a baking pro and this is a walk in a park for you!) and want to try a traditional bread that’s soft and sweet, try it out.

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Looking for more delicious plant-based recipes?

Go to our recipe library!

Check out PlantUniversity’s original recipe library for more delicious plant-based meal and snack ideas.

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Plant-based food: Is it healthy for us and the planet?

Plant-based food: Is it healthy for us and the planet?

The Vancouver Humane Society’s Chantelle Archambault recently appeared as a speaker at UBC Robson Square Theatre for an exciting discussion about plant-based food, “Can healthier diets help our planet?”

The event was moderated by Professor Charlyn Black of the UBC School of Population & Public Health, and also featured speakers Michael Klaper of Moving Medicine Forward, Navin Ramankutty of the UBC Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, and Jade Dittaro of the UBC Family Practice Training Sites.

Presentations mention the following resources:

Introduction by Charlyn Black

Plant-based foods & health with Michael Klaper

Plant-based foods & the environment with Navin Ramankutty

Impacts of shifting to plant-based foods in the Lower Mainland with Chantelle Archambault

Intersections of planetary health and human health in education with Jade Dittaro

Panel discussion

21 day challenges:

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Beginner’s Guide to Plant-Based Eating

Beginner’s guide to plant-based eating

Featured Author: Emma Levez Larocque, Plant-Based R.H.N

Have you been hearing about plant-based diets and wondering what all the fuss is about?  

In this video we’re going to explore the topic of plant-based eating—what does the term actually mean? Is this way of eating truly healthy and sustainable? And why are some people shifting their diets to eat more plant-based foods?  

If you decide a plant-based shift is something you’d like to try out as you watch this video, the second half of this video shares some great tips on easy ways to get started! You can also download the beginner’s guide to plant-based eating:

Download the plant-based beginner’s guide

What is plant-based?

Before we dive in, let’s define our terms. It may seem obvious, but “plant-based” refers to foods that come from plants—like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds and legumes, and does not include animal-based foods like meat, dairy, and eggs. 

Popularity of plant-based

Have you noticed that there are more plant-based products at your local grocery store than there used to be? According to a 2021 report by Bloomberg Intelligence the interest in plant-based foods is increasing. Their research projects that plant-based products will make up to 7.7% of the global protein market—a value of over $162 billion—by 2030! 

Why plant-based?

What’s causing this shift? Why are plant-based foods becoming so popular? 

For the planet

Many people have started changing what they eat because they’re concerned about the environment, but does a dietary shift really make a difference? Let’s take a look at what the data says.  

Our World in Data published research about the Environmental Impacts of Food Production. They showed that one quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions result from food and agriculture, and the main contributors to food’s emissions are livestock and fisheries, crop production, land use and supply chains, in that order. 

When comparing the carbon footprint of protein-rich foods, which account for the bulk of our dietary emissions, they found that the impact of plant-based foods is significantly lower than meat and dairy, across the board. Beef, lamb, farmed shrimp and cheese were the worst offenders, while plant-based protein sources, like tofu, beans, peas and nuts, had the lowest carbon footprint. 

The researchers on this project concluded that:

“Tackling what we eat, and how we produce our food, plays a key role in tackling climate change, reducing water stress and pollution, restoring lands back to forests or grasslands, and protecting the world’s wildlife.”
Our World in Data

What do you think? Would you be willing to shift your diet if it helps keep the planet healthier? 

For our health

But there are some other things to consider. Even if it’s good for the planet, is this a healthy way for humans to eat? Sometimes it can be mind-bending trying to make sense of all the information about constantly changing food trends! 

So let’s take it back to the basics. One thing a majority of doctors and scientists agree on is that eating more veggies is a good idea. But is it safe to focus your diet around plant-based foods, or eat plant-based foods exclusively?  

A growing number of studies are showing that a well-balanced plant-based diet is not just safe but can have significant health benefits.  

According to the Physician’s Guide on Plant-Based Diets, a peer-reviewed article by Registered Dietitian Julieanna Hever, plant-based diets have been associated with lowering deaths from heart disease, supporting healthy weight management, reducing medication needs, lowering the risk for most chronic diseases and more.  

And one thing we think is interesting is that this isn’t anything new! In five areas of the world now famously known as the Blue Zones you can find the longest-lived, healthiest people in the world. National Geographic and a team of researchers studying these areas found that one of the common behaviours of people living in the Blue Zones was a focus on unprocessed plant-based foods.  

As plant-based diets become more popular and are being linked with health benefits, more research is being conducted. As a result, a growing body of evidence is connecting meat consumption with a higher risk of common chronic health conditions like Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and even some types of cancer.  

And Health Canada has assessed this information. The new Canada Food Guide, revised in 2019, recommends that Canadians shift to eating plant foods – including plant proteins – more often. 

For the animals

Another consideration as you are thinking about the pros and cons of a plant-based diet is the animals. 

According to government-recorded statistics more than 825 million animals were raised and killed for food in Canada in 2021. We know that farmed animals like pigs, cows and chickens are as intelligent and sentient as the cats and dogs we share our homes with, but our society treats them very differently. Most farmed animals are raised in factory farms in cramped, poor conditions none of us would wish on our pets – so why do we look the other way when it comes to farmed animals? 

We’d love to hear what you think about all of this. If you’re considering shifting to a plant-based diet, what is your main motivation? Or maybe you have more questions? Tell us in the comments below. 

Learn more:

For the animals

For the planet

For our health

Tips for getting started

If you’re ready to start making a plant-based shift, you might be surprised at how easy it can be to get started. 

1. Start small and stack up successes

First up, we recommend starting small and stacking up successes. 

Moving toward a plant-based diet can be easier if it’s a gradual process. For example, you could start with one plant-based meal a day – like oatmeal loaded with berries, a veggie scramble, or avocado toast for breakfast. When you have that down, add in a second meal – like a bean burrito, a veggie soup or a great big meal salad for lunch. Then go on to dinner. This approach gives you time to try out some new foods and recipes and build the habits that lead to lasting change. 

Explore plant-based recipes
meal salad
veggie scramble
avocado toast
oatmeal with berries
veggie soup
bean burrito

2. Take a look at what you’re eating now

Another tip as you’re getting started is to take a look at what you’re eating now. You might find that there are already plant-based foods you are enjoying. Do you like falafel and hummus? Plant-based! Chana masala? Pasta with marinara sauce? Lentil stew? All plant-based! It’s easy to find recipes and products that can help you make plant-based versions of your favourite dishes. If you sign up for Plant University’s newsletter you’ll get weekly recipe ideas automatically delivered to your inbox.  

lentil stew
pasta with marinara sauce
chana masala
falafel and hummus

3. Take a cooking class or program

If eating more plant-based foods is a big switch for you and your family, you might consider taking a local cooking class or an online cooking program like Rouxbe. This is a good way to sample new foods and get inspired to start making beautiful and delicious plant-based dishes. Many people are surprised to find that it’s easy to get inspired by the colours and vibrancy of fresh plant foods!   

4. Arm yourself with knowledge

Our final tip is about arming yourself with knowledge.  

As you’re transitioning, take some time to do your research and make sure you’re providing your body with the fuel it needs to take full advantage of all the benefits of a plant-based way of eating. This will ensure that you can thrive on your plant-based journey. PlantUniversity.ca is a great place to get started. The site has a great selection of resources, including recipes, videos, blog posts, a shopping and eating guide, and a 21-day challenge to help you get started in creating healthy plant-based habits.  

Are you in the process of transitioning to a plant-based diet? We’d love to hear what’s working for you! 

Subscribe to stay updated
Download the plant-based beginner’s guide

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Farmed animal welfare issues in Canada part 3 – actions to protect farmed animals

Farmed animal welfare issues in Canada part 3 – actions to protect farmed animals

Today, for the Vancouver Humane Society’s PlantUniversity platform, we’re going to explore the issue of farmed animal welfare in Canada. Animal welfare refers to an animal’s well-being, both physically and mentally.

In Part 3 of this series, we’ll look at actions we can take to help protect farmed animals and create change.

As individuals, every time we sit down to eat, we have an opportunity to stand up for a kinder world for animals.

If we have the access and ability, removing animal products from our lives and opting for a plant-based lifestyle is one of the most powerful actions we can take at the individual level. When we eat, every meal makes a difference. As we lead by example, we can inspire others to do the same, which amplifies our impact for animals!

But let’s not stop there, it’s incredibly important that we also advocate for system-wide changes to help animals.

We can do this by supporting changes to laws and policies that impact animals. These changes can make a difference for those animals who are stuck in our current animal agriculture system right now. We can also advocate for food system change that’s focused on moving away from our broken food system and toward one that is kinder, healthier and more sustainable.

One of the ways we can do this is to speak up against ag-gag legislation, which aims to make it an offence to document conditions in the animal agriculture industry.Instead of passing ag-gag laws, our government could be working to address the troubling conditions on farms, during transport and at slaughterhouses.

We can also advocate for stronger laws and enforcement to better protect animals and to close existing loopholes that make it difficult to prosecute animal cruelty.

How do we get started? We can call for our government at all levels to take responsibility for protecting animal welfare. We can’t leave it up to industry and the private sector to make the rules. Polling in recent years has reflected widespread public support for stronger government legislation to protect animals. We need dedicated government departments focused solely on animal welfare and, at the federal level, national animal welfare legislation. Science shows that animals are suffering in situations that are currently legal and governments should take an evidence-based approach to policy that aligns with this science. 

Finally, we can advocate for shifting government subsidies and incentives to support overall food system change. Current government subsidies, believed to be in the billions of dollars, enable the industrial animal agriculture system in Canada to continue, business as usual, despite the industry’s contributions to animal suffering and climate and health issues.

For example, animal agriculture businesses in Canada received more than $1.9 billion in subsidies in 2019.

But it doesn’t have to be this way and governments can shift these subsidies and incentives to support a move away from animal-based agriculture towards plant-based food systems. They can encourage innovation in plant-based agriculture and incentivize farmers to transition to plant-based farming.

These are a few examples of how we can take action individually to help animals and to support system-wide change. If this is the first video that you watched, you can check out Part 1 and 2 in the links below.

Check out the resources on the Vancouver Humane Society’s PlantUniversity platform, including a plant-based recipe library; a video series featuring experts in making the world better for farmed animals through diet, advocacy, and more; and a 21-day plant-based challenge to help you along in your journey. Even shifting just one meal a day or week to plant-based can help make a difference.

At PlantUniversity, you will also find more advocacy tips and tools, including ideas for supporting improved public access to plant-based meals in schools, hospitals and other public institutions; to tips for writing opinion pieces and letters to the editor; or strategies for engaging with your elected representatives and decision-makers.

If you found this video helpful, please consider sharing it.

And don’t forget to subscribe to the Vancouver Humane Society’s PlantUniversity platform and email list to stay up to date on new content and to help animals!

Learn more:

Learn ABOUT ANIMAL SENTIENCE AND INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE

Farmed Animal Welfare Issues in Canada – Part 1

Learn more about who farmed animals are and how they are treated in the animal agriculture system.

Read more

LEARN HOW TO TAKE ACTION FOR FARMED ANIMALS

Farmed Animal Welfare Issues in Canada – Part 2

Learn about the laws in Canada and how they fall short, as well as how they can be improved.

Read more