Main Street Vegan Academy begins!

Wow. Your comments on yesterday’s post – How vegan are you? – are phenomenal! I really appreciate the diversity of opinions and the respectful dialogue. For many of us, we are on a journey and we are finding our way when it comes to the intersection of our vegan diet and the ethics behind it. If you haven’t had chance to share you opinion, please do! Also yesterday, my write-up on The Seed event was published on BlogHer.com: The Seed: Truly a Vegan Experience For Everyone! (A very special thank you to my intern Megan for attending the event so that we could bring you as much of The See as possible!)

Today I am on my way to Manhattan for the first full day of Victoria Moran’s Main Street Vegan Academy – a 40-hour vegan lifestyle coaching certification program. But things actually got started last night, with a welcome dinner

of brown rice and stewed veggies, carrot and coconut salad, and raw greens. There was also a raw, flourless chocolate cake offered for dessert but – don’t be shocked! – I passed.

Dinner was followed by a fantastic presentation by Joshua Katcher, The Discerning Brute,

on Fashion & Animals.

As I mentioned Monday, I won’t have a lot of time to post this week so instead I will share one interesting thing I learn each day. Joshua’s presentation was comprehensive, engaging and incredibly thought-provoking. Honestly, I can’t see how anyone could sit through it and continue to purchase and wear wool, leather or any other animal product. I’ll write more about this, post-academy.

For now, here’s something I learned from Joshua’s presentation that I wanted to pass along: The hunting of wild birds for feathers – plume hunting – decimated several species of birds, namely the egret and the Carolina parakeet, in the early 1900′s. Why were they hunted? For the millinery trade – so women could wear beautiful feathers in their hats. Outrage launched the modern animal right’s movement and brought attention to child labor and sweatshops. The plume trade ended when laws were enacted.

It’s 2012. What can we do, today, to end violence against animals in the name of fashion? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Tagged as: blogher, blogher.com, joshua katcher, Main Street Vegan Academy, the discerning brute, the seed, the seed: a vegan experience, vegan lifestyle coach, victoria moran

Bringjoyj

I’d love to know more about the why behind no wool. I don’t think I own any wool anymore, but this was one aspect of veganism that I don’t feel like I have a very good handle behind why I do it. Love to hear any insights you may be gleaning about the subject.

Sounds like you’re having some exciting times. Soak it all up!
- Megan (sweeton)
  
  PETA has some great info on the wool industry here: http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-clothing/inside-the-wool-industry.aspx
  
  I always try to remember, too, that sheep grow wool for themselves as a protective coat, just like fur on a companion animal. It’s for them, not me
  - http://jlgoesvegan.com JL
    
    Thanks, Megan!
http://www.facebook.com/wendy.polisi Wendy Black Polisi

JL – I am probably more like you right now…on a journey. The truth is that I don’t buy that much for myself and when I do price is always a concern. I use vegan shampoo & conditioner but when I stop to buy a t-shirt at target I never really think about the company philosophy on animal testing. I did make sure that the 5-Finger’s I bought the boys were vegan though. And, I’m trying to figure out my next shoe purchase now. We’ve all been 100% vegan with our food for 8 months now, and honestly I feel like we are doing good. I’m sure in another 8 months I’ll feel like I have a much better handle on products. My biggest challenge is going to be my home. We’ve been “location independent” for several years – traveling and staying in vacation rentals for a month at a time. The plan is to settle down this fall and because my parents who were supposed to be storing our furniture decided to move it all into their home, I’m going to have to start over with furniture. (Unless I want to empty out my almost 70 year old parents home…) And of course, my ethics are going to have to play a role in that. I look forward to the journey…
- http://jlgoesvegan.com JL
  
  These are such good points, Wendy! Thank you for sharing this. So much to consider!
http://twitter.com/TieDyeFiles Kaitlyn

It’s funny how ubiquitous animal products are in clothing, especially because I feel like it’s a cause even non-vegans believe in. It seems that most people don’t think about it when it comes to leather and wool, but fur is a different story. The encouraging thing is that it’s also nice to see so many vegan alternatives, even in stores like Target!
- http://jlgoesvegan.com JL
  
  I love seeing vegan alternatives in stores like Target, too!
Pingback: JL Fields, VLC (or, Main Street Vegan Academy conclusion)
Pingback: Chicago VeganMania 2012 (part 2) | Veggie Next Door