Monday Musings (7/2/12): Vida Vegan Con, green smoothies, and bovine bone use in oral surgery

This summer I thought it might be fun to try out some Monday musings – where I post about nothing in particular but perhaps of interest.

  • I’m registered for Vida Vegan Con 2013!  Registration opened yesterday – I had pop-up and email reminders working overtime at 2:45 so that I wouldn’t miss the 3:00 pm EST early bird registration frenzy.  Why all the excitement? The first 100 tickets were available for $200 (regular price is $280).  So, how did it work out for me? Turns out I refreshed the webpage just enough to buy the very first ticket!  You may be thinking, “what exactly is Vida Vegan Con?”  It’s the best conference I have ever attended! To be more specific, it’s a conference for vegan lifestyle bloggers.  I learned so much about veganism, vegan activism, and blogging last year. The 2013 conference, back in vegan food truck heaven Portland, OR, will be held in May. Will I see you there? Register today!
  • My husband has decided to eat vegan on Mondays and vegetarian two other days each week. What’s the big deal? He’s an omnivore! He plans to keep track of what he’s eating to see how it impacts his triathlon training, which should be interesting.  To celebrate, I made us an awesome vegan, green smoothie to share this morning (he loved it).

Almond milk, romaine lettuce, dark chocolate peanut butter with dried cherries, frozen fruit (banana, mango and raspberries)

  • Last week I shared a dental story on Facebook. The comments were so, so fascinating. Here’s what I shared.There were over 30 comments on this post. If you’re so inclined, go to my Facebook page and scroll down to read them all. I did want to share one from my good friend Ethan, who always gives me much to consider.What would you do if offered bovine bone for a grafting procedure?

Those are my Monday musings!  Have a great day!

14 thoughts on “Monday Musings (7/2/12): Vida Vegan Con, green smoothies, and bovine bone use in oral surgery”

  1. My sister-in-law is a dental hygenist, and my wife told her about this yesterday. Apparently bovine is the most common, at lesat in her experience. Makes em wonder why this is. is it just because of the volume of cow-bone from meat products? Ew.

  2. My former fiance owed the last seven years of his too short life to a porcine valve in his heart. I don’t know what the other options were, just that he picked the one that would add the most years to his life. It didn’t add enough years, sadly, but it was during that seven years that I met him and fell in love with him and lived the very best years of my life.

    Interestingly, while he remained an omnivore, he did stop eating pork after his valve surgery. He had a kind of reverence for the animal that saved his life, even if he had no qualms about taking the animal life to save his own.
    These are truly complex ethical questions that you’re raising, JL, and I commend you for it, even if I don’t (always) agree with you that vegan choices are et ipso ethical ones. xo

    1. First, I’m terribly sorry about your fiance. And I truly appreciate your thoughts on the matter. Most times when I pose questions here it’s not because I believe I have the answer – rather I’m genuinely interested in the opinions of others as I formulate my own.

      As in this case. Knowing I can choose between human and animal bone, I choose human. I don’t know what I would do if I faced a life threatening situation and my only option was to use an animal. I just don’t know. That’s why I love the community that has grown here. The varied opinions move me along on my journey and I learn something every single day.

  3. I read through most of the thread on FB about your dental options and it was very interesting! Like you said, even if we don’t have all the answers it’s great to see all of the varying opinions and the additional ethical questions that get raised!

    On a lighter note, I’m super excited to be going to VVC next year and can’t wait to finally meet all of you amazing bloggers in person!

  4. i seriously love reading your posts JL…they always make me think and i love it. just wanted to pop in and say hi and thanks for this particular monday musing moment 🙂

  5. Fascinating! I am grateful for Ethan’s perspective on this (and on being a health practitioner who is also an ethical vegan in general). I’d request the human one in this case, though I’d also be sobered by the fact that the bone graft may not have been given consensually. Glad you asked about this.

  6. I had a similar situation at the dentist a while back. I needed a tooth transplant due to a jaw tumor, and with the surgery there was the possibility that I’d need a bone graft. I asked my dentist where the bone came from and he said human cadavers. I guess he only used human and not cow. Turns out I didn’t need a graft anyway, but I was glad I asked.

    Cool that your hubs is trying out veganism for one day a week plus a few vegetarian days. That’s exactly how I started out. Seemed less overwhelming at the time. Has he read Jurek’s new book on ultramarathons? Or Rich Roll’s new book on ultra triathalons? Super inspiring stuff for the vegan athlete!

    P.S. See you at Vida Vegan next year- I got early bird too 🙂

    1. So excited about VVC! Woo Hoo! And I’m REALLY glad that you did not need the bone graft!

  7. I just love reading your posts, JL. I am always inspired, uplifted and grateful to be vegan! Thanks for being a leader!! 🙂

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