During Vegan MoFo 2012 I have been offering tips and tricks to help you on your vegan journey – specifically in the kitchen.
Today I have something for you that goes way beyond offering a tip – I am able to offer you a very special giveaway that will provide you 30 days of support on your vegan journey, from none other than Colleen Patrick-Goudreau!
I met Colleen at Vida Vegan Con in 2011 and wrote about that experience here: We are ambassadors of compassion. AT VVC she spoke on planting seeds of veganism and communication as activism. Here are a few of my rough notes from her session:
- Anger and peace are not contradictory.
- Use words that say what you mean and reflect the truth.
- I don’t eat fake or faux food; I eat real food.
- If you are the vegan someone comes to, you represent all vegans.
- We are ambassadors of compassion.
- You have to be more willing to solve the problem than to win the argument.
- Imagine if we woke up every morning thinking about how much compassion we could spread in the world.
- May we learn from the animals.
- To the anti-vegan argument “I can’t give up cheese”: It’s the fat and salt. You can get that from plants.
- Veganism is a belief system; it’s about a lot more than food.
- When asked “why are you vegan?” CPG says: Because I do not want to contribute to violence against animals as it goes against my personal ethics.
- The best we can do is to make choices that reflect compassion.
- There is no nutrient we need that is animal-based. B12 is bacteria-based.
- As an advocate, you do not need to know all of the answers. Listen. Ask questions.
- If you make someone upset because you’re vegan, it has nothing to do with you.
- If someone says they are vegetarian…but they eat fish and chicken. Keep a sense of humor. They want to be vegetarian. Probe. Offer your experience.
- I’m not going to convince you of anything. But I can give you facts.
As you can imagine, my admiration for Colleen morphed into worship after her talk.
Last month I was on the West Coast for work. My travels took me from L.A. to the Bay Area and once I realized this I emailed Colleen and invited her to lunch. We packed in a lot into a couple of hours: lunch, a walk along a lake, and a visit to her new home where I met her two beautiful cats.
It was the 2-hour shot of vegan goodness in the arm that I needed. We talked about the vegan lifestyle coaching I am doing – Colleen was so incredibly encouraging – and I shared with her the profound impact she has had on me and my vegan journey. Specifically I told her about her “calcium” podcast episode when I just got it. Cows eat grass and when people eat cows or their secretions they get calcium. I can go right to the source – the green stuff. Simple? Maybe but it was an “aha moment” for me and to me that is exactly what is special about Colleen. Every time she writes a book, records a podcast or makes a public speech, she shares “aha moment” zingers that move me along as a vegan and bring others over to the plant-based side.
At the end of our two hours together Colleen asked if she could gift me a subscription to her new project, The 30-Day Vegan Challenge. She wanted me to see what she’s putting out into the world. I was delighted and have been enjoying every single day of the challenge.
Today, I get to offer THREE subscriptions to you, my readers, thanks to Colleen’s generosity! Read on to learn how to enter the giveaway.
COLLEEN PATRICK-GOUDREAU, known as THE COMPASSIONATE COOK, has guided thousands of people to becoming vegan through her cooking classes, award-winning cookbooks, and popular podcasts. She is a regular contributor to National Public Radio’s “Perspectives” series as well as to The Christian Science Monitor, and she has appeared on The Food Network and PBS. She is the author of The Joy of Vegan Baking, The Vegan Table, Color Me Vegan, and Vegan’s Daily Companion.
The 30-Day Challenge places you, on a daily basis, in the middle of a Colleen Patrick-Goudreau library.
You have access to her podcasts, her recipes, books, and articles. She guides her members through 30 days of living more compassionately providing solid nutritional informational, support, wisdom, recipes, and inspiration.
This is the program that everyone can give to anyone who’s ever said, “I’d like to try being vegan, BUT” – following that “BUT” with questions about nutrition, food, cooking, holidays, traveling, social occasions, children, etc. This program covers it all.
Each day you will receive a topical post. For instance, Day 5 focuses on Eating Healthfully Affordably. Colleen shares an article on the topic, making the distinction between affordable eating and eating cheap. She offers two videos (choosing the proper knife and using the proper cutting board) and then you can listen to her podcast on the topic of healthy, affordable eating. After you have read, watched and listened to the content for the day you can join a discussion on the community boards filled with other members of The 30-Day Challenge.
I love everything about how this program is set up. About a year ago I wrote about how I learned to go vegan. As an adult learner I need information, I need to place it within the context of what I already know, and I need to talk to my peers about it. That’s exactly what happens on The 30-Day Challenge. Colleen equips members by educating us on the basics; she supports us, encourages us, inspires us, and links us to a broader community. She is generating Ambassadors of Compassion through her program!
Thank you, Colleen, for everything you do to make this world a kinder, gentler place for all beings.
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You can benefit from this terrific program, too. Colleen is offering free The 30-Day Vegan Challenge subscriptions to THREE (3) of my lucky readers!
Entering this giveaway is easy. Simply leave one comment below answering this question:
What is one thing you can do TODAY to be an ambassador of compassion?
I will randomly select three winners. To enter, leave your comment by Friday, October 19, 5 a.m. EST.
38 thoughts on “GIVEAWAY! The 30-Day Vegan Challenge with Colleen Patrick-Goudreau {Vegan MoFo #9}”
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Follow God’s word with every ounce of breath in my body 🙂
I can set a good example by living my truth.
Maintain kindness in my heart and share my happiness with others
Live by example. Compassion is catching!
To be kind, listen to others and empower others to be the best they can be.
Be an example for others and listen.
Living by example! I’ve been so much happier and healthier since going vegan, and people have already been curious and caught on. It allows for further conversation on veganism, too.
Pluck up the courage and ask your kids school or community center if you could give a speech about veganism!
Be the change I want to see. With every food I eat, blog I read, item I buy I make sure it is benefiting the animals and the earth.
Work on my reply
– when some asks; “Why are you a vegetarian?” I always pause – not because I’m
unsure of my conviction, but because I don’t know where to begin… I need to stop
pausing and start talking.
Thanks JL
for this post. I’ve been listening to Colleen’s podcast for years. She rocks!
‘Tend my own garden’ to the best of my ability with awareness, effort, and loving kindness.
Share the knowledge of a cruelty-free lifestyle with others in a peaceful, nonobtrusive way.
Share the love in my heart 🙂 Be kind and be true to my convictions in the face of opposition. Answer questions about veganism calmly and gently.
To respond with kindness and compassion to people who may react with hostility toward veganism, knowing they either don’t have the facts or they aren’t ready to look at the facts; perhaps one day they will be open to them.
To me, when I picture an “ambassador”, I think of somebody who is acting as a bridge between two points. So, one thing I can do today (and everyday!) to be an ambassador of compassion is to always try and keep it in the back of my mind that I’m that bridge. I try and stay aware of this, then act and speak and behave in ways that help people to be interested & curious as to what’s on the other side of that bridge. Maybe they’ll take a peek and actually decide to cross on over! 🙂
Respond gently and with a little humor to those interested enough to ask about vegetarianism, even if the question is slightly hostile or aggressive, and responding with discussion rather than lecture.
Lead by example and show my kids that mindfulness and compassion must be abundant in their actions.
I am a vegan in a meat eating family but today I am going to go to the store and purchase a plant based milk for my children. It’s the first small step toward a healthier and more compassionate lifestyle for them. I love them enough to stop turning a blind eye to the eating habits I taught them. I can do better by them so that they can do better by themselves.
I can continue my journey as a vegan, share my love of animals with my son and teach him compassion for other beings.
I am not vegan or even vegetarian, but I dabble in making meatless meals and such. I will admit, I have meat guilt every time I consume an animal product, but it seems easier than fighting with someone about not eating meat. I think I would be a better ambassador of compassion if I would man up on my beliefs and cut out the animal products for myself. Maybe I will be lucky and the rest of my carnivore family would follow.
Since I just started practicing a compassionate diet (starting as a vegetarian last week and working my way towards veganism) – I quickly realized that compassionate acts can be small, daily acts as well – letting a harried person go first in line at the store, saving day old bread to feed to the birds outside, releasing a trapped bug outside instead of killing it, and being particularly nice to anyone who seems to be having a bad day.
I’ll be volunteering at New Moon Farm Goat Rescue in Arlington, WA…my weekly friday “compassion fuel up” time..when i am privileged to love on the goat, sheep, horse, donkey, dog, cat, and human critters there. Then, I go support a local veg restaurant..The Shire Cafe..by eating! 🙂
Be kind to others!
One thing that I can do today is try a new recipe. It seems simple, but it helps me quit trying to rework what I use to eat and go forward into areas that are different and use foods and processes that are different. Reinvent my cooking mind-set. I’ve just started my journey and am excited and encouraged by so many good blogs, too.
I can introduce the vegan lifestyle to someone else.
I have found that leading by example and responding without judgment to others’ food choices works best. People are curious and ask questions. People (like my husband) may not embrace the issues immediately, but they know they have a supportive source for information and support for any small changes they may make.
I’m an ambassador by living gently, educating and encouraging a vegan life without judgement, by being kind to all beings, and by being a joyful vegan. This answer encompasses more than one thing I try to do to encourage compassion, but I just can’t settle on one thing.
I will share my choice to live a vegan lifestyle in a proud, approachable manner. No longer will I feel unsure of my decision, for it has taken some time for me to fully take the step into veganism, and declare without doubt that this is the right choice for me. I will continue to cook delicious vegan fare for friends and family, proving that this dietary choice is fantastic. I will continue to purchase items that are free of any harm to animals and spread the word about this fabulous lifestyle. I have never felt better and more in tune with the universe in my life, and I want to share this feeling with others. With Colleen’s book, I will be aided through all sorts of facets by one of the vegan mothers herself!
I try to show my compassion with kindness to everyone I meet. I am hoping that my family will eventually adopt my diet.
encourage my children by not providing them with a non vegan choice at every meal
While working on a voter initiative in 2011 pushing for cage-free conditions for egg-laying hens in our state, I became much more aware of the horrors of the animal-food-production industry. I’ve always had compassion for animals and thought by choosing to eat “humanely raised meats” that I was doing my part. I have since learned there is no such thing and why would I want to eat a beautiful animal, anyway? Through my involvement with the initiative I also met many vegans who inspired me and let me know how easy it was to become a “cruelty-free” person… so I did! I became vegetarian and am now “vegan-ish” (working on getting it all down on being completely vegan). My husband and adult daughters have now become vegetarian, as well. It is a GREAT way to live life! So what can I do today? Not cause pain to even one animal and to post a vegan recipe on my facebook page today (and every day!). I have found this has inspired a good handful of my meat-eating facebook friends! Oh! And I’l going to post your 30 Day Vegan Challenge on my fb page RIGHT NOW!
I would love to win this for my dad who has been trying to go vegan for over a year but is struggling with getting all the way there. I think this would be a good way to help him and as an ambassador to compassion I often give him information on vegan issues and health and share recipes with him. As well as fielding phone calls when he gets into a vegan cooking crisis like making kale salad and roasting eggplant.
The one thing I can do is be kind and compassionate to everyone. COmpassion breeds compassion.
I have been looking into going vegan that this would be a great tool to help me get started.
I think being vegan (and this is new to me) and sharing delicious vegan food with others is one way of showing compassion. Not only to all animals but also to the persons you love and want to share great cruelty feee food with.
i LOVE c.p.g. shes such an amazing and inspiring voice for vegans…i listen to every podcast (even though they arent as frequent anymore) and her new website is fantastic. i cant say enough good things about her – such a great giveaway JL.
anyway, sorry for getting sidetracked there. tonight im bringing vegan cookies to a friend who had surgery last week – because compassion and cooking go hand in hand. 🙂
I’m vegan and would love to win this so I could give it to my sister. She is a mother of 3 small children and has just watched Forks Over Knives and wants to try going vegan 6 days a week. I’ll take anything I can get, but maybe having this kind of a resource will push them over to full-on Veg! Or at least make those 6 days easier.