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Dec 2010 03

By Malloreigh

I admit that my vegan newswire articles have been a struggle for me to write lately. I’ve been avoiding the comments altogether, and I’ve aborted a few attempts at articles. Why? I just find the backlash difficult.

Recently we had a discussion in the SG Vegans group about how difficult it can be to be a “vegan warrior” in a world of people who don’t want to hear about it. Some people who responded to the topic try their best to frame their dietary choices in least ethical way, because they find that calling it a “moral choice” gets bad reactions. Others choose to avoid talking about their veganism entirely.

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Nov 2010 29

By Malloreigh

The December holidays, quickly approaching, are a dark time for many vegans. Not only are we surrounded by piles of rich, dairy and egg-laden holiday baking, but we have to deal with our families – who, sometimes, consider our dietary choices to be a personal insult, a rejection of the values they brought us up to hold.

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Nov 2010 18

by Jensen

Okay guys, I’m going to keep this short and sweet today! There are very important going-ons that I’m sure you’re preparing for, and I don’t want to hold you up for too long. There are Death Eaters who need an ass-kicking and awkward Ginny-Harry sexual advances to watch!

We are making hot chocolate today, btw. It’s a great gift for those people who aren’t really your friends, but you feel like you need to get them something for the holidays anyway. Coworkers, perhaps? It is also quite delicious :].

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Nov 2010 04

by Tara Diane

If you’re anything like me (not likely; you’re probably way cooler) then you had no idea you could make mozzarella cheese, at home, in about an hour, without very much work. When I saw cheesemaking kits online, I decided they would make great Christmas gifts, but I wanted to try it out first. Below are the basics (loosely laid out) on how to make mozzarella cheese at home!

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Oct 2010 29

By Malloreigh

I didn’t grow up vegan, but I can’t imagine how frustrating it would be to go trick-or-treating and come home with a bag full of candy you can’t eat. Now that I’m too old to walk around the neighbourhood asking for candy, I sit at home and give it out. While vegan kids can’t eat – and vegan grown-ups don’t give out – miniature chocolate bars, there are a few types of common candy that are “accidentally vegan.”

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Oct 2010 25

By Malloreigh

Pumpkin pie is a peculiarly North American tradition. I spent my October-November in Australia once and found, in the search to soothe my homesickness by making one, that “pumpkin” there means any kind of squash, and canned pumpkin puree simply doesn’t exist. Funnily enough, Halloween (to the degree that we indulge in it) is also a peculiarly North American tradition. Coincidence?

I assumed that pumpkin pie was a Thanksgiving dish – though my family eats it at Christmas too. But the correlation between pumpkin pie and Halloween was too strange for me to ignore this year. Either that, or I wanted an excuse to make a pumpkin pie with a spiderweb on top.

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Oct 2010 22

By Malloreigh

The leather dilemma is a contentious one for vegans. Many new vegans, upon “making the switch,” worry whether they’re expected to throw away their pre-vegan leather items – belts, shoes, jackets – and buy vegan alternatives. Many old vegans, myself included, break vegan belt after vegan belt and wonder whether we’re expected to keep buying crappy vinyl each year until the day we die.

Isn’t that wasteful? Doesn’t that go against the spirit of veganism? Yes, probably, and creating more trash is just the cherry on the top of the consumer culture cupcake. Furthermore, vinyl, as a synthetic substance, won’t – common sense informs us – biodegrade as easily as an organic like leather would. So if vegans are such environmentalists, what’s the solution?

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