Like everyone else on the planet I've experienced things that gave me hope for humanity and things that absolutely broke my heart. My time working at the animal shelter was no different. I saw people patiently get to know nervous dogs and slowly earn their trust before giving them a forever home. I remember a … Continue reading Why you Probably Shouldn’t Gift a Pet
I think to have a real opinion on this subject you have to understand a little bit of what goes on behind the scenes. So, let's jump right into exactly what honey is and how it's produced in a controlled setting. Image by Дарья Яковлева from Pixabay Step 1: A male honey bee aka drone … Continue reading Vegan Gray Areas: Honey
When I fantasize about the lavish garden I hope to have some day, I picture different scenarios, but there are a few things that remain constant. There's always a fence around the backyard (to keep my dogs in and the deer out), there's always busy little bees and butterflies, and I also picture birds. While … Continue reading Are Birds Friend or Foe for your Garden?
1.) Vegans only care about animals and aren't concerned with human suffering. It feels necessary to state the obvious: it is possible to care about more than one thing at a time. That being said, there are truly so many worthy causes in the world. It would be impossible for any one individual to be … Continue reading The Biggest Misconceptions about Vegans (An Opinion Piece)
"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food."- Hippocrates You've probably heard this quote at some point in your life. It's an ideology that I've come across a lot in the vegan community, but it certainly spans across a wide variety of diets/lifestyles. It's certainly a consensus that a healthy diet plays a … Continue reading Is Food Medicine?
In case you aren't already aware, allow me to inform you that I am a 30 year old lady. In my adult life I have seen so many new words pop up and sometimes it gets to the point that I don't even try to keep up with all of them. The first time I … Continue reading Vegan Gray Areas: Freeganism
Full disclosure: I do have a pit bull at home. Some people may think that makes me biased, but I think having one in my life, in addition to my time spent working with dogs at the animal shelter, gives me additional insight into this topic. I won't be getting into any anecdotes about my … Continue reading The Truth About Pit Bulls
What does it really mean to be vegan? On face value, it means not eating or using animal products. It also refers to abstaining from products tested on animals (whenever possible, I mean if you need life saving medicine that was once tested on animals, take the medicine! It's important to have reasonable exceptions to … Continue reading Vegan Gray Areas: Palm Oil
I think the average person knows bees pollinate plants and can deduce from this that they're good for a garden. However, I know for myself that I wasn't aware of just how important they are. In fact, they're quite vital. There are other insects that pollinate, such as butterflies, but bees appear to be by … Continue reading The Importance of Bees for your Garden
About four years ago we brought our cat José home for the first time. A coworker was no longer able to keep him and we took him off her hands so he didn't end up at the shelter. He was roughly eleven weeks old and I remember feeling nervous because even though I'd had pets … Continue reading Why you Shouldn’t Declaw your Cat
The Vegan Homesteader 