The Most Hopeful Word in the English Language

It is so encouraging to see the Vegan Diet going mainstream across North America. In the United States and Canada, people are realizing that veganism is not only a healthier way to live, it's the only way to enjoy a truly humane diet, one in which animals are not exploited, treated harshly and murdered in the making of our food.

Up here in Canada, CBC News featured a fantastic article on its Website about the mainstreaming of veganism the country. From British Columbia to the Maritimes, people are going vegan every day, with new converts all over the place. Asked about vegan diets, Dana McIntyre, president of the Vegans and Vegetarians of Alberta Association, noted, "They're gaining in popularity. It's not a trendy, hippy way of eating anymore." These days, she adds, "you see a range of groups all moving towards a vegan diet."

Just the other night, I ate at a local family restaurant where I've taken my kids for years. They've added several new dishes to their menu that are explicitly advertised as "vegan." Their dessert menu now includes vegan cheesecake and a few other vegan treats. This trend is repeating itself in restaurants across Canada.

The same thing is occurring in the United States. Veganism is here to stay. It's going mainstream. And this is a wonderful thing to see. As Blogger Jamessina Hille wrote on her blog the other day:

Veganism is considered trendy now I suppose, but really, it’s just a choice. It’s a choice that goes beyond food, and finds itself in your decision making about toothpaste and carpeting and even automobiles. I promise it’s a journey that will invite you to ask more questions, demand answers, get carried away in amazing conversations and debates and will most of all, provide you more energy, more vibrance and an ease of conscious. We’ve got a packed agenda ahead of us – one that will be eye-opening and adventure seeking. We will even be taste-testing some amazing vegan cupcakes this summer. Vegan is not a dirty word. In fact, it’s one of the most pure and simple words there is. (Source)

These developments are encouraging. And believe me, we need all the encouragement we can get. Because the alternative way of living - the one we see too often in documentaries, and read about in books - rests on a foundation involving the rampant, horrific and immoral abuse of animals. Vegans are showing that there is a different way of living, a hopeful way, one that does not involve the destruction of life.

Not only is vegan not a dirty word. Vegan is the most hopeful word in the English language.