According to the World Health Organization, people who live in high-income countries and middle-income countries predominantly die of chronic "lifestyle" diseases or "diseases of civilization"(Alzheimer's disease, atherosclerosis, asthma, cancer, chronic liver disease, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, osteoporosis, stroke, depression, diverticulitis, gallstones, and obesity). In low-income countries, people predominantly die of infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and influenza. we’ve come so far in learning how to prevent infectious diseases. We should all be very grateful that we don’t have to contend with malaria on a daily basis – that we wake up and have little chance of contracting whooping cough. But what have we traded this for? We have all the information we need to prevent 80% of premature deaths and we do nothing. For what?

Today’s episode is part of our "Compassionate Series," which features favorite companies/organizations/products/experts in the context of the topic.) If you’re seeing this episode after the “holidays” have already passed, please don’t tune it out. The information is relevant ANYTIME and ALL the time, and you’ll be happy you listened to hear about these fabulous companies and their equally fabulous products for healthful, happy, humane living. There's lots of information here about tea - the difference between green, white, black, and oolong - and about wax used for candles.

Whether you’re packing lunches for your children for school or your partner for work or for yourself to take to the office; whether you're a teenager packing your own lunch or a college student looking for quick and easy meals; whether you're someone who works outside - as a gardener or landscaper, carpenter or construction worker; whether you're going on a picnic, going camping, or taking a road trip or a plane ride, you may want to listen to this episode. Packed with ideas and suggestions for a number of different sandwiches, snacks, and salads (grain, pasta, noodle, fruit, bean, tofu, or tempeh), Food for the Road leaves no stone unturned.

At Animal Pharm, an anomaly is born. Whether a piglet with the hands and feet of a human baby or a human baby with the head and tail of a piglet, Ziggy only wants to find what we all seek. It is my pleasure to read this moving tale by the talented Shad Clark.

Cow's milk contains calcium because cows eat grass. Calcium is a mineral that comes from the ground, which means, like grass, all green leafy vegetables are teeming with this nutrient. Let's explore the rationale behind human adults drinking another animal's milk when we don't even drink our own species' milk into adulthood. Perhaps all the calves are laughing at us, for even they stop drinking their own mothers' milk when they become adults. In other words, I think we have a lot to learn from the cows.

When we closely examine the traditions of such holidays as Thanksgiving and Halloween, we see that we can honor their deeper meanings while still honoring our ethics and our values. Much of what informs our consciousness about these holidays is myth, which is fine. It’s fine to use myth to create rituals and traditions, but the point I make in this episode is that we pick and choose our cultural and personal traditions all the time, and these choices don't necessarily reflect some historical fact. I also spend a great deal of time talking about how vegan children can partake in all the fun of Halloween without being deprived. Finally, I offer some suggestions for using Halloween as an opportunity for advocacy.

What if I had my own hens and ate her eggs? What if I had my own cow or goat and drank her milk? What about honey? Is it considered "vegan"? These are some of the questions people ask as they begin to consider the ethical issues of consuming animal products. Though I don't pretend to have the one definitive answer, I am happy to share my thoughts.

With a penchant for romanticizing their consumption of animals, many people declare that they "pray over meat" or "weep over the animals who sacrifice themselves for us - just like the Native Americans." Not only does this attempt to assuage our discomfort make no difference to the animals we kill (for naught), I wonder: who's praying for the animals who are still alive? Who's weeping for those who need our help? And if it's so compassionate to pray over an animal while we slit her throat, isn't it even MORE compassionate to pray over an animal and NOT slit her throat? Join me as I explore what's really underneath this third-rail issue and as I suggest that it is not only insulting to the animals but to the Native Americans themselves.

Though I love talking about all things vegetarian with like-minded friends, my favorite people to engage with are strangers, whether on land or in the air (on planes). The more time we invest in conversations about vegetarianism and animal rights, the better advocates we will be and the more seeds we will plant. Despite the common assertion that "people don't want to talk about these issues," I actually experience quite the opposite. Join me today as I talk about some recent encounters with strangers on planes (the good and the bad) and how I responded to some frequently asked questions about animal rights and vegetarianism, particularly those that relate to religion.

With his keen understanding of human behavior, Benjamin Franklin once remarked: "So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for every thing one has a mind to do." We tend to be quite adept at finding ways to justify our behavior, especially when it is either unnecessary or ethically questionable. When it comes to eating animals, we don't only justify it on the grounds that it benefits US; we actually have the nerve to justify it on the grounds that it actually benefits the animals. Focusing on a few of these common assertions ("cows need to be milked or they'll fall ill," "we give animals life," and "dying by our hands is better than dying by the hands of violent predators."), I offer my own perspective in response.