Today’s post was written by guest author Lindsay, who manages our Instagram page!

After being a vegan or a vegetarian for 20 years, I’ve had a lot of time to think about our relationships with different species and the system of morals or ethics that we’ve established as a society. It’s a complicated issue that could be discussed until the end of time but ultimately I feel it can best be explained through one of my childhood experiences:

If you had a sibling growing up then you remember asking your parents why they got to do something awesome and you didn’t. I know for me, if the explanation was valid and concise then I would respect the ruling and grumble under my breath as I headed back to my room to read Nancy Drew. If the argument was weak then I ignored the authority of my parents and did whatever I wanted.

Essentially I believe that the moral code of our society is only as strong as the concessions we make. That ultimately it doesn’t matter if our society punishes a person who abuses his dog or starves her horses if we are all willing to accept animal abuse in the name of our food or entertainment. If we can excuse behavior that is below our general standards of ethics for reasons of convenience, vanity, apathy, or gluttony* then the entire system is flawed because those excuses can be used for any situation. If we are going to establish guidelines of morality or ethics but only apply them for certain situations, then why bother at all?

One of the reasons there are so many inconsistencies in how we apply our ethics is because I don’t think we’ve ever taken the time to determine what the requirements are for compassion. How do we decide what deserves basic rights? Is it based on intelligence? Ability to feel pain? Domestication? One question I struggle with myself is how we have simply assumed we are the superior creatures but have mostly avoided the responsibility to protect lesser beings. Ultimately I think that just because we can capture, consume, hunt, and inflict pain doesn’t mean we are entitled to.

That doesn’t mean that our ethics can’t change as we continue to grow and learn more about our planet but we need to have conviction in what is right or wrong. I think we want to believe that there are a lot more grey areas but most of the time it really is that simple.

We are in a transition point in terms of accepted morality when it comes to animals, we’re beginning to acknowledge that many animals can experience pain, emotional depth, cognitive dissonance, and foresight but we’ve only begun to acknowledge that these traits deserve a certain amount of respect and even then we’ve only give that privilege to a select few species.

In the end we need to spend more time thinking about why we feel so passionate about humane treatment of some animals and are completely apathetic to the plights of others. As a society we only stand to gain by refusing to accept weak justifications for defying our own moral code. When it comes to ethics, I want to take pride in living with the highest standards of living for all inhabitants.

(I’ve been asked many times about my feelings of hunting since it can be considered more humane than animals raised by consumption and my answer depends on whether the hunter is hunting because of one of these traits or because their own convictions on factory farming).

Dear humanity, this isn’t working.

We’re in the middle of a global pandemic; the economy is hanging on by a thread while lockdowns persist, millions are food insecure, and millions more will go hungry if we don’t face these issues head-on.

As COVID-19 disrupts international supply chains, limits farmers’ access to markets, and disproportionately damages the livelihood of those most fiscally vulnerable, we experience the consequences of passive inaction.

Granted, there are some positive effects of the pandemic. The air quality of the most polluted urban areas of the world is improving. Waterways are cleaner than they have been in decades. Less marine traffic has allowed ocean life to return to occupy their own environment. Yet these accolades rest unsteadily upon the shoulders of the victors. The moment we return to life as “normal”, any positive changes could quickly be reversed.

This is precisely why we must take this time in lockdown to consider which of our activities are incompatible with a desirable future for humanity. Only a mindset of ignorance suggests that we must persist in destructive behaviour. Memes published lately suggest that “humanity is the real pandemic”. As we see the natural world uniquely bereft of our disastrous interference, this could unfortunately prove true. However, we have the power to rewrite our destiny. We have the option of improving ourselves, our society, and our relationship to the natural world.

For humanity to thrive in the future, we must learn to be more adaptive, cooperative, and respectful. Otherwise ignorance, selfishness, and greed will ensure our own destruction. We have already seen the damning effects that human activity has wrought upon the Earth. We act as if all resources are infinitely deposited. Endless oil, fresh water, food, land to deplete, deforest, and pave over. Yet, we live in a finite planet. Short of terra-forming Mars or relocating human society to man-made space stations, there is not much we can do but change our ways for our own good.

Sustainable business and sustainable living do not have to be incompatible with economic growth. New and existing companies can tap into consumer interest and adapt their service to match demand for eco-friendly products and practices. We already see this happening across industries all over the world. Energy companies that rely on fossil fuels to enrich executives and please shareholders can diversify their projects to include or even shift completely into clean energy pursuits. Even animal agriculture titans can invest in plant-based “meat” products, diversifying their portfolios to address the blossoming vegan movement.

When consumers are educated on the problems of the world and potential solutions, new markets arise. In fact, this is part of our hope with the Vancouver Vegetarian Society! We know it is possible for people to live fulfilling, enjoyable, successful lives while making ethical choices. Our team and followers are made up of such folk. Why would we actively choose to pollute and condemn the Earth when our dollars, efforts and thoughts could vote for a better world?

Living in Vancouver, we are lucky enough to have access to food, clothing, vehicles/bicycles, public transport, community gardens or farmers’ market, products all made ethically, or that promote more sustainable and ethical habits. We can support our local economy, vote with our money for a more compassionate society. We should not pay for slaughter, slave labour, corruption, and environmental disaster. We have the responsibility as educated citizens to choose a better world for ourselves and our children. When we treat our planet, our neighbours, and animals with respect we have the beautiful opportunity to forge a new way. One that provides us with a genuine future, while ensuring we can feel good about how we are spending our precious time.

In the face of a global pandemic, everyone but non-essential workers are recommended to stay home and avoid social interaction. What are we to do with all our new free time? The thought of returning to a “normal” society when the coronavirus blows over has inspired some to seek meaningful change and use the pandemic as an opportunity to revamp their lifestyles, pursuing health, fitness, personal development, education or redefining relationships. Let us do our part to share our favourite easy and healthy, protein-packed vegetarian recipes that can be whipped up in a few minutes. If you try them out or have any questions about the recipes, please let us know in the comments!

Protein Pancakes

For breakfast, try these undeniably nutritious, yet fully delicious almond chia pancakes. This breakfast has all the essentials for a balanced meal to start your day of self-isolation off right.

Of all the vegetarian substitutes, eggs can be one of the trickiest ingredients, particularly in baking. Chia seeds create the ideal egg replacement in this pancake batter – not only are they packed with essential omega fatty acids, when mixed with water they create a sticky, gelatinous substance which we can use to our advantage and delight when baking. One thing we ought to keep in mind is that chia does not produce the same light and fluffy effect of eggs, so it is helpful to add cornstarch or baking powder to our batter for a traditional pancake texture.

Almond butter is rich in protein and healthy fats, so it is the perfect base of flavour and creaminess to achieve the ideal pancake hitting all our bases. Mix in 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, ¼ tsp. of salt, 1/4 tsp. baking powder, 3/4 cup of plant milk (cashew, almond, coconut, soy or oat), 2 tbsp. nut butter, 1 cup of oat flour and 1 tbsp of chia seeds ground into a flour. Add 1 tbsp. maple syrup/agave/honey to taste. Mix batter until fully combined. Chocolate chips or blueberries folded into the batter can take your pancakes to the next level.

Melt some coconut oil on a heated frying pan and pour out 3-4 pancakes of manageable size. Flip when the bubbles pop on the sides of the pancake or the underside is a golden-brown colour (approximately 2-3 minutes per side).

Top with berry chia compotes, fresh jams, maple syrup, coconut whipped cream, or whichever other delicious condiments you can think of!

Power Salad

One of the principal meals every vegetarian cook should have in their wheelhouse is a phenomenal healthy and delicious salad recipe. We might as well lean into the stereotype, as everyone could afford to eat some more vegetables.

The crucial think to consider before putting our salad together is caloric density. Omnivore salads usually involve a green leafy vegetable (i.e. lettuce or spinach) with a couple other raw vegetable components. Perhaps they sprinkle a few nuts, some meat pieces, raisins or croutons on the salad. When preparing plant-based salads, we must be mindful that raw vegetables and fruits traditionally are much lower in caloric density than meat or other animal products. 100 calories of spinach versus 100 calories of bacon will take up significantly different amounts of plate real estate. While this differentiation is helpful for those hoping to lose weight, healthy active individuals adhering to vegetarian diets ought to consider replacing animal proteins with legumes, beans, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and herbs to meet all our daily nutritional requirements. The pundits who criticize a vegetarian diet for its lack of protein or variety do not understand the infinite combinations of healthy, satisfying, robust and decadent plant-based foods that can satiate any palette.

Let us present to you the flawless formula for salads that will keep you energized, focused, satisfied and healthy while you fight the good fight of peace and justice for all creatures of the Earth.

Start with some leafy greens. The darker the better. Think kale, arugula, swiss chard, mustard greens, watercress or spinach. Be generous with your portion size as this is one of the most neglected yet beneficial types of foods we can possibly consume.

Add 1 can’s worth (approximately 1 cup) of a legume. Beans are calorically dense and rich in protein to help you power through your home workout and stay full longer. Some favourites include chickpeas, French brown lentils and kidney beans.

Next, you will want to chop up and add in your favourite fruits and vegetables. Just a few ideas are celery, carrot, peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, beet, apple, pear, broccoli, and cabbage; but don’t let us limit your imagination.

For extra fat and protein, you may want to top your salad with chopped walnuts, almonds, pepitas or sunflower seeds.

Now, the piece de resistance. This will take your salad from boring cafeteria side to showstopping main course. Done correctly, your dressing will be tangy, creamy, spicy and delicious. Not to mention incredibly healthy! Take 2 tbsp of tahini (sesame butter), 2 tbsp of hemp seeds, the juice of 1 lemon or lime, 2 tbsp of water and 1 tbsp. of miso paste (the probiotics in fermented foods like miso are incredibly helpful for boosting immunity and gut health). Next you can add in some aromatics like a piece of ginger or half a clove of garlic. Customize the dressing to your preference. Season with some salt, pepper, chili, turmeric, cayenne, or any other herbs you enjoy. Fresh cilantro or basil will add a lovely flavour to the mix if you have them on hand. Blend on high in a high-speed blender or food processor until you’ve reached a smooth consistency. Add water in small quantities to thin out the dressing if it is too thick for your salad.

Once your dressing is up to scratch, drench your salad in the delightful concoction and serve up a bowl of veggie heaven.

Coconut Chickpea Curry

Inspired by South Indian flavours and ingredients, this simple curry recipe can be thrown together in less than 30 minutes and is composed of affordable, healthy ingredients that are typically shelf and fridge staples.

Start up a pot of rice to cook while you work on your curry. For more protein, try cooking brown rice, wild rice, or even quinoa.

Mince 1 onion, 3-4 gloves of garlic, and 1 small piece of ginger (skin peeled off). Sautee in an oiled frying pan on a medium heat until onions are translucent. Next, toss in your spice mixture. This could be as simple as a couple tablespoons of a packaged “curry powder”, or you could grind up a mixture of turmeric, cumin, chili, fenugreek, coriander, paprika, and cinnamon. There are many different variations of a “curry” spice blend, so your creativity and food intuition will come into play here.

After sautéing your spiced onion, garlic, and ginger mixture for 5-10 minutes (until aromatic and sizzling), you will add in 3 tbsp. of tomato paste. Then, pour in 1 can of coconut milk. Simmer and stir the mixture on a low heat for up to 30 minutes. You can use this time to add in your favourite vegetables (cauliflower and carrot work beautifully in this recipe), rinse and drain your chickpeas, and locate some cashews and cilantro to garnish your curry with (these are optional ingredients but certainly pack a flavour and nutrition punch). The chickpeas are pre-cooked, so you will only need to add them to your prepared curry mixture near the end of the cook-time. Raw vegetables like cauliflower and carrots will need about 15-20 minutes to cook through.

That’s it! Who knew it was so easy to be a chef? Serve up a bowl of rice and top it with the curry and optional garnishes, and you will be ready to enjoy your feast.

If one is even a casual observer of population statistics or sensationalist headlines, they will know that humanity has stressed the natural bounds of our habitat. The warnings of an overpopulated Earth projected to be inhabited by easily 10 billion humans by 2050 will have signaled their panic from YouTube to National Geographic to university theses. It seems we have reached the Earth’s carrying capacity. A term coined by Thomas Malthus in the 18th century, this intangible limit would be surpassed when a species was so numerous that its food and natural resources would be insufficient to match their excessive needs and wants, and an extreme decline in population would logically follow. In the last couple centuries, the human population has increased exponentially, from 1804 to 2019, we soared from a manageable 1 billion to the nearly 8 billion as we stand today. A few million over-complicated and overstimulated primates are a light tax on the Earth’s bounty. Several billion with their glacial impacts of industry and greed are a bank robbery. 

It is not that we dominate our ecosystem, but that we so viciously isolated ourselves from the natural order of animals and habitat that we are a threat to life itself. This could be easily dismissed as hyperbole were there not grim facts to support a grave conclusion. The level of biodiversity loss in the past century alone is unprecedented. Humanity has been responsible for 52% of biodiversity loss in the past 40 years alone. We could selfishly think that only Nature and animals suffer for this slaughter, but we will be grievously affected ourselves. One need only assess the frightening decline of the global bumblebee population, the vital pollinators that we depend on to facilitate a large proportion of our agriculture. 

Now, as we always have, we could adapt to the changing and shrinking biodiversity of our planet. Animal species will continue to fracture away into extinction, as they have for the millennia that humans have been assaulting the Earth. This pattern has repeated throughout history. While early hominids were confined to the African savanna where our species originated, we evolved in tandem with the other large mammals. However, in other continents where human settlers arrived after the isolated evolution of large mammals, we were brutal conquerors who became solely responsible for their demise. In North America, mega fauna included giant sloths, peccaries, an American lion, saber-toothed cats, dire wolves, bison, a stag-moose, mammoths and mastodons, a giant armadillo and giant condors. In a rapid extinction event referred to as the “overkill hypothesis”, humans are theorized to be responsible for a mass extinction event that the mega fauna were powerless to stop. 

Human civilization has caused irreversible change to the planet as we know it. Future generations will know through records and photos that a natural bounty once existed – that the woods rang with birdsong, jungles were once dangerous places to venture into, and that we once entertained a beautiful unknown called “wilderness”. Our descendants will walk through memorials that glorify the richness of animal life as it once was, cursing their forebears’ selfishness and greed. 

It may be possible to engineer our way out of this. There is likely to be a technological solution to alleviate the symptoms of our consumption problem. Our polluted and depleted freshwater sources could be filtered and purified once the consumer demand is high enough to justify such a resource-intensive process. Vertical indoor-farming and lab-grown meat may satisfy the nutritional needs of an inflated human population once we succeed in sucking the soil dry of its remaining fertility. When all the fossil fuels are extracted from the Earth’s crust, nuclear power or alternative energy sources may light our homes and fill the batteries of our cars.

However, simply because technical solutions to humanity’s greatest challenges exist and could be implemented, does not mean we are off the hook for our crimes. The animals that vanish into memory as we steal their habitats and eliminate their food sources will receive no reparations for the genocide we’ve committed. The plants whose applications are numerous and beneficial, the benefits of which we have only scratched the surface, will be thoughtlessly eliminated. We amputate ourselves in the name of progress. 

Naturally, this would signal a troubling trend indicative of a broader pattern our society is currently following. We are increasingly trading away our individual liberties for convenience and ease. The existence where we govern ourselves is one of great responsibility, with a huge margin for error. If we must manage the growing, collecting, or hunting of our own food, sourcing water, health and safety concerns along with the stresses and dangers of everyday life, we are too busy to consume. How could there be time for the mindless accumulation of things, property, and dietary indulgence in this scenario? At this point in human history, we could have never been a threat to the planet. It took capitalism, scientific revolutions, and consumer pressure to drive us towards an unforgivable fate. 

Earth could survive without human beings. If our entire species were wiped off the face of the planet tomorrow, Nature could regenerate itself. The only rule that life abides by is to cultivate survival whenever possible. However, this does not mean that life will continue as we know it. We have forever altered the natural equilibrium of species, ecosystems, and resources on Earth. The desertification we have caused, sea level rise, river-rerouting, plastic oceans, are merely a few examples of the cataclysmic impact we have had upon our environment. Even if humanity were to suddenly vanish, the death and destruction we have caused with our apathy and negligence would outlive us. 

Our main responsibility is to halt this war of attrition and explore a new possibility that may give our species, but most importantly the countless other species that populate this planet, a second chance. We only must be willing to apply the findings of activists, scientists, innovators and policy-makers to give ourselves some hope of success.