Category Archives: Awakening to veganism

On ‘personal choice’ and trying to be a ‘popular’ vegan

Posted on November 13, 2021 by There's an Elephant in the Room

I’m sure we’ve all heard – or maybe even used at some time – the tired old assertion about ‘my personal choice’? My first hearing was when it was actually snarled at me through gritted teeth by a former … Continue reading →

Posted in Awakening to veganism, consumer demand, Global disasters | Tagged animal rights, climate disaster, diet, disaster, ecological disaster, end of life as we know it, extremism, famine, fire, flood, Flooding, food shortage, human superiority, justice, moral choices, personal, personal choice, planetary collapse, plant-based, speciesism, truth, victims, violence, wildfires | 5 Comments

The doer and the deed – considering the difference

Posted on February 1, 2020 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Recently I published a post that said with regard to animal rights, we need to focus on the concept of farming as a central issue rather than attacking individuals who carry out what is after all only one of many … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, Awakening to veganism | Tagged anger, avian flu, becoming vegan, change, China, coronavirus, deed, doer, education, evil, fault, hate, hate speech, ignorance, ignorant, mad cow disease, no one gives a shit, none of them gives a shit, potential to change, racist, roots of anger, SARS, scum, swine flu, vitriol, xenophobia racism, xenophobic, zoonotic | 8 Comments

On trusting experts

Posted on November 16, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

When we are new to the world, parents and carers feed and clothe us. Most of us have little idea what we are eating, drinking, wearing or using. As children we lack even the ability to grasp the brutality of … Continue reading →

Posted in Awakening to veganism, consumer demand | Tagged breast milk, Chickens and eggs, consumer demand, dairy, egg-laying hens, expert, gore, harm, health, hens, humane, justice, milk, money, slaughter, slaughterhouse, trust, truth, vegan, veganism, violence, welfare | 9 Comments

Nothing less than veganism

Posted on August 16, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Last night was a landmark for There’s an Elephant in the Room on Facebook. Becoming vegan August 2012, when I first became vegan, began a time of discovery; a new age in an unfamiliar landscape. Most new vegans will have … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, Awakening to veganism, Festivals | Tagged advocacy, awakening, ethics, harm, justice, nonviolence, petitions, rights, speciesism, truth, vegan, veganism, victims, violence | 9 Comments

Heading in the direction of being vegan / Stuck in a loop

Posted on August 13, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

‘…or if we can’t be vegan we can at least head in that direction.’ I’ve seen so many variations on that theme as a comeback to the call to be vegan that appears in almost every piece I write. Today … Continue reading →

Posted in Awakening to veganism | Tagged advocacy, awakening, cheese, Chickens and eggs, commodification, compassion, consumer demand, Cruelty, dairy, ethics, harm, health, justice, slaughter, vegetarianism, violence, welfare | 3 Comments

Thought for a spring day

Posted on May 17, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Returning home from an errand to Edinburgh at 6 am, I am haunted by images of so many chicken death trucks. Even now when I close my eyes, I see them still. Like a viscous wave, I feel the cloying … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, Awakening to veganism | Tagged chickens, commodification, consumer demand, resources, sentience, slaughter, vegan, veganism, victims, violence | 3 Comments

Just another crank

Posted on May 2, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

The ONLY way to stop harming animals is to be vegan. It’s the least we can do. In the past, every time I saw that in a post, you know what used to happen? I used to think, ‘Well that’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Addressing resistance to change, Awakening to veganism | Tagged Chickens and eggs, commodification, consumer demand, dairy, extremism, harm, health, humane, milk, sentience, truth, vegan, veganism, victims | Leave a comment

Translations of common expressions: ‘Grass-fed lamb, half price!’

Posted on April 5, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

This blog’s title was a promotion by a supermarket, heard in a TV ad break. With a great deal encapsulated in very few words, it’s a cynical bit of mind-bending although there was a time I wouldn’t have realised; that’s … Continue reading →

Posted in 'Happy' exploitation, Awakening to veganism, consumer demand, Harm reduction, welfare | Tagged bargain, breast feeding, cheap, chickens, Chickens and eggs, commodification, consumer demand, dairy, decency, easter lamb, grass-fed, harm, humane, milk, resources, rights, sentience, slaughter, victims, violence | 2 Comments

How do you know someone is vegan?

Posted on April 2, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

‘Don’t worry, they’ll soon tell you.’ It’s probably true. ‘I’m vegan.’ They’re words many of us say several times a day. Yet contrary to those who mock and ridicule, the words have nothing to do with what I’d choose on … Continue reading →

Posted in Awakening to veganism | Tagged commodification, conscience, consumer demand, harm, human superiority, vegan, veganism, violence | 4 Comments

Living in a land of make-believe

Posted on March 30, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Today I find myself reminiscing, mentally retracing paths of the clouded past, trying to find the point at which I lost the warm feeling of kinship with all other species of animal that so many of us experience in childhood. … Continue reading →

Posted in Awakening to veganism, Nonhuman family members | Tagged awakening, bloodbath, breast milk, brutality, cats, chickens, Chickens and eggs, childhood, children, commodification, companions, consumer demand, Cruelty, dairy, dogs, fantasy, harm, health, humane, imagination, love, make-believe, milk, oppression, resources, respect, sentience, slaughter, speciesism, truth, victims, violence, welfare | 12 Comments