Growing up Filipino, it never once crossed my mind that I would one day be a vegetarian, let alone a vegan. I mean, that was preposterous in my family, and in my entire country, really. When I first went veg in college, I did not stand a chance at family parties. Not only did uncles…
Tag: Vegan
Everything is Vegan: Vanilla Mini Sheet Cake
One day I found a cake on the kitchen floor, partially eaten, with two little paw prints indented into the heavenly frosting. It was disappointing and adorable all at once. Adorable for obvious reasons, and disappointing because there was my favorite cake in all the world, wasted. But this is how irresistible it was—even my…
This Wildlife Conservation Film Festival Video Will Make You Cry Your Eyes Out
Today is the first day of the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival & Biodiversity Conference in New York! If you’re in the city between now and October 23 and want to learn about natural history and how wildlife conservation helps protect the Earth’s resources of food, water, and clean air, check out the schedule. Watch this…
Endangered Baby: Pangolin
It looks like a Pokémon. That’s cause it totally inspired one (Sandshrew). The pangolin is like some kind of freakish armadillo-dragon hybrid. But it’s no fearsome, fire-breathing reptile. It doesn’t even have teeth. It’s just a gentle, solitary mammal quietly roving its habitats across Africa and Asia in search of a tasty meal of ants….
10 Things I Didn’t Know About Being an Omnivore
When I was 18 I started listening to Morrissey and Strike Anywhere—starkly different in their musical styles but similar in their stances on animal welfare—and went vegetarian. I wasn’t really thinking hard about politics or even the environment; I just didn’t want to eat animals because I didn’t support ending their adorable lives in the…
Endangered Baby: Northern White Rhino
In Vietnam, if you have a rhino horn, you’re (supposedly) a big deal. They’re worth up to $60,000 per kilo on the black market—more valuable than diamonds or cocaine. Sometimes they’re even ground up and snorted as a party drug. And some proponents of Asian medicine actually believe they can cure hangovers … and cancer….
How I Took Responsibility and Went Cruelty-Free
It’s not a secret—most of the products Americans use in their homes and on their bodies have been tested on animals. We all know, so I’ll spare you the gory details. Everyone is appalled, but most can’t help but take a passive stance on it. No judgment. I get it—for a long time I did…