26 January 2026

I finally got around to reading James, Percival Everett’s take on Huck Finn from the slave’s perspective (highly recommend). When Jim arrived at the last known location of his wife and daughter, he found men in chains - they hypothesized their slave owner wanted them to seem more like animals.

This draws a distinction between animals and humans. Yet, the demarcation is not as defined and permanent as we think. Slavery was abolished in 1865. Today, we have pets we would never consider eating, but a cow, pig, lamb or octopus is fair game. In other countries and cultures, the designation of “pets” versus “food” might be different than ours.

Eating meat is often promoted as a right - we are stronger or more intelligent, therefore we should have the power to exploit (factory farming - a practice tied to animal cruelty, environmental destruction and social inequity - produces 99% of the animals raised for food in the US). Do we also think that anyone who is stronger or wiser than us has the right to mistreat [or even kill] us?

In 2026, many - not all - of us have access to delicious, nutritious plant-based alternatives to animal foods. Every food we eat is a choice. My mission is to help you make more plant based choices by showing how easy and delicious it is. I’m not urging the world to go vegan - we don’t even grow enough vegetables at this point to support that - but I do think there’s another benefit to a plant based lifestyle that is not often mentioned.

Compassion and fairness. Compassion means considering the value of all animal as sentient beings. We may not always understand them, but we can’t ignore their ability to communicate with each other (and sometimes with their humans). We may not have an attachment to them, but it’s well documented that animals form bonds and suffer loss when offspring, family or herd members are separated.

I have a theory that increasing our compassion for animals will produce ripples through humanity. Thinking about fairness in the way we treat animals may lead to greater awareness of how we treat others in general. We tend to talk about other people as “animals” as if it’s a negative thing. But really, we are all [wonderful] animals of one kind or another, each with our own contributions to offer. And it’s the diversity of species, abilities and ideas that makes the world a better place.

The world seems so full of division: animals vs. humans, left vs. right, vegans vs. omnivores. What if the lines between these are not what we think? Can we find the common between us and the preciousness of our differences?

Compassion is a superpower, and one that we can exercise every day. Reach out to a neighbor, give the benefit of the doubt, consider the origins of your food, and appreciate the value of all living things. Self compassion is important too! IMHO, these practices have the potential to make life so much kinder for all of us.

Is it possible to create a food system that supports human rights, environmental protection, social justice and democracy? I’d like to think so. And I’d love to hear what you think.