Posted October 27, 2026

The Three A’s of Childhood: Athlete, Arts, Or Academic

Like many Midwesterners growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, I felt like there were three tracks you could take as a kid:

First, athlete. Girls’ sports were widely accepted and available. Playing sports was relatively affordable too, unlike the youth-sports-industrial complex of today.

Second, arts. If sports weren’t your jam, you might explore theater, drawing, painting, crafts, music, or band. There were competitions, fairs, and school productions to advance your talents.

And third, academic. If you were gifted in the classroom, there was a track for you to follow, too.

So What Kind Of A-Hole Was I?

Despite being a varsity letter winner all four years in high school as a swimmer, I barely qualified as an athlete. I joke that I retired from competitive swimming after graduation and arrived at Indiana University the fall of 1999 without a classification beyond freshman.

I was an honor student too, but you didn’t want me on the Quiz Bowl team because math would take me down.

What I Wouldn’t Give to Have Found Out Sooner

It started as a tug at my soul. A desire to stand up for social justice long before I understood the term. I discovered activism. I discovered advocacy. I discovered that caring deeply about something could be a path all its own.

It got me thinking. Why don’t we encourage kids to be more involved with the social issues that they care about with the same enthusiasm as buying them crayons, signing them up for piano lessons, or enrolling them in travel softball? Civic engagement can be a part of childhood, too. Kids can learn that they have a role in protecting the vulnerable, our environment, and fellow beings. They can learn their voice matters.

This Xennial knows that we need people to be engaged to change the world for the better. While I wasn’t aware of how necessary activists were while I was growing up, I’m resolved to ensure the kids in my life know better.

Resources for Activist Kids

The good news—resources now exist! I’m over-the-moon enthusiastic about the incredible tools and support that are now available to parents and kids through PETA Kids, peta2, LEAP, and The Raven Corp.

PETA Kids

Designed for children 12 and younger and their parents, PETA Kids teaches animal rights and encourages compassionate choices through veganism. It offers educational quizzes, interactive games, comic books, vegan recipes, and a free “Kind Kid” membership program. Kids can explore compassion for animals in ways that are age-appropriate and fun.

LEAP

The compassionate alternative to 4-H exists, LEAP prepares the next generation of changemakers to tackle the challenges of animal cruelty, climate change, food deserts, wildlife protection, and biodiversity loss. Students find like-minded friends and mentors, develop social/emotional skills and leadership traits, and learn how to make a tangible impact for causes they care about.

peta2

For teens and college students, peta2 teaches about speciesism and how to make compassionate everyday changes for animals. You’ll find the peta2 team at concerts, online creating communities, and teaching peers how to be active for animal liberation.

The Raven Corp

And the cool kids club, The Raven Corp is a community of youth activists who care about humans, nonhuman animals, and the natural world. Their work sits at the intersection of veganism, animal rights, and intersectional social justice.

So, Let’s Encourage a Fourth A

Athlete. Artist. Academic. Activist.

While I’m happily child-free, I’m an auntie to many, and I want the kids in my life to know that activist isn’t a four-letter word. If sports aren’t their thing, no problem. If the arts don’t call to them, that’s cool. And if they’re not destined for Quiz Bowl academic glory, there is still a track for them.

There’s a whole world of fulfillment, community, and empowerment awaiting kids who want to change it for the better. Especially for the animals who need every one of us.

Sara McGoun, VLCE, is an animal advocate and nonprofit professional who believes activism and compassion can start at any age. A 2018 Main Street Vegan Academy grad, she serves as a Philanthropic Specialist in Legacy Gifts at The PETA Foundation and has built a career around advocacy, community, and creating a kinder world for animals and people. A proud Indiana University alumna, Sara lives in Indianapolis with her rescue dog, Rocky.

Episode 573, air date October 22nd, 2026. Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or your favorite podcast app.

Plant-Powered Seniors: Nutrition, Healthy Aging & Thriving on a Plant-Based Diet with Brenda Davis, RD

Is it ever too late to transform your health? And what does it really take to stay strong, independent, and vibrant as we grow older?

In this informative conversation, Victoria Moran speaks with Brenda Davis, RD, an internationally acclaimed registered dietitian, plant-based nutrition pioneer, and award-winning author, about her book Plant-Powered Seniors and the science of healthy aging.

With more than 4 decades of experience in nutrition, Brenda has helped people around the world understand the benefits of plant-based eating. She has written or co-authored 14 books, with more than one million copies in print, and is a respected voice in the field of plant-based nutrition.

Victoria and Brenda explore why nutrition matters at every stage of life, particularly as we get older. They discuss whether changing our eating habits later in life can improve our health, and how a well-planned plant-based diet can support vitality, strength, and independence.

The conversation also tackles some of the most common questions about plant-based nutrition for older adults. From protein and muscle maintenance to bone health, omega-3 fats, and brain function, Brenda explains which nutrients deserve particular attention and how we can make informed choices.

Together, they look beyond simply living longer and explore what it means to flourish as we age, maintaining our health, independence, and purpose for as many years as possible.

In This Episode

• Why Brenda wrote Plant-Powered Seniors and why the topic matters now
• Whether it’s ever too late to improve your health through nutrition
• How plant-based diets can support healthy aging
• The nutritional needs older adults should pay particular attention to
• Plant protein, muscle maintenance, and staying strong as we age
• The role of strength training in preserving independence
• Calcium, vitamin D, and other considerations for healthy bones
• Omega-3 fats, EPA and DHA, and whether supplementation may be beneficial
• How nutrition and lifestyle can support brain health and cognitive function
• Common myths about soy, carbohydrates, dietary fat, and plant-based nutrition
• Practical ways to build satisfying, nutrient-rich plant-based meals
• The difference between lifespan and healthspan
• How to flourish with vitality, independence, and purpose in later life

About Our Guest

Brenda Davis, RD, is a plant-based trailblazer, internationally acclaimed speaker, and award-winning author. She has delivered keynote presentations in 28 countries across six continents and has written or co-authored 14 books, with more than one million copies in print.

A past chair of the Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Brenda was inducted into the Vegetarian Hall of Fame in 2007. She also received the Plantrician Project’s Luminary Award in 2022.

Her work has helped countless people understand the science behind plant-based nutrition and put that knowledge into practice.

Her book, Plant-Powered Seniors, explores how nutrition can support healthy aging and help older adults maintain strength, vitality, and quality of life.

Learn more about Brenda’s work:
https://plant-poweredseniors.com/

Follow Brenda:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brendadavisrd
Instagram: @brendadavisrd

Subscribe, rate, and review the Main Street Vegan Podcast. It helps more people discover the joy of living with vitality, spirituality, and compassion.

Sign up for the Main Street Vegan blog and newsletter at www.mainstreetvegan.com and receive your FREE e-book, Recipes to Help You Age Like a Yogi.

And become an insider by joining the Main Street Vegan Podcast Listeners Group on Facebook:

Main Street Vegan Podcast Listeners Group

Complement are supplements made by vegans, Pamela Fergusson, RD, PhD, Matt Frazier, and Joel Kahn, MD, to enhance diet. Check out their new product Sulfora HERE, and enter ‘MAINSTREET’ in the discount box to save yourself 10%.

Posted October 20, 2026

Millions of people worldwide experience food insecurity every year. This is the inability to consistently obtain enough nutritious food for a healthy life because of financial, physical, or social barriers. It’s not simply a problem of food supply, but rather of access and affordability.

At the same time, more than 1 billion tons of edible food (about 300lb per person) is discarded. Generally, discussions about food waste focus on economics, hunger, or the environment—and rightly so. Wasted food costs money, contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, and squanders finite natural resources.

But one consequence receives far less attention than these issues: animal welfare.

A Life Taken

For those who care about reducing suffering, food waste should be an important concern. Every discarded hamburger, almost-empty carton of milk, package of chicken breasts that were in the freezer too long, all represent more than garbage—they represent lives that ended for food that no one ever ate.

Behind every product is a chain of land, water, labor, packaging, transportation, energy, and time.  When the food comes from animals, another layer is added: living beings who were confined, bred, transported, and ultimately slaughtered. When meat, dairy, or eggs end up in the trash, an animal has endured breeding, confinement, and slaughter for a product that was never even consumed.

Recognizing this reality isn’t about assigning blame. But that recognition does invite us to think more deeply about the choices we make and the systems we support. Food doesn’t simply appear on grocery store shelves.

Sentient Beings, Not Products

Modern food systems often encourage us to think of animal products as ordinary commodities.

• Ground beef
• Chicken breasts
• Pork chops
• Eggs
• Milk

These labels describe products, not sentient beings. The language itself creates emotional distance from the animals involved. We rarely picture curious pigs, social cows, or intelligent chickens when looking at supermarket packaging.

Food waste extends this distancing even further. Once food reaches the garbage can, it often becomes nothing more than expired food, a recipe that didn’t work out, or a forgotten foil-wrapped lunch that is now fuzzy and grey.

From another perspective, though, discarded animal products represent lives that can never be recovered. Whether someone is vegan or not, many would agree that if an animal’s life is taken, wasting the resulting food adds another layer of ethical concern.

Unnecessary Waste

Food waste occurs at every stage of the food system:

1. Some crops never leave the field because they don’t meet cosmetic standards.
2. Food is damaged or lost during harvesting, storage, processing, or transportation.
3. Restaurants often prepare more food than customers purchase.
4. Grocery stores discard products that are damaged, overstocked, or approaching their sell-by dates.
5. Consumers buy more food than they can realistically use.
6. Food is forgotten in refrigerators, freezers, and pantries until it spoils.
7. Perfectly edible leftovers are often thrown away instead of being eaten or frozen.
8. While plant foods are certainly wasted as well, wasting animal products carries unique ethical implications because animals themselves were used in producing them.

The issue isn’t simply that resources were lost. It is that animals’ lives were taken within a system that ultimately failed to value them enough to prevent unnecessary waste.

A Connection to Climate Change

Food waste doesn’t end when it reaches a landfill. When food waste is buried in landfills, it decomposes in oxygen-poor conditions. In that case, anaerobic bacteria break it down, producing methane—a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Climate change affects every species, contributing to:

• Habitat loss
• Extreme weather
• Water shortages
• Changing migration patterns
• Increased disease

Producing animal products requires not only vast amounts of land, water, and feed, but also the lives of billions of animals. When these products are discarded, those environmental and ethical costs are wasted as well. Reducing food waste therefore benefits both farmed animals and wildlife.

Recognizing Animal Harm from Food Waste

Many people who consider themselves compassionate would never intentionally mistreat an animal. Yet food waste rarely feels like the animal it came from.

Why?

Partly because the connection becomes invisible. By the time meat reaches a refrigerator, the animal has disappeared from view. Advertising reinforces this separation. Packaging emphasizes freshness, convenience, flavor, and family traditions—not the lives behind the products.

As consumers, we often inherit these ways of thinking without questioning them. Again, recognizing the connection isn’t about guilt, it’s about widening our circle of concern. Compassion becomes more meaningful when it includes the consequences of our everyday habits.

Simple Habit Changes

Reducing food waste doesn’t require dramatic lifestyle changes. Simple habits can make a meaningful difference:

• Plan meals before shopping and include items in your refrigerator that are open and need to be eaten.
• Buy realistic quantities instead of aspirational ones.
• Understand the difference between “best by” and “use by” dates. “Best by” and “use by” dates indicate quality—not safety. (The exception is infant formula.) If food has been stored properly and shows no signs of spoilage, it is often still safe to eat after these dates.
• Freeze leftovers before they’re forgotten.
• Rotate older foods to the front of the refrigerator.
• Share excess food with neighbors or community organizations.
• Compost unavoidable food scraps whenever possible.

These practices reduce waste regardless of someone’s dietary pattern. For those moving toward a more plant-based lifestyle, they can also reinforce mindful consumption rather than simply replacing one form of overconsumption with another.

One often-overlooked benefit of eating more plant foods is that they eliminate one layer of ethical loss. When beans, rice, vegetables, or fruit are wasted, the environmental costs are still real and should not be minimized. But no animal’s life was taken to produce them. That distinction matters.

Ethical Sustainability

Reducing food waste is important, as is reducing reliance on animal agriculture. Together, they amplify one another. The most sustainable meal is one that is centered around foods requiring fewer resources to produce and eat.

Many cultures have traditions that encourage gratitude before meals. Whether expressed through prayer or simple appreciation, these rituals remind us that food should not be taken for granted. Perhaps reducing waste is another way of putting gratitude into practice. Respect for food naturally extends to respect for the people who grew, harvested, transported, prepared, and served it.

When animal products are involved, respect also includes acknowledging the animals themselves. Even people who choose to eat meat often say they believe animals should be treated humanely. If that belief is sincere, then wasting animal products deserves thoughtful consideration. Taking a life only to discard the result raises difficult ethical questions that deserve more discussion.

The Value of Eliminating Food Waste

Food waste is often portrayed as a housekeeping problem. Yes, cleaning out the refrigerator, organizing the pantry, and using up leftovers are worthwhile goals, but they only tell part of the story. Food waste is also about values. It asks whether we appreciate what goes into producing our meals. It asks whether convenience has become more important than stewardship. And it asks whether our concern for animals should continue after the grocery cart is full.

Changing the world rarely happens through a single action. More often, it happens through ordinary decisions repeated over time.

• Planning meals
• Buying thoughtfully
• Using what we have
• Choosing more plant-based foods
• Seeing food as something to respect rather than consume mindlessly

These choices may seem small individually, but together they help create a food system that values resources and reflects greater compassion.

Bringing It All Together

Food waste is not merely an economic or environmental issue. It is also an animal welfare issue. Recognizing that connection broadens our understanding of compassion. It reminds us that every meal reflects a web of relationships—with people, animals, and the planet we share.

When we waste less, we honor those connections. When we recognize them, we begin building a food system rooted not in convenience, but in respect, stewardship, and compassion.

Mary Brewer has passionately served as a registered dietitian for more than four decades, combining that expertise with many years’ experience as a registered nurse. Mary advocates for plant-based nutrition and compassionate living and is a Main Street Vegan Academy graduate.

She resides in the serene Blue Ridge Mountains with her husband of 20 years, Lawrence, who is also a compassionate vegan. Together, they care for their beloved rescue friends, Edina, Lulu, Patsy, Petie, and Spike. Mary is committed to health, wellness and social justice, particularly as it pertains to fair and equal access to affordable, nutritious food and healthcare.

Posted October 13, 2026

Here’s the Honest Reason Why

As I watched vibrant, intelligent people I love slowly crumble from diseased arteries, breast cancer, diabetes, kidney failure, and dementia, I found myself asking a question that millions of families ask every day:

How did this happen?

These are people who followed the advice they were given. Yet they found themselves trapped in a medical system that seemed designed for repetition, to manage disease rather than prevent it. The experience was exhausting for them and for the people who cared about them.

What troubled me most was the confusion. Doctors disagreed with one another. One book praised animal protein while another warned against it. One diet eliminated carbohydrates while another promoted them. The more I listened, the less clarity I found.

So, after work and on weekends, I earned certifications through Victoria Moran’s Main Street Vegan Academy(opens in new tab) and the T. Colin Campbell Center(opens in new tab) for Nutrition Studies. What I discovered changed the way I think about health, beauty, animals, and even how to save our planet.

The Food and Illness Connection Is Hiding in Plain Sight

One of the biggest surprises was how often the same foods appeared in the research. Whether the subject was artery disease, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, autoimmune disorders, or dementia, the patterns kept repeating. Animal foods that many of us were taught were essential, meat, dairy, eggs, and cheese, showed up repeatedly in studies that put the finger on them as the cause of disease.

I wasn’t surprised, but what surprised me was the distortions that this true information goes through when it reaches the public. Like many people, I am bombarded with made up information that says illness is mostly a matter of genetics, bad luck, or aging. Genetics certainly play a role, but the research revealed something hopeful. Our daily food choices influence our future health and our beauty far more than most people realize. We are not passive observers of our future health. Every meal becomes an opportunity to move in a body and beauty optimizing direction.

The Stanford Twins Study illustrates this beautifully. Identical twins share the same genetic blueprint, yet after only eight weeks, the twin eating a plant-based diet experienced meaningful improvements in cholesterol, insulin levels, and weight compared to the omnivore twin. The food made the difference.

The Climate Discovery That Stopped Me Cold

I expected to learn about nutrition. I did not expect to learn that food may be one of the most powerful animal and planet-saving tools available to us. For years we have been told that fossil fuels are the primary climate story. Reducing fossil fuel use is important, but I was stunned to discover the role animal agriculture plays in driving deforestation and climate change.

This finding was both sobering and hopeful. Sobering because the scale of the problem is enormous. Hopeful because ordinary people can help solve it every single day. Through breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

A peer reviewed paper published in Environmental Research Letters(opens in new tab) found that clearing forests to raise cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and lambs is responsible for a substantial portion of the warming we are experiencing today. That means every plant-based meal does more than support our health. It supports forests. It supports wildlife. It supports clean water. Our fork is one of the most powerful climate tools we possess.

The Protein Question That Refuses to Die

If there is one question I hear more than any other, it is, “Where do you get your protein?” The answer is surprisingly simple—all plants contain complete body-building protein. Beans, lentils, potatoes, grains, vegetables, seeds, and fruits all contribute amino acids. A varied whole food plant-based diet easily supplies the amount all people need.

What surprised me during my studies was not how difficult it is to get enough protein—that is simply not true—it was how much confusion surrounds the subject. The body does not store excess protein. It must process and eliminate what it does not use. More is not always better, especially when protein comes from animal sources with its fat content. The healthiest populations in the world did not build their lives around protein shakes and steak, they built them around staple potatoes, corn and beans that people have eaten successfully for generations.

What I Learned

What I learned as a nutrition coach gave me something I was seeking. Solid ground. The foods that support our bodies are not exotic. They are potatoes, beans, grains, vegetables, fruits, herbs, and greens. They are foods people have eaten for generations. Every day we sit down in front of one of the most powerful tools we possess: a plate of food. That plate can support our health, our skin, the animals who share this planet with us, and the forests and ecosystems that sustain life.

The science led me here. And the message I want to leave with you is simple: every meal is an opportunity to care for yourself, animals, and the planet all at the same time.

References

Landry MJ, Ward CP, Cunanan KM, et al. Cardiometabolic Effects of Omnivorous vs Vegan Diets in Identical Twins: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Network Open. 2023;6(11):e2344457. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.44457

Wedderburn-Bisshop G. Animal agriculture is the primary driver of climate change. Environmental Research Letters. 2025. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ad7d21(opens in new tab) Environmental Review Letters the Undercounting of methane

Rao, S., et al., “The Lifestyle Carbon Dividend: Assessment of the Carbon Sequestration Potential of Grasslands and Pasturelands Reverted to Native Forests”, AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, Dec. 2015.(opens in new tab)

Erb, K-H et al., “Unexpectedly large impact of forest management and grazing on global vegetation biomass”, Nature, vol 553, Jan. 2018(opens in new tab)

Sally Malanga is the Plant-Powered Powerhouse with a Philanthropist’s Heart. She is an eco-warrior by passion, entrepreneur by mission, wordsmith by necessity, and Main Street Vegan Academy(opens in new tab) graduate. Sally blends advocacy with mindful elegance—rallying communities, rewriting tired narratives, and elevating plant-based living into a movement. Sally is Founder of Boon For All. She is all in for replacing animal bone broth and animal collagen powder to save animals and glow skin. (Featured image: Sally at the Frick Museum.)

Episode 573, air date October 8th, 2026. Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or your favorite podcast app.

Raw Veganism, Female Empowerment & Living a Magical Life with Kate Magic

What does it mean to live a truly magical life? And how might raw veganism, spirituality, and female empowerment fit into that picture?

In this inspiring conversation, Victoria Moran speaks with Kate Magic, a celebrated raw vegan pioneer, author, life coach, Reiki master, yoga teacher, and QHHT practitioner.

Kate has shared the magic of raw foods for nearly 30 years. Through her books, workshops, courses, and retreats, she has inspired tens of thousands of people to explore a more conscious way of living.

Victoria and Kate talk about female empowerment and what it means to move into your “goddess era” as an older woman.

They explore why feminine empowerment is such a powerful topic right now. Kate also shares her thoughts on embracing this stage of life with confidence, curiosity, and joy.

In This Episode

• How Kate’s work as a health coach led her into female empowerment
• Why female empowerment is such a powerful topic right now
• What it means to move into your “goddess era” as an older woman
• Kate’s nearly 40 years of vegan living
• How to sustain a vegan lifestyle for the long term
• Why Kate is particularly passionate about raw vegan food
• Why raw foods can take plant-based living to another level
• The connection between food, spirituality, and conscious living
• Kate’s work empowering women
• What it means to live a magical life

About Our Guest

Kate Magic is celebrated worldwide for her inspiring combination of down-to-earth lifestyle guidance and uplifting spiritual insight.

Through her books, workshops, and courses, she has empowered tens of thousands of people to discover and embrace their own magic.

Kate has been travelling the world and sharing the magic of raw foods for nearly 30 years. She is also a life coach, Reiki master, yoga teacher, and QHHT practitioner.

She teaches courses and classes and holds retreats in the UK, Egypt, Bali, and beyond.

Her work encompasses three closely connected areas: The Empowered Woman, Actually Magic, and Raw Living.

Take a look at Kate’s Egypt retreat here – https://rawmagicretreats.com/egypt-magic/

And her new book here – https://theempoweredwoman.co.uk/

Connect with Kate

Learn more about Kate and Raw Living: www.rawliving.co.uk
Her podcast: The Raw Living Podcast
Kate’s latest book: The Empowered Woman – available now!
Follow Kate:
Raw Living on Facebook
Instagram: @wearerawliving
Instagram: @katemagic

Main Street Vegan Academy

The 39th cohort of Main Street Vegan Academy begins in October 2026 via Zoom.

If you’ve ever wanted to deepen your knowledge of veganism, compassion, nutrition, advocacy, and the vegan movement, this could be your opportunity.

Podcast listeners can receive $250 off with the code VEGCOACH250.

Subscribe, rate, and review the Main Street Vegan Podcast. It helps more people discover the joy of living with vitality, spirituality, and compassion.

Sign up for the Main Street Vegan blog and newsletter at www.mainstreetvegan.com and receive your FREE e-book, Recipes to Help You Age Like a Yogi.

And become an insider by joining the Main Street Vegan Podcast Listeners Group on Facebook:

Main Street Vegan Podcast Listeners Group

Complement are supplements made by vegans, Pamela Fergusson, RD, PhD, Matt Frazier, and Joel Kahn, MD, to enhance diet. Check out their new product Sulfora HERE, and enter ‘MAINSTREET’ in the discount box to save yourself 10%.

Published October 6, 2026

On the evening of the first day of the March to Abolish Animal Testing, I spoke to intrepid animal people who had walked from Albany, to Schenectady, NY, at the beginning of their 2-week trek to Marshall Bioresources near Rochester. This is what I said.

It isn’t often that I get to speak to a whole audience of luminaries. I want first to address the most luminous of all, Jane, the beautiful beagle rescued from the shuttered Ridglan Farms in Wisconsin, and now in a loving home with Ella Majers who, along with Gretchen Primack and a host of volunteers, has made this historic event a reality. You are doing something incredibly special — for animals certainly, to raise awareness absolutely, to get Marshall Bioresources shut down for ever — yeah!, and to bring us closer and closer to animal testing’s being relegated to the scrap heap of history where it belongs. But you’re also doing something that will change your life forever.

I want to say to each of you, whether you’ll be marching for 14 days or 4 hours: you’re brave, you’re exceptional, and you’re also lucky. Think of all the circumstances that had to line up to make it possible for you to be here for them. Maybe you got time off work. Maybe your mom took your kids. Maybe the sprained ankle that you thought would keep you from walking got a clean bill of health a week early so you could do this on foot instead of doing a plan B.

I can be here only for this evening. My husband is disabled these days and I’m his sole caregiver, but it just so happened my daughter wanted to come to NYC, where we live, from Orlando, for a stage fighting seminar — she’s a professional aerialist and stunt performer, and a lifelong vegan [memo: why isn’t she protein deficient?]. Anyway, her seminar just happened to take place this afternoon. She can stay with my husband tonight and tomorrow morning.

Once I did do something somewhat like what you’re about to embark on. It was almost 50 years ago, and Dick Gregory — who was then a famous comedian and a tireless activist for human rights, peace, health reform, and animals — got 120 of us to the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta to fast — 7 days, water only, and Dick Gregory abstained from even water — to draw attention to the connection between world hunger and eating animals. But plane tickets were expensive and I told my friend, Alima, that I couldn’t afford to go.” And she said, “You can’t afford not to.” Did somebody tell you that about this? If they did, good for you. If not, good for you that you told yourself.

That experience was life changing for me, as this one will be for you. Just as you’re hearing from speakers at each stop, many of them with big reputations, Dick Gregory had impressive people do conference calls over a loudspeaker every night to keep us grounded. Coretta Scott King was one of them, and our favorite: Muhammad Ali.

After that fast, back home in Kansas City where I lived, one Wednesday morning I was rushing out the hotel where I had a gym membership, and there he was: Ali, bigger than life and the most handsome man I had ever seen. I ran up him and said, “Excuse me, but I was at the fast in Atlanta last month. Your calls meant so much: you were really our hero.” And the Heavyweight Champion of the World said to me: “No, you guys were the heroes. I should have been there fasting with you.” At the height of his fame and at the height of his vitality, this iconic human being, known for saying “I am the greatest,” said instead, “You guys, you who showed up and did what you said you’d do, even when it was hard and if you wanted to quit: you’re the heroes.”

And here we are now. 2026. Schenectady, New York, a city that is much too hard to spell but I’m working on it. And although I’m not the champion of anything, I know without a doubt that I’m feeling now what Muhammad Ali felt then: that a group of people can opt to do something spectacular, and any of us with a conscience can say, “I wish I were with you for the duration.”

You are doing God’s work — if you don’t like that word, use another one. Vivisection is the earliest animal cause that people spoke out against. Even some of the ancient Greek philosophers opposed it, and by the 1700s, great minds like Voltaire, Alexander Pope, and Dr. Samuel Johnson railed against the practice. Johnson called the people who experimented on dogs “a race of wretches.” At that time, these people had to fight the widespread belief, promulgated by Descartes, that animals were automatons: torturing them was fine, since they felt no pain. It’s worse now. The people harming them know they’re suffering. Those folks at Marshall Bioresources breeding these trusting beagles, feisty ferrets, the playful kitties, and precious tiny pigs know they are being bred to suffer. These fellow humans of ours have been trained not to care.

The first established anti-vivisection group dates back to 1875. This means that we, and our predecessors, have been at this, collectively, for 150 years. On the downside, animal experimentation is the very heart of Big Pharma, and Pharma runs the world. Doctors write prescriptions for every part of your body and brain. If someone is addicted to a drug, they may find their way to the 12 Steps but probably not before going through a dozen prescriptions. The prevailing model of health and healing is that each of us is a biomedical machine controlled by genes, even though the new science of epigenetics — that’s beyond genetics — is crystal clear that the lion’s share of disease is caused by lifestyle and consciousness. A great deal of the work being done on health and disease ought to be focusing on health, and doing so in ways that mean nobody gets hurt.

And even in standard drug testing, it is a travesty that we’re not using the state-of-the-art techniques now available much more widely. But even beyond this, let’s remember: these animals are being bred, tortured, and killed in support of a healthcare system that is, in and of itself, off-track. We’re up against a lot. What was done at Ridglan and what you’re doing on this long march is unique. It’s powerful. It will have a ripple effect of that none of us can accurately foresee.

You are changing history, you are making history, and it breaks my heart that we cannot compress history so that every animal can be saved now. But every mile. Every day. Every blister. Every Ace bandage wrapped around somebody’s knee brings us closer to victory. And most of all, it brings all the Janes out there closer to freedom. Godspeed.

Afterword: “The march was exactly what we needed,” says coordinator Gretchen Primack. “The whole thing was magical, incredible, and on the last day there were a thousand people at Marshall: peaceful, strong, lovely people. And immediately, everybody was like, ‘What’s next?'” Plenty, actually, and you can find out all about it at https://marchforanimals.org: click on the button that says “Sign up here to find out what’s next.”  Activists will be going to DC in the spring in support of  the Companion Animal Protection Against Cruel Testing (COMPACT) Act (H.R. 10522), a bill introduced in Congress last month to prohibit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from using federal funds for biomedical research on live dogs and cats. Sponsors are U.S. Representative Nick Langworthy (R-NY) and Mark Pocan (D-WI). If passed, COMPACT would end all federal funding of research involving dogs and cats, and labs would be required to provide adoption or rescue, rather than euthanasia, for dogs and cats currently in the system.

Victoria Moran is a writer, speaker, and longtime vegan and animal advocate. Her latest book is Age Like a Yogi and her podcast, Main Street Vegan, is in its 15th year. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn @VictoriaMoranAuthor, and on YouTube @VictoriaMoranOfficial.

Episode 572, air date October 1st, 2026. Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or your favorite podcast app.

Farm Sanctuary, Compassion & Changing Hearts with Gene Baur

What happens when we begin to see farmed animals not as products, but as fellow beings sharing this journey with us?

In this profound conversation, Victoria Moran speaks with Gene Baur, president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary and one of the pioneering voices in the movement for farm animal protection.

Gene has spent four decades working to change the way we think about animals, food, farming, and compassion. Since co-founding Farm Sanctuary in 1986, he has helped bring the realities of factory farming into public view while creating a place where rescued animals can live out their lives in safety.

Gene’s new book, Farm Sanctuary: The Story of a Movement, celebrates 40 years of rescue, education, and advocacy.

The book traces Farm Sanctuary’s journey from a small grassroots effort to a movement that has helped change conversations around farmed animals and our food system. It also shares photographs and stories from those four decades of work.

Victoria and Gene talk about what inspired him to begin this work and what he has learned along the way.

The conversation also moves beyond factory farming and into the way we relate to food itself.

Gene shares his thoughts on returning to a more agrarian way of seeing things. That might mean growing some of our own food, getting to know the farmers who grow it, and becoming more connected with the land and the food on our plates.

It’s an invitation to think differently about where our food comes from and what a more connected food system could look like.

One of the most thoughtful parts of the conversation is Gene’s perspective on talking with people who don’t yet understand veganism.

How do we stand firmly in our own values without simply judging people who see things differently?

Gene speaks about his own deep commitment to being vegan and to seeing animals as fellow beings on this journey, while also recognising the importance of communication, openness, and meeting people where they are.

For Gene, compassion isn’t only about the choices we make. It’s also about how we communicate those choices to the wider world.

In This Episode

• Gene’s four decades of work with Farm Sanctuary
• The story behind the founding of Farm Sanctuary
• Gene’s new book, Farm Sanctuary: The Story of a Movement
• What four decades of rescue, education, and advocacy have taught him
• Why we might benefit from returning to a more agrarian way of living
• Growing some of our own food and reconnecting with the land
• The importance of knowing the farmers who grow our food
• How to communicate with people who don’t yet understand veganism
• Standing firmly in our vegan values without judging others
• Seeing animals as fellow beings rather than commodities

About Our Guest

Gene Baur is an activist, author, and president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, which he helped establish in 1986.

A pioneer in undercover investigations and farm animal rescue, Gene has visited hundreds of farms, stockyards, and slaughterhouses. His work has helped expose the realities of factory farming and inspired a wider farm sanctuary movement.

Gene has also advocated for stronger protections for farmed animals and has worked with legislators, policymakers, farmers, and the public to promote a more compassionate and sustainable food system.

Follow Gene
Instagram – @genebaur @farmsanctuary
Facebook – www.facebook.com/GeneBaur1

Gene’s New Book

Farm Sanctuary: The Story of a Movement is available now.

The book celebrates Farm Sanctuary’s 40-year journey, from the rescue of its first animal to the growth of an international movement dedicated to changing the way farmed animals are seen and treated.

Farm Sanctuary

Learn more about Gene’s work, Farm Sanctuary, the animals who call it home, and the organisation’s ongoing rescue, education, and advocacy work: Farm Sanctuary

Gene’s website also includes information about his upcoming book tour stops. If you’d like to see Gene in person, visit Farm Sanctuary’s events page for current dates and locations.

Main Street Vegan Academy

The 39th cohort of Main Street Vegan Academy begins in October 2026 via Zoom.

If you’ve ever wanted to deepen your knowledge of veganism, compassion, nutrition, advocacy, and the vegan movement, this could be your opportunity.

Podcast listeners can receive $250 off with the code VEGCOACH250.

Subscribe, rate, and review the Main Street Vegan Podcast to help more people discover the joy of living with vitality, spirituality, and compassion.

Sign up for the Main Street Vegan blog and newsletter at mainstreetvegan.com and receive your FREE e-book, Recipes to Help You Age Like a Yogi.

And become an insider by joining the Main Street Vegan Podcast Listeners Group on Facebook:

Main Street Vegan Podcast Listeners Group

Complement are supplements made by vegans, Pamela Fergusson, RD, PhD, Matt Frazier, and Joel Kahn, MD, to enhance diet. Check out their new product Sulfora HERE, and enter ‘MAINSTREET’ in the discount box to save yourself 10%.

Posted September 29, 2026

It started off as a regular Tuesday. I headed out to take my friend, Mary, to the grocery store. Mary is in her 70s—very sweet, caring, and a good listener. Over time, we’ve come to love and inspire each other. I love her quiet nature and her love of books, and she enjoys hearing about my activism for the animals and social justice in general. I’m excited to see her changing, switching from cow’s milk to plant milk to soy yogurt, and growing in her awareness about her daily choices.

On the drive there, I told her all about my latest adventures volunteering with opossums and other small wild creatures. We went shopping as usual, thankfully picking out many fruits and vegetables, seeing our regular cashier, and enjoying the walk in the store. But as we were leaving the grocery store, a woman suddenly walked right in front of me and startled me, saying, “Would you like a free sandwich from Chick-fil-A?”

Immediately, I felt a wave of repulsion. I said, “No thank you, I’m vegan.”

The woman said, “OK,” and right away I heard someone else chime in, “I’ll take it, we love Chick-fil-A!” I looked over at the lady who said that—hopefully not with a mean look, though my internal thoughts were things I won’t put down here. I walked away miffed and frustrated.

As I got in the car to take Mary home, my mind was racing with unfiltered thoughts about what I could have said instead:

“No thank you, I don’t eat animals.”

“No thank you, I don’t eat my friends.”

“No thank you, here’s a Plant Based Treaty card, please take a look at it.”

“No thank you, do you know what happens to male chicks in the poultry industry?”

And on and on and on it went. I sat there, ruminating over what I could have done differently, and started to get angry at myself for not responding “correctly.” Even now, as I’m sitting out in the sunshine away from the situation, I feel frustrated.

Still, I don’t even know what the right answer would have been. But it’s the same sort of ruminating that has taken away my peace in the past, the kind that cost me years of my life in an attempt to figure out what was wrong with me. What have I done wrong today? What did I do wrong yesterday? What if I wasn’t such a failure?

Thankfully, after years of working on myself, I was able to catch it. Sometimes that process is faster than others, and that’s OK, as long as I have that self-awareness to stop. To stop with the “what ifs.” To stop with the self-judgment. And to bring in compassion for the human aniaml who was leaving the store with her friend and was caught off guard by a question that jolted her. . .compassion for the human animal who had spend Friday and Saturday volunteering her time for wildlife.

That bit of self-compassion made it possible for me to say, “What if it’s okay? What if everything I did was okay?” And what peace that would bring me, if I did indeed say the right thing in that moment after all?

I share this story with you to let go of the what ifs and to embrace all is well. We will always have opportunities to make different choices. Be kind to yourself when you feel you’ve fallen short of perfect. Moments happen quickly and we do the best we can in that speck of time. I did the best I could in the Chick-fil-A moment. Thankfully, I did not respond with hostility. Thankfully, I did not give a lecture to anybody. Thankfully, I maintained composure, and I responded with the one word that said it all, “vegan.” Because I’m vegan, I don’t eat chickens or other animals. Because I’m vegan, I am aware of the suffering of others, and it matters to me. Because I’m vegan, I refuse this coupon but my wish for you is peace and hope and growth on your journey, just as I want for mine. I did indeed do the best I could, and I’m grateful for a heart big enough to allow me to move forward with love and compassion for myself and everyone reading this.

Mariquita Solis is a Human Dynamics and Leadership Strategist and Co-Founder of the Tilson Solis Group, where she helps individuals, leaders, and organizations navigate the subtle patterns shaping culture, decisions, and meaningful change. As an Uncaged Heart Coach, she works with men to break through restrictive societal conditioning and step into their full emotional range, self-leadership, and relational integrity. She is also a Main Street Vegan graduate.

A dedicated community advocate, Mariquita serves as the Atlanta Campaigner for the Plant Based Treaty, a Climate Healer, and a Lay Leader at Unity North Atlanta. She also actively volunteers with the Chattahoochee Nature Center and Lucky’s Place Wildlife Rehab.

Combining behavioral insight, practical frameworks, and candid dialogue, Mariquita empowers clients to bridge divides, strengthen communication, and move from insight into intentional, sustainable action across both personal and professional spheres. Find her on Facebook.

Posted September 22, 2026

Why would vegans want to alienate anyone who loves animals? We shouldn’t, but sometimes we do.

At a recent Main Street Vegan Academy(opens in new tab) (MSVA) reunion, 35 people attended the weekend’s events. At the luncheon, the lovely lady across from me said she was vegetarian. She was apologetic for being “only” a vegetarian, but I made sure she felt welcome and included and that she didn’t have to explain to us why she wasn’t vegan.

I will admit that for a split second, I was surprised to see a non-vegan at our event. In order to take the certification course, you have to be vegan, but I remembered that Victoria Moran (the organizer of our reunion and founder of the MSVA) invited my omnivore husband to join us for dinner on Friday night, since it was our wedding anniversary.

I also recalled that the founders of the Tamerlaine Sanctuary & Preserve(opens in new tab) in Montague, New Jersey, where we visit as often as we can, do not shun non-vegans. As Gabrielle Stubbert (co-founder) reminded me, “We, too, ate meat for years. Who are we to judge anybody else?” I agree.

Gabrielle told me, “We’re a vegan sanctuary, and while we don’t expect everyone to become vegan overnight, we do ask people to eat less meat, just like all of those things we do to reduce our footprint, like recycling and conserving energy. Animal agriculture is one of the top drivers of environmental harm. Eating less meat is the best thing you can do for the planet, your health, and, most of all, the animals. If you’re trying to get the world to go vegan, judging people and making them feel defensive about their choices is surely not going to help our cause. Meet people where they are and show them compassion. None of us were born vegan. We were meat eaters ourselves. If you want people to eat less meat, or become vegan, stick really good vegan food in their mouths.”

I asked fellow MSVA grads and vegans how they feel about animal lovers who still eat meat.

Nivi Jaswal-Wirtjes, MBA, NBC-HWC, MVLCE, and Founder & President of The Virsa Foundation & JIVINITI Research Program(opens in new tab), “If I’m being completely truthful, my immediate emotional response is often annoyance—sometimes even anger. I struggle with the contradiction when someone describes themselves as a huge animal lover while continuing to eat animals. Almost immediately, I feel the weight of needing to be a good role model. I remind myself that if I want people to move toward greater compassion, I need to lead by example rather than judgement.”

Another MSVA grad told me, “I could not be friends with someone who actively hunts, brags about the carnivore diet, or puts down the vegan lifestyle.” I agree and cannot discuss hunting with anybody.  I agree that someone who is bragging about eating meat or disrespecting my vegan choices is not a friend. Even so, we do not live in a vegan world, and I don’t live in a vegan household. I am used to seeing meat in front of me, but I don’t like the look or the smell of it at all. I do not say anything, but I think it.

A vegan told me she does not eat out with omnivores. I respect her choice; however, if I waited for a vegan companion to dine with, I’d never eat out. I do eat at vegan establishments alone most of the time, but some friends, family, and my husband are willing to support me by joining me occasionally, and I am grateful. By the same token, I must eat at regular restaurants with them, too. I don’t eat out with anyone who doesn’t make sure there are vegan options, so I agree with my fellow MSVA grad.

I used to view eating alone as a stigma or worried I looked lonely. At 60, I no longer care. I listen to an audiobook and always chat with the staff—several of whom, even at vegan Manhattan restaurants, are not vegan themselves.

I did stop actively following a few people on social media who hunt. One dead carcass with a bloody pic was enough.

One of my nieces, Amy, lives with her pig, Ollie, who has his own room in her house. She still eats meat. There is no need to discuss it because we have mutual respect for one another. It is none of my business. My niece belongs to a pig rescue team and once left Thanksgiving dinner to save a pig. Actions speak volumes. Before meeting me 13 years ago, she viewed vegans as “obnoxious and judgy” especially in her rescue groups.

Nobody wants to listen to a know-it-all on any subject.

What I found shocking, speaking to Amy, was that many people have asked her if she will eat Ollie after he dies. What?! Amy told me she would do whatever it takes to protect Ollie. Who am I—or any of us—to question her love and loyalty?

I have been asked how I can be with my omnivore husband. The one who sobs when we lose a cat (we have had ten rescued cats in our 13 years together), but not when a human relative he loved dies. The man who loves our cats as much as I do and will spare no expense to save one of them at the vet. He rescued a baby squirrel out of a drainpipe, took him home, bottle-fed him, and when Rocky, the squirrel, was old enough, brought him to a sanctuary to live safely outside.

We vegans always hope that someone will connect that pigs, goats, chickens and cows are just like cats, dogs, or a rescued baby squirrel. They’re affectionate, smart, and have feelings, too. It is not our place to force this issue.

At my mother-in-law’s recent 90th birthday celebration, both of my sisters-in-law ordered a vegan meal for me in advance. For my 60th birthday(opens in new tab), my family and friends ate at a vegan restaurant and enjoyed it. This is a loving example of mutual respect.

Vegans often do what they do for three reasons: for the animals, the environment, and for their health. I do it for all three, but my strongest motivator is the animals. As a child (when I had no voice for what I had to eat), I did not like the idea of an animal being slaughtered to be on my plate. I was told that it’s normal and expected. It wasn’t for me.

As soon as I moved out, I became a vegetarian—35 years ago. Twenty years ago, after learning the truth about factory farming, I became a vegan. I have no regrets and sleep well at night knowing I’m living my values. But I also believe in respecting others. I don’t force my views on anyone. I trust my life to carry the message.

Cherie Hans, shown  here with Felipe, a resident of Tamerlaine Sanctuary, holds certifications from Dr. McDougall’s Starch Solution and Dr. Campbell’s Plant-Based Nutrition programs, and is a Main Street Vegan Academy(opens in new tab) Master Vegan Lifestyle Coach and Educator. She holds a Master of Science in Bilingual Education from St. John’s University, New York, and a Bachelor of Arts from the City University of NY: Queens College in English and Spanish, and currently teaches adults in English as a Second Language. A. She is from Queens, New York, but now resides in New Jersey with her husband and many rescued cats.