Vegan Eats

“Ross’ ability to convert my loyal allegiance to all things bacon n’ eggs, to a leafy green-and-bean way of life is a testament to his creativity with food and his commitment to educating others about compassion towards animals. My initial protests fell in the key of a high pitched whine, “Ross! I cannot live on leaves alone!” To that he responded by exposing me to a world of hearty greens like bok choy, fresh cilantro, the versatile chickpea, and the wonder-food that is tofu. By providing me with some helpful vegan literature, unconventional cooking lessons and informative journeys into the supermarket consumer jungle, Ross helped me become aware of the factors involved for food to end up on my plate. The key was providing alternatives for all of the animal products I consumed, now I live off of vanilla soy milk and swapped my boring bologna sandwiches for tofurky wraps. Equipped with that knowledge, I became an empowered consumer, no longer at the mercy of overly processed food representations that so often find their way into our carts. I notice a huge improvement in my health, my relationship with the environment and with animals.

The Vegan Eats Blog is an opportunity for everyone to learn how easy it is to transition to a cruelty-free way of life, and a place for vegan veterans to try out some of Ross’ takes on various traditional and modern dishes.

Ross follows a simple philosophy: be good to the earth and all those who reside here, be good to your body and mind… and enjoy food! With great pleasure I introduce Ross Corder- progressive vegan. Compassionate foodie. Raddest vegan alive.”

-Nada Alic

Thanks for checking out Vegan Eats. It’s a work in progress! I started this blog because I love food. Not only do I love food, but I also love to cook it. I think I’ve always loved food, but I can nearly pinpoint the time I fell in love with cooking. When people find out that I don’t eat anything that comes from an animal they usually ask something like, “well, what the hell do you eat then?!” I always tell them it’s a lot easier if I just explain to them what I don’t eat than what I do eat, because I eat all kinds of stuff! As the title of this blog suggests, a vegan eats… food! I want to share that food with people through this site.

I certainly wasn’t much of a cook when I first went vegan. After getting bored with potato chips and veggie dogs, I decided to learn how to cook.

My journey to expand my dietary horizons began with a few part-time vegetarian cooking classes, cookbooks, a food processor, and a restless curiosity for all things culinary. From adventures to farmers’ markets to cookouts with friends and family, I love it all. It’s what I really love about cooking: trying to come up with ways to turn whatever fresh ingredients I can find into a good home-cooked meal to eat with whomever’s around me. Damn, I’m getting hungry right now as I write this!

Veganism has been a pretty important aspect of my life over the past seven years, but perhaps more so than ever during this past year. While there are very compelling environmental and health-related reasons to switch to a plant-based diet, veganism, for me, is primarily about ethics. And my ethics tell me it just ain’t right to eat animals or any products of their reproductive process. Thousands of years of domestication and cultural traditions make the whole picture really complicated, but I’ve always just been extremely uncomfortable with the thought of killing and dominating “lesser beings” (who are demonstrably sentient) in order to satisfy desires that I absolutely can’t justify as needs. Know what I’m sayin’? Basically, eliminating the use of animal products in my lifestyle as much as physically possible is one of the ways I’ve chosen to reduce unnecessary suffering while respecting the inherent value of all conscious life. If you’re interested in learning more about veganism, check out the ‘resources’ page of this website. Or feel free to write me with any questions or comments you may have at veganeatsblog@gmail.com.

Cheers!

-Ross