A Practical Peacemaker Ponders . . .

I'd been hearing great praise for the documentary Vegucated, and this week was able to see it at a vegan potluck/movie event. Three average meat-eating New Yorkers agree to go vegan for six weeks and have their experience filmed. They get lots--and I mean lots--of support and expert advice. It begins with the filmmakers, who show them vegan advocacy films, take them grocery shopping, dining out, and to a farmed animal sanctuary. Their "vegucation" is also provided by such luminaries as Howard Lyman (a contributor to Lantern's book The Way of Compassion), Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Dr. Milton Mills, T. Colin Campbell, and other speakers and participants at the Vegetarian Summerfest, which the three attend as part of the experiment. How fortunate they were to get this kind of solid information and encouragement, compared to those of us who went vegan years ago and had to figure it all out for ourselves! Viewers, of course, get all the same encouragement vicariously by watching the film, and can find more at the Get Vegucated website, including the movie trailer; Vegan at Heart, a four-week-long daily email coaching program; tips on making social connections with other local vegans; the DVD available for purchase ($19.99); and info on hosting a screening.

You will not be bored watching this, even if you've been vegan for many years. Vegucated is non-threatening, engaging, informative, consistently funny, and keeps its heart open to the challenges of maintaining the vegan commitment in the real world. It shows average people changing their lives, dealing with unsympathetic friends and family, continuing until the new way of eating is no longer strange, and joyfully reaping the benefits of better health and a more peaceful conscience. I urge you to see Vegucated, talk about it and show it to friends, and encourage them to take the Vegucated Challenge.