A Handful Of The Best Vegan Websites

I love looking through websites. I’ve become a bit of a junkie at collecting new veggie websites and my vegan bookmarks folder easily holds as many as every other folder put together.
I decided to post links to the ones that are interesting me right now. I apologise if I have linked to some before, but the ones that I’ve posted about previously (Earthlings, The Kind Life ...etc) have struck a chord and I couldn’t leave them off of the list.
If you know of any links that I have neglected to mention (some, like PETA were done on purpose), please feel free to link me to them, and I hope you appreciate the links.


Making the decision to go veggie

Do you feel as though you haven't heard the other side of the argument properly? Why shouldn’t you choose a vegan lifestyle? This web page is for you:
10 arguments against adopting a vegan lifestyle

A journalist took the plunge and went meat free (although not fish-free) for a year. She discovered the difficulty she faced in socialising with friends, finding something to eat in a restaurant that wasn't mushroom risotto and the ongoing question: was she doing enough?:
An Independent journalist learns to eat ethically

Not sure if you want to make the transition to fully vegan/vegetarian? Try making Monday a meat free day:
Meatless Monday

The Veggie Lifestyle

Some myths about dairy need to be eradicated:
Milk Myths

Ready to give up meat? The vegetarian Society will give you all of the information and support you need to ensure your transition is a trouble-free one:
Vegetarian Society

You've given up meat but you want to do more. The vegan society offers hundreds of animal-free recipes, advice and information:
Vegan Society

The VVF is a charity that was created to monitor the scientific information linking diet to health. An invaluable source of information:
The Vegetarian & Vegan Foundation

Vegan TV Shows

Isa Chandra Moskowitz is undoubtedly the Queen of Vegan cooking with 5 vegan cookbooks in her repertoire. She became famous for her series, Post Punk Kitchen:
Post Punk Kitchen episodes - Google video

Animal Rights

The Meatrix is of course a parody of the matrix. Instead of the matrix world, it shows that the happy farm with the content and cared for animals is in fact the illusion. It's a fantastic and informative cartoon for both adults and children alike:
The Meatrix

The most powerful film that anybody can watch, it covers everything from puppy mills to the fur and entertainment industry:
Earthlings

A one stop shop for information about the veggie lifestyle and animal compassion. It also has a shop:
Viva!

Compassion in world farming tries to ensure that animals reared for food are treated compassionately:
Compassion in World Farming

Animal Testing

Do you know if your cleaning products have been tested on animals? Check out the best way to go cruelty free:
Go Cruelty Free

The BUAV is leading the way to stop testing on animals:
The BUAV

Want to know which companies don't test on animals? While this site won't tell you if the company is vegan, it will tell you which are BUAV approved:
BUAV approved little book of cruelty free

Love the planet; it’s the only one we have!

Rightly or wrongly blasted as overzealous, these people truly care about the state of the planet, and they offer insights into the things our governments would rather we remain ignorant about:
Greenpeace

Vegan Food/Cosmetics/Clothing

Where to buy vegan food/cosmetics/clothing if you don't live near a whole foods market? The vegan store has a small variety of everything:
Vegan Store

Moo Free Chocolate :)
Moo Free Chocolates

While not completely vegan, they are cruelty free and they do have the vegan logo on most of their products. Plus, they are completely natural :)
Lush Cosmetics

Beautiful looking animal free handbags.
Feel Good Handbags

Animal free shoes
Alternative Stores

Social Networking

Alicia Silverstone’s community of kind lifers, based around her book, The Kind Diet
The Kind Life

Social networking for people wishing to connect with like-minded veggies
Volentia

Still looking for the right person who shares your values? Try this site:
Veggie Romance

Books

I love this book. Straight talking, if you can get over your bodily parts being referred to as fat mouth, fat ass...etc.
Next to buy is the cookery book, even if they list loads of American brands that we Brits find hard to get our hands on.


Simon Rimmer isn't a chef. He started a vegetarian restaurant in North England armed with 2 cookery books. But his style is easygoing and simple and he's a joy to watch on Sunday morning television.

I haven't read this but I follow Alicia on twitter and facebook and I aim to buy this imminently. Her advice is amazing.










An amazing book. Confused about the best green, cruelty free products? This book will answer them all.


One of the first vegetarian books I owned, a gift from 15 years ago (before I made the mistake of returning to meat).



My housemate brought this book. Beautiful and easy food.

Greetings from the Apprentice Herbivore

I made the decision on June 22nd to go vegetarian after watching a video on PETA about the cruelty in an Ohio based kosher slaughterhouse. Like most people, I knew that inhumane slaughter occurred in all slaughterhouses, but Kosher is meant to be humane, right? 

From the PETA site: workers  were using a meat hook and a knife to rip out cows' tracheas while the animals were still conscious—after the shochetim (kosher slaughterers) had cut their throats.

Read the full article here. 

Like everybody I know, I'd turned a blind eye to the ritual slaughter in all slaughterhouses, but I was truly sickened by the video, which, let's face it, you are meant to (PETA is fond of punching you with the most horrific images they can find). As a Brit, you'd hope that UK slaughterhouses were nothing like American ones. Alas, from their McDonald and KFC fast food lifestyle, the UK has followed America like a willing puppy.

I'd eaten fish and chips on the 22nd (before watching the video on the train home from the seaside). I became a vegetarian from the 23rd (today is day 96) and have moves to becoming vegan. It helps that my housemate Helen has become intolerant to lactose, but after learning just how meat consumption is directly linked to cancer and heart disease, she has gamely joined me on the green wagon. 

We are both overweight from a sedentary lifestyle of meaty, fatty, unhealthy pizza, Chinese, Indian and other general crap. So we are both on the Cambridge Wight Plan. It's hard for her - she can't drink the conveniently premade tetra paks of milkshakes and I've swapped out my powder shakes and porridge for her (which still contain miniscule amounts of milk unfortunately), so I've not launched as immediately into a vegan lifestyle as I'd have liked, although everything that is nothing to do with the diet has been replaced. I'm using soya milk and before restarting my weight loss plan I made vegan cauliflower cheese, vegan pancakes and vegan Yorkshire puddings (sooo yummy!). We are both also currently eating Quorn, which contains free range egg. I'd like to become comfortable with using tofu - I've only used the Cauldron pre-marinated pieces so far, which tasted deliciously of sausage.

I'm hoping that by the new Year, or my birthday in late February at the latest, will be the point at when I can make the change complete.

I've decided to create this blog to chronicle recipes that I've discovered and used, or created (like my Curried pumpkin and potato soup, roasted vegetable soup, vegetable stir fry or vegetable casserole that I'll post at a later date).

It will also be a place for me to link to other blogs, complain about how hard it is to get a decent sandwich in a supermarket, and how annoying it will be to be completely unable to get a soya latte or food in a little cafe in the middle of nowhere (as we discovered when we visited Newport in the Isle of Wight, and trundled from cafe to cafe - in a town filled with cafes - looking for at least a vegetarian sandwich and found only one that offered egg mayonnaise, but no soya for our coffee or hot chocolate)

On that note, thanks for reading (or skimming) my first blog post :)