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If you’ve been listening to Food for Thought podcast or reading my Substack over the last few years, you know I’ve been talking a lot about protein.

If you’re new to my work, you might be shaking your head thinking I’ve just hopped on the high-protein bandwagon.

First of all, you’d be wrong to assume that. I don’t jump on bandwagons—never have, never will.

Second, this is not about following trends; it’s about listening to the research (some of which has been updated), honoring where our bodies are right now, and aligning our nutrition with that reality.

In previous articles and episodes (just search for “protein” on my Substack), I touched on

• how U.S. dietary guidelines shaped the way we think about protein—and why so many people still equate it with meat.

• the shift from “meat” as a food group to “protein” as a nutrient category

• how protein functions in the body

• why plant and animal amino acids are identical

• why the RDA is really just a baseline minimum

• and the fact that I’ve doubled—if not more than doubled—my protein intake compared to where I was just a few years ago

You can listen to the episode here and watch the video here (and below) for the fuller explanation of things, but what I want to do today is to share exactly which plant foods pack the most protein per calorie if you’re interested in increasing your protein in a healthy, compassionate way.

Having a written version of this has been enthusiastically requested by many of you, particularly my supporters, so enjoy!

As I discuss in detail in many recent protein- and menopause-related episodes and articles, I’m taking an intentional, science-backed approach tailored specifically to my age, life stage, and fitness goals. When calculating daily intake, many experts recommend aiming for roughly 1 gram of protein per pound of target body weight—or a clean, comfortable baseline target of around 100 grams daily. Ish.

If you’ve been relying on standard government dietary guidelines, that number might sound quite high to you, and I encourage you to check out the related episodes and articles linked below for a broader, deeper understanding of why I’m taking this approach—and why aiming above the bare minimum can be transformative.

But before we get to the list, I’m very excited to announce a FREE webinar I’m hosting with Complement!

🎥 JOIN ME LIVE: UPCOMING WEBINAR WITH COMPLEMENT!

Want to go even deeper into healthy aging? I’m hosting a live webinar with Complement where we’ll break down practical strategies, answer your burning questions, and talk all things plant nutrition!

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Ranking the Highest-Protein Plant Foods

So, after much research, I compiled and ranked the absolute best sources of plant-based protein—and I think some of this is going to surprise you! Before we jump straight into the countdown, here are two quick qualifiers for how I evaluated and ranked these foods:

1. The Protein-to-Calorie Ratio: Instead of simply listing grams per cup, I’m ranking foods by how much protein they deliver per 100 calories. This is particularly useful for body recomposition (losing fat while building or maintaining muscle), showing you which foods give you the biggest protein “bang” for your caloric budget.

2. Real-World Practicality: I am only highlighting foods that are realistic to eat in 100-calorie portions. (For instance, spirulina technically delivers 20g of protein per 100 calories, but you’d have to eat 5 full tablespoons! Leafy greens are also fantastic, but you’d need 8–10 cooked cups to hit 100 calories. Eat your greens for micronutrients, not as your primary protein anchor.

Now, let’s dive into our top plant-protein stars—ranked by their real-world protein density per 100 calories!

As we dive into these individual ingredients, remember that you don't have to figure out how to turn them into delicious meals on your own—I’ve already created an e-book, High-Protein Recipes Featuring Tofu, Tempeh, and Edamame, to give you 12 simple, savory staples (from Creamy Edamame Soup to Southwestern Tofu Burgers) packing anywhere from 10 to 20+ grams of protein per serving!

🌟 Superstars: 15–20 g Protein per 100 Calories

Let’s start at the top with our SUPERSTARS—the plant foods that deliver a massive 15 to 20+ grams of protein per 100 calories.

• Seitan (Wheat Gluten) (~18–20+ g protein per 100 calories): Made from vital wheat gluten, seitan is practically pure protein. It’s dense, chewy, insanely versatile, and has been a plant-based staple for over 1,500 years.

• Fava Bean Tofu (~15–18 g protein per 100 calories): A fantastic soy-free alternative to traditional tofu made entirely from fava beans. It’s naturally higher in protein per calorie, beautifully firm, and cooks up just like classic tofu.

• Clean Plant-Based Protein Powders (~15–20 g protein per 100 calories): Pure, minimal-ingredient protein powders (like pea, rice, or hemp blends) give you a concentrated, effortless protein boost in a single scoop. (Complement is my absolute go-to here for clean ingredients and third-party testing!)

⭐ Standouts: 10–14 g Protein per 100 Calories

These traditional staples and versatile modern alternatives form the reliable backbone of a high-protein plant-based kitchen.

• Edamame (~11–12 g protein per 100 calories): Whole, young soybeans that are delicious, packed with fiber, folate, and vitamin K, and serve as a complete protein right out of the pod.

• Tempeh (~11–12 g protein per 100 calories): Fermented whole soybeans pressed into a firm block—giving you maximum protein, gut-friendly probiotics, and a rich, nutty flavor.

• Powdered Peanut Butter (11–12 g protein per 100 calories | ~3 Tbsp powder): Pressing out the oils concentrated in regular peanut butter turns a fat-dense food into a protein standout for smoothies and oats.

• Super-Firm Tofu (~12–14 g protein per 100 calories): Because it’s pressed with less water, super-firm tofu delivers even more protein density per bite, making it fantastic for crisping up in a skillet or air fryer.

• Lupini Beans (~13–15 g protein per 100 calories): An ancient Mediterranean legume that is super low in calories, packed with fiber, and delivers a massive protein hit with almost no prep required.

• Beyond Burger (~8.7 g per 100 calories / 20 g per patty): Strictly by the 100-calorie math, it sits right at the top of our 5–9g tier. But just like yogurt, nobody eats a third of a burger! When you eat the full patty (~230 calories), it delivers a solid 20 grams of protein without the cholesterol or saturated animal fat of beef—making it a real-world standout.

• High-Protein Plant Yogurts Avoid low-protein varieties, and choose higher protein yogurt brands, such as

  • Kite Hill Greek-Style Almond & Soy Milk (15 g protein per 120 calories),

  • Icelandic Provisions Oatmilk (8 g protein per 100 calories)

  • Siggi’s Plant-Based (5.5 g protein per 100 calories)

A quick note on yogurts: While a couple of these sit just under 10 grams per 100 calories, nobody eats two-thirds of a cup/container! When you eat the full single-serve container (~150 calories), you’re getting an easy 10 to 15 grams of protein in one sitting—which is why I include them here.

💪 Solid Performers: 5–9 g Protein per 100 Calories

Next, let’s move onto our last category of high-protein plant foods, which is the category of SOLID PERFORMERS – those with 5–9 grams of protein per 100 calories.

• Green Peas (~7 g protein per 100 calories): Peas are often overlooked, but they’re packed with protein, fiber, vitamins A, C, and K, and iron.

• Lentils (~8–9 g protein per 100 calories): Fiber-rich, versatile, iron-dense, affordable, and quick-cooking.

• Beans (black, kidney, pinto, chickpeas) (~6–8 g protein per 100 calories): Excellent staples packed with protein, complex carbs, and slow-burning energy.

• Tofu (Firm / Extra Firm) (~8–10 g protein per 100 calories): While super-firm and fava bean tofu hit higher numbers, classic firm tofu is a steady, reliable anchor packed with protein, calcium, and iron.

• Soy Milk (~7–8 g protein per 100 calories): The original plant milk and the only one that naturally matches cow’s milk in protein, with none of the cholesterol or lactose.

• Nutritional Yeast (~8–9 g protein per 100 calories): Savory, cheesy, B-vitamin-packed goodness you can shake on everything.

• Hemp Seeds (~5–6 g protein per 100 calories): Tiny powerhouses loaded with healthy omega-3 fats, iron, and magnesium.

• Pumpkin Seeds (Pepitas) (~5 g protein per 100 calories): Crunchy, delicious, and rich in zinc, magnesium, and iron.

🌱 Sustainers: 3–5 g Protein per 100 Calories

Nutrient-rich, delicious everyday foods that contribute meaningfully to your overall daily total, even if they aren’t primary protein sources per calorie.

• Quinoa (3–4 g protein per 100 calories | ~½ cup cooked): Excellent amino acid balance (especially lysine) compared to standard grains, making larger meal-sized portions a solid contributor.

• Traditional Peanut Butter (3.7 g protein per 100 calories | ~1 Tbsp): Rich in healthy fats and flavor; best enjoyed for taste and satiety rather than concentrated protein.

• Nuts & Seeds (Almonds, Cashews, Walnuts, Chia, Flax, Sunflower) (2–4 g protein per 100 calories | small handful / 1–2 Tbsp): Exceptional sources of micronutrients, fiber, and healthy fats that add incremental protein when used as toppings.

• Whole Grains & Vegetables (Oats, Barley, Broccoli, Potatoes): Everyday whole foods whose protein accumulates naturally throughout the day alongside crucial antioxidants and fiber.

🏃 Convenience Options for Travel & Busy Days

Before we wrap up, I want to mention a few high-protein convenience foods.

Commercial protein shakes – Aside from making your own protein-rich smoothies and shakes at home (which of course you can transport with you if you’re on the run; my favorite is Complement chocolate of course), there are some commercial plant-based protein smoothies that can be a lifesaver when you’re on the go — traveling, rushing to the airport, or just needing something quick after a workout. There are many plant-based options now, and most deliver 15–20 g of protein per serving. A few popular choices include:

• Ripple (pea protein) – ~20 g per bottle, creamy and mild.

• Orgain – ~20 g, widely available, a little sweeter.

• Evolve – ~20 g, another pea protein option with a clean ingredient list.

They’re not meant to replace whole food meals, but they can fill the gap when necessary.

Same with … protein bars

Protein bars – These are also not meal replacements or the foundation of a healthy diet, but they can be incredibly handy when you need something quick. Think of them as convenience, not your primary protein source. And if you already eat granola bars (and frankly, a lot of people do), I’d recommend switching them out for protein bars instead — they’ll give you more staying power and help meet your protein needs. A few of the better plant-based options:

• No Cow Bar – The densest of the bunch: ~10–11 g protein per 100 calories, low sugar, high fiber.

• Good! Snacks – ~7 g per 100 calories, vegan, and candy-bar-like in taste.

• Aloha Organic – ~6.5 g per 100 calories, organic and made with pumpkin seed and brown rice protein.

• GoMacro – ~5–6 g per 100 calories, softer and cookie-like, great for those with allergies.

That’s it for now! Let me know what you think, and don’t forget to register for my FREE upcoming webinar, Healthy Aging and the Menopause Transition! Click the button for DETAILS AND REGISTRATION!

Details and Registration!

How I Support My Plant-Based Routine…

Speaking of Complement, even with a nutrient-rich plant-based diet, we can thrive even more with thoughtful support. That’s where Complement comes in, I take Complement Essential as my daily multivitamin for B12, D3, iodine, zinc, and magnesium; Omega Complex for essential fats; and as part of my strength-training and muscle-building routine, I fuel up with their clean Organic Protein. With Complement and my nutrient-rich diet, I have everything I need to fuel my body, support my strength, and thrive so I can do my work in the world for animals — both human and non-human.

Complement your diet and and get 15% off everything you order—every time you order—using THIS LINK and the code: JOYFULVEGAN.

Visit for More

You might also like…

👉 Connect with me 1:1 – Get personalized guidance whatever you are looking for. (One one-on-one connection is also a perk of the Founding Member/VIP level here on Substack.)

👉 Read A Year of Compassion – Daily inspiration to help you live with intention, kindness, and clarity.

👉 Check out my Recipe E-Books and my library of On-Demand Cooking Classes for recipes.

👉 Travel the World Vegan Style! I’ve partnered with World Vegan Travel to bring you the best in luxury, all-inclusive vegan trips around the globe. Whether I am personally hosting or not, every itinerary is curated for a high-quality, premium experience. Check out upcoming trips, and please remember when booking any trip to mention you heard about them from COLLEEN PATRICK-GOUDREAU. 😊

Thank you for clicking the heart ❤️ at the top or bottom of this post, which helps others discover this publication! 🙏

While losing my father has naturally brought death to the forefront of my mind, the truth is that reflecting on mortality is something I practice daily to stay grounded in the present. So, while this topic certainly feels timely, it’s not new for me—I actually recorded a podcast episode on this years ago. It simply felt like the right moment to revisit, update, and adapt those thoughts into an article for you here.

Philosophers, artists, and musicians from ancient times to today have been reminding us that we will die—not to depress us, but to inspire us to live the most fulfilling life possible and to feel the most alive while we’re here. One way to appreciate life more is to remember that we will die: memento mori, so goes the Latin phrase.

Remember that you will die.

Because this truth is always with me, I have made sure that we have concrete plans in place for the inevitable. When I say "plans," I mean the foundational legal documents—a will, living will, trust, durable power of attorney, and healthcare directive—as well as explicit arrangements for our beloved cat in an emergency or upon our deaths.

(I’m even currently working on the design of our gravestone.)

Today, we’re going to focus not just on planning for our own mortality in general, but specifically on the practical, compassionate steps to guarantee the companion animals in our care are protected if we should die before them.

Why Estate Planning is an Act of Love

I know a lot of people are generally reluctant to talk about end-of-life planning. Not only do many find the topic morbid, but it’s also easy to fall into the mindset of, "Well, I’ll be dead, so what difference does it make?"

But when it comes to any assets we might possess—a house, a car, a bank account, or cherished family heirlooms—it matters deeply. Having a plan allows us to allocate our hard-earned assets according to our values, whether that means gifting them to loved ones or supporting charitable organizations. More than that, leaving clear instructions is an incredible gift of clarity and relief for our survivors during an already emotional time.

The number of friends I talk to who don’t have a will, a trust, a living will, or a health directive in place astonishes me. If you don’t have one either, perhaps you’re thinking, “Well, I’m not Rockefeller. I don’t have much to give, so what’s the point in spending money now to divide up money I may or may not have once I’m dead?”

My response to that is simple:

• Would you want complete strangers deciding how your money is spent while you’re alive? Of course not. So why allow that to happen after you’re gone? You don’t have to be Rockefeller to care about where your hard-earned money goes, and ensuring your assets are allocated according to your values is simply smart planning—regardless of the size of your bank account.

• More than that, leaving clear instructions is an absolute gift to your surviving family members or whomever is tasked with managing your estate. Having clarity about your wishes provides immense relief during an already painful and emotional time. Anyone who has ever had to settle a loved one’s estate knows just how overwhelming that burden can be without a roadmap.

• Finally, if your assets aren’t protected in a trust, everything you worked for goes straight into probate. That means court officials and strangers end up making decisions about your property, your money, and even your animals. It’s the last outcome any of us would choose, yet so few of us take the necessary steps to put our plans in writing before it’s too late.

I cannot stress this strongly enough: having a will, a trust, a health directive, a durable power of attorney, and clear end-of-life wishes in writing is essential for everyone. But today, I want to zero in on one critical piece of that puzzle—making sure plans are in place for our furry, finned, and feathered companion animals if we pass away before they do.

The Legal Status of Companion Animals

If you are reading this, my guess is that you consider your dogs, cats, birds, bunnies, or iguanas to be a part of your family, and you want to make sure they’re taken care of after you’re gone. If you really want to make sure that happens, you need to make a plan and put it in writing.

Why? Because in the eyes of the law, animals or pets (to use the legal vernacular) are considered property, and you cannot use your will to leave property directly to another piece of property.

For instance, I can’t write in a will that I want Michiko to get my house after I die so that the sale of the house will pay for her care. Nope. She’s considered property under the law, so it’s like saying I want to leave my house to my car. It will have no standing in court once I die, and my cat would be seized by probate court and most likely sent to a shelter unless I have plans in place for her.

While you can’t leave property or money directly to an animal, you can name a guardian or guardians for them and their care, leave money to that person (or organization), or set up a Pet Trust with a trustee to oversee the distribution of funds.

Step 1: Decide Who Will Care for Your Animals

Start by talking to loved ones who already know and care for your animals. My husband David and I have good friends, Amanda and Devin, who have agreed to care for Michiko if we both die—and we’ve agreed to do the same for their cats. Whenever we travel, I check in with them to make sure we’re still on the same page.

While it seems obvious that a surviving spouse would care for a widowed animal, working in rescue has taught me that even this can go awry. I’ve seen surviving spouses surrender animals simply because they viewed them as “their partner’s pet.” Don’t assume—have an explicit conversation with your partner.

From there, expand your circle:

• Secure a Plan B: Always name a secondary guardian in case your primary choice’s life circumstances change.

• Communicate the Plan: Let other friends and family members know who the designated guardians are to avoid confusion, panic, or conflict during a crisis.

• Consider Individual Needs: If you have multiple companion animals, decide whether they should stay together or if separate homes better suit their unique bonds and needs.

Organizational Safety Nets: Rescue Commitments & Legacy Programs

If you don’t have an individual in your personal life who can step in as a guardian, or if you want an extra layer of protection, you can turn to rescue organizations in two key ways:

1. Check Your Original Adoption Agreements

If you adopted your companion animal from a rescue group or shelter, go back and review your adoption contract. Many reputable rescues include a clause requiring—or warmly offering—that the animal be returned to their care if you pass away or are no longer able to look after them. Knowing this policy ahead of time gives you an immediate, reliable safety net, and you can document this contract in your estate paperwork so your executor knows exactly who to contact.

However, your family or executor won't know this clause exists unless you tell them. Be sure to keep a copy of your adoption contract in your legal planning binder alongside a simple cover sheet outlining these instructions. It is also vital to keep your companion animal’s microchip contact information up to date with both your current details and those of your designated alternate guardian or rescue safety net. That way, if a crisis occurs, everyone—from your executor to a local shelter—knows exactly who to contact.

2. Enroll in a Rescue Legacy Program

If returning to an original rescue isn’t an option and you have no individual guardian, look into local rescue organizations that offer formal legacy programs. For example, organizations like Cat Town in Oakland, CA have legacy programs (such as their Legacy of Love program) where you can arrange in advance for the organization to step in upon your passing. They will take custody of your animals, place them in foster care, and dedicate their resources to finding them a loving, permanent home. You can name these organizations in your estate plan and leave a bequest or donation in your will to cover the ongoing costs of your animals’ care.

Step 2: Create a Detailed Care Sheet

You probably already have instructions written out if you ever use sitters—what type of food they eat, favorite toys, allergies, vet information, pet insurance logins, and medical records.

We keep a Google Doc that I update all the time. It was created for our cat-sitters when we travel, but it is also shared with Amanda and Devin (our guardians) and David’s sister (our trustee and executor).

I’ve joked in the past about how detailed my information sheet is—my cat sitters have 10 pages of instructions! But details about what toys Michiko loves, how she prefers to play, and nuances about her personality, preferences, likes, and dislikes are incredibly helpful to give to the people who will take care of your companion animals if you die.

Keep it updated.

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Step 3: Allocate Funds for Their Care

Once you know who will care for your animals, you need to decide how to support them financially. There are two main legal mechanisms for this:

Option 1: Direct Allocation in Your Main Trust/Will

As you set up your will and trust, you decide on an amount of money from your estate to be given directly to the guardians upon your death.

When deciding how much to leave, consider the animal’s life expectancy, routine expenses, and likelihood of developing health issues. We crunched some numbers based on our senior cat and overestimated a bit just to be safe. We want to make it as easy as possible for our friends to care for our kitty without feeling financially burdened.

In this scenario, you are trusting that the caregivers will use the money provided to care for your animals. It acts essentially as a direct gift tied to a mutual agreement.

Option 2: A Formal Pet Trust

A Pet Trust is a formal arrangement where set-aside money has a legally binding obligation to be used only for your animals’ benefit.

In this case, you designate a “trust protector” or trustee (someone other than the caregiver) to oversee the trust. The trustee makes regular payments to the caregiver for the animal’s expenses on the condition that the animal is being properly cared for. Any money remaining in the trust after the last animal passes away can then be distributed to your chosen charities or left to the caregivers.

While a Pet Trust offers strict legal oversight, it is more complex, carries administrative costs, and requires finding a reliable trustee or third-party management organization. If you want to create a simple pet bequest on your own, tools like Nolo’s Quicken WillMaker & Trust make it easy to include pet care clauses.

Alternatively, if you need a referral for an estate attorney, feel free to send me a private message here on Substack. While he is in Oakland, CA, I believe he also works with clients remotely.

The Risk of Doing Nothing

If you have a will but it doesn’t mention your companion animals, your animals may automatically go to your residuary beneficiary—the person named to receive whatever is left of your estate. If you haven’t talked to that person and they suddenly inherit five cats, a parrot, or a dog, they may be unable or unwilling to care for them due to allergies, housing restrictions, or finances. This is one of the most common ways beloved animals end up in crowded shelters.

If you die without any will at all, local probate courts will appoint an executor to handle your estate, and your animals will be treated strictly as physical assets to be disposed of—frequently resulting in shelter surrender.

While city, county, and private shelters perform vital, life-saving work for our communities, none of us want our companion animals to suffer that shock and trauma after losing us.

Making these plans today is a gift to your human loved ones and a deep act of love and commitment to the animals who share your life.

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Speaking of Being Prepared…

Even with a nutrient-rich plant-based diet, we can thrive even more with thoughtful support. That’s where Complement comes in, I take Complement Essential as my daily multivitamin for B12, D3, iodine, zinc, and magnesium; Omega Complex for essential fats; and as part of my strength-training and muscle-building routine, I fuel up with their clean Organic Protein. With Complement and my nutrient-rich diet, I have everything I need to fuel my body, support my strength, and thrive so I can do my work in the world for animals — both human and non-human.

Complement your diet and and get 15% off everything you order—every time you order—using THIS LINK and the code: JOYFULVEGAN.

Get 15% off today!

You might also like…

👉 Connect with me 1:1 – Get personalized guidance whatever you are looking for. (One one-on-one connection is also a perk of the Founding Member/VIP level here on Substack.)

👉 Read A Year of Compassion – Daily inspiration to help you live with intention, kindness, and clarity.

👉 Check out my Recipe E-Books and my library of On-Demand Cooking Classes for recipes.

👉 Travel the World Vegan Style! I’ve partnered with World Vegan Travel to bring you the best in luxury, all-inclusive vegan trips around the globe. Whether I am personally hosting or not, every itinerary is curated for a high-quality, premium experience. Check out upcoming trips, and please remember when booking any trip to mention you heard about them from COLLEEN PATRICK-GOUDREAU. 😊

Leave a comment

It’s strange, but I don’t actually have many photos of just me and my dad—or 'Pa,' as I used to call him. Looking back through old pictures, I have tons of us from when I was growing up, but they’re almost always group shots with the whole family or photos of him, my sister, and me together.

It’s strange, because for someone who spent so much of his life in the public eye, he didn’t really love having his photo taken, especially as he got older. Don’t, however, tell him he got older. He had this funny idea that as long as no one saw him out and about with his walker, nobody would suspect he was in his 90s.

Pride and aging have a funny way of shaping our logic—or illogic.

But that’s what mattered to him in the end, so he became house-bound and eventually bed-bound.

I do have the photo above from 2002, taken when we gathered at my in-laws’ house while David and I were back home in New Jersey for a friend’s wedding. I love this photo and even used it for my father’s obituary (cropping myself out, of course). It captures his smile — our smile — and the connection between us.

He was 70 at the time. I was 32.

I also have the photo above that—showing the two of us walking side-by-side—taken just before COVID prevented me from seeing him for a couple years. My father was still mobile at the time and didn’t need a caregiver yet, though he was declining in ways that would become clear soon after.

There is so, so much to say, and I’ve been writing a lot this past week, grieving, reflecting, and trying to reconcile the very complicated (and yet very simple) man my father was.

For now, I’d like to just share the obituary I wrote to honor his life.

I love you, Pa.

I love you, Col.

JOHN PATRICK 1932-2027

John L. Patrick, 94, passed away peacefully in Florida, surrounded by loved ones, on July 27, 2026. Born in West Orange, New Jersey in 1932, he proudly served as a Sergeant with the U.S. Army’s 2nd Infantry Division during the Korean War and was awarded several military decorations in recognition of his service. As he carried that pride with him throughout his life, he would have appreciated the serendipity of passing on what is officially Korean War Veterans Armistice Day.

A larger-than-life personality, natural storyteller, and gifted athlete, John lived by a philosophy he held close to his heart: “He danced every dance.” Known as “Eagle” to his lifelong buddies and Army comrades, and affectionately called “Pappy” by his cherished grandchildren, he was a trophy-winning bowler and softball pitcher.

He built a nationally recognized career as a professional gaming expert, authored nearly two dozen books, and created and hosted the television show So You Wanna Be a Gambler? He became a familiar face in the gaming world, making guest appearances on the soap opera One Life to Live and in the film Honeymoon in Vegas. He was even spoofed by Kevin Nealon on an episode of Saturday Night Live.

John was deeply devoted to his Catholic faith and loved his family dearly. He is survived by his loving daughters, Lori McCarthy and Colleen Patrick-Goudreau; his son-in-law, David Goudreau; and his five cherished grandchildren: Liam, Sam, Casey, Elena, and Ania. He will also be fondly remembered by his nieces, nephews, cousins, dear friends, and the many readers, viewers, and fans whose lives he touched throughout his remarkable journey.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Florence and John; his brother, Neil; his sister, Mary; and the mother of his children and former wife, Arlene Patrick.

The family extends heartfelt gratitude to his devoted caregiver, Jody, whose compassionate care, steadfast companionship, and countless hands of poker brought comfort, laughter, and friendship to John’s final four years.

John had a huge heart, especially when it came to the most vulnerable, often helping others even when he had little to spare himself. At various stages of his life, he shared his home with four beloved dogs—Chubby, Charmaine, Willie, and Rosie—whose companionship brought him immeasurable joy.

As he wished, John’s ashes will be interred alongside his parents at Immaculate Conception Cemetery in Upper Montclair, New Jersey, with military honors. A funeral service celebrating his life will be announced at a later date once arrangements have been finalized. Those wishing to attend are encouraged to contact the family for details.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay or St. Joseph’s School for the Blind, honoring John’s lifelong compassion for both people and animals.

Thank you for reading.

We just hosted our second plant-based wine and food pairing, and it was a huge success. As I discussed in my last article on our inaugural tasting, my husband David and I started hosting these gatherings with our friends—calling our group the Little Montali Wine Collective (Little Montali being the name we affectionately gave our house).

We wanted to explore something that is almost entirely unheard-of in both the wine world—and frankly, in the vegan world, too: creating sophisticated, truly intentional plant-based wine pairings.

And it’s somewhat understandable why this is so uncommon.

Traditional wine pairing advice was written for an (animal-based) meat-and-cheese world—Cabernet with steak, Sauvignon Blanc with oysters, or bold reds with charcuterie. Blah, blah, blah.

But as I shared last time, these recommendations miss the bigger picture: when you deconstruct it, it’s never actually about the animal products—it’s really about the qualities of fat, salt, smoke, acid, umami, texture, and so on.

David and I are testing these ideas in our home and sharing with you what we learn so you can create memorable, elevated plant-based pairings in your own home (or make confident recommendations to restaurants and wineries)!

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Wines of Spain

Whereas our first Wine Collective featured the wines of Northern Italy (in anticipation of our visit to that region on our 5th vegan-hosted trip), our second tasting revolved entirely around the wines of Spain—a region we knew very little about prior to the tasting, which is part of the point.

Starting with Sparkling

Even though we’ve only hosted two of these events, we’ve thrown enough dinners and parties to to know the value of starting things off with a little effervescence. A refreshing glass of bubbles (or burbujas, as they say in Spanish!) is the best way to welcome guests as they arrive.

For our Northern Italy tasting, we kicked things off with Prosecco. For our tasting featuring Spanish wines, we started with Cava.

Cava is simply Spain’s answer to Champagne. It’s a dry, refreshing sparkling wine made using the exact same traditional method as French Champagne, but usually at a fraction of the price. I didn't include a food pairing for this one—we just used it as a way to introduce everyone to Spain’s bubbles and get guests settled in as they arrived.

Mission accomplished. It was a hit with everyone.

While there are countless ways to pair food and wine, I focused on three distinct strategies for this tasting—one for each of our wine blocks:

• cutting through rich flavors

• complementing similar profiles

• and balancing contrasting elements.

For the whites, the goal was to cut through.

Cutting Through with Whites

And for the whites that followed the bubbles, David chose Albariño and Verdejo.

Albariño is super crisp and citrusy (and a new favorite of mine!), while the Verdejo was aged on the lees—meaning it rested on the spent yeast cells after fermentation. As a result, it was a bit on the yeasty, brioche-y side. Some people loved it, but it’s not my taste.

We chose a single food pairing for both the Albariño and the Verdejo: two artisan selections from Rebel Cheese—their creamy Brie and their Honee-Pistachio Chèvre—paired with (Italian) Castelvetrano and (Spanish) Queen olives.

While the two whites were distinctly different from one another, both had the acidity required for the pairing. That acid cuts straight through the dense fats of the cheeses and the salty brine of the olives, scrubbing your palate clean between every bite.

It was kind of perfect.

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Complementing the Reds

For our second block, we poured two different expressions of Tempranillo—one a traditional Rioja Reserva, the other a dense Ribera del Duero Crianza.

They couldn’t have been more different.

• The Rioja, aged in American oak, was silky and smooth with distinct notes of coconut, vanilla, and sweet spice.

• The Ribera del Duero—aged primarily in French oak—was a completely different beast: big, dark, and intensely tannic.

Seeing how regional climate and French versus American barrels transform the exact same grape was a great side-by-side study. (We plan to do more of these types of tastings in our Wine Collective.)

As for the food, the strategy here was to complement—matching the savory earthiness of the wines with a similar flavor profile in the food.

We paired both bottles with two different Field Roast plant-based sausages: Smoked Apple Sage and Italian Garlic and Fennel. The pairing worked beautifully with both wines.

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Balancing the Big Red

For our final red block, we poured a Priorat—a Spanish blend of Garnacha (Grenache) and Carignan.

Normally, Garnacha (Grenache) is lighter than Tempranillo and would come earlier in a tasting order. But Priorat is a different story. It’s an intensely full-bodied, dark, and powerful red marked by concentrated dark fruit, licorice, and deep minerality. Because of its weight and size, we saved it for last.

As for the food pairing, we weren’t cutting through or complementing but balancing. When a wine has massive fruit, high alcohol, and savory-smoky notes, you need a food partner with equal weight, sweetness, and texture so neither overpowers the other.

So, for our Priorat, I prepared Muhammara—a dip made of roasted red peppers, walnuts, pomegranates, and a touch of sweetness. The natural smokiness of the roasted peppers and the rich, earthy fat of the walnuts balanced the wine’s heavy minerality, while the natural sweetness in the agave (and in the peppers) matched the dark fruit in the wine.

The pairing was fantastic, and the Priorat also instantly became a favorite — but not for the reasons it would have been in the past.

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Putting It All Together

In the past, we judged wines strictly as “happy hour” drinks—drunk solo with maybe a random snack or two. If a bottle was too tannic, too big, or too intense, we just wrote it off as a wine we didn’t like, never to be touched or thought about again.

But our Wine Collective is completely shifting how we drink, as well as how we choose wines for dinners. We’re moving away from asking, “Do I like this wine?” and more toward, “How is this wine best enjoyed?”

The original intention was simple: try wines from different regions, try different grapes, go deep on them, and see how they taste depending on where they’re grown. We added the food pairings to start understanding how the food and wine could complement each other.

And it’s actually working. It’s changing how we drink wine, and it’s changing how we serve it.

As people who host a lot of dinners and parties, we used to just default to California Zinfandels because that’s what we drink most and love—we never really thought about what we were pairing or made decisions based on how well they worked together.

Why?

Because there’s almost zero real guidance out there for plant-based food and wine—so we’re taking up the mantle and filling in the gap. And let me tell you, it’s a lot of work to make fabulous food, drink fabulous wine, and enjoy it with fabulous people.

So, you’re welcome.

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Travel the Vegan World with Me!

👉 I’ve partnered with World Vegan Travel to bring you the best in luxury, all-inclusive vegan trips around the globe. Whether I am personally hosting or not, every itinerary is curated for a high-quality, premium experience. Cambodia is the only trip I’m currently scheduled to host in 2027, so check it out, and remember when booking any trip to mention you heard about them from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, and enter JOYFULVEGAN as the promo code. 😊

My Favorite Supplements

Even with a nutrient-rich plant-based diet, we can thrive even more with thoughtful support. That’s where Complement comes in, I take Complement Essential as my daily multivitamin for B12, D3, iodine, zinc, and magnesium; Omega Complex for essential fats; and as part of my strength-training and muscle-building routine, I fuel up with their clean Organic Protein. With Complement and my nutrient-rich diet, I have everything I need to fuel my body, support my strength, and thrive so I can do my work in the world for animals — both human and non-human.

Complement your diet and and get 15% off everything you order—every time you order—using THIS LINK and the code: JOYFULVEGAN.

Get 15% off today!

Whether you’re a vegan navigating the inevitable grey areas, or a non-vegan who has ever been confused by why some vegans police each other, why some “vegans eat meat,” or what the word even means—this article is for you. Today, we look at what counts as vegan, what doesn’t, and who gets to decide. We explore how the simple intention to prevent animal cruelty can quickly turn into a rigid purity test—one that confuses the public, distracts from the core mission, and pushes people away from making compassionate choices.

The Origins and Evolution of “Vegan”

When most people hear the word “vegan,” they have a general idea of what it means: in short, someone who doesn’t eat or wear anything that comes out of or off of an animal. That’s usually where it ends for most people; either they don’t give it much more thought than that or they’re still confused by what it means because they’ve met some vegans who eat animals…occasionally.

When the term vegan was coined in 1944 by the founders of The Vegan Society in the UK, it was created to distinguish those who avoided dairy and eggs from general vegetarians. The word itself comes from vegetarian, taking the beginning — veg — and the end — an — to form a new term. At the time, the definition was much narrower and primarily dietary.

Early on, veganism was essentially defined as avoiding

• meat

• dairy

• eggs

While the original focus was on dietary exclusion, the definition expanded to include clothing (leather, wool, silk), testing on animals, entertainment, and other uses. The modern definition reflects that expansion.

Seems straightforward enough. Except it’s not.

Why? Because we’re complex beings living in a complex world — and not everything is as it seems. Or at least, not everything is black and white. Some things are grey, especially once you make the leap from eating and wearing animal products to not.

For instance,

• What about plant-based foods made on the same equipment as animal products? Is that vegan?

• What about a plant-based burger cooked on the same grill as meat? Is that vegan?

• What about almonds and avocados pollinated by bees who have been rented out to farmers? Is that vegan?

• What about needing to take medications or vaccines that would have been tested on animals? Is that vegan?

• What about eating white sugar that’s been processed using animal bones? Is that vegan?

• What about taking vitamin D3, which is often sourced from lanolin? Is that vegan?

• What about kissing someone who eats meat? Is that vegan?

• What about accidentally inhaling bacon fumes? Is that vegan?

See what I mean? Lots of grey.

There is No Vegan Scoutmaster

People “become vegan” for different reasons, but they usually fall into a few broad categories:

1. Protecting animals from cruelty or violence

2. Protecting the environment

3. Improving their health.

Depending on which category someone falls into, their definition of vegan may differ a bit.

Why? Because “becoming vegan” is not like joining a club, getting a handbook, and earning merit badges. This isn’t the boy scouts (or girl scouts). There’s no initiation. There’s no oath. There’s no pledge of allegiance.

And — to further our Boy Scout analogy — there’s no Scoutmaster. No one is in charge of enforcing standards, keeping score, or determining whether you’re doing veganism “correctly” — except, of course, the people who appoint themselves to that role to police other vegans.

Becoming vegan" isn’t about dogma or doctrine. Once you awaken to the horrific things humans do to animals for our pleasure and convenience, it is deeply unpleasant—and you simply don’t want to be a part of it. So you align your behavior with your values and become vegan.

But the goal is not to “be vegan.” The goal is simply to stop contributing to that harm.

And then, after living in the real world for a while, you start running into tricky situations and grey areas and wonder whether it’s even possible to be vegan at all.

You learn that red food coloring comes from crushed insects (cochineal), that animal bones are used to filter drinking water, and that slaughterhouse waste is used in commercial potting soil.

At that point, several things could happen:

1. You realize that being vegan isn’t about being perfect, that this is an imperfect world, and you simply go about your vegan life.

2. Or you stop being vegan altogether because you think you have to be perfect if you’re going to do anything at all.

3. Or you begin policing themselves, other vegans, and the world for not living up to the vegan purity standards you’ve set — and, not surprisingly, you become cranky, cynical, and anti-social. (Despite your dogmatism, you might even stop begin vegan.)

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Cruelty vs. Purity: The Coconut Milk Lesson

These grey areas usually come down to how far it’s reasonable—or even possible—to entirely avoid causing suffering. But they also come down to how we frame a product or a person as “vegan” or “not vegan.”

Take coconut milk, for example. It is a milk derived entirely from coconuts—100% plant-based. 100% plant-derived. Yet, investigations have revealed that some producers, particularly in Thailand, subject pig-tailed macaque monkeys to unendurable torment, capturing them from the wild and forcing them to chain-harvest coconuts.

Terrible, horrible, cruel. On that point, there is no argument.

But in response, many vegans declare that “coconut milk isn’t vegan.”

On that point, I completely disagree.

Capturing and chaining wild monkeys to harvest a commercial product is an animal cruelty issue that is incumbent upon all of us to solve—whether we are vegan or not. It is not a “vegan issue” for vegans to manage through consumer avoidance.

When we label an entire food category as “not vegan,” it reduces a systemic horror into a personal limitation. It makes it sound like yet another rigid, exclusionary rule vegans have to live by—and it leaves the general public completely confused about what “vegan” even means.

The truth is anyone can care about ending animal cruelty without being vegan. But the moment we label coconut milk itself as “not vegan,” we create unnecessary barriers and accidentally imply that the torture of these monkeys is an exclusive issue for a small subculture to worry about.

If instead we explicitly state that “some brands of coconut milk hurt animals,” people are far more likely to listen, learn, and boycott. Animal cruelty is a universal human concern.

(Anticipating some vegans’ reaction to that last sentence, yes, people can indeed care about animals and not be vegan. It’s called willful ignorance, and it is a very human strategy for reconciling the cognitive dissonance we experience when we eat animals while simultaneously caring about them. To dive deeper into how we navigate these psychological blocks, see my book, The Joyful Vegan or my article, Why We Eat Meat, Dairy, and Eggs.)

Drawing Personal Lines in a Non-Vegan World

Another grey area is so-called “cross-contamination.”

• Is a plant-based burger still suitable for vegans if it’s cooked on the same grill as an animal-meat burger?

• And what about buying plant-based food at fast-food restaurants like Burger King or KFC — is that “vegan,” given that these restaurants exist primarily to sell animal products?

For me, the question isn’t “is it vegan?” or whether someone is “still vegan” after doing either of the above. The better question is, “Is this suitable for me — for this vegan?” Every single vegan needs to decide what their own comfort level is.

Veganism isn’t a set of dietary laws like Kashrut in Judaism, the system that governs which foods Jews may eat and how those foods must be prepared. That’s not what veganism is about.

Definitions are tools for clarity, not control.

Definitions guide; they don’t govern.

A definition is a map, not a police force.

If we keep that in mind, we’re far more likely to move in the direction of progress.

Adhering rigidly to a definition that doesn’t account for nuance or real-world complexity veers into fundamentalism, and I think that’s a genuine danger among vegans, because it shifts the focus from reducing harm and living compassionately to enforcing purity, which ultimately pushes people away rather than bringing them closer.

The problem isn’t that vegans aren’t vegan if they eat peanut butter, drink water, or eat sugar that had some remote contact with animal products.

The problem is that because so many billions of animals are slaughtered every year, it’s super cheap to use slaughterhouse waste as filler and processing agents.

The focus should remain on the fact that billions of animals are brought into this world only to be killed. That’s a problem we need to address—not whether a vegan (or a product) passes the purity test.

The more animals killed, the more by-products there are, and the cheaper they can be sold for. The fewer animals killed, the fewer and more expensive the by-products—the higher the likelihood that companies will look for cheaper alternatives.

In other words, stop focusing on the inherent imperfection of this thing called “vegan” and focus instead on making more imperfect vegans. To borrow from whoever said something similar: we don’t need a few vegans doing it perfectly; we need a huge number of vegans doing it imperfectly.

The Reality of Living in an Imperfect World

While there are grey areas in terms of what is or isn’t vegan, there are also clear-cut lines, and I never grapple with them.

For instance, if I intentionally eat animal flesh and fluids, that’s not vegan. If, however, I eat a plant-based option at a fast-food restaurant, that does not undermine my being vegan. I am not eating animal flesh, fluids, or ferments.

Yes, vegan means something. It means doing our best to avoid contributing to violence or harm, to the extent that is possible and practicable. But it doesn’t require a strict rulebook to police every edge case.

And those grey areas? Those are personal boundaries everyone gets to draw. A choice like eating a plant-based meal at a fast-food restaurant may be unappealing to you, and that’s your prerogative—just as it’s another person’s choice to do otherwise.

Veganism is a means to an end (compassion and wellness), not an end in itself. The point is not to be vegan or to obtain a vegan badge. The goal is not to be as vegan as we can be. The goal is to live as compassionately and healthfully as we can, and veganism happens to be a pretty effective (and joyful) way to attain that goal.

The problem is not that we’re imperfect vegans. The problem is that we bring billions of animals into this world only to take them out of it—wreaking havoc on the animals, on our health, on our ecosystems, and on our hearts.

The Questions We Should Actually Be Asking

The questions I’d rather we be asking are:

• What will make it easier for people to eat fewer animal flesh and fluids?

• What persuades non-vegans to displace animal-based meat—at least sometimes— with plant-based options?

• What are ways I can provide support and guidance to people who want to eat fewer animal products, even if they’re not ready to go all the way yet?

And remember: Don’t do nothing because you can’t do everything. Do something. Anything.

Additional Resources

👉 Read The Joyful Vegan! My wish is that every vegan would read this book — to help explain the how’s and why’s of veganism (and avoidance of veganism). Buy signed copies here or regular copies here (or wherever books are sold).

👉 Connect with me 1:1 – Get personalized guidance whatever you are looking for. (One one-on-one connection is also a perk of the Founding Member/VIP level here on Substack.)

👉 Check out my Recipe E-Books and my library of On-Demand Cooking Classes for recipes.

👉 Travel the World Vegan Style! I’ve partnered with World Vegan Travel to bring you the best in luxury, all-inclusive vegan trips around the globe. Whether I am personally hosting or not, every itinerary is curated for a high-quality, premium experience. Check out upcoming trips, and please remember when booking any trip to mention you heard about them from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, and enter JOYFULVEGAN as the promo code. 😊

My Favorite Supplements

Even with a nutrient-rich plant-based diet, we can thrive even more with thoughtful support. That’s where Complement comes in, I take Complement Essential as my daily multivitamin for B12, D3, iodine, zinc, and magnesium; Omega Complex for essential fats; and as part of my strength-training and muscle-building routine, I fuel up with their clean Organic Protein. With Complement and my nutrient-rich diet, I have everything I need to fuel my body, support my strength, and thrive so I can do my work in the world for animals — both human and non-human.

Complement your diet and and get 15% off everything you order—every time you order—using THIS LINK and the code: JOYFULVEGAN.

Get 15% off today!

Hello, fellow compassionistas! Here is this week’s note where I share a couple things I’m loving right now — books, movies, food, music, podcasts, etc.

We are back from Italy, enjoying a much-deserved break from hosting two back-to-back trips to Tuscany and Northern Italy. Starting in Florence and ending in Venice, we are grateful for the time spent with fabulous people, including our partners and friends at World Vegan Travel. (Check out our upcoming trips!)

In Memoriam

Before I get into my recommendations, I’d like to take a moment to honor the legacy of Judith Larner Lowry. If you read the last Friday Musings, you might remember that I wholeheartedly recommended her book Gardening with a Wild Heart. Sadly, it was recently announced that she passed away in late May 2026 after a long illness.

A pioneering California native plant conservationist and the founder of Larner Seeds, Judith did immensely much to advance the love and cultivation of native flora. Though I only discovered her work recently, her beautifully poetic writing made an immediate impact on me. You can find her out-of-print book available on Kindle, or borrow it electronically through the Libby public library app.

What I’m Reading

Though I set a goal to read a book a week (or four books a month) in 2026, I had to give myself a little reprieve recently. It’s incredibly difficult to read for any length of time when I’m hosting trips, as I was just doing for over three weeks this month in Tuscany and Northern Italy.

Still, I managed to start and finish two, and with a few days left in the month, I may very well get to claim three for June!

The first is a book I’ve heard about for decades but finally decided to pick up after being reminded of it in The Marginalian (a gem of a publication / project if you never heard of it. I highly recommend subscribing).

Gift from the Sea was written by Anne Morrow Lindbergh in 1955, during a brief solo vacation by the ocean. It was her way of reflecting on the distinct stages of a woman’s life, the evolution of relationships, and the deep necessity of maintaining an inner core of peace in a chaotic world.

What is most remarkable about the book is not just her profound wisdom or her beautiful use of beach-combed shells as metaphors for life, but timelessness of her observations. It could easily have been written today about our current age of distraction and relentless busyness. Take this paragraph, for instance:

For life today in America is based on the premise of ever-widening circles of contact and communication. It involves not only family demands, but community demands, national demands, international demands on the good citizen, through social and cultural pressures, through newspapers, magazines, radio programs, political drives, charitable appeals and so on. My mind reels with it.

One needs only to insert "social media" and "smartphones" into that list to realize how intimately familiar that feeling is today.

It’s another beautiful reminder that we humans are the same today as we’ve always been—struggling, learning, teaching, and sharing how to be more present, less distracted, and more loving.

All that’s to say, I highly recommend this book for its inspiration, wisdom, and quotable quotes!

What I’m Loving

Recently, I was interviewed on Rip Esselstyn’s podcast (it hasn’t aired yet, but I’ll be sure to share it when it does). During our chat, he asked me if I wore any wearables to track my fitness, and I told him I didn’t.

The truth is, I used to wear a Fitbit many years ago. I eventually ditched it because I dislike wearing anything on my wrist, and quite frankly, I got tired of it breaking and having to replace it every single year. That's when I switched to just using the Health app on my phone to track baseline data like my daily steps.

Eventually, tracking steps with my phone became tiresome, because I genuinely don’t want to carry it on me at all times. I wanted a way to leave my phone behind while still tracking a few basic data points, like my steps.

That led me to look into smart rings, mostly because I felt they were more low-key than a wristband. However, I did not want to be tied to an annual subscription, so I started doing my homework (you know how I love my research).

Enter the RingConn.

I found it after a lot of digging, and I am absolutely loving it.

It tracks everything seamlessly with zero subscription fees and a long battery life. Here is what it monitors:

• Steps and Daily Activity

• Sleep Quality and Stages

• Stress Levels

And more.

The funniest part of this is enjoying looking at my sleep data. For years and years, I relentlessly made fun of my friend Brighde because she would always share her sleep stats with David, me, and Seb on our WhatsApp Group. Well, karma comes fast. I am now officially that annoying person, sharing my sleep data with the three of them (only sometimes, though!).

Anyway, I thought I’d pass this alone if you’re looking for a nice-looking, subscription-free way to track your steps and stats without tying yourself to a watch or a phone.

What I’m Wearing

Speaking of practical wearables, I wanted to recommend a skirt I recently purchased. You know me—I love my long skirts and long dresses.

After spending almost a month in Japan this past April, I came home incredibly inspired by the floofy, airy Japanese style of skirts. I’m not someone who really shops when I’m traveling, but once I got home, I lamented that I didn’t buy one while I was there.

So, I went online to look for something reminiscent of that style and was thrilled to find this gorgeous skirt by Ruti. I bought the grey one first (see photo at the start of this article), and I loved it so much that I immediately went back and bought the black one, too (and I was thrilled to find it on sale!).

I cannot recommend this skirt highly enough. Not only is it super comfortable—thanks to an elastic waist with a drawstring—but it is also an absolute dream to pack. It doesn’t get wrinkled, or at the very least, any lines shake right out once you give it a good fluff. I’ve received so many compliments on it both while I was away hosting my trips and since I’ve been back, so I just had to share it with you! ENJOY!

Those are my Weekly Musings. Tell me about yours, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Leave a comment

Additional Resources

👉 Connect with me 1:1 – Get personalized guidance whatever you are looking for. (One one-on-one connection is also a perk of the Founding Member/VIP level here on Substack.)

👉 Read A Year of Compassion – Daily inspiration to help you live with intention, kindness, and clarity.

👉 Check out my Recipe E-Books and my library of On-Demand Cooking Classes for recipes.

👉 Travel the World Vegan Style! I’ve partnered with World Vegan Travel to bring you the best in luxury, all-inclusive vegan trips around the globe. Whether I am personally hosting or not, every itinerary is curated for a high-quality, premium experience. Check out upcoming trips, and please remember when booking any trip to mention you heard about them from COLLEEN PATRICK-GOUDREAU. 😊

My Favorite Supplements

Even with a nutrient-rich plant-based diet, we can thrive even more with thoughtful support. That’s where Complement comes in, I take Complement Essential as my daily multivitamin for B12, D3, iodine, zinc, and magnesium; Omega Complex for essential fats; and as part of my strength-training and muscle-building routine, I fuel up with their clean Organic Protein. With Complement and my nutrient-rich diet, I have everything I need to fuel my body, support my strength, and thrive so I can do my work in the world for animals — both human and non-human.

Complement your diet and and get 15% off everything you order—every time you order—using THIS LINK and the code: JOYFULVEGAN.

Get 15% off today!

Depending on where and how you grew up, you may or may not have eaten much soy at all. If you didn’t grow up in an East Asian household or in a culture where tofu, tempeh, miso, natto, edamame, and soy milk were everyday staples, soy may have felt (or still feel) unfamiliar. Many of us in the West simply didn’t grow up with these foods; we didn’t learn how to cook them, and we didn’t learn about their nutritional value.

What’s fascinating—and frustrating—is how soy has become one of the most misunderstood foods in the Western world. Over the past few decades, soy went from being praised as a protein-packed, heart-healthy, anti-inflammatory food (a reputation born during the health craze of the 1960s when it first gained traction in the West) to being actively vilified.

Claims that soy “causes breast cancer,” “disrupts hormones,” or “gives men ‘man-boobs’” have circulated widely, alongside fears that it negatively impacts thyroid function, drives environmental destruction in the Amazon, inhibits nutrient absorption, or is just plain bland and tasteless. All of these assertions have taken on a life of their own despite being completely unsupported—or directly contradicted—by actual scientific research and real-world data.

In this two-part series, we are going to unpack the science, the myths, and the culinary reality of this incredible food.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding your health.

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More Than Just "Food for Vegans"

I wish I could remember the first time I tried tofu. I certainly didn’t grow up eating it—my childhood table in New Jersey was filled with traditional staples like meat, dairy, and eggs. For many of us in the West, soy foods simply weren’t part of our upbringing.

Instead, they carry a heavy association with vegetarianism and veganism. For me—and I’m sure for many others—it wasn’t until I became vegan that tofu even entered my life. But viewing soy strictly through this lens does it a huge disservice, because people dismiss it as a food “only for vegans or vegetarians.” In fact, people still say to me all the time, “Well, I could never be vegan because I don’t like tofu.”

And of course, I tell them, “You don’t have to eat tofu to be vegan! It’s not a prerequisite.” (Having said that, one of the unexpected joys of becoming vegan is that your culinary world expands, as I discuss in The Joyful Vegan, so you tend to try things you never tried before.)

This hyper-focus on tofu as a strict “vegan substitute” is a uniquely Western viewpoint. If you grow up in China, Korea, or Japan, soy is simply part of the everyday landscape—historically, culturally, and culinarily. In many East and Southeast Asian traditions, tofu is traditionally seen as a complement to animal meat rather than a replacement for it.

• In Chinese and Korean cooking, tofu frequently appears in meat-based broths, stir-fries, and stews.

• In Japanese, Thai, and Vietnamese cuisines, it is often served alongside fish-based broths like dashi, alongside a strong tradition of tofu-centered vegetarian dishes rooted in Buddhist temple cuisine (shōjin ryōri).

But in the West, soy is seen as “a vegan food.” We need to change the framing.

Soy is food. It is a bean—an ancient, traditional, highly nutritious, and incredibly versatile bean. A bean that needs better PR.

Right now, soy’s reputation completely depends on who you ask. It has been a deeply polarizing food for decades, with a “debate” driven by marketing, social media influencers, and trends rather than sound science. When you look at how it gets misrepresented, the bad PR generally falls into three specific areas:

• its environmental impact

• its taste

• its effect on our health

Let's start with the most prevalent myth regarding its environmental footprint.

The Deforestation Myth

When we hear about soy driving deforestation in places like the Amazon, it’s not the soy in your tofu or edamame that’s the problem—it’s the soy grown to feed billions of farmed animals.

The reality is that the largest use of soy, both globally and in the U.S., is not for human food at all. It’s for animal feed. Roughly three-quarters of all soy grown worldwide is fed directly to chickens, pigs, and cows raised for meat, dairy, and eggs—not eaten directly by humans. In the U.S., that percentage is even higher.

Only about 7% of global soy is used for human food products like tofu, tempeh, and soy milk. The massive demand for animal products is the primary driver of soy-related deforestation in the Amazon and other ecosystems. It’s not because of a high demand for tofu.

Furthermore, soy used for human consumption in the U.S. and Europe is often grown domestically in North America or within Europe, under different land-clearing regulations than the Amazon basin. Soy sourced from Brazil or Argentina carries a higher risk of being linked to deforestation, unless it has specific sustainability certifications.

So, to be clear: soy grown for human consumption is most likely from the U.S. (you can check your labels) and is not responsible for clear-cutting forests. If you're looking at what actually drives that deforestation, it's beef—not tofu.

Now that we’ve cleared up the environmental misconceptions, let’s look at the second major area where soy gets completely misrepresented: its taste.

The “Bland and Boring” Myth

On the culinary side of its bad PR, soy—especially tofu—is often dismissed as bland, spongy, or tasteless. But soy is a blank canvas. It actually has a beautiful, subtle, nutty flavor all its own—a delicate nuance that you may simply be unfamiliar with because it isn’t what you grew up eating.

What’s more, if your palate is accustomed to being constantly coated with the heavy fat and intense salt that comes with eating meat and dairy, those subtle flavors can be hard to pick up on. Like any new food, it takes getting used to, but personally, I love tofu so much that I honestly eat it straight out of the package.

Beyond its flavor, the texture of tofu is a total shape-shifter. It is incredibly versatile because of how you can manipulate its texture: it can be cubed, fried, coated, pressed, frozen, or crumbled. It adapts entirely to how you prepare it, how you cook it, and what you pair it with.

Because it is such an incredible canvas, there are endless recipes out there to play with. Of course, doing the work I do, I have developed dozens of ways to prepare it, and while you can always find recipes in my cookbooks, I also have a variety of digital resources available in my online store, including several on-demand cooking classes and recipe bundles, including:

• Homemade Soy Milk and Tofu

• Cooking with Tofu

• Easy Vegan Ramen

• Air Fryer Snacks and Starters

And of course, my brand-new recipe ebook: High-Protein Recipes Featuring Tofu, Tempeh, and Edamame.

Now let’s get to the third area where soy gets misrepresented (which I’ll also continue in Part Two).

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The Nutritional Truth

Soy has been evaluated in thousands of studies—including epidemiological, human clinical, observational, and laboratory research—and the science is clear. Soy is a nutritional powerhouse for three big reasons: 1. it’s a plant food, 2. it’s a bean, and 3. it contains unique compounds you don’t find in most other foods, such as isoflavones and phytoestrogens.

1. First and foremost, soy is a whole plant food. That means it naturally contains zero cholesterol and is exceptionally low in saturated fat, instantly distinguishing it from animal-derived proteins. It also delivers a robust amount of dietary fiber, which is crucial for gut health, metabolic function, and satiety—a nutrient that is entirely missing from meat, dairy, and eggs.

2. As a member of the bean family, soy inherits all the classic benefits of legumes. It provides a slow release of complex carbohydrates alongside essential minerals like iron, calcium, magnesium, and potassium, making it an inherently stabilizing, nutrient-dense food.

3. Where soy truly stands out from other beans is its protein quality. It is a complete protein, meaning it provides all nine essential amino acids (those we need from food) in optimal proportions on its own. Its amino acid profile directly rivals animal protein, but without the dietary baggage.

Furthermore, soy is rich in branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), specifically leucine, which acts as the primary trigger for muscle protein synthesis and repair. Many plant proteins are low in leucine, but soy actually provides a meaningful amount:

• 1 cup Tempeh: ~3.0 grams of leucine (the optimal muscle-building target)

• 1 cup Tofu: ~2.0 grams of leucine

• 1 cup Edamame: ~1.5 grams of leucine

• 1 cup Soy Milk: ~0.8 grams of leucine

4. Finally, what truly sets soy apart from every other bean on the planet is its signature concentration of specific phytonutrients called isoflavones. Soybeans contain hundreds of times more isoflavones than other legumes, acting as powerful compounds that help reduce inflammation and protect cells from damage.

But these compounds have a unique property—one that has been wildly misunderstood and blown out of proportion, yet is the exact reason why soy is so uniquely protective.

Because there is so much confusion around this specific topic, we are going to give it the space it deserves. In Part 2, we will dive deep into the actual science behind these compounds and dismantle the most common health scares face-to-face.

We’ll look at exactly what the data says about thyroid health, nutrient absorption, and the ultimate hormone myths—including breast cancer risks and the ridiculous claims about “man-boobs.”

Stay tuned for the full breakdown in Part Two.

Before You Go…

Even with a nutrient-rich plant-based diet, we can thrive even more with thoughtful support. That’s where Complement comes in, I take Complement Essential as my daily multivitamin for B12, D3, iodine, zinc, and magnesium; Omega Complex for essential fats; and as part of my strength-training and muscle-building routine, I fuel up with their clean Organic Protein. With Complement and my nutrient-rich diet, I have everything I need to fuel my body, support my strength, and thrive so I can do my work in the world for animals — both human and non-human.

Complement your diet and and get 15% off everything you order—every time you order—using THIS LINK and the code: JOYFULVEGAN.

Get 15% off today!

Additional Resources

👉 Connect with me 1:1 – Get personalized guidance whatever you are looking for. (One one-on-one connection is also a perk of the Founding Member/VIP level here on Substack.)

👉 Read A Year of Compassion – Daily inspiration to help you live with intention, kindness, and clarity.

👉 Check out my Recipe E-Books and my library of On-Demand Cooking Classes for recipes.

👉 Travel the World Vegan Style! I’ve partnered with World Vegan Travel to bring you the best in luxury, all-inclusive vegan trips around the globe. Whether I am personally hosting or not, every itinerary is curated for a high-quality, premium experience. Check out upcoming trips, and please remember when booking any trip to mention you heard about them from COLLEEN PATRICK-GOUDREAU. 😊

When we think about staying healthy, we naturally focus on daily habits like a balanced diet, exercise, and stress management. But there is a critical, often overlooked window into our body’s internal workings that tells us exactly how those efforts are paying off: regular blood work.

In this episode, I dive deep into the world of biomarkers and explore why tracking these numbers is the most powerful tool we have for detecting potential health issues before they ever show physical symptoms.

I break down what is actually being measured in standard lipid and metabolic panels, debunk common misconceptions about “optimal” cholesterol levels, and look at the real-life numbers from my own recent blood work for reference.

Whether you are curious about how a plant-based diet impacts your numbers or want to know which hidden tests you need to request at your next checkup, this episode serves as your comprehensive guide to owning your health.

CAMBODIA 2027: Join me on an unforgettable journey from the breathtaking temples of Angkor to the vibrant streets of Phnom Penh. Join us for Culture, Cuisine & Conservation. Enter JOYFULVEGAN when booking to redeem the special offer of a one-on-one or private cooking class with me.

Redeem This Offer!

In this episode we cover:

• Why serious cardiovascular issues can develop silently without physical symptoms, and how early screening acts as a lifesaver

• A simple “garbage truck” analogy to easily understand the differing roles of LDL and HDL cholesterol in your bloodstream

• What clinical data reveals about the ideal total cholesterol threshold for eliminating heart attack risk

• The chemical difference between animal-based saturated fats and plant-based options like coconut oil

• The biological differences between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, and how to prevent insulin resistance naturally

• How to meet your iron requirements effortlessly on a plant-based diet without unnecessary and dangerous supplementation

• Key vitamins, minerals, and inflammation markers that are omitted from standard panels but are vital to request

• A look at my own recent blood numbers and a personal story regarding hair thinning, perimenopause, zinc, and B12.

🎧 Listen to the full episode of Food for Thought, celebrating 20 years of practical inspiration for living compassionately, sustainably, and healthfully.

👉 Connect with me 1:1 – Get personalized guidance whatever you are looking for.

👉 Read A Year of Compassion – Daily inspiration to help you live with intention, kindness, and clarity.

👉 Check out my Recipe E-Books and my library of On-Demand Cooking Classes for recipes.

👉 Travel the World Vegan Style! I’ve partnered with World Vegan Travel to bring you the best in luxury, all-inclusive vegan trips around the globe. Whether I am personally hosting or not, every itinerary is curated for a high-quality, premium experience. Check out upcoming trips, and please remember when booking any trip to mention you heard about them from COLLEEN PATRICK-GOUDREAU. 😊

We’re lucky enough to live in California, where we’re anywhere from about 45 to 90 minutes from wineries in pretty much every direction — not to mention the wine bars, tasting rooms, and wine shops here in Oakland and across the bay in San Francisco. So over the years, we’ve done our fair share of wine tastings.

And invariably, as you’re tasting the wines, the person pouring — who genuinely wants you to have the best experience possible — will start suggesting foods that pair especially well with whatever wine is in your glass.

More often than not, the recommendations revolve around animal products.

“This Cabernet Sauvignon would be incredible with a grilled steak or braised short ribs.”

“This buttery Chardonnay really shines alongside roast chicken or creamy cheeses.”

“This Sauvignon Blanc pairs beautifully with oysters or a delicate white fish.”

“This bold red practically begs for a charcuterie board or aged cheese.”

And so on.

But here’s what’s really happening. When someone recommends “grilled steak” with a Cabernet Sauvignon, what they’re really getting at is char, smoke, richness, fat, savoriness, chewiness.

When they recommend “oysters” or “white fish” with a crisp white wine like a Sauvignon Blanc, what they’re getting at is salinity, brightness, delicacy, minerality.

And when someone says a bold red pairs well with “charcuterie” or “aged cheese,” what they’re really responding to is salt, fat, funkiness (yes, that’s an adjective used in the wine world), umami, depth, and intensity.

In other words, what pairs with wine are qualities, not categories of ingredients.

The Qualities Matter More Than the Source

And this is no different than what I’ve been saying for decades in response to people who say they “crave meat” or “crave cheese.” We don’t crave the flesh of other animals. We are not obligate carnivores. But we do crave fat, salt, flavor, texture, familiarity, smoke, umami, richness, creaminess, and all the other qualities we associate with certain foods.

Once you identify the quality you’re actually “craving” — instead of focusing on the source of that quality (meat, dairy, eggs, etc.) — it becomes much easier to satisfy it with plant-based foods. For instance,

• If you’re craving is fat, there’s avocado, olive oil, peanut butter, nuts, tahini.

• If it’s salt, there’s tamari, olives, capers, miso, a sprinkle of flaky sea salt (Maldon for the win!)

• If it’s smoke, there are smoked salts, smoked paprika, fire-roasted vegetables, charred bread, grilled mushrooms.

• If it’s creaminess, there are avocados for guacamole, cashews for silky sauces and cheeses, white beans for spreads and dips, and countless other plant-based foods that provide the same rich, satisfying texture.

• If it’s chewiness or heartiness, there are mushrooms, lentils, roasted vegetables, crusty bread.

The same thing applies when we think about wine pairings.

Plant-Based Pairing Recommendations

So, instead of focusing on the animal product in the recommendation, I focus on the qualities the person is actually trying to convey. For instance,

• If someone recommends “steak” with a Cabernet Sauvignon, I think about the qualities they’re describing: char, smoke, fat, umami, depth, and from there I go to smoky grilled mushrooms, roasted portobellos, brown lentils with truffle oil, caramelized onions, focaccia with olives and rosemary.

• If someone says “oysters” or “white fish” go well with a Sauvignon Blanc, I think about the qualities they’re describing: freshness, brightness, salinity, minerality, citrus. And suddenly I’m thinking about lemon, herbs, olives, fennel, grilled zucchini and bell peppers, flaky pastry, white beans, artichokes.

• If someone recommends “roast chicken” or “creamy cheeses” with a Chardonnay, I think what they’re really saying is: complement it with creaminess, richness, roundness, butteriness — maybe even a little oakiness or toastiness. And suddenly I’m thinking about a good buttery olive oil, buttery potatoes, toasted sourdough, caramelized onions, roasted corn, or a velvety cauliflower purée.

• And if someone says a bold red begs for “charcuterie” or “aged cheese,” I would argue that what they’re really responding to is salt, fat, funkiness, umami, richness, depth. And my mind goes straight to toasted nuts, olive tapenade, mushrooms, dark chocolate, smoky eggplant, deeply savory spreads like muhammara or baba ghanoush, and crusty bread.

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The truth is, I don’t just think these things; I actually say them out loud at wineries and tasting rooms — and the response is almost always immediate agreement. No one has ever said, “No, this only works with steak,” or “No, this requires cheese.” If anything, it usually becomes a fun conversation about all the different ways those same qualities can be expressed through plant-based foods.

I just wish more wineries, tasting rooms, restaurants, and chefs would focus less on the animal products themselves and more on the qualities they’re actually trying to achieve. Because ultimately, that’s what creates satisfaction: fat, salt, smoke, texture, richness, creaminess, umami, crunch, chewiness, etc. Not the flesh or secretions of animals.

Our Own At-Home Tastings (and Pairings)

Meanwhile, while we’ll continue enjoying afternoons in Sonoma County, Napa County, Amador County, and “wine counties” beyond, we’ve also added something new to our own repertoire — at home in our garden: the Little Montali Wine Collective. (Little Montali is the name of our house.)

The “wine collective” part gets at the idea that together with the members of this little collective — our friends — we’ll explore different wines, regions, grapes, styles, and themes, all in the comfort of our home (which also gives me yet another excuse to host). David, my husband, focuses on the wines, and I focus on what I think is the most fun part (for me): creating the food and wine pairings.

This weekend was our inaugural gathering, and we chose the wines of Northern Italy as our theme — especially fitting since we’re leaving soon to host two trips in Italy once again: one in Tuscany and one in Northern Italy.

So alongside the wines, I created entirely plant-based pairings (of course) designed around the qualities each wine was asking for. We chose six wines altogether, but rather than creating six separate pairings, I created four food pairings, some of which complemented more than one wine beautifully.

Of course, Northern Italian wines span an enormous geographic area with countless styles and grape varieties. We could easily have focused on Alto Adige, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, or Emilia-Romagna alone. But for this inaugural gathering, we decided to focus on just two regions: the Veneto and Piemonte.

The wines we chose were a Prosecco, Pinot Grigio, Bardolino, Barbaresco, Barolo, and Amarone della Valpolicella. You can watch the video below for a glimpse of the afternoon, but here are some specifics.

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Prosecco

We began the afternoon with Prosecco, the most famous wine from the Veneto region, pouring glasses as guests arrived. To pair with it, I put out Castelvetrano olives, an herby black olives, Marcona almonds, and potato chips (patatine). Salty, briny, crunchy, rich — exactly the kinds of qualities that sparkling wines love (way more than they love animal products)!

Pinot Grigio & Bardolino

For these two wines, I chose the same pairing: my mushroom walnut pâté on crostini. Though one wine was white and the other red, both paired beautifully with the earthiness of the mushrooms, the fatty richness of the walnuts, and the herbal notes in the pâté (mostly thyme and sage). The pâté had enough depth and umami to stand up to the Bardolino while still being light and fresh enough for the Pinot Grigio.

Barbaresco & Barolo

Then we moved to Piemonte with Barbaresco and Barolo, both made from the Nebbiolo grape and known for their structure, tannins, and complexity.

For these wines, I made herbed polenta topped with cashew cream, caramelized onions, and toasted hazelnuts. (Polenta and hazelnuts are both deeply tied to Northern Italy.) But I also chose this dish because it brought exactly the kinds of qualities these wines love: richness, earthiness, warmth, nuttiness, sweetness from the onions, creamy texture from the cashew cream, and enough depth and savoriness to stand up to the tannins in the wine.

Amarone della Valpolicella

Finally, we ended with a very special wine made from partially dried grapes, which gives it incredible concentration, richness, depth, and intensity.

For this one, we kept it simple and served really beautiful dark chocolate—partly because Amarone and chocolate are wonderful together but also because we had an entire feast waiting for us once the tasting itself was over!

As you can see in the video, we ended with a feast (not sure how we had any room in our tummies left!), and it was a fabulous day over all. We look forward to the next one, as we’re brimming with ideas for future Little Montali Wine Collective gatherings. I look forward to sharing more with you! AND…

I would love to hear your thoughts, questions, or suggestions…

Leave a comment

Additional Resources

👉 Connect with me 1:1 – Get personalized guidance whatever you are looking for. (One one-on-one connection is also a perk of the Founding Member/VIP level here on Substack.)

👉 Read A Year of Compassion – Daily inspiration to help you live with intention, kindness, and clarity.

👉 Check out my Recipe E-Books and my library of On-Demand Cooking Classes for recipes.

👉 Travel the World Vegan Style! I’ve partnered with World Vegan Travel to bring you the best in luxury, all-inclusive vegan trips around the globe. Whether I am personally hosting or not, every itinerary is curated for a high-quality, premium experience. Check out upcoming trips, and please remember when booking any trip to mention you heard about them from COLLEEN PATRICK-GOUDREAU. 😊

Before You Go…

Even with a nutrient-rich plant-based diet, we can thrive even more with thoughtful support. That’s where Complement comes in, I take Complement Essential as my daily multivitamin for B12, D3, iodine, zinc, and magnesium; Omega Complex for essential fats; and as part of my strength-training and muscle-building routine, I fuel up with their clean Organic Protein. With Complement and my nutrient-rich diet, I have everything I need to fuel my body, support my strength, and thrive so I can do my work in the world for animals — both human and non-human.

Complement your diet and and get 15% off everything you order—every time you order—using THIS LINK and the code: JOYFULVEGAN.

Get 15% off today!

I’ve always been fascinated by language, etymology, and animals.

Years ago, I combined those interests into a project I called Animalogy—a term I coined to describe the study of the animal-related words and expressions we use every day and how those words shape and reflect our relationship with other animals.

The more you look, the more you realize that animals are everywhere in our language.

They’re in our idioms and expressions, our metaphors and myths, our constellations and surnames—and, as it turns out, in the names of countless cities, islands, and countries around the world.

Some are obvious. Others are hiding in plain sight.

So let’s take a little trip around the world and explore some of the places whose names reveal our enduring connection to other animals.

Islands

Some of my favorite examples are islands.

Capri (the beautiful island off the coast of Naples) was called “Goat Island” by the Romans, from the Latin caper, meaning goat—the same root that gives us Capricorn, literally “horn of the goat.”

The Galápagos Islands are named after the giant tortoises found there. Galápago is an old Spanish word meaning tortoise or saddle, referring to the saddle-backed shape of some of the tortoises’ shells.

(We’re hosting our first all-inclusive group trip in the Galapagos this year. Be sure to check out other Joyful Vegan Trips coming up, and don’t forget to note Colleen Patrick-Goudreau as the source when pre-registering, subscribing, or booking)

Tortuga, off the coast of Haiti, means “turtle” in Spanish. Christopher Columbus gave the island its name because its shape reminded him of a turtle shell.

The Faroe Islands literally means “Sheep Islands,” from the Faroese Føroyar—før meaning “sheep” and oyar meaning “islands.”

The Canary Islands are not named after canaries. In fact, the birds are named after the islands. The islands themselves derive from the Latin Insula Canaria—“Island of the Dogs”—from canis, the Latin word for dog. So, despite what seems like a perfectly reasonable inference, the Canary Islands are named after dogs, not canaries.

Countries and Capitals

Animal names are hiding in countries and capitals all over the world.

Uruguay may mean “bird river” or “river of painted birds.” Another theory suggests the name refers to a river snail called uruguá that was once abundant there. Either way, we have our Animalogy.

Cameroon comes from the Portuguese Rio dos Camarões—“Shrimp River”—named by Portuguese sailors who were struck by the abundance of shrimp they found in the Wouri River.

Sierra Leone literally means “Lion Mountains.” Sierra means “mountain range,” and Leone comes from the Latin word for “lion.”

Singapore comes from the Sanskrit Simhapura, meaning “Lion City.” Interestingly, lions have never lived there, but they remain central to the country’s identity.

Kosovo means “Land of Blackbirds,” from the Serbian word kos, meaning blackbird.

Abu Dhabi means “Father of the Gazelle” or “Father of the Deer.” In Arabic, abu means “father of,” and dhabi means “gazelle” (or deer), a reference to the graceful animals that once inhabited the region.

(Some historians say the area may once have been called Umm Dhabi, meaning “Mother of the Deer.”)

Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, derives from the Arabic al-khurtum, meaning “elephant trunk,” because the meeting of the Blue Nile and White Nile resembles one.

Accra, the capital of Ghana, comes from the Akan word Nkran, meaning “ants,” a reference to the many anthills found throughout the surrounding countryside.

Kampala derives from the Luganda word for impala, the elegant antelope native to eastern and southern Africa. The city’s name comes from the phrase Akasozi k’empala, meaning “the hill of the impala.”

The United States

Some wonderful examples are found in the United States.

Alcatraz means “pelican.” The name comes from the archaic Spanish word alcatraz, which was used for pelicans and other large seabirds. When Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala mapped the island in 1775, he named it La Isla de los Alcatraces—“The Island of the Pelicans”—most likely in reference to the large birds he observed there, which may actually have been pelicans or cormorants.

Los Gatos means “The Cats.” The cats in question were not house cats but the cougars and bobcats native to the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The original land grant was called La Rinconada de Los Gatos—“Cat’s Corner.”

Boca Raton is technically named after a navigational term. While many people assume the name means “Rat’s Mouth,” ratón actually means “mouse.” Early Spanish maps used boca de ratones to describe hidden rocks that gnawed or frayed ships’ cables. So while the phrase referred to a rocky inlet rather than an actual rodent, there is still a mouse hiding in the name—which, in my book, makes it an Animalogy.

Phoenix is named after the mythical bird that is cyclically reborn, rising from the ashes of its predecessor.

Coney Island likely means “Rabbit Island.” The most widely accepted theory is that it comes from the Dutch word conyn, meaning “rabbit,” a reference to the wild rabbits that were abundant there when Dutch settlers arrived.

The United Kingdom

England offers some especially delightful examples.

York comes from the Old English name Eoforwic, in which eofor means “wild boar” and wic means “settlement” or “town.” In other words, York means “Wild Boar Settlement.”

Derby derives from an old form meaning “village of the deer.” The root deor originally referred to wild animals in general before its meaning narrowed over time to the cervine animal we know today as deer.

Hertford means “the ford where the harts crossed,” from hart, the Old English word for a stag, and ford, a shallow place in a river where animals and people could cross. (When settlers founded Hartford, Connecticut in the 17th century, they named it after Hertford, England, the hometown of one of the town’s founders.)

Oxford comes from the Old English Oxnaford (oxen + ford), literally meaning “the ford where the oxen crossed.”

Ramsgate is not named after rams at all. Its earliest form derives from Hraefn’s geat, meaning “Raven’s Gate,” from hraefn (“raven”) and geat (“gate” or “gap”). Which, if you ask me, is much better.

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And so there you have it: geographical place names inspired by animals.

There are countless more examples if you include all the rivers, creeks, canyons, lakes, mountains, valleys, meadows, buttes, and gulches around the world whose names are rooted in other animals.

Taken together, they reveal something profound and fundamental: our deep connection to and affinity for other animals.

I’d love to hear from you: What animal-inspired place names do you know? What cities, towns, islands, rivers, or mountains in your part of the world are named after other animals?

Share your favorites in the comments. Thanks for reading!

Additional Resources

👉 Connect with me 1:1 – Get personalized guidance whatever you are looking for. (One one-on-one connection is also a perk of the Founding Member/VIP level here on Substack.)

👉 Read A Year of Compassion – Daily inspiration to help you live with intention, kindness, and clarity.

👉 Check out my Recipe E-Books and my library of On-Demand Cooking Classes for recipes.

👉 Travel the World Vegan Style! I’ve partnered with World Vegan Travel to bring you the best in luxury, all-inclusive vegan trips around the globe. Whether I am personally hosting or not, every itinerary is curated for a high-quality, premium experience. Check out upcoming trips, and please remember when booking any trip to mention you heard about them from COLLEEN PATRICK-GOUDREAU. 😊

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Hello, fellow compassionistas! Here is this week’s note where I share a couple things I’m loving right now — books, movies, food, music, podcasts.

What I’m Reading

Gardening with a Wild Heart: Restoring California’s Native Landscapes at Home by Judith Larner Lowry. I mentioned this in my last update about my restoration project, and while I haven’t finished it yet, I am in absolute awe. This book is pure poetry, filled with wisdom and inspiration.

If you are just beginning your journey (or are curious at the very least), I still believe Doug Tallamy’s Nature’s Best Hope is the best place to start. It offers invaluable general insight into the necessity of bringing back native plants and focusing on our own backyards, which, along with Nancy Lawson’s The Humane Gardener, is what inspired me.

However, if you are in California and have the deep affection for this state that I do, you will love Judith’s book. It contains inspiration for gardeners anywhere, but the fact that it focuses on this incredible place fills me with so much joy.

I checked this out through Libby, and if you don’t know about Libby (or need a reminder about how awesome it is), I’m here to recommend it! All you need is a library card to borrow ebooks and audiobooks. I often find that I’ll borrow a book there, fall in love, and then have to go buy my own copy for my permanent collection. Since Judith’s book is currently out of print, I tracked down a used physical copy—though it is available on Kindle!

What I’m Healing From

As I continue to immerse myself in this incredibly inspiring and expansive journey, apparently I also immersed myself in poison oak—again. This is now the fourth time I’ve contracted it in two years, and as careful as I try to be (or thought I could be), it’s becoming clear that I can’t tend to any of my new native plants without getting exposed.

You might remember from an earlier article that I was fine leaving the poison oak because it is native and supports local pollinators. I thought it remained in a spot I didn’t need to visit, but that just isn’t the case. As we plan another iteration of this restoration project for the fall, I have decided to have the poison oak completely removed. I’ve had to go on prednisone again, which I don’t love, but my system needed help calming everything down, but all is well and I’m on the mend!

What I’m Loving

One of the most exciting things about this journey is watching it unfold organically with my neighbors, especially Ron, our neighbor directly next door. I shared a video the other day (you can watch it below) showing our beautiful California wildflower ‘meadow’, along with the story of how my passion is catching on and inspiring others.

What was especially gratifying and serendipitous is that just after I made that video, he sent me this:

He probably has no idea how much he made my day (though of course I praised him and told him he’s amazing). Like so many journeys that require that first hard step because it’s so different from anything you’ve thought about or done before, knowing the why is so vital to internalizing it and making it your own.

If my neighbor were just planting native plants I recommended because he’s getting free help, that’s one thing (and I’d do it anyway), but the fact that he’s starting to “get it” is everything. It means it will become his, which means he’ll enjoy it that much more!

I have no lofty goals of making this a formal project with our entire neighborhood, but the neighbor on the other side of Ron, whom I’m friends with, is also “getting the bug.” She is excited to get my help and access the resources I recommend, and just yesterday, she left me a wonderful message about how we could tackle this as a project together and hopefully inspire more neighbors. So, stay tuned for that!

Today, I am heading back to East Bay Wilds, Oakland’s incredible native plant nursery, for my third weekly trip since returning from Japan.

How I’m Sleeping (Better!)

Switching gears, I recommended the bestseller Breath by James Nestor a while back, and one of the best things that came out of it (other than the permission to practice 4-8-8 breathing rather than 4-7-8!) was learning about a technique that my husband was actually willing to try to stop his snoring.

Following the advice from the book and a recommendation from a friend, David started wearing a mouthpiece called AIRWAAV, and I have to tell you—it’s been amazing. His snoring was starting to really hinder my sleep, which is never a good thing, and I know so many people can relate to this experience with your sleeping partner. I’m so grateful to David for being willing to wear it (which he says takes a little getting used to but is otherwise not uncomfortable), and I’m equally grateful that it’s actually working.

He’s snoring 90% less, and I’m sleeping 100% more.

What I’m Giving (and Receiving)

Finally, I continue to love the Buy Nothing community. (Look up “Buy Nothing Project” for one near you.) We are still (always) in the process of removing things from our home that no longer serve us, but it’s important to me that we do so responsibly. As I define zero waste in A Year of Compassion, it’s about valuing what you own and taking responsibility for the full life cycle of whatever you bring into your life.

This week, using Buy Nothing), we parted with a shag rug we’ve had for 15 years (not the best match for kitties with hairballs!), a floor lamp, a hair dryer, and even some sealed saline solution. I love knowing these items are going directly to someone who needs them makes letting go feel like a gift—and of course it means they don’t wind up in a landfill.

Speaking of giving away—but also receiving—we just traded in our 2021 Tesla for the 2026 model. We were quite happy to get a decent trade-in price, and with the improvements for this new model, it was worth it. It’s an exciting time for the industry; battery costs and EV prices are lower than ever, making electric vehicles more accessible for everyone.

I know Tesla is a polarizing topic because of its leadership, but at the end of the day, it truly is a fantastic car. There are so many incredible electric vehicles on the market now, but for us, nothing beats the ease of the Supercharger network, and we’re excited about the improvements in this new model, which we’ll keep for a long time.

And since you name your Tesla (it’s a thing on the app), we’ve said goodbye to Prince and hello to Flashheart (Flash, for short). My UK friends will know the reference. 😊

Those are my Friday musings. Tell me about yours, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Additional Resources

👉 Connect with me 1:1 – Get personalized guidance whatever you are looking for. (One one-on-one connection is also a perk of the Founding Member/VIP level here on Substack.)

👉 Read A Year of Compassion – Daily inspiration to help you live with intention, kindness, and clarity.

👉 Check out my Recipe E-Books and my library of On-Demand Cooking Classes for recipes.

👉 Travel the World Vegan Style! I’ve partnered with World Vegan Travel to bring you the best in luxury, all-inclusive vegan trips around the globe. Whether I am personally hosting or not, every itinerary is curated for a high-quality, premium experience. Check out upcoming trips, and please remember when booking any trip to mention you heard about them from COLLEEN PATRICK-GOUDREAU. 😊

My Favorite Supplements

Even with a nutrient-rich plant-based diet, we can thrive even more with thoughtful support. That’s where Complement comes in, I take Complement Essential as my daily multivitamin for B12, D3, iodine, zinc, and magnesium; Omega Complex for essential fats; and as part of my strength-training and muscle-building routine, I fuel up with their clean Organic Protein. With Complement and my nutrient-rich diet, I have everything I need to fuel my body, support my strength, and thrive so I can do my work in the world for animals — both human and non-human.

Complement your diet and and get 15% off everything you order—every time you order—using THIS LINK and the code: JOYFULVEGAN.

Get 15% off today!

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Embracing Memento Mori

NOTE: The written essay version of this podcast episode can be found here.

The concept of memento mori—remembering that we are mortal—is often viewed as morbid or macabre. But for those who embrace it, acknowledging the brevity of life isn’t about dwelling on the end; it’s about celebrating every single moment we have.

In this episode, I share a very personal journey that has been years in the making: the process of choosing a final resting place and designing a gravestone for my mother, my husband David, and myself. From the historic hills of Oakland’s Mountain View Cemetery to the granite peaks of the Sierra Nevadas, this story is about more than just logistics—it’s about values, intentionality, and the peace that comes with being prepared.

Whether it’s establishing a plan for companion animals or choosing local, sustainable materials for a memorial, we explore how end-of-life decisions are ultimately for the living. It is a gift of clarity for those we leave behind and a final opportunity to express the passions—from wildlife gardening to music—that define our “one wild and precious life.”

In this episode you will learn:

• How acknowledging our “expiry date” can lead to a more joyful, grateful, and purposeful daily life.

• Why having wills, trusts, and even “house-sitter instructions” for death makes the grieving process easier for survivors.

• The environmental differences between traditional fire-based cremation and “green” water-based alkaline hydrolysis.

• Why we moved away from a remote “green forest” burial in favor of a historic, local cemetery we visit and love.

• My six-year journey to overcome the “paralysis” of designing a memorial and why we chose native California granite over imported stone.

• A sneak peek into the symbols and inscriptions—from Puccini lyrics to Mary Oliver quotes—that will represent our lives and our loves.

• How having a physical resting place helped navigate the difficult ritual of mourning during the 2020 lockdowns.

🎧 Listen to the full episode of Food for Thought, celebrating 20 years of practical inspiration for living compassionately, sustainably, and healthfully.

Additional Resources

👉 Connect with me 1:1 – Get personalized guidance whatever you are looking for.

👉 Read A Year of Compassion – Daily inspiration to help you live with intention, kindness, and clarity.

👉 Check out my Recipe E-Books and my library of On-Demand Cooking Classes for recipes.

👉 Travel the World Vegan Style! I’ve partnered with World Vegan Travel to bring you the best in luxury, all-inclusive vegan trips around the globe. Whether I am personally hosting or not, every itinerary is curated for a high-quality, premium experience. Check out upcoming trips, and please remember when booking any trip to mention you heard about them from COLLEEN PATRICK-GOUDREAU. 😊

This article is part of my ongoing series called Rewilding Your Yard for Wildlife and Biodiversity.

I recently read that sentence in Judith Larner Lowry’s book, Gardening with a Wild Heart. Lowry is an author, ecologist, and native garden designer who was described to me as 'the Douglas Tallamy before Douglas Tallamy.'

This isn't to take anything away from Douglas Tallamy, whose book, Nature’s Best Hope, was the catalyst for my own awakening—and that of millions of others—regarding the urgent need to restore native plant communities to support and recover our wildlife species.

But as Lowry is a fellow Californian—and founder of the native-seed powerhouse Larner Seeds in Bolinas, CA—it was recommended I give her work a read.

I‘ll have much more to report on the many gems I’ve discovered in her writing later, but I wanted to pause on that one sentence, as it contains so much wisdom and serves as the perfect catalyst for today’s article.

Here—and in her book at large—Lowry reflects on why our landscapes have become so overrun with non-native species, and why those of us who have had a ‘conversion’ often struggle to communicate the beauty and benefit of the indigenous plants that belong here (wherever here is for you).

The reality is that most of us, wherever we may live, are standing on land once dominated by plants that took thousands of years to adapt to specific soils and climates. They grew in a harmonious relationship with the local animals, creating a balanced, self-sustaining ecosystem. But over time, those original communities were erased, replaced by a sea of exotic ornamentals and tenacious invasives.

She offers the generous insight that we cannot respect what we cannot see.

So simple. So true.

Thanks to visionaries like Lowry and Tallamy, a global shift is underway. Across the U.S., grassroots initiatives like Homegrown National Park—Tallamy’s project to regenerate biodiversity one yard at a time—are gaining significant ground, mirroring a growing movement of people worldwide working to make these plant communities ‘evident’ once again.

For me, locally, leading this charge is the Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour. This remarkable volunteer-run annual event entails private homeowners inviting the public into their gardens to witness firsthand the transformation of traditional yards into thriving native habitats.

While this is the third year I’ve toured these gardens (more on that soon), my journey with this group actually began during the COVID lockdown. It was during that time of ‘conversion’ that I first discovered Bringing Back the Natives, just as they had pivoted from their traditional format of in-person tours to online tours. (I highly recommend subscribing to their YouTube channel to watch countless inspiring and informative videos.)

Since then, I’ve followed their transition back to the fully in-person experience it is today—an event that is growing in scale and energy every year. While I aspire to one day have my own garden(s) included on the tour, for now, I am like a sponge soaking up everything I can and spent this past weekend in a state of pure wonder, visiting seven gardens in a single day and spending a significant amount of time in each.

With 70 gardens to choose from, I had to be discerning—and I landed on seven. Even that was a lot for one day, but I wanted to make the most of it (and dragged my amazing husband along for the ride).

Four of the gardens on my list turned out to be within walking distance of our house, so we powered through those first, stopped home to refuel, then headed back out for three more a little further afield. We had planned to visit a few more on Sunday, but instead, I spent the day in my own garden, planting some of the 30+ native plants I had bought even before the tours had begun! (Yes, I’m obsessed.)

After absorbing a ton of inspiration, taking copious notes and photos, and connecting with many other native gardening enthusiasts—from neighbors to professional landscapers—I came home exhausted but full.

I immediately ‘downloaded my brain’ to capture everything, and while many of my takeaways were specific to my own property and project, I realized there is so much I could share here that might be helpful for your own rewilding journey.

Before I dive into those lessons, I want to remind you of my previous articles that offer deeper dives into getting started, managing water, and supporting the animals we share our spaces with:

• How to Create a Pollinator Sanctuary in Your Own Backyard – Simple, practical steps to restore habitat right outside your door.

• Lessons from a Native Garden (One Year Later) – Three key lessons for supporting wildlife in your own space.

• How to Grow Native Wildflowers – A beginner-friendly guide for every budget and any size space.

• Why I Don’t Use Bird Feeders — And What I Do Instead – Essential ways to support birds through habitat rather than handouts.

• Backyard Wildlife Safari – Simple ways to admire and support the animals living among us.

• Gardening Without Animal Products – A guide to growing plants free from slaughterhouse waste like bone and feather meal.

• Confessions of a (Joyful) Ivy Killer – Why certain vines threaten biodiversity and how to handle them.

• What an Oak Tree Taught Me About Resilience – Lessons in renewal from one of our most important keystone species.

• To Weed or Not to Weed – Deciding what to pull (or keep) when creating a wildlife habitat.

• Planting Native Flowers Saves Pollinators – Why focus on flowers rather than beehives to truly help native bees.

• Heat Waves and Dry Spells – How to irrigate using winter rain and grey water without wasting resources.

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And now, for the five big takeaways from my weekend marathon:

1. The Art of Being Flexible

One of the most liberating parts of this journey is realizing that the garden is a living, breathing thing—not a static painting. You plant, you observe, and you stay open to the idea that things can change. If a plant isn’t thriving, you can move it. It’s an ever-changing, ever-evolving, never-ending process.

I talked to many gardeners on the tour who have experienced this, and I’ve been doing this quite a bit lately in my own garden:

• I recently moved a Flannel Bush (Fremontodendron californicum) to a sunnier spot. It had been in the ground for two years and just wasn’t doing much, so I decided to give it the heat it clearly craves.

• I had to rescue four newly planted Snowberries (Symphoricarpos albus) from our street-level garden. The deer were absolutely destroying them, so I transplanted them to a safe spot within our gated gardens. They are already thriving.

• I moved some Seep Monkeyflower (Erythranthe guttata) from a pot near a fountain to a different garden. I had originally thought it would appreciate the constant splash of the fountain the pot was near, but it wasn't doing much there. Since moving it to a shady spot in the ground, it is absolutely thrilled.

The point is, you aren’t “failing” if you have to move a plant; you’re just listening to what it’s telling you its needs are.

2. 100% Isn’t the Goal

I’m saying this to myself as much as I am to you. One of the most helpful things I noticed on the tour was that even the most stunning native gardens still had non-native plants mixed in. I am finally giving myself permission to stop beating myself up for what was already here before I moved in—and for the non-native plants I planted before I knew better.

The truth is, much of my property is framed by structural, non-native pieces that are doing no harm. Whether it’s non-native Boxwood, Arbutus, Maple, Birch, or Olive trees, I’m not cutting them down; they are part of the history and the story of this space.

If they were invasive or ecological threats—like the English Ivy, French broom, and veldt grass I have worked so hard to remove—I would make a different choice, and maybe someday I’ll make a different decision. But by interplanting new natives around these legacy trees and shrubs, I’m keeping this project a sustainable, reasonable, and affordable one. We don’t need to be purists to be part of the solution; we just need to be intentional about what we add next.

Someone I know once said Don’t do nothing because you can’t do everything. Do something. Everything.

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3. Strength in Numbers

The gardens that felt the most “full” and cohesive weren’t the ones with one of everything—they were the ones that embraced consistency. On one hand, from a design perspective, planting in groups creates a sense of visual continuity that anchors the space and makes the landscape feel intentional rather than cluttered. Your eye knows where to go. On the other hand, it is a brilliant ecological strategy.

By planting in clusters, we create a more efficient “one-stop shop” for pollinators. Rather than forcing a bee or butterfly to expend precious energy flying across the property to find the next individual bloom, a dense patch provides a concentrated source of the nectar they crave and a reliable nursery for the plants they need to lay their eggs on. It turns out that what is easiest on the eye is also easiest on the animals we’re trying to support.

4. Find Native Twins

I’ve become pretty good at identifying natives, but this tour was a humbling reminder of the sheer variety available to us. It was incredibly exciting to realize that for almost every “exotic” plant we admire around the world, there is often a local version that fits the same aesthetic while doing the actual work of supporting our home ecosystem.

For instance, it’s no surprise that we spend a lot of time in Japan (including next year when we’re hosting an autumn trip to gaze at the maples), and we have always loved Japanese Maples, Dogwoods, and Rhododendrons. It turns out that we have our own native California Maples, California Dogwoods, and Western Azaleas. They are distinct from the Asian varieties, of course, but they offer that same beloved silhouette and spirit while providing immense local benefit.

5. Compassionate Culling

My journey so far has been about addition—incorporating as many native plants as possible into the landscape. But after this weekend, I’m finally ready for the next chapter: subtraction.

I’ve intentionally kept many non-natives in place so birds and insects wouldn’t lose their cover while the new habitat found its footing. (See above.) But now that the natives are established, it’s time for some of the “old guard” to go—especially those I’ve realized are actually quite invasive (or at least insistent and pervasive).

A primary example is the non-native Salvias I planted years ago to “support pollinators,” such as Salvia microphylla or'Hot Lips'. Through this journey, of course, I’ve learned that they primarily serve non-native insects while displacing the native Sages that could support everyone. Beyond the ecological mismatch, they are deceptively aggressive, sending underground shoots everywhere. I can see the proof just past our boxwood hedge, where they’ve completely taken over my neighbor’s side.

These plants have served their purpose, and it’s time to let them go now. By removing them, I’m making space for native plant communities to thrive and to restore this oak woodland to what it once was.

What are your thoughts? What is your experience? I’d love to know.

Leave a comment

Additional Resources

👉 Connect with me 1:1 – Get personalized guidance whatever you are looking for. (One one-on-one connection is also a perk of the Founding Member/VIP level here on Substack.)

👉 Read A Year of Compassion – Daily inspiration to help you live with intention, kindness, and clarity.

👉 Travel with me! I host animal-friendly, luxury, all-inclusive vegan trips around the world, specifically curated to ensure high-quality, high-touch premium experiences. Check out our upcoming trips, and let me know if you have any questions.

👉 Check out my Recipe E-Books and my library of On-Demand Cooking Classes for recipes.

Plant-Based Nutrients

Even with a nutrient-rich plant-based diet, we can thrive even more with thoughtful support. That’s where Complement comes in, I take Complement Essential as my daily multivitamin for B12, D3, iodine, zinc, and magnesium; Omega Complex for essential fats; and as part of my strength-training and muscle-building routine, I fuel up with their clean Organic Protein. With Complement and my nutrient-rich diet, I have everything I need to fuel my body, support my strength, and thrive so I can do my work in the world for animals — both human and non-human.

Complement your diet and and get 15% off everything you order—every time you order—using THIS LINK and the code: JOYFULVEGAN.

Get 15% off today!

We’ve all been there. We walk into a restaurant, and the first thing we ask is: “Do you have vegan options on your menu?” The server says, “Absolutely we do! In fact, we have a separate vegan menu just for you.”

You’re thrilled. You feel special. You feel seen.

But what feels like a thoughtful accommodation is actually a velvet rope—one that keeps the general public out.

After three decades of advocating for animals and exploring the power of language to do that as effectively as possible, I’ve come to a conclusion that might surprise you: We should not advocate for vegan-only menus.

While our goal may be to normalize the consumption of plants and to move toward a more compassionate world, research shows that the way restaurants market vegan options inadvertently leads to fewer people choosing plant-based dishes over animal flesh and fluids.

Now, before you get your broccoli in a bunch, I’m not saying we should never use the word “vegan.” I am saying that we need to look at what research shows is most effective for influencing what people actually choose to order from a menu if we actually want to change behavior.

Many restaurants see the value in accommodating vegans as well as non-vegans, but having a chef who knows how to make delicious plant-based fare is just one ingredient in the recipe. If we want these items to actually sell to more than just a minority of diners, we have to look at how they are marketed to the general public.

Why Separate Menus Act as a Barrier

We tend to think that a separate menu is a convenience, but in the world of social psychology, it’s a wall. When a restaurant hands out a “Vegan Menu,” it may make vegans feel special, but if a diner doesn’t identify as “vegan,” they won’t even look at that list—let alone ask for it.

This effectively removes the plant-based options from the consideration of 95% of customers. Isolation ensures that only the already converted ever see the options, which is the opposite of normalization.

I don’t want to live in an exclusive vegan club; I want people who don’t identify as “vegan” to eat plants and not animals. The more we make it seem like eating plant-based foods is exclusive to vegans, the more we are sabotaging the very thing we care about.

Integration is the Key to Normalization

The most effective thing a restaurant can do is stop segregating the plant-based options. Incorporating plant-based items directly into the main menu—placing the plant-based burger right next to the beef burger—ensures it is seen by 100% of the customers and removes the “otherness” of the dish.

If we want the items to sell, they need to be in the line of sight of every person opening the menu.

When the food is integrated, it just becomes part of the menu. Period. It sends the message that these dishes are for everyone, not just a subset of people.

(To be clear: the default should be that every dish is integrated and those free of animal products are clearly marked. If a restaurant wants to offer an additional vegan menu as a supplement, that’s fine—as long as it’s a supplement, not the only place those dishes live.)

But visibility is only half the battle. For these items to actually move, the marketing—what the dishes are called—has to be as attractive as the placement (and taste, of course).

The “Vegan” Deterrent

While I understand wanting to demystify the word “vegan,” the fact is, labeling a dish as “vegan” can actually lead to lower sales among non-vegans. Research shows that for many people, the word “vegan” triggers a “deprivation” mindset—they think about what is missing (meat, dairy, eggs) rather than what is actually there.

To the general public, “vegan” is often seen as a restrictive, “members-only” label. By using descriptions like “plant-based” in the fine print—or a small, unobtrusive symbol like a leaf or a “V”—we trust that the dish can stand on its own merits without triggering that psychological barrier that the word “vegan” can invoke.

It turns out that descriptors related to taste, texture, and enjoyment are what actually drive sales. When a menu uses words like “decadent,” “smoky,” “rich,” “creamy,” or “crispy,” it isn’t just describing the food—it’s selling the experience.

The name of a dish is the best chance a restaurant has to grab someone’s attention. Think about it: a customer is far more likely to choose “Zesty Chile-and-Citrus-Roasted Asparagus” over plain “Roasted Asparagus.” They’ll choose “Tangy Ginger Broccoli and Smoky Shiitake Mushrooms” long before they’ll order a side of “Broccoli and Mushrooms.”

Even titling a plant-based burger “Impossible Burger” or “Beyond Burger” is much more effective than calling it a “Vegan Burger” or “Veggie Burger.” If it’s not a commercial patty, the restaurant can call it something exciting like “Smoky Grilled Grain Burger” or “Mexican Bean Chipotle Burger” .

This is exactly what we should be encouraging restaurants to do: move toward a world where plant-based food is simply seen as the most delicious thing on the menu.

(More) Suggestions for Restaurants

Once plant-based items are on the menu and marketed correctly, restaurants can further increase sales by using a psychological tool social psychologists have understood for a long time: our ingrained desire to conform to societal standards. You can actually change a person’s behavior simply by highlighting that other people have already changed theirs.

It’s social peer pressure for good!

As I discuss in my book, The Joyful Vegan: How to Stay Vegan in a World That Wants You to Eat Meat, Dairy, and Eggs, a study led by researchers at Stanford University proved exactly how effective this is. They worked with a burger restaurant to add a simple, unobtrusive message to the menu: “Our Meatless Burgers Are on the Rise.” On the credit card machine, they added: “We’ve noticed customers are starting to choose more meatless dishes.”

These two small interventions resulted in a significant increase in the sales of meatless dishes. It works because when a behavior is presented as a rising societal norm, our brains are wired to want to join in.

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Finally, we should encourage restaurants to look at the “how” and the “what” of their plant-based offerings:

• Increase the artistry: Studies show that the way food is plated actually enhances the perceived flavor. If a dish looks like a masterpiece, it sells like one.

• Focus on familiar textures: Aside from plant-based burgers and nuggets, restaurants shouldn’t rely too heavily on seitan or tofu. For many non-vegans, these ingredients still carry negative associations. Using familiar, hearty plants—mushrooms, grains, beans, and roasted vegetables—lowers the barrier to entry.

These are small changes in tactics, but they could have a massive impact. By focusing on flavor and social norms instead of restrictive labels, we stop making plant-based food a novelty and start making it the main event.

So, have I convinced you? Let me know in the comments below!

Stay tuned for more on this topic. In subsequent articles, I’ll be sharing my thoughts (and the research) about:

• Whether “vegan” or “plant-based” labels on packaging are more effective at influencing what people actually buy

• How we identify ourselves and whether the words we use to describe our own identity inspire people to lean in or cause them to turn away.

• Whether restaurants should actually use “vegan” in their name, or if doing so inadvertently keeps the very people we want to reach from walking through the door.

You can read more about these and other related topics in The Joyful Vegan, in my Food for Thought podcast, and here on my Substack!

Additional Resources

👉 Connect with me 1:1 – Get personalized guidance whatever you are looking for. (One one-on-one connection is also a perk of the Founding Member/VIP level here on Substack.)

👉 Read A Year of Compassion – Daily inspiration to help you live with intention, kindness, and clarity.

👉 Check out my Recipe E-Books and my library of On-Demand Cooking Classes for recipes.

👉 Travel the World Vegan Style! I’ve partnered with World Vegan Travel to bring you the best in luxury, all-inclusive vegan trips around the globe. Whether I am personally hosting or not, every itinerary is curated for a high-quality, premium experience. Check out upcoming trips, and please remember when booking any trip to mention you heard about them from COLLEEN PATRICK-GOUDREAU. 😊

Speaking of Optimizing…

Even with a nutrient-rich plant-based diet, we can thrive even more with thoughtful support. That’s where Complement comes in, I take Complement Essential as my daily multivitamin for B12, D3, iodine, zinc, and magnesium; Omega Complex for essential fats; and as part of my strength-training and muscle-building routine, I fuel up with their clean Organic Protein. With Complement and my nutrient-rich diet, I have everything I need to fuel my body, support my strength, and thrive so I can do my work in the world for animals — both human and non-human.

Complement your diet and and get 15% off everything you order—every time you order—using THIS LINK and the code: JOYFULVEGAN.

Get 15% off today!

Thanks so much for reading. Please share this article with others, and leave a comment below. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Leave a comment

While Southern Italy is the land of sun-drenched tomatoes and olive oil, Northern Italy offers a completely different culinary landscape. Characterized by the dramatic peaks of the Dolomites, the mist of the Po Valley, and the sophisticated canals of Venice, the North is a region of rich history and hearty, “stick-to-your-bones” fare.

In this final installment of our Italian culinary tour, we head to the cooler climates of regions like Piedmont, Lombardy, and Veneto. We explore how the landscape—shaped by French, Germanic, and Celtic influences—created a cuisine centered around butter, cream, and grains like rice and corn.

But don’t let the prevalence of animal products fool you; Northern Italy is also the birthplace of some of the world’s most beloved plant-based staples. From the “king of rice” to the traditional art of handmade gnocchi and the vibrant pesto of Liguria, we uncover the vegan gems hidden within this elegant, mountainous terrain.

In this episode you will learn:

• The North-South Divide: Why the cooler climate and flat pasturelands led to a culture of butter and cream, while the south remained the land of olive oil.

• Risotto Perfection: The secrets of risotto alla Milanese and why carnaroli rice is considered the “caviar” of grains.

• The History of Polenta and Gnocchi: How these humble cucina povera (peasant food) dishes evolved from ancient Roman porridges and New World imports into modern delicacies.

• Pesto and Focaccia: A deep dive into Liguria’s most famous exports and why a mortar and pestle is still the superior way to handle basil.

• The Geography of Bread: The origins of ciabatta (the “slipper” bread) and the strict Italian rules about when—and when not—to eat bread with your meal.

• Regional Luxuries: The hunt for the elusive white truffle of Piedmont and the centuries-old tradition of producing authentic Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale in Modena.

• Holiday Traditions: The Catholic roots of “Carnevale” and the delicious fried treats like crostoli and zeppole that mark the season.

• A Toast to the North: A guide to regional wines, from the sparkling reds of Lambrusco to the “foggy” Nebbiolo grapes of Barolo and Barbaresco.

🎧 Listen to the full episode of Food for Thought, celebrating 20 years of practical inspiration for living compassionately, sustainably, and healthfully.

Additional Resources

👉 Connect with me 1:1 – Get personalized guidance whatever you are looking for.

👉 Read A Year of Compassion – Daily inspiration to help you live with intention, kindness, and clarity.

👉 Check out my Recipe E-Books and my library of On-Demand Cooking Classes for recipes.

👉 Travel the World Vegan Style! I’ve partnered with World Vegan Travel to bring you the best in luxury, all-inclusive vegan trips around the globe. Whether I am personally hosting or not, every itinerary is curated for a high-quality, premium experience. Check out upcoming trips, and please remember when booking any trip to mention you heard about them from COLLEEN PATRICK-GOUDREAU. 😊

As a lifelong student and lover of tea, I am thrilled to be further immersing myself in the ‘Way of Tea’ here in Japan. I’m currently back in the country hosting two groups, and as this is my fifth time leading tours here, I always make it a point to dive deeper into a new layer of the culture. This year, tea has been my focus.

I have so much to learn, but here are some ‘tea-keaways’ I want to share with you.

The Beauty of Imperfection

First of all, to understand the Japanese tea ceremony—or Chanoyu—is to understand the heart of Japan itself. While tea originally came over from China with Buddhist monks over a thousand years ago, it was here in Japan that it evolved from a simple medicinal drink into a spiritual practice.

The man who transformed it was Sen no Rikyū. In the 16th century, he took tea away from the decadent gold-plated displays of the elite and moved it toward a philosophy called Wabi-cha, which encapsulates the notion of embracing imperfection and finding beauty in simplicity.

You’ve most likely heard of Wabi-sabi—the popular philosophy of finding beauty in the imperfect. Wabi-cha was the actual “Way of Tea” Rikyū created to bring that philosophy to life.

• He was the one who decided that a cracked, hand-molded clay bowl was more “perfect” than a flawless piece of expensive porcelain.

• He is the reason bamboo whisks and earthy ceramics are used today, demonstrating that even in the most humble surroundings, one could find perfection.

• He found divinity in the “simple,” and in doing so, he shifted the entire Japanese aesthetic toward valuing the natural and the unrefined.

Ironically, it was this very devotion to simplicity that caused his downfall. His refusal to bow to the opulent, golden tastes of the ruling warlord, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, eventually led to his forced ritual suicide, or seppuku. Rikyū chose to die for his aesthetic rather than compromise it for a man who famously built a tea room made of solid gold.

Though that is a story for another time, you can understand it a little more if you’re interested in reading up on Rikyū, but I’d also recommend checking out a few movies about him. A few I’d recommend:

• Rikyu (1989) – This one is a classic and really focuses on that clash between the artist and the politician.

• Death of a Tea Master (1989) – Released the same year, this one focuses more on his final days.

• Ask This of Rikyu (2013) – A more modern take that focuses on the objects and the “heart” of his tea.

The 7 Rules of Tea

There is so much to say about what Rikyū did to change tea, but let’s talk about one of the most enduring things he left us: The 7 Rules of Tea (Rikyū Shichi Soku).

Legend says that when a student asked Rikyū to reveal the deep secrets of the ceremony, the Master simply gave him these seven instructions. The student was unimpressed, complaining that they were far too basic and that anyone could follow them. Rikyū famously replied that if the student could actually live by these seven rules without fail, Rikyū would happily become his student!

Of course, these were meant for the tea room, but they can be applied beautifully to life:

1. Make a satisfying bowl of tea

This is the most fundamental rule, representing the core philosophy of the ceremony. It means the host's primary goal is to prepare tea with devotion and sincerity, ensuring the guest finds true satisfaction in both the taste and the experience. Of course, in life, it’s a reminder to do things with intention; whether you’re making a meal or making a phone call, do it in a way that truly nourishes the other person.

2. Lay the charcoal so the water boils efficiently

Focus on the essentials. We often overcomplicate our lives with unnecessary fluff and performance. This rule teaches us to be practical and purposeful—do what is necessary for the result you want, and let go of the rest. It reminds me of something Marcus Aurelius wrote in Meditations: “Ask yourself at every moment, ‘Is this necessary?’”

3. Provide a sense of coolness in summer and warmth in winter

This is the heart of hospitality. It’s about being sensitive to the needs of others before they even have to ask. It’s a call to be empathetic and to adjust our presence to bring comfort to those around us.

4. Arrange the flowers as though they were in the field

I always assumed the flowers in a tea ceremony were Ikebana (the famous Japanese art of flower arrangement), but on this trip, I learned they are actually Chabana. While Ikebana is complex and formal, Chabana is its simpler, "wilder" cousin. The goal is to respect the natural essence of the flower, making it look as if it’s still growing in the wild. It’s a beautiful lesson in authenticity—letting ourselves and others shine in our natural state rather than a manicured one.

5. Be ready ahead of time

In the tea room, this means having every detail prepared so the host is never flustered. As someone who hosts a lot, this rule resonates with me, as I always prefer to have everything ready before guests arrive, but I also put a lot of pressure on myself to have everything perfect. This rule is about preparation but also about creating space between the act of preparing and the act of greeting. Punctuality is respect, but it’s also about inner peace. By being truly "ready," we create the mental space to be fully present for the people we are with, rather than just catching our breath as they walk through the door.

6. Be prepared for rain even if it is not raining

In a tea ceremony, this means having everything ready for any sudden change in conditions so the guest's experience remains seamless. It isn’t about being a pessimist; it’s about having the inner fortitude and flexibility to stay calm when the “weather” changes. Life is unpredictable, but if you have your "umbrella" ready, a sudden downpour is just part of the scenery, not a disaster. It allows you to remain steady and present, no matter what happens.

7. Act with utmost consideration toward your guests

At the end of the day, everything in the tea room—and in life—is about connection, the foundation of my work. Rikyū taught the concept of Ichigo Ichie, which translates to "one time, one meeting." It’s the idea that this specific moment, with these specific people, will never happen exactly the same way again. When we realize that every encounter is a once-in-a-lifetime event, every interaction becomes an opportunity to show genuine kindness and presence.

It’s been so rewarding to spend this time in Kyoto learning and understanding more, and I’m so glad to be able to bring these pieces of the journey back to you. Something that drew me to tea many years ago was not just the drink itself but about how the act of serving, hosting, drinking, and sharing mirrors life and our relationships with one another.

I hope you enjoyed these "tea-keaways" as much as I enjoyed discovering them. Below is a little video from one of our experiences, but I have much more to share!

Self-Care Beyond Tea

Even with a nutrient-rich plant-based diet, we can thrive even more with thoughtful support. That’s where Complement comes in, I take Complement Essential as my daily multivitamin for B12, D3, iodine, zinc, and magnesium; Omega Complex for essential fats; and as part of my strength-training and muscle-building routine, I fuel up with their clean Organic Protein. With Complement and my nutrient-rich diet, I have everything I need to fuel my body, support my strength, and thrive so I can do my work in the world for animals — both human and non-human.

Complement your diet and and get 15% off everything you order—every time you order—using THIS LINK and the code: JOYFULVEGAN.

Get 15% off

Additional Resources

👉 Connect with me 1:1 – Get personalized guidance whatever you are looking for.

👉 Read A Year of Compassion – Daily inspiration to help you live with intention, kindness, and clarity.

👉 Check out my Recipe E-Books and my library of On-Demand Cooking Classes for recipes.

👉 Travel the World Vegan Style! I’ve partnered with World Vegan Travel to bring you the best in luxury, all-inclusive vegan trips around the globe. Whether I am personally hosting or not, every itinerary is curated for a high-quality, premium experience. Check out upcoming trips, and please remember when booking any trip to mention you heard about them from COLLEEN PATRICK-GOUDREAU. 😊

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Our culinary tour of Italy continues in Tuscany, a region whose cypress-lined landscapes and medieval hill towns define the quintessential Italian dream. This episode focuses on a cuisine where the philosophy of cucina povera meets world-class agricultural products, creating a table that is naturally plant-forward and elegantly simple.

In this installment of our Italian series, we dive into why Tuscans are known as “bean eaters” and how their famous unsalted bread serves as the perfect canvas for the region’s pungent, peppery olive oil. From ancient Etruscan roots to the birthplace of the biscotto, we discover how Tuscany transforms humble ingredients like white beans, kale, and chestnuts into mouthwatering masterpieces.

What This Episode Covers:

• We dive into why Tuscans are affectionately called “bean eaters” and explore the many varieties of white beans

• I discuss the unique characteristics of Tuscan olive oil

• We explore the curious history of Tuscany’s unsalted bread (pane sciocco) and how it led to the creation of classic “recycled” dishes like Panzanella and Ribollita.

• This episode highlights the difference between crostini and bruschetta, including a warning about which traditional toppings to avoid.

• I introduce the ancient pasta testaroli and the thick, hand-rolled pici noodles that are a staple of Sienese cuisine.

• We look at the versatility of chickpea flour in traditional street foods like torta di ceci and farinata.

• I share the fascinating history of biscotti, which were originally created as a rock-hard, long-shelf-life ration for Roman Legions.

• We wrap up with a look at chestnut-based desserts and savory dishes, from chestnut gnocchi to the raisin-and-pine-nut-studded castagnaccio.

🎧 Listen to the full episode of Food for Thought to discover the soul of Tuscan cooking and get inspired for your own plant-based Italian feast.

Episodes in this series:

• Italian Cuisine (Part 1): Pizza, Pasta, and Produce of Southern Italy

• Italian Cuisine (Part 2): Central Italy — Forests, Farms, and Funghi

• Italian Cuisine (Part 3): Beans, Biscotti, Bread… and Olive Oil of Tuscany

• Italian Cuisine (Part 4): Polenta, Focaccia, and Tiramisu of Northern Italy

Affiliate Links

If you make a purchase using the links below, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you—and you’ll receive exclusive discounts using the codes provided!

• Complement Supplements
  
  Everything you need, nothing you don’t. Complement makes targeted supplements for plant-based eaters, including B12, D3, DHA, and more—all from clean, trusted sources.
  
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• Nama Juicer
  
  My favorite cold-press juicer—quiet, powerful, and easy to clean. It’s become an essential part of my kitchen.
  
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Additional Resources

👉 Connect with me 1:1 – Get personalized guidance whatever you are looking for.

👉 Read A Year of Compassion – Daily inspiration to help you live with intention, kindness, and clarity.

👉 Check out my Recipe E-Books and my library of On-Demand Cooking Classes for recipes.

👉 Travel the World Vegan Style! I’ve partnered with World Vegan Travel to bring you the best in luxury, all-inclusive vegan trips around the globe. Whether I am personally hosting or not, every itinerary is curated for a high-quality, premium experience. Check out upcoming trips, and please remember when booking any trip to mention you heard about them from COLLEEN PATRICK-GOUDREAU. 😊

Why I Decided to Host This Trip

Before I get to the details of this premier trip (that now has only 4 rooms left), I have to tell you I’ve been wanting to visit Cambodia for years, BUT the amazing and unique accommodations at the end of this already-incredible trip is what convinced me to make it work with my schedule:

We have reserved the entire 5-star Shinta Mani Wild exclusively for our group.

My husband David saw this resort featured on a travel website a few years ago and “starred” it, never imagining our partners Brighde and Seb would be choosing it as the accommodations for the climax of our trip! Talk about a wow factor!

BOOK YOUR TRIP

Whether you zipline in (yes, that’s an option!) or take the traditional route (in a vehicle), you’re arriving at a world-class rainforest retreat that includes a personal butler, unlimited spa treatments, and conservation patrols with an anti-poaching team. Talk about luxury + compassion!

Okay…now for the rest of the amazing aspects of this trip! If you’ve already traveled with us, you know this isn’t just a tour; it’s a curated experience designed for the compassionate traveler. We handle every detail so you can simply show up and be moved by the beauty of Cambodia.

Our Journey at a Glance

• Siem Reap & Angkor Wat: Explore the legendary Angkor complex alongside a professional archaeologist for a deep, expert perspective on these ancient wonders. From breathtaking sunrise visits and open-air jeep tours to personalized guided shopping excursions, every moment is curated just for you.

• Phnom Penh: We dive deep into the heart of Cambodia’s complex history, respectfully bearing witness to the country’s past at the S-21 prison and the Killing Fields, while also celebrating its modern resilience and vibrant culture along the riverside.

• History & Conservation: We’ll delve into the vital recovery efforts at the Landmine Museum and head into the field to actively engage with wildlife protection, patrolling the pristine rainforest alongside a dedicated anti-poaching team.

• The Rainforest: We settle into our 5-star home in the wild for total immersion in nature. Days are filled with rejuvenation, featuring daily yoga, meditation, and meaningful connection with our community of compassionate travelers.

This trip is about building lifelong connections with a like-minded community while experiencing Cambodia in a way few travelers ever do. Having already been released to those who pre-registered, the trip is selling fast and is more than half full! But you can secure your spot before it sells out!

GET A BONUS GIFT WHEN YOU BOOK TODAY! Enter JOYFULVEGAN when booking for an exclusive one-on-one session with me before the trip!

DETAILS AND BOOKING HERE

What’s Included

Outside of your flights and mandatory travel insurance, this is an all-inclusive luxury experience. We’ve designed every detail so you can simply relax and enjoy:

• 100% Plant-Based Excellence: Every meal from breakfast to dinner is included, featuring traditional Khmer feasts. Plus, all general drinks (water, juice, coffee, tea, wine, and beer) are included during our meals.

• Expert Guiding: Explore Angkor Wat with a professional archaeologist (1-day pass included, with an option for a 3-day pass) and join guided tours of Phnom Penh’s profound historical sites.

• 5-Star Luxury Throughout: From our boutique stays to our grand finale at Shinta Mani Wild, you’ll enjoy the finest accommodations, including complimentary laundry and a personal butler at the camp.

• Unlimited Wellness & Adventure: All spa treatments, yoga, meditation, and rainforest activities—like hiking and anti-poaching patrols—are fully included at Shinta Mani Wild.

• Total Peace of Mind: All ground transportation, airport transfers, entrance fees, and even tips for our local guides and drivers are already taken care of.

• Hosted by Me (and David): Enjoy a private cooking demo and an intimate talk by me, plus daily connection and camaraderie.

Don’t forget to select “Colleen Patrick-Goudreau” when booking and to use code JOYFULVEGAN for an exclusive pre-trip bonus: either a virtual one-on-one or cooking demo. You pick!

Join Me in Cambodia!

I can’t wait to share this incredible journey with you!

Additional Resources

👉 Connect with me 1:1 – Get personalized guidance whatever you are looking for. (One one-on-one connection is also a perk of the Founding Member/VIP level here on Substack.)

👉 Read A Year of Compassion – Daily inspiration to help you live with intention, kindness, and clarity.

👉 Travel the World Vegan Style! I’ve partnered with World Vegan Travel to bring you the best in luxury, all-inclusive vegan trips around the globe. Whether I am personally hosting or not, every itinerary is curated for a high-quality, premium experience.

👉 Check out my Recipe E-Books and my library of On-Demand Cooking Classes for recipes.

We have returned from Japan, where we hosted two more groups on our all-inclusive vegan trips. I’ve already shared a number of articles related to Japan—some free, some for paid subscribers (thank you!)—that you might want to explore:

• Sushi Doesn’t Mean Fish: The Plant-Based Roots of Japanese Cuisine

• When Japan (Mostly) Stopped Eating Meat

• Dining with Geisha

• Ramen: A Vegan Guide to Japan’s Iconic Noodle Dish

• Tempura: The Plant-Based Origins of Japan’s Favorite Fried Dish

• Steeped in Tea

If you’ve been thinking about a trip to Japan (and who isn’t these days?), I wanted to share with you some tips and tricks for navigating Japan as a vegan (or vegetarian). In today’s article, we’ll cover:

• Why modifications aren’t a typical ask in a Japanese restaurant

• How to navigate the “invisible” fish stock found in almost everything

• The best apps and resources for finding vetted vegan spots

• What to order at sushi counters, izakayas, noodle shops, and convenience stores

• My personal, tried-and-true recommendations across Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Osaka

Let’s get started!

The Vegan Challenge in Japan

For decades, I have been reframing what it means to live (and eat) as a joyful vegan in a non-vegan world. One of the things I have talked about for years is the fact that “vegan” is not a separate food group. We are talking about fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, mushrooms, grains, legumes, herbs, and spices.

There aren’t “regular” bananas and “vegan” bananas. There are just bananas, and you know they’re suitable for vegans, because they’re a fruit.

So, when people ask me how I travel or eat out as a vegan, my answer is simple: I don’t consume a handful of things—animal-based flesh, fluids, or ferments—but I do eat a massive variety of others; hundreds, in fact. Those ‘other’ things are easy to find wherever we go. They’re called plants.

I firmly stand by the fact that the foundation of most global cuisines is plant-based. Animal meat did not become an everyday staple in the human diet until the last century.

That goes for Japan, as well, as illustrated in Sushi Doesn’t Mean Fish: The Plant-Based Roots of Japanese Cuisine. BUT, and this is a big BUT, even with those deep roots, there are specific cultural hurdles you have to navigate when you visit Japan as a traveling vegan.

The Cultural Reality of the Japanese Kitchen

To navigate Japan successfully, you have to understand a few fundamental cultural aspects of how they approach food. Unlike in the West, where “having it your way” is the norm, Japan operates on a different set of rules:

1. The Menu is Not a Suggestion: Generally speaking, Japanese restaurants do not offer modifications. The concept of “substituting” or “removing” ingredients is — similar to Italy — not part of the dining culture. What you see on the menu is exactly what will be served, so arriving with the expectation that a chef can "veganize" a standard dish on the fly isn’t how Japan operates.

2. Respect for the Chef’s Authority: There is a deep cultural understanding that the chef is the expert. When a customer asks for changes, the implication is that the chef doesn’t know what they are doing. In a culture that prizes politeness and mastery, making these requests can be seen as disrespectful.

3. The Ubiquity of Fish-Based Dashi: But the biggest hurdle of all is dashi, which is a savory stock; it’s the base for almost every sauce, soup, and seasoning. While dashi can be made from kelp (kombu), it is most commonly made with katsuobushi (dried bonito fish flakes). Because this stock is so foundational, it is often "invisible" to the person serving you. A server may genuinely believe a dish is plant-based (vegan/vegetarian) because there is no visible piece of fish, completely overlooking the fish-based stock.

As I’ve already indicated, you cannot simply show up at a restaurant and ask to have your dashi made with kombu instead of bonito flakes. What’s more, the language barrier can add to the confusion—especially in places where English menus are scarce.

So, what’s a traveling vegan to do in a culture that doesn’t typically accommodate menu changes? You have to know in advance if a restaurant is truly vegetarian- or vegan-friendly.

Fortunately, that is no longer impossible. Vegetarianism and veganism are on the rise in Japan, particularly in major cities like Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. There is a new wave of chefs and entrepreneurs who are reclaiming plant-based traditions and creating modern, 100% vegan versions of the classics.

To navigate this landscape, you just need the right toolkit, and you’ve come to the right place. These are the specific tools we use to find abundance all over Japan and ensure every meal is truly plant-based. Let’s start with a few digital resources for finding vegan-specific or vegan-friendly eateries.

Resources for Finding Vegan-Friendly Restaurants

1. HappyCow: This remains the gold standard for navigating Japan. In major cities like Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto, it is indispensable for locating dedicated vegan restaurants or shops that explicitly understand—and offer—kombu-based dashi.

2. Google Maps: Surprisingly, this is often more up-to-date than any travel guide. Search for “vegan [city name]” and look at recent photo reviews of the menus. Many users will post photos of “Vegan Option” labels that aren’t listed on official websites.

3. Vegan and Plant-Based Stickers: Keep an eye out for "Vegan" or "Plant-Based" stickers in restaurant windows and on convenience store shelves like Lawson and FamilyMart. Thanks to the work of local advocates, these labels are a growing development in Japan and a reliable indicator that the establishment truly understands the requirements of a plant-based diet.

4. Shojin Ryori (Temple Cuisine): For a traditional plant-based experience, look for Shojin Ryori. Developed by Zen Buddhist monks 800 years ago, these multi-course meals are entirely plant-based by design, focusing on the masterful preparation of tofu, seaweed, and seasonal mountain vegetables.

5. Google Translate App: This is a lifesaver in convenience stores and rural areas. Use the camera scan feature to translate ingredient lists and menus instantly.

6. Instagram & YouTube: These platforms are great for the most current finds. Social media is where vegan foodies and influencers are constantly documenting the newest plant-based arrivals in major cities.

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Typical (But Not Always) Vegan Options

For a high-level overview of dishes that are traditionally and typically plant-based and thus suitable for vegans, revisit my article, Sushi Doesn’t Mean Fish. However, there is a major distinction to be made: it is often much easier to enjoy these foods in Japanese restaurants outside of Japan.

In the United States, for example, you can usually ask for modifications—swapping a fish-based broth for a vegan one or removing a specific ingredient. In Japan, as I’ve already established, that is simply not how the dining culture functions.

This is precisely why navigating Japan as a vegan can get complicated (and is exactly why we run our all-inclusive trips to Japan each year). Navigating these nuances on your own is tricky, and we believe you should be able to experience the abundance of this culture without worrying if you’re going to lose your veganity. Below is a general guide to what is typically plant-based, but unless you are in a vegetarian/vegan restaurant, you still have to ask about the dashi.

At the Sushi Counter

In any standard sushi-ya, you can find a wealth of naturally vegan options. Look for:

• Miso Soup: A staple served at nearly every sushi counter, this soup is made from fermented soybean paste. However, it is frequently made with a katsuobushi dashi, so you must confirm it was prepared with a mushroom or seaweed-based broth instead of the standard fish base.

• Kappa Maki (Cucumber) and Avocado Rolls: These are the most consistently plant-based options, as they rely on fresh, plant-based ingredients.

• Shinko Maki / Takuan (Pickled Radish): While usually vinegar-cured, some traditional methods use a touch of bonito for depth. Ask first.

• Ume-Shiso Maki: A combination of tart pickled plum and aromatic shiso leaf. This is almost always animal-product free.

• Inari: These fried tofu pouches are a staple and inherently plant-based, but in non-vegan shops, they are almost always simmered in a bonito-based liquid. Ask first.

In Izakayas (Japanese Pubs)

Izakayas are the heart of Japanese social dining and offer a variety of "tapas-style" plates that center on vegetables.

• Edamame: Simply boiled and salted soybeans. These are naturally animal-product free and a reliable staple.

• Vegetable Tempura: While the ingredients may be plant-based (root vegetables like pumpkin, lotus root, sweet potato), tempura batter often contains chicken’s eggs, and the dipping sauce is almost universally made with fish-based dashi. Ask about the batter, and request salt (shio) for dipping instead of the sauce.

• Agedashi Tofu: Deep-fried silken tofu in a savory broth. The broth (tsuyu) is almost universally bonito-based in standard shops. Ask first.

• Nasu Dengaku: Miso-glazed eggplant. While the glaze is typically plant-based, some kitchens thin the miso with dashi, so a quick check is recommended.

• Kinpira Gobo: A savory stir-fry of burdock and carrots. Typically plant-based, though some versions use a splash of fish stock for umami.

• Tsukemono: Assorted pickled vegetables like daikon and cucumber. While these are the definition of plant-based abundance, some regional varieties use fish-based ferments, so it’s worth a brief inquiry.

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At Noodle Shops

Noodles are the backbone of Japanese comfort food, but they are also where fish-based dashi is most foundational to the broths and sauces. Below are the common varieties you’ll encounter; I’ve also included a list of specific, vetted restaurants further down that are entirely vegan-friendly.

• Udon: These thick wheat noodles are generally served two ways: as a stir-fried dish (yaki udon) or in a broth. Unfortunately, both often contain katsuobushi dashi (made with bonito flakes). Even if you order a vegetable yaki udon or udon in soup, it is likely not plant-based unless the shop specifically uses a plant-based dashi. Inquire first.

• Soba: Made from buckwheat, soba is a Japanese favorite that can be eaten cold with a dipping sauce, as a salad, or in a hot broth. Even though the noodles themselves are typically made with plants only, the dipping sauce and hot broths are commonly made with katsuobushi dashi. Ask first.

• Ramen: Traditional ramen is built on a long-simmered animal-based stock, and even “vegetable” ramen in a standard shop often uses a meat base. Because you cannot simply “modify” the broth at a traditional counter, you must target shops that have built a plant-based bowl from the ground up. (See below.)

Street Foods and Snacks

You’ll find an array of street vendors and local food markets lining the entrances to major shrines and temples, and some of them may be appropriate for vegans. While these staples are largely plant-based, keep an eye out for hidden seasonings.

• Daifuku: Soft mochi stuffed with sweet red bean paste (anko). Typically animal-product free.

• Ichigo Daifuku: A whole strawberry and red bean paste wrapped in mochi. (MY FAVORITE!) Watch for versions containing whipped cream.

• Yatsuhashi: A famous Kyoto specialty made of soft, folded triangles of cinnamon mochi wrapped around sweet bean paste. Most traditional versions are naturally vegan, but check the labels on modern flavors for dairy.

• Warabi Mochi: Jelly-like starch cubes dusted with roasted soybean flour (kinako). Naturally plant-based.

• Dango: A traditional Japanese sweet, chewy dumpling made from rice flour and often served on skewers. They are a popular snack typically enjoyed with toppings like sweet red bean paste (anko), green tea (cha dango), or a sweet-savory soy sauce glaze (and are thus multi-colored.)

• Daigaku Imo: Deep-fried sweet potatoes with a hard, glassy sugar glaze. Sooo good! This is a popular, naturally plant-based street food. Some recipes may use dairy butter or honey, so check first.

• Grilled Corn: Fresh corn on the cob brushed with soy sauce and grilled. Confirm they are not using dairy-baed butter, which is common at modern stalls.

In Convenience Stores (Konbini) and Supermarkets

Japan’s convenience stores—famously clean, efficient, and everywhere—can be surprisingly helpful for vegan travelers. Chains like 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, and Lawson (especially Natural Lawson) carry a growing selection of plant-based items. (Use your translation app on your phone to check ingredients.)

• Onigiri (Rice Balls): Grab these filled with umeboshi (pickled plum) or seaweed, both of which are typically plant-based. Avoid varieties with tuna, salmon, or mayonnaise.

• Quick Snacks: Edamame, plain salads with sesame dressing, and fruit cups are reliable and refreshing options. At Natural Lawson, you can often find soy-based meat alternatives, plant-based protein bars, and almond or soy milk drinks.

• In Supermarkets: Stock up on tofu, natto (fermented soybeans), fresh vegetables, and ready-to-eat rice packs. You can also find instant miso soup, but you must check for fish-free dashi.

• Inari Sushi: Fried tofu pouches simmered in a sweet soy liquid and stuffed with vinegared rice. These are affordable, filling, and widely available.

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Recommended Restaurants in Japan

While you should always check apps like HappyCow for the most up-to-date details on vegan restaurants these are the specific spots I highly recommend—vetted either through my own frequent visits or by trusted sources within the vegan community.

Okonomiyaki (Savory Pancakes)

Okonomiyaki is notoriously difficult to find vegan because the batter usually requires egg and fish dashi. These spots have created dedicated vegan versions:

• Tokyo

  • Sakura-tei. This is a funky, art-filled spot where they have a clearly marked vegan okonomiyaki on the menu, which you cook it yourself on the teppan grill at your table.

• Kyoto

  • Gion Tanto. Located in the heart of the Gion district, they offer a delicious “Soy Meat Okonomiyaki” and vegan negiyaki (green onion pancake) with a dedicated vegan sauce.

• Hiroshima

  • Jirokichi (Jiro’s Kitchen). We have been here personally several times and highly recommend it! Beside okonomiyaki, they also have other fantastic plant-based dishes such as grilled seasonal vegetables.

  • Nagataya. A famous spot for Hiroshima-style (noodle) okonomiyaki. They have a separate vegan menu and use a special animal-free sauce that tastes just as rich as the original.

  • Roku. Another fantastic option in the city that offers a dedicated vegan okonomiyaki with all the traditional flavors.

• Osaka

  • Aju. A small, cozy vegan izakaya serving plant-based versions of staples like okonomiyaki and yakitori. It is a one-person operation, so be prepared for a wait; the owner often limits service to four customers at a time to ensure every dish is perfect. He is also a massive cat lover—you'll find cat-related items for sale all over the shop!

  • OKO Okonomiyaki Bar. A legendary, friendly spot in Shinsaibashi. While they serve various diets, they have an extensive and famous vegan menu including okonomiyaki, gyoza, and yakisoba.

  • Osaka: OKO Takoyaki. Located in Shinsaibashi, this is a fully vegan spot specializing in takoyaki (savory “octopus” balls, made here with okara) and kushikatsu (deep-fried skewers).

Pro-Tip from the Hip: The dark, sweet okonomiyaki sauce is almost always vegan, but the creamy white mayonnaise is traditionally made with chicken’s eggs. At these vetted vegan-friendly shops, they will typically offer a vegan mayonnaise—just be sure to confirm it’s the plant-based version before you drizzle it on.

Ramen

Because you cannot “modify” a traditional meat-based ramen broth, you have to go to shops that have built a vegan bowl from scratch.

• Tokyo

  • Kyushu Jangara. My absolutely favorite ramen in the world! A popular local chain specializing in Tonkotsu-style ramen that has become a hero for the vegan community. Most of their locations offer dedicated vegan ramen, but they also have a fully plant-based flagship in Harajuku.

  • Vegan Bistro Jangara. Located on the 2nd floor (right above their standard Harajuku shop), the entire menu here is plant-based. Beyond their famous ramen, they serve fantastic izakaya-style dishes like vegan gyoza, karaage, and even “sizzling” soy meat plates.

  • T’s TanTan (Tokyo Station & Ueno Station). This is 100% vegan and famous for its rich, creamy sesame-based tantanmen. It’s a staple for any vegan traveler.

  • Jikasei Mensho. Located in the Shibuya Parco shopping center, this modern shop has four dedicated vegan options, including a spicy vegan miso and vegan dandan noodles.

• Kyoto

  • Kyoto Engine Ramen: A local favorite that offers a fantastic vegan ramen we go to every time we’re there (sometimes several times). Be prepared for long waits, as this spot is incredibly popular—your best bet is to get there right when they open.

  • Uno Yukiko (Gion Soy Milk Ramen): This is the ultimate stop for creamy comfort. Created by a “Soy Milk Patissier,” this 100% vegan and gluten-free shop serves rich, elegant bowls in the heart of Gion. Their Dandan noodles and soy milk-based broths are so clean and flavorful you’ll want to drink every last drop.

  • Vegan Ramen UZU. This isn't just a meal; it's an experience. Their Kyoto branch has a larger menu, but the Tokyo location at teamLab Planets is iconic. Pro-Tip from the Hip: Book ahead of time; it’s small and fills up fast.

International Cuisine

While having the full Japanese experience is what we prioritize for our trips, if you’re on your own looking for familiar sustenance, don’t overlook the international dining scene. Japan—especially cities like Tokyo and Osaka—is obsessed with global cuisines, and these restaurants can often be a “safe harbor” for vegans because their base ingredients are naturally plant-based.

• Italian: Italian food is incredibly popular in Japan.

  • What to look for: Focus on Marinara pizzas (which are traditionally and naturally free of dairy cheese) or pasta with tomato or garlic and oil bases, such as Aglio e Olio.

• Indian: This is one of the most reliable options for vegans in Japan. Like anywhere, just ask them to leave out the ghee (clarified butter) when preparing your dish.

  • What to look for: Look for Dal (lentil stew), Chana Masala (chickpeas), or vegetable curries.

• Chinese: You will find Chinese restaurants everywhere, but similar to Japanese cooking, Chinese cuisine often uses chicken or pork stock as a base for stir-fry sauces. Just ask.

  • What to look for: Mapo Tofu (request it without minced meat), stir-fried seasonal greens, and vegetable gyoza.

In subsequent articles, we’ll tackle other aspects of Japanese cuisine and culture, including those listed below. Be sure to upgrade to enjoy all of these articles and support the work that goes into creating these resources.

• The Many Faces of the Ancient Soybean

• The Regional Art of Okonomiyaki

• Traditional Japanese Sweets

• From Matcha to Malt: A Drinker’s Guide

• Japanese Street Food: The Yatai Tradition

Additional Resources

👉 Connect with me 1:1 – Get personalized guidance whatever you are looking for. (One one-on-one connection is also a perk of the Founding Member/VIP level here on Substack.)

👉 Read A Year of Compassion – Daily inspiration to help you live with intention, kindness, and clarity.

👉 Check out my Recipe E-Books and my library of On-Demand Cooking Classes for recipes.

👉 Travel the World Vegan Style! I’ve partnered with World Vegan Travel to bring you the best in luxury, all-inclusive vegan trips around the globe. Whether I am personally hosting or not, every itinerary is curated for a high-quality, premium experience. Check out upcoming trips, and please remember when booking any trip to mention you heard about them from COLLEEN PATRICK-GOUDREAU. 😊

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Our culinary tour of Italy continues as we head into Central Italy, a region defined by rolling hills, ancient forests, and a deep agricultural heritage. Comprising Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio, Abruzzo, and Le Marche, this area moves away from the tomato-heavy south toward a rustic palette of beans, grains, and earthy foraged treasures.

What This Episode Covers:

• We explore the temperate climate and topography of regions like Tuscany and Umbria that allow for specialty crops like farro, saffron, and Lacinato kale.

• I explain the true origins of “cacciatore” (hunter-style) cooking and how foraged forest mushrooms and wild herbs define the authentic dish.

• We discuss the fascinating history of saffron in Abruzzo and why it remains one of the most prized spices in the world.

• This episode highlights the significant influence of Roman Jewish cuisine.

• I break down the specific pasta shapes of the region.

• We look at the differences in Italian bread traditions, from the saltless loaves of Tuscany to the “little horn” cornetti of the central breakfast bar.

• I share tips for finding high-quality black truffles and truffle oils while avoiding synthetic flavorings.

• We wrap up with a look at the “bean eaters” of Tuscany and the hearty, grain-based soups that define the central Italian table.

🎧 Listen to the full episode of Food for Thought to continue your culinary tour of Italy and learn how to navigate these regional menus with compassion and joy.

Episodes in this series:

• Italian Cuisine (Part 1): Pizza, Pasta, and Produce of Southern Italy

• Italian Cuisine (Part 2): Central Italy — Forests, Farms, and Funghi

• Italian Cuisine (Part 3): Beans, Biscotti, Bread… and Olive Oil of Tuscany

• Italian Cuisine (Part 4): Polenta, Focaccia, and Tiramisu of Northern Italy

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If you make a purchase using the links below, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you—and you’ll receive exclusive discounts using the codes provided!

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• Nama Juicer
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Additional Resources

👉 Connect with me 1:1 – Get personalized guidance whatever you are looking for.

👉 Read A Year of Compassion – Daily inspiration to help you live with intention, kindness, and clarity.

👉 Check out my Recipe E-Books and my library of On-Demand Cooking Classes for recipes.

👉 Travel with me! I host animal-friendly, luxury, all-inclusive vegan trips around the world, specifically curated to ensure high-quality, high-touch premium experiences. Check out our upcoming trips, and let me know if you have any questions.