Interview: Colleen Patrick-Goudreau of Compassionate Cooks
Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
Colleen Patrick-Goudreau is a sought-after public speaker on the spiritual, social, and practical aspects of a vegan lifestyle, and the author of three cookbooks, The Joy of Vegan Baking, The Vegan Table, and Color Me Vegan (due out in December 2010). Colleen also hosts the popular and award-winning podcast Vegetarian Food for Thought, writes a column for VegNews Magazine, and has appeared on the Food Network. She’s an incredible inspiration, both in the kitchen and out. Learn more about Colleen, and how you can sign up for her Berkeley-based vegan cooking classes, at Compassionate Cooks.
Tell us about your work on NPR.
My local NPR station (KQED) has a show called Perspectives, which is essentially a program that features daily radio editorials. For the past several years, I’ve been contributing essays that I record at the KQED studios and which then air on the radio station. I’m very proud to have been a long-time voice for the animals and veganism on this well-loved and popular program.
You became vegan when you were 19, after being raised on “a typical American diet of meat, dairy, and eggs.” Can you share with us some of the ways in which you’ve evolved, as a vegan, since then?
Yes, as you say, I was raised on a meat-, dairy-, and egg-centered diet and was comfortably unaware of the conditions under which animals are bred and killed for human consumption until reading John Robbins’ Diet for a New America. I was shocked and disturbed by what I learned as I had been encouraged to have compassion for animals; I volunteered at dog/cat shelters, educated people about puppy mills, and did not buy products tested on animals. But reading this book was a rude awakening—learning about the “food animal” industry and the devastating toll it takes on our bodies, on the environment, and on the animals themselves. I stopped eating land animals and my journey began.
My evolution continued as I grew more knowledgeable about the wider issues, as I continued with what I call the process of “awakening.” I read Slaughterhouse, written by investigative journalist Gail Eisnitz and realized for the first time that to continue eating cow’s milk and chicken’s eggs meant that I would have to continue supporting an inherently violent industry—both for the animals [and] for the desensitized workers who routinely hurt the animals (outside of the “normal slaughter”) just because they can. I went vegan immediately and this was the second stage of my evolution, although I was unprepared for what happened next.
Not only did I find that my food choices were more plentiful, I experienced a heightened sense of joy at making lifestyle choices that reflected my values. No longer was the world divided between animals who deserve to be violated and killed and those who deserve our love and affection. Quite naturally, my activism increased, and through outreach and education, I continued to raise awareness about the joys and benefits of being vegan. That led to my founding Compassionate Cooks.
Tell us about a dish or two of yours that always go over well with a meat-eating crowd.
Honestly, baked goods are really such a quick and easy way to see instant transformations in people. Because they have such a low opinion of “vegan food,” as soon as they eat a delicious, familiar-tasting chocolate chip cookie or banana muffin, they freak out. Inspiring!
Becoming an animal rights activist led to your becoming a dietary vegan. How has that informed other areas of your life?
I believe that our violence towards animals affects us on the most fundamental level and touches every aspect of our lives. We come into this world fully compassionate, and we hone this in children, encouraging them to be kind and feeling relieved when they demonstrate empathy. However, we slowly put this compassion to sleep in children until they’re desensitized to the suffering of animals. I believe the most fundamentally damaging thing we do to children is inure them to animal suffering by justifying abuse so that we can eat animals, make the perform for us, wear them, test on them, ad nauseum. We quite literally put their natural compassion to sleep.
We can go our whole lives asleep to this, but in the back of our minds, we never feel 100 percent certain that we’re doing the right thing (when we eat animals, for instance). When you become awakened to your compassion, it is an incredibly transformative experience that changes how you view the world and how you treat everyone around you. To see the connection between ourselves and every living thing—and to make a conscious choice not to hurt anyone—is a very gratifying way to live. To live fully compassionately is at once painful and incredibly beautiful.
Many people mistakenly believe that being vegan is an end in itself, and I continually emphasize that it is not an end—it is a means to an end, and that end is unconditional, unabashed, unfettered compassion. Being vegan—i.e. living fully compassionately—is about creating joy, kindness, and meaning in a world so filled with violence and despair. I experience a palpable feeling of peace knowing that I am making a nonviolent contribution to the world. That is to say, whereas violence creates more violence, nonviolence also creates more nonviolence, and I like being on that side of the equation.
What advice can you give to new vegans and aspiring vegans who are having a hard time giving up certain foods (hello, cheese and bacon)?
A common response you hear from people is: “I could give up this or that, but I could never give up X.” (And that “X” is usually cheese.) And then I ask them, “Well, what are you eating now,” and then [they’ll] say, “Well—everything.” And I tell them: “Why don’t you stop eating all other animal products you say you can give up, except cheese—for now. At least do what you’re able and willing to do. But don’t do nothing because you can’t do everything. Each step will bring you closer to the person you really want to be—and to the animals you want to help. But to continue eating animal flesh and animal milk or eggs because you “can’t” give up cheese doesn’t make any sense. It’s an absurd rationalization. Don’t do nothing because you can’t do everything. Do something. Anything.”
Related to that, however, is the fact that when you really break it down, what people are craving is not cheese or bacon—they’re not craving the flesh and secretions of animals. Rather, what they’re really craving is fat and salt. They’re also craving texture and flavor and familiarity. So if we seek out the actual thing we’re craving (fat or salt, for instance) instead of the source of that craving, which we’ve all been conditioned to believe is animal products, we’ll find that our cravings will be satisfied. (So for instance, toast some pine nuts with salt, and sprinkle them on pasta instead of parmesan cheese; add avocado or guacamole to your burrito; make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich—all great sources of healthful, satisfying, plant-based fat.)
Tell us about a few of your favorite people in the food world.
I’m just moved by anyone who uses their passion and skills to inspire people and change the perception of “vegan food.” Everyone who does that is a hero in my book!
The Bay Area is generally regarded as a foodie haven. Do you agree? Anything you’d like to see more of?
My favorite thing about being vegan in the SF Bay Area is the access to so much fresh produce. Because I cook at home more than I eat out, I’m so grateful to be able to go to a farmer’s market ANY DAY of the week throughout the year to buy local produce. I have a garden and eat a fair amount from my own backyard, but having access to vegetables and fruits grown less than two hours from where I live is pretty phenomenal.
Can you share a few of your favorite local spots? What do you have to have when you go?
Do remember that this is a thoroughly subjective list and with new venues opening frequently, it will be subject to change. At this moment in time here are my five favorites: Millennium (best-of-the-best vegan restaurant), Cha Ya (vegan Japanese—my fave), Encuentro (Eric Tucker’s new veg restaurant in Oakland), Chick-O-Pea’s (a vegetarian—mostly vegan—falafel/salad place in Berkeley), and Nature’s Express (vegan fast food!) My favorite non-veg restaurant is The Plant Café, mostly because of their beet burger! As far as treats go, Cinnaholic recently opened in Berkeley—amazing cinnamon rolls—and I’m super excited for Scream to open their storefront. We get their amazing sorbet at the farmers’ market each week, and they’re in the process of opening a store!
Any restaurants you’re dying to try?
Honestly, we consider eating out a treat and eat at home 80 percent of the time. When we eat out, we tend to go to our favorite restaurants named above. The restaurants I’m anxious to try are in other cities, such as Horizons in Philadelphia and Candle 79 in NYC.
Who were a couple of people who changed the way you think about food? How did they change your outlook?
Well, as I said above, John Robbins and Gail Eisnitz really laid the foundation. I’d say Jim Mason—in his book An Unnatural Order—definitely shaped my thinking about agriculture in general and animal agriculture in particular; Dr. Neal Barnard; Brenda Davis, R.D.; Jack Norris, R.D.; and Dr. T. Colin Campbell honed my nutrition skills; and Marion Nestle’s work on food politics has had a great influence on me.
What’s your favorite thing to cook?
I like to cook and eat simply and I guess my personal preferences are reflected in the recipes I developed for my book The Vegan Table (and the upcoming cookbook, Color Me Vegan). Basically, if you open the book randomly to any page, you are going to find the favorite things I cook, such as my Garlic and Greens Soup (you can see a video of me demonstrating it on Compassionate Cooks.com), then there’s also No-Queso Quesadillas, followed closely by Pan-Grilled Portobello Mushrooms with Herb-Infused Marinade, Swiss Chard and Caramelized Onions and let’s not forget Muhammara or Polenta Hearts. My favorite recipes change according to the season. Once the weather turns cold, my breakfasts consist of steel-cut oats, and my dinners are mostly soups and stews.
What’s your favorite kind of food?
Well, if I had to select a few things to sustain me on a desert island, the first would be—as my regular podcast listeners know—tea! I take my tea everywhere, it’s an absolute favorite, so that would definitely be with me on this hypothetical island! Green tea and also white—but mostly green: Dragon Well, Lu Shan Clouds and Mist, gyokuro. But as far as food, I’m kinda known as a kale freak. I can’t go a day without eating a bunch—sometimes two bunches. I make kale chips every day, or I add kale to soups, stews, stir-fries, pasta dishes, salads—just name it, and you’ll find kale in it.
You’ve come a long way since you first became vegan. What are you most proud of having accomplished?
I am so, so proud of all the people who find my work with an open heart and open mind and then tell me it has changed their life. It simply doesn’t get any better than that. I started this work as a lone activist 20 years ago—and though I didn’t know how my passion for justice was going to manifest itself—I have always been very clear about my intention and my approach: truth, compassion, common sense. I’m proud of that—I’m proud of the fact that I don’t do anything for its own sake, that my intention has always [been] to provide the best resources and most useful services without compromise. I work hard to give people the most accurate information without exaggeration or judgment. I’m proud that even after all these years and all the awareness of animal abuse that I still have faith in people and hope for a compassionate world. I keep the bar high and expect people to rise to their own values—never talking down to them or underestimating them. I suppose if I ever lost the ability to do that, I’d stop being effective.
What’s next for you?
My third (and final) cookbook, Color Me Vegan, comes out in December 2010. My first non-cookbook (though there are some recipes in it) is called The Vegan’s Daily Companion: 365 Days of Eating, Cooking, and Living Compassionately and comes out in March/April 2011, and my fifth book comes out in June 2011. This is The 30-Day Vegan Challenge, which will give people everything they need to become and stay vegan. I have a number of other books in my head, but after working on three books in one year, I’m ready to focus on some other projects, such as videos and television. I plan on continuing my audio podcast, Food for Thought, though I plan on doing some video podcasts as well.
Anything else you want to add?
Be kind to animals. Don’t eat them. 
Colleen & Cesak
Pingback: colleen’s vegan table | Vegan Hostess