Eating Vegan at Thanksgiving

When non-vegetarians think of the idea of eating vegan on Thanksgiving, they’re usually aghast. They can’t imagine what vegans eat if they don’t eat birds! I’ve also heard the accusation that vegans are flying in the face of tradition - that it’s culturally blasphemous to not eat turkeys on this day. The truth is we're ALL breaking tradition if we use that "first Thanksgiving" from 1621 as a barometer for what we should eat today. In other words, in that first meal between the puritans and Wampanoags, there were no potatoes or biscuits or apple pie or yams or sweet cranberries. And they didn’t eat with forks.

Does that mean we shouldn't eat those things today (or eat with forks?) No. Of course not. It means we shape our traditions out of our ideals. We all do it, including vegans.

For side dishes, our vegan feast consists of mashed potatoes, mushroom Gravy (chunky and smooth), bread stuffing, cranberry relish, corn, mashed rutabagas, butternut squash soup, sautéed green beans, roasted Brussels sprouts, cornbread or biscuits, and green salad. Dessert includes everything from apple pie, pumpkin bread, German apple cake, cranberry muffins, and other traditional, seasonal favorites.

For the main dish - which is really about creating a focal point on the plate AND celebrating the harvest of the autumn months - we enjoy a beautiful stuffed acorn squash filled with a pilaf of wild rice, pecans, apples, celery, onions, and spices. The options are endless.

You CAN celebrate tradition and honor your values at the same time. In fact, eating a vegan feast at this time is more consistent with what this holiday is about at its heart: creating community, connection, gratitude, and compassion. I can't think of a better way to do that than preparing food that causes as little harm as possible to someone else.

(I'm a vegan educator and author of five books, including The Joy of Vegan Baking, The Vegan Table, and The 30-Day Vegan Challenge, the latter published by Random House.)

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

Oakland, CA