Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
7-Day Vegan Challenge: A Week No Animals Will Suffer By My Menu

7-Day Vegan Challenge: A Week No Animals Will Suffer By My Menu

Last updated on: October 16, 2018 at 11:32 am by Leah D. Schade

7-Day Vegan Challenge: A Week No Animals Will Suffer By My Menu 2018-10-16T11:32:35-04:00 Leah D. Schade

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I’m starting the 7-Day Vegan Challenge tomorrow. A week without any animal products in my diet. What will I miss? How will it benefit the planet?

7-Day Vegan Challenge. Photo credit: Leah D. Schade. Public domain.

I’ve been meat-free for three years now.

I want my meals to not cause suffering to animals or people. It was the Sikhs who showed me I could do it. For three days I was one of the thousands of gratefully-fed participants in the free Langar lunch they served every day at the Parliament of World Religions at the triennial meeting. Sikhs believe in doing no harm to any sentient being, so their menu is mostly free of any products that involve animals. The meals we were graciously served consisted of Indian foods and were so flavorful – and so filling – I didn’t need to eat the rest of the day. I started to realize – hey, I can go without eating meat! I’m not as addicted as I thought!

Going meat-free in a family of omnivores is a challenge, however.

They did come to accept substitutions of meatless crumbles in spaghetti, chili, and even nachos. We discovered that Morningstar meatless bacon is actually quite tasty. And my husband and kids ate chicken, beef, and pork only when we went out to eat, because I gave up cooking it.

But they revolted at the removal of fish from our family menus. So I settled for being a pescatarian and they were happy with the occasional salmon, tuna, shrimp, and fresh fish.

Yet I’m aware of the problems with the fishing industry. I’ve learned that fish do feel pain, so they do suffer when they are caught and killed for my consumption. Not to mention the slurry of waste and antibiotics farmed fish and shellfish swim in. And the way the fishing industry devastates ocean life. Oh, and then there was the time I opened a can of wild-caught salmon and found shards of very sharp glass in the meat.

So much for those salmon cakes.

So I’ve been cutting back on fish consumption in our family as well – as much as will allow me to remain married and a parent.

But being vegan – consuming no animal products – has not been a leap I’ve been willing to make. While I’ve cut back considerably on eggs, milk, and cheese, I still love to eat them. Yet I know how the hens are treated that lay the eggs for my consumption. And I know the way cows are treated for the milk and cheese and yogurt and sour cream and ice cream I so love. So my eating is still causing harm.

Then I saw that we have only ten years to get climate change under control.

The animal industry is a huge contributor to climate change and other huge environmental problems. From the methane, to the fecal waste, to the amount of water, land, and other resources used just to support these animals, plus the fuel needed to transport their chopped up corpses to supermarkets for consumption – all of it is making a hot mess of this planet.

So when my friend and colleague Emily Askew approached our Green Task Force at Lexington Theological Seminary with a challenge to each find a way to move down the food chain in our eating habits over the course of a month, I saw an opportunity. She said she was going to do the 7-Day Vegan Challenge. Just one week without consuming any animal products. She was already a vegetarian, but, like me, loves her dairy products.

So like smokers or alcoholics buddying up to kick a habit, we decided to do this together. One week – how hard can it be?

I pulled out all the things I already have on hand that are vegan and was surprised how full my table is.

I’ll be able to make things like chili, spaghetti, salads, and soups with no problem. I’m going to try vegan cheese. And I’m going to experiment with some new foods, like spaghetti squash. And when all else fails, there’s always dark chocolate. Yep, no milk in dark chocolate, so I can always comfort myself with a square of my favorite treat, along with Trader Joe’s Spicy Pecans to balance salty/spicy and sweet.

But I was surprised to find out what products do have animal products.

That Morningstar bacon I love? Egg whites. The chai tea mix I crave? Milk. The pancake mix will have to stay on the shelf next Saturday when I usually make flapjacks. No butter, no Trader Joe’s Cheese Crunchies (now that one is really going to hurt). And while I already use almond milk, I do like a glass of cow’s milk once in a while. So that craving will need to be put on hold.

However, I’m going to treat myself to a meal at an Indian restaurant that serves a vegan menu, so I have that to look forward to. And the 7-Day Vegan Challenge website will send me recipes and tips each day. Plus, Emily and I will share ideas and bolster each other when we are craving yogurt and ice cream.

So I’m seeing this as a challenge. How can I cook creatively? What spices can I use? What new things can I try?

I’m also approaching this challenge from a biblical and ecotheological perspective.

My Christian faith informs my decision to do the 7-Day Vegan Challenge, and my eco-ethics undergird my rationale. My plan is to post a devotional each day to help myself and others who want to make the Vegan challenge a spiritual practice as well. If you’d like to try the 7-Day Vegan Challenge, join us! Here’s the link: http://7dayvegan.com/.

Here’s to a week where no animals will suffer by my menu!

Leah D. Schade is the Assistant Professor of Preaching and Worship at Lexington Theological Seminary (Kentucky) and author of the book Creation-Crisis Preaching: Ecology, Theology, and the Pulpit (Chalice Press, 2015). She is an ordained minister in the Lutheran Church (ELCA).

Twitter: @LeahSchade

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeahDSchade/.

How to ‘Be Church’ in an Online Seminary: Environmental Education, Sustainability, Community

We’ve Lost the Climate War. It’s Time to Surrender.

Climate Change Impacts Health, Families, and Wallets

Previous Post

October 10, 2018

I Want Jesus to Let Me Off the Hook: The Rich Young Man and Me

Next Post

October 14, 2018 Eating Sunshine: 7-Day Vegan Challenge Devotional, Day 1

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Academy of Homiletics Addiction Advent AI (Artificial Intelligence) Animals Apocalypse Appalachia Ash Wednesday Baptism Bible Black Lives Matter Blade Runner Book review Children in church Christian Nationalism Christian/Islamic relations Christmas Church Clergy Climate change COVID-19 Creation Data Centers Death penalty Devotional Dialogue Doubt Earth Day Easter Ecofeminism EcoPreacher 1-2-3 ELCA ELCA Youth Gathering Election Environment/ecology Epiphany Faith Faith and Politics Feminism Film review Food Food and Faith Forgiveness Fracking Good Friday Good Omens Grief Gun violence Holy Humor Sunday Holy Week Howard Thurman ICE Immigration Indigenous wisdom Interview Jesus Kentucky Lafayette High School Marching Band Leadership Lent LGBTQIA+ Marching band Martin Luther Martin Luther King Jr. Mary Maundy Thursday Michael Sheen Mother of Jesus Nature New Year's Eve Palm Sunday Parables Pentecost Poem, Poetry Politics Poor People's Campaign Pop culture Prayers Preaching Progressive Christianity Public theology Purple Zone Racism and White Privilege Religion Religion and environment Religion and politics Religion and pop culture Religion and violence Rev. Nelson Rabell Gonzalez Sermons Spanish language resources for preaching Technology Thanksgiving Theological education theology Trees Trump Uncategorized Vegan War Women and religion Workshop Worship

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What city was Paul traveling to when he encountered Jesus in a vision?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Antioch Damascus Jerusalem Rome

Books by This Author Books by Leah D. Schade

See All Titles »