Welcome to the second issue of the Carnival of Empty Cages, the collection of blog posts celebrating compassion, veganism, and animals. This issue’s theme is passion. What gets you going? Read on to find out.

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I just got home from helping put on Veganfest, my school’s animal rights club’s annual dinner, and feeding 200 hungry people yummy vegan food. Just in time to remind you all to get those submissions for the Carnival of Empty Cages. I’m extending the deadline to midnight on May 30. Submissions are coming in slowly, so feel free to nominate posts of others (including recipes) if you don’t have time to write something.

Happy International Respect for Chickens Day! Even if you’re not a vegetarian, please think of these cool birds today when making your meal choices.

This is a snapshot I took a few weeks ago of Garnet (front) and Henrietta, two of the hens that live with my parents. (They usually stand outside, but Garnet likes to tap at the back door and beg when I’m visiting.)

I got four baby chicks when I was in the 9th grade, and raising them changed the way I see myself as a woman in relation to animals, my food, and the world. I’m happy there are others out there as crazy about chickens as I am.

When I was seventeen, I was eating a piece of chicken on the back porch when Quistis and Beula, two of the family hens, hovered begging. I indulged my pets with all fondness, and felt unsettled. How was the animal on my plate different than the pets I was sharing my meal with? Chickens were my favorite animals; I bonded with them like people bond with their dog or cats. So why was it I could eat a chicken I had never met, but the thought of doing the same to a cat turned my stomach? Identifying this discomfort was one of many catalysts that continues to shape who I am.

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I’m excited for the upcoming Carnival of Empty Cages. I hope the carnival will help me find and join the vegan blog scene now that Tekanji has provided me a place to discuss my herbivorism. I begin by defining vegan because it’s a fluid term. I intend this post to be a gateway to future discussions about my veganism coinciding with my feminism (and how I got here), the intersections of animal exploitation and human oppression, and even some critiques of the animal rights movement from an anti-racist feminist perspective.

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