Hello, I’m Jean of the style blog Jean of all Trades.
I love fashion, art, literature, travel, and food and I strive to be cruelty-free. Instead of morphing my style blog into a cruelty-free living blog, I’ve taken the plunge and created Sunshine and Slaughter, your portal to all things compassionate!
In this blog, I want to share vegan recipes and restaurants, show off the latest clothing, shoes, and beauty products from vegan companies, and share information about campaigns to help animals.
I’ve been a vegetarian since I was ten years old. Fourteen years ago, at age twenty-eight, I went vegan and haven’t looked back. My hope is to share ideas with you no matter where you are on your cruelty-free journey. I hope you share ideas with me too.
I dream of a day when no one eats or wears animals, when the zoos are empty, circuses have only human performers, and lab animals are free. I want to see the end of poaching, hunting and fishing. I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen in my lifetime, but it’s a lofty goal and a wonderful vision of a peaceful world.
In addition to wanting to make this world better for animals, I’ve discovered the health benefits of plant-based (vegan) eating. I want to share all I know about eating well, enjoying food, and staving off disease.
Why Sunshine and Slaughter? Well, I like the consonance, for one, but I also like the idea of happy and joyful images (sunshine) contrasted with bleak, cruel sombre ones (slaughter). My posts will cover both triumphs and hardships.
As it turns out, Sunshine and Slaughter are also the names of two small towns in Louisiana. I’ve never been to either town, but one day I might! Michael Ondaatje’s even included one of these town names in the title of a book he wrote: Coming Through Slaughter.
Have you ever noticed how little changes can make a big difference? Even a misplaced letter can change the meaning of a word. Perhaps one day I won’t have a contrasting title. I can drop the S and change the word slaughter to laughter.
It’s the littlest things…
Sunshine and Slaughter 
What a wonderful introduction to your new blog! It’s very evident that you are passionate about this important subject. Thank you for taking the time to write about such a worthy cause. You inspired me to become vegan and I’m healthier and happier for it!!
I’m happy that you are using your writing skills, knowledge and creativity to promote a better world; for people, animals and our planet.
Perhaps someday your dream will be realized–a planet of peace–and it will be Sunshine and Laughter! 🙂
OMG! That is so funny that you are writing about Louisiana! I lived and studied there as an exchange student and I have never seen more meateaters and UNHEALTHY food in my whole life! The family I lived with were hunters, making deer steaks and alligator sausage! HA! And that was a total transformation experience for me when I started thinking about NOT EATING meat any more! And 10 years later I am actually not eating meet! Wanna be vegan – just visit Louisiana:-)! I absolutely love your blog!
I cannot imagine living with hunters and being served deer steak and aligator sausage! That should be the new state motto: “Wanna be vegan? Visit Louisiana!” Their cooking had an unintended effect on you. If only they knew they helped you become vegan! But it’s not just Louisiana. It’s everywhere. I think sometimes it’s when we’re out of our element and experiencing a culture as an outsider that we start to question things. You probably never questioned a burger but when the food is a different kind of meat, it sheds a whole new light on the issue. There’s really no difference between beef or deer (or cow’s milk versus dog milk), but only the stuff we grew up with seems normal. When you think about it, it’s all weird and best to avoid. Thanks for commenting!
It is so interesting to see how once we grow up eating meat, drinking cow milk – we think that it is healthy and normal. Not everyone has the ability to question things. Once you tell people that cows milk is actually bad for you – they turn the other way thinking that you are crazy! It is funny how we get influenced by the society we live in, by the ideology created by our governments in order to generate profits! I wish more people used critical thinking and common sense in order to determine what is really good of bad. We are so brainwashed by those who has power to control – that in the end we are just toys who get played around for the profit of others. That is how I feel about cruel meet and milk industry. People are made to believe that it is normal to eat meat and drink milk – so little people actually question all this. Wish more people did their research! All these foods is like a silent killer! Once you stop eating it – you wish you have done it long time ago! And that is why so many vegans really want to see the world how much of a difference it makes for your personal health and for our world in general!:-) Have a great day and thank you for interesting posts!
So true! Sometimes we need to question the things we do and why we do them. Why I am crazy for not wanting to drink milk? I’m not a baby and definitely not a cow! You hit the nail on the head–it’s about profits. Lobbyists and corporations influencing government. I’ll get to all of that in future posts. I’m looking forward to your views on these topics too. Thanks!
Hi Jean! I’m so happy to have found your blog. I’ve been vegan for almost a year now. Well, mostly vegan. I don’t eat any animals, but I’m still transitioning my lifestyle. I need all the inspiration I can get to continue transitioning my lifestyle and I know your blog will help me with this. Like you, I dream of a day when no one eats or wears animals or uses them for any other purpose. Thank you for your wonderful blog!
I’m glad you found my blog. I’m going to check out yours too! Congrats on being vegan for almost a year. I plan on featuring vegan alternatives to leather etc. so hopefully that will help you with the lifestyle part. I just sold a couple of leather jackets on eBay, but I have a few pair of leather shoes still. I bought them used so I’m deciding whether it’s okay to keep them or not.
Thank you for being one of the people who will change the world!
I’m so glad you’re going to do a leather alternative post. My biggest struggle has been with shoes. And thanks for following – I appreciate it!
The post is up! https://sunshineandslaughter.com/2013/03/29/leather-free-shoes/ Let me know what you think of it and if you have any questions or ideas. thank you!
Celeste, you can go to Payless shoes. They have lots of non-animal fabrics and good fake leathers and cute designs in their shoes. It’s where I get my non-leather shoes.
ivonne
Great tip, Ivonne! some of my cutest (and lest expensive) shoes are from Payless. You never know where that next vegan pair will be hiding!
Oh thanks Ivonne! I used to go to Payless, but I haven’t been there for a long time. I’ll have to check them out again. Celeste 🙂
Hi enjoyed reading your write up and we share the same views about veganism. It’s important to educate others about veganism, but some time when I see people doing it for their health then that is sometimes for me hit and miss like a diet. If you really see the suffering of the animals and then categorically say to yourself NO to animal suffering and become vegan on ethical grounds, I think that is a more successfully way to stay vegan. I hope I am wrong, but as a health things I think people may tend to go back to cheating by having some animal products like a person on a food diet that eat a side of cake when they shouldnt do…. Actually when people say what is the hardest thing about being vegan ? I tell them being asked if it’s hard being a vegan….
Hi Thomas! I’m with you. I didn’t even know I was making a healthy choice when I went vegetarian. I had only the animals in mind. By the time I went vegan, I knew more about healthy food but the animals were my deciding factor. I feel for me, I’d cheat or give up after a while if it was only a “diet.”
I like your answer to the question (we all get) about the hardest thing about being vegan! Good answer 🙂
Hi Jean and Thomas! I’d just like to put my two cents in on this conversation. I started down the path of becoming vegan because of my husband’s health. And for the first few months of our vegan conversion that was our main reason for being vegan. And we didn’t even call ourselves vegan at that time, we just said we were on a plant-based diet. But, when you’re eating like a vegan, you get exposed to other vegans and vegan literature. After we had been eating plant-based for awhile, I my eyes became open to factory farms and the suffering of animals. This caused a dramatic shift in my thinking about animals and the way humans abuse them. It was at this time that I started transitioning my lifestyle to veganism. I now call myself a vegan and am a real proponent of animal rights. I promote both a plant-based lifestyle and veganism. I believe that a lot of people who start out on a plant-based diet for their health may, like me, transition to a vegan lifestyle. Of course, not everyone following a plant-based lifestyle will do this, but some will. And in case you guys didn’t know it – I think you’re both awesome!
Thank you for your perspective! That’s a great story. I never thought about the health angle opening doors to the animal rights angle. I thought when people chose veganism for health, it stopped there. But when you surround yourself with other plant-eating, compassionate people, a whole new world opens up! I find it interesting that you went from eating “plant-based” to being “vegan” when animal suffering became a motivator too.
You’re so lucky your husband is on board too. It’s way more fun to be on that journey together! Thanks again for your comment. I appreciate your story and angle and I’m proud of you for making the transition to veganism. You’re awesome too!
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Jean, I absolutely love your blog and find it truly inspiring. Thank you so much for all that you do and keep up the good work.
Can’t wait to read more of what’s to come 🙂
Thanks you so much! My goal is to inspire (and educate and bring people together) so I’m very happy that you find the blog useful that way. Glad you stopped by!
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