Since we started this adventure called Vegan Mos four and a half years ago, our tagline has been, “Equality and animal rights, one meal at a time.” Truthfully, it’s always felt a bit strange to us, but at that time the major struggle in America for LGBTQ equality was the fight for marriage equality, an issue that was and still is very personal to us. Our choice to use the word “Equality” was, in fact, a reference to that struggle. Thankfully, in 2015, the United States Supreme Court established marriage equality as the law of the land.

Despite recent advances in the fight for full equality, the fact remains that LGBT people in this country are still being targeted, harassed and legally fired at their places of work, solely on the basis of their sexual orientation and/or gender expression. LGBT people, and those living with HIV, often face discrimination in obtaining health care services, and may experience several forms of discrimination when seeking housing that most heterosexual couples do not face. All this unfinished business of bringing about true LGBT equality in our society parallels other social justice movements such as the struggles for racial equality, immigrant rights and women’s rights. As vegans who are committed animal rights activists, we recognize that the struggle for animal rights is another social justice movement. We understand that all of these movements intersect over the shared experience wherein individuals who are outside the dominant group in any given culture are “other”-ized and rendered as less worthy of equal moral consideration because of that status. Our own life experiences of being direct victims of both homophobia and anti-semitism opened our eyes and hearts so that we could recognize what happens to other “other-ized” groups of humans and non-humans. The realization that profound injustices are playing out against individuals all over this planet helped us to make the connection, expand our circle of compassion, and join the fight for justice and liberty for all beings everywhere.

Because of this shift in our understanding, we’ve updated our tag line. We are pleased to announce our new tag line, “Liberty and justice for all. One meal at a time.” Veganism is more than just a diet; it’s a social justice movement committed to respecting the rights of all individuals, regardless of species, to live their lives free of harm, subjugation, exploitation and oppression. All living beings exist for their own reasons, are the subjects of their own lives, and can experience joy, pain, love and fear. All living beings form their own unique relationships and family units. All living beings deserve liberty and justice. Because of this unfinished work, we will continue our efforts to win the right for all living beings everywhere to live peaceful lives and have equal recognition and protection under the law. We will continue our work of expanding awareness of the plight of exploited animals and advocate for liberty and justice for them as we will for other social justice movements.

One of our favorite forms of advocacy is through sharing delicious vegan food because it has the power to change preconceived notions about what vegan food is and is not. It’s one thing to tell you, “Anything you can eat I can eat vegan.” However, when we share a photo with you, you can see how beautifully enticing it is. And, when we share the recipe and you taste the food, you can experience how delicious it really is. Seeing might be believing, but tasting is proof. That’s what we’re all about at Vegan Mos: Liberty and justice for all. One meal at a time.