I remember when I first moved from Vancouver (aka Canada’s VEGAN HEAVEN) to the very conservative capital of Canada (aka Ottawa) in 2016, thinking that my days of countless vegan restaurant options were over.

I thought, not only would my food selection suck but I’d be saying goodbye to the beloved circles of vegan friends I had accumulated in my 10 years on the West Coast and probably be one of very few vegans in Ottawa (let alone vegan bodybuilders!)

But boy, was I wrong! And in fact, I’m proud to say that in the year-and-a-half I’ve been an Ottawan, I’ve connected with soooooo many cool and successful plant-powered peeps. And I totally credit my lil’ podcast for helping to create some of these awesome relationships. **Case and point: check “The Protein Podcast with Vegan Dietitian Susan MacFarlane.”**

And despite the “Jacked on the Beanstalk” vegan podcast being very health and fitness-focused, it was actually really cool (and kinda surprising) to learn that listeners wanted us to cover more “ethical vegan” topics. And well, as soon as those requests came in, I knew I had to have the lovely ladies from Animal Justice onto the show.

I actually met Camille Labchuk on the right (one of Canada’s leading animal rights lawyers) at this year’s March to Shut Down All Slaughterhouses. We were both asked to speak at this huge event that drew in over 300 marchers! 🙂

Check out some of the feel-good footage and epic excerpts from our speeches in this video:

Also interviewed on this week’s podcast is Shannon Riley Milling (on the left in the above picture and the Communications and Development Manager at Animal Justice) who actually created the awesome video above.

Shannon is also the brains and artistic beauty behind Faunapparel, a vegan lifestyle brand that makes all kinds of cute, unisex tees & touques!

And I already KNOW that all you avocado-loving freaks totally want to rock this little number of hers!

You can also shop the Animal Justice branded gear here (and support these compassionate chicks.)

It’s definitely one of my fave podcast interviews yet despite Sarah’s absence on this episode! 🙁

So prepare to be enlightened and inspired as we discuss everything from the free speech rights of activists (and major lack of rights for animals) to ways we can better deal with “activist burn-out” and the most simple and effective outreach methods we can all employ to better help our animal friends.

And for anyone interested in learning more about Dr. Melanie Joy’s “Beyond Carnism” work which the girls discuss and promote on the episode, you can learn more here.

Oh and if you’re looking for the warmest VEGAN winter jacket on Earth that all three of us own, the company we referenced is called “Wully Outerwear.”

And now, without further ado...

Click the "play button" below to listen. Or HERE to listen on Apple, HERE for Spotify or HERE for Stitcher.

-Samantha Shorkey, Jacked on the Beanstalk