Welcome to Small Bites, Sound Bites, a midweek segment of food for thought podcast where I share short, succinct, thoughtful responses to typical questions, myths, and misconceptions related to plant-based eating, veganism, and animal protection.

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A common question vegans and vegetarians are asked is what if you were stranded on a desert island, would you eat animals then?

Well, if there are animals on this imaginary deserted island I'm trapped on, then I would probably just follow the animals to see what plants they're eating and then eat the plants.

But look, hypothetical scenarios like this have nothing to do with what we can or should do.

Dyer situations, especially hypothetical ones, don't dictate our everyday behavior.

I don't know what I would do if I were in that situation. Maybe I'd eat animals to survive. Maybe I'd eat you to survive.

I have no idea, but what I do know is what I'm going to do today and tomorrow and the next day and any day I have agency over my decisions and actions.

And that is to not contribute to violence against animals where I have the power to do so, not while I have hundreds of plant foods to choose from and thrive by.

The question we should be asking each other is not what would you do if. The question is what are you doing now to reflect your deepest values of compassion and kindness and wellness on this very real, not hypothetical island we're already on.

For the animals, this is Colleen Patrick, good job. You can find more at joyfulvegan.com. Thanks for listening.