Veggie Goes Vegan

Passing thought: Who's anthropomorphizing now?

I've been reading a lot about urban homesteading lately. Partly because the BlogHer social change virtual book club is reading Farm City by Novella Carpenter (my choice), partly because I'm reading blogs as part of the programming process for BlogHer Food '10.

I'm struck by the folks who talk about "showing reverence for" the animals they kill. There are references to there being something "sacred" about raising and caring for an animals and the killing it and using every piece of it. There is a description of that latter efficiency as showing "respect" for the animal.

I'd just like to point out that often there is a cry of "anthropomorphizing" when those of us who don't eat meat talk about emotions like fear and dread when approaching slaughter. Or when we talk about how animals want to live and avoid pain/suffering/death just like the rest of us.

But I don't see either of the above being nearly as unrealistic an attribution of feeling and perspective to a situation than to think that a pig or bunny or whatever gives a crap about your reverence or respect post-slaughter. That's a one-way emotional rationalization, buster. Even if Michael Pollan endorses it.

That is all. Carry on.

How does my "extremism" affect you?

BlogHer buddy Britt Bravo wrote a personal post on her own personal path entitled, "Is Part-Time Vegetarian Good Enough?"

You'll see that I left the very first comment, mostly because she quoted Jane Goodall from a Daily Show Appearance Goodall had made a while back:

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Jane Goodall
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Jane Goodall on The Daily Show

At the time Goodall's brief anecdote about when/how she occasionally eats meat ticked me off, but I didn't stop t think too much about it, and I didn't write about it. 

Britt quoted her, though, and reminded me about why I found it so off-putting. The money quote was about how if someone made her a birthday cake with eggs or whatnot, she'd eat it, because being extremist or fundamentalist about anything is bad. Um, OK, I often say that no one is perfect, and we just have to do the best we can do. But then Goodall took it a step further and said that extremism/fundamentalism is responsible for what's going wrong on the planet today.

Ex-squeeze me?

Did you just compare making a *personal choice* about how one eats to being the kind of fundamentalist that, say, blows up a building? Or tries to withhold civil rights from others based on religious beliefs. 

You lost me there. That's some pretty extreme rationalization, if you ask me.

As I said in my comment: Extremism is about what you inflict on others, not how you choose to conduct your own life, particularly when it comes to something like dietary choices. Just don't think I'm doing a lot of inflicting here, not on people and not on animals either. 

Gurmble, grumble, grumble.

Rational vegan diet conversation? Excellent.

Usually the comments of any article or post on the non-vegan/vegetarian diet in a NON-vegan/vegetarian publication/blog/outlet don't go so well.

A bunch of people who have no actual knowledge of what vegans eat, or even really about the nutritional significance of what they eat, sound off on the freaky deaky vegan lifestyle.

Hence I'm pleasantly surprised to see a rational discussion (so far) on FitSugar accompanying this post about Lea Michele and her confusing, morphing statements about her health and diet. [Which I'm sure are not at all influenced by her move from Broadway...where she looked pretty and normal...to television...where she's starting to resemble every other leading woman on TV. And by that I mean ultra-skinny.]

This conversation adds to the ongoing chorus that vegans don't really have it much harder or much different than anyone else when it comes to eating a fully healthy diet. 

Welcome a new vegetarian: Plastic-Free Vegetarian

Eating Animals

Jonathan Safran Foer

A couple of months ago I finally read Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, as part of a virtual BlogHer book club.

Being a vegan already, the book both taught me a few things I didn't already know, but mostly bolstered what I did know, and re-affirmed my commitment to my vegan choices.

But for at least one book club member, the effect was more significant and profound. Meet the newest vegetarian, Beth Terry form Fake Plastic Fish, and her very eloquent argument for why she made the step: Brand New Plastic-Free Vegetarian.

As I told her, I may just point people to this post when they ask me why I became vegan, she articulates every angle so well.

Beth was already an environmental activist. As her blog name implies, she's been working on eliminating all plastic from her life...which is a challenging and fascinating journey in and of itself!

Beth has launched a new blog specifically to document her nascent vegetarianism, and I'll be subscribing to follow her journey. My personal experience is that once you take action to live according to your own ethics and core beliefs, it is nothing but good. Even when it is occasionally challenging.

Good luck, Beth! And thanks for writing a definitive post on why you are choosing this path.