I suppose I am one: an activist -- for animals and a vegan lifestyle. I hear that word, however, and look around to see if someone is indeed referring to me. I don't have the activist temperament. I like listening to divergent points of view and hearing people out. I like getting along. I even like being liked, although activists of any stripe should get rid of that handicap at the outset.
I grew from a typical Midwestern, middle-class only child into a committed plant eater and animal advocate due, probably, to a series of events that happened early on. When I was seven, I came home from school and proudly recited to my grandmother the four food groups, gold standard of nutrition education at that time: the meat group, dairy group, vegetable and fruit group and bread and cereal group. Ever the contrarian, she retorted: "There are some people who never eat any meat. They're called vegetarians. I could take you out to the Unity Inn (a church-run semi-vegetarian restaurant in a suburb of Kansas City) and get you a hamburger made out of peanuts. You'd think you were eating meat."
"Wow," I thought. "I hardly know anything."
Two years later, another stone was laid on my path to veganhood. I went to the Boat, Sports & Travel Show held annually at the convention center in downtown Kansas City. My family wasn't into boats, sports or the rugged kind of travel showcased there, but everybody went so we did, too. This particular year, one booth boasted a sizable fish tank and a sign that read, "Kiddies fish free." Free was a good price, and I figured "catch a fish" was like "catch a ball" -- fun for all.
I "caught" one right away and was unprepared for his (her?) violent struggle. I could barely hold onto the pole when the booth worker grabbed the line and smashed the fish's head on a metal table. I was unprepared for the torrent of blood that gushed from the now deceased being, placed in a baggie and handed to me. I had killed. I hadn't meant to, but I'd done it. I put the plastic-shrouded corpse in a ladies' room trash bin and asked God to forgive me. I had to go direct; this wasn't a sin I could take to confession.
As a sophomore in high school, I had another wham-o. Biology class. We dissected worms. It didn't feel right. I knew frogs were coming, then cats. I asked to be transferred to lab-free human science. "It's not college-prep," the teacher said.
"I don't care. I don't want an animal to die for me to go to college."
The teacher pushed his glasses down his middle-aged nose so he could get a close look at my sincere, acne-pocked face. "But you eat meat, don't you?"
Oh my gosh: he was right. This man taught biology but he should have been teaching logic; his reasoning was unassailable. I'd been a fraud all these (15) years, claiming to care about animals while scarfing down fried chicken and pork chops and, of course, Kansas City steak every chance I got. But what could I do? I was a kid. My parents wouldn't stand for it. What would I eat? I couldn't even drive yet to get to the place with the peanut-burgers. "I eat it now," I told him, "but I won't forever."
He paused for an instant, and peered at me even more intently over his spectacles: "You know what? I believe you." And, pushing the glasses up again, he signed the transfer form.
I liked human science. We learned about health and sex. I got into college after all.
But before college, I discovered yoga. It wasn't widely known then. (People confused "yoga" with "yogurt," and both were suspect.) I loved it, though. It helped me connect my awkward physical self with the spiritual part of me where I'd always felt at home. And central to its moral code was ahimsa, non-killing, non-harming. I stopped eating land animals right away, then sea animals, too. I'm not proud that it took me more than a decade to go vegan (no eggs and dairy), although that was the common route 30 years ago. People who were sensitive to these issues became vegetarians and worked up to vegan over time.
It's different now. Young people see a film like Earthlings or they happen onto a PETA site and come upon some facts of life that were left out of high school science classes, college-track or not. When my daughter's peers learn that cows have to give birth to give milk, and that boy babies from dairy herds are routinely slaughtered for veal, soy milk starts looking pretty good. When they find out that laying hens' male chicks are suffocated or otherwise summarily disposed of, they have no problem discovering incredible edibles besides eggs.
So here we are, the quick-to-change 20-somethings and the finally-changed boomers like me, forming a movement. I never thought I'd be part of a movement. I just stopped eating animals and, ultimately, their "products," without realizing that this was a political act.
I understand that societies are held together by agreements. In our society, it is agreed that killing humans, other than in wartime or for self-defense, is wrong. There is agreement (now) that it's wrong to own slaves, send children to work in factories and keep people from voting because of their race or gender. Most concur, however, that killing animals for food is right, although these creatures should be raised and slaughtered as "humanely" as possible. The majority of men and women don't want to look too closely to see whether or not this is the case, and tend to simply agree that everything is okay down on the farm. Few even think about the slaughterhouse. (Have you ever seen one? Do you know where one is located? Most people don't.)
Accepting that I live in a culture in which my convictions in this area are outside the accepted norms, my aim -- my activism -- is not to argue with those who think I'm nuts. Instead, I attempt to be an example for the interested, a resource for the curious and a guide for those new to this way of life -- like the woman I met today, an Israeli-born grandmother who told me that she hadn't eaten an animal product since March. "My eyes were opened," she said. "And I tell other people because you can never be sure who is ready to wake up."
Follow Victoria Moran on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Victoria_Moran
Bruce Friedrich: Resolved: Eating Animals Is Indefensible
Veganism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
LLLI | Living a Vegan Lifestyle
Most people do not want to cause animals to suffer. It is time to take responsibility for our actions and show our parents, peers and the next generation that everybody makes mistakes. This can be achieved by modeling compassion. It is never too late to stop the suffering.
Yes, in this world, it is impossible to live without harming something: insects on the windshield, slugs in the garden (accidentally smooshed by bare feet, yikes) or inadvertently contributing to the destruction of some species habitat by purchasing technology, clothing or building materials. But it is our motivation and intent that matters. Making small, significant choices, without the bane of feeling morally superior, at least keeps us moving in the right direction. Recycling and organic food weren't popular until critical mass of opinion made it mainstream.
INo one should be judged, the effects of our actions are inescapable and merely science, cause and effect. We just need to be aware of the outcomes, the origin of our current situation. Its nice to be able to share one's beliefs about kindness towards all living beings, skillfully, of course, cause "you can never be sure who is ready to wake up."
I have found the biggest surprise was the very large choice I have for cooking. We never get bored with our food and are always finding new ways to cook our veggies, grains and whole wheat pastas. Two very helpful web-sites are FatfreeVegan.com and McDougall.com.
The foods I thought I could never live without I now no longer even think about.
I eat a lot of meat - mostly eggs (4-6 a day), chicken, beef, and fish, but also a lot vegetables, and minimize carb intake. I exercise at high intensity 5-6 times a week (powerlifting, interval training, circuit training, sprints) and my cholesterol levels are perfect. I have lower than average body fat, more muscle mass, and I always feel great. Can't remember the last time I got sick. So, if you're thinking about being a vegan because it's healthier, it's not necessary.
Of course, I'm not surprised to see comments from those who would seek to vilify vegans and show us how flawed our lifestyle choices are, as if choosing compassion can ever be wrong.
If someone thinks I'm misguided in my veganism, then so be it. My body's happy and healthy, I'm not prone to steroid-and-hormone fueled fits of aggressive behavior and no one has had to suffer or die for my meals or convenience since 2004. I feel much better when not ingesting the negative energy trapped in the flesh of sentient beings that were brutally slaughtered after enduring countless hours of stress and suffering.
Go vegan! It's the single best choice I ever made.
I think criticism toward vegans is a fear reaction, as it can be frightening to look at one's own choices and behaviors and see that it might make sense to make some big lifestyle changes. Omnivoric tendencies are deeply entrenched, both individually and societally, so when they're challenged, the first reaction is generally to defend the behavior.
When I see posts like the one above, pointing out what dangers vegans face due to "deficiencies", I don't think, "Awww... he cares about my health!" Rather, I think, "He's trying to tell me my choices are flawed." That's simply unsolicited criticism, and that's what I've come to expect very often from many, but by no means all, omnivores.
"When they find out that laying hens' male chicks are suffocated or otherwise summarily disposed of, they have no problem discovering incredible edibles besides eggs."
Question:
Why would laying hens produce fertilized eggs? Are these immaculately conceived? Better to make the point that they are kept in cages that literally on 50% larger than they are.
And for my personal food choices, I've come full circle. I was a meat eating bodybuilder and am now a zen buddhist; more or less. Being so, my reasons for not eating meat centered around matters of consciousness. I now, thanks to quantum physics, feel everything has consciousness (see dave chalmers). I, therefore, aim to be more responsible with my meat eating. Grass-fed, cage-free. I run a CSA in Orlando, FL and will soon be keeping chickens, free to roam the garden, for eggs.
Here is the reality: Chicks are sexed after birth. In order to get the hens we use to lay eggs we will have 50% male, 50% female chicks. These generally aren't the breeds used for meat (which wouldn't make it any better), and those male chicks are suffocated, thrown in compactors, etc. by the billions. When you go to the feed store to buy a hen for your farm, know that she represents a dead male chick who was killed after birth.
http://www.factoryfarming.com This situation for hens and male chicks is the same on local or organic farms as factory farms.
When you buy your female chicks at the feed store, ask where they got them from, and what happened to the males. It will almost certainly be a factory farm type of breeding facility. Dig a little deeper.
OmegaHunter: I disagree with your characterization of the author and her piece. Nowhere does she point a finger or call omnivores "barbarians"; she simply discusses her own path and shares her feelings about her journey. In fact, given her overall tone, and particularly what she says in the last paragraph, how could you possibly have gleaned condescension? As far as PETA goes, yes, there's questionable and contradictory behavior there. But PETA was around, and known, long before any other group of its kind, and I give them credit for distributing information that persuaded people to adopt a more humane lifestyle at a time when not much was known about plant-based diets and the way animals are treated in our society.
Perfection isn't the goal here, nor is sainthood. Compassion is, for both the animals and our fellow human beings, whether they are vegan or not.
Having said all that, there is nothing more alienating and sure to shut someone off from actually taking a critical look at the meat industry than to lord it over them. Ive never seen it work. Never.
My point wasn't to argue for eating meat - it was to argue that making a big ego out of it is almost as bad as eating meat. Its hard to feel superior when you realise the amount of killing you do unconsciously. The article rubbed me the wrong way, on that level. Then again, maybe its a cultural thing. Im not American, and Americans are taught from an early age to speak loudly about themselves in ways very different than in my background.
Peace, compassionate person.