Posts about Vegan vs Vegetarian vs Non-Veg Businesses Etc

[Guest guest]

My comments about recent posts:

 

1. I want to thank Karen for bringing up the information about Eric

Tucker not being vegan. Since she got the information from his own

personal quotes published in reputable newspapers, I don't think

it's " rumors " at all.

 

2. As Alex pointed out, it is good for people to know about the

beliefs of people with whom we are doing business and therefore

supporting with our hard-earned dollar. I also want to thank Alex

for his very thoughtful post. I was very touched by his ideas about

vegans supporting each other as much as possible. And I do agree

that animal abuse is every bit as bad as child abuse.

 

3. I think people who are vegan have made the connection that " non-

human animal " abuse is just as bad as " human animal " abuse ... we are

all animals with emotions and the will to live. And that's what

makes the " humorous " editorial published in the Stanford paper so

offensive. (Thanks to Matthew, also, for sharing that article with

us!) I definitely see the humor in it, and I know he was being

sarcastic, but it's akin to making jokes about the Holocaust. If

there hadn't been so much suffering, then yes, maybe a joke could be

funny, like if you break your leg and make a joke about it. But the

suffering of the Holocaust was just so huge and unspeakable that it's

really not very funny to make jokes about it, no matter how witty the

joke is. And so it is that it's not very funny to say that we should

force vegetarians to eat meat because of " majority rule. " In fact,

the sarcasm about majority rule and " democracy " for making decisions

is not really a very funny joke. As we've seen throughout history

and throughout the world today, just because the " majority " believes

something doesn't make it morally right or even TRUE, for that

matter. So why pretend that " majority rule " should be a reason to

perpetuate a style of eating which involves abusing more and more

animals?

Oooh, I'm getting sad now. Better move to another topic.

 

4. I know that there is a lot of emphasis at Bay Area Veg on being

vegan, and I got to thinking that sometimes vegetarians feel like

they're getting a bum rap! And maybe sometimes they don't even feel

supported for their decision to not eat meat because they're getting

maligned for eating eggs, dairy, honey, etc. The post that made me

think of this was Eric's, in which he asked, why isn't there any

option between being a vegan and a meat-eater? That's what made me

think, " Man, I bet 'non-vegan vegetarians' really feel left out

sometimes! " So I guess there are two things I want to say about that.

 

A) To the vegans: I believe everybody knows this already, but really,

please try not to be too critical of people who are taking a

difficult step toward helping animals, like becoming a vegetarian and

not eating meat. And try not to belittle them with comments to the

tune of " they are not as evolved. " Maybe the vegetarian will

continue to eat eggs and dairy the rest of their lives, but if

they're harming fewer animals with this diet, that is more than what

most of the U.S. population is doing! You know those T-shirts that

say " 95: Average Number of Lives Saved by a Vegetarian Each Year " ?

Well, the person who goes vegetarian is saving those 95 animals every

year! Isn't that awesome? And I suppose the number on the T-shirt

doesn't even include how many animals are saved when a person goes

vegan on top of that ... and the number would multiply a lot if they

were to include " hours of suffering " saved by being vegan. Consider

the case of Erik Tucker, who does not consider himself vegetarian,

but his diet is " mostly vegan. " I assume this means that he eats

meat and other animal products, too, only once in awhile. With his

mostly vegan diet he's probably saving at least 80 animals a year for

the " mostly vegetarian " part, plus who knows how many more animals

saved and countless hours of suffering avoided through the " mostly

vegan " part. So I think someone who is " totally vegetarian "

or " mostly vegan " or any other combination in between, should be

supported whole-heartedly because on some level they " get it " and are

doing something to help save animals. It seems to me, we would save

more animals by inspiring LOTS OF PEOPLE to be " mostly vegan " like

Erik Tucker, rather than maligning those who are not vegan and then

turning off so many people that they give up completely and don't do

anything to help animals. So be positive and look at all the GOOD

the person is doing. Also, remember that while you may be vegan,

you're not perfect! There's a lot more to being a good person than

being vegan. (How nicely do you treat your parents? Are you grumpy

or do you greet the world with optimism, no matter how much pain

you're in or how much suffering you've experienced? How honest of a

person are you? How generous are you? How courageous are you?

Etc.) And there are lots of actions that some vegans may do which

don't help animals at all (purchasing soy from areas where

rainforests were cut down specifically to grow soy, buying a pure-

bred animal instead of adopting a pet from your local pet shelter,

buying a house in a suburb which causes the loss of greenspace and

animal habitat, using chemical cleaners and plastics which pollute

the water supply and harm marine animals, etc etc). There have been

many amazing people (Mother Theresa, Marting Luther King Jr, Jesus,

etc) who were not vegetarian or vegan, and I'd say they were much

kinder and more courageous than I am, and if you can say that one

person is " better " than another, well, I'd say they were

much " better " people than I am, too! So keep that in mind. The

person you're writing off for " not being vegan " might be Mother

Theresa!

 

B) To non-vegan vegetarians: try not to get defensive or be too

critical if a vegan gets really upset about your choice to eat animal

products such as dairy or eggs. As I explained above, you're doing a

lot to help animals by being vegetarian, and who knows what other

things you're doing to help the world and the environment (and as a

result: helping animals), which a vegan may or may not be doing. And

even someone who is not vegetarian (like Mother Theresa) may be doing

more for the world than the vegan. However, as strange as this may

sound, I'd try to be understanding when the vegan jumps down your

throat, because there is a good reason. There is real suffering

involved with the production of animal products like milk and eggs.

As I wrote above, I agree with Alex, it's as bad of a thing as child

abuse. As a result, it's very upsetting to see a vegetarian, someone

who cares about animals enough to stop eating meat, who would also

continue to support the terrible suffering involved with most animal

products. In fact, if I remember or understood correctly from Erik

Marcus' book " Meat Market, " factory-farmed eggs produce more

suffering per unit of food than chicken meat, pork, or beef. And the

dairy industry was considered worse torture for cows than the beef

cattle industry. I know we shouldn't criticize someone else when we

ourselves are not perfect (see above), but we're all human, and it's

easy to get very emotional when there's so much suffering involved.

That's why I'm asking of anyone who gets criticized for making non-

vegan food choices: please try to be understanding. Just imagine a

vegan going on a tirade against Mother Theresa (if she were still

alive) for eating meat or dairy or eggs or whatever. It could

totally happen! And in that case, it would be obvious that she

wasn't a bad person, but the vegan would still have reason for their

outrage: how can such a kind and compassionate woman support this

kind of cruelty? The point being: if you ever feel like you're being

maligned by someone for a non-vegan food choice, it might help just

to not to take it personally. The vegan is not really trying to say

you are a bad person, they're just really upset about all the

suffering that's going on. And don't be discouraged by any negative

comments; just keep doing the best you can, in your own way and at

your own pace!

 

***

WHEW!

This turned out to be a MEGA-POST!

Happy discussions, everybody!

Take care and GOOD NIGHT,

Rachel

[Guest guest]

Hey everybody,

Frank just pointed out to me that Alex Bury is the famous FEMALE chef

and vegan activist who created the Sparks restaurant menu ... THANK

GOODNESS, now I'll have the right image of Alex in mind when I read

HER posts ...

THANK YOU,

Rachel

 

, " Rachel Donovan " <racheldonovan

wrote:

>

> ...

>

> 2. ... I also want to thank Alex

> for his very thoughtful post. I was very touched by his ideas about

> vegans supporting each other as much as possible. ...

>

> ...

[Guest guest]

Oh, Rachel, that is very sweet--thank you--no big deal at all, you

wouldn't believe how often I am called " Mr. " or " he! "

 

If I was really concerned about it I would sign my e-mails Alexandra.

My fault, really.

 

It's actually kind of fun at times, to call a person I've been e-mailing

and listen to them mentally re-adjust to the fact that I'm not a man.

 

But thanks for your kind words.

Alex(andra)

 

 

On Behalf

Of Rachel Donovan

Friday, March 10, 2006 4:05 PM

 

Re: Posts about Vegan vs Vegetarian vs Non-Veg

Businesses Etc

 

Hey everybody,

Frank just pointed out to me that Alex Bury is the famous FEMALE chef

and vegan activist who created the Sparks restaurant menu ... THANK

GOODNESS, now I'll have the right image of Alex in mind when I read

HER posts ...

THANK YOU,

Rachel

 

, " Rachel Donovan " <racheldonovan

wrote:

>

> ...

>

> 2. ... I also want to thank Alex

> for his very thoughtful post. I was very touched by his ideas about

> vegans supporting each other as much as possible. ...

>

> ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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