'green' consumerism / critical thinking (was RE: Re:vegans at Green Festival + food)

[Guest guest]

> aside from the price the idea that green consumerism is a going to enable us as a species to survive on this planet and get us out of the mess we are in is at best completely misguided.

> It dresses the problem in different colours...

 

To keep this topic veg / AR related, I would add this ... the same lack of critical thinking seems so readily apparent when we consider people who are still eating animals, getting diseases related to their diet, and especially when "scientists" use non-human animals to do develop cures for human animals.

 

I think what we need to be consuming is information -- to learn more, to be able to make better decisions. And that's partially one of the reasons why we started a veg/AR book club, Food for Thought. For that,

I just started reading Specious Science: How Genetics and Evolution Reveal Why Medical Research on Animals Harms Humans by the Greeks. I never liked science in school, and they do a really good job of explaining it all. (This is one of our 2008 book selections.)

 

Below is an *excerpt* from an Op Ed piece --

 

http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/column/252529

 

On the gross level humans and animals have much in common. All mammals are put together essentially the same way; hearts pump blood, livers detoxify chemicals, while bones, ligaments, connective tissues and muscles hold everything in place. That mammals can experience pain and are sentient is explained by examining them at this gross level. In the past, studying animals certainly shed light on these commonalities.

But science is no longer asking questions about gross commonalities. Our level of examination has become much more fine grained. Today we want to know why men respond differently to drugs and disease than women, why different ethnic groups are more susceptible to certain diseases and react differently to drugs, and why even identical twins suffer from different diseases. To answer questions like these we must study the species in question.

The questions we are asking today cannot be answered by studying animals. For example, many studies have examined the predictability of animal tests for drug efficacy and adverse effects. The conclusion is always the same: The chance of animals reacting as humans is less than would be expected from a coin toss.

By: Jean Swingle Greek lives in Goleta. Calif., a suburb of Santa Barbara. She graduated in 1990 from the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine.

Upcoming Food for Thought Book Club Meetings

01/06 Food For Thought: For the Prevention of Cruelty: The History and Legacy of Animal Rights Activism -.. 03/02 Food For Thought: Making Burros Fly: Cleveland Amory, Animal Rescue Pioneer - Mountain View 05/04 Food For Thought: Eternal Treblinka: Our Treatment of Animals and the Holocaust - SF

08/03 Food For Thought: Specious Science: How Genetics and Evolution Reveal Why Medical Research on Anima..

 

And, of course, while it is really good to read the information and digest it, we should also have ideas and activities to implement better solutions, too.

 

Cheers,

Tammy

 

 

 

Bay Area Vegetarianswww.BayAreaVeg.org