Beliefs, Opinions and Social Grace

Politics and religion: two things we are taught not to discuss at the dinner table, not to discuss with acquaintances for fear of offending someone we do not yet know. Add eating habits to this list. Don't share your beliefs about eating animals at the dinner table. It's rude, impolite.

These rules surely stem from the fact that we are taught not to make others uncomfortable, and I agree with that. But I am also frustrated that, at times, I feel I can't share my vegan beliefs, for fear of making others uncomfortable. What if the intent is not to argue but to inform?

Natalie Portman has, until recently, felt the same. Her article in the Huffington Post begins:

I've always been shy about being critical of others' choices because I hate when people do that to me. I'm often interrogated about being vegetarian (e.g., "What if you find out that carrots feel pain, too? Then what'll you eat?").

But now she doesn't mind. After reading about the huge human cost of factory farming, she became more vocal, less "socially" polite. The environmental destruction due to the incredibly vast amounts of animal waste created at these farms (that then leaks into our water supply, is sprayed into our atmosphere, corrupting our rivers and choking our lungs) detailed in Eating Animals was so shocking that she felt she had to share. I would add the less-known health impacts of eating meat detailed in The China Study to this list of information to share.

Maybe it is time to be less socially graceful and more concerned about our families, friends and colleagues. Maybe we should express our views not because we want to force others to believe them, but because we want to provide our loved ones with information that could potentially help them make the best decisions regarding how to live long, healthful lives? Shift the angle from negative and preachy to positive and helpful. Could this be the best approach?

Dairy Farming: Bad for your health, bad for the planet

In today's Wall Street Journal, read "Manure Raises a New Stink."

'Nough said. For more info on this subject, read Johnathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals.

Alicia Silverstone and The Kind Diet

Alicia Silverstone is vegan...you knew that, right?


She just came out with a new book, The Kind Diet, that is a vegan recipe book but even moreso it is a lifestyle book. Not only does she give they reasons why she is a vegan (physical and mental well being, mental clarity and vitality), she also teaches readers about what it means to follow a macrobiotic diet, which, in her terms, is a revved-up version of a vegan diet. You eliminate all the bad, unhealthy parts of veganism (like processed foods, etc.). Very informative! I've already started incorporating some macrobiotic principles, such as starting a meal with soup and basing your entire diet around whole grains, into my vegan diet today. I like this book because it's much more than a celebrity cookbook. It's educates around health and lifestyle, too, and is definitely worth a read while you're browsing through the book store.

Alicia Silverstone also has a blog that you can follow: The Kind Life. Notice her first post under the "Food" tab. It's all about our local girl who owns Vegan Treats that I blogged about a few months ago. Props to Alicia, but I do have to say that Fagiolina spotted her first....

Grass-fed meat with a side of moral superiority

For many people veganism is at one end of the spectrum of a diet transformation. They work their way from eating all meat, to only eating white meat, to only fish, then no meat but dairy and eggs, and finally no animal products. It can take a long time to get from one end to the other, if at all, but movement toward no animal products is a move in a positive direction.

My friend is slowly moving along that path. She realizes the impact of diet on her physical and mental health, so she's mixed more veg meals into her day. She goes with me to vegan restaurants. She supports my lifestyle, and I thank her for it.

The other day she sent me this article in Newsweek about some famous, veg-movement defining vegetarians, moving to the opposite, meat-eating end of the spectrum. They argue that locally raised animals that are allowed to live "happy" lives are okay to eat. The author of the article responds to their argument:

"While it's true that sustainably raised, grass-fed beef may be better for the consumer, it's hard to argue that it's ultimately better for the cow. What these steak apologists seem to be missing is that no matter how "lovingly" the cow was raised, no matter how much grazing or rooting he did in his life, he gave up that life to become their dinner. Carnivores who only ate the flesh of animals that had died of natural causes at the end of long, satisfying lives might have a claim to moral superiority, but what to call them? Corpsevores? And if these organic farm animals have such great lives, isn't the more humane thing to eat a cage-raised, industrially processed chicken? At least we'd be putting it out of its misery."

I like her response. I don't consider myself vegan for ethical reasons, but more for those of personal health. Antibiotic-laced, factory-farmed meat just isn't going into my body, and I refuse to give my money to support an industry that sells us contaminated, diseased food.

I'm hard pressed to make an argument against locally raised meat for those who do enjoy it, but I admire those who can see the argument purely from the viewpoint of the animal.

Irrespective of your opinion of animal rights, etc, it's hard to deny that eating a plant-based diet is just better for your body. It just feels better--less tired, more energetic, never sick--without animal products in it. At least, it does for me.

If the animal argument doesn't do it for you, then consider your health when making a decision to eat meat, either factory-farmed or locally raised. Be conscious of what you're eating and how it makes you feel. Be aware of how you are choosing to nourish your body and notice the effects.

Brussel Sprouts Like to Live, Too?

Please read: Sorry, Vegans: Brussel Sprouts Like to Live, Too

Now, tell me what you think.

Sarcasm? Heartfelt ode to plants' struggles? Other side of the argument? Attempt to recover some of the moral ground surrounding ethical vegans' reasons for their lifestyle?

I honestly don't know enough about the language of ethical veganism to defend their viewpoint in relation to this article, but it still seems to me something is missing from the "ode to the vegetable" Ms. Angier puts forth. Something about animals' inclusion in the category "sentient being" (a technical Buddhist term very broadly used to define beings with consciousness) alongside humans appears to have been left out.

At the end of the day, veganism is a choice that each person makes for him or herself, just as meat-eating is. It's just about understanding each person's choices, learning from them and allowing them to be what they are. I no more want Ms. Angier to tell me to eat meat than she wants me to tell her not to eat meat.

Moving on now....

More veg info than you'll ever need....

One of the best sources around for being connected to all things veg is VegNews. I used to subscribe but when it expired I found that I could rely on the website and an email subscription to get all the veg news I needed.

I love this magazine. Not only has it hooked me up with amazing restaurants in random locations in its travel section(Rishikesh, India, for example), but it also has great recipes so I can be an inspired veg chef all on my on. Info on veg providers ranging from travel locations to retail stores are invaluable. The VegNews online store is also excellent, offering books, snacks and other merchandise with no shipping! Stay tuned for an update on some choco-treats I recently ordered...

I was at Barnes and Noble today reading Johnathan Safran Foer's new Omnivore's Dilemma-like book, Eating Animals. With multiple book reviews in the New York Times, The Huffington Post and other sites, I thought it was worth a read. Omnivore's Dilemma taught me a lot about how our modern society thinks about food, and Foer's new book questions whether we think about it at all. He argues most of us tend to have an uneasy relationship with the meat on our plates, realizing that it is somehow inherently wrong but not digging deep enough into the issue to parse out the reasons why. Factory farming and the industrialization of our food supply are the likely answers, but it seems he will go even farther to say that meat in itself should not be part of our diets, and "locally farmed" animals are no better than the factory farmed versions.

I'm not sure how I feel about "no meat for everyone." I obviously don't want meat on my plate, but many people do, and I'm not in the business of telling others how to eat since I certainly don't want them telling me. Perhaps by the end of the book I'll feel differently, but today I take the approach of sharing my veganism with others through the food I cook and the things I buy. It's a part of my life, so, naturally, it's a part of all my relationships.

Is that an easy way out of this difficult, societal conversation? Should the debate on the ethics of eating be debated on the Senate floor in much the same way as health care is today? Foer argues that what we need is "a way that brings meat to the center of the public discussion in much the same way it is often at teh center of our plates." Importantly, "this doesn't require that we pretend we are going to have collective agreement." We will not agree, he says, so what do we do with this "inevitable reality? Drop the conversation, or find a way to reframe it?"

I need to read more. I need to finish this book and others to present a well-rounded, informed view. But I have been thinking about it now more than ever before.

Ironically, when I was at the bookstore I happened to sit in the vegetarian cook book section because the cafe was full. A couple, perhaps parents of a teen or 20-something, were browsing. The mother picked up a vegetarian cook book, saying, "Maybe we should get this for her?" Father: "No, don't encourage her! I'd like to see some meat on my plate every once in awhile." Right, wrong, odd? At a minimum just a reminder of the role vegetarianism occupies for many people. It's more of a "why?" than an "ok." Still more of a catalyst for questions rather than an easy acceptance. I guess we're all still trying to figure this one out.