Nothing gets my blood boiling more than people who choose to eat meat saying that vegans feel entitled. I remember talking to my dad about my wedding and how it, of course, would be vegan. He says to me, "I think you should have some non-vegan options for the non-vegans."
"Are you being serious??" was my natural reply as my eyebrows hit the roof.
"Yeah," he says, "when you go to a normal wedding they have special options for the veggies, so you should be polite to your guests and have some non-vegan options for the non-vegans."
I had to wait about ten seconds to compose myself before I replied, or I'm sure I'd have said something I'd regretted.
"Well now," because of course all good retorts start with a nicely placed ' well now.' "Well now, if you were invited to a Jewish wedding would you expect them to serve bacon?"
"No, but..."
"No, Dad. There are no 'buts' you don't have to be vegan to eat vegan food! Do you have to be Chinese to eat Chinese food? Why would you expect me to violate my deepest principle on what's supposed to be one of the happiest days in my life?"
"Grumble, grumble, grumble."
I think that it's rather an entitlement to expect some poor innocent creature to lay down its whole life just because you like the taste of it.
However, as vegans we must be doing something wrong since this attitude still prevails. Next time I'm invited to a celebration I'll explain that I'll bring the damn vegan roast so they don't have to lift a finger, and what's more I'll let them all have some, and I'll make them all vegan brownies that will blow them away.
As humans we consider ourselves a very entitled species. We need to be on the cutting edge of showing everyone just how great it can be to be humble.
Prime example, Obama on Israel, "There's no country on earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders."
Hello? Maybe he killed irony in one of his drone attacks on Asian soil.
This sort of BS is even coming from the President of the United States, who otherwise is a pretty cool guy - but I suppose that's no surprise. I don't mean to get too political here, but it's just another prime example of human arrogance where it's ok for us to do it, but God forbid someone does it to us.
Vegans are the least entitled, every food choice, clothing choice, an umpteen other choices we make we are considering other people, animals, the environment, future generations. I'll be, and forgive the cliche, totally transparent here: before I was vegan I really liked meat, cheese, eggs and all the rest of it...I also like carnal pleasures, but I don't think it's ok for me to rape; I get angry, but I don't think it's ok for me to assault; I get hungry, but I don't think it's ok for me to murder!
How do we suggest this in a non-offensive way? By upsetting the omnivores amongst us we're not going to help them make the right choices. Sometimes we just need to bite our tongues, cool it, count down from ten, smile and say, "Hey, don't worry about me, I'll bring the vegan food!" then make sure it's the best food they've ever tasted.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. This year I'm so thankful for being vegan, for the growing popularity of veganism and for all of you vegan heroes out there spreading the good word that no blood has to be spilled for a good meal!
Showing posts with label diet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diet. Show all posts
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Kale vs Pork
It's here! The smack-down we've all been waiting for!
In the green shorts, weighing in at 50 calories per 100 grams, it's the reigning vegetable-champion-of-the-world, the green wonder, the cruciferous kid - Kale!
In the pink shorts, weighing in at 458 calories per 100 grams, it's the current vogue meat, the dead animal everyone loves to see on their plate, the fantastically fatty - Bacon!
Round One: It's common knowledge that cruciferous vegetables can give you gas, POW, take that Kale - Bacon comes out swinging. Wait, Kale bounces off the ropes, Bacon raises cholesterol (only found in meat!) SMACK! Elevated risk of cancer with 17 carcinogens being released with cooking temperatures over 212 F BAM! And what's this, a combo move - Bacon can cause poor calcium retention whereas Kale is calcium rich, KERPOW!
Ding-Ding: Looks like Kale is the clear winner this round.
Round Two: With no carbs and 12 grams of protein per 100 grams Bacon is the clear choice for anyone on the Atkins diet, how will Kale possibly recover from a blow like that? Kale just seems to roll off the attack and throw one right back, with only 1 gram of fat to Bacon's 45 grams, it'll be hard for Bacon to carry on. Bacon throws out that it contains no fiber... the move has completely backfired with Bacon finding its self down face first and is struggling to get up.
Not long left in the round. Bacon has chosen to continue and is taking volley after volley from Kale, let's go over to the nutritiondata.self.com box for a moment and listen to their commentary:
Kale: This food is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Protein, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Folate, Iron, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Potassium, Copper and Manganese.
Ding-Ding: Another decisive victory for Kale.
Round Three: Bacon staggers into the ring to meet Kale, but the ref calls in the ringside doctor for an opinion. The doctor swings his hands high in the air, yet that's right, he always recommends eating more cruciferous veggies, but can't recall the last time he advised someone to increase their bacon intake. What a dramatic end to such a one-sided fight.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present the winner of this fight, STILL the UNDEFEATED CHAMPION-OF-THE-KITCHEN, the cruciferous kid - Kale!
Seriously though, the pork industry messes up the environment, our health and causes the suffering of millions of pigs worldwide, don't eat pork.
P.S. Eat more kale.
With a big thanks to our commentators:
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2461/2
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/pork-products/2208/2
http://www.livestrong.com/article/256224-the-dangers-of-high-meat-diets/
In the green shorts, weighing in at 50 calories per 100 grams, it's the reigning vegetable-champion-of-the-world, the green wonder, the cruciferous kid - Kale!
In the pink shorts, weighing in at 458 calories per 100 grams, it's the current vogue meat, the dead animal everyone loves to see on their plate, the fantastically fatty - Bacon!
Round One: It's common knowledge that cruciferous vegetables can give you gas, POW, take that Kale - Bacon comes out swinging. Wait, Kale bounces off the ropes, Bacon raises cholesterol (only found in meat!) SMACK! Elevated risk of cancer with 17 carcinogens being released with cooking temperatures over 212 F BAM! And what's this, a combo move - Bacon can cause poor calcium retention whereas Kale is calcium rich, KERPOW!
Ding-Ding: Looks like Kale is the clear winner this round.
Round Two: With no carbs and 12 grams of protein per 100 grams Bacon is the clear choice for anyone on the Atkins diet, how will Kale possibly recover from a blow like that? Kale just seems to roll off the attack and throw one right back, with only 1 gram of fat to Bacon's 45 grams, it'll be hard for Bacon to carry on. Bacon throws out that it contains no fiber... the move has completely backfired with Bacon finding its self down face first and is struggling to get up.
Not long left in the round. Bacon has chosen to continue and is taking volley after volley from Kale, let's go over to the nutritiondata.self.com box for a moment and listen to their commentary:
Kale: This food is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Protein, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Folate, Iron, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Potassium, Copper and Manganese.
Bacon: This food is high in Saturated Fat.
Ding-Ding: Another decisive victory for Kale.
Round Three: Bacon staggers into the ring to meet Kale, but the ref calls in the ringside doctor for an opinion. The doctor swings his hands high in the air, yet that's right, he always recommends eating more cruciferous veggies, but can't recall the last time he advised someone to increase their bacon intake. What a dramatic end to such a one-sided fight.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present the winner of this fight, STILL the UNDEFEATED CHAMPION-OF-THE-KITCHEN, the cruciferous kid - Kale!
Seriously though, the pork industry messes up the environment, our health and causes the suffering of millions of pigs worldwide, don't eat pork.
P.S. Eat more kale.
With a big thanks to our commentators:
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2461/2
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/pork-products/2208/2
http://www.livestrong.com/article/256224-the-dangers-of-high-meat-diets/
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Hope and Frustration
Has anyone ever seen that episode of South Park where Cartman goes to teach at an inner city school? The kids are just about given up and Cartman turns around and says to: "How do reach these kids?!"
Just in case you haven't:
That's exactly how I feel when people ask me about veganism. They clearly get it, animals should not be abused, but are unwilling to end the cycle of violence and exploitation. At which point I cradle my head in my hands and scream "How do I reach these omnivores?!" Although admittedly, my accent is significantly more British!
A few days ago I had my dad visiting me and we had gone out for meal. He's sat there, enjoying his pork dumplings and chicken curry while talking about how much he loves animals.
I hear this sort of thing from so many people, I can only conclude that either the whole world is totally f***ing insane, or it's just me.
It's like pausing mid-rape to express your devotion to women's rights.
I can only think of one solution - forget GMO labeling for now, instead let's have a label showing the moment of harvest, photographed by an independent organization. I would have absolutely no problem looking at a picture on my food package of a combine harvester working its way around a field, or a farmer's hand reaching up to pick some fruit. In fact I think it would be a great idea! That way I can ensure that there's no child labour, no sweatshops, no burning rainforest in the background. It would really make my food producers think about the ethics of their operation.
By the same token, if you're buying beef then it would reasonable to show that cow being bolted or having it's carotid slashed. Why not? Surely you'd want to check that your meal was being 'ethically' slaughtered. If you don't like what you see, then go vegan.
We live in a society where we are fed lies about where our food comes from. We see fried chicken places with a grinning rooster, dairy products with winking cows and BBQ places with pictures of pigs working the grill. At the entrance to death camps, do they have statues of prisoners grinning and giving the thumbs up?
It's very important to know where our food comes from and what we are eating - or am I somehow unique in this viewpoint? Maybe I'll start out with a petition to help make this reality, please give me any ideas you might have...
Just in case you haven't:
That's exactly how I feel when people ask me about veganism. They clearly get it, animals should not be abused, but are unwilling to end the cycle of violence and exploitation. At which point I cradle my head in my hands and scream "How do I reach these omnivores?!" Although admittedly, my accent is significantly more British!
A few days ago I had my dad visiting me and we had gone out for meal. He's sat there, enjoying his pork dumplings and chicken curry while talking about how much he loves animals.
I hear this sort of thing from so many people, I can only conclude that either the whole world is totally f***ing insane, or it's just me.
It's like pausing mid-rape to express your devotion to women's rights.
I can only think of one solution - forget GMO labeling for now, instead let's have a label showing the moment of harvest, photographed by an independent organization. I would have absolutely no problem looking at a picture on my food package of a combine harvester working its way around a field, or a farmer's hand reaching up to pick some fruit. In fact I think it would be a great idea! That way I can ensure that there's no child labour, no sweatshops, no burning rainforest in the background. It would really make my food producers think about the ethics of their operation.
By the same token, if you're buying beef then it would reasonable to show that cow being bolted or having it's carotid slashed. Why not? Surely you'd want to check that your meal was being 'ethically' slaughtered. If you don't like what you see, then go vegan.
We live in a society where we are fed lies about where our food comes from. We see fried chicken places with a grinning rooster, dairy products with winking cows and BBQ places with pictures of pigs working the grill. At the entrance to death camps, do they have statues of prisoners grinning and giving the thumbs up?
It's very important to know where our food comes from and what we are eating - or am I somehow unique in this viewpoint? Maybe I'll start out with a petition to help make this reality, please give me any ideas you might have...
Monday, October 1, 2012
Anger!
There are few species that could claim to be as abused as chickens:
It's easy to draw a few conclusions:
Are we all being good and moral by not involving ourselves with this by being vegan, vegetarian or, shudder, - 'flexitarian'? Yes, in part we are, but only to the same extent that we can claim to be good moral people by not exhibiting the same behavior towards humans. How crazy would it be to hear someone say, "You know, I try to be good, I gave up murdering people, I don't keep any slaves in my dungeon and I have't orchestrated any war crimes recently." Hmmm!
I don't know about you, but I would find it very hard to sleep at night knowing this is going on and I'm not doing anything to stop it.
We are born free, a luxury that not all our fellow earthlings have. Use your voice, write to businesses, sign petitions, tell your friends about compassion, be an example, show love, kindness, adopt, make a donation, invite people for cruelty free meals, support ethical businesses! Use your anger in a positive way, it's the catalyst for change.
To acknowledge suffering is bad is to acknowledge veganism is good!
If you haven't done so already, check out the video in that last post, he's a fantastic speaker :)
- More chickens are slaughtered each year in the US than there are people in the world.
- Chicken naturally live for 6 or more years, most are dead by six weeks.
- Male chickens of the egg breeds are killed within 72 hours of hatching, many by being discarded, live, into grinders.
It's easy to draw a few conclusions:
- The egg industry is a machine of genocide, killing half of chickens at birth, keeping the other half as slaves.
- At birth the date of death is already decided, welcome to Auschwitz.
- For these animals, there is no hope, there is no one coming to save them and they will die against their will as infants at the hand of man.
Are we all being good and moral by not involving ourselves with this by being vegan, vegetarian or, shudder, - 'flexitarian'? Yes, in part we are, but only to the same extent that we can claim to be good moral people by not exhibiting the same behavior towards humans. How crazy would it be to hear someone say, "You know, I try to be good, I gave up murdering people, I don't keep any slaves in my dungeon and I have't orchestrated any war crimes recently." Hmmm!
I don't know about you, but I would find it very hard to sleep at night knowing this is going on and I'm not doing anything to stop it.
We are born free, a luxury that not all our fellow earthlings have. Use your voice, write to businesses, sign petitions, tell your friends about compassion, be an example, show love, kindness, adopt, make a donation, invite people for cruelty free meals, support ethical businesses! Use your anger in a positive way, it's the catalyst for change.
To acknowledge suffering is bad is to acknowledge veganism is good!
If you haven't done so already, check out the video in that last post, he's a fantastic speaker :)
Sunday, September 30, 2012
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