My first and last vegan rant. There.
What the heck have I been doing all summer? I feel like I've been spending a whole lot of money, making none, not writing as much as I should, and lacking artistic drive.
I did, however, create recycling bins for my building's laundry room today, which I'll be taking out for collection. (No one can be bothered with taking out their junk mail, newspapers, and other plastics outside to our convenient city recycling bin, so I'm opting to be the middle man.)
Stacey says I'm embarking on a whole new chapter of my life with this eco-friendly thing, but I'm convinced it's not a passing phase. It's a big deal to me. Not something that takes precedence over sharing God's love with others, but a lesser issue that, I believe, is about responsibility, compassion toward peoples without the same resources and affluence as we Americans, and overall stewardship.
I don't think God ever meant for our diets to consist of hormone-injected cows or sick and mutilated chickens (who are often starved so they'll produce more eggs). Would any Christian mother urge her children to starve the family cat or dog, let it walk around for its whole life in suffering lameness, or perform painful things to it (without sedatives)? Is that a great example? Would a shepherd like David-- or the symbolic Good Shepherd that is Jesus --have treated a flock of sheep like that? That puts it into perspective for me. I don't see that the Bible shows a hierarchy of domestic animals versus farm animals (like, it's okay to be cruel to one and not the other. People can be jailed for domestic animal cruelty). And it's not that I see eating meat as inherently sinful. This isn't one of those "weaker brother" situations where I'm clueless as to where God stands on our place in the world and what's permissable.
But with the way the current meat and dairy industry is (aside from the rare, organic Horizon-type dairy brand), I just don't see how it's ethical to be so wasteful with our resources when there are so many other people who could be fed with all the land and water that's used on producing burgers and heart attacks. And we shouldn't apathetically assume that the Apocalypse will happen before these environmental issues will come to a head. They're already a problem, and we don't know when the exact time for us will be.
And many aspects of the industry are just plain cruel. (If you're up for crying or vomiting, PETA's got some great videos to view online--TYPICAL industry stuff supposedly, not the exception.) Up until fairly recent times, a relatively happy animal raised for dairy or slaughter on a nice farm with a pasture wasn't such a bad thing, in my opinion. Even when our grandparents were kids, they didn't drink milk pumped with hormones or eat needlessly genetically altered food, and there were still small family farmers who were paid fairly for their stock and fresh produce.
Take it further back. Before the last couple centuries, there wasn't a demand for fast food beef worldwide (like, no one was cutting down rainforests just to make pastureland for the lucrative cattle industry), nor was there mass (and half-ass) slaughtering machinery, added hormones, preventative antibiotics, major fuel consumption via the excessive transportation of food (1,000s of miles), genetic engineering (with whatever effects not yet studied), non-natural preservatives, and harmful pesticides (which can throw off entire ecosystems). I think most people then used more of the animal and purchased fresh meat and dairy from local farmers or raised their own-- That isn't the kind of meat-eating lifestyle I object to; the irresponsible, American consumer-centric one of today is. Anything people are willing to do to cutback would help.
Besides, Americans in general are obese-- we're not starving from a lack of meat and we don't require it in our diets just to survive here. Studies have shown that the majority of Americans consume way more protein than is required for our bodies. Personally, I happen to feel that if I hadn't had about three glasses of 2% milk a day as a kid (which everyone convinced me was "good for you"), I would've been a slimmer child and later adult, despite all my physical activity (alright, a little moderation would've helped, too). (I do, however, blame myself for the negative effects of WAY too much top ramen and Kool-Aid.) There's also been a lot of research on the fact that the body takes in calcium much better through non-dairy (little or no protein) sources anyway, such as green, leafy vegetables. So that whole "You'd better eat dairy for calcium" business is just a marketing ploy--it's not the best or only way.
I know, I sound like a horrible PETA ad and it would seem that some brainwashing has been at play here, but for the last seven years or so I've had a certain sensitivity on the subject, and now I feel compelled enough to finally go full throttle with it. I'll miss meat, but not THAT much. I love the taste of meat. I'm definitely not one of those "I hate flesh in my mouth" people. Some of my utmost favorite foods are fried chicken, salmon (don't get me started on the fishing topic), a medium-rare steak, Inn-N-Out cheeseburgers and sausage/pepperoni/what-have-you pizza. Oh well. I was thinking I'd be a vegetarian or vegan conditionally, and now I'm thinking I won't be so loose about it. (If my mom cooks a vegetarian dessert for me with dairy, she'll have to promise she used Horizon!)
Why not eat free-range, hormone-free meat from Whole Foods or something? I don't need to and can live without animal products. But I think these meats are genuinely good choices for people who don't have the same conviction about it as I do.
And I don't judge other people who eat meat, and I don't go around trying to shame or convert anyone. It's a personal decision, and a peripheral one compared to more important issues. I don't worship Mother Earth, but I worship God who asks that we tend to this land, its people, and its creatures (go Genesis!). Anyway, this tofu-powered woman REALLY needs school to start now. Apparently I have way too much time on my hands, thinking about saving the world.
That's all my ranting for today.
Interesting things I've discovered: tofu tastes like everything depending on what you magically wish it to be in any given dish (wish hard though); vegans can eat greasy crap food too (all vegetable oil, baby!); I don't have to give up chocolate pudding or icecream (certified vegan stuff--whew hew!). (And as long as I didn't have to give up ice cream, everything was going to be okay.)
Yes, I take my B-12. No, I'm not drastically losing weight for a lack of protein or something (Hasn't anyone every seen how "healthy" I am? I could get through some bad winters, no trouble!). My mother needs to just calm down about that. I think she dreads the idea of having me over for dinner now. Especially because she and her boyfriend shoot their own elk and quail in their backyard woods of Colorado. (I'm not going to lecture them. For all I know, they're making coats out of the hides and drying out the hooves for dog chews, too. Very resourceful... and I'm not being mean or sarcastic. My mom once made a hatband out of a rattlesnake we had to kill in the garage. Even the little rattler was attached.)
I feel about hunting the way I feel about owning guns: I see it as pointless and I'd never personally do it, but I'm not about to try to outlaw it. (Provided the animals aren't engandered, are humanely and legally hunted, used to feed an otherwise starving family, and are utilized down to the last bone and bit of fur, which hardly anybody does.) I guess I have a lot of criteria. Basically, be starving or an old-fashioned Native American, and then hunting seems fair.
Now about my oodles of cosmetics-- needless animal testing involved there? Maybe I can tackle that next summer.
I did, however, create recycling bins for my building's laundry room today, which I'll be taking out for collection. (No one can be bothered with taking out their junk mail, newspapers, and other plastics outside to our convenient city recycling bin, so I'm opting to be the middle man.)
Stacey says I'm embarking on a whole new chapter of my life with this eco-friendly thing, but I'm convinced it's not a passing phase. It's a big deal to me. Not something that takes precedence over sharing God's love with others, but a lesser issue that, I believe, is about responsibility, compassion toward peoples without the same resources and affluence as we Americans, and overall stewardship.
I don't think God ever meant for our diets to consist of hormone-injected cows or sick and mutilated chickens (who are often starved so they'll produce more eggs). Would any Christian mother urge her children to starve the family cat or dog, let it walk around for its whole life in suffering lameness, or perform painful things to it (without sedatives)? Is that a great example? Would a shepherd like David-- or the symbolic Good Shepherd that is Jesus --have treated a flock of sheep like that? That puts it into perspective for me. I don't see that the Bible shows a hierarchy of domestic animals versus farm animals (like, it's okay to be cruel to one and not the other. People can be jailed for domestic animal cruelty). And it's not that I see eating meat as inherently sinful. This isn't one of those "weaker brother" situations where I'm clueless as to where God stands on our place in the world and what's permissable.
But with the way the current meat and dairy industry is (aside from the rare, organic Horizon-type dairy brand), I just don't see how it's ethical to be so wasteful with our resources when there are so many other people who could be fed with all the land and water that's used on producing burgers and heart attacks. And we shouldn't apathetically assume that the Apocalypse will happen before these environmental issues will come to a head. They're already a problem, and we don't know when the exact time for us will be.
And many aspects of the industry are just plain cruel. (If you're up for crying or vomiting, PETA's got some great videos to view online--TYPICAL industry stuff supposedly, not the exception.) Up until fairly recent times, a relatively happy animal raised for dairy or slaughter on a nice farm with a pasture wasn't such a bad thing, in my opinion. Even when our grandparents were kids, they didn't drink milk pumped with hormones or eat needlessly genetically altered food, and there were still small family farmers who were paid fairly for their stock and fresh produce.
Take it further back. Before the last couple centuries, there wasn't a demand for fast food beef worldwide (like, no one was cutting down rainforests just to make pastureland for the lucrative cattle industry), nor was there mass (and half-ass) slaughtering machinery, added hormones, preventative antibiotics, major fuel consumption via the excessive transportation of food (1,000s of miles), genetic engineering (with whatever effects not yet studied), non-natural preservatives, and harmful pesticides (which can throw off entire ecosystems). I think most people then used more of the animal and purchased fresh meat and dairy from local farmers or raised their own-- That isn't the kind of meat-eating lifestyle I object to; the irresponsible, American consumer-centric one of today is. Anything people are willing to do to cutback would help.
Besides, Americans in general are obese-- we're not starving from a lack of meat and we don't require it in our diets just to survive here. Studies have shown that the majority of Americans consume way more protein than is required for our bodies. Personally, I happen to feel that if I hadn't had about three glasses of 2% milk a day as a kid (which everyone convinced me was "good for you"), I would've been a slimmer child and later adult, despite all my physical activity (alright, a little moderation would've helped, too). (I do, however, blame myself for the negative effects of WAY too much top ramen and Kool-Aid.) There's also been a lot of research on the fact that the body takes in calcium much better through non-dairy (little or no protein) sources anyway, such as green, leafy vegetables. So that whole "You'd better eat dairy for calcium" business is just a marketing ploy--it's not the best or only way.
I know, I sound like a horrible PETA ad and it would seem that some brainwashing has been at play here, but for the last seven years or so I've had a certain sensitivity on the subject, and now I feel compelled enough to finally go full throttle with it. I'll miss meat, but not THAT much. I love the taste of meat. I'm definitely not one of those "I hate flesh in my mouth" people. Some of my utmost favorite foods are fried chicken, salmon (don't get me started on the fishing topic), a medium-rare steak, Inn-N-Out cheeseburgers and sausage/pepperoni/what-have-you pizza. Oh well. I was thinking I'd be a vegetarian or vegan conditionally, and now I'm thinking I won't be so loose about it. (If my mom cooks a vegetarian dessert for me with dairy, she'll have to promise she used Horizon!)
Why not eat free-range, hormone-free meat from Whole Foods or something? I don't need to and can live without animal products. But I think these meats are genuinely good choices for people who don't have the same conviction about it as I do.
And I don't judge other people who eat meat, and I don't go around trying to shame or convert anyone. It's a personal decision, and a peripheral one compared to more important issues. I don't worship Mother Earth, but I worship God who asks that we tend to this land, its people, and its creatures (go Genesis!). Anyway, this tofu-powered woman REALLY needs school to start now. Apparently I have way too much time on my hands, thinking about saving the world.
That's all my ranting for today.
Interesting things I've discovered: tofu tastes like everything depending on what you magically wish it to be in any given dish (wish hard though); vegans can eat greasy crap food too (all vegetable oil, baby!); I don't have to give up chocolate pudding or icecream (certified vegan stuff--whew hew!). (And as long as I didn't have to give up ice cream, everything was going to be okay.)
Yes, I take my B-12. No, I'm not drastically losing weight for a lack of protein or something (Hasn't anyone every seen how "healthy" I am? I could get through some bad winters, no trouble!). My mother needs to just calm down about that. I think she dreads the idea of having me over for dinner now. Especially because she and her boyfriend shoot their own elk and quail in their backyard woods of Colorado. (I'm not going to lecture them. For all I know, they're making coats out of the hides and drying out the hooves for dog chews, too. Very resourceful... and I'm not being mean or sarcastic. My mom once made a hatband out of a rattlesnake we had to kill in the garage. Even the little rattler was attached.)
I feel about hunting the way I feel about owning guns: I see it as pointless and I'd never personally do it, but I'm not about to try to outlaw it. (Provided the animals aren't engandered, are humanely and legally hunted, used to feed an otherwise starving family, and are utilized down to the last bone and bit of fur, which hardly anybody does.) I guess I have a lot of criteria. Basically, be starving or an old-fashioned Native American, and then hunting seems fair.
Now about my oodles of cosmetics-- needless animal testing involved there? Maybe I can tackle that next summer.