in which I write a novel-length commentdyskodykeDecember 11 2008, 04:40:34 UTC
Yeah, I know flexi really is the same thing as omni, but I kind of wanted to distinguish (just for curiosity's sake) between ppl who eat meat rarely vs regularly. I guess b/c I grew up in a house where we basically had meat for dinner every night, and now I can go weeks without eating it, and to me that's a big diet change.
I know some veg*ns are upset about the flexi title, but I'd always gotten the idea it was more b/c they saw omni's as still being lazy and eating meat but trying to gain some kind of coolness/label factor. I had no idea about the Trader Joe's thing (sadly, I've never lived in a city that had one) -- I was actually under the impression that more flexi ppl were the cause of more mainstream places offering veg options, since more ppl were now interested in exploring non-meat meals. Of course, my cut in meat consumption has only been going on for a few years, and it's only in the last year or so that I've started cooking almost exclusively veg and using faux meat (and other soy products) so I don't really know if their availability has changed much semi-recently or not.
All of which is to say: that sucks that places are becoming LESS veg-friendly in this already pretty veg-unfriendly country. I feel bad for veg*ns who don't live in big and/or veg-friendly cities -- like here, for example. There are hardly ANY veg options if you want to eat out/eat pre-made. And while being forced to cook more isn't necessarily a bad thing, sometimes I just wanna be lazy and still not eat meat, y'know? (I'm sure you do.)
Re: in which I write a novel-length commentanonymousblackDecember 11 2008, 19:39:18 UTC
I was actually under the impression that more flexi ppl were the cause of more mainstream places offering veg options
it's actually hard to say if i'm seeing a trend or if TJs is just going to shit (also a possibility.) i'll spare you from my meat industry conspiracy theories, just noting that it's much easier and to walk to your nearest mcdonald's and pay around a dollar for something with meat in it than it is to track down an equivalent vegetarian option (really, considering the resources that go into making a hamburger, it should be the other way around), so someone is definitely turning a bigger profit on the meat, and therefore that industry surely doesn't want that whole veg*n thing to get out of control. ya know, by enveloping more than 3% of the population.
what's happening is that venues that were strictly vegetarian are shifting to meat-lite in order to stay competitive in the marketplace. okay, but, you know, flexitarians don't only have the vegetarian grocery to shop at, they can head over to the mainstream grocer selling free range meats at the butcher counter, too--they're flexible, that way. so why can't the veg types have their own stores? the article i reference below mentions what's been happening with vegetarian times, which does, actually, piss me off.
i'm going to follow with a copy paste of an email i wrote to ben a few weeks ago. it was my immediate reaction to the article linked to below, so if i sound harsh (i don't sound too harsh, i think) it's because it was my immediate reaction.
no, i don't think it's a bad thing as a movement - if the vast majority of americans scale back *significantly* on meat, we'll see some of the same environmental improvements we would if a larger percentage went vegetarian.
i have a few friends, generally older, whose bodies need iron and proteins specifically from meat sources or who've developed allergies to soy and/or wheat who had to switch back, sometimes after decades of vegetarianism, too, which is another matter. if we look at vegetarianism as a form of social activism, it's the responsibility of those who are able to be vegetarians - not those for whom such dietary changes would be dangerous. and anyway, no one i know who was a vegetarian for 20 years is chowing down on red meat four times a day, that i know of at least.
still.
is this mindset going to lead to a vast majority of americans scaling back *significantly* on meat, or is it just going to make a bunch of people shift to occasional veg meals with a growing emphasis on "guilt free" freerange meats, thus pushing the freerange market as hard as the organic market has been pushed in the last few years - until freerange meat becomes too labor intensive and expensive to meet demand and we start seeing greedy corperate "reinterpretations" of freerange regulations?
tyson GENTLY anal-electricuted cattle, anyone? $3 a pound at wal-mart!
i think this mentality could be used as an enabling device for people who otherwise would have the discipline to go vegetarian - maybe even vegan - to keep meat in their diet. and as i said above, i see a lot of potential for the dietary approximation of greenwashing, too - someone having a heavily processed veggie burger in four layers of non-biodegradable packaging once a week so big business will proudly pronounce them an Almost Vegetarian, letting them feel like they are making any kind of difference in their health, animal rights, or the ecology.
AND, okay, one of the only fucking mainstream magazines to exclusively print vegetarian recipes has to focus "less on activism and more on recipes with broader appeal" in order to stay competitive in this mindset. yo, global crisis, anybody? and we're scaling BACK on awareness efforts?! how is this improving the options for vegetarians at all? isn't this a step backward?
obviously, i'm on more the activism end of things, which i never thought would be the case. humans were made to be omnivores, gatherers AND hunters, but the way the industry operates isn't fair to anyone involved, man or beast. so i'd probably be a flexi, too, if i weren't so unhappy about the state of america and food.
I know some veg*ns are upset about the flexi title, but I'd always gotten the idea it was more b/c they saw omni's as still being lazy and eating meat but trying to gain some kind of coolness/label factor. I had no idea about the Trader Joe's thing (sadly, I've never lived in a city that had one) -- I was actually under the impression that more flexi ppl were the cause of more mainstream places offering veg options, since more ppl were now interested in exploring non-meat meals. Of course, my cut in meat consumption has only been going on for a few years, and it's only in the last year or so that I've started cooking almost exclusively veg and using faux meat (and other soy products) so I don't really know if their availability has changed much semi-recently or not.
All of which is to say: that sucks that places are becoming LESS veg-friendly in this already pretty veg-unfriendly country. I feel bad for veg*ns who don't live in big and/or veg-friendly cities -- like here, for example. There are hardly ANY veg options if you want to eat out/eat pre-made. And while being forced to cook more isn't necessarily a bad thing, sometimes I just wanna be lazy and still not eat meat, y'know? (I'm sure you do.)
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it's actually hard to say if i'm seeing a trend or if TJs is just going to shit (also a possibility.) i'll spare you from my meat industry conspiracy theories, just noting that it's much easier and to walk to your nearest mcdonald's and pay around a dollar for something with meat in it than it is to track down an equivalent vegetarian option (really, considering the resources that go into making a hamburger, it should be the other way around), so someone is definitely turning a bigger profit on the meat, and therefore that industry surely doesn't want that whole veg*n thing to get out of control. ya know, by enveloping more than 3% of the population.
what's happening is that venues that were strictly vegetarian are shifting to meat-lite in order to stay competitive in the marketplace. okay, but, you know, flexitarians don't only have the vegetarian grocery to shop at, they can head over to the mainstream grocer selling free range meats at the butcher counter, too--they're flexible, that way. so why can't the veg types have their own stores? the article i reference below mentions what's been happening with vegetarian times, which does, actually, piss me off.
i'm going to follow with a copy paste of an email i wrote to ben a few weeks ago. it was my immediate reaction to the article linked to below, so if i sound harsh (i don't sound too harsh, i think) it's because it was my immediate reaction.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4541605/
no, i don't think it's a bad thing as a movement - if the vast majority of americans scale back *significantly* on meat, we'll see some of the same environmental improvements we would if a larger percentage went vegetarian.
i have a few friends, generally older, whose bodies need iron and proteins specifically from meat sources or who've developed allergies to soy and/or wheat who had to switch back, sometimes after decades of vegetarianism, too, which is another matter. if we look at vegetarianism as a form of social activism, it's the responsibility of those who are able to be vegetarians - not those for whom such dietary changes would be dangerous. and anyway, no one i know who was a vegetarian for 20 years is chowing down on red meat four times a day, that i know of at least.
still.
is this mindset going to lead to a vast majority of americans scaling back *significantly* on meat, or is it just going to make a bunch of people shift to occasional veg meals with a growing emphasis on "guilt free" freerange meats, thus pushing the freerange market as hard as the organic market has been pushed in the last few years - until freerange meat becomes too labor intensive and expensive to meet demand and we start seeing greedy corperate "reinterpretations" of freerange regulations?
tyson GENTLY anal-electricuted cattle, anyone? $3 a pound at wal-mart!
i think this mentality could be used as an enabling device for people who otherwise would have the discipline to go vegetarian - maybe even vegan - to keep meat in their diet. and as i said above, i see a lot of potential for the dietary approximation of greenwashing, too - someone having a heavily processed veggie burger in four layers of non-biodegradable packaging once a week so big business will proudly pronounce them an Almost Vegetarian, letting them feel like they are making any kind of difference in their health, animal rights, or the ecology.
AND, okay, one of the only fucking mainstream magazines to exclusively print vegetarian recipes has to focus "less on activism and more on recipes with broader appeal" in order to stay competitive in this mindset. yo, global crisis, anybody? and we're scaling BACK on awareness efforts?! how is this improving the options for vegetarians at all? isn't this a step backward?
obviously, i'm on more the activism end of things, which i never thought would be the case. humans were made to be omnivores, gatherers AND hunters, but the way the industry operates isn't fair to anyone involved, man or beast. so i'd probably be a flexi, too, if i weren't so unhappy about the state of america and food.
Reply
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