On the subject of delicious food and personal ethics
In August, I decided to make my life more difficult and stop eating any eggs or dairy products that weren't from humanely-treated animals. When I first set out, this meant only eating free-range eggs (as "cage free" didn't really much much in terms of welfare), and only eat dairy products from cows that were "certified" as humanely treated.
This wasn't easy. Most certified dairy products weren't available around here, and while eggs were easy to come by, you start to miss butter and cheese when you've eaten them all your life. This also meant that going out to eat would now be a largely vegan experience, as very few restaurants make a point of using only specific brands of dairy.
I discovered several months later organic products, including both eggs and dairy, had some humane treatment elements "built in" to the organic standard - to be called organic, food-producing cows and chickens must have some more freedoms than you'd normally find at most farms or production facilities. With a mixture of 90% "the standard is good enough" and 10% "just glad to have more options", I started eating organic dairy as well, and all of a sudden could find almost any product I was looking for, even if going out to eat was still a mostly vegan affair.
While I'm not having second thoughts about my decision, I've started facing some realities that make me wonder if I need to be as strict as I am. For example, I'm having a party this weekend and want to order pizza (as making enough pizza for everyone would be too much work for me). This pizza, of course, won't have organic cheese.
On one hand, this doesn't bother me because I'm not eating it. On the other much larger, more prominent hand, I don't have a problem eating dairy, just supporting abusive producers. It's not like meat where I have strong ethical issues with the consumption - it's all about purchasing.
What all this means is that I likely won't buy pizzas for the party - I'll find something else to feed the masses (unless someone knows a pizza parlor that lets you bring in your own cheese). But this line of thinking has opened up another:
Do I eat free food?
Again, I won't eat any meat, for a host of other reasons. But if there's a pie or a pizza that someone else has already bought and paid for, I'm certainly not supporting any abusive producers myself. Unless my eating it forces another to be bought, there's no new harm, as far as I can tell.
I've run into other similar quandaries - if I pay for a buffet dinner, should I not eat the dairy products, since they likely came from non-certified or non-organic producers? Should I not go to any buffets (or restaurants) that serve dairy at all, since I'm supporting the company/purchasers anyway? Or should I just do my best, but when the food is available, eat it anyway?
I'm still conflicted.
I'm the type of person that goes all out when something is important to me - mostly because it's important and I don't want to be a hypocrite, but also partially because I know that if I don't go all out, it's easier for me to slip back. The guilt I'm having about eating free foods (or buffet foods) stems mostly from this - is this step one toward not caring anymore? Is my protest of not eating as effective as actually not being the purchaser? Have I microinvestigated the subject to a point where I don't want to breathe, for fear of killing some microbes?
I hope not.
For now, I'm still not eating any dairy if I don't know where it came from. But when a pie shows up at my party this weekend and it comes down to having a piece made with factory farm dairy or throwing the whole thing away, I don't think my choice will be that hard anymore.
This wasn't easy. Most certified dairy products weren't available around here, and while eggs were easy to come by, you start to miss butter and cheese when you've eaten them all your life. This also meant that going out to eat would now be a largely vegan experience, as very few restaurants make a point of using only specific brands of dairy.
I discovered several months later organic products, including both eggs and dairy, had some humane treatment elements "built in" to the organic standard - to be called organic, food-producing cows and chickens must have some more freedoms than you'd normally find at most farms or production facilities. With a mixture of 90% "the standard is good enough" and 10% "just glad to have more options", I started eating organic dairy as well, and all of a sudden could find almost any product I was looking for, even if going out to eat was still a mostly vegan affair.
While I'm not having second thoughts about my decision, I've started facing some realities that make me wonder if I need to be as strict as I am. For example, I'm having a party this weekend and want to order pizza (as making enough pizza for everyone would be too much work for me). This pizza, of course, won't have organic cheese.
On one hand, this doesn't bother me because I'm not eating it. On the other much larger, more prominent hand, I don't have a problem eating dairy, just supporting abusive producers. It's not like meat where I have strong ethical issues with the consumption - it's all about purchasing.
What all this means is that I likely won't buy pizzas for the party - I'll find something else to feed the masses (unless someone knows a pizza parlor that lets you bring in your own cheese). But this line of thinking has opened up another:
Do I eat free food?
Again, I won't eat any meat, for a host of other reasons. But if there's a pie or a pizza that someone else has already bought and paid for, I'm certainly not supporting any abusive producers myself. Unless my eating it forces another to be bought, there's no new harm, as far as I can tell.
I've run into other similar quandaries - if I pay for a buffet dinner, should I not eat the dairy products, since they likely came from non-certified or non-organic producers? Should I not go to any buffets (or restaurants) that serve dairy at all, since I'm supporting the company/purchasers anyway? Or should I just do my best, but when the food is available, eat it anyway?
I'm still conflicted.
I'm the type of person that goes all out when something is important to me - mostly because it's important and I don't want to be a hypocrite, but also partially because I know that if I don't go all out, it's easier for me to slip back. The guilt I'm having about eating free foods (or buffet foods) stems mostly from this - is this step one toward not caring anymore? Is my protest of not eating as effective as actually not being the purchaser? Have I microinvestigated the subject to a point where I don't want to breathe, for fear of killing some microbes?
I hope not.
For now, I'm still not eating any dairy if I don't know where it came from. But when a pie shows up at my party this weekend and it comes down to having a piece made with factory farm dairy or throwing the whole thing away, I don't think my choice will be that hard anymore.