Resolve to Go Vegan in 2008

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Resolve to Go Vegan in 2008

Submitted by Chia on Sat, 01/05/2008 - 3:35am.

From the Action For Animals newsletter:

Vegans take personal responsibility for making the world a better place by giving up meat, dairy products, eggs, and other animal-derived items. By doing so they don't contribute to the needless suffering of animals.

Living a vegan lifestyle is one of the best things you can do to help animals. On average a person switching from the standard American diet to a vegan diet will prevent the abuse and killing of over 100 animals per year.

If you are not already vegan please resolve to cut all meat, egg and dairy products out of your diet. If you don’t feel you can go vegan “cold turkey,” resolve to reduce your animal product consumption by a set amount every week, until you are completely vegan. Please also resolve to stop buying all leather, wool, and down and any household and personal care products that have been tested on animals. Products and clothing you already own could be used up or worn out, no need to toss out these items. Remember as far as the animals are concerned – future choices are what matter.

If you would like more information on why and how to become vegan please request a free vegan starter pack from AFA at
Action For Animals Vegan Starter Kit

Please also listen to the Veganism in a Nutshell audio for great information and motivation:
Mercy For Animals Kit

PETA:
Veg Kit from PeTA

Compassion Over Killing:
Veg Kit from Compassion over Killing

These vegetarian starter kits are also available in PDF format at:
PDF Kit

For a list of companies that do NOT test on animals please see:
Cruelty-Free Companies Link
If a company is not listed assume they test on animals.

Here are some more ideas from our friends at Compassion Over Killing:
Compassion Over Killing Link

Thank you for taking personal responsibility!

If not you, who? If not now, when?

Chia's blog
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The only problem I see

Submitted by Rob Richards on Sat, 01/05/2008 - 11:24am.

is that it's not a healthy choice for me. Based on the reading I've done about my body type, giving up meat would not be good for me. I think that it's important to keep in mind personal health, I know people who tried being vegan and got sick and had to revert back.

I do support people being vegan though, and I hope I'm not hijacking your thread by mentioning this. Veganism, when it works for you is an amazing way to reduce your footprint on the Earth.

Don't tell me

Submitted by Guglielmo on Sat, 01/05/2008 - 11:46am.

you've bought into that blood-type nonsense Rob.

Yeah, I'm type O

Submitted by Chia on Sat, 01/05/2008 - 1:11pm.

and am healthier on a vegan diet than I've ever been on animal flesh. That male author is making a lot of money telling people they really don't have to change despite what dieticians and environmentalists are saying (see below). I don't buy that protein has to equal animals at all. The meat and dairy industries are very powerful and bring a lot of resistanct to the acceptance of what the nutrition experts, the American Dietetic Association, are saying:

"It is the position of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada that appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases."
ADA Position Paper on Vegetarian Diets.

I certainly think that people can be unhealthy on a vegan diet, if not well-planned but, if you look at the evidence in that research, and at our culture as well as research being done in the EU comparing people on veg diets to flesh based diets...eating a meat-based diet is not healthy for either the planet or our bodies. It also normalizes unnecessary suffering in the voiceless, and at very young ages, when I feel we should be developing a greater capacity for compassion in children, instead.

I think that if people who've felt unwell on a vegan diet had worked with a dietician who is enlightened and enthused about the information above, that their experiences would be different. We just aren't used to planning meals without animal protein but with practice, it can be done very easily.

And, as Carol Adams points out in The Sexual Politics of Meat, men are conditioned to think that they "need" meat to be healthy. It's the masculine way of eating. Which brings us back to the topic of gender and preservation of oppressor's privilege. See links below:
The Sexual Politics of Meat Slide Show.

The Sexual Politics of Meat.

---------
Nonviolence Includes Animals:
audio
"PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk's address to the International Nonviolence Conference in Bethlehem"

thanks

Submitted by Rob Richards on Sat, 01/05/2008 - 4:15pm.

I'm an O-negative and it's good to hear your take on it. I'm seeking out a job that offers health benefits and then I'm going to find a naturopath and get help formulating a diet. I'm not sure I really want to be a vegetarian, I'll have t weigh it carefully.

Where do you get your proteins from, in place of meat? I do eat a lot of alternatives now, like tempeh and tofu, but have read a lot of scary stuff about soy. There was an article in Mother Jones not long ago that broke down the risks involved with each soy product. I'm definitely seeking to balance my diet, especially as I approach my 30th year in 6 months.

That article sounds

Submitted by Chia on Sat, 01/05/2008 - 5:14pm.

That article sounds interesting...guess I missed it!

Thanks for asking, and I get proteins from whole grains, nuts, beans, and yes, soy :) Almost all plant foods have some protein in them.

Here's a bit about protein and there's more in the ADA paper posted elsewhere in this thread: PCRM on Protein

Thank you for your open communications...it's been very encouraging to chat with you about this. Best of luck with the health insurance and with your decision.

---------
Nonviolence Includes Animals:
audio
"PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk's address to the International Nonviolence Conference in Bethlehem"

oh,

Submitted by Rob Richards on Sat, 01/05/2008 - 5:23pm.

One thing, dietarily, that I've been looking into is a limited distance diet. For instance, I've been thinking about starting at 2,000 miles and shrinking it as I learn more about local food networks, the goal being to have somewhere around a 200 mile -or smaller if possible- diet. The idea is that the less travel your food does the better it's going to be for you.

I think that's a great idea

Submitted by Chia on Sat, 01/05/2008 - 6:08pm.

I think that's a great idea and also that it sort of depends on where you live. Some people live next door to factory farms, you know? So I prefer to eat something healthy and non-violent even if it's shipped from elsewhere if I can't find something similar from a local source.

Also, its important to keep in mind that farming animals generally takes a lot more petroleum and water and causes more pollution than growing plants. For one thing, you've often got the investment in the plants which are then fed to the animal.

I like the idea of eating regional foods but my priority is wholistic nonviolence and healthfulness so that a vegan diet fills the bill nicely :)

I'd like to hear more about how this goes for you, if you don't mind, because although I know the general premise behind the local diet, I haven't read a lot about it.

---------
Nonviolence Includes Animals:
audio
"PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk's address to the International Nonviolence Conference in Bethlehem"

I'll definitely post updates

Submitted by Rob Richards on Sat, 01/05/2008 - 6:29pm.

For me it's all about looking upstream AND downstream, as Dr. David Orr would say. So even though there are Tyson chicken farms in Rochester, I'm not eating their meat because I know the feed that feeds them contains things I don't want in my body and also comes from far away. My motivation for this is twofold; I think it's possible that having a localized diet may become a necessity in the future, so not only is it a health choice, but it may turn out to be practical.

well,

Submitted by Rob Richards on Sat, 01/05/2008 - 4:10pm.

if I had, I'd sure feel alienated by your comment, Gug.

Thank you for your feedback...

Submitted by Chia on Sat, 01/05/2008 - 1:16pm.

I hear that from a lot of people, usually from men and/or people with investment in animal agriculture, actually (see comment below). Would you consider trying again with the help of a dietician who is enthused about vegetarian diets? I had the help of a dietician when I made the transition to vegetarianism, after all, and I think that it's a great way to get the assurance one needs while making changes to a lifestyle that is so engrained into our cultural makeup.

---------
Nonviolence Includes Animals:
audio
"PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk's address to the International Nonviolence Conference in Bethlehem"

Get real

Submitted by CIAGuy on Sat, 01/05/2008 - 12:54pm.

“Whether you uproot a carrot and bite into it, or slaughter a deer and cut it into steaks,” Martin Picard writes, “it should be remembered that each effort to procure food is inherently tinged with violence: it is the passage from life to death, and back again towards life.” From The New Yorker. "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants." Michael Pollan.

King Corn

Submitted by jlw on Sat, 01/05/2008 - 1:31pm.

I saw King Corn last night, and it was certainly a powerful argument against eating corn-fed beef. Those poor animals! They are raised under inhumane conditions in order to produce cheap, fatty meat that is contributing to a huge obesity epidemic in the U.S. (The film also ruined my appetite for soda, which is now sweetened with high fructose corn syrup.)

Is there really anything wrong with keeping chickens and eating their eggs, though? I think my chickens are happy.

This world's crazy, give me the gun. -- P.J. Harvey

Hi Janet!

Submitted by Chia on Sat, 01/05/2008 - 1:42pm.

Thank you for the comment. I had wondered a bit about King Corn when it was advertised at the OFS and, thanks to you, I know a bit more about it. The animals, our health, and the planet suffer dearly for the sake of our dietary habits.

I waver on the question about the eggs and I don't feel qualified to give an opinion on what your chickens might be experiencing because I don't know! I believe that you care about them and raise them in humane conditions and I think that's so important and appreciate that so much :)

I do have concern about what happens to them when they stop laying...are they considered meat or are they put into the chicken equivalent of a retirement lifestyle?

---------
Nonviolence Includes Animals:
audio
"PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk's address to the International Nonviolence Conference in Bethlehem"

Never!

Submitted by jlw on Sun, 01/06/2008 - 5:32pm.

I realize it's quite hypocritical of me to be willing to eat dead animals I've never met, but completely unwilling to eat my pet hens. The difference is, I do have ethical qualms about eating meat, and have practiced vegetarianism at times, and may choose to do so again. I don't, however, have ethical qualms about keeping chickens. I think we have a pretty good deal: I feed and protect them, and they give me eggs. I think they are happy. I used to let them roam the backyard, but they kept ranging into the neighbors' yards, and the neighbors complained. So now I keep them penned in a chicken tractor. But I think they have a good life, and I will never eat them, regardless of whether they stop laying or not. Most people I know in Oly who keep chickens lose them to predators before that ever happens, anyway.

This world's crazy, give me the gun. -- P.J. Harvey

Weird question

Submitted by Norm on Sat, 01/05/2008 - 1:44pm.

I have several friends who are vegan/vegetarian. They are great people, and I've talked with most of them about their lifestyle choice on this subject. So Chia, here's my question: Do you find yourself uncomfortable/offended/whatever when you are with a friend who does eat meat? I grew up in a hunting family, and veganism is really not an option I even wish to pursue. Any input? Suggestions? Personal experience on the subject? I'm afraid my friends may not give me an honest answer because of hurt feelings and such.

Hi Norm!

Submitted by Chia on Sat, 01/05/2008 - 5:26pm.

That's a great question and here is my very frank response. I have a lot of difficulty being in environments where people are eating meat because I'm distressed with the knowledge of what the animal went through before getting to the plate and with the knowledge that it's nutritionally unnecessary for humans to eat animals. I avoid eating with people who aren't willing to share a vegetarian meal and wince when I go by grocer's freezer cases packed with animal corpses. They were sentient beings with a desire for self-determination just like you and me and then they are slaughtered and turned into food objects. I find it very depressing and frustrating to sit down to a meal with people who are eating meat, to be honest.

I don't see it as a lifestyle choice so much as a violence issue and I think that oppressor's privilege should be challenged whenever possible, regardless of who is being oppressed.

---------
Nonviolence Includes Animals:
audio
"PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk's address to the International Nonviolence Conference in Bethlehem"

Thank you for that honest response

Submitted by Norm on Sat, 01/05/2008 - 5:39pm.

It's a little depressing, but honesty is still best I think. Thanks for taking the time to answer :)

Not ready to go vegan yet

Submitted by Mike on Sat, 01/05/2008 - 4:30pm.

but as the years go by I am eating less and less meat. I just can't eat some things anymore like shrimp because I can really still see them as living things. Small chunks of meat that are stir fried or cooked with beans don't like a cow the way a shrimp looks like an animal that I recognize. But I still know the meat in the diet is based on the really crummy way that humans treat other beings and that is leaving an increasingly bad taste in my mouth if I am consuming meat.

I think I may eventually give up meat. I seem to be headed that way. I am pretty fond of eggs, cheese and milk and feel somewhat better about these items since they don't require the death of an animal, merely subjugation. When all the meat is out of my diet, I think the subjugation of animals for cheese, eggs and milk will start to bother me more.

Thank you for sharing your

Submitted by Chia on Sat, 01/05/2008 - 5:17pm.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and for being so open to change! My transition was very much as you describe and I think you're right that many people tend to take it in stages.

---------
Nonviolence Includes Animals:
audio
"PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk's address to the International Nonviolence Conference in Bethlehem"

Maybe if we called it flesh instead of meat

Submitted by Mike on Sat, 01/05/2008 - 9:23pm.

Maybe if we called it flesh instead of meat there would be more recognition about the realities of killing and devouring other beings.

Glad you are here with your perspective, Chia.

Namaste,

Mike

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