Compassion, Meat Labels, Letter to the Editor

A recent article came out about the meat label system at Whole Foods. I read it over Thanksgiving Break in the Bellingham Herald:

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2010/11/22/1735245/selling-standards-meat-labels.html

In response, I submitted this letter to the editor:

"The article on meat labels shows that animals suffer a great deal due to humans eating them as meat.

Over 9 billion animals are killed in the United States yearly for food. This haunting number is unimaginable, and clearly not “humane” or “compassionate.”

We know that animals suffer for meat, and by imposing new welfare models we are labeling their consumption as ethically feasible. Let’s not forget that no matter what law is enforced, farm animals will be killed, an act that truly cannot be “humane” (The synonym to “humane slaughter” is “compassionate massacre.”). If suffering truly bothers us, if the notion that animals are exploited under systemic oppression makes us question what’s for dinner, then there is only one solution: to end the consumption of all animal products.

Animal liberation will not occur overnight, just like the abolition, fight for gender equality, etc. But it is us, as American consumers, who have the power to end the demand for meat over the course of our lifetimes and future generations by simply buying the “highest rated” food: that which causes no animal suffering. Otherwise, animals will continue to suffer, no matter what color sticker is put on their slaughtered remains."

I wrote this under a fury of emotions, and now that I look back on it, I wonder how effective it is. To date, it has not been put in the paper (these things generally take a week, I submitted it two days ago), so I know of no response. Did I write in a way that people will be receptive? Were my goals too lofty to the point that people might disregard them? Was my language appropriate?

My main message had to be said: meat is not humane, therefore we should not consume meat. But I wonder if this letter will impact someone. I truly hope so!

Timing

When are moments opportune to discuss eating animal products?

Today, my roommate and I were casually chatting when she mentioned to me that she would be cooking meat tonight. Her reasons were thoughtful; she didn't want to disturb me and thought giving me a fair warning would be favorable. And for that, I respect her. But, did her telling me about her dinner plans provide an opportunity to talk to her about eating meat?

Taylor, this roommate, is a smart girl. She is an Environmental Studies major, has been a vegetarian in the past, and is savvy enough that she is receptive to new ideas. At times we'll joke about how "hippie" or "open-minded" we are due to the fact that we live in a cooperative house. Ultimately, she is a fantastic candidate of someone who would change their diet.

But when is it appropriate to bring this discussion up? I am more hesitant to discuss these matters with people I live with because I would detest tension in the house due to my beliefs and dietary choices.

For example, once I arrived home today my roommate, Adrian, was baking something. I kindly asked him what he was making, and he responded "Cookies. . . Sorry, there is butter in them. . ." Me asking automatically made him feel uncomfortable that he used dairy. I immediately joked about it, telling him that I could sense how uncomfortable he was and that I wouldn't get angry over his cookies (This doesn't sound like a joke, but I assure you, it was a livelier situation than my writing proves). Then my other roommate asked how the CARE meeting went, I described it in minor detail, leaving out the fact that an omnivore attended which proved to be slightly awkward.

When I look back on these situations, and many like these, I wonder if I am closing down the conversation by not digging into my thoughts more by questioning my roommates, or if they already sense where I am coming from and perhaps do not want to get into these conversations. Finding the right time, place, and people to discuss eating animals with can be difficult, especially when they are the ones that live with you. I have a fear of upsetting others, and I do not want to jeopardize my living situation by being known as the preachy vegan. Simultaneously, I find this personal notion problematic when I think of how uncomfortable animals are in comparison to my lavish life.

I think that I will try and push myself more to graciously conduct these talks in a kind manner. It seems like the compassionate thing to do.

Veg Culture

Let's discuss how I was raised. In some ways, I find that my childhood upbringing was unique: I was raised vegetarian. I have never sat down to a meal of meat, never eaten turkey on Thanksgiving, hot dogs on the 4th of July, a grilled burger on a summer day... And I am so thankful for that. Unlike most parents, my ethical mother gave me the choice when I was young "do you want to eat animals?" The question seemed silly, of course not! And to this day, I would never want to eat an animal.

So growing up, being vegetarian was a huge part of my familial culture. All of my meals were vegetarian and delicious. And because of this, being vegetarian is a huge part of how I identify myself.

In class and in life we discuss culture and how important meat can be in culture. We also learn of cultures all over the world that eat meat as a staple meal. These conversations can be very difficult for me because vegetarianism is my culture; it is not a question of culture versus ethics and what is more important. Why is vegetarianism overlooked as only ethics, when really it is just as much culture? Culture breeds ethics. Every time that I sit down for a meal, I don't analyze the ethics that go into or try and reproduce meat. Vegan meals are cultural and delicious.

I would like to see more conversations about culture levelled to this playing field. Just because I am vegan does not mean that I lack culture and am more focused on ethics. In contrast, the two are very tied together. Especially when I was growing up, vegetarian food was just normal. There is no question that I loved animals, but I didn't think about the ethics of my meal that often. It was, and is, my culture.

You are a veg?

Lately, I have met more people who are vegetarian. And interestingly enough, they are vegetarian/vegan for three different reasons - none of which have to do with animal welfare.

First there is my friend, the Economics major, who is vegetarian because it does not make sense economically to eat meat. The resources used to consume a certain amount of calories is trivial.

Then there is the rather random student who overheard my friend and I's conversation about C.A.R.E. He recently told me that he went vegan because he wanted to "try something new." And that's it. Now he loves the way he feels, inside and out. Especially how awake he is all the time.

Finally, there is my dear friend who is vegan solely based on health reasons. And she loves it.

Knowing that there are these many reasons to take meat out of one's diet is great! But it makes me so frusturated that faced with all these reasons, there is still so much resistance to a veg diet.

I'm not naive.

I find it somewhat disturbingly comical that because I am vegan, people believe that I am overly sensitive to death or blood. There have been numerous examples, often small, where someone will end a conversation or not tell me something about an animal being hurt because they think that I do not want to hear about it. That I don't know what bad things happen to animals. That I want to be naive almost. Yet, I do want to hear about ways that are animals are exploited. That is why I am vegan, I am quite aware of animals because I have gone through the effort to face the disturbing aspects of animal exploitation in the United States.

But friends, when I walk into a room please do stop your conversation about that cat your heard in the news somewhere far away who was starved by their owner, because there is no possible way that I could bear to know a fact like that after watching Earthlings, reading Animal to Edible or Eating Animals.

I know that animals get hurt. And I know far more than the average consumer of how humans hurt animals. It disturbs me and I despise this violence towards animals, but I become more numb to it. And to think that others might find me to be unwilling to discuss animal death frusturates me.

Silence at the Table

Tonight is my grandmother's 74th birthday. A total of 10 family members will come to my parent's house to celebrate. If all goes according to plan, we will eat, drink, be merry and my grandma will begin this new year with joy. My mom is currently cooking up a storm of vegan topping for tacos, which will be delicious. But, other family members are bringing taco meat. A part of me is somewhat fine with this; the omnivores of the O'Connor and Nesbit clan are expecting it. But after reading Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals, I'm not sure how joyous I will be observing most of my family consuming this taco meat. What animals are killed for taco meat anyway? I will probably be silent, not sharing my disgust at eating animals. And what will that accomplish? Will it be wrong of me to stay silent and allow reasonable people who I adore eat unreasonable food? How does that give justice to the eaten animal? Or is it wrong of me to voice what I know, make others feel uncomfortable, and put an obvious damper on the party spirit? I don't want to do either. I want to do both. I want to do what is right, but I'm not sure what that is.

It is difficult to know what is the better thing to do in the scheme of things. Hopefully I'll have a better handle of situations like this over the course of my lifetime.

Fear of Losing Passion

Lately, a few of my friends who were former vegetarians have decided to give up their animal-friendly diets to eat meat. These people were the same people that I could talk to about animal rights and agree that there is such a thing. These people cared about animals. But what happened?

The fear of losing passion towards animal rights, or even passion in general, frightens me. As the quarter draws to an end, I am nervous that my animal consciousness will slowly degrade. I am quite certain that I will stay vegan whenever possible (I am nervous about travelling and being vegan), but how long will I remain an active, academic vegan? Keeping up on current readings and participating in C.A.R.E. and Animal Studies?

Before this class, I was passionate about animal rights. But a part of me tended to brush it aside in order to not create any conflict. I am proud to be vegan during this class, and I sincerely hope that this pride and passion carries on. Choosing a vegan diet is one of the few things in my life that I feel makes an important impact.

I do believe that this class has sparked my passion towards animal rights even further, but experiencing people "giving up" on this ideal worries me. But in the present day, I am passionate about animals, and this is a good feeling that I will not let go off easily.

On the Defense

A few classes ago, we discussed how people become defensive when they find out that a friend or someone that they know is vegetarian or vegan. I have realized how true it is, and in the past few weeks I have been more and more aware of it with friends and the public alike.

Last Friday, I went to a concert and afterwards my friends and I went to Dicks in Queen Anne. Dicks is not known for being too vegan-friendly, but french fries fried in vegetable oil and ketchup are sold there, so I did not complain about going there. After ordering our meals and bringing them to a table, we sat down near two men around our age bashing vegetarians. Immediately, my hearing sense picked up and I avidly listened in to why vegetarians were so "stupid." The main reason why, according to these "enlightenend" men, was that vegetarians were always sick due to the fact that they were vegetarian. I was compelled to reach into the conversation and ask them about all those vegetarians out there who suffer from diabetes, obesity, clogged arteries, heart problems, etc. But I kept my cool, knowing that Dicks is not a vegan's mecca and that I should mind my own business.

Yet it did enrage me. Vegetarians and vegans face false banter like this all the time, and for what reason? Veggies make researched, ethical and compassionate decisions to refrain from eating meat, and these decisions are tough. We know what we are getting ourselves into and are, to a degree, educated about our food choices. I cannot speak for all vegetarians and vegans, but I can assume that something came up in their lives, be it an animal, shocking article about factory farms, or whatever, that forced them to think critically about what they eat. I cannot say the same for meat eaters since this diet's normalcy does not advocate as much ethical thinking in the way that vegetarian and vegan diets do.

But back to the point. My hunch about why people are defensive about eating meat is that they are intimated by vegetarians and vegans. Veggies have gone through the process, again, of critically thinking about their food and have altered their lifestyle for, what i believe, the greater good. Others must then be defensive because arguments for eating meat, in my opinion, are quite trivial in most experiences. It is a nuisance that veggies must live with, yet it can open a door for thoughtful conversation, or intense debates.

Liberal Communists

After reading Slavoj Zizeck's article Violence: Six Sideways Reflections, I was left part uninspired and part depressed. Today we live in a world of capitalism and globalization, which allows us to connect to the world on so many different levels. Some connections are unfortunate, such as spreading McDonalds to the entire world, while others are fortunate, like being able to communicate with anyone in the world to promote understanding. Another matter that has emerged from this ability to connect is the mass information of the atrocities in the world. Is it just me, or does it seem like anyone can access absolutely any and all problems of any matter? I am overwhelmed by the atrocities of the world daily! And I do not think that I am alone.

This is where the "liberal communist" comes in. In my eyes, the "liberal communist" is the one born into a privileged life, has a good job, and knows of the problems of the world. What makes them different from a money mogul is that they are sensitive and want to help. They are empowered and know that they should make a difference. I see how with great power comes great responsibility, and I think that these "liberal communists" do their best to make honest decisions about helping the world out. How dare Zizeck advise them to commit suicide! If these people died, would his belief that waiting would make things better? Or would greedy capitalism take over? Everyone would consume meat because they would just "wait" for who knows to have the problem of animal cruelty to be solved. "Liberal communists" are a powerful force, and a benevolent force to be aware of.

It is all around us!

This weekend I took a trip to Portland. Like Seattle, Portland is quite vegan and vegetarian conscious, with a plethora of restaurants, grocery stores and even tatoo parlors to accomodate a cruelty-free lifestyle. As wonderful as this all appears, I could not help but open my mind to see how animals are so integrated into our lifestyles.

On the train ride down, I sat in a leather seat.

I bought a shirt, thinking that it was acrylic, when in reality it is made of silk.

The toothpaste that my friend uses was tested on animals at one point.

Fish sauce is heavily used in Thai food, even though a tofu dish without egg is "vegan."

It is incredible and daunting to see these everyday catastrophes. Especially amongst people who do not care, who practically choose to be naive. I do not blame them, what I have learned is terrible. Maybe sane people do not seek how they live their lives unethically? I do oppose this question, but it is troubling to try and live a cruelty-free life when animals are integral to our lives, and not many people are aware.

PeTA

PETA. When I hear the term, read the name, or think about this group, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, I generally do not have a huge issue with them. Yet after watching "I Am an Animal" and hearing the opinions of my fellow classmates, I can't help but be more intrigued with PETA, its ethics, and how animal rights activists are portrayed because of PETA.

To be honest, I am torn between my advocacy for PETA. Sometimes, I think that they do such ridiculous, crazy stunts that I lose respect. Dressing up as dead fish coiled up on the street, throwing fake blood at fur, showing graphic commercials on TV that exploit women... But then I think about what they are trying to do, what they are trying to show: that animals suffer. Animals suffer every moment of every day at the expense of humans, and this is cruel. If I knew that by smearing fake blood on the display case of a store that sells fur could save 100s or even 1,000s of animals lives, why wouldn't I? Wouldn't it be unethical to not do something so outlandish if it could save a being's life? Sure, people do think that these PETA freaks are insane and maybe even violent. But aren't the ones slaughtering animals, injecting poison into monkeys, and beating elephants the real "lunatics" that we should actually be angry about?

PETA has managed to practically turn the tables around, making the animal rights activists look like the "bad guys" in the animal liberation movement. This should not be the case. How I see it is that Malcolm X is to Martin Luther King as Ingrid Newkirk is to the non existent peace figure at the head of animal rights. But until that mainstream Martin Luther King comes around, Newkirk's company PETA is the major fighting force in animal rights! Their means can be ridiculous, rude, volatile, and maybe even insane, but they get stuff done. Not much press would be released if Newkirk sent letters to companies to not use fur, or if she tabled outside of McDonalds, or she held a vegan bake sale for a farm sanctuary. Because of this press, Newkirk creates change that is ethical and justified. It is unfortunate that she and her co-workers must go to such lengths to get heard, but if that is what it takes to save the life of even one animal, than power to them!

When Elephants Weep

I just finished the reading for January 19, which consisted of texts on animals and their feelings. While for the most part the readings focused on how animals do have feelings like humans, I still couldn't help but feel annoyed that people would even believe the contrary.

It seems incredibly obvious to me how full of emotions and personality animals are! It is no surprise that animals in the wild survive off of fear, intelligence, and loyalty to their fellow animals. Domestic animals live with humans and exhibit emotions that are similar to that of their family's. It honestly bewilders me that scientists can believe that animals have no feelings while still experiencing their pain and suffering.

What trouly touched me from the articles was the part on Alex, the communicative parrot, in When Elephants Weep. Alex is able to communicate his feelings and a number of other words in the english language. This parrot can express himself to the point that he can apologize and (seemingly) be remorseful. The fact that this parrot can express himself so well in a language other than his own is truly remarkable to me.

First Thoughts

After two weeks of classes in CHID480a, my mind has become much more sensitive to the way that I view animals and my interactions, or lack of interactions, with them.

My entire life I have been aware of animals and animal rights. I was lucky enough that as a child my vegetarian mother asked me if I would like to eat animals or not. Based on intuition, I automically knew at a young age that something felt wrong with eating animals, so I never have partaked in the consumption of meat. As I grew older, I would read my mom's PETA magazing lieing around the house. Horrified by the images covered in the pages of these magazines, my passion for animal rights sparked.

Since then, I have always had a certain connection to animals most likely based on my compassion for them. Growing up with a dog, Bobo, allowed me to appreciate how alive and similar animals are to humans. When Bobo passed away, I was utterly devestated. Moreso than I have ever felt over a human death.

Today as a 19-year-old vegan, I put effort into living a cruelty-free existence. This class continues to make me even more aware and critical of animal suffering, and has compelled me to be more passionate about animals. I have become more sensitive to the consumption of animals as food in daily life, and I have felt more compelled each day to actively participate in animal rights.