I’ve had some interesting conversations and encounters lately with polar-opposite opinions. First, there are those who feel animal exploitation is right, proper, and moral. Arguing against these people is a no-win proposition. They are the type of people who disregard science and are incapable of empathy. It is impossible to convince these people that non-human animals are sentient, feel pain, and suffer. They are the ones who will come back with the argument, “how do you know plants don’t feel pain?” These people are incapable of logical, rational, discourse. In other words, to put it bluntly, they are idiots.
On the other hand, I’ve recently had encounters with a few people who feel my current animal-rights and food-consumption ideas are too lightweight, too forgiving of omnivores, and generally not hardcore enough – specifically regarding hunting, free-range meat, and lacto-ovo foods.
Concerning hunting, there are huge differences in levels of exploitation between different groups of hunters. I believe hunting has become (gasp!) a necessary part of ecosystem management here in the 21st century. Humans are crowding out natural habitat and have killed off many natural predators making it necessary to artificially control populations of animals such as deer. With that said, there are vast differences in hunters. I have great respect for those who soberly go into the wilderness, respectfully make their kill with as little pain as possible, and then use the meat to feed their family. However, drunken hunters, those on canned hunts, and, in general, those who don’t take the act of killing seriously have no business hunting.
I, as a lacto-ovo vegetarian and former vegan, sometimes feel a bit guilty about my lacto-ovo choice. Egg and milk production are nearly on par with meat production for the amount of suffering inflicted on the animals. Yes, I feel guilty about it. So, I buy “happy” milk and eggs whenever possible – free range and “cruelty-free”. I know such products really aren’t as “happy” as they are advertised to be, but it’s the least I can do. Gary L. Francione, author of the Animal rights: the Abolitionist Approach blog has written about the misleading nature of such products. I get eggs from a small local farm whenever possible, but have yet to find a small-time milk producer. Anybody know one in the TwinCities area of Minnesota? A recent Newsweek article quoted by Francione discusses recent vegetarians turned omnivore. Their conversion is, apparently, fueled by the influx of free-range meats on the market. The former vegetarians feel justified because their new meats are “friendlier”. The dirty is secret is that oftentimes the animals’ deaths still come in slaughterhouses. …not so happy or friendly. So, why am I lacto-ovo and not vegan? I’ll give the short-and-sweet answer which is that I have a genetic digestive disorder that makes it extremely difficult to obtain adequate nutrition from plant foods alone. I used to be vegan but had to change. We all have our personal reasons for our veg choices, so please respect mine.
I want to briefly discuss vegetarians who give us all a bad name by offering fuel to the anti-veg arguments. They are the unhealthy vegetarians, the ones who look stereotypically skinny or flabby – the ones who eventually become anti-vegetarian because vegetarianism caused serious health problems. As a vegetarian of any type (vegan, lacto-ovo, fruitarian, flex) you MUST educate yourself in health and nutrition. You MUST make wise eating choices based on sound nutritional principles, for yourself and for the entire vegetarian world. I remember hearing Henry Rollins a number of years ago disparage vegans for looking like cancer victims and thinking to myself “hmm…I’m vegan and I challenge you, Henry Rollins, to a powerlifting contest!” Don’t let yourself get out of shape – fat OR skinny! Being vegetarian doesn’t, somehow, make you exempt from exercise or proper nutrition.
Speaking of (im)proper nutrition – I know an entire family of uncompromising fruitarians. A fruitarian diet (raw-food vegan) can be extremely healthy if done properly. The entire family adopted the lifestyle after the mother tried it to alleviate some health problems. It worked. However, she took the fruitarian ideas to an illogical extreme by forcing the entire family to eat both fruitarian and low fat. Such a diet would be fantastic for an overweight adult, but it looks to be killing their teenage son. Once a healthy child, he has become skeletal in appearance and lethargic. It is painful to look at him – as though I am looking at something out of a horror movie. He must be sixteen by now, but doesn’t look a day over twelve…a sickly twelve. However, he has been indoctrinated into the fruitarian lifestyle and adamantly defends it. There is no doubt he WILL have health consequences – most likely hormonal, digestive, and musco-skeletal issues.
The big picture I’m trying to set forth here is that, in our veg lifestyles, we need to be rational and logical. After all, it is logical and rational thought that sets humans apart from the non-human animals we are trying to protect.
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