Heroes and Villains

Natalie Angier: Unvegan Hero

December 23rd, 2009 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit Comment
unvegan talking plant

Don't eat meeee...

In an article in the New York Times, Natalie Angier has challenged some of the basic principles that vegetarians like to cling to.  Namely, that plants are a gift to humanity to be eaten, while animals don’t want to be eaten.  She is hardly the first person to tell the world about this, but doing it in the New York Times certainly helps it reach more people than the average plant research paper.

The truth is that no living thing wants to die, which means they certainly don’t want to be eaten.  One easy way you can prove that plants don’t want to be eaten is by how bad they taste.  No, seriously, they are gross, but there’s more.  Just because they are stuck in the ground, doesn’t mean they are waiting to be eaten.  In fact, according to Monika Hilker of the Institute of Biology at the Free University of Berlin, “…[plants] respond to tactile cues, they recognize different wavelengths of light, they listen to chemical signals, they can even talk [with chemical signals]…”

These plants are constantly battling insects with chemical reactions.  Make no mistake, these plants want only to live and Angier has helped show people these truths.  Of course, the average vegan will ignore articles like this, but no living thing, be it plant or animal, wants to be a meal.  To eat, something must die.

For helping share this information with the world, Natalie Angier, you are a true Unvegan Hero!

(via New York Times)


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Unvegan Top 20 for 2011

‘Tis the season for “Best of the Year” lists, so I thought I would join the party and put in my top 20 new restaurants from 2011.  By the way, this means the restaurants were new to me, not new to LA.  Please note that I am only including meals in the Los Angeles area.  As much as I loved the food on my travels, you can check any of those places out pretty quickly by clicking here.  So, without further caveat, here’s the best that 2011 had to offer for the unvegan:

20.  Cobras and Matadors

This tapas place in Mid-City is everything tapas should be.  From bacon-wrapped dates to a variety of cheeses, there is really something for anyone looking for a delicious meal.  Just beware, while tapas can be kept to a moderate price, when you throw a big group in with small plates, there are bound to be some people who don’t get their money’s worth.  But keep the group small and Cobras and Matadors will send you home full and happy.

19.  Steingarten

Dishing out delicious sausages, including a few of the exotic variety, Steingarten also offers up a pretty stellar beer selection.  If you’ve ever wanted to eat alligator in sausage form, Steingarten won’t disappoint, but they also serve a wider range of foods, including some pretty delicious burgers.  Their sausage execution, though, could use a bit of improvement, which pushed another sausage joint further up on the list. Continue Reading»