Well then you’re probably failing. No offense. It really isn’t your fault. It’s not because you’re not trying. It’s just that it’s so hard to avoid eating animal products that even “vegan” restaurants can’t avoid them. Wondering why that vegan taco tasted so good? That was probably because it contained casein, which comes from cows. Curious how chicken made from tofu could actually taste decent? Well, that’s probably because it had a decent amount of egg in it. For more info, check out the full article here.
Thanks to Jeff for the tip.
(via quarrygirl.com)
I am a Vegan and I read this article. I do find it to be disturbing and this will make me more cautious of meals I eat at restaurants. However, the essence of being a vegan is doing whatever is in your power and capability to limit the suffering of animals. As I cook meals at home 6/7 days of the week at least, I know what I am eating and the food still tastes great. I buy my tofu from a local manufacturer (Soy Boy) at a Co-op Marketplace. I buy fresh fruits and bulk grains from this store as well.
I think that people who choose to eat meat like to criticize lifestyle choices that they don’t understand and some may even feel threatened by a “new” diet that has a “liberal-extremist” agenda. There is a push in Germany and Belgium to cut meat out of meals at least one day a week. There is countless research that suggests consumption of red meat elevates cholesterol, risk for heart attack and cancer. The Vegan/Vegetarian diet is about health and well-being for all; the earth, animals, other people and the individual who chooses the diet. I think that people who take their Vegan diet seriously are well aware of cross contamination. Any time I eat something with milk in it, I can tell and it tastes funky to me. The need for human beings to consume milk is one of the biggest lies facing vegans. Over 80% of the world is lactose intolerant, and countless more children are being diagnosed with diary allergies every year. It is perfectly possible to obtain all the calcium you need without taking supplements, from plant sources.
In any case, what meat eaters and defenders of factory farming fail to realize is we do not OWN animals. They are not ours to abuse and murder. Factory farming takes a toll on the animals, the land produced on, as well as our bodies. Steroids and hormones fed to animals are transferred into your body.
I am not even going to try to win a debate about how a vegan diet is superior, however I suggest that you look at what a real vegan diet is like and how much healthier it really is. If one person will stop eating meat because they realize how bad it is for them on a personal level, maybe they will think about how bad the whole process is for the environment, and animals (Lest we forget, humans are animals).
I do see your point with the milk thing, because I also find the consumption of the milk of another animal to be mildly disturbing, especially due to the high levels of lactose intolerance in the world. Because of that, I drink virtually no milk, including soy milk, because soy milk actually does stranger things to your body than regular milk. Despite this, I still eat a whole load of cheese because it just tastes so good.
I won’t argue with your point about factory farms. This blog is not meant in any way to be a proponent of animal cruelty. If someone has a solution to factory farming that will keep meat on my table at an affordable price, I will gladly support it.
If it helps my point, I make my own soy milk too, as most commercially manufactured soy milk is from a company that is part of a major milk conglomerate.
I used to feel the same way about cheese, ice cream etc. that many people do… “I would be a vegetarian if….” If the reason you eat food that allows animals to be harmed on a grand scale, you contribute to the problem not eliminate it. Lastly, eating meat is just wrong in the sense that animals are capable of higher level thought processing, including problem solving and moral reasoning. Chickens have the reasoning capacity to understand that an object, such as a ball, hidden behind something is still there (Object permanence). This takes human infants 6 months to be able to do this task. We also typically view children as amoral, we know that our values are highly influenced by our social relationships. We don’t eat human babies do we?
To suggest that it is different to eat a human than other animals is completely asinine. I am not arguing that humans are one of the most highly intellectually evolved species, but we are not the only creatures to use vocal communication, tools or forge complex social networks (Lions, Apes, Monkeys, Fish, Birds, Sheep…). We also don’t eat certain animals we view as intelligent or highly evolved, but pigs are incredibly smart animals (having intellectual features thought only to be found in higher primates) but some continue to chow down on bacon. Sheep can recognize each others faces. Clearly the ability for animals to reason morally, that is act within their species what is socially favorable for the survival of the species, “even behavior that is instinctual or conditioned” can be considered moral. So even though human morality is different than dog or gorilla or pig morality, we still know animals understand fairness and have moral constructions within their social organizations.
I guess though in the world a lot of people can’t even treat other humans with dignity and respect, so expecting individuals who see others of their own species as less than, to respect different species, is probably a ridiculous prospect.