Why vegan?

Why did I decide to be vegan in the first place? Why would anybody want to be vegan? I've been thinking about this a lot, because after a one-year period during which I was not vegan at all, I have a new appreciation for the reasons behind being vegan, and why most people aren't.

I have a friend whose boyfriend started this website called "Vegan Represent". His whole philosophy is basically that a vegan who "reprazents" is a happy, healthy, whole, fun, interesting, normal person, and is a good representative for veganism. People would be drawn to this person, and want to ask, through the course of normal human interactions, "why are you vegan anyway?" or, as happened to me recently "what does it mean when you order your burrito vegan?" Then you explain to that person, and quite possibly that causes the person to consider what you have to say. This is in contrast to the often-represented stereotype of a vegan who is in-your-face, angry and sullen--and easy to dismiss. People also think vegan food is boring and gross, which could not be further from the truth. But I'll save that for a later date.

I have to admit that I used to be more akin to the latter rather than the "vegan represent" variety. I have seen a lot of things through the course of educating myself, and then working for Farm Sanctuary, that made me want to yell "HOW CAN YOU NOT BE VEGAN, YOU SELFISH JERK?!" Usually, when you yell something like that at someone, they tend to want to ignore you or make fun of you.

After spending a year eating dairy, eggs and even fish, I grew accustomed to these things. I stopped feeling guilty about it. I started thinking things along these lines: After all, everyone around me eats these things, and they are Good People, so it can't be totally evil. And besides, I'm sick of feeling deprived, left-out, etc. I like eating these things.

After a few months, I just stopped thinking about it. I just ate what I wanted, and what everyone else was eating (except beef, chicken, pork, etc.)

Contrary to what most people think, vegans are actually a very compassionate and forgiving bunch, on the whole. Most of my vegan friends were like "I understand. It's hard." I don't think anybody gave me a hard time. I think if they would have, I would have only become more entrenched in my non-vegandom. A vegan friend (the same one whose boyfriend runs Vegan Represent) finally called me out on it. "So, on your blog it says you are eating half-and-half. What's up with that?" I explained to her my feelings (I like eating these things, etc.) and a conversation ensued over email that I was going to post here, but she wanted to edit. It finally just got edited, but is really long and full of potty language. It's so long that very few people will probably read it, so I won't post it. Suffice to say, it hit very near the mark and snapped me out of it. I had been vegan for nearly 7 years when I stopped, so it wasn't some passing fancy on my part. It was really a part of who I was. Being a non-vegan never did stop feeling strange, like I was impersonating something I wasn't.

Another wise vegan friend of mine, in an earlier conversation, after assuring me that she understood my lapse, told me about her thinking. She said that she can completely understand why people aren't vegan. Its easy, it tastes good, and its not exactly like meat and dairy producers are trying to tell you where the food comes from. You have to seek out information about the problems with it. Most people just don't do that. She said that there are two ways of thinking about something. The first is "should" thinking, the second is "is" thinking. For example, everybody should be vegan. People shouldn't shop at Wal-Mart. VS "people aren't vegan, they do eat lots of animal products." "People DO shop at walmart". The "is" way of thinking recognizes things as the way they are. And it causes the thinker to accept reality: You can only control what YOU do. You cannot control anybody else. This kind of thinking helps with not being angry. Because if you are going around talking about "people should be vegan" all the time, you are bound to notice the reality that people aren't. They "should" but they don't. Can you see how that would make somebody mad all the time? To think that way? It certainly did for me. My motto now is "I can only control my own actions (and through my actions, I might cause others to follow suit.)"

These days, it feels good to go back to being vegan. I have stopped feeling like it is a deprivation because it is a choice. I don't say "I can't eat that." I say "I choose not to eat that." One sounds like i'm being prevented from doing something I want to do. The other sounds like I am making a decision, and have power. I can actually picture where the food came from, and then I don't even want it anymore. For example, my biggest weakness would always be some kind of sweet, like brownies at a party that have eggs in them. I would want them, and would try to justify eating them. Now, I just picture the chickens that had to endure horrible conditions to lay those eggs, and ask myself if I NEED that brownie. Of course the answer is no, I don't need it. And when I think about the animal cruelty involved, I can say that I honestly don't want it anymore, either.

I would like to think that most people just don't have the facts about their food, and if given the information they would choose not to support those practices. It is true that some people don't want to know, and hope that through willful ignorance, they can just keep eating what they like without facing the fact that they are contributing to some pretty horrible suffering in the process. I know that is how it was with my thinking: If I don't think about it, then it doesn't exist.

In the spirit of dispelling some of this ignorance, for those who would choose to know, I am going to include the following information. I know that many people won't read this, or won't click on the links. I can only say that just because you don't look at it, doesn't mean its not happening. If you feel like knowledge might make you "have" to stop drinking milk, for example, and you are afraid of that, maybe you should think about it. If, on the other hand, you educate yourself about where cheese comes from, and you are still ok with eating it, then you are doing better than most people who have no idea why someone would choose to not eat cheese. I say these things truly in the spirit of non-judgment, but with the hope that people can use this information to make informed choices, and make the world a better place.

Eggs: Come from chickens who are de-beaked, force-molted and live in battery cages. "Free range" and "cage free" are terms that have no legal meaning (unlike Organic, which has strict standards that need to be met and certified to be labeled as such), and thus can be applied to eggs that are produced in extremely inhumane conditions.

Dairy: The only way to get a mammal, like a cow or goat, to lactate is to get that animal pregnant. You then have to take the baby away from the mother, (IF YOU ONLY CLICK ONE LINK HERE, MAKE IT THIS ONE) so it doesn't drink that milk. The dairy industry thus has a huge surplus of baby cows that they needed something to do with. That thing became veal. Thus, veal farming, a practice so cruel that most people won't eat it, couldn't exist without dairy. It can logically be argued that you would do more to alleviate animal suffering if you stopped drinking cow dairy than if you stopped eating meat. The same is true for organic dairy.

Meat: This issue is more varied. In some cases, animals like beef cows, have a much better, more normal life, than a battery cage hen or a dairy cow. They are still killed, of course, but generally aren't packed into tiny cages until the final feedlot stage of their life. Pork is another matter. The sows that produce the piglets are living in tiny cages called gestation crates and it is a pathetically miserable existence. Pig factory farms are some of the worst kinds of animal farming. Chickens and turkeys raised for meat are usually housed in huge warehouses. They are "debeaked" and don't have much room to move around. Its a filthy, uncomfortable and sad life.

There really isn't any way to eat an animal product without giving money to somebody to do something (that I hope) most people couldn't do themselves because it would be too sad and awful. If you rescue a chicken and that chicken lays eggs and you eat them, that's pretty much the only humane animal product. Otherwise, where animal's bodies are used to make a profit, those animals get turned into things. We all know that animals feel pain. So when they get treated like a thing, rather than a being that can experience suffering (sometimes intense, incomprehensibly awful suffering), it is incredibly tragic. People, like vegans, who have found out about this, are understandably angry and sad about it because they feel alone and mad that nobody but them cares about the pain these animals endure.

I hope you can take the time to examine your habits, and ask yourself if you need cheese, eggs or meat. Or if you are making an informed choice about it. I'd be interested in your comments on what i've posted here, if you'd like to add them.

Cracked out

I made a huge mistake tonight. Namely, I ate a bar of chocolate (Green and Black brand) that was "coffee" flavored. I don't know about you, but usually when I eat something coffee-flavored, I don't really get a caffeine jolt from it. But this stuff, I guess, is basically chock-full of actual espresso beans. I ate almost the whole bar at like 8:30 pm. By like 10pm, I felt completely amped and jittery and crazy. I drink coffee every day, so it takes a LOT to make me feel like this. Granted, I ate nearly the whole bar, but, man! I laid in bed tossing and turning for about 2 hours. I finally just got up. 2 am! Damn! This really stinks because I am going to be tired and miserable tomorrow morning when the kids wake me at 7am. I still feel crazy and cracked out almost 6 hours after eating that thing. This is nuts. As I was laying in bed, tossing and turning, I realized that i never did write that "vegan manifesto" post, so I decided to do it now. Hence, my next post.

Breaking news! Fast food = really cheap, gross crap!

This may not be a surprise to some of you, but it was to me. Today I committed a simple-living sin and decided to eat fast-food. From the drive-through. Bless me father, for I have sinned. Its been my entire life since I last confessed. I partook of the environment-killing fast food industry. My penance is to eat nothing but organic brown rice and broccoli for 3 days, after which time I must sacrifice a small plastic item made in China.
Ok, so it was Burgerville. For those of you outside the pacific NW, its a smallish fast-food chain that prides itself on being of a higher quality than the Mcdonald's and burger kings out there. It uses local ingredients, wherever possible, which is pretty commendable. For example, they use only Oregon and Washington animal products, and local in-season fruits and veggies. Their food comes packaged in all-recyclable, unbleached looking stuff. I'm not saying they are part of the solution, by any stretch, but they are way better than Mcdonald's.
Anyway, I have eaten there before, and i SWEAR it wasn't that bad. Today it was so nasty, I was kind of amazed. How do they stay in business? I got the gardenburger black bean burger because its vegan, as opposed to the regular gardenburger. I got the local, walla-walla (Washington) onion rings. And a raspberry lemonaid (with actual local whole raspberries right in there). sounds pretty decent, eh? the burger bun looked like somebody sat on it prior to microwaving it or however they made it limp and yet also somewhat crunchy. the lettuce was basically cooked right onto the patty. the tomato looked very, very sad indeed. Although the onion rings and lemonaid were pretty good, I was forced to ask myself how on earth this sad-little microwaved-tasting thing cost $10 and change? Do people know that fast food is very expensive? Because I kind of thought that the whole point was that it was cheap? Maybe i'm missing something?
I'm sure you are all (yes, all 3 of you) wondering why I would assume a vegan burger from Burgerville would taste good. I guess I have high expectations. Actually, no, i just had AN expectation, and it was terribly misguided. How sad for me and my limp, limp, elephant-trodden burger. Its a frugal/simple living mistake I won't be repeating.

Eco 'air conditioning'

I fully admit that this might be common knowledge, but I swear from people's reactions to the cool temperature of our house growing up that not everyone does this. Everyone used to come into our house in the summer and ask "do you have air conditioning?" We didn't. We just did this (below) and it kept our house pretty cool.

At night open all your windows. Set up at least one fan (preferably in your bedroom) as an "exhaust fan" blowing out the window, rather than blowing air in from the outside. In the morning when you get up (assuming you get up before 10 am) your house is the coolest its going to be. Shut all the windows, Close all blinds and curtains (especially on east and south facing windows) and leave them that way all day. Our house can be up to 20 degrees cooler inside than outside. Around noon, turn on any indoor fans or ceiling fans to help circulate air. You will probably feel the need to re-open all the windows back up around 5 or 6 pm, at which point your house will be very stuffy and only about 5 or 10 degrees cooler than the outside. Even if you have real a/c this "technique" can make it so you don't have to turn it on until later in the day.

Many cities are facing severe energy problems from air conditioners. I realize that some people live in places where it is 120 degrees, and you kind of have to have a/c. in places like Oregon, it would be nice to have it about 20 days a year, but you can definitely live without it (it did suck yesterday when it was 101 in Portland, but that is rare...) Our neighbor turns on her a/c when the temp gets above about 70. it drives me nuts. your body's internal thermastat can readjust to different temperatures, so if you don't have a/c, in the summer 85 starts to feel not-very-hot. Just try to minimize your a/c use, and keep your thermastat kind of high (like 80 or more). A/C units are really hard on the energy grid (and the environment).

Backup

I found a few news articles backing up what I said about the fourth "celebrations"

From The Oregonian

About drunken idiots on the fourth

About how police and fire fighters are so freaking busy trying to stop idiots from killing themselves on the fourth

So I don't think its liberal claptrap or draconian to suggest that fireworks be banned. People are too stupid and need to be protected from themselves.

Oh, and my neighbors are out doing them right now. Happy 6th of July.

Party pooper

Ok, I'm going to be negative about one of our country's favorite past-times, and I really don't care if I sound like I'm bitter and jaded (which I am, but that's beside the point).

I HATE THE EFFING FOURTH OF JULY. Blowing things up is for morons.

In addition to the outrageous noise level (which pisses me off to no end) that starts about a week before and goes about a week after the actual holiday, it is horrible for the environment.

To quote (and slightly amend) another blog I saw: The smoke made by fireworks is densely sulphurous, highly acidic and contains a lot of greenhouse gases. Fireworks dump toxic metals like lead, arsenic and mercury into the atmosphere. Besides frightening animals, fireworks poison the environment in a way that is insidious and totally unnecessary. They generate tons of waste. Please limit the number you buy and use to a carefully selected few. Try using lasers, fountains, balloons and musical instruments to celebrate your country rather than turning it into a toxic waste dump.

Our neighborhood last night sounded like a war zone. It was insane. I didn't get to sleep until 3am and that really, really ticked me off. I ended up exchanging heated words with our neighbors. Some people are so inconsiderate. You live in a city. There are very old and very young people here and lots of pets, none of whom appreciate the insane racket you are making. If it was truly just one night, that would be one thing, but it goes on and on and on... and people doing it after midnight are just jerks. That is all there is to it.

I'm so sick of the American "self-entitlement" attitude (as exhibited by my jerk neighbors). You do not have a right to do fireworks. We have access to so many forms of entertainment in this country, but when it is suggested that we stop one (for very good reasons) such as fireworks, the circus, dog racing, etc. people flip out. We are entitled to do whatever we want! We are the greatest nation on earth! Blowing stuff up and generating tons of waste and being obnoxious and loud...it is the most American holiday out there.

The amount of fires set yesterday in Oregon is astounding. New York state banned all fireworks and it was AWESOME. It was so quiet on the 4th, you couldn't hear anything, except maybe a few sparklers. I wish Oregon would follow suit.

Ok, rant done.

On being "successful"

Looking at those week-old pictures of the garden, it's hard to believe how much it has grown in just a week. It is even huger, bushier and more fruitful now than in those pictures. In fact, I do believe in about one week's time we should be eating some zucchini and tomatoes.

I have been doing really well at not driving lately. I've been walking distances up to about a mile and a half, and really enjoying it. I have been walking Elsie to swim lessons, walking to parks (even further away ones), and walking to the store. I've been taking the bus more, too. I don't think we drove all weekend, actually. We spent a lot of time at home getting work done, true, but we have really minimized our in-town driving. I think the last time I drove was sometime last week.

At Elsie's swimming lessons, I was chatting with another mom who had kids in class there. Through our various conversations, it became obvious that she was from...how shall I put this? Another socio-economic bracket (as they like to say at the Ed department at PSU. I guess it sounds a lot better than saying poor kids?) than we are. For example, her daughter goes to the private French-immersion preschool/K-8 school. Just out of curiosity, I looked up their tuition online and its a whopping $10,000 per year. So that means that they will spend $100,000 on their daughter's education before she even gets to high school! They have two kids, so do the math. You are looking at upwards of $400,000 before their kids are even in college.

Why do people spend so much money to get their child into a "better" private school? (I will discuss later about whether or not private schools really provide a better education than our public ones. Actually, we can discuss it now. No, they don't). I think people are compelled to spend huge amounts of money on their children because they really believe they are giving them a "leg up" in order to make them successful. I see people all over town wanting the "best" for their children, be this the latest gadget, or the expensive toddler music class (we got this music class for a Christmas present, and I was shocked to find that Elsie and one other boy were the only preschoolers in in the class. All the other kids were like 13 months old--babies! Why do parents think they need an expensive class for a baby to get a head start on music appreciation? bah!), the best private school, starting preschool at an early age, getting into a charter or magnet school, etc. But what is successful? For our children, or in life--how are we defining success?

Is it when our child gets into Harvard? Is the star athlete? The valedictorian? Wins the band competition? Gets a prestigious job? Makes a lot of money? Do we get to bask in their reflected glory?

I think these are the things a parent wants for a child usually without really asking why. For some reason talking to this mom last week, I had to stop and ask myself why. Why do they have a nanny, even when they are home? Why do they send their children to this extremely expensive private school where they learn an elite (but not very useful in America) language? Why do they live in the best neighborhood? Are their children on the fast-track to Princeton, whereas mine will have to "settle" for U of O (I mean, come on! At least go to OSU!) ? What do we really want for our children? What do I want for MY children?

When I stopped to consider this question, I reflexively answered "to be happy, of course!" As I'm sure pretty much any parent would. But I felt the need to go deeper. What if my child were happy never going to college, but working as a diesel mechanic? Would I consider my child a success at that point? I had to really stop and think, and I decided that yes, I would be happy about that. That I really don't care what my children choose to do, as long as they are truly happy. I mean, the real kind of happiness that so many Americans chase, but never seem to obtain.

And why do so many Americans continue to chase the elusive dream of happiness? I mean, its right there in our constitution. We are guaranteed the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness--not happiness itself. I really believe that the reason that so many Americans are miserable is that we have all--ALL--bought into the idea that material goods will make us happy. Even if we don't want to admit it. Deep down, it's there. We were raised with it. We were nursed at the teat of marketing and consumption. Nowhere does anyone say "Just be happy with what you have and who you are. Do it NOW. Just stop what you are doing and choose happiness in this moment." Just--stop. Stop trying to better everything. Stop trying to look a certain way, own a certain thing, get something done. Just be satisfied. Be completely satisfied with your life in this moment. It goes deeper than just defining success through material goods (and that includes money). The American definition of success and happiness rides entirely on things that are outside of yourself. Entirely on things in the external, physical realm (the good job, the nice house, the loving wife, the sweet car, the obedient children). Never on the simple act of just being. Just being who you are.

I am not a master of this mode of thinking, but I am trying. If my children can live that way, then I will KNOW that they have achieved true success, regardless of what circumstances their lives may take. When we stop the cycle of mindless consumerism, stop defining success and happiness as some kind of external thing that can be obtained (but hasn't been obtained yet!) we are setting our children up for true success, in a way that no $10,000 per year private school ever could.

Successful children