I have a feeling I may piss people off or alienate them, and I'm sorry

[aprilstarchild]

Vegans Taste Better. Short sweet summary of why a person would be vegan. Like, say, me. *lol*

Bleh. Tricky stuff. I'm not big on evangelizing to my friends, even though I wouldn't mind leafletting total strangers. BUT: I am personally of the opinion that, when given all the facts on the matter, most people would severely cut down their consumption of animal products. Note that I didn't say that most people would become vegetarian or vegan. But more of them would, certainly.

It's hard, because I know a lot of my friends are very caring and wonderful people, but the things they eat are doing so much harm to the world. Several environmental organizations have pointed out that not eating meat is the biggest thing you can do for the environment. Not trading your car for a bike, or recycling, or using low-flow showerheads and toilets. But not eating animals.

I am not against the idea of killing things to eat them. However, if I know I can be perfectly healthy (chances are, I'll be healthier!) and happy without having to kill animals, why not? Also, the way most food animals are treated (whether for meat or eggs or milk) is inexusable. Period. I won't go into details, but it's pretty awful, and the awful stuff is not the exception.

I feel healthier. Everyone around me has been laid up with a cold. I spent one day lying down and then was fine. In fact, during the day I rarely had any symptoms other than an occasional cough and having to blow my nose. I can't help but think it's related to my diet. I've always had a weak immune system, catching everything that blows by and being in bed for a week, so this is a new thing. *knock on wood* Watch, now I'll catch something awful. *lol*

Blargh. Feel free to ignore this post if you want. Please please know that I'm not angry at anybody. I know that vegetarianism and veganism are the exception in this world. I just wish people would think about it more....

Comments

[alicia-stardust.livejournal.com]

It's interesting to hear your thoughts on this, so I'm glad you posted them. :)

Have you ever read Fast Food Nation? It has a different angle on things - it's about more than not killing animals - but I found it really interesting in an overall health perspective.

Since I've been sick and trying to rebuild my body so it can learn how to process food again, I have become acutely aware of healthy vs. non-healthy food, whether vegan or not. And it is crazy that it's so abundant in this society. I've always been a vegetarian, but now that I've been vegan minus wheat/gluten and sugar, it's been even more eye-opening for me to try to find foods without chemicals and strange additives.

Well, that was my little tangent - related to what you were saying but not directly. ;)

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

It was totally related, actually. :-)

If you liked Fast Food Nation you should read Diet for a New America. It was written in 1987 with an update in 1995 in the back...so some of the data is out of date. Some of the things he writes about have gotten worse, some have gotten better. In a lot of cases they've gotten worse but the meaty/dairy/etc industries have done a good job of lying. In any case, it's still really good information and lays out the case for vegetarianism/veganism pretty nicely. He never takes the tone of, YOU ASSHOLE!, it's more like, here's what's being done, and you're eating it, do you really want to eat it?

Cooking from scratch and buying organic are obviously the best way to avoid weird crap in your food, but you already knew that. Yeay for the Whole Foods market on Burnside. Their bulk bins and produce sections are really close to each other. It's odd, because New Seasons (in Orenco) is probably bigger from a square-footage standpoint, and has more actual items, but Whole Foods has so much more for vegans. Especially in the deli section, OMG. When I was looking for work and eating with my food stamps (well, Oregon Trail card, but wtf-ever), I would always stop there for lunch, because anything cold, I could buy with my food benefits.

[alicia-stardust.livejournal.com]

Wow, I'll have to check out that book sometime. And Whole Foods, too! It's good to know that they have a good vegan selection of food. I've been hitting New Seasons, which I like, but I'm already looking for more ideas and food selections. I guess I'll be a lot better off when I can add in wheat and fruit, etc. ;) But still.

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

I have a copy, I can loan it to you. I found a used copy at Powell's for a few dollars, go me.

When you're able to eat them, vegan prepared foods are often tasty and kick ass. Like Tings (made by the same people who make Pirate's Booty). Tings taste a lot like cheetos. Not quite, but awful close. Tofutti Cuties taste just like ice cream sandwhiches. Tofutti makes a lot of good fakes, including a fake cream cheese I like better than the real thing. Beware, though: Tofutti stuff was created for the kosher market, not the vegan one. They have a cream cheese with salmon in it. Soy Delicious makes awesome fake ice cream (they have a "cookies and cream" one that is fantastic). Newman O's are better than Oreo's anyway.

There's a place called Food Fight! on Division and....34th? I'm guessing. In any case, they have every vegan fake known to mankind. Fake meats, vegan desserts, you name it they got it. Fake nacho cheese! OMG, I'm so drooling. *lol* Which just goes to show, you can a be a fat unhealthy vegan. It's just expensive.

[alicia-stardust.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, Tings! I was eyeing those last time I was at the store. I made a note of them so I can remember to buy them as soon as I think my stomach can tolerate them. :)

In the meantime, edamame has become my best friend when it comes to snack-time. That, and rice thins crackers.