Flirting With Hypocrisy -- A 'Kinda' Diet

On Twitter, May 12, Alicia Silverstone spilled the beans that she'd eaten a BK Veggie Burger from Burger King while on the set of whatever project she's working on (probably the movie "Butter", a comedy to be released in 2012 that's about a competitive butter carver). So why did the self-described vegan and promoter of a "Kind Diet" eat a non-vegan burger? According to Silverstone, "cuz it was the only thing around that [she] could eat". I'll admit that I haven't spent a lot of time on movie sets. It's my understanding, though, that these things are generally catered and that at the very least, a vegan celebrity expecting to be on a movie set would be able to arrange to have vegan food made available to her -- even if it had to be ordered out. And of course, depending on location, one always has the option of packing a lunch to bring to work (I know, I know -- that doesn't sound very glamorous).

BK Veggie Burgers have been discussed to death in vegan circles because they're absolutely not animal-free. Even Burger King is quick to point out on its site that the burgers contain dairy and eggs, stating alongside the ingredients they list for it: "This is not a vegan product". So Alicia ate first (tweeting that "it was DELICIOUS") and asked later, finding out the following day that what she'd eaten wasn't vegan. Nobody's perfect, right? We all make mistakes. It's easy to point out that Silverstone could have at least asked first. However, what I found most troubling were the following tweets:

"if you are in a crunch and need a super quick yummy flirt meal, the burger king veggie burger is so yummie..."

"so i wont eat it again cause i know whats in it, but if you are a flirt, or you are desperate and need to eat something, get it!!"

"much better than getting a regular burger!"

So vegan Silverstone won't eat it again, since she knows "what's in it", but decided to use Twitter to suggest to vegan-wannabes or vegans who are "desperate" (apparently, like vegan Hollywood starlets on movie sets who can't find anything to eat) to purchase and eat the product. Furthermore, she added that it's somehow "much better" than getting a regular burger. Why? Because it's meatless? One almost wonders why Silverstone bothers cutting dairy and eggs out of her own "kind" diet if she thinks that eating the flesh of animals is what's most ethically problematic.

It's frustrating enough to read an account of someone who should know better and who is in a position of great privilege who failed to take her veganism seriously enough to ask a few basic questions before consuming animal products. What's worse, though, is that she would assert that those animal products are now off limits for her, but recommend them for others "flirting" with veganism or for "desperate" vegans. And state that somehow, a burger containing dairy and eggs is "better" than a regular hamburger, conveying the false message that eating animal flesh is more of a moral problem than consuming animal secretions.

Things Overheard

Sometimes you hear someone say something and it makes so little sense that you almost do a double-take. Think "Dan Quayle". In this case, something I read had that effect on me:

[T]he treatment of animals that land on our grocery store shelves each day is deplorable. [...] While I am not vegetarian, I do make vegetarian choices on a regular basis in an effort to lessen my meat consumption.

What on earth does it mean to make "vegetarian choices"? Eating an apple? Having a bowl of cereal with soy milk? Having a bowl of cereal with dairy milk? Eating an apple somewhere between having pepperoni pizza for lunch and a T-bone steak with egg salad for dinner? This is where concern about treatment seems to fall short, with the "every little bit counts" mentality shows itself to be ineffective, as does this half-hearted lip-service to animals called 'vegetarianism'.

I'm just sayin'.

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Speaking of paying lip-service to animals: In an article on "flirting" with Alicia Silverstone's Kind Diet, an aspiring foodie was no doubt chuckling to herself at her own cleverness when she wrote:

I decided to be kind to myself and try this diet in moderation. After all, who can go cold turkey from donuts, ice cream and fried onion rings? Plus, Easter is coming and I can’t miss pigging out on the Easter ham.

It seems to have become the latest thing to review vegan cookbooks and intersperse parts of the actual review with references to delectable animal flesh--where eating animals (or animal products) is presented as the equivalent of eating a decadently fattening slice of cake. Such is the new interest in so-called ethical eating.