In a fairly upbeat article this past Thursday ("V is for vegan and very well-fed"), the Douglas Dispatch included a couple of animal-product-free recipes--one for Pad Thai and one for Hearty Potato-and-Leek Soup. Unfortunately, less than a few lines in, it becomes obvious that the article is actually about "part-time" veganism (and a "part-time" veganism that is solely concerned with food). The Pad Thai recipe is from a book called The Accidental Vegan by Devra Gartenstein, a "self-described omnivore who runs a vegetarian restaurant" who encourages people "to embrace not a complete vegan diet but a sampling of vegan dishes". The soup recipe is from "flexitarian" Pat Crocker's The Vegan Cook's Bible (of which I'd blogged back in June, mentioning that she promotes the consumption of both fish and honey in it).
-------------------------------------------
This piece ("Slaughterhouse Rules") is just a plain old bizarre example of how people condone the use and slaughter of animals if they're able to reassure themselves that any sort of regulation is in place (i.e. that supposedly protects those slaughtered animals). The disassocation involved, even in this insignificant little piece, is unnerving.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Blurbs About Veganism or Animals in the Media
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
What? "to embrace not a complete vegan diet but a sampling of vegan dishes".
That doesn't even make sense!
People sample 'vegan dishes' every day when they eat fries, fruit salad, chips and salsa, olives, hummus and pita bread... Or does it not count as vegan if it's already mainstream?? Does mashed potato and the 3 veg on the side of your steak count as a 'sampling of vegan dishes'??
I think one obstacle that has to be addressed is people's acceptance of animals' deaths as a trade off for the pleasure of their taste buds. I don't see how the animal welfare movement would stand a snowball's chance if people would stop accepting death as being reasonable. I see the animal welfare movement as a result of people's acceptance of death in exchange for food, not the other way around (i.e. people eating animals because they think they're well treated).
Take away the belief that it is ok to end a life in return for a few minutes of gustatory pleasure and the animal welfare movement falls apart.
Post a Comment