organicAnt can you tell me the story of when and how you became conscious of your eating habits, how you came to question them and what it was that brought you to vegetarianism (veganism?)
I grew up on a small subsistence farm. Killing animals for food was part of it. My dad was a hunter. I used to go out with him ever since I was a little boy. Luckily he was a bad hunter, we would more often come back with water cress picked at a pristine stream than any feathered or furry thing. I remember my dad teaching me how to use the shotgun. I must have been 8 or 9. We killed this little sparrow. I remember picking up the small lifeless body. Its beak and brains blown off. The remains consisted of an empty half skull attached to a body of mangled feathers, which felt so soft to the touch... I didn't like seeing animals killed for food either. I remember closing my eyes while holding the pig or chicken, or skinning the rabbit alive (because "it's tastier that way"). The excruciating human like scream of the pigs, as the 10 inch knife pierced through their throats to their hearts and left to bleed and drown in their own blood, was particularly hard to bear. I was repeatedly told, this is what we need to do to survive. I believed that. Furthermore my family is religious so it was the accepted "natural order". The animals, hell the whole Universe exists for human enjoyment and exploitation. And the animals sacrificed their lives so we could live. It was hard to accept but I conceded that it was a necessity. In late teens religion stopped making sense to me and I've been agnostic since. Fast forward to mid twenties when I met the first vegetarians. They seemed strange people at first and I was convinced they were living an unhealthy lifestyle since I was repeatedly told that I needed meat to be healthy. I never actually gave them any credit or tried to understand their arguments with a truly open mind (but if you asked me if I considered myself to be an open minded person, I'd have said yes without hesitation). Fast forward a few more years and I started dating a vegetarian. I was exposed to the reality that a healthy (and tasty) meatless diet is possible. So I became vegetarian also while still believing that some animal products were essential to the human body. Fish for omegas, eggs for protein, milk for calcium. These are the lies that get imprinted into us by society and even formal education. Fast forward a few more years and I'm now dating a vegan and once more she has shattered the myths I was carrying around. Omegas can be obtained from certain seeds such as flax, protein is available in all sorts of vegetables (heck, the biggest land mammals are herbivores!) - most abundantly in legumes - and calcium is better absorbed from dark green vegetables, such as kales and broccoli alongside a complex healthy cocktail of vitamins, minerals and disease fighting anti-oxidants non existent in animal based foods. After learning that a healthy body was possible without harming anyone (Yes, I mean anyone. Ever noticed how the English language uses s/he for people and it for animals? Human supremacy or anthropocentrism is embedded in our very language.) there was no going back. It seemed obvious to me that a vegan diet is a win win situation. It puzzles me that more people can't see this and that a discussion about eating animals is usually received with defensiveness and often aggressively. Along the years I have also done quite a bit of research and watched a few compelling documentaries and talks. Eathlings, Vegucated, Forks over Knives, Speciesism, Live and Let Live: to name a few. One thing to bear in mind is that animal foods are addictive. For example, casein is a protein in cheese known to be addictive. So cravings are natural when replacing animal foods. However the will to not harm another creature ever again is way more powerful than any flavour that has ever crossed my tongue. With the availability of an extensive online resource of nutrition info & tools, recipes, suggestions and ideas, it has never been easier to live a cruelty free lifestyle where diet is just the first step. Clothing is an important second.
I'm not going to respond to the rest of your post because others in this thread have covered what I think, but this part in particular stuck out to me as equivocation. My issues: 1. The English language doesn't use anything; only its speakers do (although I'll admit this issue is somewhat pedantic; #2 is really what bothers me) 2. We don't use you for people and it for animals; those aren't the same kinds of pronouns. If anything, we use you/you (when talking to people and animals, respectively) or he/she and it (when talking about people and animals). But a lot of times, people don't even make that distinction: they talk to their animals using "you", and talk about their animals using s/he (depending on the animal's gender). Yes, I understand that's generally only true of domesticated animals (i.e. pets), but I imagine someone talking to livestock would still use you, and perhaps even s/he. Anyway, that's my piece. Hope you understand, I (and from what I can tell, most meat-eaters in this thread) don't have any issue with you being a vegan; I just don't find your arguments particularly convincing.Ever noticed how the English language uses you for people and it for animals? Human supremacy or anthropocentrism is embedded in our very language.
Thanks for the correction galen. You are right, s/he is the equivalent of it not you. I have corrected my original post. Honestly I have no illusions about convincing anyone regarding animal rights. Nor should you take my arguments as all there is to animal rights. I'm one person being true to the experiences that shaped me. Becoming vegan is a dramatic life decision and not an easy one to stick with socially. It took a long chain of events and a lot of introspection for me to appreciate all life and want to respect it above all. So I don't expect anyone to change their views based on someone else's views. But I do hope this gives people a different perspective and hopefully compel someone to do more research and watch a few documentaries on the subject. However, if this thread makes people to stop and question for a minute why they do what they do, that's enough accomplishment for me. Of course I'd want everyone to stop hurting animals but ultimately if you're ok with eating them, that's your own call. I just hope you don't come to regret, like I do, some of the things I did back when I was an omnivore. Guilt can be another powerful type of suffering.I just don't find your arguments particularly convincing.