Veganism & Animal Rights

People always look askance when I tell them I'm vegan, and usually the first thing out of their mouths is something about how hard that must be. But actually, most of the time it's really easy, and the food is actually really good. I do sometimes have trouble finding edible food at restaurants, on the road, and at events, but I can usually find something vegan on the menu, or if worst comes to worst, just bring some food along. There are quite a few restaurants in my area that have delicious vegan options, whether by accident or intentionally, and when I feel like spending the money I enjoy the chance to eat out. Most of the time I just make my own food, and I've discovered a love of cooking I didn't even know I had. But I never feel deprived or left out anymore, I guess because I'm just so used to it now, and most importantly, I'm so aware of the impact of my choices. I just don't consider eating animal products an option, the way as an environmentalist I don't consider driving a Hummer an option. It's just repugnant to me.

One of the problems with the capitalist system is that corporations inevitably use unethical practices in order to compete and make a higher profit. And when it comes to the animal industry, this means treating the animals in the most inhumane ways, by cramming them together in tight spaces where disease and violence are rife, by pumping them full of hormones and antibiotics to produce as much food from them as possible, and by transporting them and killing them in ways that cause them to suffer. The animal industry works very hard to keep the realities of this situation from the public — and the government, which of course gets vast amounts of money from this industry, is all too happy to let this continue. This is an area that truly needs regulation to reduce the suffering of animals, and there are many people working tirelessly toward that goal. But it is slow going and the end results aren't clear. And that's why so many people have chosen vegetarianism, veganism, and conscientious omnivory, to reduce their contribution to this suffering.

There are many vegans who believe that it's wrong to use animal products at all, even if the animals are treated humanely; they consider it to be exploitation, and their ideal society would be one that uses no animal products whatsoever. I won't go that far, however. We are part of an ecosystem and must use other living things to survive; we can't live in a vacuum. In my view it is no worse to use animal products than to use plants, fungi, or bacteria, as long as the animals don't suffer unecessarily. I believe that all living things are equal and all have the right to not be used without necessity and to be used in a way that minimizes harm. But because animals have the capacity to suffer, and because our current system causes them unimaginable suffering to obtain food and other materials from them, I choose to abstain from animal products.

I know that our society will never give up its love of meat, dairy, and eggs. But I hope that in the future we can reduce our consumption of these foods by a great deal. This would, first of all, reduce the numbers of animals being produced and therefore allow them to be raised on small farms in humane conditions. Second of all, it would greatly reduce the environmental impact of animal farming because it would require so much less oil, land, water, and other resources. It would also produce such little waste that it could be safely used as manure rather than dumped into waterways. And third of all, it would greatly reduce the chronic diseases that plague the industrialized world. Our three biggest causes of death, heart disease, stroke, and cancer, are largely caused by our extremely high consumption of animal products, and scaling that back and relying more on healthy plant foods would improve our health greatly. This reduction in animal consumption may not come by choice, but by necessity as we run out of oil, water, and arable land. Our current rate of animal consumption is a result of our great wealth, as well as our willingness to trade humane treatment for cheap meat, and in the future we may simply not have that luxury.

related rants: Anthropocentrism, The Environment

links:
Vegans Are From Vega
Vegan Outreach
Vegan Action
Vegan.com
The Post Punk Kitchen
Vegan Lunch Box
Pangea
Vegan Essentials
Vegan Porn
Vegetarian Resource Group
FactoryFarming.com
The Truth About Factory Farming
Ingredients Derived From Animals
A Vegan Primer
Random Vegan Recipes
VegCooking

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