Veganism: Just a Diet, or is it a Philosophy?

I have a new column in VegNews magazine, and will be discussing controversial issues that face vegans.  There are actually quite a few (including a recent blog topic I posted – on whether to speak up or not when others are eating meat) and I’m bracing myself for a potential onslaught of criticism.  While I’m very excited for this opportunity, I don’t like having my feelings hurt!  But I suppose I’ll consider any tough criticism a growing experience in the hopes of opening some hearts and minds.

My next topic for the column will be on whether veganism is just a diet, or is it a philosophy?  Not only is this question controversial, it also will define why many people do what they do.  For example, a person who is a vegan only in their diet may still wear leather and fur, yet be calling themselves vegan.  This will outrage many philosophical vegans!  Some are calling for a change in terminology – “vegan” is used for those people who philosophically believe it’s not right to harm animals for any use, and “plant based dieters” for those who only eat plant foods, but otherwise don’t worry about their use of non-food animal products.

And what about those people who say they are vegan, yet aren’t 100% vegan?  They are, for example, 90% vegan, occasionally eating cheese or even a little meat here and there.  Again, a philosophical vegan might argue that you can’t be “kind of” vegan – just like you can’t be “kind of” Christian.  You either believe it’s not right to harm animals or you don’t, and act accordingly.  Semantically, it’s important to some people that these “kind-of” vegans clarify: “I’m working toward eating a 100% vegan diet, and do so most of the time.”

It seems rather important how you define veganism.  I believe that – even for those of us who have been vegan for years – this topic can really get you thinking. 

What are your thoughts?  Do you think that being a vegan only defines what you eat, or does it define your approach to life in some way?  I’d love to hear from you!

Crossroads

I tend to write kind of deep blogs, so with the title of this one being “Crossroads,” you might think I am at it again.  But no!  I am keeping it light today, and reporting on one of the hottest new restaurants in the LA!

Crossroads, on trendy Melrose Avenue in LA, is now open for business, taking vegan cuisine to new heights.  No wonder – it’s owned by celebrity chef and author of The Conscious Cook, Tal Ronnen.  I’d heard Ellen DeGeneres was a fan, and sure enough, there she was with Portia DiRossi – a fun celebrity sighting!

But the food stole the show.  Crab cakes, lasagna, chicken parmesan, oysters and other vegan versions of non-vegan foods were to die for.  I hadn’t had some of these types of food since before I went vegan.  In a testament to its tastiness, I was there with my friend, Greg, who had never eaten at a vegan restaurant before.  He said he couldn’t tell the vegan parm (made with Gardein) wasn’t real chicken, and fawned over the crab cakes.  He kept asking, “These aren’t real oysters???  This isn’t real crab???” 

One of the great things about the restaurant is that the entire menu is made up of small plates – essentially appetizers.  So, instead of ordering an appy and an entrée, you order 6-8 small plates for two people, and get to try lots of different things. 

To make things better, the ambiance is that of a high-end restaurant.  Not that I don’t love the bright green walls, bright lights and animal rights pamphlets that decorate most vegan restaurants, but the low lighting, white tablecloths, and dark wood made you want to sit for a few hours and just hang out.  Which is exactly what Greg and I did!

The only critique I have is that many of the small plates weren’t garnished – I took photos of almost everything we ordered, but only have this one of the artichoke oysters that actually looked as good as it tasted.  The chicken parmesan, for example, just looked like a slab of cheesy chicken on a white plate – no parsley or anything to liven up the look.  Given the photos on their site, this surprised me, but it’s very minor in the scheme of things.

If you’ve ever been to Millennium and enjoyed it, you’ll really like Crossroads.  Chalk another one up for delicious vegan cuisine!  Bravo!

The Vegan's Dilemma

I’m in an ethical dilemma I bet many of you are in too:  Should I speak up or stay quiet when others order meat at restaurants?  The obvious answer most vegans give – and what I have always done – is to stay quiet, set a good example, and wait until someone asks about my diet.  If they ask, then I gently try to open their eyes to what is going on with our food system.  

However, if you think about it, this topic is not just a difference in opinion -- it's not like I'm saying "I love God's little animals and you should too!" -- we are talking about true atrocities and horrors that are happening in our factory farms and slaughterhouses, that most people would never put up with if it was happening to humans, dogs or cats, but are overlooking because they are pigs, chickens and cows.  So, in many ways, simply sitting back, “setting an example” and not speaking out proactively can be construed as allowing the horrors to go on.  As MLK said, "All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to stay quiet."  

Having said that, how does a sane, loving person bring this up proactively without upsetting people, losing friends, or losing your job? For example, I have had clients at work dinners thoughtfully ask, “Will it bother you if I order a steak?” and because I so desperately want to be “normal,” polite and keep my job, I say “Thank you for asking – please order what you’d like.”  But in fact, it’s really not okay that animals were tortured and slaughtered – often alive – for their steak.

I tell myself that it’s okay, because I’m doing my part by setting a good example for them to follow, lecturing, writing a blog and writing books to help people adopt a vegan diet.  These things certainly help offset the damage that is being done, but does that make it okay not to speak up?

Is it ethical to sit back and just watch harmless animals get devoured carelessly with a glass of wine, and not say anything?  Is it okay, when millions of sentient beings are suffering and dying daily, for me to politely sip my iced tea and allow them to order their steak without even commenting on it?

What do you do?  This is a real dilemma faced by all vegans – speak out and be seen as a radical and potentially lose friends, jobs, etc, or stay quiet and watch helpless animals suffer and die?  I would love to hear your comments!

What's Wrong with Eating Dairy Products if Cows are not Slaughtered to Make Them?

Many well-meaning vegetarians don’t eat meat because they know that animals are brutally slaughtered for their meat.  However, what many still wonder is what’s ethically wrong with eating dairy products when the cows aren’t slaughtered to provide us with milk?

What they don’t realize is that cows in a natural environment live healthy lives of about 13 years, while dairy cows in factory farms live an average of four long years in a state of constant pregnancy, having their babies torn from them at birth, brutally dehorned, living inside year round in filthy conditions, subjected to high rates of disease and hooked up to mechanized milking machines every day while forced to make much more milk than their bodies are designed to make.  They live only 4 short years due to these conditions.

But here is the kicker…

After living a miserable life in these horrible factories to get consumers the dairy products they so badly want, dairy cows then go to the exact same slaughterhouse that a beef cow goes. 

In 2001, The Washington Post published an interview with a long-time slaughterhouse worker, Ramon Moreno.  Here is an excerpt from the article:

“For 20 years, his post was “second-legger,” a job that entails cutting hocks off carcasses as they whirl past at a rate of 309 an hour.  The cattle were supposed to be dead before they got to Moreno. But too often they weren’t:

‘They blink. They make noises,’ he said softly. ‘The head moves, the eyes are wide and looking around.’  Still Moreno would cut.

On bad days, he says, dozens of animals reached his station clearly alive and conscious. Some would survive as far as the tail cutter, the belly ripper, the hide puller. ‘They die,’ said Moreno, ‘piece by piece.’^[1]

If you went vegetarian because these slaughterhouse conditions spoke so loudly to your sense of humanity that you decided you could never eat meat again, chew on this: Nearly all dairy cows will go to the exact same slaughter houses as the beef cows do  - a total of 6.5 million dairy cows every single year^[2] - and many of them are still alive as they go through it.

If you’re still vegetarian and not yet vegan, you can do something about this …

Be the Change,

Sarah

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[1] Warrick J.  The Washington Post.  April 10, 2001.  Front Page.

[2] Economics Research Service, U.S. Beef and Cattle Industry: Background Statistics and Information, USDA 25 May 2011.

Eggs and Your Health

Since I touched on Cage Layer Osteoporosis in my last blog entry – that painful condition that laying hens in factory farms suffer greatly from, due to the excessive number of eggs they are forced to lay – I thought I would give you more reasons to give up eggs this week: Eggs are horrible for your health. 

I’ve heard it said (although I didn’t look it up) that eggs have more cholesterol in them than anything else humans eat.  I expect this could be true, perhaps with the exception of liver.  Eggs are also full of fat, and everyone has read what a fatty diet does for your risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer and death.  But where’s the data?  Here are some specifics for you to chew on, next time you are considering making eggs for breakfast.  Scrambled tofu is delicious!

·      The Physician’s Health Study found that there was a 23% increase in the risk of death in people who ate just one egg a day.^[1] 

·      Just 3-4 eggs a week has been linked with an increase in heart disease^[2] – many people can eat that in just one omelet! 

·      In a large meta-analysis of 14 studies, researchers found that people who ate the most eggs had a 19% increased risk for developing heart disease compared with those who ate the fewest eggs^[3].

·      In the same meta-analysis of 14 studies, researchers also found that those who ate the most eggs had a 68% increased risk for developing diabetes compared with those who ate the fewest eggs; if they already had diabetes, their risk of developing heart disease jumped by 83%[4].

·      Another study found that diabetic patients had a 5-fold greater risk of cardiovascular death by eating 1 egg a day or more.^[5] 

So the data are out: eggs are horrible for your health, and the health of your loved ones.  They are not the perfect protein, nor are they a great source of anything you can’t get from a healthier source.  Consider using tofu in place of scrambled eggs, baking with EnerG Egg Replacer or another natural substitute like bananas or applesauce, or just skipping them altogether.  I have regularly made boxed baking mixes (my husband loves Trader Joe’s boxed cornbread mix) by leaving out both the eggs and the oil, and adding an extra ¼ cup of water, and they generally turn out wonderfully!  Yes, you can live without eggs – and your health and the hens will be much better off for it.  J

Peace,

Sarah

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[1] Djousse L, Gaziano JM. Egg consumption in relation to cardiovascular disease and mortality: the Physicians' Health Study. Am J Clin Nutr 2008;87:964-969.

[2] Weggemans RM, Zock PL, Katan MB. Dietary cholesterol from eggs increases the ratio of total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in humans: a meta-analysis. Am J Clin Nutr 2001;73:885-891.

[3] Li Y, Zhou C, Zhou S, LiL.  Egg consumption and risk of cardiovascular diseases and eiabetes:  A meta-analysis.  Atherosclerosis.  Published ahead of print April 17, 2013.

[4] Li Y, Zhou C, Zhou S, LiL.  Egg consumption and risk of cardiovascular diseases and eiabetes:  A meta-analysis.  Atherosclerosis.  Published ahead of print April 17, 2013.

[5] Trichopoulou A, Psaltopoulou T, Orfanos P, et al. Diet and physical activity in relation to overall mortality amongst adult diabetics in a general population cohort. J Intern Med 2006;259:583-591.