Vegans are usually perceived as people who care deeply about the planet and defend the environment. I'm not saying they don't. Yes, you can be really concerned about the planet, our environment, the fairness of human actions, our carbon footprint, and our footprint in many other aspects, AND be vegan. What's bothering is when it is said that when you really commit to environment, and cruelty free products, then you become a vegan - not a vegetarian, but a vegan - by default. Do you really believe that?
The general message is that anything of animal origin has been obtained through cruelty. For meat and leather the animal must be slaughtered. For milk the animal has to be tortured in milker machines. For eggs the animals are kept in crowded spaces, placed in cages where only their heads peak out to eat. Haven't heard a thing about the torture involved in obtaning wool, but sure there's something for that too. Basically, be it what it may, if it is animal origin, then it's evil, it's destroying our environment AND you are automatically a murderer who eats death, who turns their body into a graveyard and who's careless about the rest of the planet - an egoist basically.
My question is, what about plants? Isn't the life of plants just as valuable as the life of animals? Don't they suffer? I mean, as far as I know, plants are the responsible of transforming the CO2 all of us, animals, produce and turn it into O2. For ages now mankind has raised crops and have been experimenting with it. They are not kept in barns and farms like animals, not locked in cages, but they are grown in large expanses of land, often in lands where they are not originary from. Also, in order to grow grains, vegetables, fruits and such, you must take land from natural vegetation, such as forests and rainforests. If you have had the chance to pass by crops, you'd notice that in some places the land is clearer, paler than that of other areas. It is well known - and taught in elementary schools even - that crops tend to exhaust the land and kill it.
Plants are pumped with pesticides, all sorts of products to aid their growth, and genetically manipulated to get products that fit better the market demands. Also, some varieties are nearly extinguished to make space to other, more profitable products.
Then, may I ask how do we get these products? By cruelty. Plant cruelty. We hack the plant, cut it, pluck it, often when still immature, because it's meant for export, or because it is customary to eat it still tender.
So explain this to me: it is okay to eat and wear industrialized plants, but not animals. It is okay to be cruel to plants, but not with animals. Maybe cruelty towards plants doesn't count because... plants don't scream? Not that I advocate for cruelty - Hyne no! - but if our stance is "no cruelty", shouldn't this be extended to all living being, whether they can move, scream, bite back or not?
The whole vegan thing is nice and cool, but don't come telling me that it's THE "environmental friendly" and "cruelty-free" lifestyle, and the automatic, only, consistent and natural outcome for those who really follow these standards. Vegans forget that back in the day, when the winter came there weren't any fresh veggies for eating, and what they could eat was what had been stored from the harvest. Some products could be stored for a long time, such as grains, roots, and some fruits in conserve. Most of the things we like in our salad couldn't be stored. They would have rotted. However what could be eaten fresh even then and helped people stay warm and alive were animal products. Dairy, meat, eggs. Also flax and cotton don't offer you the same warmth keeping quality wool and leather have. Not to mention that back then shoes had to be done out of leather, and not everybody where dutches making shoes entirely out of wood.
If you want to be vegan because you like veggies better, or because you decided to try and get thin on veggies, do so, but don't pretend that eating only plants is much merciful and environmental friendly than eating meat.
If you want to be cruelty free and environmental friendly, then apply that to both plants and animals, and seek products usually from small artisans. Meat purchased from hunters and small family farms might fit better your requirements, or keep your own chickens, rabbits, goats and what-nots. As for plants, grow your own veggies or purchase it from small local farmers. In some countries you can sign up for an "organic veggie box" list, where periodically you get a box full of season veggies at a fixed price, with the commitment to grow products organically and on small scale.
I'm not vegan, I'm not vegetarian. I eat meat and I am concerned about the environment. And no, it's not a contradiction.
4 comments:
Thank you for posting this! My husband and I were discussing this very issue the other night.
Oh my! Much welcome! Your comment notice scared me. I thought I was going to get bashed by angry vegans. ^_^
How did the discussion went, if I may ask.
Exactly. Anyone who has actually worked on a farm or grown up around farmlands knows that farming vegetables is NOT cruelty-free to animals. Animals are frequently poisoned to keep them from eating the crops and are brutally hacked to death by harvesting machines. Animal cruelty-free? HA!
As for sheep, vegans like to say that we are using (and therefore abusing) them for their fur... but anyone who has ever taken care of sheep can tell you that NOT shearing them leads to problems for the sheep! The humidity in the air clings to their fur, and if they get wet (say, walking through a shallow creek), they can get skin rot just like humans do. Shearing them not only prevents some of these problems, but it also helps farmers see if the sheep has any skin problems (such as mites, ticks, or chiggers) much more quickly, keeping the animal healthy and safe! Wool for clothing is a nice by-product.
Not to mention that many vegans have no problem with using plastic or petroleum products to replace things they enjoy, such as vinyl for leather or acrylic instead of merino. No one can argue the environmentally devastating results of the production and consumption of these products, and how many animals and humans they poison and kill every day. Environmentally friendly? I don't think so.
As a meat-eater, I do care about how animals are raised. I prefer ethically-raised, organic meat that has been fed healthier foods, and I vote for it with my money whenever I can afford to. I understand that I need animal proteins and enzymes to survive and be healthy. In turn, one day, some animal or plant will use the components of my body to do the same. And if anything, leather and wool is more environmentally friendly and sustainable than plastic.
Using animal products and caring about the environment are not mutually exclusive, no matter what PETA says.
My Goodness! What an eye-opener comment! I was going to say "No, when I said 'cruelty-free' I meant cruelty towards plants', but as I read your comment my jaw dropped to the floor and all the way to China. You are so right! Indeed not only animals get poisoned, maimed or otherwise killed by extensive plantations and farming machines and products, but there's also the fact that by eliminating the natural habitats to turn forests, swamps and wild lands into farmlands, many species of animals die due to the lack of food and shelter.
If we were all to go vegan there wouldn't be enough land to feed us, and the surpopulation of animals we have produced would probably die in rather aweful ways.
Then, most of our commercially available plants - even the seeds - have been genetically manipulated. You probably know that each year or each season you need to buy new seeds because the crop the previous seeds yield has been alterated so, that it can't be reproduced, or even if reproduced the following crop is weak. And are vegans protesting against that? Not that I've noticed.
As for the plastics and other sinthetic products... that's the final slap for me. So Hyne forbid you kill a bear to get a coat. Better pump out hundreds of barrels of brent, and maybe have some spilled in the ocean and kill tousands of sea life, and get a faux fur. Because that way you are not being part of animal cruelty. Better that brent to make vinyl than slaughtering a cow to get leather. Mind not that leather products are more often than not better in quality than the faux-leather ones. Even though plastic never breaks down, the average live of plastic products (those substituting leather) are much shorter than that of leather products. Think of shoes, bags, coats, belts... How many spills are you going to risk (not to mention the contamination even the most successful drilling entails), in order to spare the life of a cow, a calf, a goat or whatever you are pulling leather from?
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