Areille - the Lioness of God

Friday, February 15, 2008

"Why vegan" strikes again!

Recently I had another one of those arguments with a friend about why I am vegan. And it bugs me that I am not able to get the point across. I do know that veganism isn't the ultimate solution and it might not be a very sustainable scenario having the whole world turn vegan. I really don't know what's right or wrong for the entire world. I also agree in the circle of life and the stronger eating the weaker scene. What I don't support is factory farming! The industry where animals live their entire life without ever seeing the sun. Where new borns aren't allowed to be fed by their own mothers. Where live chickens are stuffed into a crate till one can stuff no more ... and their beaks are cut off so that they don't bite each other to death in there! I am against tying the limbs of a new born calf for weeks ... so that the veal is tender and juicy! I am not saying I am perfect ... I am not saying I am right ... I am just acting upon what I have read and seen. I have taken veganism as the stance to not support this industry. Is this the ultimate thing one can do? Of course not! There is always more you can do. But like I have said many times before. Every little counts. Every person does what he or she can. Maybe choosing makeup "not tested on animals" is a stance. Maybe buying free range eggs over the other kind is a stance. Just like choosing cloth over plastic is a stance. This is my choice. I don't want to force you to take it .... but I do wish you would let me be. I do wish you would understand that it IS a sacrifice and I am doing it for a cause close to my heart and I do wish you wouldn't ridicule it. I don't think you are evil for relishing those fish fingers or chicken nuggets. I do understand giving up something which satisfies your senses is tough. And I am not asking you to give it up! So don't get defensive & remind me of all that I am missing out on when I choose tofu. Cause the only thing you end up reminding me of is this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIjanhKqVC4

7 Comments:

  • At 2/15/2008 10:31 AM, Blogger Charanya said…

    Just Be and Let Be is what I say !! Do what is right for yourself, and what you believe in! There is noone you need to be accountable to for your decisions other than yourself!

    And I am proud of you Areille for sticking to what you believe in - that's one of the main things I love about you - but don't let the fact that others don't get you or your choices sometimes bring you down!

     
  • At 2/15/2008 12:17 PM, Blogger Ankit said…

    No comments. Charanya has said it all. :)

     
  • At 2/18/2008 8:09 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Areille: Was actually wanting to read in detail abt u'r earlier 'why vegan'post(sometime Aug-Oct 07), but couldn't readily find it. Well, here's "Why vegan" again.. cool! (btw, is it still in the archives?)

    Can't agree on this one any more!! I just have to say that had I been asked to write about "why vegan", I almost would have ended up writing the way u did. (It would of course have been *loonger* and elaborate with 'could-have-done-without' examples, etc.. :D but u got this knack of translating thoughts into words fundamentally well, and to the point!)

    Not getting the 'why vegan' point across is hard -just because of the mindset some people have when it comes to this issue. Either they don't get the bigger picture or they are just not compassionate. I do think you have well-laid out as to why u'r vegan. These are precisely the reasons I have stopped consuming meat for over 8-9 years now (I do still eat eggs tho). I believe in all those 'small' stances, & that's the way to go - a small step everyday in the right direction. It is indeed a sacrifice and one that u feel amazingly good abt.

    And thnx for highlighting the video - that says it all. I'ed already seen it before. There's one on foie gras too. Isn't it truly sooo sad a situation?? Just hard for me to comprehend how people can't see the cruelty or feel the suffering of poor animals. (After all, its only us humans in the animal kingdom who have the feeling of 'compassion', as Dr.Goodall is quick to point out.) I think people just tend to bypass or happily ignore what happens to these animals. I say - let people see the plight of these animals and then think abt whether they feel like doing something about it. Let it stay at the back of their minds where and how the meat's coming from..

    My generous bottomline: I have nothing against people consuming meat, but atleast the animals which are being killed should die with the least amount of pain, and while they live, they should lead happy lives. And that isn't much to ask for, is it??
    Gotta say - am quite glad to know that u truly care abt animals :) Kinda hard to find people that do..

    btw, here's something i bumped into: http://planetsmoothie.com/inventor/default.aspx (A cool chance to win $5000, for a green cause!)

    Charanya: Well-put! U'ed earlier mentioned abt the initiative u started on recycling Starbucks sleeves. Maybe u already could have some ideas in mind on recycling/reusing planet smoothie cups. I'm going to brainstorm too. Hopefully one of us or all together come up with a super-cool idea :D

     
  • At 2/18/2008 1:28 PM, Blogger Mommy G said…

    GGS: Thank you and thats totally awesome!!! I am glad to find more people who are on the same path!!

    I deleted my old post as the remarks got out of hand and people wouldn't stop commenting. As I said this is a topic close to heart and when people criticize it ... it's tough for me to take it. But I should really listen to Cha and just not let this bring me down! :)

    Awesome find on the planet smoothie .. gotta start thinking! :D

     
  • At 2/19/2008 7:10 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Need to agree that that video is probably one of 'the' most disturbing ones I have ever seen. I have been a vegetarian all my life and do have strong feelings about the unethical treatment of animals.

    But I sometimes think about us herbivores too. We do our share of killing as well, when we kill all kinds of plant life for food. Who is to decide whether THAT is done the right way or not? Just because WE cannot comprehend a plant's pain when we chop it or see/hear it's lamentation does not mean that plants don't have any such feelings. They definitely have the same survival instincts that you can see in any other advanced living thing. Am I going to stop eating ALL living things then? Probably not. I am just going to continue pretending like I am not hurting another living thing when I make my next salad (It should be OK if a blind and deaf person slits a calf's throat...)

    Anywayz, my comments are totally tangential to your post...kudos to your effort to being a vegan...I can imagine how hard it is to be one....as you said, every drop counts and your efforts definitely do....

    Cheers,
    K

    P.S: I just remembered reading a while back about this lil community somewhere here in California...all of them lived only by feeding on fruits and vegetables that would naturally get detached from the plant/tree bearing it....they wouldn't pluck a fruit off of a tree, in case that would hurt the tree!!

     
  • At 2/26/2008 12:10 PM, Blogger Mommy G said…

    Anony: I have heard the plant argument before ... and I have no comeback. it's true .. they have life and there is no way for us to tell their pain is any lesser than that of animals. Very disturbing thought though! :(

     
  • At 4/18/2008 1:43 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    i guess if you believe in karma and that souls are born again and assume animal life forms it would amount to cannibalism if you them.

    whereas for the plants it's a tough life out there!

     

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