Animal Rights: Personal Statement

Animal Rights Page

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I have been vegetarian for three or so years by now, and overall it has been a fairly good experience. It has been personally rewarding in that I have been able to stick to a principled way of eating. Principle was always my purpose of becoming a vegetarian, not health or other motive, though other things of course are "gravy" that makes it that much more valuable and appealing. Also, it is not like I am suddenly a person with a healthy diet with a balance of good food and exercise. Surely not. Choosing other foods and having meat substitutions, for instance, doesn't necessarily mean more nutrients in one's diet (though soy will provide plenty of protein and a glass of carrot/orange juice with vitamins a healthy source of certain nutrients).

It has not been that hard to be a vegetarian, though some will cry that not having a vegan diet makes me an incomplete vegetarian. I shall agree, since eggs and dairy violate vegetarian goals, if in a somewhat lesser way. Therefore, one gripe of mine is their use of in substitutes … having purely vegan sausage substitutes (to take an example), I can report that such use is not necessary. Furthermore, if you are going to go half way, why not just go all the way? After all, dairy and eggs have health issues of their own, not only ethical problems. [Vegans also don't eat honey, so why does a certain health store that is surely popular with vegans often have predominantly honey- flavored bagels?] Also, what with the use of dairy in such things as tomato sauce in microwave pasta? The lack of truly vegan convenience food continues to be a gripe of mine, as I do try to stay true the ultimate ends of my eating habits.

So, how is my vegan consistency? Well, honestly I know that my daily breakfast pound cake or donut might have milk, since it is a lot more convenient (and cheaper) than vegan alternatives that are rather good in their own right. A few times a month, I have pizza and/or pasta containing cheese, and perhaps, some milk chocolate cake. It is annoying really, since ready available alternatives are possible, but rarely so easily obtained. For instance, some nonvegetarians like pizza without cheese, but many a pizzeria will not have slices available for a quick bite to eat. [I was pleased to note a "Two Boots" exception to this general rule, as well as at least one local pizzeria of mine.] Meat and chicken alternatives are out there that are not bad at all, but a fully vegetarian/vegan friendly world looks to be a long time coming.

I also have shrimp a few times, which is not vegan, but really on the outer contours of respectability in my opinion. The problem is that shrimp is seen by some as part of an amorphous "seafood" group that people associate with fish. Why not just throw in dolphins and whales in too, after all they all live in the water! Having learned in grade school (and common sense) that fish are of a higher stage of development, and shrimp and the like are if anything less advanced than the insects destroyed in plant cultivation), I do see a difference here. Nonetheless, I have begun to try to have alternatives to seafood, since eating shrimp is not free from trouble, and there are other things out there to eat. Still, some attempts by vegans to speak of quality of life of such foods at times has the feel of the ridiculous; better off sticking with environmental concerns and the benefits of consistency.

Though a vegan lifestyle (no animal products, plus a general philosophy of nonviolence) is not without problems, a simple vegetarian existence is really not that difficult. Surely, if one accepts dairy and eggs (no big fan of eggs, they are in some of the cakes I eat), it is not a gigantic leap, no matter what some say. After all, many people these days cut back on their meat eating. Thus, not eating steak and replacing hamburgers and sausages with meat-free alternatives leaves one left with chicken (and often seldom eaten alternatives, such as pork chops, and the like). There are meat-free chicken cutlets, strips, and cold cuts as well as various alternative foods, though yes some will miss KFC style pieces of chicken (I didn't "love" them, so I was okay with that too). Soymilk can replace cow's milk. And before you know it … vegetarian diet! A bit less convenient, yes, but not only are alternatives broader than many think, it is better on one's conscience (and for many, body). A fair trade.

One thing I am not is much of a cook. Sure, I can do a bit of something with tofu and microwave rice, tossing in some mushrooms (fried portabello mushrooms are very good), or the like, but have yet to master making pasta. The water never boils, and the pasta rarely comes out exactly right. Therefore, though I have various books with recipes, a vegetarian chef I am not. Yes, I have tried some vegetarian friendly foods (tofu, tempeh, quinoa, etc.), but recipes are not for me. They nearly always require too many ingredients, surely for a person like myself, and are just a tad scary. I do admit to playing around with a few ingredients, and it can be fun, but I'm a prime example of not needing to be fancy.

In other areas, I am no saint, but am reasonably honest in sticking to my convictions. One tricky area is work shoes, which currently I admit are leather. My last pair was not, but I had more trouble finding a kosher pair this time around; the expensive pair being quickly scratched punished me. There are alternatives, as shown by my vegan belt, and I should have been more persistent. Again, laziness strikes again. I am not always saintly around animals, but fully feel they deserve to be respected, including not inflicting unnecessary harm or pain in ways such as using carriage horses, circus animals, and race horses/dogs. I still see no point of furs, even if they are raised in farms instead of caught by horrible traps; the animals still are needlessly killed and harmed. Likewise, hunting seems to me a horrible practice, and respect of nature and culture can be achieved by ways other than killing things. Concern for overpopulation and the like is selective and often hypocritical, since population is artificially raised in various areas for certain popular game animals.

Finally, I am a believer in environmental protection partly because pollution of it usually poisons inhabited areas, as well as because nature is part of this country’s precious resources. Therefore, drilling for oil in the Alaskan Wilderness should be an area of concern, especially if we realize the good it does is overrated, and helps to ignore our overdependence on oil. Environmental protection, however, can become unreasonable. We must face up with the costs involved, remembering that the big picture is important, and there are various issues to be taken into consideration. This also increases the support of environmental protection, which benefits us all in the end. For instance, wetland protections are important, but excessive regulation of every theoretical wetland area has victimized innocent people who cannot afford the economic loss involved. Just as people need to realize the environment belongs to us all, thus some regulation of even private property is justified; excessive regulation ultimately harms us all.