Why veganism, two and a half years later

[rax]

A couple people have asked me why I'm vegan recently, and it got me thinking about how some of the reasons are the same as when I started and some of them are rather different. One of the questions was in terms of what living with me would look like, and that was interesting for a whole host of reasons, not least of which the fact that I'm going to be looking for housemates very soon. So I thought I'd free-write about it and share and see what other people thought about it, too.

When I first started doing the vegetarian thing, in 2004, it was so that I could get fresh produce instead of cafeteria food while I was working at a summer camp, and because I couldn't afford much of anything else. It turned out that I enjoyed it, although when I got more money and a different job I went back to eating meat, then gave up meat and kept eating fish, and by the end of November had just said "screw it I'm a vegetarian now." But I pretty much rejected any political premise for this --- sure some of it was in the back of my mind, but at the time I was going all California health-conscious and working out like crazy (for me, anyway, which is not as much as maybe it should be) and I associate the decision with that more than anything. 

I did veganism for Lent a couple of years --- maybe three? And the last time, 2008, it stuck. Partially I stuck with it because I had become lactose-intolerant from going vegan earlier and it was easier just to cut dairy out of my diet entirely. At the time, I wrote "I am not vegan because I believe it is wrong to eat animals or animal products." This has changed; I don't go so far as most abolitionist vegans [0] and think that animal lives are worth as much as human lives. I think it's important to prioritize human life and experience and to consider the people preparing and shipping and growing our food when we talk about "cruelty-free" products and diet. And I think there are some situations in which eating animal products isn't wrong, or at least, its wrongness doesn't matter very much, since it's stacked up against the wrongness of starving oneself (or malnourishing oneself, or what have you). But for people who have the time and Internet access to read my rambly thoughts about veganism, and who have the financial resources to make most to all of their own food choices, I think it's wrong to eat meat.

The thing is... I don't really care if you do it. We all do things that are wrong in this sense all the time. I think it's wrong to perpetuate economic inequities, but I'm not sending most of my income to charity organizations or to the government. [1] I think it's wrong to go to war most to all of the time, but I'm not out there protesting right now. I think it's wrong to make individual transportation dependent on fossil fuels whose extraction and marketing is hardly "cruelty-free" but I own a car. [2] It is my assumption that people who eat meat probably work to improve the world around them in different tiny ways from the ones I do, and it's not my place to tell them they should be improving the world in the tiny ways I find the most important. (I'm also not going to try to convince anyone that being vegan is one of the ways they should choose to do this; other people have done it much better.)

In terms of relationships, close friendships, and housemates? It is convenient and comfortable to spend time with people doing the same tiny things as me, and I like having housemates who are also vegan biker queer &c. &c. I'm basically unbothered by vegetarian food in my environment but sometimes the smell of cooking meat kinda weirds me out. Luckily our new house has a vent fan over the stove, so as long as potential new housemates do a good job with the dishes, I don't really mind. Kissing meat-eaters can be weird if it's right after a meal, but luckily my current onmivore paramour (which is super fun to say out loud) has quietly made this not an issue at all without my ever having to say anything. [3] I like to be able to cook for people, and I'm happy to meet their restrictions when doing so if they have allergies or preferences, although at this point if their preferences include "every meal must have animal products" we're probably not going to eat together very often because that's not a preference I can meet in my kitchen.

The environmental veg*n idea (mentioned in this comment) also holds some sway for me --- that producing meat requires more environmental resources (food, water, space, and so on) and it's good to take up fewer resources. I've heard anything from "meat takes twice as many resources" to "meat takes ten times as many resources" and I don't know what to believe, but not even Serious Meat Apologists claim it doesn't take more so I figure the claim, if not the scale, is true. It's hard to sit there and pat myself on the back for taking up fewer resources with my food choices when I live on arable land and grow grass, have central air, and own a car. But at least I don't eat animals too, I guess. ;)

A lot of vegans are down on them, and often for good reason, but vegan fake meat products really help me with all of this. Sure, they're more resource-intensive than raw produce, and they're mass-produced, and they're not as good for you, and so on, but they allow me access to the kinds of meals I find nostalgic (vegan calzones!!!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3) and the kinds of meals I can serve much more easily to omnivorous friends. Plus, they taste really good. ^^;; Over time I'm working on making my own (spiced seitan!) and abstracting the things I cook away from "fake meat" --- like marinated tempeh instead of "fake beef in a box" --- but I don't think the concept is inherently wrong given the cultural and nostalgic value that meat-seeming food has for a lot of people.

I should come back to this at the end of 2012 and see what I think then. In the meantime, it's time to have some granola with soy yogurt, and maybe some juice, and then get to work. :P

[0] Some would, either grinning enthusiastically or rolling their eyes, say "yet." I don't expect this to happen, but I also didn't expect to get where I am now, so who knows.

[1] Well, that might be even worse, really.

[2] I care a lot about this one too, thus all the walking and biking and such, but if I really cared, I could certainly live without a car. I just don't, because having one is nice, and I'm unwilling to give up the usefulness for the principle. Whether this is pragmatism or moral incontinence  depends on your perspective, I guess.

[3] He did once taste of cheap candy, but what can you do. ;)

Comments

[damerell]

"I'm unwilling to give up the usefulness for the principle" - I think the principle reason the damn things are so insidious is that they externalise their costs on other people so effectively.

[krinndnz.livejournal.com]

Enlightening - thank you.

There are a lot of paths towards living with compassion, and that's a nifty one.

[postrodent.livejournal.com]

I was quietly horrified that you could taste snack cake on me; it was early enough in the relationship that I thought that might be dealbreaker-esque. ;)

[tiamat360.livejournal.com]

It is my assumption that people who eat meat probably work to improve the world around them in different tiny ways from the ones I do, and it's not my place to tell them they should be improving the world in the tiny ways I find the most important.

That's a wonderful way of seeing it, I think.

I've heard anything from "meat takes twice as many resources" to "meat takes ten times as many resources" and I don't know what to believe...

At each level of the food chain, you lose ~90% of the energy from the previous level. So, of the sunlight that reaches the earth's surface, only ~10% of that energy gets stored in plants, and when a cow comes along and eats those plants, only ~10% of that energy makes it into the cow. So yes, producing meat takes about 10 times more energy (if not, strictly speaking, resources) than producing plant products.

[lhexa.livejournal.com]

Okay, please bear with my self-indulgently long response. :P

Your attitude matches mine rather closely. I regard eating meat as a wrong, due to the suffering inflicted on animals during the process. But, despite a period of five years as a vegetarian, I'm now back to eating meat, mainly because I was and am far too finicky to be healthy on a vegetarian or vegan diet. (And no, the answer to my being finicky isn't "you haven't tried enough" -- that doesn't work when I gag on flavors most people find palatable. As far as I can tell, I genuinely taste things differently than other people do.) I think there's a trade-off to be made, between my maintaining a healthy diet and eating animals, and being healthy is more important. That being said, I do think it will someday be viable to switch entirely to vat-grown or synthetic meat, and I'll happily do so.

Regarding the "meat consumes more resources" argument: my first gauge for the amount of resources (not just material, but fuel and labor) consumed by an item of food is its price. This unfortunately is biased by variations in supply/demand and such things as corn subsidies. Still, it's the best one I have for comparing specific items, rather than broad categories like "vegetables versus meats". And under this criterion, I notice a couple of things. First, processed foods involve something like a 100% markup -- they have more packaging and are precooked, along with other stuff that means their preparation consumed more resources than the ingredients. If I compare a two-dollar cut of beef (which, in my grocery store, is large enough to be a complete meal) and a five-dollar vegan TV dinner, can I be sure that the latter consumed fewer resources? (Though again, corn subsidies and the lower supply of vegan meals biases the prices.) Second, and more pertinently, eating at a restaurant introduces a markup of 300% or more over a homemade meal. The surplus money pays for such things as the construction of restaurants, its A/C costs, the wages of its employees, the profits of its owners, and its wasted meals and ingredients... while the previous comparison was dubious, I think it's arguable that eating a home-cooked meat-based meal spends fewer resources (at least, if the labor of cooking doesn't cut into other productivity) than eating out anywhere, vegan places included. A free-spending vegan consumes more resources than a frugal omnivore.

I bring that unbalanced comparison up not to moralize (though I do think there's a strong case to be made against supporting restaurant chains that treat their employees badly, and there are many such chains), but to outline one of the further dimensions in the question of a person's impact on the world. A more personal matter involves long car drives: when I'm in the right mood, I've found that such rides are tremendous, irreplaceable sources of inspiration and introspection... there are also bike rides at night, but while they provide introspection of comparable intensity, it's a different sort of experience. However, such rides put carbon dioxide into the air, drain my bank account, and consume a limited but vital resource, with no practical reason. How do I weigh the value of inspiration against the harm of consumption? I don't claim this is answerable, but I do want to applaud you for having a broad enough awareness of related issues to appreciate the quandary. The more common debates about veganism or consumption center on either the supposed ignorance or selfishness of the masses, or the role of powerful corporations and interests, leaving out a vast range of both individual experience/reasoning and collective behavior. *grins* Also, thanks for the chance to articulate something I've been pondering recently, which is always a chance that ought to be taken.

[kilroi.livejournal.com]

fwiw (oh and hi, I haven't read lj in like a million years), this really only discusses eating meat versus actual veganism (despite some brief mentions in the beginning). do you have any thoughts on the non-meat aspects? I do see that you noted lactose intolerance, but that's still somewhat different than "won't eat an occasional (non-vegan) baked good". Please do note I'm not pushing for you to do so, but all that I read in what you are saying is about meat per se.

[jadia.livejournal.com]

It's funny when I notice my opinions about things have changed - I often don't notice while it's changing, but sometime much later I'll suddenly realize I'm holding the exact opposite opinion from me-of-10-years-ago.

I used to be a bit scornful of vegetarianism & veganism that was based in preventing cruelty to animals. And I used to be all like "but ... how could you not want to eat meat, which is the tastiest thing ever?"

These days I have started to buy into the whole "meat is bad for the environment" thing, as well as the "our food processing machine is too cruel to animals". (I wonder, though, whether it's just because I'm slowly being brainwashed by my environment.)

Anyway, all that is to say that now I'm intrigued by the idea of trying vegetarianism for a bit and seeing how it goes.

[iainuki.livejournal.com]

Have you ever considered going fruitarian for Lent? (Note: not a serious suggestion.)

[rathdei.livejournal.com]

I like vegans!

Dating them is hard, though, when you are not.

[kiya]

The best food conversion rates (drawn from a book on space habitats) are something like 2-2.5x as much food as meat produced for certain fish/seafood/prawns, 3x for chickens, and from there it gets worse.

The tricky bit on the resources front is that ethically produced meat does not actually use human food resources much at all, as, for example, people do not typically eat grass. The whole grain-fed meat thing is pretty much cow abuse. Also I think a global warming thing, as I think grain-fed cattle produce more methane?

At the same time, I have encountered rather a lot of anecdotal evidence that some people cannot eat vegetarian and be healthy (that whole "malnourishing yourself" thing) and I am certainly one of them; one of the pieces of anecdotal evidence I came across was a doctor tying the subtypes somewhat to blood groups. (And by that logic, I am in the "Oh, honey, don't even try" blood group.)

[cat-in-dminor.livejournal.com]

Though there is no way in hell i'd ever give up meat. (I'm such a carnivore) I do have to say the food you made when I came over was fucking awesome.

And that is my 2 cents