I'm thinking of trying out a new feature. I'm going to try to post something every Monday that has to do with food activism or veganism (vegetarianism). This blog is about our journey as a family, and that necessarily includes those topics. It won't all be in-your-face-activism, though occasionally it might be. I promise to post recipes and other stuff, too. We'll see how it goes.
What finally pushed me over the edge into trying out this feature on the blog was Jamie Kilstein - a vegan comedian - and Citizen Radio, a political and activism radio show that he created with his wife. Jamie Kilstein is hilarious, by the way.
Citizen Radio started a new program called Red Radio (hosted by Erin Red), which is specifically about veganism and animal rights. The inaugural episode features an interview with Colleen Patrick Goudreau who wrote one of my favorite vegan baking books - The Joy of Vegan Baking. (I make the cinnamon buns out of there for all special occasions and they never last more than 20 minutes out of the oven. Then I have to make a second batch for everyone else...)
I started listening to the show, but I couldn't make it to Goudreau's interview. Erin Red, the host, began with "what's actually in your McRib sandwich" and detailed some of the allegations of abuse and neglect at the factory farm which supplies McDonald's with pork. (They are being sued and investigated by the Humane Society for gross violations.) What actually goes into a McRib is disgusting, but the abuse allegations were unimaginably cruel. I had to turn the program off before she could get into the worst of it because I just couldn't handle it. This is part of the reason I'm vegan, anyway. I can't stomach animal cruelty, so I don't eat animals. Even though I couldn't make it through the episode, I highly recommend you give it a listen. If you've ever wondered how your food gets made, this is an eye-opener.
As I've said before, I don't advocate a vegan diet for everyone. It's hard work: it requires time, money and vigilance - which are three things in short supply in this economy. You also have to be extremely well educated to insure you are getting proper nutrition. Being vegan is easier for me than trying to make sure I ethically source all of my animal products, which is another part of the reason I do it. But if you are eating meat and/or dairy, I strongly feel that you have a responsibility to know where your food is coming from and how it's treated before it hits your table. It's not just an animal rights issue, though that's a big part of it. It's also a human rights issue (migrant and illegal labor), a health issue (hormones and antibiotics injected into the food supply), and an environmental issue (pollution, run-off, e. coli contamination, a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico from farm run-off...).
I also strongly believe that how we treat those who are weaker than us defines us as human beings, and defines us as a species in a larger sense. I saw a bumper sticker years ago that has stayed with me and really resonated: "People who abuse animals rarely stop there." Violence is becoming pandemic in modern society and if we can't be kind to a cow who is destined to become our dinner, how can we expect to be kind to one another?
Check out Red Radio's inaugural episode. It's worth listening to, even the hard parts. (It's also totally free and available online or via podcast.)
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