Why this vegan doesn't celebrate 'National Meatout Day'

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As the Standard American Diet (or " S.A.D. " Diet) becomes increasingly

questionable, consumers are starting to ask just how natural or ethical an

omnivorous lifestyle really is.

 

In the same way organizations, businesses, and interest groups have returned the

call for eco-friendly consumerism with their products and recommendations, so

too do Animal Rights groups respond with preferred diets and lifestyles.

 

Unfortunately, time has shown popularity for an Animal Rights message is not

what saves animals, but what gets donations and members.

 

Consumers may have been drawn to animal-free dieting from videos showing animals

abused in undercover footage not only for meat, not only for food, but as

products: Food, clothing, entertainment, and companionship.

 

Having been drawn to such dramatic revelation, you would think Animal Rights

organizations would educate consumers to change their minds about viewing

sentient creatures like us as objects--things that exist for our means.

 

Watching mother cows bellow in an empty shack for their babies who have been

stolen from them to be confined as veal, or witnessing those mothers being

shackled and dragged onto a slaughterhouse truck having been rendered useless as

dairy cows by suffering several years of repeated forced pregnancies and

unattended infections, you would think Animal Rights organizations would ask

consumers to go vegan.

 

You would think even referring to an animal as " meat " would be prejudicial for

an Animal Rights organization.

 

National Meatout Day Starts Tomorrow

The largest Animal Rights organizations are telling consumers to ditch meat and

go vegetarian. In fact, some are telling their supporters to become

" consciencious omnivores " and even help the animal industry to market their

product with " humane " labels for negligible reforms in the way animals are

killed, tortured, and exploited.

 

Instead of educating consumers to view animals as moral rightholders, consumers

are convinced they can exploit animals in an ethical way. This view is much

easier to swallow, more popular to omnivores, and is destroying any chance

animals have for freedom.

 

Vegetarian and vegan bloggers are raving about today's " National Meatout Day "

which asks people not to deny animal products, but simply give up meat.

 

Campaigns like these break my heart. It's a popular theory that vegetarianism

is half as good or a gradual step in the right direction. I felt comfortable

thinking this way for six years before anyone ever told me about veganism.

 

There is No Ethical Difference Between an Omnivore and a Vegetarian

 

 

Vegetarians should feel positive for making an act of discipline, one which may

have sincerely caused you to step out of your comfort zone, but I cannot lie and

say there is any ethical difference between your diet and that of an omnivore.

 

 

Again, the problem is not just meat, not just dairy, but the overall

commodification of animals. The pioneering work of Gary Francione makes a

powerful argument for this case. The vegetarian diet does not have any inherent

restriction that tells us to abstain from animal products or eat less of them.

Rather, a diet devoid of meat and fish causes a vegetarian to simply eat

different animal products while allowing for any sort of non-food animal

consumption like clothing and entertainment.

 

So a vegetarain could potentially be supporting the animal industry more in the

form of animal by-products and may actually be consuming animal flesh by putting

it on their bodies rather than in their mouth.

 

The argument could be made that a vegetarian may consume more plants as a result

but there is nothing inherent abuot vegetarianism that would cause someone to

consume less from the animal industry. As a vegetarian may eat more vegetables

as a result, an omnivore may do the same by moving into a new neighborhood,

buying a bigger house, or by the flap of a butterfly's wing.

 

As Animal Rights advocates and ethical vegans, we should stop reinforcing the

stereotype that " eating meat " is wrong and join the movement to change the way

people think about sentient creatures.

 

This is actually nothing new, organizations like Friends of Animals, Responsible

Policies for Animals; sanctuaries like the Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary, and

academics like Gary Francione and Bob Torres have contributed to a strong

abolitionist movement to declare rights for animals by setting veganism as the

starting point.

 

Rather than " National Meatout Day " , I declare every March 20th as " National

Animal-Free Day " or " National Day of Non-Violence. " If we're going to be

serious about defending the rights of the animals we hold as slaves, it's time

to go vegan.

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Comments

Bea Elliott says:

I wonder how different it would be if it were called " Compassion-Day " ... or

" Flesh-Out " day? I'm very uneasy using the word " meat " - it just further

intrenches the idea that animals parts/products are " food " ...

Anyway, great piece - thank you Adam...

March 21, 12:27 PM

Adam Kochanowicz says:

As requested, I would like to do a follow-up piece addressing some of the

comments and concerns in this article.

 

However, please be patient with me as I continue to provide more diverse,

entertaining, and locally-based articles for my readers. I will be happy to

provide an informative response sometime next week.

 

Click on the " Subscribe to Email " link above next to my photo. This will send

email updates to you as soon as articles are published and will inform you of my

upcoming response article. Thank you everyone for your thoughts and go vegan!

March 21, 11:16 AM

clever_pseudonym says:

I support & celebrate any meat-eater who takes the first step of abstaining from

meat consumption.

 

Meat abstinence is a gateway to a widening understanding of animal rights. It

was my first step. Not everyone can wake up one day and decide to suddenly rid

themselves of all forms of animal abuse inherent to the American way of life. I

have done my best in steps, and at times these behavioral changes have caused

harm to my health as I have learned to eat a more responsible diet. For someone

who grew up on McDonald's, it is impossible to suddenly stop all forms of animal

abuse safely and improbable that they would try. I was not an omnivore. I was a

vegephobic carnivore, and yes, cutting out meat did immediately increase my

intake of cruelty-free foods.

 

I would like to hear more about the author's own journey to veganism and how

they came to have such antipathy for the plight of those who are finding their

way toward a better life. At least by replacing meat with other forms of protein

and proving to myself and my family that it wouldn't kill me, I was able to gain

the confidence & compassion to try doing even better. I was not as healthy as a

vegetarian as I eventually became as a vegan but I could not have gotten there

without first eating a vegetarian diet.

 

Let us all strive to live better lives and recognize the good in others.

March 21, 6:12 AM

Adam Kochanowicz says:

Thanks everyone for your comments. I'd like to provide some feedback.

 

First, I have to repeat my point that there is nothing inherent about a

vegetarian diet that will " cause less suffering " . A vegetarian diet simply asks

the dieter to eat different animal products, not less, not better.

 

Also, indeed it's difficult to get some people to go vegan, so why should the

logical response be to weaken our campaign to recommending a diet inconsisitent

with our animal rights beliefs as a response? It's counterintuitive.

 

If you get into a conversation with someone about veganism, always let it be

about veganism. They might say " well, I don't know if I could go vegan, but

maybe vegetarian. " I've heard this, here's what you can do:

 

Let this person know that animal products, not " meat " is the culprit. It's

important we challenge the fallicious stereotype that " meat is bad " If you don't

know what I mean, it would behoove you to watch earthlings at http earthlings

(dot) vegpage (dot) com

 

While we may not expect this person to simply give up animal products overnight,

ask instead for them to try to eliminate as many animal products as they can.

 

If we tell them to " first give up meat, then work on milk and eggs later if you

can " , this may seem like we're offering them " steps " but instead we're telling

them not to eat less animal products, but different ones. There is no decrease

in suffering or exploitation in taking this step.

 

It may feel uncomfortable at first to put your foot down, but there are polite,

creative ways to educate others. You'll be pleasantly surprised how easy it is

to spread vegan education.

March 20, 7:35 PM

Kimmee says:

Sorry about that. Thought you might enjoy reading this considering it's Meat-Out

day.

Toodles!

March 20, 5:26 PM

Matt says:

BADkarma: Evidence please.

The Adventist longitudinal study shows that vegetarians live, on average, 7

years longer. Even when controlling for exercise, tobacco use, etc. If you have

evidence to the contrary, please back up your statements.

March 20, 3:08 PM

BADKarma says:

I continue to be delighted by the ever-mounting evidence that the Veganist

Jihad's psychotic religious dietary requirements cause Veganism to be a

self-limiting disease, because not only do Veganists die young, the males have

low sperm counts, so they don't tend to reproduce. Score another one for

Darwinism in action!

March 20, 2:23 PM

karen says:

A " vegetarian " diet may OR MAY NOT contain eggs and dairy. Not ALL vegetarians

consume eggs & dairy, let's PLEASE get this straight.

March 20, 10:08 AM

Kristin says:

I also disagree. Sometimes veganism can seem overwhelming to people but

vegetarianism is more accessible and hopefully a gateway to veganism. I was

vegetarian before I went vegan and it sounds like you might have been too. I

would hope that getting someone to make one step in the right direction, might

teach them something and then lead them to the next step. Of course I'd rather

everyone just go vegan.

March 20, 10:07 AM

Alan says:

As someone who just celebrated his 7th anniversary of being vegan, I have to

disagree. It's all fair and well to ask people to become vegan (for all of the

excellent reasons you list), but the vast and overwhelming majority of people

will not.

 

For those people, " Meat-Out " and " Meatless Monday " -type events are a gateway

into causing less suffering for animals in the world. Imagine how many fewer

animals would suffer if everyone ate a few vegetarian or vegan meals every week?

March 20, 8:26 AM

Tsila says:

Excellent piece! Thank you for putting into words some of the stuff I've been

mulling over myself this past week with regards to National Meatout Day.

March 20, 8:15 AM