Why veganism is more than a diet

[Guest guest]

Adam Kochanowicz

Omaha Vegan Examiner

My readers may have noticed a lot of my entries mention nothing about the

hottest recipes or health benefits of a plant-based diet. In fact, I often post

on subjects having nothing to do with food or dieting but the less popular vegan

lifestyle.

 

In fact, the strict definition of veganism as defined by the Vegan Society in

England describes " veganism " as " ways of living.. "

 

Why does it matter?

 

 

I blogged earlier about the confusion we sustain when we as animal rights

advocates say things like " don't eat meat " or " stop killing animals " when we

could be encouraging lifestyles which are critical to any use of an animal. Of

course we should abstain from killing animals and eating them, but statements

like these reinforce two stereotypes

 

1. animals are treated humanely as long as they're kept alive (killing animals

is wrong, but exploiting them while alive is more humane.)

2. the sole act of just buying or putting meat in our mouths is cruel.

 

As for the first stereotype, I often hear this kind of statement used to defend

circuses. For example " circuses are more humane for animals because they live

longer in captivity. " Besides this not being true, we can do better than simply

judging the rights of an animal based on how long they live as a slave.

 

Should we eat meat? Of course I don't advocate purchasing or eating meat

whatsoever but will a vegetarian also avoid leather? Will they also avoid

products tested on animals? Understandably, there may be some difficulties in

avoiding every single product that may be tied to animal exploitation, but a

dietary vegan will judge that criteria based on whether or not they're going to

eat it.

 

For instance, acryllic paint is made with eggs. A dietary vegan artist would

buy acryllic paint though they wouldn't buy a carton of eggs. Again, the

dietary vegan does not decide on their consumption based on its effect on the

animal industry but whether or not they're going to eat it. Does that make any

sense?

 

The vegan fear of veganism

 

To say vegans are afraid of veganism sounds counterintuitive but I still hear

fellow vegans telling me their decision to abstain from animal products is

merely a personal decision, that other's consumption of animals is not a

problem.

 

Of course, we don't need to be confrontational with everyone we meet. After

all, if you're someone like me, you have family and friends who are not vegan.

Certainly, we should respect other's life choices but don't forget we don't

disagree on favorite bands or political parties but lifestyles which cause

animals to endure extreme torture as slaves.

 

So no, you don't have to be confrontational, but why not be educational? What

about those individuals who wish to go vegan but are subjected to ridicule and

mis-education about the benefits of veganism? Will you be there to support and

educate them about the underfunded truth?

 

There are a lot of Ben Wests out there who say they wish to restore and sustain

peace by embracing the peace caused by the lack of protests. Ben West was the

mayor of Nashville and defended segregation while speaking out against lunch

counter sit-ins and protests because they caused civil unrest. When an ethical

vegan keeps their mouth shut about what they believe, they may avoid a

disagreement but ignorance remains unchallenged.

 

After waves of protests, West publicly defended equal treatment of races despite

criticism.

Author: Adam Kochanowicz

Adam Kochanowicz is an Examiner from Omaha. You can see Adam's articles on

Adam's Home Page.

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