protein myth

you all know the protein myth, right?

I already mentioned that e.g. the German strongman Patrick Baboumia is a vegan and experiences no such thing as a protein deficit. So why would we normal people, who don't lift heavyweights and such?! Beans for example are rich in protein and have far less fat and certainly hold less medications compared to meat and other animal products!! So sometimes it really feels like this:

not your mom - not your milk.

remember: 

'humane' meat

'humane' meat...
seriously...?
there is no such thing!
what could ever be humane about killing?

reason 5: superpowers

reason #5 for veganism: If you become a vegan you get superpowers!! At least according to the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which I herby recommend to you! But take care: The vegan police is watching you, so don't just go around and pretend...!

58 Billion

picture taken from: http://veganbodyproject.blogspot.de/2012/09/normal.html

''We no longer enslave animals for food purposes'' Star Trek

STAR TREK: The Next Generation 
Season 1 
'Lonely Among Us'

''We no longer enslave animals for food purposes'' William Riker / No. 1 (played  by Jonathan Frakes)

Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, was a vegetarian and I believe he was right in portraying the consumption of meat linked to aggression and violence.
No matter if you have ever watched an episode of Star Trek or not, you surely know who Vulcans are. According to the show (STAR TREK : Enterprise - which was filmed 2001-2005, but is a prequel to ST : The Original Series) Vulcans are naturally vegans, as they are civilized, diplomatic and care a great deal for peace, while the logical code they follow seeks to embrace all creatures / life forms. As the show proceeds (from STAR TREK: The Original Series to ST : The Next Generation) also humans overcome the oppression of animals and by this become more efficient, modern and civilized than they had been. 

So Gene Roddenberry's message through STAR TREK might be: If we want to overcome war, oppression and discrimination the path we should take involves to stop the enslavement of animals. It will free our minds, make our species healthier and happier through embracing the truth and stop being responsible for so much suffering. Then and only then are we able to become civilized in a way that we claim we already are...

And coming back to Vulcans: Veganism simply is the most logical choice.

please don't

don't just stand by!
don't close your eyes to the injustice right there before you.
there is too much at stake. too many lives depend on us.
take a moment to make up your mind. get in touch with your beliefs.
it's worth it. i promise.

Phoebe Buffay

You surely know Phoebe in Friends, don't you?
She was always my favorite, but if you like her or not she is an excellent example of how vegetarians (and also vegans, but I'll come to that...) are portrayed in TV shows.
Phoebe is a vegetarian and Phoebe, oh wonder, is the weird one of the group.
She is the one that has all the weird ideas, that gets fed meat unknowingly and the one being friends with many other by the group considered as 'weird' people, of whom some are said to be vegetarians as well. She had a boyfriend, who was on a hunger strike, a friend who wouldn't shower until Tibet is free (which until today it isn't, so she must stink a lot by now) and such.
The idea of being vegetarian is in the series closely connected to being queer, what in Phoebes case manifests itself through her believe in spirits, the idea of aura and curses. Even so Phoebe is part of the group, a good friend, funny and honest, many people wouldn't want to friends with her in real life.
A while ago I came across a post on a website that was about the most noticeable illogical circumstances in Friends and one of them was the fact that the others were friends with Phoebe, as in real life she would be Monica's former weird roommate. But Phoebe is just an example for warm up.

Most other TV-shows portray vegans and vegetarians on a scale that starts with simple weirdness and ends with portraying them in a way that even I as a vegan start to dislike them. A quick example would be the 'dirty smelly hippie' Ted dated in How I Met Your Mother, who threw red paint in the face of the chef of the restaurant the group was eating in screaming 'Meat is murder!'. While meat in fact is murder, this kind of behavior makes people not like vegetarians and vegans and even so I understand it, when people act the way her character did, if you're out on a date with your non-vegetarian new boyfriend and his friends, I'm pretty sure most of us would do that...
Don't get me wrong here: I really like HIMYM! But in portraying vegetarians and vegans the show is kind of mean.
Unlike for example Southpark (were just everyone is ridiculed in the most offensive way possible) how vegans and vegetarians are portrayed in HIMYM made me like it a little less, even so it's still a great show. It simply feels a little like the writers really mean it and act in terms of carnistsic believes, when they rip on v/v's.

While we are on it: Southpark. I love it! The theme of how veganism and vegetarianism comes up in various episodes, but they really make it fun for me to watch, as they don't rip on v/v's so much, but more make fun of how society sees us. In the episode 'Fun with Veal' (6th season) Stan, Kyle and Butters are horrified, after they found out, that veal is in fact the meat of dead calves. They rescue dozens of baby cows and lock themselves and the calves in Stan's room and shortly after they are declared terrorists. Some of the food, that was send up to the boys contains chicken and beef and Stan, being ripped out of his carnistic illusion, refuses to eat any meat. While Cartman, who is with them (because the other boys made him help), tells Stan he'll become a 'pussy' if he doesn't eat meat, Stan in fact gets sick and weakly within a few hours, developing sores all over his face. It's really hilarious to watch! After the big showdown it all ends with Stan going to the hospital, where his doctor reveals that the sores on his face are actually little vaginas, because (as Cartman had said it) not eating meat had started to turn Stan into a giant pussy.
There is hardly any better critical view on what society thinks of v/v's, is there?

Maybe this one: Southpark - 15th season - 'Broadway Bro Down'.
Stan and his sister stay with the Feegans, a vegan family that always wears life jackets. There son is scared of everything and gets regularly beaten up, obviously because he doesn't eat meat. Throughout the episode he tries meat and considers it the best thing he ever tasted. Vegan food on the Feegan's dinner table is obviously very disgusting. While this is the subplot, I don't even need to go into it, you surely get what this says anyway: society thinks vegans are overly concerned about things, they are (coming back to Phoebe) weird and have queer ideas and most importantly any meal without meat (and dairy, eggs, etc.) tastes shit and makes you a pussy.

I'll leave you with that for now.

seitan

all rights reserved to the website BIZARRO.com and the artist Dan Piraro

reasons for veganism/vegetarianism part 2

3. It's contagious.

When I became a vegetarian in the first place no-one else in my family would have ever considered to also become a vegetarian. Seven years later I'm a vegan, my mother, sister and best friend have become vegetarians, my father cuts back on meat and even my boyfriend (who I had never expected to ever go down that road) has cut back on meat so far, that he only consumes fish on an irregular basis.
This might not sound so notably to you, but in my childhood days my family (including me) consumed meat every day, often with more than one meal! The same applies to the family of my boyfriend and most friends of mine. When I first became a vegetarian at the age of 13 most of them didn't personally knew a single person that also was vegetarian or vegan and especially my parents were sure that 'phase' of mine would be over within a few weeks.
Needless to say, it wasn't.
I'm quite confident that more people I know will turn vegetarian and some of my family members and already vegetarian living friends will turn vegan within the next years, as they see how well I get on with it and how much I benefit from this lifestyle of caring, that I chose.
I call it 'vevolution' and it's best feature is that it's highly infectious for anyone with a distinct mind!


4. The meat industry is pure evil.

There will be more posts on how exactly farmed animals, workers and the environment suffer due to the meat industry, but what I'm mainly trying to highlight here, is that except for the meat getting cheaper and cheaper and more money is flowing towards the managers and shareholders, there isn't one good or just thing to name in favor of this metaphorically bloodsucking industry.
Fact is, that as most workers aren't trained properly for the jobs they do, a noticeable number of animals is not dead, while they are being 'disassembled'. This again leads to further blunting of the workers mind, which often results in drinking problems or violent behavior towards their families, as for them violence has become entirely normal. So victims of the meat industry are not only the animals, but also the workers themselves (Melanie Joy states that no other group has such a high percentage of work related accidents) and their families and friends.
But this is not the extend of it - not by far! The meat industry pollutes our environment like no other industrial section. They pollute our water, are one of the main reasons for uprooting of the rainforest and the antibiotics used on farmed animals make the humans that consume them immune to several medications.
So as a matter of fact: WE are the victims of carnism. WE pay with our health, as the pollution that finds it's way back into OUR bodies through water, air and food.

made my day!

Quick thanks to all 278 pageviewers so far from Mexico, GB, Netherlands, Denmark, USA, Canada, Australia, Sweden and Germany! To tell the truth, at first I wasn't sure if anyone would ever come across this blog. But you proved me wrong! Also a big thanks to everyone, who left comments, shared this page and send me messages!
Coming up tomorrow: 'reasons for veganism/vegetarianism part 2'.

a poem

C

A

R

N

I

S

M

Cages slave and oppress

Animals kept in a manmade fortress.

Rapidly slaughtered, rapidly sliced,

Numberless,

Invisible

Souls are tortured out of their bodies.

Might we ever learn to feel again?

what does living 'vegan' really mean?

I've met several people that introduced themselves as vegans, while in fact they were vegetarians that mainly live vegan. I'm totally fine with those! I never called myself vegan at that state of my journey towards veganism, but for a long time I was something in-between vegan and vegetarian, because I simply couldn't let go of certain foods (in my case honey and occasionally cheese) or still believed I needed them from time to time.
I can totally understand what you are going through and I believe becoming vegan for real is a process that just very few people manage to come by at their first try. Still, please don't call yourself vegan then, because it makes vegans in general look inconsequent and their recall in media and general opinions of us are bad enough ;) By the way, there will be a post on vegans / vegetarians in the media some time next week (--> title will be: Phoebe Buffay).

So the vegan philosophy is quite simple:
If anywhere along the process of making the product you intend to buy where animals involved, it is not vegan. So honey isn't, as it's made by bees; leather shoes aren't, as it's cow-skin; milk, eggs and any products made out of such obviously aren't vegan as well and if you intend to eat soy-yoghurt or something like this is only vegan if the bacteria processing within weren't extracted from whey. Make-up is only vegan if it wasn't tested on animals and has no other ingredients in it extracted out of animals or animal produced products. Also clothes, shampoo and such can be non-vegan, so watch out!

This might sound very restricting, but it's quite easy to implement to real live as there are various signs made for vegan products and the "animal involved - not food; entirely plant based - food" rule really is convertible even for dummies. Soy products, bean curd and any kind of lentils are great substitutions for what formerly was the meat or cheese share of the dish!

 

the downside

There is none.

I'm serious.

Becoming vegan has been one of the best choices I have ever made. I do not feel limited in my choices, but instead like I have even more than before. I can look in the eye of ever living creature and instead of looking away out of guilt I can now face the truth and eventually take action.
It feels like I grow braver eyer day.
Through veganism I evolved.
Without the constant denial that had chained me before I now experience vulnerability in a hole new way. This may not sound as positive as it is meant... What I'm saying is: Through closing the door to the oppression and slaughter of animals, not one, but various new doors have opened up. While the quality of my life has increased through facing the truth and for the first time actually living according to my morals, the quality of my relationships to both humans and animals has also increased. I have become more sensible to the needs of all the other creatures around me, human or non-human animals alike, resulting in the fact that there has never been anything I felt so passionate and also compassionate about. It feels like the colors are brighter, my mind expanded, the way I love and the way I suffer when taking pity on others is far more intense.

In my opinion, there is no downside to veganism.

Because vegan is spelled L-O-V-E.

provocative? or simply the truth?

''[…] How removed from the screaming crowd of the dog pit is the laughing group around the summer steak barbecue?'' - Gary L. Francione (2009)

This quote I came across reading The Discursive Representation of Nonhuman Animals in a Culture of Denial by Karen J. Morgan and Matthew Cole (for further reading: Morgan, Karen J.; Cole, Matthew. Humans and Other Animals: Critical Perspectives. ed. / Bob Carter; Nickie Charles. London: Palgrave, 2011. p. 112-132.) and  since then I think about it all the time. I can't quote it i real life a lot, as it's quite offensive to people eating meat and I'm not naturally that much of a provocative person, but without trying to offend anyone: Isn't it true? 

Of course, attending and enjoying a dogfight is banned by society while being part of a get together centered around a barbecue is a norm, but besides from that - where is the difference? 

When someone enjoys the violence of two dogs tearing each other apart and another person enjoys the conjoined preparation and consumption of animal body parts that were slaughtered for mere enjoyment of humans (as are these dogs slaughtering each other for the same reason), is that not pretty much the same?

At first I considered the quote very provocative myself, but the longer i thought (and still think) about it, the more I agree. Still, this is not meant to be an offense to those who eat meat! I simply consider the mentioned quote to show the ambivalence our relationship to animals holds. The quote was used by Morgan and Cole for that reason also and there was no valuation or judgement in their text, for it is a scientific essay on the matter of todays culture of denial when it comes to the treatment of certain groups of animals. 

So: 
''[…] How removed from the screaming crowd of the dog pit is the laughing group around the summer steak barbecue?'' - Gary L. Francione (2009)

carnism and sexism

In the field of human-animal studies there is quite a wide field of sociologist exploring how the consumption of animals is relates to masculinity. In fact the number of female vegans and vegetarians is a lot higher compared to the number of males. This has various reasons, but is not what this post will explore.
Instead I will compare the the N's that Melanie Joy names as the main arguments for legalization of meat consummation to the same N's that have been used to legalize a patriarch society in the past.
I will not take quite the path Melanie Joy takes in the second chapter in her book to make this visible, but simply argument in the same manner for both carnism and sexism (which in reality I obviously both oppose).


Normal, Necessary, Natural

"It is normal to eat meat, because it has always been like this. History shows, that for the past two thousand years mankind has been eating meat."
is like saying
"It is normal, that men have more power and their opinion is valued higher, they are simply more important than women, because history shows, that until the feminist movement started it had been like this for over thousand years."
Exceptions in history can be found for both (women holding power / vegans+vegetarians) as they always existed, but the illogical argumentation of "it's always been like this, it must be right = it's normal" never mentions them.

"It is necessary to eat meat, because if you don't you get sick and also you will lack the protein for building up muscles. Anything else would be unhealthy."
is like saying (and this is in fact the argumentation that was used for denying women the right to vote)
"It is necessary that men can vote and women aren't aloud to, because their brains are designed differently and such a complex task that would demand understanding of various political matters is simply to much for them."
Both has obviously been proved wrong! And as a fun fact: Germanys strongest man Patrick Baboumian is a vegan.

"It is natural to eat meat, because we can. Also it is natural to farm animals, because we are smarter than them."
is like saying
"It is natural that the male status should be over the female, as most men are physically stroger than women. So as oppression of women through men is possible, that legalizes it, because it must have been intended."
As you have surely noticed this argumentation (just like the ones above) lacks the kind of logic a clear mind could and would ever trust.


While both argumentations seem equally silly sexism (at least as drastic as in this argumentation) is mainly overcome, while carnism has just been named. And it is not only sexism, carnism can be compared with, also there were various attempts through history to legalize racism and speciesism by there advocates in similar ways.
After knowing this, do YOU really want to continue to promote carnism and rase your children to believe in eating meat by arguing it is necessary, normal and natural?

reasons for veganism/vegetarianism part 1

1. Meat makes you sick.

"The vast majority, perhaps 80 to 90 perent of all cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and other forms of degenerative illness can be prevented, at least until very old age, simply by adopting a plant-based diet."
- T. Colin Campell, Ph.D., M.S., Professor Emeritius of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University

This quote was used by Melanie Joy to show how inconsequent the public health departments work, when they force labels on to cigaret packages (which itself is a good thing in my opinion), while not demanding labels on meat.

She then gives examples what those labels might state, such as "Surgeon General's Warning: Eating Meat Can Increase Your Risk of Dying from Heart Disease by 50 Percent." (quoted from Why we love dogs, eat pigs and wear cows, first published in 2010 by Red Wheel Weiser, pg. 92) or even more dramatically: "Surgeon General's Warning: Eating Meat Can Increase Your Risk of Developing Colon Cancer by 300 Percent [...]" (also quoted from Why we love dogs, eat pigs and wear cows, first published in 2010 by Red Wheel Weiser, pg. 92).

With saying this I like to address those people, who aren't responding to the more obvious reasons for not eating meat just like how the animals are treated and (also the fact that they are) killed. I made the experience that those people are at least concerned about their own health, even so they are still too deeply in the carnistic state of self-protecting denial.
But what this also demonstrates: We are constantly lied to by doctors and nutritionists. Maybe they don't even know better, but more likely they know that most people wouldn't accept the suggestion of simply changing their eating habits and of course they make much more money of us, if they can make us buy expensive medication...


2. Vegan = delicious

People often tell me: "But if your vegan, you can't eat anything!". I usually tell them the following: "Well, what do you eat now? Your staple foods are most likely (if you live just a little bit healthy ;) ) noodles, rice and potatos. These are all vegan. So for my main meal I usually eat one of those with vegetables, as part of a soup or stew or with a sauce. It's not that different to what you eat!".  And just to have mentioned it, there is a wide range of "burgers", "sausages" and such made out of soy or bean curd, in case you feel like that also needs to be part of you meals.

Usually most people then agree that a vegetarian diet is at least possible, but still not a vegan one, as that would mean no chocolate or cheese (of course no other products made out of milk, no egg, no honey, etc. - but chocolate and cheese is what many feel like they would crave for most). But what they don't know is that in fact most chocolate with a cacao percentage around 75% or higher is naturally vegan. Of course there are also other products that can replace milk chocolate. When it comes to cheese there are also products that can serve as substitutions, actually there are products replacing most kinds of cheese, so if you feel like having lasagna, thats also possible for vegans! Just put spinach in instead of the meat and put soy-cheese shreds on top.

The pictures you can see in this article here are of course of vegan dishes and I'm sorry if they aren't that mouthwatering to you. I have to admit I'm really not the best nor the most patient cook and these where just my main meals for the past few days. So if you check out some vegan websites, there are really good recipes and more appealing pictures ;) If you're on facebook there are also various groups exchanging vegan recepies. You can make vegan brownies, muffins, pancakes, cakes and pretty much anything else you can think of! Often it's not even a bit harder than making them the way you are used to now.

Just try out some stuff!

And in case you would like to become a vegan, but you're not sure how to do it then just try to be vegan for a week and then go back to before. Then live vegan for another week some time later and you'll see how easy it really is and how much you will benefit from it!

CARNISM - a violent ideology

Recently I attended a lecture that Melanie Joy, who is a professor of psychology and sociology at the University of Massachusetts, gave on her new book WHY WE LOVE DOGS, EAT PIGS AND WEAR COWS - An INTRODUCTION to CARNISM. Being a vegan myself, a dog owner and a sociology student especially interested in the field of human-animal studies, I was deeply moved by her (not exactly scientific, instead a more politically influenced) presentation on the matter. 

After reading her book, which I recommend to EVERYONE, I felt like more people should know about the violent ideology that Melanie Joy named carnsim. In this blog I would like to deal with this concept, but also promote veganism, vegetarism and the animal-rights movement. 

For starter I would like to introduce the concept very briefly quoting Melanie Joy. The quote is from an interview she gave in 2010 (full interview here = http://our-compass.org/2010/10/09/my-conversation-with-melanie-joy-on-why-we-love-dogs-eat-pigs-and-wear-cows/ ) : 

"Carnism is a violent ideology that enables humane people to participate in inhumane practices without realizing what they’re doing. The tenets of carnism run counter to the core values of most people; most of us would not willingly support unnecessary violence toward other sentient beings. So carnism, like other violent ideologies, must employ a set of defense mechanisms which operate on both a social and psychological level to ensure the participation of the populace; without popular support, the system would collapse. 

The primary defense of the system is invisibility, and the primary way the system remains invisible is by remaining unnamed: if we don’t name it, we can’t see it, and if we can’t see it we can’t challenge or question it. 
The system also defends itself by teaching us to justify eating animals, by promoting what I refer to as the Three Ns of Justification: eating animals is normal, natural, and necessary. (Not surprisingly, these same arguments have been used to justify other violent ideologies as well.) There are many other carnistic defenses, but all defenses serve the same purpose: to “numb” us, psychologically and emotionally, when it comes to eating (certain) animals. Carnism disconnects us from the truth of our experience, blocking our awareness and shutting down our empathy."

(quoted, Melanie Joy 2010, http://our-compass.org/2010/10/09/my-conversation-with-melanie-joy-on-why-we-love-dogs-eat-pigs-and-wear-cows/ ) 

Reading her book, informing myself further and thinking about this has troubled my sleep and made me rethink many of my habits and choices. I believe carnsim is no better than sexism or racism and it is the responsibility of our generation, my generation, to face and overcome this threat to our moralistic wellbeing. Living by the morals we promote and not denying that we act against them has been an empowering experience for me and many others I have spoken to about this matter. 

If I can only reach out to a single person through writing this blog, it will have served its purpose fully. 

Start questioning! It is past time we do!