Comments on: Veganism 101 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/02/1605/ a radical newsletter in the struggle for peace and social justice Wed, 09 Jul 2008 07:24:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Bea Elliott http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/02/1605/#comment-16508 Bea Elliott Tue, 18 Mar 2008 22:40:45 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/02/1605/#comment-16508 I live in central Florida - also an area dotted by pastoral scenes of grazing cows (amid the few remaining orange groves)..... This area has hardly adjusted itself to "vegetarianism" let alone "veganism" of which I am the latter..... So be it - I boastfully consider myself more enlightened and definately heathier than my counterparts. It's pretty difficult finding a decent place to dine - but I always preferred the comforts of my own home anyway. I think it's only a matter of time till the brink of recognition is reached in our cruel treatment of animals - then we can all say proudly "Go VEGAN!" I live in central Florida - also an area dotted by pastoral scenes of grazing cows (amid the few remaining orange groves)….. This area has hardly adjusted itself to “vegetarianism” let alone “veganism” of which I am the latter….. So be it - I boastfully consider myself more enlightened and definately heathier than my counterparts. It’s pretty difficult finding a decent place to dine - but I always preferred the comforts of my own home anyway. I think it’s only a matter of time till the brink of recognition is reached in our cruel treatment of animals - then we can all say proudly “Go VEGAN!”

]]> By: rgaylor http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/02/1605/#comment-15523 rgaylor Sun, 02 Mar 2008 17:54:22 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/02/1605/#comment-15523 OK ... so people don't know what a Vegan is ... but what really bothers me, and the article made no effort to address this ... why did the congressman ask the question in the first place? Given that Clemens is an idiot, maybe a talented idiot but an idiot none the less, it occurs to me that one of the reasons the congress-critter asked the question may have been to discredit Clemens by associating him with vegans. I live in cow country (well, not really ... it is oil country with a few token cows out there to create the illusion of cow country) and there are a lot of people in this neck of the woods (in spite of no real woods) who think that the word vegan is equivalent to insane. If we extrapolate that to the reality of the narrowness of the 'Murikkkan mind, shouldn't the frustration be focused in a different direction? Isn't this classic hate speech? Hmmm? OK … so people don’t know what a Vegan is … but what really bothers me, and the article made no effort to address this … why did the congressman ask the question in the first place?

Given that Clemens is an idiot, maybe a talented idiot but an idiot none the less, it occurs to me that one of the reasons the congress-critter asked the question may have been to discredit Clemens by associating him with vegans. I live in cow country (well, not really … it is oil country with a few token cows out there to create the illusion of cow country) and there are a lot of people in this neck of the woods (in spite of no real woods) who think that the word vegan is equivalent to insane. If we extrapolate that to the reality of the narrowness of the ‘Murikkkan mind, shouldn’t the frustration be focused in a different direction? Isn’t this classic hate speech?

Hmmm?

]]> By: D Slovin http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/02/1605/#comment-15514 D Slovin Sun, 02 Mar 2008 14:52:51 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/02/1605/#comment-15514 No mention is made in the article about the reasons for not eating honey or using products such as silk. Also, it would be nice if there were a few references to some of the studies mentioned. I think that there is actually a third category of vegetarian, people such as myself who eat no meat, dairy, or egg products and who don't buy leather, but who eat honey and do not adhere strictly to the vegan philosophy, which is that under no circumstances should one use a product derived in any way from animals, even if it is derived humanely. (I also don't buy honey, but I don't go out of my way to avoid it as an ingredient in cereals and granolas, and I don't worry much about whether or not various chemicals on ingredient listings are animal derived. My view of animal derived chemicals is that the way to decrease their use is to decrease the number of slaughtered animals - if we could achieve that, it would increase the cost of producing these chemicals from animals to the point where synthetic substitutes would replace them.) No mention is made in the article about the reasons for not eating honey or using products such as silk. Also, it would be nice if there were a few references to some of the studies mentioned.
I think that there is actually a third category of vegetarian, people such as myself who eat no meat, dairy, or egg products and who don’t buy leather, but who eat honey and do not adhere strictly to the vegan philosophy, which is that under no circumstances should one use a product derived in any way from animals, even if it is derived humanely. (I also don’t buy honey, but I don’t go out of my way to avoid it as an ingredient in cereals and granolas, and I don’t worry much about whether or not various chemicals on ingredient listings are animal derived. My view of animal derived chemicals is that the way to decrease their use is to decrease the number of slaughtered animals - if we could achieve that, it would increase the cost of producing these chemicals from animals to the point where synthetic substitutes would replace them.)

]]> By: D.R. Munro http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/02/1605/#comment-15468 D.R. Munro Sat, 01 Mar 2008 15:52:55 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/02/1605/#comment-15468 I've flirted with the idea, but one of the few pleasures I still get out of life is a nicely cooked steak. I don't know if I'd be willing to give that up. I’ve flirted with the idea, but one of the few pleasures I still get out of life is a nicely cooked steak. I don’t know if I’d be willing to give that up.

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