16 year old author and friend Wooly Baba
Zoe Weil
I have many friends who adore their pets and regularly post photos of them on social media. Sometimes the same friends will post pictures of their barbecues or the animals they've barbecued. My hunter and fisherman friends often post selfies with the animals they kill. They hold the fish hanging from the hook and smile involuntarily as they watch the fish suffocate. Or crouching behind a freshly shot bear, smiling proudly with his beloved hunting companion by his side.
Our relationship with animals is full of contradictions, and I understand these contradictions very well. I grew up in New York City as an animal lover, stopping on the street every time I saw a dog, begging for one of my own as a child, and crying every time there was a movie where animals suffered. When I was in high school, I befriended a sheep at the children's zoo in Central Park. I named him Wooly Baba and went to see him every week. When I arrive and call his name, he always runs up to me and raises his head to scratch his neck. I loved that sheep.
I also loved the lamb chops. In fact, the lamb chops were my favorite food. But one day I could no longer pretend that there was any essential difference between the wooly baba and the lamb chops on my plate. I thought about becoming a vegetarian, but I just didn't want to give up the food I loved, and I told myself that the animals on my plate were already dead, so I might as well eat them. I didn't yet understand the laws of supply and demand. We didn't know that our dollars were our votes to say, “Good job, keep up the good work.” do it again. “
Ultimately, I understand that my choices have consequences, and that by allowing my desires to subvert my values by eating animals, I am actively participating in the suffering of the people I claim to love. I've come to understand that. My transformation from omnivore to pescatarian to vegetarian to vegan took eight years. I was a slow learner. In fact, I was slow to commit to living in deeper alignment with my values. Indeed, in the 1970s and 1980s, there wasn't much information about the abuses that occurred in modern agriculture, and few people had even heard of the word “vegan.” Back then, meat, dairy, and egg “substitutes” tasted pretty awful.
How different it is now. Many, if not most, people know that cruelty is rampant in the livestock industry. It's also great to know that soy milk contains essentially the same amount of protein as cow's milk, but without the antibiotic residue, pus, and toxins that can be carried up the food chain. It also takes very little time to discover the terrible abuses being perpetrated on dairy cows. farm. Many are noticing that fisheries are collapsing one by one as we trawl the oceans and net everything, including our beloved dolphins and turtles. Becoming a vegan used to be difficult, but now it's easy.
There are many reasons for not choosing a vegan diet, including:
“I could never give up cheese and ice cream.”
“You don't get enough protein on a vegan diet.”
“We have different blood types.”
“We are omnivores, so it's natural for us to eat animals. Other animals do it too, so why shouldn't we?”
got it. I'm a CrossFitter and am well aware of the need for protein that comes with weightlifting and high-intensity exercise. However, the reality is that even if you are an athlete, it is nearly impossible to become protein deficient on a healthy vegan diet that meets your calorie needs.
I also love the taste of meat, cheese, and eggs, and I know firsthand that it's hard to give up the foods you love, even if many of the plant-based alternatives taste just like those foods.
My blood type is the same one that naturopathic doctors claim requires meat in the diet, but because there is no scientific evidence to support this claim, I, along with tens of millions of other vegans, I have happily followed a vegan diet for nearly 35 years. And when you take our health and longevity together, there's a lot of evidence to disprove the blood type claims.
And I am also aware that non-human omnivores eat animals, and that my body can digest meat as well as plants. That doesn't mean I need to cause unnecessary suffering or death to animals just to satisfy my taste buds.
As a humane educator, someone who teaches about the interconnected issues of animal welfare, human rights, and environmental sustainability, I believe that most people are aware that their food choices are not only harmful to the environment, but also harmful to the environment. I know that I resist changing my diet even after knowing that it causes untold suffering. . When you pay attention to the consequences of your actions and educate yourself about them, such resistance fades. When the mismatch between our values and actions becomes too obvious. At a time when the destruction animal agriculture is wreaking on the planet has become so urgent. When delicious vegan options become so abundant, and when the desire to live more compassionately becomes acute, we can and do change.
I believe that one day the majority of us will no longer eat slaughtered animals or force animals to produce milk or eggs. The day will come when enough people will change their diets and food companies will change with them, changing their food production systems to meet the ever-increasing demand for humane, sustainable and equitably produced food. When this critical mass causes systemic change, the rest of the population changes as well. Because the food we eat is what was served on our childhood tables, in school cafeterias, in restaurants and convenience stores. If what is offered is different, we will naturally follow a new, more humane diet.
Instead of looking back with regret as we eat bacon and pet the dog and wonder why we cling to cruel systems, and why we cling to cruel systems so persistently, accelerate this change. How wonderful it would be if we could do that. Fill your bird feeder while eating chicken wings. You can start building a more peaceful, healthier world right now, so start eating today for the future you want. A more compassionate world can be created simply by eating.
