The way I see it, being vegan simply means not thinking of others as commodities that can be bought or sold. That is, being vegan means saying No to slavery.
Think, then Go Vegan!
Being vegan means saying No to slavery
Category Archives: 2000s
How to turn a whole rabbit into porchetta and rillette
In this class Scott Ketterman, chef and owner of Crown Paella, and former chef at Simpatica Catering, will teach students how to turn a whole rabbit into porchetta and rillette. Each student will have the chance to debone a whole rabbit. They’ll then learn to turn the legs into sausage meat, which will be used to stuff the loins in preparation for porchetta. While the porchettas are poaching, students will learn how to transform rabbit into rillette, a French method that involves slow poaching rabbit meat in duck fat then emulsifying the tender meat and rich fat into a rough, spreadable, delicious paste. Students will get to taste all the results, and at the end of the class they’ll go home with recipes, their own porchetta, a jar of rabbit rillette, and a jar of rabbit stock.
~ Portland Meat Collective (March 2, 2012)
Source: Rabbit Two Ways
Dear deer,
While walking to the grocery store today, I saw five of you running across my path. My initial thought was, “How awesome is this?” My secondary thought was, “I sure don’t see you guys all that much around here.” After that, my thoughts turned dark.
I couldn’t shake the realization that if I were someone else, I might be thinking, “Deer, tasty”, “Damn, I wish I had my gun”, and other even more disturbing things. Or, thoughts such as, “I need to feed my family, so ….” The same kind of pathetic excuse making that results in people robbing liquor stores and banks all the while feeling guiltless.
Then it hit me, this is the kind of world we live in. A world were humans can pretty much do whatever they wish to other-than-humans and not only get away with it, but get praise from those around them as well. For example, I don’t even want to tell you what some humans do with your heads, but take note, if they did the same with human heads they’d be locked away in prison for a very long time or worse.
Being vegan—and sticking to it—is the best option
Acknowledgement is not praise and it is not criticism either. However, it does send out a clear signal that there’s further ethical considerations to seriously evaluate. After all, if being vegan—and sticking to it—is the best option, then that is the option animal advocates should consistently and persistently advocate.
~ Roger Yates (August 28, 2007)
Source: Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy Meat…
Information: BOOM! I was vegan!
When beginning on the adventure of animal rights and the quest for equality for all sentient beings, it is common for people to believe that people need to be encouraged to take baby steps. Often when they say this, they are referring to encouraging people to go vegetarian first and hoping they will go vegan later.
I understand this thought process for two reasons. Firstly, I understand that telling people they need to go vegan to stop animal suffering is no easy task. But when I consider the alternative for the animals, I force myself to think very careful about what information and options I present to others. This brings me to my second reason and that is, I was a vegetarian for 12 years before I finally went vegan. So, when I first think about the idea of vegetarian first, vegan second, the idea makes sense. But when I think about it again I realize that the one thing, the one thing, that made me go vegan was very simply just being given the information. Information: BOOM! I was vegan! That was it! End of story! End of me saying, “I’m just vegetarian, but I could never be vegan!” I use to say that! And so I say with love, respect, empathy, and knowledge that while I understand where all you, “Go Veg!” people are coming from, I think you couldn’t be more wrong. Yes, people should make baby steps but the first step should be veganism.
~ Amy U. Shafer (September 28, 2011)
Source: Baby Steps
Not “the crown of creation” we have deceived ourselves into believing
The sooner we realise we are just another animal on this planet—a very violent and destructive animal and not “the crown of creation” we have deceived ourselves into believing—then the sooner we can start to address this violence and the way to do this is for our species to become vegan. Many other problems will be addressed when veganism takes hold.
~ Trisha Roberts (January 4, 2012)
Source: Trisha’s Facebook comment
Simply disastrous for animals
The general public feeling today is that it’s ok to consume animal products as long as it comes from “humane” farms where animals are “happy” and have a “good life.” That’s the message they get from welfarism and that’s simply disastrous for animals. They will never be free if people still think like that and it won’t stop until veganism is being promoted as a moral baseline by every non-human animal rights movement.
~ Christophe Hendrickx (November 10, 2011)
Source: Interview with Christophe Hendrickx, abolitionist activist
If the person truly understood what veganism was
As a vegan, I am often told that I should “respect [someone's] decision to eat animals”. This can get problematic, because that is the antithesis of veganism as an ideal. I will elaborate, but first, lets look at what the word “respect” really means, because I think that often it is misused in this context. If the person truly understood what veganism was, and had a full understanding of the meaning of respect, then they might get why the two can not be used together that way.
~ Chris Poupart (September 13, 2011)
Source: R-E-S-P-E-C-T
We could have thousands and thousands more vegans in Australia right now!
Many people I talk to think there is no problem with consuming animals as long as they are from “humane” or “free range” farms. I think this myth is perpetuated by many of the large animal welfare groups. For example, Animals Australia wasted a huge opportunity recently with the whole “Live Export” issue. After airing the appalling footage of the treatment of cows in Indonesia, 200,000 Australians were upset enough to contact their MP’s. Imagine if Animals Australia had spent their time and money telling people “Stop All Animal Use—Go Vegan” instead of “Stop Animal Cruelty to Australian Cows in Indonesia—Ban Live Export”. We could have thousands and thousands more vegans in Australia right now!
~ Heidi Woodruff (November 4, 2011)
Source: Interview with Heidi Woodruff, abolitionist activist
I realized that I could face and address racism, sexism, and speciesism
I grew up eating meat even though my folks were vegetarians. While growing up it somehow became the “cool” thing to do. In the schools and colleges I went to, meat-eating was a way of breaking the status quo, especially since 30-40% of Indians were vegetarian and probably more in the institutions I was a part of largely because of social/religious reasons. Having spent most of my life in Dubai and Chennai, both of which are vegetarian-friendly, I decided to turn vegan in Southern Virginia while studying at Virginia Tech. For me turning vegan was about the politics of it. I realized that I could face and address racism, sexism, and speciesism three times a day with every meal of mine. That was in 2007 and I have been vegan for four years since then.
~ Mathivanan Rajendran (November 30, 2011)
Source: Interview with Mathivanan Rajendran, abolitionist vegan and Kollywood actor