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2011: The Year of the Vegan

December 20th, 2010

Hello everyone,

Sorry I’ve been a bit absent from the blogosphere lately, but today I’m back!

I wanted to write something today about some of the posts I’ve been seeing on PETA’s informative blog The PETA Files. I’ve been noticing that experts are quite happily predicting, with stats and charts to back it up, that 2011 will be the year of the vegan. That’s great news!

Allow me to present:

Exhibit # 1: Mentions of Tofu Now Surpass Mentions of Hot Dogs in Books

For years, the PETA Files has been telling you how eating vegan is all the rage. But now, the clever folks at Google Labs have given us the tool to prove it. Their new Books Ngram Viewer allows visitors to see and compare, in graph form, trends in word usage over time, based on a database of books (here’s a more thorough explanation of how it all works). And the food editor at Good has noticed that mentions of the word “tofu” have far surpassed those of “hot dog.”

Exhibit # 2: Veganism is one of the top trends for 2011

Good news, vegan pioneers. Your healthy lifestyle is one of the top 11 trends for 2011, according to the popular cooking website AllRecipes.com and trend analyst Robin Avni. According to a survey conducted by AllRecipes.com, people are ditching meat for a variety of reasons, the leading of which is concern for their health, followed by a desire to tighten their belts (both literally and figuratively) and protect the environment. Respondents also said that they have been inspired to delve into meatless cuisine by the abundance of yummy vegan recipes that are available.

And most wonderfully informative, for me at least,

Exhibit # 3: vegans save 185 animals a year

We have some good news and some bad news. First, the good news: The total number of land animals killed and eaten by Americans decreased by 300 million between 2008 and 2009 and by 600 million between 2006 and 2009. Americans also ate 500 million fewer fish in 2009 than in 2008.

These figures come courtesy of PETA member and mathematician extraordinaire Noam Mohr, who has studied government and industry figures and compiled a report on the number of animals served up on American tables. You can read his entire report here.

Based on these figures, Noam calculated that each year the average person consumes:

Since vegans eat no animals, each vegan saves nearly 200 animals per year. Of course, these are animals who won’t be torn out of their ocean homes or confined to cramped, filthy barns, cages, and pens before being hung upside down on the slaughter line and having their throats cut. Yay, vegans!

So the next time someone asks you why you’re a vegetarian, tell him or her that you have about 200 really good reasons.

When I read the post about how vegans save 185 animals a year, I felt that the effort I had made to be a vegetarian and a vegan in the past (I’m now just a vegetarian) was definitely doing some good in the world. I wish I had had this fact sooner so when someone asked me the question which was always so difficult for me to answer “so why are you a vegetarian?” I could have simply said– because I’m saving 185 animals a year this way.

I wonder if any of my readers have ever had difficulty answering this question? I never knew exactly how to explain why I was a vegetarian. Lots of times I would just say for animal rights reasons or something. But I think stating this fact gets right to the heart of the matter. A priceless piece of knowledge.

Another great thing is that more and more people are accepting and trying out veganism, vegetarianism and plant based diets. I hope this “trend” continues to gather steam.

One more exhibit:

My dad sent me this article the other day called “The Rise of the Power Vegans” about how elite CEO’s and politicians have been becoming vegan recently, and people are seeing it as some kind of status symbol for rich people. HA! Good. The more the merrier.

What are your thoughts? I’d love to know! Have you seen the trend of veganism picking up steam in the media? Also, have you ever struggled to explain to someone why you are a vegan or vegetarian like I have?

 

 
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Does Buying Vegan Shoes Truly Make a Difference?

November 17th, 2010

Sometimes I question why I am so committed to wearing non leather shoes. I look at all the beautiful leather items there are, I look at the leather shoes at Jcrew, and wonder, am I trying to make things hard for myself? Am I trying to deny myself nice things for some weird psychological reason? What good is buying non leather shoes doing , especially when those shoes are usually made in China or India, countries where there are NO animal welfare laws or those laws are never enforced. Why not buy Toms shoes–the ones with leather soles– because at least by buying a pair of Toms, a child in need gets a pair of shoes.

Well,  sometimes I really do wonder, am I fooling myself into believing buying vegan shoes is important?

Sometimes I read things like this article and this one though,  and am reminded I am doing the right thing.

One problem I have as a vegetarian, and I wonder if any one else reading this blog has it too, is that I’m afraid to educate myself and learn more about vegetarianism and the specific treatment of animals because watching those kinds of videos or reading those kinds of books and articles is too disturbing. I’ve watched the videos and read the books, but it’s not something I want to do more of.  I hate seeing animals tortured. One of my least favorite experiences in the world is seeing a truck carrying cattle on the road. I feel so bad for them,  going off to the feedlots or off to slaughter,  and I can’t do anything about it.

The once easy thing I can do something about is refusing to buy leather. You are then participating in a boycott of the cruel and immoral leather industry.  It’s not a lot, but it is something, and I think it does make a difference very gradually. I’m no expert on abolitionist history, but imagine the message it would have sent if you were living in the south in the 1850s and one of your neighbors refused to have slaves. Although he was not working to end the slave trade himself,  he had done something small and powerful. That’s how I feel about boycotting the leather industry.

My readers, please share your thoughts with me on this troubling philosophical issue. Do you think being a vegan or a vegetarian and refusing to buy leather makes a difference? Do you ever feel like just eating a hot dog or just buying that beautiful pair of perfect leather shoes. How do you justify being a vegetarian or vegan? Ever wonder if you’re just trying to appear  morally superior, or just refusing to admit to yourself that you’ve unnecessarily limited yourself in your dining choices and lifestyle? I’d LOVE to know. Comment below.

 
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