Lessons & Gifts

I heard someone say once that all our life experiences are either lessons or gifts - that we either learn from our daily encounters and events or they are simply blessings to be treasured and appreciated. I like that. It means every moment is an opportunity to grow or be grateful (or both!). It keeps things pretty simple. And as much as we are each recipients, so, too, are we each bestowers. We never know what impact we have on another, but we can be sure we do influence those around us. It reminds me of an interview I heard with Julia Butterfly Hill, activist and author. She was asked by a skeptical reporter: "So you really think people can make a difference?" Julia said "No - I don't think people can make a difference. I know people do make a difference every moment of their lives." We have the choice what kind of impact we want to have - negative or positive. Personally, I don't believe in neutral decisions.

This is why I proudly wear my buttons that say "Be Kind to Animals. Don't Eat Them" and display the same sentiment on my car's bumper. Without fail, it sparks dialogue, and it's my absolutely favorite conversation to have. Last week, I decided to get my car washed by some guys raising money for a charitable cause. As one guy approached my car, he read my bumper sticker out loud and looked at me and asked incredulously, "You mean you don't eat chicken or hot dogs or hamburgers??" I answered, struggling with the stench of the KFC next store, that I used to eat all that stuff but once I learned what the animals go through, I just couldn't do it anymore. He nodded and said, "Ya know - if I saw what happened to the animals, I know I wouldn't eat that stuff." I agreed and smiled and silently waited for him to finish washing my car. When I handed him my money, I also gave him a copy of Even if you Like Meat, which I always keep in my car or purse. He said he would read it, and I thanked him and drove away. I have no idea if he ever will, but I'm sure our brief conversation was like no other he had that day.

Knowing there are no neutral actions is also why I refuse to shop without my many canvas bags. It is just one of those habits that takes a little time to create, but once you do, you'll never look back. It pains me to watch so many people create unnecessary waste just by answering the simple question: "Paper or Plastic?" And when I don't have my canvas bags for one reason or another, I'll just carry out whatever I have purchased with no bag at all, and I'm always amused by how surprised the clerks are that I don't want a bag. (They, too, have been trained into a habit that makes them perceive the bagless with an air of suspicion!) It's such a small but effective way of making a positive impact, and throwing a shopping bag over your shoulder is a much easier way to carry groceries. (ENTER SHAMELESS PLUG: Check out our new message canvas bags at CafePress.com.) :)

I really don't know of a more powerful experience than to plant seeds that will change the course of another's life. The humility is not knowing who we actually touch. The power is knowing that we unmistakably do.

The Vegan in the Room

The power of vegetarianism never ceases to amaze me. The power of the truth never ceases to amaze me. The animal exploitation industries know the damage a little truth does to their bottom line, so they distort, twist, and pervert it every chance they can. And the public, desensitized to the advertising that controls our thoughts and purchasing decisions, buys all of it. Until. Until. Until they see a photo of hens in a battery cage. Until they stumble upon a video of animals in a factory farm. Until...they meet a vegetarian or vegan.

I've written before about the power of the "vegan in the room" and how the energy palpably shifts when someone declares they're vegetarian/vegan. I experience this on a daily basis, and - at the risk of sounding over the top, it's almost a mystical experience. Literally, in one conversation with someone, I can see the change taking place. The truth about our exploitation and torture of animals is so hidden that when someone meets someone who has thought about how and why we treat animals as we do, it's like people have permission to confront what has been suppressed for so long.

Today, I'm having one of those mystical experiences. We're having some work done on our house, which means we've had a group of contractors here every day for the past three weeks. Many of our conversations have been about veganism and animal rights, just by virtue of them knowing I'm vegan. The contractors we're working with are a family, so one of the sons - who's 19 years young - is apprenticed to his father. Over the weekend, I sent him home, at his request, with videos, DVDs, and pamphlets. He told me this morning that he watched Earthlings, a documentary (narrated by Joaquin Phoenix) that asks the viewer to do away with the arbitrary boundaries we've created and instead perceive everyone on this earth - as Earthlings. I love that notion - of doing away with the differences that separate us and focusing on that which connects us. It's not an easy film to watch; there is footage of animals in laboratories, puppy mills, factory farms, fur farms, and circuses - but this young man, who's never seen any of this before, showed it to his entire family and many friends. And he wants to see more.

He also declared that he's going to stop eating meat and asked me to tell him the name of the brand of soy milk I let him try last week. (This is from someone who a week ago declared that soy milk was gross and that he could never drink anything but cow's milk.) He also tried tofu for the first time and devoured the chocolate cake I made them - admitting that he would never have known it was "vegan" if I didn't tell him.

Despite the stress of having work done on the house, I revel in the fact that these contractors will be here for a few more weeks. A few more conversations. A few more seeds planted. A few more minds and hearts expanded. The power of vegetarianism never ceases to amaze me. The power of the truth never ceases to amaze me. Neither does the power of a good chocolate cake.

Ethical Carnivores: An Oxymoron

A new article in a local paper practically made a saint out of the already sainted something or other Niman, founder of Niman Ranch, a producer of "ethical meat." Not unlike the phrase "humane slaughter," that is an oxymoron if I ever heard one, and I told the paper as much. Here is my freshly written letter below:

Dear Editor,

I was disappointed to read yet another laudatory article about sustainable animal agriculture and Saint Niman. Thanks to such tributes, this trendy, elitist food system has usurped its way into people's consciousness as the "ethical" way to eat. The lionization of people who raise living, feeling beings to be killed to satisfy people’s tastebuds is surreal. And of course there is no mention of the terror animals experience as they are violently slaughtered. Even Niman Ranch animals experience the terror of mechanized murder, and it's not pretty.

If it is "ethical" to live off of the bodies of animals who are harmed a little less than others, isn't it still more ethical not to live off their bodies at all? Why is it that vegetarians are often ridiculed for their choices, while "sustainable" ranchers are celebrated as "ethical”? I look forward to the day when your paper writes an equally enthusiastic article celebrating that crazy eco- and animal-friendly concept of NOT eating animals at all.

Only a plant-based diet is truly sustainable - using fewer resources, being affordable for everyone, protecting rather than denigrating our health, and making us truly compassionate people, not being responsible for the death of animals - just because to satisfy our tastebuds. What a shallow, selfish reason to end lives.