A rather long blog which should be much shorter!!

734:

To inconvenience oneself by becoming vegan, for the sake of farm animals, will seem unnecessary to most people. They won’t think through the logic of the issues. They’ll come to the conclusion that we are attention-seekers. Our biggest challenge is to say what we have to say despite rejection, disagreement and even ridicule. And to remain vegan without the need for others’ approval or encouragement. I know ex-activists who have given up in frustration at the public’s ethical weakness over animal issues; they haven’t been able to accept that this radical change of attitude, affecting so much of normal lifestyle, might be very slow to catch on. It is, after all, a major shift of emphasis from human-centred concern to concern for the non-human. But that is why there is such a need for activists to stay active, to hang in there for the duration. Omnivorousness is SUCH an ingrained habit.

            It seems that animal issues, because they are so closely connected with our daily food, are shunted off into the too-hard department. In a conspiracy of silence the issues are rarely talked about, either in the media or at home around the dinner table. Maybe people make a small gesture, mainly for health reasons, of reducing their red meat intake. Maybe others give up meat altogether (for ethical and health reasons). But in general, stopping all compliance with animal farming and boycotting all animal produce is not on the cards, because the using-of-animals so very well suits human convenience.

            If we boycott animal products there is obviously going to be a dramatic change to our daily life. However, if we don’t, then we are condoning the abattoir and all that it stands for. If demand for animal products dropped, abattoirs would have to shut down: if abattoirs shut down, animal farming would stop, and animal products wouldn’t be available. That spells such a dramatic change in the way humans operate that it isn’t going to happen overnight. If there is no obvious threat to human survival such a change isn’t likely to happen. And if change doesn’t seem likely then an activist vegan might lose heart. But if we are NOT dependant upon the likelihood of change in order to remain vegan, then we are vegan simply because it is right. By leaving the normal style of life behind us, we choose to lead a life of non-violence, even though we know we might never see the sort of substantial change take place that we’d like to see.

            The abattoir symbolises compliance-with-the-norm. This side of normality, the shameful and violent side, is are rarely spoken about. The abattoir itself is located well out of town – most people wouldn’t know where the nearest one was. Nor would they know what went on there apart from the fact that in these places animals are slaughtered.

            From the Animal Industry’s point of view, the secrecy surrounding the treatment and execution of animals is essential. They are made up of the people who farm animals, kill them and produce things out of them. Their essential income is generated from animals. Their interest is in maintaining the market and their own income. We, the customer, cooperate. We play along since we want to maintain the ready availability of all the items we love to eat, wear and use, and to be able to buy them at the lowest possible cost.

            Vegans, however, are on the side of the animals, and since animals can’t defend themselves, we become their advocates and protectors against the juggernaut of abusers and customers. We hope to succeed in winning animals their ‘rights’ and maybe along the way realise that they seem very far off being won. But our efforts are not futile. I repeat, we do it because it’s right, but also there’s something substantial in it for us; we start out with high hopes and brave intentions and then comes disappointments, but something else unexpected happens along the way, and it helps our resolve. We realise what omnivores can’t possibly know, that our food is clean, our health is on the ‘up’, and what we do is beautifully revolutionary. The big surprise is to find that our own tastes are not as fixed as we thought, and therefore our cravings aren’t as powerful as we might have thought.

            In my own case, I thought I was addicted to all the yummy, creamy, rich, salty, meaty items I’d been indulging in all my life, whereas when I made the break, I gritted my teeth only to find a whole new and satisfying food experience.

            It’s like when you stop smoking tobacco or stop taking sugar in your coffee, the taste buds quickly readjust. And when they’re cleaned up it’s like ‘they’ are grateful. They tingle at the clean-out and the chance to open up new sensory sensations. I hope I’m not over-selling this.

            The biggest surprise for me was that I no longer craved crap. If any vegan had told me this would happen I wouldn’t have believed them, so if you aren’t yet a vegan I can’t blame you if you don’t believe me now. And yet it’s really the crucial stepping stone. Once you get this (about vegan food) you never want to go back to the old ways. I can only speak personally, but it was a huge surprise to me, how readily my body readjusted to an entirely different food palette. I was grateful on a number of levels; after being vegan for some while I found my energy levels were far higher, I was less sluggish after meals and my general health was noticeably improving AND, even with my small brain capacity, I was noticing how much more alert and mentally sharper I’d become. (Yes, I know I’m going on a bit here).

            I wouldn’t like to put up too much of a convincing argument for the diet itself and all the physical benefits of eating vegan, since others far better qualified than me have done that well enough already. My promotion base is about the self-esteem lift you’ll get when you stop doing what nearly everyone else is doing. It repairs the ‘spiritual’ damage done by years of using animals, and the condoning of their enslavement and killing. 

            My main point here is that if survival isn’t dependent on animal-foods (or animal anything-else) then we all must question it. If anyone could prove that I do in fact need animals to survive, my whole vegan argument would collapse, since it would be suicidal to ignore those needs. However, since no one has put up a serious argument along those lines (ever since the first vegans appeared seventy years ago) I continue to assume plant-based foods are efficacious and safe. (I do take regular vitamin B12 supplements to be on the safe side, as advised by vegan doctors).

            Based upon this safety-health assumption, I feel justified in adopting a vegan diet and adopting the non-violence principles of veganism. This then allows me to assume the role of animal advocate with a clear conscience.

            This is no selfless pursuit. It benefits me greatly to be vegan and to have this endlessly fascinating subject to occupy my thoughts and energies. It’s such an interesting subject and such a worthwhile project.