Thursday, February 3, 2011

Thursday Thoughts - Questioning

I haven't had enough ranting on my blog lately.  In case you don't hear enough of my thoughts on my radio show or in person, you can stop by the blog and get an earful.  It may be about veganism, but it might be about parenting or dust bunnies.  Who knows?

At the risk of opening up Pandora's box, I decided to talk a bit about a recent (okay, not so recent now, I started this post a while back) reversion back to consuming animals by a popular food blogger.  My "confession post" was in some ways a satirical comment to this blogger's "coming out" post and others who have followed, as well as some who have been angered by her post.  Those of you who are not vegan or not into the vegan blogging world may be completely oblivious to what the heck I'm talking about, which is one of the reasons I was reluctant to post anything directly.  Yet, I feel some good can come out of almost any situation and I wanted to share the positives I see when a vegan advocate reverts back to consuming flesh.

In this particular situation, the person went from a strong proponent of veganism as a diet as well as a way of life.  She even had her father go on the diet for a month to see the positive health aspects.  She was honest about what she fed him, how he felt, etc. and he did appear to have health benefits from his month of veganism.  Several months later, she comes out very dramatic and verbose about how her health suffered (which is not what she had originally claimed throughout the blog previously) as a vegan and now she no longer feels eating animals is morally wrong.  She didn't just start eating meat again, she came out as fanatically for consuming things like bacon as she was when she pushed her green juices. I feel for her and unfortunately, although rare in my experience, I do know a person or two who also had an extreme transformation, seemingly overnight. I, of course, wish her the best, while I strongly disagree with some of her comments in her coming out post, I disagreed with some of what she had to say as a vegan a well. I rarely agree one hundred percent with anyone, what is the fun it that?

Several points came to the surface after reading her posts and others who also have converted back to meat-eating as well as vegans responding in anger or empathy.
  • None of us speaks for all vegans. The views expressed here are strictly mine or any guest author's views. Some people may agree, but I am not speaking for more than myself or sometimes my family.
  • Why do we do what we do? (No, I'm not trying to write the refrain for a 80's love song.) I think this is an excellent question to ask oneself, no matter what you are doing. This is our third Midwestern winter living car-free. We balance the pros and cons of this lifestyle choice at the first snowfall of the season, lol, we try to question it often and see if we've stuck the right balance for us. Although, even my youngest child has been vegan longer than the blogger mentioned above who decided to go back to eating meat, I don't blindly go through our vegan life without questions how and why we live it. A friend said to me a couple months ago that she's been veg so long it has sort of just become a habit. Life can be like that and thus, taking stock of our choices and values can be beneficial.
The next few Thursdays are going to be dedicated to my personal current vegan journey. Thanks for coming along with me.

4 comments:

The Kuntrageous Vegan said...

You know, I'll never claim that veganism is for everyone. Some people are simply too lazy, or lack the compassion to make such a choice.
What killed me about Tasha was that she decided to justify her lifestyle change and basically say that everything she thought before was wrong and that it was anti-feminist to deny yourself meat when it makes you feel good. I'm not sure how nourishing herself with death and cruelty can make her well, but it was pretty obvious from tasha's previous blog entries that not only did she have some sort of addiction to exercising, but she wasn't eating properly. Her meals didn't seem to regularly contain protein. Green smoothies are nice. Raw vegetables are nice. But when you don't eat enough protein and you survive on sweets, smoothies and raw veggies..i mean, how do you think you're going to feel? Her post was beyond offensive. My omnivore husband was totally blown away at her hypocrisy. The things she was saying were ridiculous.

VeganLinda said...

I hear you. The reason I haven't addressed this before now is because I didn't think I could and still be respectful of Tasha. Like I said, it did seem as if she did a complete turn around and things like that are always, in my opinion, more than what meets the eye. She is not the first person I've seen do this type of change (not always about veganism), but I'm not going to psycho-analyze her. Really what I want to talk about is not her at all, but what good can come from these types of very public changes. One of the things I will cover over the next few weeks is excellent resources for vegan nutrition advice.

mydogoona said...

Linda. I really admire the strength and consistency you give to veganism...and your family...and your life. While I am an omnivore and always will be, I strive to find a balance in how I go about it. Your blog has guided me to many vegan food experiences that have become routines in my meal planning now. Keep it going!

VeganLinda said...

Mel, Thanks!