Im finishing up a blog post right now that touches upon trace ingredients and how some animal advocates who self-identify as vegan shrug them off. For years, Ive assumed that groups like Vegan Outreach who seem to actively promote the idea of deliberately lowering your bar and being 98% vegan by not questioning servers about hidden or trace ingredients were just looking for an easy sell. But now I wonder, if they promote this to excuse away the animal use in which they themselves indulge out of convenience? In a recent article in defense of the Vegan Treats bakery, Farm Sanctuarys Gene Baur, admitted to occasionally using honey when he finds himself presented with it, for instance. In a recent discussion with a woman intending to distribute Vegan Outreach pamphlets at her school, when I pointed out my issue with them, she said that although she would reject the use of a bit of mayo on a sandwich, that she wouldnt bother to grill a server about animal ingredients in the bread. Ive had similar discussions with people in the past where Ive asked: What if it was sheep spit instead of bee spit? or What if it was breast milk from a human slave instead of cows milk? and they invariably respond with a Thats different! or Thats disgusting! Or when I ask What if it was a half teaspoon of rabbit fat instead of a half teaspoon of milk? Im often again met with a Thats different! -- from folks who self-identify as vegan. Whether it comes from a cows flesh or from other parts of her body shouldnt matter. The life she lives leading up to when its taken is a miserable one. And as for being disgusted or appalled with the idea of consuming substance A from one species, but not from another species? Well, thats speciesist. Yet so many large welfarist groups seem to encourage vegans to think in that way -- to sort of rate degrees or forms of animal use according to the animal being used, or which part of him or her is being used. The animal doesnt care whether she lived a life of misery so that a piece of her could end up between two sandwich rolls or in the sandwich roll itself. Why do some of us who promote shrugging off some forms of so easily avoidable consumption assume that we can or should make that distinction for her? And why are people who claim to be advocating for veganism asking the rest of us to lower the bar and to be speciesist?
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 17:06:49 +0000
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