The Dorky Vegan

I thought this was interesting… passed around from another blog (don’t know where it originated) and figured I’d repost.

1. Vegetarians have a 20% lower rate of mortality from all causes (i.e. they live longer & don’t get sick as often)
2. Meat is full of traces of antibiotics, hormones, toxins produced by stress & pesticide residues that become concentrated from all the crops they have eaten
3. The world health organization recommends a diet low in saturated fat, sugar, salt & with plenty of fiber - exactly what you get on a vegan/vegetarian diet
4. Farmed animals contain up to 50% saturated fat in their bodies
5. Vegetarians have 24% reduced risk of getting heart disease & Vegans a 57% reduction (heart disease is the biggest killer in the UK accounting for 50% of deaths)
6. Obesity is rare in vegetarians, obesity is related to many diseases
7. Vegans & vegetarians have lower blood pressure & cholesterol levels - high levels are associated with heart disease, strokes & kidney failure
8. Vegetarians have a 50% reduced risk of dying of diabetes
9. Vegetarians have a 40% reduced level of cancer than the general population thought to be because they have a higher intake of vitamins A,C & E
10. Vegetarians have a reduced risk of developing gall & kidney stones
11. 80% of food poisoning is due to infected meat (feeces, bacteria etc.) after all meat is decomposing flesh - most of the rest is due to salmonella in eggs
12. Osteoporosis due to calcium loss from bones is mainly due to the sulfur content in meat & casein protein in milk that cause calcium to be lost in the urine - the countries with the highest meat & dairy consumption are those with the highest levels of brittle bones
13. 50% of people do not have the enzyme to digest milk properly & milk allergy is related to asthma & eczema
14. Meat eaters have double the rate of Alzheimer’s disease as Vegans & Vegetarians - researchers also think that Parkinson’s disease is also linked to meat eating
15. Egg yolk is a dense concentration of saturated fat & the white is high in albumin protein associated with leaching calcium into your urine. Butter is 80% saturated fat, cream is 40% saturated fat & cheese is 25-40% saturated fat
16. Meat eaters are two and a half times more likely to get bowel cancer than Vegetarians
17. The cling film used to wrap meat in supermarkets & butchers contains chemicals linked to falling sperm counts in men
18. Chinese people (living mainly on a vegetarian diet) consume 20% more calories than Americans but Americans are 20% fatter
19. Of 2,100,000 deaths in the USA in 1987, 1,500,000 were related to diet (i.e. meat & dairy)
20. Meat/Dairy centered diets are linked to many types of cancer, as well as heart ailments, diabetes, obesity, gallbladder disease, hypertension, and more deadly diseases and disorders.
21. The National Cancer Research Institute found that women who eat meat on a daily basis are almost 4 times more likely to get breast cancer than those women who eat little or no meat.
22. Meat contains approximately 14 times more pesticides than plant foods; dairy products contain 5-1/2 times more pesticides than plant foods.
23. 15 million pounds of antibiotics are used in animal production every year- These drugs end up in your milk and meat.
24. 95-99 percent of toxic chemical residues in the American diet come from animal sources.
25. By reducing your consumption of meat, dairy products, and eggs by 50%, you reduce your risk of a heart attack by 45%. By following a pure vegetarian diet (no animal products at all) you reduce your risk by 90%.
26. Meat and dairy products raise the acid level in human blood, causing calcium to be excreted from the bones to restore the body’s natural pH balance. This calcium depletion results in osteoporosis. Contrary to the common belief that dairy products are necessary to prevent osteoporosis, dairy consumption actually increases the likeliness of this crippling disease.
27. About 30% of all pork products are contaminated with toxoplasmosis, a disease which is caused by parasites. It can be passed on to consumers.
28. The vegetarian diet is more likely to meet the government recommendations for fat, carbohydrate, and protein than a nonvegetarian diet. The government as well as many other organizations tell us to reduce our fat intake (especially saturated fat) and also to eat more grains, fruits, and vegetables. This is easy for a vegetarian!
29. On a meatless diet, you are less likely to get a bacterial infection such as E. coli, Campylobacter, and Salmonella.
30. Animals are able to feel pain just as we can!
31. About 7 billion farm animals die or are slaughtered each year in the U.S. for the production of flesh food.
32. There are virtually no laws against cruelty to animals raised for food in the U.S. The Animal Welfare Act, which governs the humane treatment of animals, excludes animals intended for food consumption.
33. Up to five hens are crowded into a cage with floor space hardly larger than a record-cover, for their entire life-time.
34. Many factory-farmed animals never see a blade of grass in their lifetime.
35. In the egg industry, male chicks are considered useless so are often thrown into a grinding machine- ALIVE!
36. Animals raised for food production are nearly always deprived of natural sexual, social, hygienic, and parental behaviors.
37. Reason for veal’s light color and tender texture: Veal calves are force-fed an iron-deficient, anemia-producing diet devoid of solid foods.
38. Bulls raised for meat-production are routinely castrated without any type of anesthesia or pain-killers.
39. The slaughtering process is inhumane. When the animals are stunned before they are slaughtered, it is not always reliable and the animals are in pain as they move towards their death.
40. For each quarter-pound fast food hamburger sold that came from cattle raised on former rainforest land, 55 square feet of rainforest was destroyed.
41. A lot more water is required in animal agriculture than in plant agriculture. It takes only about 25 gallons of water to produce a pound of wheat and around 390 gallons to produce just one pound of beef. In fact, it takes less water to produce the food that a pure vegetarian needs for one year than to produce the food that a meat eater needs for a month.
42. Animal production requires a lot of fossil fuels. Fuels are needed to transport animal feed, to heat their housing, and to take the animals to slaughter, meat packing plants, and grocery stores. The burning of these fuels, as well as methane produced by the animals, is one cause of global warming.
43. Pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers used in the production of animals’ feed pollute land and water.
44. Many plants and animals become extinct due to the destruction of land.
45. 60 million people will starve to death this year - 60 million people could be adequately fed by the grain saved if Americans reduced their intake of meat by 10 percent.

I know, it’s been a while, again. At least I have a good excuse for my lack of updates: I’ve joined up with another radical cheerleading group while ADL and thus the Vegan Death Squad are on hiatus (long story, but we were supposed to be planning to put on a conference this summer and the university pulled the rug out from under us so now we have no conference and no plans for the summer). Even when we’re not in uniform performing cheers, the RCC (Radical Cheerleaders of Chicago) are everywhere! This picture is from the 5th anniversary of the Congress Hotel Strike last Thursday. It was organized by Unite Here! and they for some reason didn’t want the cheerleaders performing, but we came out of “uniform” and gave our support anyway, and got some people to join in with our shorter, pro-worker cheers.

Anyway, something I’ve been thinking about for a while, and meaning to write about for just as long, is how to define a person such as myself. Now, if you know me, you know that I don’t take much stock in definitions or labels. But they do come in handy when you’re trying to explain yourself and what you do. I could spend hours talking about the work that I do, and not even come close to being all-encompassing. I was out to dinner with a friend and I got to talking about the feminist work I did in college (with Women in Action, Hofstra’s feminist group that did have a couple men in it despite the name). He said that he didn’t like the word feminist because, although the concept includes everyone, the root of the word itself excludes 49% of the population.

I can see where he’s coming from with that, and at Hofstra I ran with a group of people who called ourselves “humanists” instead of feminists. But again, that excludes all the non-human animals that I fight for every day. That excludes the environment that I try to protect. Humanist concerns itself only with humans; I go way beyond that, as anyone who knows me would agree.

He said I should just call myself an activist. Which I am, but most people’s initial thoughts are just of anti-war activists (which I am), but not everything. And there are anti-choice activists, religious activists, conservative activists. Just because activism seems to be stronger on the left side of the spectrum doesn’t mean it’s not there on the right, and I don’t want to get confused with those people.

He said I should just say I’m not a speciesist. Which I’m not, but I also don’t like defining anything by way of negatives. Most people I know don’t go around saying “I’m not a homophobe” instead of “I’m SBNN” (or some other such phrase).

Is there a word to encompass an activist who does work for union, immigrant, anti-war, pro-choice, women, racism, queer, animal, poor, anti-corporate media, social anarchist, environment, homeless concerns?

Until someone comes up with something, I am simply Fuchsia.

(Or, as a side note, maybe that should be the word that defines all of that for future activists!)

I’m going to write down what I see activism as. You may or may not agree with everything. But this is in my life. And my blog. So whatever.

Activism is standing up for what you believe in.
It’s standing outside in 7 degree weather holding signs and yelling chants.
It’s marching through the streets.
It’s organized resistance.
It’s educational conferences of hundreds of people.

It’s also:
Educating people about the issues even if it’s one person at a time, in private conversations.
It’s showing people that you can live a relatively normal life without sacrificing your morals (even if that is by giving them vegan cupcakes– something they can relate to in a cruelty-free form).
It’s dancing around with pom poms.
It’s writing a message on your bag, where hundreds will see it every day.
It’s sticking by a friend even when they fail to see the double standards they live by, and trying to gently point them out.
It’s celebrating life and mourning death.
It’s changing your strategy for different types of people.
It’s letting people know where you stand.

Activism is getting people to think about the message any way you can.

(I may add to this later. I had more but forgot them with the rumbling of my stomach…)

Today at work, the subject of me only dating other vegans came up (I won’t get into the specifics of how this conversation came about). I’d like to explain here, keeping in mind that I’ve never actually dated a vegan, only omnis, so a lot of my preferences are formed by those experiences, as well as my own ideals.

Basically, veganism is a huge part of my life, it’s not only the way I eat but what I do with my spare time (protests, research, “fun” reading, etc). I surround myself with people who “get it” because, first of all, it’s exhausting to constantly be explaining myself and second, it’s tiring to have to battle someone (especially someone very close to you) constantly about veganism. Take, for instance, while I was home for Christmas. I love my family, but I got extremely frustrated with them. I don’t want to have to deal with that every day. Even if we don’t get into a discussion on veganism, it drains my energy to know that they’re completely resistant to something that’s so important to me.

Second, I don’t want to be around dead animals. Meat, leather, toothpaste… I don’t want to see it and I certainly don’t want to touch that. I know “mixed” couples who have a veg*n household and their significant others are omni outside of the house, and it seems to work for them. But it wouldn’t for me. Maybe I just have a very sensitive nose, but I can smell when someone’s eaten meat. And even if I couldn’t smell it, I’d know it and it grosses me out.

Third, it’s an extremely important thing to me. Being on the side of animal rights is, to me, a moral and ethical standpoint. If someone doesn’t agree with me on one of the biggest issues in my life, does anything else really matter? If they can’t see the logic of animal liberation, I don’t think anything else we may have in common will really matter. For an analogy, would someone who fought for racial equality in the 60s be comfortable dating a white supremacist, just because they have the same taste in music and movies and s/he can make them laugh? I doubt it.

Fourth, at least from my experience, all the guys I’ve dated have been extremely resistant to me being veg*n (I haven’t dated anyone since I became vegan… all entirely my own doing). One ex-boyfriend gave me a lot of crap about it. Another guy I dated for about a month told me that being vegetarian was why I was fat, because of all the sugar and carbs in fruit (first: Huh? Second: Way to insult me! I was about 15 pounds overweight at the time and had lost 50 already and he knew this!). So, from personal experience (and I’m not saying all non-vegan guys are like this, but apparently the ones I seem to find are), they’re just not supportive of me and my choices.

Basically, the way I explained it (because I didn’t have the time to explain all of this, and these are people who can’t grasp the concept that I eat stuff other than salads every day) was that it’s like the very religious. To certain religious people, they would never consider marrying outside of their religion. Excluding those who just don’t want to break the rule of outside marriages, it means a lot of them to have that faith, and they can’t relate as intimately with people who don’t have that faith. To an extent, that’s how it is with me (especially since my veganism is part of my semi-Buddhist faith, but more that being vegan led me to Buddhism than the other way around). But it encompasses a lot more than that.

I’ve had so much to write, but haven’t gotten around to it. I wanted to write this all out before I forgot. Maybe this weekend I’ll write the other stuff.

Yes, that’s right, after two weeks and lots of money, I finally have my beloved MacBook back. You know what that means? More work on my webpage! Not today, though. I’m exhausted and am devoting the rest of today to sleep. We had our Radical Cheerleader sleepover last night, and true to any sleepover party, we didn’t actually get much sleep… but we did get a lot of work done! We came up with a few new cheers, made the moves to one, brainstormed a few ideas for a name (I really, really like the Vegan Death Squad), and watched But I’m a Cheerleader!, Bring It On, and Cheer Up! (the documentary about the NYC Radical Cheerleaders). All very exciting.

A really nice girl, Marta, from the protests gave me a disc yesterday with all the photos and videos from the protests that they’ve taken. Including us cheering! So I’m working on trying to condense them so they don’t take forever to load on my webpage. For now, however, you can watch one if you don’t mind waiting for it to load (I suggest clicking on the link and then going to take a shower).

Other than that… yeah, I have a lot to write but I’m really tired. So it’ll have to be later. I get out of work early tomorrow and have Tuesday off so I can get work done then. Right? Yeah.

I feel like I have to write something positive after that rant about my aunt. To be honest, my family is really supportive of my being vegan, despite not “getting it”. One of my goals is to get my brother to go vegan (he’s vegetarian), he’s extremely resistant to it but I was at that age too. I’d love for my mom to at least become vegetarian, she doesn’t eat a lot of meat (having had two vegetarian children in the house) but chicken, ham and turkey sometimes end up on her plate.

But they’re supportive of me. My mom, who is a librarian, started reading books about veganism at work a few weeks ago (she emailed me to ask why honey wasn’t vegan, and apparently that started a whole research project). When I came home, I saw that she had a copy of The Vegan Sourcebook on her bookcase. That’s the book that opened my eyes to going vegan, so I’m pretty excited that she has a copy.

Yesterday, she made me an apple pie using margarine instead of butter specially for me. I used to make the apple pie every year, and then last year I was vegan and didn’t make one, nor did I eat any. This year, she thought about what she would need to change it to be vegan (and I thought she picked up non-vegan margarine at first… but no, it’s vegan) and she did it.

And my sister’s making cookies for me! She wanted to bring something anyway, so she called and asked if I wanted her to make anything vegan. I originally said no, because most recipes involve buying a lot of stuff (or at least for me, who doesn’t keep her kitchen well-stocked at all), and all my cookbooks are in Chicago (minus Please Don’t Feed the Bears, which I got as a Solstice gift from my Secret Soybean). But then I realized that I had the cookie recipe on my webpage, so I sent it to her and walked her through which items to get at the grocery store (she just needed margarine, vegan chocolate chips, and molasses. She obviously keeps her kitchen better stocked than I do!). So we’ll see if her cookies come out looking/tasting normal, unlike mine (it’s still a mystery. They’re good, but just different. I don’t know why) .

Anyway, despite my occasional griping, my family does rock. And Christmas isn’t all about the food (I would’ve been fine with no dessert, really… probably even better off). I love Christmas because it is, absolutely first and foremost, about my family. For those of you who haven’t known me that long, Christmas is extremely special to us because, nine years ago, my father was allowed home from the hospital for one day: Christmas. It was the most bittersweet Christmas I’ll probably ever experience. It was so great to have him home, smiling and even petting Jewel (he didn’t like cats) and just being happy. But two months and a day later, he was dead. So we always think back on that Christmas, every year. And give thanks that everyone else is still here (especially considering my sister’s horribly accident a couple years ago).

And that’s why my sister bought me a flight home. Not so I can eat vegan baked goods, but so I can be with my family. Of course, Avocado and Ginny are my family as well and they didn’t come with me, but I’ll see them on Christmas night.

So tell your family, especially the non-human family members, how much you love them. Not the (admittedly yummy) vegan food they’ve prepared for you. And remember, Christmas is about compassion for all creatures.

In other news, I can’t wait until we start having Christmas dinners at everyone else’s homes so when it’s my turn, I can have a delicious dinner with no meat on the table.

I’d like to get this point across. Last night I was visiting with my aunt, who is, next to my brother, my favorite relative. But things escape her. I knew it was a bad start when she asked me, “So, are you a strict vegan?” Uh, what do you mean? “Like, do you follow it exactly or do you sneak in a little milk here or there?” No. If I did that, I wouldn’t be a vegan. I’d be a vegetarian. I don’t know how many times I have to explain this to people (see the entry before last), but if you “cheat” or “sneak” or knowingly consume animal products, you aren’t a vegan. Please, don’t call yourself a vegan. It probably makes yourself feel cooler than you are (because you acknowledge the suffering and try to appear like you’re doing something about it… but you’re not!), plus it makes it hard for those of us who are vegan (not for a trend but for the ethics) and then have to explain to someone who had previously met a “vegan” who wasn’t really vegan.

Anyway. I keep going back to that topic but that’s because it keeps coming up. Onto other subjects… now, I said that I love my aunt. I do. But she’s a speciesist. A really big one. And some of the conversations last night just made me so angry (and she’s one of those people who, when she’s in the mood, just goes on talking and talking so you can’t counter her argument or tell her that it upsets you). First, she said how great it was that I was doing the fur protests and she’s against fur and will say something to someone on the street that’s wearing it. Great. Except that she wears leather. Why not one but the other’s fine? Because it was “cuter” in life?

Then, she went on to talk about her (deceased) husband’s family and how, being Portuguese, they always had rabbit at big dinners. Just sitting there, in the middle of the table, cooked with its head still attached and staring at you. And she would never eat it because it grossed her out. And they made the argument to her, “But you eat beef and chicken!” (exactly what I’m thinking, but with a different intent). She said that’s different. How? Well, first of all, she doesn’t kill it herself (and then proceeded to tell me how they killed the rabbits…), she just buys it from the supermarket already dead and cut up. So pretty much, she’s admitting that the removal of the killing aspect makes it okay to eat in her eyes. As long as it doesn’t resemble the living being that it previously was, she’s fine with it. Uh, that’s called denial. Her second argument? Chickens, cows, etc. are different than rabbits. How so? Aside from outer physical traits, I don’t see any difference. They’re all living beings with nerve endings, functioning organs, and a desire to live.

So I left my aunt’s house feeling considerably upset. Mind you, we talked about lots of other things that didn’t involve cruelty to animals, so it’s not like the whole night was horrible. Just, sometimes I wish people (especially those I’m closest to) would just open their fucking eyes instead of rolling them at me.

I work with a number of people who are lactose intolerant. Considering that a good percentage of the human population is lactose intolerant, it’s not so surprising. These people all have different ways of dealing with it. One avoids all things with milk in them (but still eats meat, mind you). One takes lactaid pills when she has dairy products (which is pretty often). Another just consumes dairy, gets upset stomachs, and then complains to us about it!

Not a single one of them has stopped to consider the possibility that maybe they’re not supposed to consume dairy products. Suggest this to them, and all of a sudden I’m the crazy vegan again (geez, and I was doing so well at blending in!). A large number of people are lactose intolerant because (shock of all shocks!) humans aren’t meant to consume cow’s milk. Our bodies aren’t designed for it. Those who don’t get sick from it are like that because of our genes’ wonderful ability to adapt to conditions we force them into. Whose bodies are designed for drinking cow milk? The answer should be fairly obvious: baby cows. Not baby humans and especially not adult humans.

So, crazy vegan that I am, I’ve suggested alternatives to cow milk. I’ve gotten everything in response from people completely ignoring me (real strong argument there), to “Eww that’s gross!” (consuming a cow’s reproductive secretions isn’t?) to “I tried it once and didn’t like it” (like diarrhea better?). Tried what? Soy, hemp, rice, almond milk? There are so many different alternatives to cow milk. There are different flavors (plain, unsweetened, vanilla, chocolate…). Even from brand to brand, there’s a huge difference. Ask a group of vegans which kind tastes most like cow milk, and you’ll get a variety of responses; most likely the majority of brands/flavors/sources will be represented. We all have different taste receptors, so of course you have to apply trial and error.

Me? Personally, I don’t want to be reminded of cow milk. But it’s out there for those who do.

Some days, let’s face it, I don’t want to get out of bed and be barraged with fur coats, stupid anti-vegan questions, and McDonald’s/Arby’s/Applebee’s/whateverthefuck ad that shoves dead animals into my face. Sometimes, you can feel extremely defeated when you look at the big picture. So what do I do? I don’t look at the big picture. There’s one thing that gets me out of bed on these days to continue fighting. Well, two.

Avocado and Ginny. And I don’t mean that I get out of bed because I have to feed them (I can easily go right back to bed). Just seeing them, knowing what a great life they now have, is sometimes the motivation I need. Their stories aren’t incredibly horrific compared to some (J’s dog was legally rescued from a vivisection lab, and you should hear him talk about the rehabilitation process), but still. I need to keep fighting so others won’t have to endure worse.

I got Avocado in March of this past year. He and his brother (whom I didn’t adopt) were seventh months old and had been victims of animal abuse. Yet he had never fought back, according to the papers I received at his adoption. He never bit, or clawed, or anything. And he still hasn’t. Even though he received horrible treatment in his first home, once he was with people who cared about him, once he could feel safe, he knew that. As soon as I brought him home, he knew it was for good. He completely trusts me (and I would never do anything to violate that trust). The capacity for forgiveness in animals is amazing.

Ginny was abandoned when she was about five months old. When I adopted her in August, she had been in the shelter for a month and a half (completely baffling the shelter volunteers, who loved her, and I also couldn’t understand why). She had been dumped at a “popular” drop-off spot for unwanted pets (a spot the shelter regularly checks apparently). When she was brought in, she was half-starved, had worms and fleas, and was extremely cautious. When I went to adopt her, she was still on the thin side, and she was very shy. She was terrified of being outside. She also wasn’t too keen on dogs which, with two very hyper dogs in the house, made things interesting.

I brought her home, kept her away from the dogs, and gave her lots of love and food. She went from five and a half pounds to a healthy 7 pounds quickly. She didn’t hesitate to show her affection towards me, licking my fingers (and everywhere else) whenever I picked her up. Her affection has never wavered.

Through the months, I’ve worked on renewing her confidence. She was afraid of going outside, but I started taking her out on her leash and harness, and once she realized that I would remain by her side, she relaxed. One day, the three of us (including Avocado) went outside in the front yard and she took a nap while Avocado ran around. That’s how I knew she was much more at ease. Now she goes outside all the time (always on her harness, always with me). We go for walks down to the Lincoln Square shops, where she hangs out with the calmer dogs. She’s attended a fur protest with me (once winter’s over she’ll be out there again… I’m not going to subject her to this weather!). I’m the crazy girl with a cat on a leash… but if she doesn’t go out at least once a week now, she gets restless.

She’s still jumpy at times if you move too quickly behind her, and sometimes she gets startled by the simplest things (like the fridge turning on). She freezes when people walk by my apartment door. But I’m sure that she’s aware that nothing’s going to happen to her now. She still gives me, and anyone else she meets, plenty of kisses.

So for me, I have to get out of bed and continue to fight for animal rights so that animals like Avocado and Ginny can have a chance for something better, if they happen to be born into the wrong situation. So they don’t end up as “subjects” in animal tests. So they don’t end up on fur farms in China to make cheap fur coats. So they don’t end up in cheap pet food. And this extends to ALL animals. I know that I’ve only focused on my cats, but I want to make the distinction that they’re not special just because they’re cats. All animals deserve the chance to live a happy, fulfilling life without cruelty. Just some days, the physical reminder is needed.

Okay, there are lots of things that I have to write about, because I’ve been pretty busy lately. But for right now, I just want to rant about the last two days. At work, I float between two offices, and each has its perks and disadvantages. When I’m in the one, I’m tucked away in a corner where nobody ever sees me, but I get to listen to Vegan Freak podcasts and talk to Nick. But, you know, nobody else ever sees me. In the other office, I actually get human interaction. And while I’m not one to crave human interaction all the time, once in a while it’s nice. But half the time I can’t stand the topics of conversation I’m forced to endure (which is another rant for another place that I’ve already written, actually).

But yesterday and today? The fucking vegan inquisition. Now, I don’t mind if people ask me about being vegan. But it really depends on how you ask the questions. I swear, when one girl asked me if I eat potatoes, or rice, I was just like, “Huh? Are you serious?” Another girl rolled her eyes when I said I don’t use Clorox and those types of products because of the animal testing. And, of course, the whole “you don’t believe in animal testing for medical research?” I sat there for about fifteen minutes and tried to explain to them why animal testing for medical research is unnecessary and often inefficient. I’m pretty sure that I didn’t get through to them (judging by their inability to comprehend anything that doesn’t revolve around reality TV). “But testing saves lives!” Um, it usually doesn’t (how many animals are killed every year in medical research compared to how many human lives are saved?), but either way I don’t think a human life is of greater value than an animal life. I don’t think that an animal’s life should be “sacrificed” for the life of a human. But try explaining that to them.

Then I made the mistake of going into the whole Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, and instead of getting the concept that our rights are being infringed, now they’re all, “Fuchsia’s a terrorist!” Jokingly, of course, but still. Um… did you not listen to anything I said?

Anyway, so I endured this yesterday, and then as I was heading down to the El after work, I was accosted by a Greenpeace person. He pretty much hunted me down (seriously… I had my headphones on, listening to Vegan Freak, and he just kept saying stuff to me until I actually paid attention). When I finally heard him, it went like this:

GP: “I know you love the environment!”
Me: “Yes, I do. Tell me, are you vegan?”
GP: “No…”
Me: “Well, animal consumption is the main contributor to the gases that are thought to be causing global warming.”
GP: *nervous laugh* “Animal consumption is the biggest contributor to pollution in general. But I’m a vegetarian. Well, I admit, I do cheat sometimes. But I try to avoid factory farming as much as possible.”

(Mind you that I’m walking very quickly down the street to catch my train and he’s walking alongside me.)

Okay… don’t say you’re a vegetarian to get my money (not that I have any anyway, and there are other organizations, like the ADL, that I’d rather give my money to). If you know what’s doing the most damage (than everything else combined) to the environment, fucking do something about it, starting with yourself. And don’t fucking say you’re a vegetarian but you “cheat” sometimes. If you cheat… you’re not a vegetarian. Sometimes we make mistakes (family members sneaking things into food, for instance. Or for all those years that I was vegetarian before becoming vegan, I just didn’t know that gelatin was considered not vegetarian), but saying you “cheat”? That’s just completely different. You’re not a vegetarian.

I said it was a rant, right? I swear a lot when I’m ranting.

Then today I came into work, feeling like absolute shit, and had to endure Day Two of the vegan questioning. I was mostly completely out of it, though (I get loopy when I’m sick), so I don’t really remember anything.

On the El on the way home, the man I was sitting next to was reading a book about the horrors of factory farming and slaughterhouses. After the last two days, it was good to know that I wasn’t alone in thinking about all of this. (Okay, there’s another vegan at work, and quite a few vegetarians, but I hardly ever come into contact with them…)

But then I came home and Emelda came over to practice our cheers for our new Radical Cheerleaders team, and we came up with some new ideas as well (still need to come up with a name…). We’re going to be cheering at Saturday’s protest, and another one on Sunday (yay!). Oh and ADL sent out the 12 Days of Liberation so I was excited about that.

But yeah, that’s been me lately. Frustrating non-vegans (they’re not all bad, and they’re not as bad as ex-vegans of which I thankfully don’t know any here), intelligent vegans, and everything in between.