Renee claims: “I am not a monster and would certainly not support intentional animal cruelty but I am a meat eater.  I have always been a meat eater and will always be a meat eater.”

My rebuttal: I’ve never met Renee in real life, but I’ve read enough of her blog posts to grant that she is not a monster. She genuinely cares about other people and actively tries to make the world a better place. She has good intentions when it comes to animals.

The problem is that animal agribusiness is so often and so routinely cruel that it’s impossible to “not support intentional animal cruelty” while also eating animals. The notion of humane meat is a myth.

Jonathan Safran Foer explains this in his interview on Ellen. He says, “You have to ask yourself, does this thing I’m holding in my hand correspond with reality?”:

Beyond that, Renee claims that she “will always be a meat eater.” It’s such a ridiculous claim! How can she see into the future and know for certain what lies ahead?

Why does she include “meat-eater” as a part of her identity in the same way that she includes her gender? Does she really think she’d be a completely different person if she refrained from eating animals? Does she truly believe there is something about being vegan that will make her act like her worst vegan enemy?

Next Renee claims: “veganism is not sustainable unless you consume imported food.”

Let’s start with this: Even if Renee can’t yet fathom how she could be a vegan, and even if she thinks that the only kind of vegan worth being is a locavore vegan, that doesn’t mean she can’t begin to try. But first she’ll have to drop the meat-eater identity. She’ll have to allow herself to explore new foods and new ideas without  prejudice. I suggest she start by going veg one day a week:

Next, Renee worries about worker’s rights: “When you buy a bunch of bananas for 50 cents a pound, do you really believe a worker has gotten a fair return on their investment?”

I will absolutely grant that farm workers deserve more rights and better working conditions. But that’s not a good reason to eat animals! That’s a good reason to purchase fair trade items, to grow our own food, to buy organic, to consume less, and to vote for worker’s rights. Veganism fits with these values, not against them.

Moreover, has Renee forgotten about the slaughterhouse workers? Does she really think she shouldn’t slow the line? (click here for more information on animal agribusiness workers.)

Renee then talks more about local eating, to which I respond: Please read The Myth Of The Locavore.

Finally, she says, “There are certainly POC that advocate for veganism/vegetarianism but just like any other social justice movements, their voices are not the ones that are being centered.  The debate is most certainly controlled by White middle to upper class women.”

I agree with Renee, in part. The animal movement doesn’t pay enough attention to the diversity of its membership. It’s something we should work on improving by becoming better allies with people of color.

However, none of that should matter in Renee’s decision to eat animals. The cows and chickens and fish don’t care about racism, classism, or sexism within the animal movement, they just want freedom from suffering for themselves. How can someone who claims to care about animals overlook the animals’ needs and instead focus on the animal movement’s imperfections? Eating animals in order to spite privileged people doesn’t do anything good for anyone! It’s just mean.

Ultimately, Renee’s entire article is more an exhibition of her ignorance about animal exploitation than a criticism of veganism or the animal movement. To that end, I suggest Earthlings:

Imagine a whole “life’ of captivity?

So, if you’re a bit stir-crazy being temporarily home bound… But you still don’t get the urgency of ending animal use AND suffering; Now would be a great time to - Watch Earthlings

Some of his comments after realizing what happens to animals in animal agriculture, entertainment, fur, and other exploitative industries:
“it’s wrong”
“it’s cruel”
“it’s barbaric”
“I had no idea what my ignorance was supporting”

If you haven’t seen Earthlings, watch it now:

amoral, adj. 1. without moral quality; neither moral or immoral. 2. lacking or indifferent to moral standards, criteria, or principles

moral, adj. 1. of, or pertaining to, or concerned with the principles of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong; ethical

I watched Earthlings for the first time last week with a group of university students that were also seeing it for the first time. Now I’ve been fighting and speaking up for the rights of animals for almost 10 years and I’ve seen a lot of sickening, twisted and horrible animal cruelty caught on tape. I thought I was immune!

But what I saw in Earthlings was so vile and so overwhelming that it truly disgusted me to be associated with the rest of humanity. I wasn’t myself for days. I won’t go into the graphic details of the film, as I’m sure most of you reading this have already seen it. But if you haven’t, I recommend you do, animal activist or not (albeit armed with a good supply of tissues).

As I facilitated the post-film discussion, I asked the teary-eyed kids in attendance if they thought the people committing the incomprehensible acts of violence in the film were psychopaths or if our entire society was psychopathic to allow, promote and participate in the institutionalized cruelty we so easily and without provocation inflict upon the animals.

I believe our society, hell, our whole damn species, is psychopathic. I can’t think of any sane reason for what we do to the animals. We know they feel pain. We know they suffer and bleed and fear death. We know that when they’re beaten they cry out in agony.

We know they can sense when they’re about to be slaughtered and we know they try to avoid it with every fiber of their being. We know they experience terror and we know that their screams are screams of terror and not of indifference. We know it but that knowledge doesn’t stop most of us from doing it.

And what do we make of people like ourselves; part of this violent and sadistic culture yet dedicated to peace and compassion? What makes us different? Not everyone who sees Earthlings, or sees the inside of a slaughterhouse for that matter, will go vegan (although I’m certain many will). Why do some people change while others do not?

Is it perhaps that we are the next link in the evolution of humankind; homo sapiens pathiens (from the Greek pathos meaning to evoke pity or compassion): the wise and compassionate human? I don’t know. I don’t have all the answers.

But I do know that sooner or later some of us will ask ourselves: how do we go on? How do we keep on fighting when 99% of humanity – our friends, family, co-workers and community leaders – have such utter contempt and disregard for the feelings and suffering of animals? How do we go on when it seems like we’re powerless to protect the animals from the evils of the human race?

The answer is we just do.

—
Update: This post’s timestamp has been changed in order to re-publish it on the front page without a “sticky.” It was originally published on Aug. 12th 2009.

Warning: disturbing images.

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO MONSANTO
(full feature-length film)
KING CORN
(preview)

SUPERSIZE ME
(full feature-length film)

RAW FOR 30 DAYS
(preview)

EARTHLINGS
(full feature-length film)
MEET YOUR MEAT
(full length film: about 12 minutes)

Natascha Kampusch had to spend more than eight years in a tiny room after being kidnapped in Vienna when she was only ten years old. In 2008, when she was 18 years old, she managed to escape. [...]

“It is now up to Minister Aigner to decide whether social, intelligent and beautiful living beings should continue to be humiliated because ruthless or naïve people keep them chained in cages – depressed, broken and limited to an amount that prevents them from living a normal life according to their needs. Animals, too, would run away if they could, just like I took my chance to escape. Because a life in captivity is a life full of deprivation”, says Natascha Kampusch in a press release  (link here)

Here is the Earthlings segment on circuses:

Hurry, free viewing may only be termporary. These kinds of things usually are.