Veganology

When Animal Rights are Human Rights

September 2, 2019 by Ashe, posted in Uncategorized, vegan

group of hen inside cage — Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Pexels.com

A sociological look at the relationship between animal suffering and human suffering.

This is a broad and important topic, but in this post I will focus on the intersection of humans and animals in modern factory farming. Part of the reason I decided to research and write this post is because of the common public sentiment that vegans “don’t care about humans, they only care about animals” and that we should really be thinking about all of the people living in poverty, violent areas and under oppression. But veganism touches directly upon those very human issues, and was part of my choice to go and to remain vegan.

We hear a lot of talk about PTSD among war veterans, survivors of assault, and civilians stuck in war-torn countries. What we don’t hear about in the media very much is PTSD among factory farm workers. I’m focused specifically on the factory farm workers because I am aware that many small, family owned animal-agriculture businesses often don’t operate at such a mind-bending magnitude and may not share in the rates of stress or PTSD-like symptoms as those subjected to the worst of modern animal farming (which now accounts for over 90% of the meat we eat, so those family farms are disappearing fast).

Most factory farm workers have a high quota of animals to be killed per hour or per day. In these factories, workers need to distance themselves from the brutality of the situation through cognitive dissonance. A worker in a chicken factory may slit throats endlessly as chickens round off a conveyor belt, but no matter which way the utilitarian method is presented, the worker is essentially subjected to a full-day shift of non-stop throat slitting and/or stunning animals. Workers hear the constant screams of animals, and those in pig or beef farms wrestle with these gentle giants as their screams form a constant cacophony on the kill floor. Without cognitive dissonance, there is no way to separate the act from your conscience. Even with dissonance, many return home and find the work conditions follow them. Many academic studies (a couple listed in the links) have found a direct correlation between factory farm workers and increased rates of violent crime such as spousal abuse and sexual assault. As well, it’s noted that there is an increased rate of alcoholism and drug abuse by people working in these conditions.

To make matters even more complex on the sociological front, one will find that the bulk of factory farm workers are people already oppressed or living in difficult circumstances:

“Historically, a lot of slaughterhouse workers have been African American but recently there has been a rise in the number of Latin American workers to the profession. People of color are subject to systemic racism which often leaves them living in poorer communities and therefore more likely to have to take jobs in slaughterhouses. This work then denies them social mobility due to the mental, emotional and physical impact the job has.” (https://www.livekindly.co/slaugterhouse-worker-violent-behaviour/)

The recent ICE Raids in the southern United States at poultry factory farms found that over half of the workers were illegal immigrants. (https://www.npr.org/2019/08/10/750172206/ice-raids-hit-poultry-processing-plants-that-rely-on-latino-immigrant-labor) Their pay is low, the conditions are almost always unsanitary, and they have little chance of upward mobility whether or not they are legally residing in the country. The marginalized, poor immigrants, and especially illegal immigrants, have few choices for other lines of work and become easy targets for the horrible and underpaid work conditions of the Big Meat industry. I could go on about this for several blog posts, but I encourage readers to explore the studies done (you can find more on Google Scholar) and educate yourself on the data and the personal experiences of these people.

Another factor is the health of the people who work in these farms. Many studies, reports, and health and safety inspections have found the working conditions unfit for humans. As most of these animals are raised in small conditions, pumped with hormones, antibiotics and/or other horrors, and then living in their own waste products, we can be sure that the salmonella, e.coli and other unwanted viruses and parasites make their way over to humans. Jonathan Safran Foer’s informative and eye-opening book Eating Animals notes that up to 90% of factory farmed chickens killed have salmonella on them. Most of these chickens are soaked in chlorine baths before being sent to the processing plant.

Factory farm workers are subject to breathing in animal waste products at extremely high levels, touching body parts and equipment that is contaminated with bacteria and dangerous pathogens, as well as heightened potential for injury due to the speed at which they are supposed to work. Many workers develop long-term illnesses from working in these conditions. For those working in the U.S. or countries where they don’t have adequate access to affordable healthcare, many struggle even more with complications from illnesses.

The physical and mental health of factory farm workers is constantly threatened by the work they do.

Unlike food as a general category, meat as a sub-category is becoming increasingly irrelevant. If you don’t live in a food desert or in an area where there is no access to vegan options, then I encourage you to stop and think about why you still consume animal products. The human communities with the longest life-span are vegetarian or vegan; the Seventh Day Adventists and the Okinawans off the coast of Japan. Many nutritionists, dietitians and doctors advocate for a healthy plant-based diet and can show people how to do it in a way that can be long-term. As eating meat becomes irrelevant, then so does struggle of the people who suffer physically and mentally for your processed chicken wing cravings.

This isn’t all to say that vegan foods are always ethical. There’s growing awareness of abuse in the cashew industry of India, and many are well aware of the ethical issues related to banana production in Central America. Those are also human rights issues that need to be addressed and tackled. But unlike meat… fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes, when paired with ethical standards for production, won’t require any animal deaths and will also contribute to a reduction in food industry workers struggling with PTSD and other mental health issues. Removing animals from our food production removes a layer of human suffering and reduces the unnecessary deaths of countless animals.

With Beyond Meat burgers owning the stock exchange, non-dairy milk and cheese threatening and contributing to the decline of the dairy industry (which has its own issues), and a plethora of blogs, books, and websites dedicated to showing us how to eat a healthy plant-based diet… why still eat meat? James Cameron’s new documentary “The Game Changers” features male athletes breaking records and living in peak health while eating a balanced vegan diet… so if the fittest man in the world is vegan, what can help you start the journey towards veganism?

Links and Some Sources:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28506017

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10611-011-9297-2

The Psychological Damage of Slaughterhouse Work

https://mercyforanimals.org/slaughterhouse-workers-have-ptsd-from-killing

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/19/christmas-crisis-kill-dinner-work-abattoir-industry-psychological-physical-damage

https://www.businessinsider.com/meat-industry-sanitation-workers-2018-1

Modern Kosher: The Rise of Jewish Veganism

August 8, 2019August 8, 2019 by Ashe, posted in Uncategorized

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** This is a condensed version of a paper I wrote for my master’s degree; if you would like more info or sources please leave me a comment as some topics have been reduced or removed for a shorter, more blog-focused piece.**
“Judaism strengthens my choice to be vegan, makes the decisions I embrace daily even richer, deeper, and more fulfilling.” – Mayim Bialik, Jewish vegan actress and PhD
In the past few decades, Judaism has seen the emergence of the Green Kosher Movement, a movement that seeks to incorporate environmental, social, and animal rights issues into Jewish practice and belief. One key component of this movement is the focus on vegetarianism/veganism as the ideal Kosher diet, with rabbis and other Jewish advocates using both the Torah (Jewish Bible) and Talmudic sources to justify this practice. What do the Torah and Talmud say about eating animal products? What have historical and contemporary Jewish figures stated about vegetarianism as the Kosher ideal? And why is it NOW that Judaism is having its major vegan moment? Much of it ties in with addressing broader global issues from a Jewish perspective.

As Western society became more aware of the potential for destructive climate change, the animal suffering induced by factory farming, the slave labour involved in clothing manufacturing, among other atrocities, many Jews turned to the Torah and tradition in a search for ways to respond to these modern issues. Many Jews use the Garden of Eden from the story of Genesis to form the basis of their ideology. According to proponents of the movement “In the Garden of Eden everything was ethical and peaceful, land was cared for, and Adam and Eve did not eat animals.” The movement in some ways takes on Messianic undertones, with the message of many advocates, including those mentioned below, ultimately suggest that only this ethical living will bring about the Messianic age. Most Jewish vegetarians identify with the broader Green Kosher Movement, and many draw upon the overall message and sources in support of a vegetarian kosher ideal.

Choosing Vegetarianism
From the large list of books I’ve read by Jewish authors writing on the topic, the most common reason among their decision to go vegan was a general observation of animal suffering. Notably, the desire to go vegetarian sprang from less a Jewish standpoint than one of an increasing broader societal awareness of factory farms and the suffering inflicted on the lives of those animals. In some instances, writers’ decisions to go vegetarian inspired an exploration of Kosher law and even a deepening of faith or religious observance. The growth of vegetarianism appears to be a phenomenon particularly in Judaism and in Israel, where thirteen percent of Israelis identify as vegetarian, now the highest population of strict vegetarians in the world. Jewish publication Tablet Magazine’s article “Life After Brisket” suggests that the majority of vegetarians are driven more by animal rights than health or religion, though they discuss its obvious impact on religious life in the country. Amongst the books, articles and blogs collected, there appears a strong correlation between animal rights (and sometimes even a relation to Jewish suffering during the Holocaust) in decisions to become vegetarian.

Rabbi Yohansan Gershom writes in The Jewish Vegan, that he became a vegetarian after visiting a factory farm to purchase living chickens for his own land. Coming face-to-face with the birds he would have to kill was an awakening, and he could no longer eat chickens. His initial reasoning was not wanting to cause suffering to an animal, but after this he sought Biblical and Rabbinic support for his position. Jewish actress Mayim Bialik, famous for her role on The Big Bang Theory, also began her vegan journey with a general ethical concern for animal suffering, noting that, “I learned that they pump that poor bird full of drugs to make it grow so big that it can’t stand up. That was the end of eating turkey.” She writes regularly about her vegan lifestyle for a Jewish parenting website Kveller.com, where she emphasizes the ethical component of an animal-free diet, but also discusses its relationship to her Jewish faith.

Some Jews went vegetarian after drawing connections between the Holocaust and modern-day factory farms, with the Israeli vegan activist group 269 Life even calling meat consumption “the animal Holocaust.” Founders of the website Jewishveg.com are more cautious about using the term, but do relate the suffering of animals to the suffering of humans in genocide. Animal rights activist and Holocaust survivor Alex Hershaft went vegan after seeing images of factory farms, which provoked traumatic memories of his past:
“I noted with horror the striking similarities between what the Nazis did to my family and my people, and what we do to animals we raise for food: the branding or tattooing of serial numbers to identify victims, the use of cattle cars to transport victims to their death, the crowded housing of victims in wood crates, the arbitrary designation of who lives and who dies — the Christian lives, the Jew dies; the dog lives, the pig dies.”

Choosing Kosher Vegetarianism
For religious Jewish vegetarians, it was not as simple as giving up meat. In a tradition with laws that aim to minimize the suffering of animals but nonetheless actively accepts eating animals, and even praises the eating of meat and dairy at certain times, choosing to not eat meat posed a challenge to their religious and social identity. Meat and dairy play a central part in most main dishes, especially on holidays and Sabbath. As families and communities gather to recite blessings over Challah bread, Jewish vegans encounter difficulty and/or stigmatization when they cannot eat the bread because of the eggs. Being a religiously observant vegetarian Jew means the individual must find a way to validate their choices, which in turn leads many to the Torah and other Jewish sources such as the Talmud.

There are hundreds of sources from the Torah and other texts that Jewish vegetarians draw upon, but there are a few sources that are most popular and frequently used among advocates, especially The Sacred Table and The Jewish Vegan. Prominent Torah sources include the story of creation, which, as previously mentioned, highlights Genesis and the Garden of Eden as return to paradise. Many cite how an animal may not be slaughtered alongside its mother in order to highlight animal suffering and emotion (Leviticus 22:28). In Exodus 20:10 Jews are told that animals must also rest on Shabbat, highlighting their worthiness for respect and care. In Deuteronomy 22:10 owners are told that they are responsible for how animals are being used: one cannot plow with an ox and mule harnessed together, as the animals are of unequal size and strength and might suffer. In Numbers 11 during the exodus when the Israelites are in the desert and a group of them clamored for meat, Jeffrey Cohan argues that, “they were struck down and buried in the Graves of Gluttony.” Jewish vegetarians using these Torah sources often point to the inherent worthiness of animals in these passages, saying that if we respect animals enough to care for them, and if the Bible requires us to do so, we should also abstain from eating them.

Israeli Orthodox Rabbi Jeremy Gimpel looked at the way animals are treated in food production and stated, “There is a deep, deep Jewish belief that there is a sanctity to life,” and that modern farming cannot reconcile animal suffering with Jewish morality. Gimpel also spoke about the growing interest in vegetarianism among orthodox rabbis in Israel, and how they draw inspiration from the Torah and Talmud to argue that halakha forbids animals to suffer, which should now include killing an animal at all. Just as Jews no longer sacrifice animals, it is time to abandon killing them to eat them. Chief among the orthodox rabbis’ arguments is a Genesis passage in which God forbids man from severing the limbs of any living creature. Discussion and debate surrounding the Torah and vegetarianism has increased over the past decade, and many hope that with increased Biblical and Talmudic affirmation, the movement can continue to grow among religious Jews.

Belong and Identity: Vegan Challah and the New Normal
Celebrity endorsements often lend ample support to a cause, and the Jewish vegetarian movement is no different. The non-profit group Jewish Vegetarians of North America posted a list of famous Jewish vegetarians who have spoken about their dietary choices. Celebrities on the list include Natalie Portman, Alicia Silverstone, Sarah Silverman, Matisyahu, and Jason Schwartzman. Relating a celebrity’s veganism back to their Jewish heritage, whether they practice or not, provides support for this dual identity and popularizes the ideology. In a society obsessed with celebrity culture, the desire to find celebrity endorsement furthers the social and religious importance of validating a Jewish vegetarian identity. Similar to celebrities that endorsed the “It Gets Better” campaign for LGBTQ youth who are bullied, the Jewish vegetarian celebrities who endorse the movement are visible symbols that this identity is acceptable in Judaism. They share a message that not only advocates vegetarianism, but promotes a proud Jewish vegetarian identity. Underlying this advocacy and endorsement is the message that vegetarian Jews belong in the Jewish community, they too are an important component and voice in the global religious Jewish community.

Another endorsement of the vegetarian Jewish identity is found in the popular Birth Right Israel program. Birth Right is offering its first official Vegan Birth Right trip in 2017. Jeffrey Cohan, Executive Director of the non-profit Jewish Veg (which operates online at Jewishveg.org), has worked with the Birth Right team to develop a program that is inclusive to vegetarian Jews curious about exploring their roots and religion. He states poignantly, “so many young Jews who are vegan or vegetarian have become distanced from Judaism because their needs have not been met by our communal institutions… This is a phenomenal way of re-engaging them.” Jewish publication Forward Magazine notes that the Israeli army now makes vegan berets and clothing items for its incoming vegetarian military personnel. As Jewish institutions, from military and government to guided trips and restaurants begin to develop options for vegetarian Jews, they show a slow but growing acceptance of vegetarianism as a suitable and acceptable Jewish choice.

Jewish AND Kosher AND Vegan

This twenty-first century shift in dietary choices and restrictions resonates with the tensions surrounding food in broader Western culture. A perfect example is a cartoon that went viral in 2015, “If Jesus Tried to Feed the Five Thousand Today.” The image depicts Jesus standing with a loaf and a fish, with different speech bubbles of his followers exclaiming, “I can’t eat that, I’m vegan;” “Has that fish been tested for Mercury?” and “Is that bread gluten free?” While fad diets, food intolerances, and vegetarianism have become pronounced in Western society, they still often remain the subject of mockery. Jewish vegetarians and Jews with any alternative diet must work to find creative alternatives that enable them to participate in ancient traditions and rituals. Jewish food scholar Norma Baumel Joseph quoted French gastronome Jean Anthelm Brillat-Savarin on the subject of food and identity, who suggested, “Tell me what you eat, and I shall tell you what you are.” While Jewish identity is about more than food, this component plays a central part in the tradition, especially as tradition with some of the most noticeable food boundaries and restrictions in the world.

Sarah Chandler, a Jewish food educator and vegetarian, works directly with Jewish communities and families to develop vegetarian options for Jewish holidays, noting how many dishes include meat products. For Jews who want to celebrate Passover without eggs, they must get creative to find meaningful alternatives. Jacob Labdenz dedicates his chapter in The Sacred Table to exploring meaningful vegan alternatives for the Passover seder. Mayiam Bialik has published a vegan Jewish cookbook, and another Amazon bestselling cookbook is aptly titled New Kosher Jewish Vegan Cookbook. The growing number of volumes, non-fiction books and vegetarian Jewish food cookbooks highlight a growing need to find ways to bridge vegetarian identity with religious Jewish identity.
To be a vegetarian Jew in broader Western society is also an important identity distinction. Mayim Bialik writes about becoming a “Kosher Vegan,” noting that she is not only Jewish and vegan, but maintains any Kosher restrictions that still apply. Situating herself in American society but firmly as a Jew, her declaration of being a Kosher vegan enables her to distinguish herself as sharing the same ethic as a secular or non-Jewish vegan, while still being distinctly Jewish.

Looking to the future, the Kosher vegetarian movement is continuing to move towards acceptance. While no modern Israeli rabbi has issued a psak (official declaration) advocating a vegetarian diet, strides have still been made. In 2015 Beit Hillel, a consortium of 120 Orthodox rabbis, scholars, and community leaders in Jerusalem issued a paper that called for Jews to reduce their meat consumption in order to alleviate the suffering of animals. In 2010, just 2.6% of Israelis identified as vegetarian, but by 2015 over 8% of Israelis identified as vegetarian and 5% as vegan (13% of the total population). Such a significant rise in just five years is impressive, and the statistic includes Jews from across the spectrum all the way from Hasidic to secular. Perhaps by 2050, “tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are” might convey an image of a kippah-wearing Jew eating a vegan matzo ball soup as a normal image of Judaism. Jewish comedian Allan King offers a witty summary of every Jewish holiday with the line, “They tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat!” To which a twenty-first century vegan Jew relaying the sentiment to Sabbath dinner guests may, quite acceptably, respond, “oh, what a beautiful vegan challah!” Ask the Kosher vegetarian what they eat, and they can now comfortably tell you who they are.

Here’s a list of some sources for anyone who wants to nerd out further:

Bialik, Mayim. “My Jewish Take on Thanksgiving,” Kveller, 23 November, 2015. Accessed 20 March 2017. http://www.kveller.com/mayim-bialik-my-jewish-take-on-thanksgiving/
Bialik, Mayim. “I Became a Kosher Vegan,” Kveller, 8 February, 2012. Accessed 20 March, 2017. http://www.kveller.com/i-became-a-kosher-vegan/
Bodzin, Robyn Fryer. “Being Vegan in a Jewish Communal Setting,” The Jewish Vegan. USA: The Shamayim V’Aretz Institute: 2015.
Clayman, Sidney. “Vegetarianism: The Ideal of the Bible,” Rabbis and Vegetarianism: An Evolving Tradition. Massachusetts: Micah Publications, 1995.
Cohan, Jeffrey. “The Prohibition on Causing Animals to Suffer,” The Jewish Vegan. USA: The Shamayim V’Aretz Institute: 2015.
Cohen, Tova. “In the Land of Milk and Honey, Israelis Turn Vegan,” Forward online. Accessed April 10, 2017. http://forward.com/food/312445/in-the-land-of-milk-and-honey-israelis-turn-vegan/?attribution=blog-article-related-1-headline
Dolfin, Josephin. “Holocaust Survivor Likens Treatment of Farm Animals to Modern Day Shoah,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 16 October, 2016. Accessed 20 March, 2017. http://www.jta.org/2016/10/06/news-opinion/united-states/holocaust-survivor-likens-treatment-of-farm-animals-to-modern-day-shoah
Gershom, Yohansen. “Rabbi Birds and Rooster Chicks: How I Became a Vegetarian,” The Jewish Vegan. USA: The Shamayim V’Aretz Institute: 2015.
Joseph, Norma Baumel. “T’beet: Situating Iraqi Jewish Identity through Food,” in Religious Lives and Landscapes in Quebec, edited by Hilary Kaell. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 2017.
Labendz, Jacob. “New Traditions for a Vegan Passover,” The Jewish Vegan. USA: The Shamayim V’Aretz Institute: 2015.
Schwarta, Richard H. “Should the Mistreatment of Animals Be Compared to the Holocaust?” Jewish Veg, accessed 23 March, 2017. https://www.jewishveg.org/schwartz/holocaust.html
Schoenfein, Liza. “As More Jews go Vegan, So Does Birthright,” Forward, 11 January, 2017. Accessed 24 March, 2017. http://forward.com/food/359724/as-more-jews-go-vegan-so-does-birthright/
Stub, Sarah Toth. “Life After Brisket,” Tablet Magazine, 16 February, 2016. Accessed 23 March, 2017. http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/197361/life-after-brisket
269 Life, “About,” accessed 23 March, 2017. http://www.269life.com/about.html

Rastafarians: The Ital Way Out of Oppression and Illness

June 5, 2019June 5, 2019 by Ashe, posted in Uncategorized, vegan

vegan rasta

Christian Veganism Part 1!

People most often associate the Rastafari with Bob Marley and weed. The stereotypes and ignorance of this rich spiritual and cultural tradition means that hardly anybody outside the movement knows about ital- the vegan diet long recommended by the movement for its spiritual and physical benefits.

Rastafarianism developed in the 1930s in Jamaica as both a religious and social movement. Many people also don’t realize that Rastas are also Christians- their theology is rooted in the Bible and many see Haile Selassie (former emperor of Ethiopia) as the second coming of Christ. The movement that developed focused on liberation from colonial oppression, practices and rituals to bring one closer to God, and in returning to African roots through spiritual, cultural and health-related means. You can read more about the general tradition and history here.

Since this is a blog dedicated to exploring the world of veganism through a variety of lenses, I’ll be focusing on the ital area of the Rastafari movement. The term “ital” for many Rastas relates to “vital”; i.e. a diet and lifestyle that is vital for a healthy life. There are a few reasons that early Rastas adopted a mostly vegan diet. (Like any tradition, there are some Rastas who eat meat, but the tradition highly recommends a plant-based diet for many reasons)

On a physical level, a healthful plant-based diet was acknowledged to be the healthiest diet (ital-observant Rastafarians don’t eat fried or processed foods, including refined sugar). Their recommendations of eating from the land and letting “food by thy medicine” was a prescription long before Western medicine discovered the links between animal products/processed foods and diseases like diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. There has even been a recent growth of ital diets being adopted in Jamaica and among diaspora as many seek ways to reverse the diet-related illnesses that have plagued many North American black communities over the past century.

Another important reason relates to colonialism, a return to ancient teachings and a need to fight all systems of oppression. The oppression of humans and non-human animals is linked; this is a common sentiment among many minority communities that have struggled with various forms of oppression and violence (and a reason that many Holocaust survivors are vegan, more on that in another post). As the author of Black Vegan Diaries writes,

“For Rastafari, promoting healthy foods and criticizing the establishments which do the opposite are all integral parts of the same movement. Just like veganism, the consideration of the food that one consumes is not only about improving one’s health, but also about the greater struggle against oppression. The only difference is that there’s a certain level of privilege attached to the ability to make the dietary change solely about animals. For Rastafari and Black vegans in general, the struggle against systemic oppression isn’t new, it’s been an ongoing struggle. Animal abuse is just another form of oppression to add to the list.”

Civil Rights, Human Rights and Animal Rights are intrinsically linked in movements like these. As one Ital chef notes: “If an animal has been bred for slaughter and kept in a space where it’s not allowed to move freely or live a happy life and then you eat that animal, you take all of that history on.”

Which is another reason that many black vegans get so frustrated when mainstream society equates veganism as akin to wealthy, white people. In fact, by doing so, mainstream society continues to further ignore and marginalize these cultures, traditions and their voices.

The Ital lifestyle discussion is not complete without a discussion of its relationship to spirituality. As a National Geographic article notes on Ital:

“Eating naturally is both a spiritual and practical matter for Rastas: The healthier you eat, the less you have to see a doctor—a concept just now catching on in the mainstream. As processed foods were being introduced in the 1950s, Rastas took a firm stand against them even before research proved how unhealthy they can be. Staying away from processed food keeps Rastas away from Western medicine, another thing the religion avoids.”

Many Rastas who are not entirely vegan do at least adhere to dietary structures closer to Kosher; they do not eat pork or shellfish, among other items. Many see the ideal diet as one that returns to the Garden of Eden before the Fall. In the Book of Genesis (1:29) God says to Adam and Eve, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food.” God continues that every creature on earth has been given green plant for food. This notion reminds many of the later idea of the “lion laying down with the lamb,” an idea that denotes that the Kingdom of Heaven will also be a vegan paradise for all creatures, free of predator and prey. Thus many Rastafarians (among other Christian groups, more later) see the ital diet as another way to return to the original, healthful, peaceful Kingdom of God.

There is so much more to say about the Bible and Veganism (both from a Jewish Bible and Christian Bible perspective), so I’ll leave some of that for future posts. For now, I encourage any curious person to check out the following links for more information about Rastafarian diets, spirituality and recipes! Thanks for reading!

YouTube

What a Rasta Vegan Eats in a Day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKkwZsvNH0k

Rasta Vegan Food in Jamaica Vlog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8ELzB_iT_M

Articles

https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/43pdgm/meet-the-new-faces-of-jamaican-veganism

https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/how-to-make-your-own-jamaican-ital-food-at-home/

Linguistic Veganology: When Words Hide Discomfort

May 19, 2019May 19, 2019 by Ashe, posted in Uncategorized, vegan

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If I hadn’t done a degree in Religious Studies I may well have ended up doing a degree in linguistics. Ever since I started university I have continually uncovered the way that words shape the way that we see the world. When I began learning other languages I discovered just how different other cultures can see the exact same things in astonishingly different ways. While studying Gaelic I noticed that there is a difference in the way that we speak about the natural world, a level of animate liveliness lacking in English and many languages. In some indigenous languages in Canada you cannot call someone “a jerk”; there is no way to appoint that permanent characteristic to anyone. You can say that someone is acting “like a jerk today” or “was lazy yesterday” but nobody “is lazy”. In these cultures, ascribing a permanent characteristic to someone means that you trap them into that way of being and don’t allow them to grow, to change or to show you other sides of themselves. This process of learning languages and about languages showed me how harsh, dualistic and inanimate the English language can be at times. So how does language, particularly my mother tongue of English, relate to veganism? More ways than I had ever realized before going vegan!

I plan to make this a several part series on “linguistic veganology” but I will begin with the way that we talk about some animal-based foods. How do we separate ourselves from non-human animals? (Wait… we’re also animals? Mais oui.)

Imagine you ask your friend what they’re having for dinner and they respond with “well, I have a delicious decapitated corpse of a plucked female chicken wrapped in the thinly sliced butt of a pig. With a side of hand-picked potatoes slathered in the churned secretion of a lactating cow’s udder.” This sentence is factually correct if you’re going to cook a bacon-wrapped ‘whole’ chicken with potatoes and butter for supper, but it seems incredibly aggressive to state it as such!

Or how about “well, I went down the street to have my butcher murder this large male pig so it’s fresh and clean; so I’ll eat the butt of him tonight paired with the ovulation product of a female chicken and some whole wheat toast.” Again, bacon and eggs has never sounded so vile! But this is a factually correct statement, as eggs are the product of a female chicken’s menstrual cycle and all pigs must be killed against their will to be eaten.

These are just two examples of the hundreds of ways that we distill language around animal products to a comfortable level so we can consume them. A ‘whole chicken’ isn’t really a whole chicken! It has already had its head and feet removed. Not to mention the feathers that make the breed more obvious. We call chicken’s eggs simply “eggs” as if this removes a level of relation to an animal. We also hide individualization to remove the sentience of an animal, as Carol J. Adams has noted in her work (author of The Sexual Politics of Meat among other vegan feminist classics). Note that we never say “I am going to have A chicken tonight.” Rather, we’re merely eating chicken. Including the individual ‘a’ gives a sense that you may be eating someone rather than something.

The sex of animals is something we also don’t consider. We never question whether the animal that we’re eating was male or female. Male pig butt or female pig butt? We never wonder about their age. Do we ever consider if she has given birth? If he had a high amount of testosterone or estrogen? A trend in fast-food is flaunting that a chain’s meat is made without “added hormones or antibiotics.” Not mentioned is the fact that all animals have hormones, like human animals, and so even without added growth hormones we will be eating an animal that naturally has hormones.

When a human dies, we refer to their body as a corpse. When a non-human animal that is seen as fit for consumption dies, we refer to the body as a carcass. A carcass implies food and decomposition. A corpse implies a respected, sentient being, often one that will be buried. Every culture has food taboos. Many of these food taboos center around what animals/animal products are acceptable. Kosher and Halal meat excludes pigs; many Hindus will eat fish or chicken but never beef; Jains traditionally consumed milk but not eggs; The English would never eat a dog but China has taken little issue with eating this animal and even celebrates dog meat in an annual festival.

Whether food taboos come from economic/geographic needs which become mythologies of cultural or religious value, or they have other origins, it’s interesting to note the frequent distinction between pets, food, revered/sacred animals and humans. When you go vegan, the outrage of people over animal shelters “putting down” dogs versus the acceptance of the daily slaughter of millions of farm animals exposes an uncomfortable false dualism that many try to fill with responses like “this animal is dumb”, “this animal is ugly” and so forth. What differs the corpse of our beloved pet dog from the corpse of an equally, if not more intelligent pig? (note that if we’re eating animals based on their intelligence, there’s a sentient carrot stick-coloured animal running the USA that is very likely less intelligent than a pig, but I don’t imagine anybody is considering it ethical or desirable to eat him. Just stop with that argument, please.)

These were among the first layers of language I uncovered when I started easing into veganism. Thinking about the way that we dismember, disassociate, disconnect and deny the lived realities of non-human animals has had a profound impact on the way I look at animal-based dishes offered in advertisements or on my friends’ instagram pages. It has even led to some bizarre connections that give me awkward mental images. Suddenly I can’t help but see a human crouching under an udder trying to suckle the milk out like a baby cow. I look at Thanksgiving turkey and wonder if it was a male or female, what its personality would have been like, if it was in good health or sat in disease in a factory farm, or what kind of suffering he or she endured.

The more I can re-connect my language in a way that removes the veil on animal products, the easier it is to remain vegan. Yet, the easier it becomes to remain vegan, the harder it is to walk around in my society and feel like I’m one of the only ones awake in the Matrix. I’m tired of hearing that plants have feelings, but when I discover the sex, personality, and screams of a potato, I’ll be the first to let you all know.

Broadening the Cultural Image of Veganism

March 11, 2019March 11, 2019 by Ashe, posted in Uncategorized, vegan

In this post I want to explore the phenomenon that I’ve noticed occurring in media and social media rhetoric surrounding vegans. It’s common to witness people remarking that veganism is expensive, for white, upper-middle class people, riddled with privilege, or, worse: a fad diet movement.

Within all of these comments or articles there is a common thread: somehow veganism as an ethical stance can be dismissed by association. There are many red herrings that get away from the main question any ethical vegan has; which is to simply ask whether it is ethical to kill and consume animals or use their secretions for our food. This red herring is among many that helps to maintain the cultural norm of eating animals and avoiding the ultimately personal question of whether the consumption of animal products is ethical or necessary. When we associate and therefore dismiss veganism because of a created and maintained public image, we do a great disservice to the culturally diverse voices found within the movement.

As many people argue that veganism is a “new” growing trend, they ignore cultures and religious movements that have been vegetarian or vegan for millennia. Among them are Jains, Hindus, many Buddhists, sects of Christianity like certain monastic communities and Seventh-Day Adventists, the Rastafari movement, and some North American Indigenous communities. (I will eventually explore each of these in their own posts under the lenses of religious studies and anthropology.)

The more I explore veganism, the more I uncover these often unheard voices, voices that are dismissed as quiet or seen as outliers. I could probably write a short book on all of the movements, collectives and communities that are not, in fact, wealthy and/or white. Since this is a blog, I’ll make a case using several movements I’ve encountered or learned about recently.

A fast-growing movement right now is Black Vegfest (https://blackvegfest.org/), a festival for African-Americans and allies to learn about veganism, share stories, knowledge and ideas, and to enhance intersectionality in struggles for health, environmental justice and animal rights. It’s been happening in New York and there is discussion of expanding to other cities across the United States.

We also have indigenous scholars and elders advocating for modern custodianship of the earth through veganism. They run the gamut from Eastern Canadian Mi’kmaq scholars to Native Americans across the USA. Indigenous voices in the movement have come with controversy at times, especially because the traditional use of animals for food, clothing and other necessities is a deep and important part of many historical cultures on this continent. In order to bring this movement out of its current image, we do have work to do on decolonizing veganism through active dialogue, creating food security and availability in marginalized communities, and noting which facets of the movement may be continuing forms of oppression; which frequently includes indigenous communities.

Many indigenous vegans make the argument that veganism/vegetarianism can be compatible, and in many cases, has become necessary in the face of such deep environmental degradation (which also, of course, has links to historical colonialism). Navigating difficult waters between tradition, autonomy and our modern food systems/inequalities makes indigenous voices needed and crucial in the advancement of animal rights and the protection of our earth.

see: https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/7xd8ex/this-indigenous-scholar-says-veganism-is-more-than-a-lifestyle-for-white-people

https://humanrightsareanimalrights.com/2015/04/03/margaret-robinson-indigenous-veganism-feminist-natives-do-eat-tofu/

https://newsmaven.io/indiancountrytoday/opinion/native-american-and-vegan-yes-it-s-possible-i-ve-done-it-for-18-years-JoTkBY5SeEqFxHJgTg6p6g/

In the US Latino community, many are also working to remove the whitened image of veganism and also provide financially viable vegan food for people, as one Latino vegan chef notes, “I wanted to find a good vegan taco de carnitas,” he said, “and I couldn’t find an affordable one. They were only at affluent vegan hipster spots.” When we speak of intersectionality in veganism, this includes the creation of restaurants, stores and spaces that are affordable and accessible, and also led by people of colour and other minority groups.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/07/19/629629261/carne-asada-hold-the-meat-why-latinos-are-embracing-vegan-mexican-cuisine

Vegan Feminist Network wrote a piece for Asian History Month in Canada by highlighting many amazing Asian vegan women and the work that they do both for animals and feminism/intersectionality.

http://veganfeministnetwork.com/history/vegan-asian-womens-history/)

In some Muslim communities, people are reorienting traditions in ways that don’t require eating or harming animals in rituals and feasts. Speaking to fellow brothers and sisters, a movement of compassion extended to animals and based upon the Qur’an is inspiring hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Muslims to adapt ancient practices for both religious and environmental reasons.

https://www.livekindly.co/vegan-muslims-create-new-qurbani-sacrifice-tradition/

https://mvslim.com/vegan-muslims-on-the-rise-an-interview-on-eating-plant-based-and-living-cruelty-free/

Redefining the cultural image of veganism will take work. It will take the efforts of both minority/marginalized communities, and vegan allies who are knowledgeable about the these communities/voices to share their work as well. Broadening the cultural image and increasing the accessibility of veganism will also mean that we confront classism, racism and other barriers that prevent individuals and communities from taking veganism seriously. The movements and work mentioned above are a tiny start, a jumping-off point that I hope even one person reading this has a chance to look at and share elsewhere. The movement is far from perfect, but the more voices we have, the more we listen to, and the more work we do to address the issues in our movement, the stronger and more cohesive we can become.

How the Journey Began

February 28, 2019February 28, 2019 by Ashe, posted in vegan

Hello Curious Creatures,

I’m assuming you’re reading or following my new blog because you are curious about a wide variety of nerdy topics like I am. Having completed an undergraduate degree in religious studies with a double minor in anthropology and psychology, followed by a masters degree in the philosophy of religion, I can say that between my electives and official programs I would be very happy to stay in school forever. Political science, biology, economics, philosophy, geography, linguistics, history and more have drawn me in with their magic.

When I took a course in religion I found intersections with topics in my other courses. Seeing the way that everything overlapped helped to shape my understanding of this complex world as entirely interconnected. It humbled me to see how little I knew, and excited me knowing that I will be learning everyday until I die.

Over the past year I began to learn more about animal welfare and veganism, which was jumpstarted by my vegetarian partner and a dabble into Veganuary 2018 (a global movement that encourages people to try being vegan for the month of January). Though my transition to actually becoming a vegan took another eleven months, the seeds had been planted. As my curiosity mounted I began to read literature on the subject, watch YouTube vlogs, discover podcasts, and have conversations with vegans I know. Having amassed this bulk of knowledge, I could no longer find justification for consuming animal products. But how did I go from a meat-eating “excuse-tarian” to a vegan? By examining a variety of lenses, listening to an array of voices and allowing my love of learning to school me in all things animal rights related.

This blog is the product of my ongoing exploration. As someone who now works in the field of diversity and inclusion, with friends from a huge diversity of ethnicities, religions, cultures and identities, I wanted to push back against the notion that veganism is a movement for predominantly well-off white people. Veganism/vegetarianism has ancient roots in spiritual traditions across the globe, historic roots in a variety of cultures, and sweeping justifications from diverse voices and varying modern academic disciplines; these will be explored.

I want to be intersectional and interdisciplinary in my exploration. So I invite anyone reading this to comment or message me with suggestions of things that matter to you, things that you would love to learn more about, or what your thoughts are on what I’m sharing. As the vegan movement moves forward, we need it to be accessible, open, curious and supportive. I want to be a part of the vegan movement that shows it in its most compassionate and articulate forms, advocating for the animals by inviting people in and meeting them where they’re at.

Before I sign off for today I want to share some resources that really opened my mind and influenced me in my transition to veganism. I will explore some of these and their concepts in later posts, but for now, enjoy whatever intrigues you:

For those into SOCIOLOGY/FEMINISM/HISTORY: (book) “The Sexual Politics of Eating Meat” by Carol J. Adams. Not just a good read for women/feminists, but also gets into masculinity and meat. I was utterly shocked that I hadn’t made the connections of objectification and sexualization before. Just take a peak at the centre photos of the book comparing the sexualized ads of women with those of a pre-cooked turkey on a stripper pole… or the banned ad by Burger King featuring a woman opening her mouth wide to a giant sub with a very sexual caption. You’ll never look at those seductively-dancing sexualized Thanksgiving turkey ads the same again. *shudders*

For those into PHILOSOPHY/ETHICS: (book) “Animal Liberation” by Peter Singer. Considered the classic that started the movement, it is dense, fascinating, at times horrifying when he discusses factory farms, but a good source for those who want to challenge their critical thinking skills.

For those into MEMOIRS/ENVIRONMENT/HEALTH: (book) “Eating Animals” by Jonathan Safron Foer. This is now a Netflix doc narrated by Natalie Portman, so you can skip the book and hear/see the story and all of Safron’s explorations as a sometimes-vegetarian who decided to learn about and write a book after having a child and deciding whether to raise him vegan or not. It is equal parts emotional and scientific, a rare and compelling combo.

For those into SPIRITUALITY: (YouTube doc) “H.O.P.E – What You Eat Matters”. It includes interviews and spiritual concepts favouring vegetarian/veganism from various traditions like Hindu, Jain, Christian, Jewish etc.

For those into PRACTICAL THINGS and CULTURE(S): (podcast) Food for Thought: The Joys and Benefits of Living Vegan, free on iTunes. How should we best communicate with others? How do we get proper nutrition? Why are certain animal meats taboo to some cultures and not others? Along with episodes on things like the topics above. It’s AWESOME. and very non-judgmental.

For those in LINGUISTICS/SEMANTICS: “Animology” by the same host as Food for Thought. It explores how we use language to separate ourselves from animals, justify consumption and more. It also looks at historical developments of sayings like “you’re a pig!” etc. Ever wonder why we don’t say we’re eating cow?

For those into YOUTUBE PERSONALITIES/CHANNELS:
Earthling Ed has some great, compassionate debates (no screaming-angry–judgy-vegan-vibes) with people in the streets of the UK. He also has lectures and vlogs on his work.
Unnatural Vegan debunks a lot of myths about nutrition and health (including some not-so-accurate things in vegan documentary “What the Health”).
Pick Up Limes is great for recipes, wellness and lifestyle tips by a vegan nutritionist.

Thanks for reading!

The Vegan Journey Begins!

February 19, 2019February 24, 2019 by Ashe, posted in vegan

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

This blog is dedicated to the animals, our planet and our health. My aim is to explore veganism from varying lenses and viewpoints. Whether you’re an intersectional feminist, a theologian, a linguist, someone of a particular faith, a psychology major or an ecologist, veganism has been and is being explored across disciplines and across cultures. Join me as I begin this journey to uncover varying perspectives towards veganism and the minds that help the movement flourish and grow.