A Plea for Inclusion

The Vegan Society says this of veganism:

"Veganism is a way of living that seeks to exclude, as far as possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing and any other purpose."

Note the words "as far as possible" and "practicable." Their statement seeks to include millions of people who wish to explore a vegan path.

Statements that exclude (and alienate) people, are ones like this, given by a high-end vegan shoe company owner urging us to abandon perfectly good non-vegan items in our closet to support things like her $200 shoes:

"It is the responsibility of anyone that is speaking on behalf of animal rights to WALK THE WALK and TALK THE TALK, anything less is half- ass and an injustice to the animal kingdom. You have made the choice to be vegan from your higher realms of consciousness, you are here to be a teacher, and a guide!" The process should "not be stalled by a vegan still wearing leather worried about saving a few hundred bucks...If you believe in the "recession" than you will have one...rise above it!!!"

Oh good, the recession has all been in our heads. I'll mention that to the people I know out of work, and tell the single mom raising a few kids and trying to put food on the table not to selfishly worry about a "few hundred bucks." What's next, a drink of Kool-Aid?

This is why so few pursue veganism. How can we be this socially-aware, environmentally-sensitive community with sentiments like that?

Some vegans are very smug about 'we're the real environmentalists.' Here's the problem. No one wants my sweaty old leather sneakers I use to pick up trash in the park or walk muddy fields with the dog, and they're not going to want yours. I shop almost exclusively thrift, and see mounds of clothes in the 50 cents bin in my favorite thrift shop. They literally cannot give things away for free. Many donations end up in the landfill. Plenty of old sneakers almost certainly will. That is bad for the earth and for animals.

I have a non-vegan coat I bought years ago, and still use. When first pursuing veganism, I thought about replacing it with an identical looking vegan coat from H&M (which would also be a socially poor choice, apparently) to say I had a vegan one, then realized that would be wasteful. How far would I have to take it then? Getting rid of my IKEA couch with down to say I have this glossy vegan life?

High-end vegan companies pride themselves on their so-called moral high ground and ethics. When I read the statement from the vegan shoe company owner I thought, there is nothing ethical at all about shaming people for wanting to use what they bought before pursuing a vegan path; telling them to donate or sell everything to wipe the slate clean; and that you should invest in companies that reflect your values: (READ: buy their high-priced items). I think of a line in R.E.M.'s Living Well is the Best Revenge: "Unbelievable! The gospel according to who?" Meaning - question the source. Are you going to listen to and be judged by someone trying to sell their product, and preys on your emotions and guilt for past misinformed choices? I don't.

What's most reprehensible to me is the nerve to insult millions of animals advocates that we're not up to the level of 'awareness' they are because you don't part with your wool scarf from grandma or your old track shoes. How dare they.

I don't need to "dress the part" of a vegan by wearing a $500 coat and $200 pair of shoes to prove vegans don't dress like granolas. "Economy" and "jobs" are the top two concerns of Americans right now. Having dealt with unemployment in my life, I take this very personally, and am sickened by people's value judgements about what you should prioritize.

One vegan said, "Vegans aren't being judgmental and divisive. It's just that there is zero tolerance for mucking up that definition and having it convenience you rather than the animals. That is why vegans will chime in and correct you."

They refuse to see it, but these smug self-anointed spokespeople for veganism scare millions away with their 'my way or the highway' approach. Their attitude is hurting animals. It's a reason I personally no longer want to tell people I'm a vegan - I say I pursue a vegan lifestyle the best I can, which is what this blog is about. It's not about a term that almost no one can achieve if you have to live up to the standards of these "perfect" zealots who pat themselves on the back so publicly.

The vegan label police was bad enough. The vegan thought police? Needs to be stopped, for the animals' sake.

"September's coming soon"

With just over a month left of summer, I'm trying to savor as many sweet moments as I can. Sipping lemonade on a steamy Sunday night while listening to the music of the 1920s and 30s on the Big Broadcast. Enjoying feasts of corn, baked beans and veggie dogs. And one of my favorite summertime activities, swimming.

R.E.M. recorded this sonic poem honoring the simple but so pleasurable act of swimming at nighttime on their Automatic for the People album. I can't think of a lovelier tribute to swimming and summertime.

R.E.M.-Nightswimming

Nightswimming deserves a quiet night
The photograph on the dashboard, taken years ago,
Turned around backwards so the windshield shows
Every streetlight reveals the picture in reverse
Still, it's so much clearer
I forgot my shirt at the water's edge
The moon is low tonight

Nightswimming deserves a quiet night
I'm not sure all these people understand
It's not like years ago,
The fear of getting caught,
Of recklessness and water
They cannot see me naked
These things, they go away,
Replaced by everyday

Nightswimming, remembering that night
September's coming soon
I'm pining for the moon
And what if there were two
Side by side in orbit
Around the fairest sun?
That bright, tight forever drum
Could not describe nightswimming

You, I thought I knew you
You, I cannot judge
You, I thought you knew me,
This one laughing quietly underneath my breath
Nightswimming

The photograph reflects,
Every streetlight a reminder
Nightswimming deserves a quiet night, deserves a quiet night

"Rewrite the Book" on Farm Animal Welfare

"Let's put our heads together and start a new country up. Our father's father's father tried, erased the parts he didn't like." - Cuyahoga, R.E.M.



While many of our wallets may not be as full as we would like in these hard economic times, what we always have, no matter what, is our voice. And it is those who use it that decide the direction of our nation, and not just on election day. Our elected leaders are sent to the legislature to change society for the better and uphold the values of a fair and just society.

Unfortunately, there is no justice for today's suffering farm animals. Laws to protect them are essentially non-existent in most states. Egg-laying hens are some of the worst treated. A mind-boggling 95 percent of the eggs in the U.S. come from hens crammed five or more into a cage the size of a filing drawer, according to Farm Sanctuary. In the pork industry, the majority of breeding sows spend most of their lives inside 2-foot-wide metal crates. Veal calves are chained by the neck inside 2-foot-wide enclosures for their entire lives. All suffer so we humans can enjoy some fleeting pleasure of a meal. While people's enjoyment of that meal is so temporary, the animals' suffering can last months, even years.

There is something you can do today. You can contact your state legislators and tell them this treatment is unacceptable and that laws need to be on the books to provide more humane conditions for the 10 billion animals who are raised and killed for food each year in the United States.

Farm Sanctuary has created this easy-to-use form letter to contact them.
Learn more about the campaign.

A Thanksgiving Message

Two years ago for my birthday, I asked for a pair of leather boots. This year I asked for a turkey from the Farm Sanctuary. Times have sure changed. Gone are my leather boots from Lord & Taylor (donated to the C.A.T.S. resale shop), and I now have my adoption certificate of Serendipity, my stylish, non-leather boots from Payless, and a sense of relief that no animal has to suffer for some fleeting fashion whim.

This can be a depressing time of year for animal advocates. Millions of turkeys suffer so our nation can gorge themselves, and even for such tasteless, appalling events as bowling competitions with frozen turkey carcasses. Each day as I walk to my office in Manhattan, I pass streams of women wearing fur-trimmed coats, hats, bags, boots and beyond.

But I remain thankful. Thankful for the many advocates I have met, from those who organize protests to those who pass out pamphlets on their lunch hour. Thankful for the animals, who have shown such a capacity to forgive and love again, despite our abuse and exploitation. And thankful I have seen the light and am no longer contributing to their suffering.

Whatever you are doing today, whether it's eating a Tofurkey, a holiday portabella mushroom, or even a vegan pizza, we must be thankful for all that we have achieved, and optimistic for the future.

Whenever I get discouraged about all that lies ahead, I remind myself of one of my favorite quotes from "These Days" by R.E.M: "We are young despite the years. We are concern. We are hope despite the times."

What do you do between the horns of the day?

asks Michael Stipe in R.E.M.'s "I Believe."



Each day, I try and take 15 minutes and do something proactive for animals. That could mean visiting the PETA Action Center and sending out a quick e-mail (many are form letters and you simply need to fill out your name and address). Or e-mailing Dunkin' Donuts and asking them to add soy milk so I can indulge in a soy cappuccino (imagine the consequence of a major chain adding this to their menu).

Some days, I score small personal victories. Recently, I asked at my publishing job if they would supply soy milk for the office refrigerator for coffee/tea, tofu cream cheese for our Friday bagels, and a cheeseless veggie pizza for our Wednesday pizza luncheons. I got all three with no challenge, and to my pleasant surprise, co-workers are experimenting with the cream cheese, devouring the vegan pizza, and are fast depleting the Zen soy milk supply. I also suggested Gene Baur's Farm Sanctuary as the "Book of the Day," to my local library system, and it was soon featured on the home page of their county-wide web site.

Always ask. I think of the ASPCA motto, "We are their voice." We have to be.

With Election Day 2008 now a memory, we must not forget our activist spirit. Whatever you do for animals, whether it's attending an anti-fur protest, writing a letter to a company or to the editor of a local paper, or asking your local coffee shop for soy milk, do it with pride, and do it without apology.

To quote "Begin the Begin," another song off of R.E.M.'s brilliant Life's Rich Pageant, "Silence means security, silence means approval." And words we should all live by, "The finest example is you."