Ok, I'm jumping back off the wagon on suppressing my opinions on veganism. Let me first state: I don't hate vegans. At all. Not even in the least. Some of my most beloved friends are vegans, and that's just fine. Live and let live. But on my blog, I can say it how it is. My second prefacing statement is that I am not a permaculture hippie. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's when hippies gain a little bit of knowledge and then think they know everything, including how to make $100,000 a year on their city plot growing vegetables, worms, and ethanol. So to set the record straight, I have never been into science, but have recently gained a hobby which has shown me the error of my ways. Gardening and science go hand in hand, and I'm starting to love science because of my garden.
Yesterday, I ran across a gardening concept that is part of permaculture. I know I just said I'm not a permaculture hippie. That's still true. But permaculture is just the application of advanced scientific understanding of biology and ecosystems that can be incredibly helpful. And like many incredibly helpful things, hippies have taken hold of it, twisted it in their own way, and tarnished its reputation, as they are wont to do with just about everything. How does this play into veganism? Aren't vegans hippies? Yes, vegans are hippies, but in my experience, they're the ones who don't like science, or who haven't yet grown into having an interest in science. Maybe by the time they're 30 and a half, they'll learn something and discard veganism as a lifestyle. After all, my favorite xtina-ism is that the best thing about veganism is that everyone quits.
What I learned about ecosystems in second grade was forcefully brought to my attention last night, after having tried several times to battle its way to the forefront of my consciousness since living among Portland's thousands of vegans. I was watching a very long video about a type of permaculture study called a "food forest." About an hour into the 1:35 hour presentation, the farmer in this video drops the bombshell: animals are necessary in an ecosystem. Specifically, the absence of animals in any garden will result in an abundance of pests. So, if you have aphids, it is because you lack ladybugs, not because you lack pesticide. If you have slugs, you lack ducks. If you have fruitflies, you lack chickens. This concept was the most fascinating part of the book The Omnivore's Dilemma to me. The cows aren't just there for meat and milk: they are there to fix the soil. The chickens follow the cows to scatter what the cows left behind and remove the bugs from the equation. This is soil building, and this is what is missing from America's Midwest farming practices. This results in petroleum-based fertilizer laden topsoil being washed into the Gulf of Mexico every year.
So maybe a vegan understands that animals are part of an ecosystem, but they would have me just let the chickens roam free on the land, un-managed and unprotected. Of course, my chickens would be eaten by raccoons, opossums, coyotes, skunks, and tons of other predators, ruining my efforts and defaulting on the contract that humanity wrote with animals when we domesticated them: that we would protect them from predation. Well, recognizing this, the vegans might say that I should protect the chickens who are helping build the soil. But for pete's sake, don't eat those eggs! That's bad! This is where vegan logic leads. To the abandonment of prey animals in the woods and the refusal to eat the eggs which come out of every chicken, every day. I guess I could let the eggs hatch, if I had a rooster, but without my protection, those raccoons would still go gangbusters on the chickens and their eggs, decimating the population. And, imagining that there aren't any predators, chickens left unchecked will ruin any amount of land that you let them run on. My backyard is a testament to that. Chickens need us, and we need chickens. The eggs are a by product that I won't be guilted out of enjoying. I won't argue here for why we need to eat our chickens, because my conflict with vegetarianism is not as strong as my conflict with veganism.
Here's the video, in case you have an hour and a half to spare:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
It seems like you took what could have been an interesting blog post about permaculture and science and turned it into a screed about how much you truly do "hate vegans", or, as I take it, veganism and hippies. It's okay, it's clear enough that you have a deep love of generalizations about people, so it balances out.
I can only speak to my own reasons for choosing veganism: to reduce the suffering of others. If you're eating eggs and giving chickens a nice place to live, more power to you I say. I probably wouldn't eat those eggs if offered, unless really hungry, just because it isn't my thing. There might be other vegans who think differently about this. I most certainly do hate them.
Couple other quick things:
1) "animals are necessary in an ecosystem" is a bombshell? Really? I suppose the intent was to be sarcastic, because the statement strikes me as kind of obvious.
2) You conveniently ignore the fact that monocultured crops (particularly corn) in the midwest is the primary source of calories for cattle on feedlots. Feedlots are
the antithesis of permaculture, and the antithesis of any type of veganism, I'm pretty sure.
I recommend Animal Liberation by Peter Singer if you actually have interest in learning more about veganism.
Sorry you got your feelings hurt. I know all about vegan philosophy and about the evils of monoculture and feedlot meat. Turns out, you are a stranger who doesn't know me and doesn't converse with me often on food politics. When you eavesdrop, which is what you do when you read a blog that is by a stranger aimed at that person's friends and family, you are bound to miss the message because you're not getting the full picture. But, love the vegan hate the sin is my policy.
Truly hate vegans? Deep love of generalizations? Hoo boy, what I could do with those assessmentsone if I were in the mood to mess with a vegan. Fun times.
OMG, boring. Fine, I don't know you, you're right. I read one blog post so I don't know the depth and breadth of your knowledge. You could write books, couldn't you?
I apologize for commenting on your personal blog. I'll move along. Valid criticism clearly not wanted here.
Valid criticism? Your advice was to read Singer. That's like telling someone who has criticisms of Mormonism that they might find it enlightening to read the book of Mormon.
And if you think I'm so stereotyped, and my stereotypes are so unfair, then you should probably try to break free from the preconceived notions of hipster veganism. "OMG Boring?" How old are you, 14? And getting your feelings all hurt is just reinforcing negative vegan stereotypes, none of which are true of my vegan friends, but are clearly true of you.
Well I think I can make up for your new friend, I am the opposite of what he might consider himself. The majority of my diet consists mostly of meat products....so it all works out in the end!
Post a Comment