Ask the vegan: What Do You Call…?

These are some of the questions that I get asked, so I will answer in one block

What do you call…

a vegetarian who eats cheese?
a vegetarian

someone who eats bacon and chicken wings? a chickenwing-atarian?
no, an omnivore

what do you call a vegan who eats fish?
what do you call a vegetarian that eats fish?
an omnivore, some people who eat fish but no other animals might give themselves a fancy label such as aquatarian or pescotarian, but they are not vegan, they are not even vegetarian

what do you call a vegan who eats eggs?
a vegetarian, if they eat no other animal products, they might consider themselves an ovo-vegetarian

what do you call someone who is vegan but eats cheese?
you don’t call them a vegan, they are a vegetarian

what do you call a vegetarian who eats cheese?
a vegetarian

can vegans eat chicken?
they can, but they wouldn’t be vegan, they would be an omnivore

what do you call a vegetarian that eats chicken?
an omnivore

does alicia silverstone ever cheat on her vegan diet?
you can’t cheat on a vegan diet, you are either a vegan or you are not, once you start eating a little cheese now and then, you are no longer vegan… and yes, she does, or has done previously: what do you call a cheese-eating vegan?… a celebrity (the Alicia Silverstone saga)

what do you call a person that doesn’t eat animals but eats cheese?
if they are vegetarian, and eat no other animal products, such as honey or eggs, might consider themselves lacto-vegetarian

what do you call a person that does not eat?
a breathatarian, starving, hunger-striker, famine… depends on the context, this is not related to veganism

what do you call a vegan that eats chicken and fish?
anything but vegan, not even vegetarian, they are omnivore

For more on this choosing the label that you want to wear, see: Vegans, Vegetarians and Lacto-Ovo-Meli-Pesco-Pollo-Porcine-Ovis-Bovine-atarians

or the definition with explanation of vegan

if you would like to know the code for installing the vegan background, ask me, leave a comment, tweet me, or if you would like a custom background, let me know

Vegans, Vegetarians and Lacto-Ovo-Meli-Pesco-Pollo-Porcine-Ovis-Bovine-atarians

Labels, we have them thrust upon us, and we do the same to others.

Generally, when someone uses a label, there is a common understanding of that word, example student, doctor, mother, pagan…

But sometimes, the labels people use are more about how people wish they were, rather than how they really are.
Taking the words vegan and vegetarian, do these words mean the same for everyone who uses them – either to describe themselves or others, and what happens when they don’t.

Questions that I get asked frequently are variations on, what do people CALL themselves:

- what do you call a vegetarian who eats chicken?
- what do you call a vegetarian who eats cheese?
- what do you call a vegan who eats fish?
- what do you call a vegan who eats cheese and fish?
- what do you call a vegetarian who eats fish but not dairy?

Vegan, vegetarian, freegan, herbivore, locavore, plant-based diet, cheesatarian, cheegan, beegan, part-time vegan, part-time vegetarian, pesco-vegan, lacto-ovo vegan, flexitarian, strict vegetarian, Lebanese vegetarian, or the monstrously pretentious “plant-strong” (Esselstyn).

Argh!! make it stop…..  so many labels, so little time to read the dictionary

is a lacto-ovo-pesco-pollo-bovine-porcine vegetarian one who eats eggs and dairy, and occasionally fish, sometimes chicken, sometimes beef, and sometimes pork? The word loses all meaning when accompanied by so many qualifications.
- Dan Balogh: Hitler: Goose Stepper and Goose Eater

In some cases the use of labels for Vegan and Vegetarian can be problematic, especially when used strangely out of correct context:

• My partner was introduced to a new work colleague as being the vegan of the office, you know, that’s a type of vegetarian.His response yes, much in the same way a Jewish person is a type of Buddhist, in that they both, you know, believe in Stuff

• Or, the Facebook vegan warrior who tried to tell me I wasn’t entitled to call myself Vegan because I watched Jamie Oliver. And then proceeded to tell me about his diet, including a morning protein drink made with whey… (ah, sweetie, whey is actually a dairy product).

• Or, a friend who tried to tell me that there are two types of vegetarians: those who eat meat and those who don’t
  and no matter how hard I tried, I could not convince her that No type of vegetarian eats meat, unless it is the pseudo-vegetarian

• Or, the restaurant near me that lists prawn cutlets on their vegetarian menu, and they don’t mean faux prawns either

• Or, a vegetarian couple I know, one eats bacon and the other chicken wings,
  (were they at least from a vegetarian chicken? I asked, to much scorn)

Every time a person calls themselves a vegetarian but continues to eat animals, the result is, it just makes life more complicated for the real vegetarians.

Same with vegan, when someone eats dairy, or wears leather, eats sealife, but says, they are vegan, it just makes life much more difficult for the real vegans who try to convince others that – No, vegans don’t, in fact, eat fish, wear leather, drink milk, buy Cover Girl cosmetics.

Without discounting the possible good a mostly-vegetarian-but-not-quite could do….   If they eat meat they are not vegetarian.

So, perhaps, we need a new word for people who try hard – perhaps something like: potential-vegetarian, mostly-vegetarian, transitioning-vegetarian.

The same goes for people who claim the badge of VEGAN, yet deliberately consume animal products or wear animal products. (I do not count people who have their food spiked in this category, some chefs still think that is funny, what matters is intent).

Do people who call themselves VEGAN while wearing leather, or eating animal products, not know that what they are doing is Not vegan, or do they hope no one will notice, or do they just not care?

How about the vegetarian who consumes sea-animals, bacon, chicken – what does vegetarian actually mean to them? They don’t eat beef?

This is an example of label creep where the meaning of vegan degrades to mean vegetarian, and vegetarian degrades to mean someone who eats vegetables occasionally.

Like the social smoker, who never smokes during the week, but does a packet on the weekend, then tries to claim the label of non-smoker….

Or, the factory-owner who claims be a humanitarian, while paying slave-wages to children locked in factories for 16-hours a day, but for the other eight hours, they’re a true champion of human rights.

Perhaps they want to be vegan, but are unable to – however, if desire alone could make someone something they are not, like a Vegan of a person regardless of what they eat, wear, buy…. then I could call myself a world famous celebrity, but that wouldn’t make it true either.

But, if the desire is there to be a vegan or a vegetarian, then… good on them.

That is a lot more than most people. And perhaps with a little encouragement and a lot of support, these part-time vegetarians could go all the way.

What is a part-time vegan?

@redglitterx @seymourLlama @animalworrior I'm 90% Vegan and 10% Pescotarian so it is possible… its about having balance that matters! =)—
BLISS (@BLISSRAE) August 16, 2011

really my dear, as much as 90%!!

How is this even possible for a fish / sea-life eater to claim to be in anyway a vegan?
There is no part-time vegans, it just cannot be.

If Part time vegan refers to their diet only, then, in this case the label should be strict vegetarian, which means a vegan diet but non vegan lifestyle.

90% is good, rather, it is a good START, but the important thing is – what about the other 10%, I am not sure those fish and other sea-creatures would take much comfort as they are being shoveled down the throat of a pesco-vegan that for 90% of the time, other animals didn’t have to die.

Would we accept 90% for cases of wrongly executed death-row prisoners?

Well now, we got a strike rate of 90% guilty, and only 10% innocent people mistakenly executed, that’s a win-win situation.

Not likely.

People who eat cheese are not vegan, no matter how famous they are

People who eat cheese and eggs are not vegan, no matter how famous they are or how much more they do for animals than me. Fine, they’re bloody heroes, give them a medal, put them on a stamp, build a statue of them, name a bridge or a street after them – but if they eat cheese, they are not vegan.

Once we start making exception based on the career of people, where does it stop?

Or, are only commoners supposed to be actual-vegans, while celebrities can be almost-vegans?

And, for some reason, there are many vegans get personally offended when you say that eating cheese deliberately is not vegan.

And, almost as outraged when you say that wearing leather is not vegan. Some vegans get all uppity: But, but, but, but Anne Hathaway ate a vegan dessert once, shes one of us, where as you Redglitter are just some militant vegan, giving us a bad name.

The response is like: How dare you attack Alicia! She is our Goddess. You are a Nothing, hear me, You are less than Nothing Redglitter!

Fine, I’ll take that, Militant and Less Than Nothing, perhaps…. but I AM definitely vegan.

It seems, though, that what this defenders of cheese-eating vegans, and leather-wearing vegans, miss…. I’m not attacking an egg-and-dairy-eating, leather wearing, vegan, I am trying to defend the concept of vegan, before it becomes meaningless, before it dilutes into vegetarian, and vegetarian dilutes into ‘eats a vegetable occasionally’

So, to answer the questions that I set asked at the top of this post

- What do you call a vegetarian who eats chicken? Pseudo-vegetarian or Omnivore

- What do you call a vegetarian who eats cheese? A vegetarian

- What do you call a vegan who eats fish? A omnivore

- what do you call a vegan who eats cheese and fish? An omnivore

- what do you call a vegetarian who eats fish but not dairy? A dairy-free omnivore.

*Lebanese vegetarian – I’ve been called that when I try to explain what vegan is, I didn’t realise things were different in Lebanon

*Lacto-Ovo-Meli-Pesco-Pollo-Porcine-Ovis-Bovine-atarians  =  dairy, eggs, honey, fish, chicken, pork, sheep and beef – atarian

I Am Vegan – there is power in a word

So, you have decided you want to be an Animal Rights Activist… then say it loud, say it proud, shout it from the mountain tops — I Am Vegan.

Assuming that you are Vegan, saying “I am Vegan” is a powerful statement.

I Am Vegan, it is more than what you do, its more than how you see yourself, it is you saying you want to stand with every other vegan out there with a shared desired for justice for animals in this world.

It is more than a label – it is a statement of who “I AM”.

Whether you meet any other vegans, it doesn’t matter, you are someone who identifies with what a vegan is. And when you say I Am Vegan, other vegans will know exactly what you mean:

The word “veganism” denotes a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude — as far as is possible and practical — all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals. - Elsie Shrigley and Donald Watson (1944)

For a more indepth unpacking of what this definition mean to me, see Vegan.

Deep within human mythology and history, naming something gives a person power over that which is named. In the Abrahamic religion, in fairy tales, in popular culture (the power of the name in The Usual Suspects, for example; or The Doctor in Doctor Who: “I named her. The power of a name. That’s old magic“).

In choosing to label – or name – yourself a Vegan, you are taking the power contained within that concept and bringing it into your own life.

This can be especially important at a time when Animal Rights Activists are being cowered with anti-terrorist laws, such as the draconian AETA in the United States.

AETA (Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act) makes virtually every form of protest against animal cruelty a terrorist act – Including the advocating of veganism (diet and lifestyle) and taking photos on a farm and taking animals across state lines for the purpose of avoid vivisection.

The criminalising of compassion, the use informants and collaborators, wire taps, email hacks, sock puppets, and the hyper-surveillance by vegans against other vegans creates a culture of fear. This can leave some people reluctant to say what they really think.

Vegans might begin talking about being “strict vegetarian”, “plant based diets”, “compassionate / green lifestyle” – or just avoid the word completely, after all, we don’t want to scare the meat eaters.

Are You Afraid of the Word “Vegan”? some are, and it’s time more people opened the door to the “vegan closet” they’ve been hiding in, and dare to step out into the light.

Maybe, then less people might hide in there, finding comfort in the dark, with all the others too reluctant to acknowledge the “way of being that dare not speak its name”.

Being Vegan is not scary, or weird, or dangerous or “extreme and not sustainable” but when vegans don’t use the word, it gives the impression that there is something wrong with people who are vegan.

And when we stop using the right words, what is left? Neutral, bland, average, non controversial, inaccurate, tergiversate (evasions or ambiguities) words, spoken by people unwilling to act for fear of making a mistake.

If vegans are too unwilling and reluctant to describe themselves as Vegan, then how will they ever find the courage to act on animals behalf.

It’s time to scream it from the roof tops, I Am Vegan, it doesn’t mean you are a terrorist, it means you are a compassionate human being.

By reclaiming the word “Vegan”, we can unite as vegans with a common goal – the elimination of the use of all animals – we can begin to undo some of erroneous assumptions created when people such as “Veggie Girl” start to divide vegans into militant=bad and non militant=good. By dividing vegans this way, she is in effect saying there are some that are not like her, when they stand up against milk and humane meat they are being “militant” and not all vegans are like that. That is “those” vegans over these, “those” militant ones, when that is exactly what Vegan is.

Splitting off vegans into groups according the vegans we like and those we don’t reduces the power of the word. Vegan is what it is, why are we trying to redefine it.

When certain celebrities continue to eat dairy and eggs and call themselves “vegan” and no one stands up, we are losing the power of the word vegan.

Think of how many times you have heard about fish-eating vegetarians, or bacon-eating vegetarians, or chicken-eating vegetarians. If vegetarians eat fish, bacon and chicken then the word has lost all its meaning.

Are we going to allow VEGAN to get devalued the same way, by people who says that a cheese eating vegan is about “being flexible that way makes more people comfortable“?

The word vegan cannot be taken-over and watered-down by cheese-eating, fur-wearing celebrities, or criminalised by governments trying to win elections by whipping up fear by deliberating confusing animal rights with terrorism.

We must protect the meaning of the word Vegan, so that when someone says “I am Vegan” there is no confusion. No longer hiding our belief in concepts of justice, animal rights, animal liberation or veganism opens it up to others to ask us questions.

Being vegan is a journey not a destination.

Living a vegan life is a step towards the reduction and suffering of animals.

Speaking for myself, I cannot separate vegan from animal rights, for me, being vegan means support AR (Animal Rights), and supporting AR means being vegan. I try, but I cannot see how someone can call themselves an “animal rights activist” unless they are a vegan.

If you fight for animal rights, you fight for the rights of all animals, there are no exceptions for those you think taste good or those who aren’t cute. A concept I explore in more depth here: If you start a debate with “I fight for animal rights, but I’m no vegan” don’t expect applause

(While I think someone can be vegan without fighting for animal rights, I don’t think it is possible to call yourself an animal rights activist if you consume the products of animals bodies, particular dairy, eggs, honey which require the deaths of those animals to produce the “by”-products.)

I cannot separate animal rights and veganism.

To me it is simple, the most basic right is to not be killed and eaten by someone more powerful, exploited for any purpose.
As the Abolitionist Vegan Lee Hall says:
Veganism is Direct Action (Lee Hall’s Vegan Means)
Vegan Baking as Direct Action … (Lee Hall’s Friends of Animals)
Veganism as Direct Action (Abolitionist Online, where Lee Hall writes “Above all, the key change is diet, for it is absurd to discuss the rights of animals as we eat them. The vegetarian movement employs the most direct action of all”.)

I would disagree with Lee Hall here, only in as much as, the vegetarian movement inflicts intolerable cruelty on animals, especially those that are eaten, the dairy, egg and honey industries necessitate unspeakable cruelty and slavery, and to me, that is not RIGHTS.

And second, I would suggest going beyond Diet, and living a vegan life.

Other than those two minor quibbles, I would agree wholeheartedly with Hall, we can’t speak of animal rights while we eat or use them or the products of their bodies.
Make the move, go vegan, be vegan, be a proud vegan, and you are already involved in Direct Action.

From the I Am Vegan archives

Next post in this series: Civilian’s Guide To Direct Action

*Sock puppets: an online identity used for purposes of deception within an online community, either multiple identities for the one person or a governments use of false online personalities to spread US government “information” and security

---

Post 2011 ‘Vegan Animal Liberation Alliance’. Copying and distribution of this entire article, text and / or graphic, is permitted in any medium, but please include the credit:
Written by RedGlitter of VALA http://redglitterx.wordpress.com/
or at least a link to this page, that would be nice

Since when do vegans eat chicken?

Secret Society of Vegans has a secret . . .

The Secret Society Of Vegans, is a London shop, selling edgy and Cool Britannia style merchandise with a vegan theme.

But, they have a secret, do they ever….

found HERE and HERE

This was spotted by my vegetarian but non-vegan cousin, her response was:

Since when do vegans eat chicken?

I’m not sure what context this tweet is in, since the surrounding status updates / tweets are just as vague.

It is difficult enough trying to convince non-vegans (and some “vegans”) that honey isn’t on the menu for vegan eaters, and that yes, bees really are animals… this just makes it harder to tell people “NO, vegans don’t eat chicken!”

I agree with Isaac Bashevis Singer…..

I did not become a vegetarian for my health, I did it for the health of the chickens.

Perhaps it is mock-chicken, chicken-substitute, fake-chicken, or who knows. I don’t really need to know, I don’t shop in London.

… What I do know is, my non-vegan cousin was reading posts from a vegan group – and maybe one day soon, there might be one more vegan in the world.

Sweet Easy Vegan Cupcakes recipe

Based on Classic Cupcakes, with a Maple Twist! by The Tasty Vegan

This is my version of that recipe:

from the Vegan Cupcake archives: photo by RedGlitterX

INGREDIENTS
275g white flour, self raising
150g brown sugar – char-free
1-1.5C shredded / desiccated coconut

125ml oil of your choice (eg sunflower, macadamia)
100ml milk of your choice (eg almond, rice)

2tbl golden syrup

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 160°C fan-forced (= 180°C not fan-forced = 320°F)

Mix the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, coconut) in a large bowl.

Mix the wet ingredients, add to dry ingredients.

Add the golden syrup.

Stir til all ingredients mixed well.

Pour into paper-lined cupcake or muffin trays.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown, or until a wooden toothpick comes out cleanly when inserted.

The Tasty Vegan says DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN – It’s a crime against cupcakes, my oven is fan-forced, so I spin the cupcakes tray around half way through the cooking time, so they cook evenly.

Icing / frosting optional, they are sweet enough as it is.

These are moist, and don’t rise too much. Can be stored in the fridge – they will go cold, but unlike egg/dairy cakes which go stale, they maintain their freshness in the fridge.

Visit, the Tasty Vegan’s Classic Cupcakes, with a Maple Twist! and check out the original recipe.

Vegan bite size pieces, for feeding Vegan trolls

drink milk as often as you can

When vegans talk about Not Exploiting Animals! the necrovores (“death eaters”) of the world start screaming PETA PROPAGANDA! Vegan Propaganda! TOFU propaganda! Communist Propaganda!

But what happens when schools start telling people “drink milk as often as you can”? And that message is brought directly to the students via a Dairy Lobby Group and a Government Department.
How can this be anything but propaganda for AA (Animal Agriculture)?

One woman (at The Tasty Vegan | A hotbed of veganic activity in British Columbia and beyond.) takes a look at this disturbing issue of dairy-indoctrination

LINK > More Dubious Advice on School Foods by Dairy Industry

And if anyone still has doubts about the evilness of Dairy – a Land O Lakes subsidiary has poured millions of dollars into Monsanto, “that shady agro-giant, that food-world Voldemort” (Elizabeth Farrelly), owning the world – one gene at a time.

Got milk? Got mutant genes!

And in other milk news, a store in London started selling human breast milk ice cream full story here: (“London cooing over breast milk ice-cream”) – and the social networks were buzzing – URGH! was the common reaction.

But all milk comes from breasts – cow breasts, sheep breasts, goat breasts, yak breasts. Urgh!

Milk from some animals is more acceptable than milk from others.

Video of the week

Ask Your Doctor About Meat™
A brilliant, humorous look at propaganda of meat eating coming from “experts” who know nothing about nutrition (doctors receive very little training in nutrition).
“Meat… It’s dead and it’s made from animals”

Vegany Sweet Goodness

This recipe for Vegan chocolate bars inspired by Mars® Bars
because – not only are Mars® Bars filled with cruelty ingredients, but Mars tests on animals .
A Mars France spokesperson has “admitted that the business division Symbioscience does test on animals while developing “pharmaceutical and therapeutic food ingredients”, including flavanols.”

Image via Wikipedia

Vegan Mars Bars from Veganarchy Foods
*nuttelex in the recipe is vegan margarine

Be kind to cows… and be kind to your body. Vegan junk food!

So, if you’ve been missing out on that nougat-chocolate treat since going vegan, click on the link > VEGAN MARS BARS http://moralcuisine.tumblr.com/post/3515109080/these-were-something-ive-want-to-try” and enjoy the cooking!

 

 

 

 

Blog post that says so much

The Vegan Swagg blog is up and running: First post: “An Open Letter from a Militant Vegan” a look at animal rights / veganism and social networking.

What I do love about this, it completely tears down the false “I’m one of you” vegan platitudes of a pseudo vegan and …

the best part is I don’t have to deal with the negative feedback from the trolls who seem to think militant vegans are the enemy (yes ALF, I’m looking at you).

This is an issue I looked at here The New Enemy: The Militant Vegan (say what?), so another perspective on any issue is always good.

tweet of the week

@VeganMudblood: Sexism, transphobia, homophobia, racism, classism, sizeism, ageism, etc., have NO place in the #animalrights movement. #vegan

… all I can add to that is, cruelty, torture, exploitation, abuse, slavery and murder have no place in animal rights either.

TROLL of the week

@sarrabee
For sickening, disgusting, hate speech against women and transgender people.

This is a person who rants at, trolls and spams other users, especially those who she/he does not follow – is all about arguing and not about social networking.

He/She is a person who seems to think feminism is all about hating on women, progressives, vegans, non whites, and transgender.

And to me, that is NOT feminism.

For example – @sarrabee
“I’m not actually responding to that person at all. I’m simply reposting his/her tweets. It’s important.” Thursday, 24 February 2011 12:53:23 PM

which was either aimed at me, or a woman called Cindy.

Why the faux gender unknown act?

Which may not seem like anything until followers realise, (and this is what I find amusingly ironic) this same person, he/she was calling out progressives for labeling Ann Coulter a “he/she”. And this @sarrabee person thought that was transphobic. And yet, turns around and uses transphobic terms as an insult against others.

If you don’t know someone’s gender, and it is important to you, as it seems to be for this @sarrabee transgender hater person, then use someone’s name. Or, gender neutral “them”, “their”, “they”, which is becoming increasingly acceptable to use for singular other.

Although, I’m not sure why someone’s gender should be important to anyone other than that persons loved ones and doctor.

In the above tweet, she/he could have said “I’m reposting THEIR tweets” – but his/her insistence on use a gender descriptor for the person he/she was reposting, seems to me that she/he (@sarrabee) cares a lot about gender and calling out progressives and doesn’t really care about transgender people at all.

This person comes across as a twitter troll – follow at your own risk.

from the Feeding Trolls archives

completely selfish fkn moron of the week

from the Im a selfish, self centre, heartless loser files

This comment (You can be both an animal rights activist and an omnivore. Some people don’t have the need to eat meat but some do.) was found at the Facebook group Fight For Animal Rights.

Let’s go over this one more time for the braindead idiots – one of the most basic rights any living thing has, is LIFE. When you eat meat, or consume any animal product, you are depriving that being of LIFE.

Eating animals is not ANIMAL RIGHTS.

You absolutely CANNOT be an animal rights activist who consumes the corpses of animals.

But thanks Shanghai GoGo Discotheque for playing. And losing.

And showing the whole how selfish and greedy you are.

The New Enemy: The Militant Vegan (say what?)

from the Militant Vegan collection

What is this Militant Vegan that has suddenly emerged on the blogs and social networks? This is my response to an article that has gotten a lot of attention recently. From Veggie Girl: An open letter to militant vegans.

Personally, I’m a Vegan-vegan, and anything else, is divisive. Designed to separate us, put us in a little box and slap a label on it.

And I will happily walk the vegan path with anyone who wants to stand beside me, regardless of what label they choose to put on themselves.

 

However…. For vegans out there who regularly participate in online forums, debates and social network sites, you may have noticed there is a new enemy out there… the mysterious, illusive and dastardly “Militant Vegan“.

This phrase “militant vegan” seems to have cropped up a lot recently, it seems to be an insult to active vegans.

I say Illusive, because I’ve yet to see one.

I do not know where it originated, this concept that vegans who refuse to love-on meat producers is someone “too militant” and gives “vegans a bad name”.

In this blog piece – the concept of militant vegan is examined….

An open letter to militant vegans
by Veggie Girl

… it doesn’t really tell me much about what a militant vegan looks like but if this writer represents the opposite of militant, then an “UNmilitant vegan” (like her) is a lot like a new-welfarist, pseudo-vegan collaborator with the animal-death industries.

Apparently, according to Veggie Girl, vegans are the new Westboro Baptist Church (for more information on who and what Westboro Church is Luna Coyote87 Presents: “Reason You Suck Post”: Westboro Baptist Church). That hateful, anti gay church that pickets funerals with the slogan “god hates fags”.

As Veggie Girl says: if you’re a militant vegan

you’re just an animal-loving version of Fred Phelps. And nobody likes that guy except his fellow church members

.

Whoa!

Seriously, a homophobic, hatefill, angry cult is just like being vegan? Are you kidding me??

I know a lot of vegans, and I have never yet met one who I would consider “militant” – I don’t even know what that means…

Because if you are not doing all you can to fight for the lives of animals, then what are you doing? Wasting time!

No seriously, WTF does “militant” mean? Someone doing everything in their power to end the slaughter, slavery, cruelty and exploitation of animals.

And if that is what Militant is, why are you proud that you’re not. I don’t find it particularly admirable that you admit that you are a lazy, ungrateful, apathetic, passive Inactivist. I don’t understand why someone would brag about that.

Meanwhile, if there is a strident, screeching, hateful, harridan example of militant – it would be this Veggie Girl.

Who knew that “consciously raised and slaughtered meat and eggs” – as Veggie Girl points out – is now acceptable to vegans.

How is it helpful to attack someone like Rachel Kesley, the chef at WaterCourse Foods, who was a vegan for three years but decided to add consciously raised-and-slaughtered meat and eggs back into her diet

.

Never heard of Rachel -the meat eater – Kesley until now, certainly never heard anyone “attack” her.

But let’s get away from the hyperbolic violent rhetoric for a minute – by “attack” does Veggie Girl mean that someone found Rachel and physically hurt her? Or in Veggie Girl’s world does attack equal “they used mean words”.

Come on, Veggie Girl – turn down the violent language just a notch, and then your attack on Militant Vegans may, perhaps, possibly have a bit more credibility…. and a lot less irony and hypocrisy.

Militant is a meaningless word in the context of fighting for justice and rights, and is used to discredit that person or group which someone disagrees with. One step away from extremist, emotive but useless.

Because in the parallel bizarro world that Veggie Girl lives in, eating “humanely slaughtered meat and eggs” is peaceful veganism, but pointing out humane is a myth is somehow militant.

Your poor dear, how do you get through your day, it seems like just about every vegan out there that you meet is militant and out to get you.

Because as this blog piece seems to think, you can have non-cruelty milk, cruelty free eggs, compassionately slaughtered meat and if you are really really nice, to the animal abusing death industry, and say pretty please with a cherry on top, you may just…

inspire them to adopt humane practices

Fail!

It seems that in the opinion of this Veggie Girl – humane slaughtered meat, and compassionate meat eaters who fight for welfare reform is what “vegan” is… and anything else is “militant”.

Hey, Veggie Girl, wanna see what “humanely slaughtered” meat looks like:
guess what – it looks exactly like inhumanely slaughtered meat.

Is this simply “dog whistling”*… “militant” is this the new phrase designed to attack “direct action” vegans? Because Francione has the market cornered on veganism as the new peace movement. … Is that what this is? Will anyone who has a different approach to the Minions of Gary Francione now be branded “Militant”?

Personally I have no problem with Gary Francione, at least when he talks about Veganism, he does prevaricate about what vegan means to him.

Is this some inference to ALF – balaclavas and camouflage?

In a similar way to the use of “new welfarism” and its design to silence Direct Action vegans, is militant meant to have anyone who speaks out on behalf of veganism quaking in their non-leather boots at a label?

My first impression, was this concept was the work of The Professor and His Minions, being all anti-violence, anti-ALF… but this “It’s all about Me-Me-Me Veganism” is more reminiscent of Tasha, the formerly Voracious Vegan.

As Rachelle, commented on Veggie Girls piece : You probably don’t mean militant. You probably just mean someone pointing it out to you and you don’t like it.

But let’s get real for a minute – why do we do this, why do we hyphenate vegan… ethical vegan, direct action vegan, mda vegan, abolitionist vegan, liberation vegan, and now militant vegan?

To quote Veggie Girl – Get off your high horse

Edited to add – An Open Letter From A “Militant” Vegan
Veganism is absolutely essential to the animal rights movement as veganism IS justice for animals. Yes, we are passionate, but not aggressive. Yes, we are relentless, but not lazy. Yes, we are unwavering…. Yes, we are vocal, as justice has never been won by silence.

*Dog Whistling= an Australian phrase, used in politics, involving coded words, that send one benign message to the general public, but another message to the target audience. Particularly around issues of race, for example “illegal refugees”.

Edited to add: thank you everyone who took the time to explain what “militant” means, I wanted to look at why there seems to be an increasing use of the phrase “militant vegan” by other vegans as a way to divide the AR movement.

When a vegan tells you to “shut up, youre too militant”, I’m asking, why they feel the need to do this, where as recently, the phrase used was “shut up, youre new welfarist”.

I am never going to shut up, rights are not given to the patient, the quiet, the meek – rights are fought for, its hard work, loud noisy agitation

Feedback welcome

Justifying Meat Eating – ridiculous things meat-eaters say

People who eat meat will say just about anything to themselves and to others so they do not have to face the reality of what it is they are actually eating.

For a start, they call it “meat”, rather than what it was before slaughter, a cow, calf, sheep, lamb, pig, fish, chicken. “Meat” puts some distance between what they are eating and the life their dinner used to have previously.

But the latest I was told recently was so bizarre, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

This person justified their eating animals this way….

A wise native person told me that we honour animals by eating them. They give up their lives for us. It’s the circle of life. When we eat animals, we gain nourishment, then when we die, we go into the ground and animals eat us

Oh.Your.God.

Where does a sensible person start with all the things so very wrong with that response.

For a start, the person telling me that was not a “native person”. So, my thought, is “so what?”. Maybe that is how things are for anonymous wise native people, but not for a white guy in the suburbs.

And we “honour” them? I honour my grandparents too, I respect them for what they have done for me. But, ah, I wouldn’t honour them by eating them.

I don’t see what is “honourable” with wantonly slaughtering a defenceless animal that has never had a chance to live and then eat it.

Want to know what is more honourable – Not eating dead animals!

After all, a dead animal is a corpse. If the idea of eating roadkill is so disgusting to people, what’s the difference between that and what is on their plate.

from the RoadKill archives

What about the whole “they give up their lives for us” – much like the similar “they sacrifice their lives”. Doesn’t this imply that the animals being eaten have some kind of CHOICE? That they have the option to live or be eaten, and choose to end their lives on someone’s plate?

No animal gives up their life. It is taken from them.

Now, about that “circle of life” – the whole circle of life has been severely disrupted over the past couple of hundred years. Industrialisation has changed things. Whereas previously people had to go out and hunt, and see for themselves the animal in their natural habitat, and watch as the life was drained from their bodies.

Modern industrial slaughter processes remove the killing part for consumers, so they don’t see the life and death.

This is an example of “cognitive dissonance”, where the mind denies what it already knows. People know where their food comes from, this is why they get squeamish if a vegan talks about “slaughter”. They don’t want to hear it, because then then would have to acknowledge what they are eating. They know, but the avoid, so can pretend they don’t know.

Humans have removed themselves from the “circle”, we are at the edge.

And as for our bodies providing nourishment for other animals – the animals that people tend to eat the most are not carnivores, they are placid herbivores.

I’ve never seen a cow chose to eat a dead human. I have never seen a lamb choose to eat a dead human.
Or a chicken, or a pig.

People eat far more animals, which necessitates the killing of huge numbers of animals, way more than their corpses would ever feed.

The excuses people make to continue their selfish greed of eating dead animals never ceases. They eat animals because they think it is their right.

*Oh, and, I know that all animal products involve cruelty and death, I am not saying that milk is harmless or eggs are harmless, because this post is in response to a comment someone made to justify their eating of meat.

Editted to add:
A comment on here, which I marked as spam, for it seemed like straight up trolling, criticised me for giving vegans a bad name for being militant. Um, moron, what exactly is militant about laughing at meat eaters. Seriously, dude, get a life, if you think that this post is militant, you clearly cannot be a vegan in the traditional Donald Watson Vegan Society definition of the word.

Cheese: The Other White Meat (why cheese eaters are problematic for vegans)

If you are a vegetarian, and would like to be vegan, my question for you is… what are you waiting for?

Vegetarians know the reality of where there food comes from – or rather WHO their food use to be, and it does not seem to bother them.

A lot of vegans, probably have at some point meet someone who says that they are “almost vegan” or “90% vegan – except for cheese”, or,

They may say something like – “oh I could Never be vegan, I love cheese too much” or maybe they do actually call themselves Vegan, yet has an occasional slip up, if they are at a party, and someone offers them some cheese, then they might “cheat” on their vegan diet

I met a “vegan” recently, who lectured me about how I was a “fake vegan” because I didn’t hate on ALF – animal liberation front – yet, this same person didn’t know that their morning protein shake made with whey wasn’t actually vegan.

Oh how I laughed!

Dairy is not benign, dairy involves huge amounts of cruelty and exploitation and DEATH.

And then these cheese-eaters pat themselves on the back, thinking that Vegan is just a different form of Vegetarian. I mean, we all love animals, right? It’s not like the animal has to DIE or anything, right?

Oh, but I never buy cheese myself! they protest. If someone offers it to me, or there is a pizza, or I’m hungry, or [insert excuse here]. That would be like someone saying “oh but I don’t smoke, I never buy cigarettes myself, I mean, if someone offers me one, or I get them off a friend when I’m at the pub after a late night, but, no, I’m not a smoker or anything”.

How is this any different? Just because you don’t buy it, does that mean it stops being cheese?

Here is my opinion… You know those old sayings “Milk – is liquid Meat” or “There is veal floating invisibly in every bottle of milk” or “Meat is murder, milk is rape” … vegans (by that I mean actual vegans, not faux cheeseatarian vegans) chose to not consume dairy in all its forms, because…

nothing could taste so good that it justifies rape and torture and slavery and murder.

That is what it comes down to:

If you consume dairy this is what you support

This PeTA video, shows the reality of the Land O’ Lakes dairy factory in Pennsylvania USA.

This is not an exception.



And don’t kid yourself – if you consume dairy products, and you haven’t personally met the cow, there is a very good chance that what you are eating came from cows just like this portrayed in the video.

And just why is that cow generously giving us her milk? Well she isn’t. Milk is meant for baby cows… it is baby food, for HER babies.

Like any mammal, she produces milk only to feed her babies.

Which means, she is forced to become pregnant against her will in order to create the baby that will get her body producing the milk.

And if people are stealing her milk (the cow doesn’t GIVE away anything), then there are babies out there, that are not drinking it.

So, what happens to those baby cows, which are surplus to requirements – if they survive the high infant mortality rate, they get sold into slavery, and become either milk cows or veal calves or pet food.

Pet food? Seriously, imagine telling that to a baby – your life is nothing, you are worth more to me dead.

or, Some may be shipped off to cosmetics companies to be turned into face creams or diet pills, because in some markets, it is illegal to use cows that are older than 30-months old in order to reduce the risk of spreading Mad Cow Disease (BSE – bovine spongiform encephalopathy).

Beauty products that are stuffed full with animal products are not beautiful. Nope, I do not want to be slapping dead calf on my face.

And this is a side effect of societies cheese-addiction.

Not much of a life, is it?

Then, what happens when the dairy cow gets too old?

After years of slavery, of being treated like a machine….

Cows that have been bred for maximum milk production, are unable to sustain the weight of their udders, which may be infected with mastitis, then what?

Is there a pension plan, and she goes off to a farm in the country to wander the hills and pastures and frolic in the clover… hell no, if she survives a couple of years of relentless torture in the dairy factory, she is shipped off to slaughter as soon as the milk production begins to slow up.

Thanks for the all milk, my dear, and don’t let the barn door hit you on the way out.

And then there is RENNET
Unless the label states “non animal rennet” – that cheese the vegan is eating, it isn’t even vegetarian.

Rennet is an enzyme used in cheese making, that is naturally present in the stomach of calves in order to digest the milk they are drinking.

Animal Rennet is taken from the lining of calves stomachs, and is often a by-product of the veal industry.

So when Vegetarians justify their continued animal consumption because “the animal doesn’t have to die”, What exactly do they mean? The baby cows that don’t survive to adulthood, the veal calves, the petfood calves or the cosmetics calves, the sick and dying milk cows, the retired cows who are sent to slaughter at 4 or 5 years old instead of well into their 20s which is the natural life expectancy of a cow.

Yummy.

This isn’t even going to go near the substances actually in the milk – pus, blood, leukemia cells, bovine growth hormone, anti-biotics, pesticides, herbicides, possibility of BSE prions, excessive amounts of protein and lots and lots of saturated fat.

Cheese eaters – what is the difference between that and eating meat for all the misery the production of milk entails.

And don’t get me started on vegans who eat HONEY……

Further reading
IVU: What’s wrong with dairy products?
Describing Some of the things wrong with dairy.

Vegina >> dairy is a feminist issue.
A look at dairy from a feminist perspective

NEGOTIATION IS OVER – Conklin’s Sadism
Yet another example of what is standard business practice for dairy, at an Ohio dairy factory.

“Jack LaLanne Said We Don’t Need Meat And Dairy” (vegetarianstar.com)

Del and RedGlitter
Feedback welcome

EDITTED TO ADD: There had been a MFA (Mercy for Animals) video in this piece, somehow it has been removed, and the link has been removed, without my knowledge. Even the text surrounding the video.

Is wordpress censoring vegan blogs now?

Alien Life On Earth has been found!

Satire

Finally, after years of indepth study, I found evidence of alien life on earth!

For millennia, this has been speculation, from religious and political leaders, to scientists and students. And now the evidence is irrefutable.

Image via Wikipedia

My years of pouring over books and journal articles about quantum physics, linguistics, mathematics, philosophy, theology and thealogy. I believe I have made a break through.

Alien life, from the star Vega, is here, these Vega-beings walk among us!
(Vega is a star in the Lyra constellation, and only 25 light-years from Earth, in a North direction)

These beings come in peace. Although, they have been known to display warlike characteristics, but apparently, only when dealing with others like them. They have been known to exhibit fierce tendencies with other Vega-life forms, but rarely, almost never to non-Vega-beings.

Once it would have been rare for most people to know a Vega-being, unless they lived in small isolated communities, that had a tolerance for anyone who was different. But now, it seems that almost everyone knows one, even if they aren’t aware they are from Vega.

These Vega-extra-terrestrials have been coming here in small numbers for centuries, but their numbers are increasing.

The Vega-beings walk among us, and although they look like us, completely indistinguishable in almost every respect, except they have an extraordinary level of energy, and a little sparkle in their eyes.

They have been known to use secret symbols so that others of their kind can recognise them. One such symbol is a “Ⓥ”.

These alien life forms also show a higher level of awareness, respect for life, compassion and kindness. And for this reason, there are many humans that feel threatened by the existence of these aliens.

Being more highly evolved, and coming from a different part of the universe, they still have much to learn about our Earthling ways. They have no desire to harm humans, but extend that compassion to all life on this planet. They see that a cow, dolphin, dog, frog or human child, are all worthy of life.

The implications of this discovery may be huge. As the world renown astronomer, astrophysicist and cosmologist, Carl Sagan has said “Religious leaders worried that Vegan values, however alien, would find ready adherents, especially among the uninstructed young” (Contact).

These VEGANS are increasingly spreading out across the surface of the Earth, in their quest to find other Vegans and Earthlings willing to adopt Vegan values and a Vegan way of life.

These Vegans have said they will show the world that it is not necessary to eat other Earthlings, to hunt, wear their skins, or torture them in numerous other ways.

And when the cruelty to other Earthlings has faded into history, the human race may extend that compassion to other members of the human race.