Another fascinating question accompanied by a very enlightening article.
To answer the question: I don't think most people in the U. S. are fortunate enough to have room enough to grow their own vegetables or have enough money to spend exorbitant amounts of it on vegetables just so they can be CERTAIN they don't contain animal bi-products.
I find myself very lucky in that, even though I live in California, I have a back yard large enough to grow almost all of the veggies my household eats. Unfortunately, I do not always have the extra money to supplement with small farm veggies.
I think the point, as always, is to do the most that you can 100% of the time.
So, that said...when are you gonna do all you can, Me, and go vegetarian?
In response to: "So, that said...when are you gonna do all you can, Me, and go vegetarian?"
Yep, I find those who criticize the most usually do the least. Funny isn't it? They try to point out how everyone else should do more, yet they don't do anything at all.
LOL, I live in the ghetto in Oakland, CA.
May be moving to Oregon soon.
Uh, suburban I guess. We'll be able to rent a house with a big @$$ back yard for 600-800 a month.
We pay 1175 for a three bedroom unit in a fourplex converted from a huge Victorian. No yard, just hella ghetto mutha fukkaz.
That's what the wife wants..........so hmm I guess I had better pack my bags. Now I really have to since my kid will be going.
I hail from the more whitebreadish suburb of Fremont in the bay area but we live here because the rent for a place like this is dirt cheap in comparison to a *safer* town.
LOL. A few days ago some jack@$$ totaled one of our parked cars and pushed it into our other car. Classic story eh?
My FIL and the stepMIL(you know, the chainsmoker that breathes Pepsi) live in Salem, OR.
i agree with you...if you want to call yourself vegan, then do it right!
I consider myself "strict vegetarian" more than "vegan" although I fit the definition in nearly every way. I'll give you my opinion (again) anyway...
I'm not that concerned about this particular "hypocrisy" - it is not possible to eliminate every thing from one's life that is related to animal suffering and still be a part of today's world. It would require completely segregating oneself from society. You cannot live in today's world without contributing in some way, even if it's small, to animal abuse or exploitation. If people stopped eating animal products they would not continue to kill animals for fertilizer and that is where I choose to focus. Eating animal byproducts is something I try to avoid, but animal poop and decomposing "parts" are part of Nature's plan for fertilizing plants so I don't think of those plant foods as CONTAINING animal. I would certainly be in favor or letting agricultural suppliers know that I'd prefer they not use animal by-products. If I thought I would be able to track down every supplier of my produce and find out what they were using and there were alternatives that were convenient to find and didn't distrupt my life any more than my diet lifestyle does already then I probably would make that choice. I can see putting together some information for the farmers I currently get my produce from (three of whom lost their homes and farms in the So Cal fires, incidently). I also plan to begin growing much of my own food when I move to a larger piece of property in a few months and of course I wouldn't use animal products to fertilize. I'm also not using human manure regardless of the helpful hints in your article. Anyway, in closing, of course I would like everything I buy to be free of any ties to animal suffering. I do a lot to make sure MUCH of what my dollars go to doesn't support animal suffering or uneccessary death or pain. I have to choose my battles, though, and this one is not at the top of my list. Thank goodness I don't do the things I do for anyone else's approval so you are welcome to think of me as a hypocrite if you like, but I never have professed to be a perfect vegetarian.
Well you can call me whatever you like, though hypocrite seems a bit harsh; I call myself a vegan when the need arises, which isn't often as I don't spend my entire life talking and thinking about food.
Hypocrite - that seems a word far too freely used these days; kids use it as an all-purpose insult when they don't like what you're saying and its meaning of pretending to have higher standards than you actually have is disappearing. If someone said 'yes, me-person, I grow all my own food in the way you recommend' and then went to the supermarket for their veg, yes they'd be a hypocrite. Someone who says 'I'm a vegan, I do what I can but that's something I'm not able to do' is not a hypocrite - not according to the dictionary definitions of hypocrite or vegan.
Still, this is a strange old forum; when you've been called a hypocrite by both omnivores and veg*ns for accepting life-saving drugs that had been tested on animals, this little insult is water off a duck's back.
I've had a look at the link, very useful for people in a position to grow their own food, rather less useful for flat-dwelling city folk as there's not a whole lot there about where to buy food.
Yes I know, you've said it before - leave your home, family, job, friends, life - who needs 'em - and go and live in a small self-supporting community of vegans, preferably in an unspecified 'temperate' country. No I won't, that's a sociopath, not a vegan. Anyway most of my family and friends are omnivores and I'm going nowhere without them!
At least this time you didn't waffle about 'true vegans in other countries', without giving details of who they are or where;you seem to have passed that particular baton on to somebody else...
Excellent answer Jenasaurus
omg..this question again... borrrrinnnggggg
Why would this be hypocrisy? All matter (aside from asteroids, meteors, spacecraft, etc...) on the Earth only change form since mass isn't created or destroyed. What you eat now was at some point something else. Whether it was elements from a dead tree, dead person, sewage from a prison system, etc... All of it converts to something else. The fertilizers used are chemically changed into something else and would no longer be rendered animals. The point of the article is to avoid them for reasons of safety and dependence on the industry.
If you are looking for a perfect person of any label (vegan, Christian, Jew, etc...) you won't find it if you use it as an ideal term. People use the word in relative terms otherwise the concept of "perfect family," etc... would not have meaning. This is pretty basic stuff. This isn't supposed to be a rant forum.
Hey Me! Happy Friday. I just got home from Happy Hour(s)! Yeah, this seems to fall into line with the question you asked yesterday about sporting equipment. I think for a lot of people it is the illustrist title of saying 'I am a vegan" and quite honestly, for the young, it is a passing fad that they forget after a while.
I am not trying to be mean, but if you are going to put yourself out there as this hard core person who lives by this sacrificial code then you can't half a*# it!
Now how many thumbs down can I get?
edit- Oh I may have hit a world record 4 in fifteen minutes!
edit- Hey Me. It was a Miller Lite night! I wanted to stay out later, but UK has an early game tomorrow and a bunch of us are meeting early to watch the game (we all know what that means) so I figured I had better call it an early night!
You are in Chi town aren't you!
Krister- I am also glad that you are out of fire zone. I actually did think about you the other day. I thought you were more south. I am glad that you and your family are safe!
edit 3 I am not putting down vegans. I really respect people that can have self control. However, I know that a lot of people who are so militant on her are for the most part very young (ie: Ashley). That is what I mean by passing fad. A lot of these people do it because of their bf/gf. When the relationship ends so does the diet/lifestyle. For those who do not fit in this category. My hats off to you!