Hi all,
I don't have any vegan friends, so I'm turning to the internet for some (hopefully) honest and throught provoking discussion.
When I became vegan, I felt a huge weight had lifted off my shoulders - I was doing the best thing I could for the world, and knew that every bite I took was causing minimal harm. I'm vegan for ethical and environmental reasons. I believe the senseless brutality of factory farming is abhorrent, however - and here is where my opinion becomes decidedly un-vegan - I don't believe the consumption and use of animal products is inherently unethical.
So a few months back, I removed my smug head from my arse and started looking hard at my food choices. Mainly, my protein sources - beans and pulses, tofu, home made seitan, and vegan protein powder to top it up a little. All of these food items require packaging, transport, monocultures, deforestation, wage exploitation, and generally don't make me feel warm and fuzzy.
Now what if I had a pastured cow on my property, slaughtered it on site with as little trauma as possible, and fed myself for the next 6 months with the flesh? No food miles, minimal packaging, some methane emissions, and the death of a single animal.
There's no question this doesn't help the cow, and I understand the majority of you are repulsed by the thought of killing an animal just to consume its flesh - but is the slaughter of a sustainably-raised animal worse than the chain of exploitation and unnecessary resource usage inherent in so many of our beloved vegan staples?
Have any of you ever had this conundrum? How do you reconcile it? I would love to hear opinions!
I don't have any vegan friends, so I'm turning to the internet for some (hopefully) honest and throught provoking discussion.
When I became vegan, I felt a huge weight had lifted off my shoulders - I was doing the best thing I could for the world, and knew that every bite I took was causing minimal harm. I'm vegan for ethical and environmental reasons. I believe the senseless brutality of factory farming is abhorrent, however - and here is where my opinion becomes decidedly un-vegan - I don't believe the consumption and use of animal products is inherently unethical.
So a few months back, I removed my smug head from my arse and started looking hard at my food choices. Mainly, my protein sources - beans and pulses, tofu, home made seitan, and vegan protein powder to top it up a little. All of these food items require packaging, transport, monocultures, deforestation, wage exploitation, and generally don't make me feel warm and fuzzy.
Now what if I had a pastured cow on my property, slaughtered it on site with as little trauma as possible, and fed myself for the next 6 months with the flesh? No food miles, minimal packaging, some methane emissions, and the death of a single animal.
There's no question this doesn't help the cow, and I understand the majority of you are repulsed by the thought of killing an animal just to consume its flesh - but is the slaughter of a sustainably-raised animal worse than the chain of exploitation and unnecessary resource usage inherent in so many of our beloved vegan staples?
Have any of you ever had this conundrum? How do you reconcile it? I would love to hear opinions!