We are all caught together in the net of life and time
"We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals.
Remote from universal nature, and living by complicated artifice, man in civilization surveys the creature through the glass of his knowledge and sees thereby a feather magnified and the whole image in distortion.
We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves.
And therein we err, and greatly err.
For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth."
- Henry Beston, 1928
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I hope yer not turning into a crazy cat lady.
"To a man whose mind is free there is something even more intolerable in the sufferings of animals than in the sufferings of man. For with the latter it is at least admitted that suffering is evil and that the man who causes it is a criminal. But thousands of animals are uselessly butchered every day without a shadow of remorse. If any man were to refer to it, he would be thought ridiculous. And that is the unpardonable crime." - Romain Rolland
Hi Ginger's Dad! I'm sure you're a lovely, wonderful guy---but please don't give Ginger shit for loving animals. She's not turning into a crazy cat lady; she's just got a kind and compassionate heart.
Love this post, Ginger. I'm still failing in my vegetarian attempts, but I'm recommitting as of right now.
hello!
good morning and good year 2010
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18/12/2009
my dad was joking. anyway, that guy stalking you for nabeeeeeelaaa is hilarious! hahahaha
I have just finished my fourth day meat-free. I know it's a relatively short time, and I'm struggling to come up with quick lunches, but it feels good, and hopefully will get easier as I get used to it. I've been thinking about becoming a vegetarian for years, so I figured I might as well give it a go. Your posts on the matter definately encouraged me to go for it.
Yay, Joey! I've decided it's a process, and that's ok. Every meat-free meal is a step in the right direction even if you slip up some meals (I've had two separate incidents with chicken wings, for some reason that's the one thing that I have a really hard time saying no to).
What are people's thoughts on veganism? Admittedly, I made some serious fun of vegans in the past and still find their self-righteousness a little nauseating, but you have to admit that when it comes to not exploiting animals, they're pretty much the only ones putting their money where their mouths are.
I think slipping is ok. Every little bit helps. I think agout veganism too, but I'm in no way ready for that. I know eating cheese and eggs still exploits animals and leads to a horrible existence and all, but I'm not sure I'd know how to be a vegan. Being meat-free really hasn't been as big a change. By the way, Boca stuff is actually pretty great. They have chicken wings but I haven't had them so I can't say if those are good, but the other things I've had are good. And I totally aggree with the self-righteousness. It's horrible. I went to some websites looking for nutrition info, and they're so mean and judgemental. Even the "vegetarian" sites seem to judge people for eating eggs. I think we should applaud ourselves for taking even small steps.
Milk and cheese don't hurt the animals, you know, and if you're really worried about it, there are companies that sell them that promise the animals are taken care of humanely. Did you know that a cow that isn't milked is in extreme pain? Often times, the amount of milk a cow produces is simply too much and it relieves their pain to milk them. And cheese is pretty much just a byproduct of milk. As far as eggs go, I used to have a hard time feeling okay about eating them, until I had a talk with my husband about it. He's a researcher, so he has a very logical mind whereas I tend to be a bit too emotional about things. Anyways, he told me something that seems obvious but I never really considered: the egg is just that; an egg. Just like the eggs all female humans have inside them--the ones that never turn into children because they aren't fertilized with the sperm. And they produce too many eggs to sit on them all, and it's that heat that grows the egg into a baby chick. So, the majority of the eggs will never turn into chickens anyways, even in a natural setting without man messing things up. Therefore, as long as you're buying cage free eggs, you aren't hurting the chicken and the eggs were never alive to begin with. By the way, I've been meat free for 2 years. Some advice, in case you aren't aware of these things: try some vegetarian meat from the company Morning Star-- they have really amazing fake buffalo chicken bites and awesome corn dogs. Try making your own seitan; it can be used in all chicken recipes, and is really delicious breaded and deep fried (if you can find the right breading, it will take just like restaurant fried chicken). It can also be used in stews and casseroles. It's pretty much good for anything, and not too hard to make. Just google it and you'll find a recipe to use. It's basically just made with wheat flour, and a few other ingredients that you want to put in it-- I always add some garlic powder. The process you go through to make it brings out the glucose in a way that makes it taste (and have a similar texture of) chicken. It's used in a lot of asian recipes and restaurants. It's kind of like Tofu, but tastier and with flour instead of soybeans. Oh, and if you can find a good brand/flavor, soy sauce can be a great substitute for chicken stock if you cook a lot like I do. Good luck!