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- Subject: [SouthBayVeggies] Anti-vegetarian article in today's where-I-live Mercury News
- From: Victor Tsou <http://www.loveallbeings.org/~victor>
- Date: Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:36:28 -0800
Thank you for forwarding this article, Mike. I saw this book the other
day and wondered what it was about. I found the last interview question
noteworthy:
-------------------------
Q: What do you make of the resurgence of interest in carnivorous dining?
A: A lot of people became vegetarians because of the industrial meat
system. They didn't want to support that. Now we're having a bit of a
meat renaissance with ethical meat eating. There are people doing it
better and doing it small-scale and doing it in a way that's humane --
although there are vegetarians who say, killing is not humane. At the
end of the day, the more people who know what goes into their food and
how it comes to their plate, the better off we are.
-------------------------
This is a succinct description of how framing vegetarianism in terms of
factory farming leads to an interest in humanely raised meat. That
people respond to anti-factory farming messaging by switching to other
kinds of animal products is not surprising: the author (Weaver) joins
Peter Singer, Jim Mason, Michael Pollan and Jonathan Safran Foer (people
often celebrated by the vegetarian community) in offering humane meat,
dairy and eggs as a solution. This is a trend that has been growing for
a long time.
I've written and spoken extensively about how advocating against factory
farms inadvertently supports humane animal agriculture and how we each
can respond by centering our advocacy around our personal reasons for
vegetarianism rather than using the stock answers we may be used to
using. If you're interested in learning more, please check out:
http://bit.ly/7ZQJvj
http://bit.ly/4zoo8b
There are diverse reasons to choose vegetarianism. For some, humane
animal agriculture is not problematic and may even be welcome. For
others, such as myself, humane animal agriculture is unacceptable and I
think it is important for us to understand this trend and how our
advocacy relates with it.
Victor
Sage, Mike wrote:
>
> Today's where-I-live Mercury News has an article entitled "Vegetarian's
> plunge into meat locker" that tells the story of food writer Tara
> Weaver who as a vegetarian was having health problems and then
> "multiple doctors, both mainstream and alternative, told me I needed
> to eat meat." So she abandoned vegetarianism and started eating meat.
> The article's lead sentence in the Mercury's print edition is:
> "Lifelong vegetarian Tara Austen Weaver was forced by health issues to
> eat meat." The message that many readers will absorb is: vegetarian
> diets are nutritionally inadequate.
> In the article, a Weaver book signing event is promoted and three URLs
> are given that promote Weaver's career.
> Here's the Merc article (I've added a few more notes after the
> article). It is printed on page E1 of today's print edition.
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> (_http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_14448944_
> <http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_14448944>)
> Vegetarian's plunge into meat locker
> A vegetarian goes over to the dark (meat) side
> By Jackie Burrell
> http://www.bayareanewsgroup.com/~jburrel
> (Reprinted from Contra Costa Times)
> Posted: 02/24/2010 12:00:00 AM PST
> Vegans, fruitarians, flexitarians -- we're all familiar with the
> labels. But what happens when a lifelong vegetarian is forced to go
> over to the dark side? What happens when health issues prompt a
> holistic doctor to suggest that her hummus-loving patient eat some,
> shhh, chicken -- or maybe a steak?
> The resulting plunge into the world of butchers, bacon and chicken
> stock brought San Francisco food writer Tara Austen Weaver back to
> balance and health. Or it did, when she accompanied the flank steak
> with a fresh kale salad, washed down with a glass of pureed green stuff.
> By turns hilarious, poignant and politically aware, Weaver's new
> memoir, "The Butcher and the Vegetarian" (Rodale, 228 pp., $23.99),
> shares the realizations and revelations of that journey. Among the
> insights: that barbecued bacon is amazing, that "meat hangovers" exist
> -- but green juice and raw foods cure all -- and that we are all much
> too quick to slap disparaging labels on fellow diners.
> Last week, Weaver took a break to answer questions between book
> signing gigs in San Francisco and Seattle, her second home.
> Q: Omnivores, fruitarians and
> vegetarians-who-make-an-exception-for-bacon -- why are we so quick to
> categorize?
> A: When you label something, it's easier to dismiss. Spending time now
> in the meat world, I've heard some pretty brutal dismissals of
> vegetarians and vegans. These are people making a personal choice
> based on their values. What is to be gained by making fun of them?
> Then again, there are a lot of vegans and vegetarians going off on
> meat-eaters and saying they're bloody murderers. I'm all about getting
> everyone to the table and making sure everyone is happy and satisfied.
> Q: What about you, personally? Have you gone back to the veggie side?
> A: I try to be a conscientious eater.
> Q: Not going to tell, huh?
> A: (Laughs) It's in the book.
> Q: How did your vegetarian family take the news that you'd visited a,
> you know, butcher?
> A: I think it was a little hard for my mother. I'd kept it to myself
> --I'd eat in restaurants and at other people's houses. When I started
> cooking (meat) at home, she referred to my freezer as a graveyard,
> because it had animals in it.
> Q: You've spent time on both halves of the battlefield -- I'm
> thinking, of course, about the Oakland barbecue fest you describe as
> Meat Henge.
> A: Not having grown up in that culture, I didn't realize how
> passionate meat eaters are. There's an almost primal relationship to
> it. It sticks to your ribs in a way that a lot of other things don't.
> It's a security thing: I'm full now, so I don't have to worry about
> gathering my food or going to the store. It speaks to our Neanderthal
> nature.
> Q: Me Tarzan, you vegetarian? But there's a cultural component too.
> A: With any sort of food, there is tradition, culture, comfort. Your
> mother's meat loaf tastes like no one else's.
> Q: Do you see a geographic difference?
> A: Seattle and NorCal are very different when it comes to meat. (In
> Seattle,) I feel like I've gone back in time in terms of sensitivity
> issues, to the Bay Area in the '80s, where maybe there was one
> vegetarian entree on the menu.
> Q: What do you make of the resurgence of interest in carnivorous dining?
> A: A lot of people became vegetarians because of the industrial meat
> system. They didn't want to support that. Now we're having a bit of a
> meat renaissance with ethical meat eating. There are people doing it
> better and doing it small-scale and doing it in a way that's humane --
> although there are vegetarians who say, killing is not humane. At the
> end of the day, the more people who know what goes into their food and
> how it comes to their plate, the better off we are.
> Meet Tara Weaver at a San Francisco book signing, 3 p.m. Saturday
> March 13 at Omnivore Books, 3885A Cesar Chavez St., San Francisco;
> _www.omnivorebooks.com_ <http://www.omnivorebooks.com>
> Read more on her Web site, _www.Taraweaver.com_
> <http://www.Taraweaver.com> and her blog,
> _http://teaandcookies.blogspot.com_ <http://teaandcookies.blogspot.com>
> [In the print edition, this article is accompanied by one of Weaver's
> recipes for a steak dish.]
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> We need to respond! Please write a Letter to the Editor of the San
> Mercury News concerning this article. E-mail it to:
> _http://www.mercurynews.com/~letters_ <http://www.mercurynews.com/~letters> . Their
> guidelines for Letters to the Editor are: 125 words or less; no
> attachments; include your name, address, and daytime phone. Don’t
> worry, your street address and phone number will not be published.
> They normally edit letters for length and clarity.
> A good discussion of this topic (thanks to Sharon who alerted us to
> this five weeks ago), from the pro-compassion side, is at:
> _http://www.care2.com/causes/animal-welfare/blog/something-almost-primal/_
> <http://www.care2.com/causes/animal-welfare/blog/something-almost-primal/>
> Some other reviews of Weaver's book are at:
> _http://www.basilandspice.com/journal/firstlook-the-butcher-and-the-vegetarian-rodale-books-feb-20.html_
> <http://www.basilandspice.com/journal/firstlook-the-butcher-and-the-vegetarian-rodale-books-feb-20.html>
> _http://www.jsonline.com/features/food/84419257.html_
> <http://www.jsonline.com/features/food/84419257.html>
> _http://flavorpill.com/sanfrancisco/events/2010/2/22/tara-austen-weaver-the-butcher-and-the-vegetarian_
> <http://flavorpill.com/sanfrancisco/events/2010/2/22/tara-austen-weaver-the-butcher-and-the-vegetarian>
> _http://www.seattlemag.com/0p36b8be207/from-salads-to-bulgogi/_
> <http://www.seattlemag.com/0p36b8be207/from-salads-to-bulgogi/>
> -- Mike
>
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