Comments on: November is World Vegan Month

By: Bill in Detroit

Bill in Detroit — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 02:41:38 +0000

There are, literally, thousands of reasons to ‘go vegan’ … moral, environmental, financial, health, social (the corn that would be saved if every American went meatless one day a week would be enough to feed the world … you wouldn’t BELIEVE how big of a business meat production is!).

I count myself an opportunistic vegan; I eat vegan when I can, meat when I must. As I learn more about vegan food preparation, I get closer and closer to the goal of being 100% meatless. Will I ever attain that goal? Probably not; I don’t live alone and an ice-cream off the ice-cream truck tastes as good now as when I was a kid.

But I can get mighty close to it.

By: anon

anon — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:43:01 +0000

“Of course, we could let all the little hens live but the opportunity of this hypothesis is not something I want to discuss now (at what age an egg becomes a future hen ? is it moral to break an egg in a pan after 3 days or 20 ? who came first, the egg or the hen ?).”

Most eggs are unfertilized. The egg will rot and not produce a chicken if left out for long. Eat eggs without guilt. There is always the issue of the dismal conditions in which egg laying hens are cared for.

By: Question

Question — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:21:52 +0000

What about if you kept your own free range hens and their eggs? would this go against your vegan beliefs as these hens are happy and are not harmed, tortured or profited from in any way other than you using their disposable commodity?
I had free range hens once and they led great lives roaming around wherever they went.
Just trying to understand the premises?

By: Maugis

Maugis — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:02:21 +0000

Thank you for your comment, Catcaley.
I wasn’t sure I was going to publish this article because of the sceptic tone of it but your comment prooves it can lead to discussion so it’s useful afterall.
I realized while re-reading my article that I lived in a small agricultural region of France that has nothing to do with giant conglomerized farm factories elsewhere in the world. The eggs I buy come from true farms where they are collected the ancient wayt but I forgot it’s not the same elsewhere. So sorry to the hens !
That’s one thing. Moreover, I have a friend who is a vegan and even if I hate what he cooks, I must admit it’s more environment friendly.

By: Catcaley

Catcaley — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:32:13 +0000

Nice article
But you need to understand that there are different levels that people are at as vegetarians and as vegans each one working it out as they come to terms with what they know and believe.
You seem to think that there is no harm done to the hens and chickens in the egg industry. He is not aware of factory farming. Greed has caused people to look at animals as commodities and not as sentient beings.
Animals have feelings and emotions. They love, they care for their young, they risk their life to save another, they grieve, and they feel pain, both physically and emotionally. I stopped eating meat eight years ago.
Some stop eating meat for health reasons, I stopped for humane reasons,after I became aware of the cruelty done to the animals in factory farms. I still eat seafood and eggs, seldom, but I still eat once in a while.I have tried to stop both but have not succeeded so far. I am being convicted to stop because I am aware of the suffering. I hope to make that decision again soon and that I will succeed for the sake of the animals. Going vegan is honorable and compassionate. I am not yet there but I hope to live a vegan lifestyle as much as possible. There are many things to consider, not only what we eat, but what we buy, what we wear and so on. The whole idea is that we do not want the animals to suffer. They have a right to life and well-being just as much as humans do.