Go vegan! Sort of.

I got a whole pile of shit to do, but it's mostly niggling little stuff like pay the Con Ed bill and yank my laundry together, so first I'm gonna go into dietary ethics for a minute. I recently received a kick in the butt about this from a film fest short about the evils of egg production.

Now, I've known for a long time that the meat and dairy industries are about as filthy a scene as you could wish to remain willfully ignorant of. And I've been saying for awhile that, were I to eat in accordance with my values, I would pretty much be vegan. You don't have to know much about capitalism and ecology to understand that these industries are massively damaging to the environment in a variety of ways, and that they are satanic in their exploitation of labor and trade. I mean there is just nothing good about them. Nothing. At all.

And I also know from my adventures in raw-foodism (6 months, a couple of years ago) that they're really not necessary. Not for health, not for convenience. Now, over the last year and change, I've been experimenting with intuitive eating, which involves eating whatever you want and focusing on trying to eat only when hungry and stopping when satisfied, an experience I have not had since I was probably ten years old. All other concerns - health, appearance, ethics, money - have gone on the shelf. And in recent weeks my relationship with food has started to shift dramatically, as the deprivation compensation has caught up with me, and I've been starting to feel ready to start incorporating my ethical concerns.

Then I saw this short. And it was largely concerned with respect for animals: they are living creatures, they deserve the same quality of life that we humans expect for ourselves. I have never been one of these "animals are people too" kinds of people. Life eats life. But nor do I wish to have anything to do with the kind of violence and squalor I saw in the short. I seriously don't see anything wrong with eating their products (eggs and dairy) if the source animals are being treated well. And if I'm going to eat an animal, I want to be able to... I don't know, thank it with honor.

I don't see much change in my life as a result of this decision. I won't be getting the same sandwiches at the deli; my milk expenses will go up a bit. But you know what? Big fat fucking deal. It's not that hard, and it's an exercise in living consciously. And I'm not going to be a terrific hardass about it, either. If there's butter in something or it's been processed with lard, I ain't gonna make a huge fuss. And I frickin' LOVE ricotta on a slice... so I'll probably get a white slice. Probably a few times a year. But making the shift in the day-to-day is what makes the difference; cutting out 90% of what I used to consume of mainstream agricultural meat & dairy is pretty good, I'd say.

So I guess it's time to go check out the Stogo scene. My real problem will come once it gets cold again, because while I like milk in my iced coffee (which you can get soy milk everywhere, no problem), I like half-and-half in my hot coffee. Who has organic half-and-half for your to-go coffee in the Union Square area? Somebody must. I'll start scouting now.