Why be vegan?
This afternoon I was talking to our younger bussers when one asked, "Why should I be vegan?"
I didn't know where to begin. What about health? How about your partner's acne? What about the suffering of animals - the male chicks who have just struggled to get out of their shell, born into a world of lights and crowding, only to be poked - "sexed" - found to be male and then put with hundreds or thousands of other male chicks into a room where the air is removed and suffocated? What about the 48% of our energy that is used to produce meat, dairy and eggs and all the suffering associated with it? What about the ethical issue of causing this suffering? And what about this busser's concern for a sustainable lifestyle? Vegan - particularly whole food vegan diets are sustainable - meat, eggs, dairy, fish (some people believe that fish are not meat) are not sustainable.
This afternoon, I realized that I should be using this blog as advocacy for ethical, whole food based lifestyles and have had no time to write. I am giving this blog to Sid Hillman, a vegan who moved to the Mendocino Coast with his wife and young daughter for the quality of life in this small community. I will let him introduce himself in future blogs. He is passionate, articulate and the manager of the Ravens'.
Enjoy his work -
Best wishes for a healthful and ethical life, Jeff Stanford