Category Archives: Veganism

“Veganism is a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose.” (Formal definition from the Vegan Society)

Racism, Speciesism, Veganism

Black veganism

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This week, black vegan feminist blogger Aph Ko spoke on a Black Girl Nerds podcast about black veganism. As I’ve shared previously, Aph has gotten a lot of pushback, including blatantly racist remarks, for bringing attention to black vegans in an overwhelmingly white-led movement. Many white vegans don’t understand what race should have to do with veganism. Back when I was performing whiteness, I probably would have agreed with them. But now I understand the importance of this effort.

Veganism is seen by the mainstream primarily as a dietary choice for privileged people. I was reminded of this again last night, when my young nephew asked if our harvest feast (not Thanksgiving dinner) was “vegan or gluten-free.” (I was asked this question repeatedly by a fellow chorus member when I brought homemade baked goods to our rehearsals.) I explained that uncle Ziggy and I are vegan for ethical reasons, and that nothing on the dinner table contained animal products. As none of us had allergies or sensitivity to gluten, this substance was irrelevant.

On the podcast, in response to the host’s concerns about the expense of a vegan diet, Aph explained that veganism is a political choice, not a diet. She described dietary veganism as a white-centric approach, with emphasis on expensive foods that center the needs and vanity of the vegans, not the animals. She said, “I would urge people to try to change their mindsets before they try to change their economics.” Then it becomes apparent that you can meet your dietary needs with less expensive whole foods rather than pricey flesh and dairy substitutes.

Ethical vegans aren’t immune from racism either, sadly, as Aph discussed in the podcast. Those who think that talking about black veganism is a distraction from “saving animals” really ought to check their privileges. We need to build awareness of why more black folks should be animal rights activists, and should be welcomed into the movement.

On that front, Aph is developing a new web site, Black Vegans Rock, which will debut in January. I’ll be writing more about this exciting development, so stay tuned!

Racism, Speciesism, Veganism

No thanks for the slaughter

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My partner Ziggy and I have cooked a vegan Thanksgiving meal together almost every year since we met in 2001. It’s a tradition we’ve looked forward to in the midst of a very busy work season where he gets few days off. We’d spend the whole day preparing a feast of Tofurky and all the trimmings – mashed potatoes, biscuits, pumpkin pie, the works – invite a friend or two over, and gorge ourselves.

While doing this, I was always aware that the origins of Thanksgiving were not the colonialist fantasy most of us were taught in grade school. I saw the occasion simply as an excuse to eat enormous amounts of tasty food. But last year I became aware that the true story of Thanksgiving is even darker than I imagined. See this video (transcript available) by Kat Blaque:

https://youtu.be/yp4O9thjkDo

After reading that our beloved holiday commemorated a massacre, I could no longer look forward to this feast. Even though no dead bird was at the center of our table, the blood of slaughtered indigenous humans just as surely left a stain.

I spoke with Ziggy, and we decided to still have our traditional dinner, but not invite anyone, figuring that it was still a rare day off for him and we should celebrate our time together. I rationalized that having pasta that night instead wouldn’t have done anything to help the situation. But I did not post photos of our meal or otherwise publicly celebrate the holiday.

This year, Ziggy wanted to invite some relatives for the holiday, so the issue became more important. We spoke again and we’ve agreed to shed some of the traditional trappings from the meal, including the Tofurky, and make it clear that we are having a harvest feast and not celebrating the historical Thanksgiving holiday. I no longer believe in making compromises for family or friends when it comes to veganism, so I don’t see why we should do so when it comes to human rights issues either.

Too many vegans will make compromises this week, however, and sit at a table with a dead bird at the center in the name of “family harmony.” Would they do so if the centerpiece featured the corpse or a cat or dog?  For those (non-natives) having vegan Thanksgiving dinners, would they feel the same way about this holiday if they learned that it commemorated the slaughter of their own ancestors?

US-American history is rife with bloodshed and oppression. Our culture of killing that encourages us to smile and laugh while we eat the bodies of others is the same culture that encourages white bodies to subjugate brown bodies. Breaking the cycle of slaughter requires people to take a stand, even if their actions and opinions alienate them from friends and family. Holiday time or any other time, speciesism and racism have no place at the table.

Cissexism, Veganism

Healthy Hermit conclusion, diet and sex thoughts

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I’ve decided to formally conclude my Healthy Hermit diet, and reintroduce other whole plant foods besides fruits and vegetables. This is not because of my recent illness, but for practical reasons. My partner doesn’t share this way of eating, and it’s inefficient for us to eat separate meals all of the time. As he hasn’t had time to cook he’s been buying more packaged products, which negates much of the environmental benefit of me shopping from farmers markets. While I have made a few dishes we can both eat, we’d have a wider variety if I could use beans, whole grains, nuts, and seeds, which I can do without compromising my nutritional goals.

During the 24 days of this diet I lost ten pounds and about two inches of fat off of my waist. That’s quite rapid weight loss for someone who wasn’t heavy to begin with, though having a lower appetite due to the flu was also a factor. I currently weigh 120 lbs and have a 28 inch waist, which on a 5′ 4″ body is considered by many to be downright scrawny for a male, but would be considered chunky for a female in many circles, which just goes to show how arbitrary beauty standards are in our society.

I don’t, however, feel that body measurements are entirely useless. Rather than arbitrary height-weight charts or body mass index, I believe waist-to-height ratio is a better indicator of health risk, but that too is only one factor among many that must be considered. And regardless, as I’ve written before, no one’s size besides my own is any of my business.

An issue I have with all of these health charts is that they normally ask for a binary sex to be specified. Unlike with some web forms where sex and gender are clearly irrelevant, there are legitimate differences in height and weight for cistypical male and female bodies. I, however, do not have a cistypical body; I have a transsexual male body. I’ve been on testosterone for enough time that my body has “masculinized” to a certain extent, but it could be several more years before the changes are complete. My height is fixed, but my muscle mass and many other characteristics are not.

So when I filled out my nutrient profile, I specified male. But had I specified female, different target numbers would have come up for calories and various nutrients. These differences aren’t completely arbitrary; a menstruating woman will have a higher need for iron, for example. But not all cis women menstruate, and some cis men may have higher iron requirements for various reasons.

Even in the medical realm, when it comes to sex differences, lifestyle choices cannot be ignored.  When I elected to begin testosterone therapy, I needed to sign a consent form that said, among other things, that by taking this hormone I might be taking five years off of my life expectancy. I asked the nurse practitioner how much of this discrepancy might be due to men engaging in more high-risk behavior (smoking, drinking, violence) than women, rather than internal physical differences brought on by hormones. She said she honestly didn’t know because there hadn’t been studies on FTM patients in this area.

Regardless, I intend to keep my body as healthy as reasonably possible. Avoiding smoking, drinking, recreational drugs, and junk food isn’t a matter of personal purity for me; it’s a matter of finding pleasure without resorting to artificial, short-lived highs. Whole plant foods, clean air and water, exercise, and sunshine can provide what I need to be fulfilled.

Ableism, Classism, Speciesism, Veganism

Vegans and health shaming

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I’ve been quiet for the last week because I came down with the flu. This one hit me hard enough to keep me offline almost entirely for two days, which is very unusual for me. My temperature got above 103 before my fever broke. (I do have a history of high fevers.) I don’t get flu shots anymore because I’m not in a high-risk category, and two of the three times I did get a shot (when I worked at a health sciences university that strongly encouraged them and provided them for free) I got the flu anyway.

Some vegans are afraid to admit when they get sick because of the false idea spread by many health-oriented vegans that eating a plant-based diet prevents illness. I’ve frequently read people bragging that they haven’t had the slightest sniffle since giving up animal products. If others get sick, they must not be “pure” enough. They need to eat a whole-foods diet, or better yet, a raw diet, or have a juice cleanse, or otherwise purge their system of all pollutants, and then they’ll never get sick again.

Illness doesn’t work that way. It can strike anyone without warning, even those of us who lead very healthy lifestyles. The creator of the FatFree Vegan Kitchen web site wrote a moving piece about being diagnosed with cancer despite following a lowfat, whole-foods plant-based diet. Sometimes these kinds of confessionals end in the author tearfully saying goodbye to their vegan diet, but this was not one of those cases; she wrote, “So if you’re reading this and worrying that I’m going to be another vegan blogger who goes back to eating animals for her own health, don’t. No diagnosis in the world could convince me to eat another animal or animal product.” (Emphasis in original.)

Some vegans get very sick, and some non-vegans live long, robust, illness-free lives. This is why I do not use human health benefits to promote veganism. The only person whose health is guaranteed to be harmed by a non-vegan diet is the animal whose flesh, milk, or eggs are on the plate. When we realize that their desire to live is as strong as ours, we will stop eating them for their sake, not for ours.

Another form of vegan health shaming is criticizing those who use pharmaceuticals containing animal products or tested on animals. I am opposed to all forms of animal use, but I recognize that in a deeply speciesist world, animal products are so ubiquitous that in some cases their use is unavoidable. If a person can avoid death or serious health consequences by using animal-derived or tested products, I will not condemn them for it. It would be better for them to live and become activists for animal liberation, working toward a time when no animals are used as ingredients or imprisoned in laboratories. This is consistent with my stance on those who “fail to thrive” on a pure vegan diet.

Regardless of diet or philosophy, the number one thing that people who do get ill need is rest, and in the USA that commodity is in short supply. Employers don’t give adequate sick leave, and advertisements abound for over-the-counter medications to allow people to mask their symptoms and keep working, thus spreading their germs to everyone else in the office. Whether self-employed or working for an employer, working while sick is considered a virtue, and for many, unfortunately, is a financial necessity.

I’m fortunate that I always had enough sick leave during my fifteen years of full-time employment. Part of why doing hired photo gigs didn’t work out for me was that if I became ill I either had to work sick, find a replacement, or lose the gig. Replacements don’t work out so well when you’re doing a job that relies on your unique creative vision and process. I ended up shooting my first wedding with a stomach bug (which I’d determined was non-contagious, but did make for a miserable day.)

Our health is the most important asset we have. We should work to make nutritious food available and affordable to everyone, but recognize that even with the healthiest possible diet and exercise program, some will fall ill. Those who do need the time and support for true recovery. There’s no shame in being sick.

Veganism

Healthy Hermit two week follow-up

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[Image: A strawberry patch.]

I’ve now been eating a diet of fruits and vegetables exclusively for over two weeks. While I felt some ill symptoms the first few days (as I was also detoxing from caffeine), I’ve now fully adjusted to this way of eating. I look forward each day to the baked sweet potatoes and fruits that have become my new staple foods. And if the traditional Okinawan diet is any indication, I’m in good company with the sweet potatoes:

While weight loss was not the primary goal of this diet, I have lost five pounds, and expect to lose several more before my weight settles out. I haven’t been very physically active, so increased exercise will likely affect this (especially if I put on more muscle weight). I’m more interested in my waist size than my weight, though as testosterone therapy is shifting my fat stores to my middle, I expect more fluctuations there too.

I kept track of everything I ate for the first two weeks, and plugged it into the CRON-O-Meter to get a detailed nutritional breakdown. (Though I’m always wary of the accuracy of these tools outside of a clinical environment; I did not weigh any of my food, I only provided estimates.) For the final seven days I tracked my food intake, I averaged 1266 calories per day, with a carbohydrate/protein/fat percentage breakdown of 91/6/4.  I consumed more than adequate amounts of fiber, iron, vitamins A and C, and folate. Vitamin E was a bit low, as were calcium, selenium, and zinc. I’m taking care of B12 with a weekly supplement.

I’m not concerned about calcium as I think the USDA recommendations for that mineral are unnecessarily high. Vitamin E I can get adequate amounts of by eating more leafy greens. As for the other minerals, if I experience deficiency problems I’ll consider adding other whole foods such as beans, nuts, or seeds.

In any case, I’m not interested in tracking calories or nutrients going forward; this was just a snapshot. I’m glad to be escaping the “pleasure trap” of salt, sugar, oil, and caffeine, and glad to be walking to the farmers market regularly again.

Speciesism, Veganism

The “natural” human diet

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[Image: Luv, a goat at PreetiRang Sanctuary, munches on hay.]

Whenever the subject of veganism comes up, discussion of what the “natural” diet is for humans inevitably follows. Words such as omnivore, carnivore, herbivore, and frugivore are thrown around without much understanding of what they actually mean. Here are some handy definitions from Wikipedia:

Omnivore: An animal whose species normally derives its energy and nutrients from a diet consisting of a variety of food sources that may include plants, animals, algae, fungi and bacteria.

Carnivore: An organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of animal tissue, whether through predation or scavenging.

Herbivore: An animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage, for the main component of its diet.

Frugivore: A fruit eater. It can be any type of herbivore or omnivore where fruit is a preferred food type.

I believe it’s clear that we are not carnivores, which is part of why I do not refer to humans who eat animal flesh as such. As for whether we are omnivores, herbivores, or frugivores, I’ve seen good evidence that we likely fall into the last category, keeping in mind that frugivores do not eat fruit exclusively, and that the botanical definition of fruit is much broader than the culinary term.

Regardless, I believe all this focus on dietary terms is a distraction. None of us in modern society live or eat the way that our primitive ancestors did. Humans are able to derive all nutrients except for Vitamin B12 from plant sources exclusively. As long as we have access to adequate sources of calories from whole plant foods, we can live healthily without eating animal products.

What about B12? It is made neither by animals nor plants, but by bacteria. The amount we humans need is minuscule, and supplements are inexpensive. Some vegans try to get enough B12 without supplementing by eating slightly dirty produce, but I prefer to take a pill once a week rather than eat plants covered with feces.

What about those who cannot access or afford supplements, or encounter serious health problems on a vegan diet? My position is that if your life or health literally depends on eating animal products, then do so, but only as much as you actually need to. Vegan physician Michael Klaper discusses a possible reason some may fail to thrive on a vegan diet here:

Being surrounded by friends, family, and advertisements constantly encouraging us to eat animal products makes it very easy to revert to eating them upon experiencing any ill symptoms from starting a vegan diet. I believe that in a post-speciesist world, true cases of people who have full access to plant foods but get very sick without eating animal products would be exceedingly rare.

While I could imagine various strategies to help those who fail to thrive in such a world, I would like to focus on getting to that world first. When every promotion of veganism is countered with reasons why “not everyone can go vegan,” the voices of those harmed – our fellow animals – are lost. When society comes to realize that animals are people, not property, we can focus on their needs and wants, not just those of humans.

Sexism, Veganism

When health gurus promote rape culture

I mentioned in my post earlier today that many health-oriented vegans and others promoting plant-based diets engage in fat-shaming. Fat-shaming is one reason I stopped participating in the forums for Dr. John McDougall*, whose starch-centered, low-fat dietary philosophy I generally follow. I didn’t like some forum members blaming anyone who had a BMI above 22 for any health problems they might have, and I didn’t like the concern-trolling of other people’s weight.

I regret that I engaged in fat-shaming myself at that time, which I’m trying not to do now. Hence I’m noticing more disturbing things about McDougall’s message that I previously missed. In the “Best Of” section of his latest newsletter, he reposts an April 2012 report where he actually blames precocious puberty for inciting sexual abuse of children. He notes that the average onset of puberty was once 16-19 years of age and is now 8-12, due to the rich Western diet. He writes, “The development of female breasts and buttocks activate natural male reproductive behaviors, causing some men to prey on girls.”

This is a sentence straight out of rape culture. Men have no excuse for preying on anyone, regardless of their age or figure. Excusing this as a “natural male reproductive behavior” is nothing short of disgusting, especially when McDougall writes in the same newsletter “Civilized people, however, protect their children.”

Note that I am not disputing McDougall’s argument about what causes precocious puberty. As a child I ate a fairly standard American diet, and entered female puberty** in 1981 at the age of 11, for what it’s worth. But the sexual abuse I endured started well before that time. Sexual abuse and rape are about power, not desire.

In case any McDougallers are reading this and tempted to accuse me of libel, I am not accusing McDougall of actually promoting rape or being a rapist. I am simply pointing out that saying that the abuse of a young girl (or person of any age or gender) is due in any part to “natural reproductive behaviors” is promoting the idea that abusers are not responsible for their actions. As a victim of childhood sexual abuse, I am nauseated by this attitude.

I really hate to see people whose ideas I respect say things that I abhor, but it happens, a fair amount as it turns out. Hence the need for me to be independent.

* McDougall himself is not vegan, but his diet is 100% plant-based other than honey.

** My male puberty began in January 2014, when I started testosterone therapy.

Speciesism, Veganism

Assimilation and commodification

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[Image: A baked spaghetti squash, cut open to show the flesh, seeds, and pulp.]

Last night I baked that spaghetti squash (pictured above) that I mentioned buying for the first time this weekend. I tried it plain first, and found it crunchy and a bit bland, so I added a chopped tomato. Ziggy enjoyed his with jarred tomato sauce.

I admit I was hesitant to try this particular squash because I didn’t want to see it as a pasta substitute. I’ve long steered clear of the low-carb and gluten-free trends, always preferring a high-carbohydrate diet and never having a problem digesting gluten myself. My preferred pasta consists entirely of organic durum wheat, which I consider a perfectly healthy choice. But I see squash as even better, both nutritionally and environmentally as there’s no packaging and I can compost the rind, pulp, and seeds (which could also be eaten).

I’m realizing that a lot of what we consider “normal” meals are habits adopted from our parents and friends, dictated by a 40 hour work week, and backed by the constant, insidious push of commercial interests and their government lobbyists. There’s no reason that the morning has to start out with cereal and milk, pancakes and orange juice, or toast and coffee. After a short run this morning I indulged in a delicious mango, and would have had a second if we’d had one (I don’t want to get in the habit of buying expensive tropical fruits). Normally I would have started the day with black tea with sugar and soy milk, then had a second cup with oatmeal, but for now I’m quite satisfied with fruit.

Fruits and vegetables are not much of a priority for advertisers, unless they can package them in a way to maximize profit. Want the nutritional power of kale, but don’t want to take the time to prepare it? Here, eat our dehydrated kale chips! Know you should eat your veggies, but don’t want to? Here, drink our vegetable juice blend! Love fruit, but on the go? Here, eat our convenient fruit and nut bars! Etc.

Every dietary trend that comes along is similarly packaged and commodified. Low-glycemic? Gluten-free? Here, buy these special breads and pastas! Subscribe to this diet plan! Raw? Buy this dehydrator! Buy this cookbook!

Aside from the pressures from advertisers and the challenges of getting through the work or school week, eating differently from everyone else can be a serious social challenge. Peer pressure is very strong. I never would have started drinking if it weren’t for that, as I never liked alcohol; I stopped drinking completely six years ago and haven’t missed it. Children can be teased relentlessly if they eat different foods, and parents are often scolded for supposedly harming their children by withholding animal products from them.

Many ethical vegans counsel activists not to make vegans “look weird” by eating food that’s “too healthy”; they emphasize that vegans can eat pizza, hot dogs, burgers, and junk food just like anyone else. While this is true, and I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with eating plant-based versions of flesh and dairy products, I don’t like the idea that we have to assimilate in order to spread our message effectively. Animal liberation should sell itself if presented strongly and consistently as a position against violence and speciesism. What the vegan activist presenting the message chooses to eat shouldn’t even be a part of the conversation, unless the listener brings it up.

Another concern is that vegan messaging that emphasizes healthy foods can lead to fat-shaming. This is a valid concern, as I’ve seen a lot of fat-shaming by health-oriented vegans. My position is that besides myself and my partner, no one’s weight is any of my business. While I do value fitness and prefer to stay slim myself, I no longer give anyone advice on weight loss (or gain) unless someone asks me about it directly. Once again, my strategy is to avoid talking about diet when advocating for animal liberation, unless I’m asked specific questions about nutrition.

Ultimately, we all have to craft a diet that works for us within our financial and practical means. I currently have the freedom to eat without worrying about structured meal times, eating on the go, or social pressures. If eating a meal of just bananas or just baked sweet potatoes makes me weird or eccentric, while eating a burger, fries, and milkshake (whether vegan or not) is considered “normal,” so be it.

Veganism

Healthy hermit

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[Image: A Russet potato, a red potato, and a sweet potato.]

For the last week I’ve been eating a diet consisting solely of fruits, vegetables, tubers (potatoes and sweet potatoes), and a small amount of herbs and spices. And loving it. I think sweet potatoes – in particular, the orange-fleshed variety marketed in the USA as “yams” – might just have replaced oatmeal as my favorite food.

I came up with this meal plan myself, for a number of reasons. As I mentioned previously, I wanted to revisit the sugar/salt/oil-free diet that I tried last year, as I’d been slipping into eating more processed, nutrient-deprived foods. I was feeling increasingly sluggish and congested, and gaining weight. I wanted to simplify cooking and shopping. I also wanted to use as little packaging as possible.

My working title for this way of eating is the “Healthy Hermit diet,” because I’ve been quite a hermit lately. Having the freedom to stay home for meals makes it a lot easier to stick to this diet. Though I now feel I should commit to going to farmers markets twice a week to get seasonal organic produce.

Yesterday I went to the Fort Mason Center Farmers Market for the first time in over a year. I’d stopped going there when my volunteer work at the Free Farm Stand conflicted, but I stopped that work some months ago. The stands had a large variety of organic produce. It’s a privilege to live in an area with year-round farmers markets, and to be able to afford organic groceries. I might as well take advantage of it.

I picked up some squashes I’d not tried before: Delicata and spaghetti. I’m looking forward to baking them this week. I wanted a greater variety of starches than just potatoes and sweet potatoes, as much as I love the latter.

It’s sad that a lot of people probably think this diet is extreme. As I posted before, eating large amounts of fresh produce shouldn’t be a luxury. A fast food meal shouldn’t be cheaper than a couple of pounds of organic fruit. And people shouldn’t have to work so hard that they have no time or energy to cook. (Though a lot of my cooking is now done in the oven, with little prep time on my part.)

Whatever anyone’s opinion, my own well-being will be the best test of this diet. Increasing exercise as my energy levels improve will also be crucial to my health. I look forward to a healthier body.

Classism, Veganism

Eating our roots

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[Image: A basket of purslane, with a sign reading “Hecka local produce picked from nearby gardens or trees & the Free Farm.”]

I’ve been thinking lately about how terrible our food system is in this country. I’m not just talking about fast food and I’m not just talking about animal agriculture. I’m talking about the price of fresh fruits and vegetables being so expensive that they are seen by many as luxuries, while we simultaneously throw away enormous amounts of unsold produce.

When I did volunteer work in food justice, I saw firsthand how much abundance comes from the Earth. At Alemany Farm in San Francisco, one of my jobs was to harvest purslane (pictured at the top of this post). This hardy, nutritious plant grows everywhere, even in the cracks of sidewalks. It’s considered a “beneficial weed.”

We gave away purslane at the Free Farm Stand, along with lots of unsold produce from farmers markets that would have otherwise gone to waste. Boxes and boxes of perfectly good food.

Eggplants at the Free Farm Stand[Image: A box of purple eggplants.]

While more year-round variety of produce is available here in San Francisco than in many places, the fact is that there is enough abundance to feed everyone directly from the Earth. We can create a society that provides affordable whole foods to everyone if we’re willing to make radical changes.

The word “radical,” by the way, means “going to the root.” I’ve been eating  lots of literal roots myself lately, in the form of sweet potatoes. I’m rediscovering the taste of whole foods, unaltered by sugar, oil, or salt (SOS). I tried going SOS-free for about a month last year for VeganMoFo, and it worked well, so I’m giving it another go, but focusing primarily on fresh fruit and tubers rather than beans and grains.

In order for everyone to have the opportunity to eat healthy foods, we need to create economic and social changes that will replace food deserts with community gardens. This morning, Sistah Vegan Project posted this great video by vegan hip-hop artist DJ CaveM:

This is wonderful. Community gardens are for everyone. Farmers markets shouldn’t be seen as destinations for privileged people. Healthy eating is in our roots.