Happy Tummy

Barb, I just wanted to put in my two cents about why this article got people all riled up and started such a firestorm: As vegans/vegetarians we constantly encounter meat-eaters who do exactly what you claim vegans do to you. I am very non aggressive about my choices but I've had countless instances at BBQs or wherever else when I've brought my own veggie burgers and then had to spend the afternoon fighting with some random guy who makes statements such as "I love animals, they taste great" and feels the need to confront me about it. I would say that about 75% of the time there's someone that wants to give me a hard time or feels obligated to make a few rude comments when I say I am vegetarian. I don't think that those who eat meat encounter this sort of constant confrontation from vegans but I could be wrong. Anyway, there are jerks on both side of argument and, if I understand you correctly you don’t like either kind :) But what is at the core of what is bothering other readers (if I understand correctly) is that we have to defend our choices pretty frequently and often to people who haven't put as much thought into them as you (i.e. they were raised eating meat so they keep eating it). At the end of the day, militant vegans are a stereotype that a lot of us non-militant ones have to fight against. Invoking them in your argument without giving us a few specific descriptions ones you encountered (and therefore taking them out of sterotype realm) gets us aggrivated. I am aware that you were just out to write an entertaining, thoughtful column, not start a riot and I am also aware that you aren't saying all vegans/vegetarians are like this and you don't like ANYONE telling you how to live your life. Just be aware it's a sore subject and when you aren't more specific you run the risk of relying on a common stereotype which is bound to offend some.
— April 14, 2009 12:20 p.m.

Happy Tummy

As a vegetarian cat owner I feel called upon to make a point here: my cats have no choice in their meat eating habits. They absolutely need it to survive. There are plenty of resources to indicate that felines, especially males MUST eat meat (http://www.vegsoc.org/info/catfood.html). I, on the other hand, do have choice. You stated that humans are "omnivores by nature" but humans do not have to eat meat to survive. I am making what I consider to be the compassionate decision in my own eating habits- not that I am preaching about it Barbarella. The fact is that your friend's pigs are a happy exception to what happens on 99.9% of the livestock we consume. It's not a system I can support personally although to each his/her own. My cats, on the other hand are unable to make a choice. Some vegetarians and vegans can't stand to own cats because they can't stomach the idea of feeding them meat products. My two guys are rescues and would be eating meat at the shelter if they weren't eating it at my house. They eat certified organic cat food from animals that have been at least slightly more humanly farmed and we have always avoided IAMS due to PETA's long standing boycott. I don't believe owning cats and being a vegetarian is an inconsistency. I am an animal lover and I love my cats and want them to be healthy. They have to eat meat to do this, so while I try and make somewhat more compassionate choices for them as well (organics) I also recognize that it's in their nature to be omnivores and they have little or not choice in the matter.
— April 9, 2009 3:48 p.m.