EAT ALL THE THINGS…consciously.

I did my interview with a staff member from Farm Sanctuary, and the organization’s mission is to promote healthy, compassionate, vegan living. My interviewee herself is a vegan and upholds the teachings and concerns of the organization.

Naturally, I thought the Farm Sanctuary only does this, when it comes to food consumption.

However, I was surprised to learn a number of things. One is that they advocate for animals, and farm animals in particular, but it is not like, “Do not eat anything that is considered an animal product,” but rather, it calls for people to be more aware of where their food comes from. 

For example, when it comes to dairy products. Eggs in particular, as we all know, came from the chicken, or maybe it’s the other way around. Either way, instead of advocating the complete eradication of processes involving eggs being taken as food, Farm Sanctuary advocates for the compassionate treatment of animals. They also called for fast food restaurants, such as Burger King to have a vegetable burger on the menu (and they now do), as well as careful and compassionate processes when it comes to which farms they get their food from.

So it’s interesting to note that all of these efforts are not just for vegans and would-be vegans, but also for people who may want to be aware of their omnivore lifestyle without having to give up their choice to eat meat and other animal products. 

(More of this on my interview/presentation.)

How do they see us?

My favourite book of all time is Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. It tells the story of a family made up of circus geeks: a “normal” mother and father, with “freaks” for children. The Binewski family pride themselves on being different, and sees those who are not like them as the ones who are not of the norm. The normal ones, the ones who are not different, are freaks.

This somewhat reversal of perspective always fascinated me. It’s interesting to think about how certain things, both animate and inanimate, may see us from their eyes. For example, how does an egg see the person who’s about to crack it open for sustenance? How about that piece of gum, that screams its last words to the world before he’s chewed to death? I always found it interesting, to imagine how we, as humans, are perceived.

Stephen Fry, in one interview, wondered the way in which aliens may perceive us in terms of how we use our language. In my previous Calvin and Hobbes comic, Calvin commends other life forms for their intelligence of not contacting us here on earth, because of our practices.

I for one believe that they probably see us as ridiculously filthy, and in some sense, disposable. Enough to get completely obliterated for inter-galatic super highway. 

I’m getting off track.

Just think about it. Our practices, the way we treat the environments and its other inhabitants, both humans and otherwise, maybe the subject of judgement and ridicule by outside forces unfamiliar to our own. What are they thinking? Do they think of us as uneducated, filthy people who have no respect for the things we have? 

It’s just interesting to put things in that perspective. Humans, as a whole, are judgemental creatures. And we hate that. We hate being judge for out lifestyles, our beliefs, and some, when they know they’re wrong or accept they’re wrong, they try to change. Maybe if we had an outside force, judging our practices towards our own environment, maybe we’ll change.

Probably.

(This didn’t publish. This was supposed to be for last week. *head desk*)