[LEMONS] 7.08.2002
When Vegans Attack!
Have you read Time's story on Vegetarianism? No? Well. It's about what you'd expect from Time on Vegetarianism. Approving, yet... Not.Disclaimer: I'm not a Vegetarian. I eat a lot of fish. I eat the occasional fowl. Pigs I try to stay away from but, well, it's a magical animal. Ditto red meat; I indulge a few times a year. I think you can screw yourself up with a Vegetarian diet if you aren't careful. I'm certainly not an advocate, or an animal rights zealot. But. There's a lot to be said for the diet. I try not to eat too many animal products because a) meat's kinda gross nowathesedays if you haven't noticed b) like many Amuricuns, I've got a history of heart disease in my family so I try to watch my cholesterol c) i try to be an environmentalist and pig farms aren't exactly eco-friendly, foo.
Moreover, if done right, it's a healthy diet.
Although I thought this was a fairly balanced article, here's the part of the post where I gripe about it. The article focused too much on teens. You wanna know about morphin rangers and homies or whatever the nuts it is that's being confiscated in junior highs from sea to shining sea these days? Ask a teen. You want to know about nutrition? Ask an adult. Furthermore it matters not if the kid is a vegetarian, a macrobiotic, or a cannibal, his/her diet and nutrition is ultimately the parent's responsibility. And:
- "They also avoid honey, since its production demands the oppression of worker bees." This an incredibly facetious statement, and a blatant misrepresentation of most Vegans I know (and I arguably live in the Vegan Crucible of the world). Yet it's taken seriously; the conservative Post scoops up that ball and runs with it.
- "In a survey of 11,000 individuals, 37% of those who responded "Yes, I am a vegetarian" also reported that in the previous 24 hours they had eaten red meat; 60% had eaten meat, poultry or seafood." What? Who the hell is this being asked? What were their ages? (After all, the article does focus on teens. Teens are more likely to be vegetarians one day and not the next.) What overall percentage responded, "Yes I am a Vegetarian?" If it was disproportionately high, then we know that the study's flawed. The article even goes on to speculate that those being asked don't understand the term "vegetarian." If the respondents didn't understand the question, then why do their responses matter? When the question is flawed the answer is irrelevant. Bah!
- The graf attributed to "Dr." Michelle Warren (Ph.D? M.D.? Dre? All of the above?) is particularly troubling. Warren cites the "peculiar color" of a small subset vegetarians' skin, noting that "I think it's very unattractive." What the fuck is that? Why do I care what "Dr." Warren finds attractive? "Dr." Warren's turn-ons and turn-offs have nothing whatsofreakinever to do with the pros or cons of vegetarianism. Furthermore. "She also is troubled by the reasons some young vegetarians give for their choice of diet. One female patient, Warren says, wouldn't eat meat because she was told it was the reason her father had a heart attack." But ya know what? It probably was. Damn those vegetarians and their ability to follow logical chains of cause and effect.
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