Dangerous Ideas

I just learned that today is National Ice Cream Day. Those of us who live in Bernal here in San Francisco are lucky to have a neighborhood ice cream parlor that serves vegan ice cream as well as regular ice cream, the wonderful MaggieMudd! They often support progressive causes (I remember seeing one of their ice cream carts at Matt Gonzalez’s campaign headquarters), they’re independent and family owned, and they have great vegan (and non-vegan) ice cream. They’re also open late, which is a big plus, too. Some local restaurants and grocery stores carry their ice cream, including the The Bayleaf Cafe and Judahlicious.

I’ve decided to celebrate the day by writing this blog post about why I became vegan.

Ice cream was one of the things that I found hard to give up before I became vegan (I hadn’t tried the soy ice creams yet). And, at the time, I didn’t think it was a big deal – dairy cows aren’t killed for their milk, after all. But I didn’t make the connection that the dairy cows’ calves would become veal. And I’m not alone … I’ve met a lot of people who think veal is just horrible, but don’t connect veal to cheese or ice cream. And, of course, the lives of dairy cows aren’t that great, either – quite a bit different than the “happy cow” ads portray.

I really hope non-dairy ice creams catch on more. Not just for the cows, but also for people. While dDairy may have been a part of European and South Asian diets for centuries, it’s pretty new to other cultures. Most people in the world are lactose intolerant. It amazes me that 90 percent Asians are lactose intolerant, but many of us don’t know that. That’s a testament to the power of the dairy industry’s marketing. They somehow got the concept of the square meal (with dairy forming a whole corner) to be accepted by the U.S., and have continued to convince cultures whose peoples are largely lactose intolerant to start consuming dairy. This, of course, has negative health results.

I also found out that milk often doesn’t help prevent osteoporosis. The dairy industry advocates milk for women to help avoid the bone disease, and many women believe them.

I don’t remember exactly the order I discovered these things, but they all made it clear to me that being vegan not only supports animals, but also supports feminism and multi-racial justice.