Dangerous Ideas

This sounds almost like a humor piece, but it’s true and so it’s just really sad and horrible:

Idaho’s governor said Thursday he will support public hunts to kill all but 100 of the state’s gray wolves after the federal government strips them of protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter told The Associated Press that he wants hunters to kill about 550 gray wolves. That would leave about 100 wolves, or 10 packs, according to a population estimate by state wildlife officials.

The 100 surviving wolves would be the minimum before the animals could again be considered endangered.

”I’m prepared to bid for that first ticket to shoot a wolf myself,” Otter said earlier Thursday during a rally of about 300 hunters.

I just learned that Pom Wonderful needlessly kills animals for marketing. They pay labs to create health problems in animals then to feed them pomegranate juice to see if they get better. What the heck?!? How is this a good idea? I used to think that Pom was a cool alternative juice company, and now I’ve found out they’re worse than mainstream companies like Welch’s and Oceanspray (which used to fund animal testing but have since seen the light). Another reminder that just because something’s sold in natural foods stores doesn’t mean that it isn’t evil. Caring Consumer/PETA have a page up that lists juice manufacturers that don’t experiment on animals.

Next time I got to my local grocery store, Rainbow Grocery, I’ll ask if they’ll consider pulling Pom until the company reconsiders. If people complain, maybe they’ll realize this was an incredibly bad move.

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.

Ingrid Newkirk of PETA wrote an op-ed piece encouraging research into biotechnology that would allow people to grow meat from cells (e.g., it’d still be meat, but no animals would necessarily be killed in the process). I remember talking with a vegan friend about this a few years ago … if it were possible to grow meat in a lab, without hurting animals, would we eat it? I’m not sure I would, but it’s a very intriguing idea.

Here’s how it would happen: Scientists extract muscle cells by taking biopsies from cattle, pigs, chickens, fish and other animals. From this tissue, they isolate the cells that are the precursors to muscles, and these would multiply in the laboratory to form the muscle tissue — or meat — that people eat.

Researchers say it could be grown in sheets and when it’s ready, some could be sliced off for sale and consumption. U.S. and British researchers say it’s possible right now to produce hamburger, sausages, nuggets and Spam-like meat. Steak may take a little more work, but it probably won’t be long before that, too, would satisfy devotees of rib eye. It’s as natural, say the scientists, as wine-making.

I’d question the “as natural as wine making bit”, but I admit, the idea of being able to wean people off of dead animals with this hypothetical meat is great. It’d open up all sorts of issues, though:

• Laboratory grown meat might even make it legal to eat human flesh. Even if no humans are hurt in the making, this is bound to be controversial. Of course, there already is vegan human flesh alternative.
• Will this come with the same host of issues that GMOs come with? It doesn’t sound as bad, but it still sounds like a lot more research needs to be done.
• Unless they can grow milk in the lab, there will still be veal, since the dairy industry will keep generating calves.
• I wonder how the cattle industry (and others) would respond to this? I can’t imagine they’d just roll with it.

That’s just the tip of the ice berg.