In an act of compassion (as many acts done - or left undone - by vegans are), I invited my numerous Facebook followers and friends to a home-cooked meatless meal. I'm doing this as part of my contribution to March Meat Out, and I explained the whole process in this post back in February. The response has been fantastic! And I'm very excited for the friends I get to cook for, and catch up with in the crazy month ahead. There was one response, though, that keeps hurting me, and I've been torn about how best to handle it, so I'm asking for your advice.
An old colleague of mine posted on the wall for the Facebook Event page:
There were several responses that I wanted to reply with:
- "Oh, gee, your doctor should read the China Study. And you should probably watch Food Matters. It's really a shame that so many practitioners of western medicine continue to understand so little about nutrition!"
- "That's funny, I donate plasma (the yellow substance of your blood that contains dissolved proteins, glucose, clotting factors, mineral ions, hormones, etc.) once a week. As a precaution, they have to measure my protein levels every time. Frequent plasma donors are at a higher risk for depleting protein levels and these tests are more for my health than the health of my blood, just like the iron tests they do with all blood donations. I haven't eaten beef in seven years, get my protein mostly from whole grains, beans and the occasional tofu product (less than once a week), and there isn't a single problem with me donating as frequently as I do - weekly. And, my iron continues to increase the more blood I give. I don't donate blood to monitor these levels of iron and protein in my blood, because there is never any doubt in my mind that I am getting enough of those nutrients. I donate because I never had a disease as a child that is deadly for babies in the first several months of their life. As such, my blood doesn't carry the antibodies to that disease that could pass the disease on to the babies. So, if your baby ever needs blood, you can thank me for donating my vegan blood - 100% beef free!"
- "I'd be careful with that beef! You never know when you'll pick up Creutzfeld-Jacob Disease. Apparently there was a case here in Edmonton back in December that was never reported to the media. Well, the lack of media attention to that is not so surprising here in I (heart) AB Beef country, but the lack of numerous diseases you are more likely to get from eating beef are not: heart disease, cancer, obesity, etc. Not to mention all the extra hormones and antibiotics in over-manufactured/ factory-farmed animal products If I were breast-feeding, I'd want to be a little bit more careful about the risks I'm passing on to my baby."
- "Weird!?! You never really hear about protein deficiencies, but you sure do hear about nutrient deficiencies. I'm also training for a 10km run in June, and still getting enough protein. The only extra thing veg*ns have to be aware of (more than meat-eaters) are vitamins B12 and D, which are found in fortified foods. Are you sure you're eating enough vegetables and whole grains? And calcium? The acidity of animal products actually depletes the stores of calcium in your bones, making them weaker and more prone to osteoporosis. Vegetables such as broccolli, kale, and bok choy, as well as plant proteins, such as almonds, white, navy, Great Northern and soy beans are great sources of calcium. and your body absorbs them better than animal-derived calcium sources."
- "Did you know that a steer loses 95% of the protein it consumes in the building of its flesh? I can't believe your doctor would still advocate that lack of our natural resource. Especially while talking about the future generation, your son!"
You see, it's not the lack of information I possess, but the right tact to provide this information. As I read all of these fact-based responses, I feel as if they are attacking her right back. Which is, of course, the reason I thought all of the up. I felt attacked when she said she could only get protein from beef. I may not have four feet to walk on, or four stomaches to ruminate with, but I am a compassionate person. I feel empathy for the millions of animals who have their lives sacrificed every year not of their own free will, but because the animals with the power in this world - us, humans - have decided that their flesh will provide us with the best nutritional value out there. This thought didn't appear over night, and the solution won't come as quickly as the problem did, but continuing to think that you can only increase your protein levels through the consumption of another living being won't work to eradicate all the suffering we support in this world. So, yes, my words are attacking the words she posted on that wall. I want those words to die! I want those thoughts to no longer exist in our current society. So, perhaps my tone is a little insulting as well.
I want everybody I talk to about veganism to actually understand that protein is not the most important thing in the world. Like me, though, most people do not respond well to confrontations. I was convinced of my choices over a period of years, not by being yelled at about how we all need to change, but because I have looked into the eyes of chickens, pigs, cows, and later sat down at a table to eat them. I may never have felt comfortable doing this, but this was our life. We treated our animals with respect, and kindness and we were good small-scale farmers. We could respect the animal we put in our mouths. It was looking into the eyes of a picture of a pig (the image is forever imprinted in my mind) that had lost that respect that made me change. It was knowing that there were so many animals - living beings - out there that were treated like pieces of meat rather than individuals who even feel pain or suffering that made me stop supporting that industry immediately. And I think there are many other sensitive souls out there who feel like I do and will only come around to vegetarianism if we can provide them with love and support on their journey rather than our violent opposition to the status quo.
I ate meat from my family's farm for the first eighteen months of my life as a vegetarian, and I don't regret that part of the journey. My family was able to adjust to my changing diet at a pace that was much better for our long-term relationship. It was finally getting violently ill after a Christmas dinner that made my family realize that I couldn't eat meat any more. My body rejected it. Four months later, I tried veganism for the first time. It lasted only a month, but it made me more aware of how much I still supported the factory-farming industry. I've baked vegan since becoming vegetarian, and people have always loved my baking. After my fifth anniversary of the beginning of my journey, I decided to go all the way. I lasted a month and half before having eating a baked good somebody had purchased for me that I knew had milk ingredients in it. At first, I felt terrible. After a few months of this occasional "cheating," I stopped beating myself up about my falterings. In social situations, I decided, it would be okay to be only vegetarian. Then, it became a battle of my will power to remain true to my ethics. This is a battle I continue to face every day. I know people who have stronger will powers than I do, who are much healthier as a result, and have been vegan for much longer than me. I know I won't be a cheater one day. But, for now, this is part of my journey. At in this leg, I want to help as many people up the ladder as I can. I was born to be a leader, and helping people on their journey helps me succeed on mine as well. Nobody is perfect, and many people struggle to follow a strict diet. I'm here to tell you it's okay. I welcome the guilt these days as it is a way of reminding me where I want to be someday, but I also congratulate myself on how far I've come. Ninety-five animals a year are saved because I have come this far on my journey. Imagine how many more I can save if I help more omnivores reduce their consumption of meat, let alone stop it completely. Even taking out one meal a week will help. And slowly, over time, there won't be the need to attack comments like "my doctor says I'm to eat more beef" because doctors like that won't be tolerated in our society.
In the past month, I have had a major wake-up call about how to talk to people about veganism. I hit rock bottom on my anger scale one day and felt like my life was going nowhere. I've done a lot of things since turning 25 to improve my life and finally get started on a better path to what I want to do with my life: change the world. In my transitional financial stage, I have returned to a more relaxing work environment, where unfortunately I serve gallons upon gallons of mammalian lactations (cow's milk) every single day. At the time of my major break with anger, I was reading Joseph Keon's Whitewash:The Disturbing Truth about Cow's Milk and Your Health. Searching for an outlet, my anger directed itself at the consumers of the mammalian lactations.
As I later explained to my family in the first re-telling of this transformation, it angers me so much that the people we trust with the most important thing in life - our health - continue to contribute to the lies that have become indoctrinated into our culture. We have been so brainwashed by the big food companies, meat producers and dairy producers that we never even think to question who is sponsoring those healthy eating food guides that our government - an institution that is supposed to protect us and govern us (just think of ALL those checks and balances that are supposed to be happening!) - supports as well. (I will have to go into this tangent later on, but if you want to read something now, pick up Paul Robert's End of Food, which explains how our food system has been corrupted over the past century. Also invaluable is Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemna. I'll get into my opinions on the issues later, I'm sure!) It angers me so much that money is so often put before something so much more valuable - health!
The next day, I attended my first of many inspiring meetings of the last month. The topic of the meeting was "Professionalism." Now, we all think we know what "professionalism" is, but what would a list of "professional" characteristics look like? As we went through the list, I realized that allowing my anger to even bubble under the surface while at work was not beneficial to me, and definitely not beneficial to the hundreds of people who currently consume the mammalian lactations. Instead, I could be helping those people. And so began my quest to find the most professional way to do just that!
My journey to conveying my message more professionally has stopped me from replying at all to this post made on the wall of a compassionate event. My biggest contribution to the list of professionalism was "How To Deal With Conflict." If it's affecting your life to such a point that the conflict has to be resolved, resolve it. Remember, though, to respect that we all have different opinions on the world. Rejoice in this fact as it is the only way "new" ideas are born; and social change requires new ideas all of the time! Once resolved, release the anger involved with the differing opinions.
I'm not sure which answer would have been best for dealing with the conflict. I want to respect the fact that many people still hold true to their opinions on nutrition. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear! Everybody must come in their own time. So, this post is my Release of the conflict. Some may call it being "passive aggressive," but it's my blog. I discuss my challenges, my feelings, and vent every once in awhile, too. I don't mean to offend anybody with discussing my own journey within veganism, but rather highlight the problems that come up on any path to a better life. I do hope I've shed some light for the people who make the comments on what it's like to be on the other end of all those "protein" comments. After some contemplation, I must say: Pretty healthy, thank you! And I've never looked better either.
Also, as I recalled the story about the "my doctor says I'm to eat beef" to a current coworker, she pointed out that I'm asking people to join me for one day without meat. Your body is an amazing machine that stores nutrients over a period of time, not just 24 hours. In fact, if you are eating meat, it'll take more than 24 hours for your body to actually digest what you're putting into your mouth! Don't even get me started on cheese! And, on a personal note (which I'll get into when we know each other better), I blame my history of meat-eating on my most chronic health problem - GERD - for this very reason. Sadly, that's a condition that does require surgery to correct, not just a change in diet. So, take out the beef, insert the grains, whole foods and vegetable protein, and you'll be able to absorb so many more of the nutrients in your food! Ah, if only her doctor was smarter!
Thank you for reading my venting! I hope you learned something! Also, please feel free to comment. If you're a vegan I know you`ve had to deal with the protein issue before. What did you do? If you're an omnivore, which of my responses do you think would have been best received? What would have offended you the most? What do you want to know more about? I welcome your comments!
Thanks!
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