Coming to a Theater Near You!

I make little secret of my firm belief that a vegan revolution is underway.  As of yet, it’s just gaining gradual momentum.  We make up only about 1% of the population.  Want to know what’s going to blow this vegan movement out of the underground and into the mainstream consciousness?  Two films, which are coming out this year within weeks of each other.

Sure, there have been books like Diet For a New America and Vegan With a Vengeance for a decade or so, but movies are so much more consumable!  (And did you know most movie theaters serve vegan popcorn?)  After becoming vegan, I felt obliged to read Animal Liberation in full, and I’m currently slogging through The China Study, with its extensive scientific data on the health risks of consuming even small amounts of animal products.  I sell books for a living, and I’m very aware that not everyone’s going to read a book about animal rights, or about their diet.  That’s why I was so thrilled to learn about Forks Over Knives, a documentary which will outline the incredible health benefits of a whole food, plant based diet. Many medical and scientific experts are featured in this film, most notably Dr. T. Colin Campbell, author of The China Study, Dr.Dr. Neal Barnard, author of Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes, and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, author of Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.

I think it’s perfect timing for this critical information to be shared with the public. People are ready to hear the truth about the link between their food and their health, and this film will refute pervasive myths about the healthiness of vegan eating.

The second film is fictional, but tells a very important story –one that would be difficult to show in any other way, though from what I can tell, it closely mirrors reality.   Bold Native is about an animal rights activist and liberator, someone who illegally rescues animals, and who is pursued by the FBI for prosecution under a new law called the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, or AETA.  (Another great article on AETA and its effects here.)  I know this is a highly controversial issue, and I look forward to seeing how people react to the film.  Are animals legal property, or are they creatures in their own right, with as much of a claim on their future lives as a human has?  If the laws are immoral, should we behave lawfully or ethically?  This film will drive viewers to think critically about issues they may never have considered before.

I anticipate the convergence of these two films this summer will bring about an expansion of veganism.  Neither film has a specific release date yet, but to stay updated, you can follow them on facebook. 

Forks Over Knives is at http://www.facebook.com/forksoverknives

Bold Native is at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bold-Native/162792945925

Animals, Schmanimals. Shouldn’t People Come First?

One of the most common objections to veganism is that we ought to be concerned with human suffering more than that of animals.  If you’re vegan, someone has probably asked you how you can care so much about animals while human beings are suffering from injustice and exploitation.  Shouldn’t people come first? This is a nuanced question, so I’ll expound on three different responses: Yes, No, and Irrelevant.  Here we go now, in reverse order.

1-Shouldn’t people come first? - Irrelevant.  You don’t have to choose one or the other.

Black Americans are disproportionately imprisoned, while being under-represented in colleges and in government.  Women do most of the world’s work, but earn significantly less money than men.  More than 10% of Americans are treated as second-class citizens because of whom they love.

Is it possible to be an advocate for racial equality, gay rights, and feminism simultaneously?  Of course it is.  You yourself are probably in favor of environmental protection and the spread of education.  Not only is it possible to push for animal rights and human rights at once, it’s rare to find a vegan who isn’t also an advocate for other causes.

Puppy Love -Doublethink Exemplified

I’m doing something a little differently today.  Below is an essay I wrote nearly three years ago, back when I rarely capitalized letters.  I think what I wrote back then is as relevant as ever.

i recently read online a letter that Michael Vick wrote to his judge, explaining what a kind person he actually is, asking for forgiveness and a second chance.  he promised that all the money he makes for the rest of his life will be spent doing good in the world, and that he has learned his lesson.

if you somehow missed all the hype and don’t know who Michael Vick is or what crime he was imprisoned for, he’s a pro football star who was arrested last summer for taking part in a dogfighting business.  he was not allowed to play football this last season, and companies with whom he had endorsement deals dropped him like a hot coal.  in december, he was sentenced to 23 months in prison for his part in the beating, shooting, hanging, starvation, and electrocution of pit bulls.  the corpses of dozens of dogs were found buried on his property, while even more abused dogs were found still alive in filthy cages, and are now being placed in loving homes.  for some time, Vick refused to admit that he had any direct involvement in the cruelty and death of the dogs.  his money funded the kennel business however, and he was aware that dogs were being killed when they didn’t fight well enough.


i know i’m a little late to jump on the Michael Vick hating bandwagon.  there’s a reason i haven’t said anything about it for all these months.  honestly, i’m perplexed.  not by the cruelty of Vick and his friends, but by the doublethink of the anti-Vick crowd.

people were outraged to learn about the dogfighting ring, and rightfully so.

to think that someone would knowingly fund such cruelty and animal abuse.  to give money to people who profit off of the suffering of animals purely for people’s enjoyment.  to take a young animal which has the potential for a simple but happy life, and abuse that helpless creature, disfigure it, and eventually kill it, while raking in a profit. it’s unthinkable. it’s repulsive.

it’s the meat and dairy industry.

yes, most of the outraged americans who wrote letters to editors, chanted in protest, insisted that Vick be banned from football, and even those vengeful few who said that he should suffer the same fate he inflicted on those helpless animals, those very same people pay someone every day to abuse, starve, and kill innocent animals packed into filthy cages.  animals who want nothing more than food, warmth, and a little affection; in other words, life.  if what Michael Vick did is wrong, and i’m fairly sure you’ll agree that it was, then wearing fur is also wrong.  paying for a steak is wrong.  buying eggs is wrong.  we live in a society of Michael Vicks who don’t even realize what they have become.

if you don’t believe that you are subsidizing suffering of the sort that Michael Vick subsidized, please learn a little more about what is done with your money when you buy an animal product.  ignorance of the cruelty we fund is no excuse to go on funding it.  please educate yourself and do the right thing.  pigs suffer as much as pitbulls do.

this video is a good place to start.