Professional Documents
Culture Documents
101 Reasons Why I'm A Vegetarian
101 Reasons Why I'm A Vegetarian
Index and Table of Contents at www.vivavegie.org/itoc • Photographs by Santos Lopez, top, and Claudia Rose Emmerson, bottom. Insets by Gina Green.
101 REASONS WHY I’M A VEGETARIAN
3 When people follow a diet rich in alive on speeded-up conveyor lines. A beef, pork, chicken, and farmed fish,
animal fat and protein and get little $5 million appropriation was conse- respectively. Biofuel production with-
exercise, cancer risk is increased. Beef quently enacted to hire more humane in one recent year gobbled up 110 mil-
consumption raises the level of toxic inspectors for kill floors across the na- lion additional tons of grain, raising
substances called N-nitroso com- tion, but the funds ended up being di- food prices and putting pressure on
pounds, which are formed in the large verted to food-safety inspectors already the world’s fragile food security. Com-
intestines. The substances are believed SPECIAL THANKS TO ALAN RICE, pare this to the 840 million tons
to adhere to DNA, making mutations BERNIE G., AND LISA LINDBLOM within the same year that was
101 REASONS WHY I’M A VEGETARIAN
9 A 2005 report by Environmental De- their neighbors for fresher, though ex- gases than carbon dioxide. Livestock are
fense estimated that 70 percent of pensive, supplies of water. But a recent also behind almost two-thirds of all hu-
the antibiotics used in the U.S. go to boom in cattle and pig operations has man-induced ammonia emissions,
chickens, hogs, and beef cattle, “...not poisoned these stores as well, prompt- which contribute significantly to acidi-
to treat disease, but rather to promote ing plans for government-subsidized fication of ecosystems.
growth and to compensate for pipelines to link towns with major
crowded, stressful, and often unhy- rivers. With the demand for meat con- 15 Governments try to regulate fish-
ing gear, catch size, species
gienic conditions on industrial-scale tinuing unabated, such plans of action caught, and fishing season, but usually
farms.” Also, according to the report, become strangely logical. without success. Perhaps the greatest
antibiotics deemed important to hu-
man medicine “comprise nearly half of 13 Eating a plant-based diet guards single threat to global fish stocks is il-
against disease—first, in an ac- legal, unreported, or unregulated (IUU)
the overall quantity of antibiotics used tive way with complex carbohydrates, fishing, which, it is estimated,
as feed additives,” a particularly amounts to about a quarter of
troubling fact in light of growing the world’s catch. In some loca-
worldwide antibiotic resistance. tions, IUU fishing has been doc-
11 Bypass surgery requires that ridden. This image was taken as part of an activist investigation. 16
hens like them as every urge is thwarted and every instinct over-
your rib cage be opened, your phytochemicals, antioxidants, vita- cages, each with 4 to 8 other birds,
Egg-laying hens in the U.S.
are crammed into battery
heart stopped, and your body hooked mins, minerals, and fiber. Then by de- stacked in rows by the tens of thou-
up to an external pumping machine fault—the more plant foods you eat, sands. Manure and rotting carcass
so a vein from some other part of your the less room you have for animal fumes billow up from below. Beetles
body can be removed and grafted as a foods that clog arteries with choles- form a layer over the waste. Some
replacement blood vessel to your terol, strain kidneys with excess pro- birds get loose and drown in the pit.
heart. Memory, language ability, and tein, and burden the heart with satu- Others get tangled in the wire and die
spatial orientation remain impaired in rated fat. Clinical studies have shown of dehydration, then decompose, cov-
up to half of bypass patients six that high-fiber, meat-free diets reverse ered in bugs, while cage mates have no
months afterward. Side effects for diabetic symptoms and reduce choles- escape. Intense stress causes birds to
some people never go away. Gloom terol levels by about as much as the attack one another. After 17 months of
and depression affect up to 75 percent use of cholesterol-lowering drugs. confinement, necks are covered with
of patients. Many will require a second
bypass operation. A vegan diet and 14 Livestock production is responsi- blisters, wings are bare, combs bloody,
ble for 18 percent of greenhouse and feet torn. By now, the birds are
regular exercise, along with spiritual gas emissions measured in CO2 equiva- considered an expense and will be dis-
and social fulfillment have proven to lent, a share 38 percent higher than that posed of expediently—read: cruelly.
reverse heart disease—the biggest emitted by all the world’s vehicles, com-
killer in Western countries. bined. Domesticated animals world- 17 Early in 2007, Consumer Reports
tested 525 supermarket chickens
12 Supplying the corn and soybeans wide are the source of 37 percent of all from all across the U.S. and found
that feed the livestock that bring human-induced methane, with most of only 17 percent free of both salmo-
the daily meat to America’s dinner that coming from the intestinal fermen- nella and campylobacter. Premium
plates has meant that large concentra- tation of ruminants. They are also the brands labeled “organic” or “raised
tions of pesticides, fertilizers, and farm source of 65 percent of human-induced free of antibiotics” actually harbored
101 REASONS WHY I’M A VEGETARIAN
Brighter Green
contain dietary fiber, it sa-
tiates quicker. 22 Several of the world’s
mightiest rivers no
AN ACTION TANK
www.brightergreen.org
19 Half of every butch-
ered cow and a third
of every butchered pig be-
longer reach the sea, and
aquifer levels around the
world are dropping by
comes either byproduct dozens, and even hundreds,
“Whenever people say ‘We mustn’t be material or waste. And “mortali- of feet. Largely responsible is the
sentimental,’ you can take it they ties” are integral to every feedlot fivefold increase in worldwide (wa-
are about to do something cruel. and stockyard. What’s an industry ter-guzzling) meat production that’s
And if they add, ‘We must be realistic,’ to do with all this death and gore? taken place over the last half-cen-
they mean they are going to make Call the renderer straightaway! Recy- tury. Producing a pound of animal
money out of it.”—Brigid Brophy cling, they call it. Lips are exported protein requires about 100 times
to Mexico for taco filling; horns are the water needed to produce a
LISA LINDBLOM, sponsor made into gelatin; other parts are fash- pound of vegetable protein. It takes
ioned into drugs, aphrodisiacs, and in- about 1,300 gallons of water to produce
ORGANIC VEGAN CUISINE dustrial ingredients. Much is dried to a a single hamburger. Seventy percent of
Christian Vegetarian
re-written to exclude farmed animals.
Re-wording has been key. If a farming 24 Today’s confined cattle live in
their own excrement, which is the
Association practice is established as “accepted,” carrier of the deadly E. coli strain
P.O. Box 201791, Cleveland, OH 44120 “common,” “customary,” or “nor- O157:H7. Caked-on manure will mi-
www.Christianveg.com mal”—no matter how inhumane—anti- grate to edible portions during de-hid-
cruelty protections are overridden. ing, thanks to line speeds of 390 ani-
101 REASONS WHY I’M A VEGETARIAN
37
“Those who still eat flesh when they could
pressure and flank and udder rubbing. Adopting a high-protein fad diet
do otherwise have no claim to be
serious moralists.”—Stephen R. L. Clark When the lips of the vulva are gently may help you lose weight in the
parted, insert the catheter.” short run, but so might chemotherapy,
34
LISA LINDBLOM, sponsor The late parent advisor Dr. Ben- food poisoning, or serious illness. If
The root word of Humane is Human. jamin Spock maintained that health is what you desire, you’re even-
Please be a Humane Human. cows’ milk “causes internal blood loss, tually going to have to learn how to eat.
Craig & Cherie Cline allergies, and indigestion and con- Resoundingly, the American Heart As-
tributes to some cases of childhood dia- sociation and other major health orga-
Salem, Oregon
betes.” In the last edition of his famous nizations warn people against the
baby book he recommended, essen- Atkins and other low-carb diets, be-
Duane Cornella tially, that children adhere to a vegan cause they can cause fatigue or dizzi-
38
LIFE-SIZE COW PILLOWS
which humans are exposed.” Genetics through single-trait se-
40
ter over 83 percent of all the cattle,
Many Americans are not getting and only two companies slaughter 46 Arsenic has been a common ad-
ditive in factory chicken feed for
enough magnesium. Deficiencies nearly 47 percent of all the chickens. nearly 50 years. It is used to kill para-
can cause irritability, seizures, delirium, At the farm level, the trend over recent sites, reduce stress, and promote
depression, abnormal heart rhythms, decades has been for many fewer oper- growth in the birds. The practice has
spasms of the coronary arteries, ane- ations to produce many more animals. long been deemed safe. Recently, how-
mia, blood clots, abnormal blood pres- In 1967, for example, there were over ever, scientists have found that the
sure, and even death. Where is this nu- a million hog farms. By 1998, the substance turns carcinogenic rather
trient found? Whole grains, fruits, number had fallen to 114,000. This quickly after application. Arsenic-im-
dark-green leafy vegetables, nuts, and, trend has funneled many of America’s bued manure becomes toxic to the en-
best of all, raw cacao. vironment when spread as
42 When faced with a each of the guys took a copy of this pamphlet. Hey, it’s all we ask! Without natural immunities
Thanks, Geoff Watland, for donning the costume this time.
flock of spent hens, an that could otherwise be ac-
egg producer may choose to induce farmers into contract, or franchise- quired by outdoor life, today’s flocks
production again by way of a forced like, arrangements that take choices need to be protected from the slightest
molt—accomplished with starvation about herd densities, feed, and veteri- infection. When operators are lax in
and water deprivation for periods of nary care away from them. The applying rigorous measures of “biose-
up to two weeks. No U.S. law prevents changes have ushered in a polluted curity,” a case of the sniffles in one
this heinous practice. Some major U.S. landscape, a host of new pathogens, bird can potentially escalate to a mass
producers have phased it out but then and a hell on Earth for the animals. outbreak, forcing a giant cull involv-
need to bring twice the number of
hens into production for the same
number of eggs.
45 The 18th century philosopher Je- ing millions of birds.
remy Bentham challenged the
world about animals with his famous 48 Smithfield Foods, the largest
pork producer in the world,
43 Fish make vibratory sounds with quandary: “The question is not, Can slaughtered 27 million pigs in 2005.
various “calls” that researchers they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Pound for pound this number repre-
have identified as communicating Can they suffer?” Curiously, science is sents, in equivalent human weight,
alarm and aggravation. They possess every day discovering that in fact ani- the combined population of the 32
fully formed nervous systems as well mals do all three: reason, communi- largest U.S. cities, yet only 26 percent
as complex social behaviors. They are cate, and suffer. The differences be- of all the pigs that are slaughtered in
also capable of learning complicated tween animals and humans are being the country as a whole. North Car-
tasks. A 2009 Purdue University study blurred with every revelation. Man’s olina’s pigs alone emit the waste-
found that fish not only feel pain—a closest relatives share over 98 percent equivalent of 40 million people, and
finding that corroborates a number of of our DNA, and all animals, including essentially none of it is treated.
other studies—but react to pain in man, are related by a common ances-
much the same way as humans. tor. Today’s question must now be— 49 A study of 49 island countries
found 55 percent of their coral
101 REASONS WHY I’M A VEGETARIAN
54
“A vegetarian shrine in take 5 to 10 years to reach breeding age Fish and shellfish farming, or
another space and time.” and so are particularly vulnerable. Fish- aquaculture, is no less disruptive
12 East 32nd St., NYC • 212-213-0077
ers capture the fish live using cyanide, to the environment than taking fish
destroying coral in the process; three from the wild. Shoreline pens replace
www.harimandir.com quarters of the fish die even before get- mangroves, the habitats where wild fish
ting to their market destinations. would otherwise regenerate. Some
murals & fine art
51
—Nick Kyriazi
About a decade ago, the U.S. gov- species to 25 to 1. Nitrogenous waste
ernment began formulating up- poisons the seabed floor below cages
Lantern Books dated rules for manure management on that hold fish in unnatural densities.
55
www.LanternBooks.com the nation’s confined animal feeding op- Between 1980 and 2004, meat
800-856-8664 erations. The rules, which now regulate production in the developing
only 40 percent of the nation’s largest world tripled, amounting to well over
Tom Lyons & Joan Zacharias feedlots, have not only been ridiculously half of the world’s output. Dense con-
overdue in their implementation but centrations of corralled industrial live-
“Animals are not edibles.” have amounted to nothing more than stock, which create vast quantities of
—Henry Spira permits to pollute as usual. And the vast manure, now skirt the edges of major
majority of the nation’s mostly moder- cities in Asia and Latin America, caus-
FREE Recipes—VegKit.org ate-sized livestock operations are simply ing severe environmental damage.
56
Get your free Veg Starter Kit urged to follow recommended guide- People who eat a lot of fish are in-
& Meatout Mondays lines voluntarily. In 2004, the EPA creasingly falling victim to the de-
colorful eNewsletter!! granted a sweetheart deal to 130 compa- bilitating effects of mercury poisoning.
nies representing thousands of mega- Women, in particular, are putting their
feedlots when it allowed them amnesty babies at risk for irreparable brain dam-
from the Clean Air Act in exchange for age when they eat seafood high in mer-
scientific monitoring. In 2009, the cury while pregnant, and even before-
Obama administration declared that the hand. According to the EPA, about
For your health, the planet, so-called cow tax, which would regulate 630,000 newborns in the United States
methane, was off the table. every year—roughly 15 percent of all—
and our animal friends.
Go Vegan! —Frank Mediate 52 Animal agriculture routinely muti-
lates farmed animals for its own
may be exposed to dangerous levels of
mercury in the womb.
Micah Publishing
The source for Jewish vegetarian
convenience and often simply out of tra-
dition. Debeaking, branding, castration,
ear notching, wing and comb removal,
57 Hoof-and-mouth disease is rarely
fatal for livestock, but it remains a
death sentence just the same. When blis-
and animal rights books dehorning, teeth clipping, and tail and ters form on hooves and lips, and
www.micahbooks.com toe docking are ever-present tasks on to- growth slows because of fever, econom-
day’s farm and ranch. Laborers, not vet- ics prescribe execution and incineration.
101 REASONS WHY I’M A VEGETARIAN
59 Genetic manipula-
tion has created mon-
sters as well as monstrous
pecially compelling because
they allowed meaningful
comparisons between pop-
dict that if the strain mutates, perhaps
just slightly, a bird-flu pandemic could
kill more than 140 million people and
suffering for farmed ani- ulations with similar ge- put a halt to [U.S.]$4.4 trillion in
mals. Cloning threatens to netic backgrounds yet with world economic activity.
jack up the misery yet an-
other notch. Its general use is prob-
ably a ways off, provided it becomes
nonhomogeneous diets. All to-
gether, The China Study provides
the ultimate vegan vindication.
66 The meat industry doesn’t treat
the causes of its problems, only
the symptoms. When it imprisons
commercially viable at all. Mean-
while, as the scientists tinker, their
cloned creations will suffer from pre-
63 Fifty-two billion pounds of
inedible byproduct (bones,
fats, unusable hides, and cartilage)
massive numbers of animals in
cramped stress-inducing cages, it pro-
vides the perfect breeding ground for
mature deaths and deformities, and from America’s meat and poultry deadly bacteria, which later infect the
the resultant meat and milk are sure slaughterhouses is each year trans- meat. Technologies to kill meat patho-
to enter the human food supply. mogrified by “renderers” into gens are now very big business. We
68 To choose indus-
trial meat is to sup-
produce processors use the wa-
ter as a rinse.
Joe Passaretti
port a system that long
ago put family farmers
out of business. Essentially, it is
71 Today’s turkeys are un-
able to copulate on their
own, thanks to selectively bred,
only the big players—those who freakishly huge breasts in the
bought into factory systems— “toms.” The birds must be artifi-
Peace begins in the kitchen. who are feeding America. Yes, we cially inseminated. The job is
do have lower prices at the retail nearly as dehumanizing for the
Go vegetarian! level. But ultimately, what is the workers—who must work rapidly for
real cost of cheap meat? You need to long hours and low wages—as it is de-
factor in the $20 billion per year in gov- plorable for the tortured breeder birds,
Norma Ramos, Esq. ernment subsidies to commodity farm-
ers, higher medical costs attributable to
who are essentially raped every week
for 12 to 16 months until they are most
Ecofeminist excessive diets, antibiotic resistance in unceremoniously sent to slaughter.
Richard H. Schwartz
Author of Judaism and
69 To bring 10 billion animals each
year to the dinner tables of today’s
everyday Americans requires a well-oiled
to immobilize the birds and to promote
bleedout without hemorrhage. It serves
to minimize inconvenient flailing that
Vegetarianism and Judaism and
Global Survival machine of streamlined efficiency. Sen- would otherwise interfere with the
President @ JewishVeg.com • jewishveg.com/schwartz tient life is conveyed and processed us- slaughter process. The birds are not
ing the batch method—tight confine- only sentient during slaughter but must
Be Veg! Go Green! ment of the “raw ingredients,” by the also suffer the excruciating shock,
SAVE THE PLANET tens of thousands and even millions. But sometimes twice.
www.SupremeMasterTV.com things can, and do, suddenly go horribly
wrong and more often than one would 73 Grass-fed beef is more eco-friendly
than corn-fed, but supplies of it
I’m 84, going on 100! imagine—think hurricane, snowstorm, could never sustainably meet current
flood, tornado, heatwave, mechanical consumer demand. Several guides are
Thank you, “101 Reasons...”. breakdown, electrical failure, disease, or available to help seafood consumers “eat
—Ted Teisler fire. At press time, for example, within with a conscience.” But the species that
a span of five weeks, fires burned to are recommended would quickly run
Jean Thaler death 11,000 pigs in Littleton, Illinois,
and 180,000 chickens in the Seattle
out if everyone ate them. Legally, “free-
range” and “cage-free” designations are
in honor of Bobby area. News accounts were typically dubious to downright meaningless. At
on his 20th bird day short and local, concentrating on the least one humane certification program
economic losses to the farmers. was officially debunked. “Organic” has
101 REASONS WHY I’M A VEGETARIAN
89
Isn’t it time to read animals—with shipping distances often Handling livestock these days is
The Sexual Politics of Meat over a thousand miles—is routine. Laws
are lax, nonexistent, and otherwise
risky business, not the least be-
cause humans are increasingly contract-
by Carol J. Adams? flouted. In the U.S., truckers must feed ing diseases from the animals—swine
and water mammals after 36 hours. No and bird flu, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease,
USA Devanand such “protections” apply to poultry. Nipah virus, and SARS are a few exam-
Yoga Center
Queens, New York • 718-426-4643 85 Clog up your arteries on a diet
loaded with saturated animal fat
and cholesterol year after year and you
ples. “Exotic” and often endangered an-
imal cuisine could provide the catalyst
for a global pandemic. In China, wet
Vegan Environmental Solutions risk having a heart attack or stroke. You markets display caged and invariably
can opt to avert these afflictions with sickly creatures, such as cobras, civet
Podcast an expensive, though now routine, op- cats, and anteaters, for consumers who
h2opodcast.com/vsse.html eration known as angioplasty. Per- want that “taste of the wild.” In Africa,
formed with a balloon-tipped catheter, the bushmeat trade is blamed for the
it works to flatten plaque against artery spread of Ebola and AIDS.
VeganEssentials.com
walls, thus opening up passageways for
blood to flow. A whole-foods vegan
diet, along with regular exercise and 2
90 Even if meat eaters are spared the
big killers that their lifestyle is as-
sociated with (heart disease, stroke, dia-
Over 1500 all-vegan products. tablespoons of ground flax seed every betes, and cancer), their diet may still be
day, can have the same effect. robbing them of everyday good health.
Fast shipping, low prices
Unbeatable service! 86 More than half of the nation’s
seafood companies do not follow
federal food-safety guidelines. Govern-
A standard American diet will often lead
to nagging conditions and ailments. A
whole-foods, high-fiber vegan diet, full
ment inspectors visit processors only of grains, fruits, vegetables, and
The Vegetarian Resource Group once per year to oversee essentially vol- legumes, is just the ticket to reduce
P.O. Box 1463 untary measures and to view company arthritis pain, ease irritable-bowel disor-
Baltimore, MD 21203
410-366-8343 • www.vrg.org paperwork using the honor system. ders, mitigate common back pain, re-
Three-quarters of all fish consumed in lieve cold and allergy symptoms, and
87 91
must pass before such
a one can be again. U.N. Environment Programme ex- When food-safety inspectors in
ecutive director Klaus Toepfer said New York City make their rounds,
Snowball in 2003, “The clock is standing at one they often come upon merchants sell-
You were such a snowball, minute to midnight for the great apes, ing just about anything: the meat of ar-
but you melted our hearts. animals that share more than 96 per- madillos, iquanas, primates, turtles,
We love you and we miss you.
cent of their DNA with humans. If we frogs, and rats. Some of the meat comes
lose any great ape species we will be de- from endangered animals. Other cuts, if
Whole Earth Bakery stroying a bridge to our own origins, not intrinsically illegal, fail to derive
130 St. Marks Pl. (8th St.), NYC and with it part of our own humanity.” from licensed inspected facilities. The
www.wholeearthbakery.com Humans stand behind all reasons for sellers of such contraband (most is im-
the die-off, including one of the most ported) tend to be ignorant of U.S. laws,
important: poaching for meat. sometimes conveniently so. They don’t
93 In nature, pigs avoid filth and and the increased importation of fruit
will trek and root over 9 miles were also seen as factors in the decline, 99 Agriculture science tirelessly
works to eke out every last bit of
during a 24-hour period. Yet factory according to a report made by a team commodity wealth from farmed ani-
internment brings a breeding mals via genetic selection. Wild
sow cold, strawless floors, nox- jungle fowl lay 2 dozen eggs per
ious filth, deafening noise, and year; their maligned descen-
immobilizing space barely larger dants produce an egg nearly
than her own body. She will be every day. Wild sows give birth
pinned in place to expose her to 5 piglets; factory-borne litters
teats to her piglets. This highly yield 12 young. A century ago a
intelligent creature will be dri- steer took 4 to 5 years to grow to
ven insane as she endures re- market weight; today the
peated pregnancies via artificial process takes only 14 months.
insemination. When her pro- Just 50 years ago cows gave 645
ductive capacity eventually gallons of milk per year; dairies
wanes, her misery will end with today take over three times this
a blade to the throat. amount from the animals.
95 Ninety-nine percent of the til the ducks’ livers, from which the Chicken Fingers Meal, it’s really quite a
world’s water comprises salty seas pâté is made, miasmatically bloat to bargain, or so you may think. But such
or is locked up in glacial icecaps. The 1 10 times normal size. Mortalities are purchases—collectively trillions of
percent left—no more—is suitable for high due to disease, intense stress, and them across the globe—are subject to a
human consumption. Yet the non-re- burst stomachs. Activist undercover steep ecological price. Future genera-
newable freshwater reserves found in video has shown rows and rows of tions will be the ones remitting its pay-
aquifers across the globe are being birds panting incessantly for air in the ments with global warming, aquifer
mined of trillions of gallons of water days just leading up to slaughter. So depletion, topsoil erosion, deforesta-
per year to support the worldwide meat cruel are all these practices that foie tion and lost ecosystem services. Isn’t
culture. One of the greatest aquifers gras production is now outlawed in at it time to start eating lower on the food
anywhere, the Ogallala, sits beneath least a dozen countries. chain? Get Hip. Go Veg!
REFERENCES
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Reverses Diabetes Symp- Cornell Chronicle, Jan. 30, Hazards of Milk,” Daily dation and Clear Blue Sky
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the Earth (chap. 3), W.W. Jordans, “WHO: Swine Philip Brasher, “EPA to
21. Elliot Jaspin and Mike Flu Pandemic Has Be- Mineral You Need (and
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Times, Sep. 21, 2006. 73. “Home, Home on Please buy and distribute this pamphlet.
the…Small Patch of Dirt,”
61. Tim Beardsley, “Death in Consumer Reports, All orders in U.S. dollars. The first copy is $3.
the Deep: ‘Dead Zone’ in
the Gulf of Mexico Chal-
Mar. 1998, pp. 14–15. Additional copies: 75¢ each. • 25 copies: $15.
lenges Regulators,” Scien- Samantha Storey, “Know
Your Meat,” Seattle
50 copies: $20. • 100 copies: $35. • 400 copies: $130.
tific American, Nov. 1997.
John Heilprin, “U.N.:
Weekly, Jan. 7, 2004. Delivered postage-paid. • Make checks payable to VivaVegie Society.
Diane Brady, “The Or-
Number of Ocean ‘Dead
Zones’ Rise,” AP, Oct. 19, ganic Myth,” Business Name:______________________________Date:______________
Week, Oct. 16, 2006.
2006.
74. “Eating Sport Fish,”
Address: ______________________________________________
62. Jane E. Brody, “Huge
Study of Diet Indicts Fat tinyurl.com/ysjsx8, 1999.
City: _____________________________________________________________State: ______ Zip: __________
and Meat,” New York Steve Grant, “Airborne
Times, May 8, 1990, p. A1. Mercury Poisons the FOREIGN ORDERS: Add 35% to cover s/h; maximum quantity:100 copies.
63. Don A. Franco, Address Waters,” Hartford Courant,
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T
his document is will discover that this way of life is in
all about ethical fact a wonderful one that actually opens
choices. Once doors on foods, rather than shuts them.
you are aware of these —PAMELA RICE
“reasons,” your con-
science will never be
Pamela Rice able to ignore them,
History of the
even if you never become a vegan. VivaVegie Society
T
My “101 Reasons Why I’m a Vegetar- he VivaVegie Society is a non-
ian” does not spare the reader. And as is profit, 501(c)3, organization,
often the case with the truth, what dedicated to public education Post-parade rally & expo, Veggie Pride Parade, 2009, Union
you’ll find here is not always pretty. If about vegetarianism. When the group Square Park. Photo by Claudia Rose Emmerson
you just take the time to read this docu- was formed in 1991, its objective was In 1992, VivaVegie began publishing
ment, you will forever know that eating vegetarian street advocacy—reaching its own magazine, The VivaVine. And in
meat is not without many ugly, though out to New York City pedestrians with 1999, the group opened a vegetarian
often unseen, consequences. the group’s hallmark publication, “101 center, which it continues to maintain.
The marketers behind animal- Reasons Why I’m a Vegetarian.” Then, VivaVegie regularly enjoys coverage of
derived foods are calculated in as now, founder Pamela Rice would its activities—in the past, most notably,
their quest to hide the things I re- wear a signboard—cre- from CNN, AP, The New York
veal here. It is their mission to ated by her sister, Julia Times, WNYC-Radio, The New
keep you disconnected from the Fauci—that reads “Ask Yorker, New York magazine, Time-
realities behind your food. They Me Why I’m a Vegetar- Out, and New York 1.
are particularly intent on having ian.” And people would!
you see animals as little more Author Pamela Rice gives talks
than abstractions.
If I’ve done my job, how-
ever, “101 Reasons...” will re-
V ivaVegie makes ap-
pearances at street
events in New York City
on government subsidies to the
meat industry, the environmen-
tal impact of society’s meat-cen-
connect you by making it clear where it knows it can find Just ask her! Photo taken by tered diet, overfishing, and the
Gina Green at the Veggie Pride
that in exchange for a mo- Penelo Pea Pod
great numbers of people. Parade, 2008. vegan argument in general. She’s
ment of perceived pleasure, (Jean Thaler) Thanks to a gift from cos- been running the Veggie Center
you not only bring misery to some cor- tume designer Janet Bloor, the group continuously since 1999. But ulti-
ner of the world, your survival has noth- has enjoyed the use of a giant “pea mately, she was the organizer of the
ing to do with it. There are, in fact, no pod” suit (see left) to draw interest from Veggie Pride Parade, NYC (2008 and
nutritional requirements to consume the crowds. One recent year at the 2009), which has turned out to be an
meat, and, on the contrary, animal Easter Parade, VivaVegie handed out— incredible success. The 2008 event, in
foods are likely to impede good health. to willing, inquisitive recipients—2,000 particular, gained widespread and ex-
If you find yourself “sold” by my copies of “101 Reasons Why I’m a Vege- tensive mainstream media. Call 212-
“mighty convincer,” I guarantee you tarian” in only three hours. 871-9304 for more information.
Purchase this flyer. Find a useful order form on 2nd page of the references (back of this page).