Category: Animal Suffering
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Vegan “meat” products: is more realistic better?
Several years ago, before I’d ever heard of “Beyond,” I sent back a burger I’d ordered in a sports-bar style restaurant because I thought it was a beef burger rather than the veggie burger I’d ordered. It was red inside, and I thought the juice running out of it was blood on my plate. It…
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On labels: “vegan” or “plant-based”?
In recent years, you’ve probably noticed the rise of the term “plant-based.” What’s the difference between “vegan” and “plant-based”? Does it even matter? As a philosopher, I may be more prone to seeking significance in distinctions that others might consider simply a matter of semantics. But in this case, there is a difference in both…
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Why is talking about food ethics so prickly?
In my “about” blurb I mention that the blog is a companion to a book-in-progress. One thing the blog is helpful for is working through some issues I’m having with tone. I realize that food ethics in general raises issues that immediately put people on the defensive. Why so prickly? I touched on this a…
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Some Reflections on Fish and other Seafood
A lot of people ease their way into vegetarianism or veganism through pescatarianism. Pescatarians avoid meat and poultry products, but they still consume and enjoy fish and seafood. In the past, I used to eat fish and seafood despite eating mostly vegetarian. So many “mostly-vegetarian” people will eat seafood on occasion (sometimes as a treat…
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Ways to be imperfect
Ever since I started my project on imperfect veganism, thinking of it more as a practice than as a theory, I’ve been reflected on the various ways a practicing vegan, who is vegan for ethical reasons, might be imperfect. I mention ethically-motivated vegans in particular because I think that someone who is vegan for health…
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Kindness Matters
kindness noun /ˈkaɪnd.nəs/ the quality of being kind kind adjective /kaɪnd/ generous, helpful, and thinking about other people’s feelings (from the Cambridge Dictionary) When vegans talk about their stance towards non-human animals, they often offer thoughts about the importance of kindness and compassion. The slogan “Kindness Matters” comes up a lot, and it is not…
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Why “Consider the Lobster” by David Foster Wallace Is My Favourite Essay
In 2003, Gourmet Magazine sent David Foster Wallace to do a story on the Maine Lobster Festival (MLF). The resulting article, “Consider the Lobster,” appeared in August 2004. In my view it’s one of the best pieces of non-fiction writing to question the ideology of eating animals, in this case lobster, ever written. It starts…
Vegan Practically 