Category: Ethics
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Objections and replies
Next week I’ll be a guest in a philosophy graduate seminar my friend and colleague, Samantha, is teaching on philosophy and food. The students will be reading the most recent draft of my paper, “Meat-eating as ideology and ‘meat-eaters’ fragility’,” which I’ve blogged about before. They’re also reading David Foster Wallace’s “Consider the Lobster,” a…
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Would you rather not think about it?
Recently I was out for dinner with a group of people when the person beside me said they’d “rather not think about” where their food comes from. The idea here is, if I don’t think about it I don’t have to change anything. But if I DO think about it, I might at least feel…
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Making a difference
It’s easy to get demoralized when you’re doing something that goes against what the majority of people do. Living a vegan lifestyle can be like that. I’ve experienced that sense of ineffectiveness lately. I decided that today would be a good day to (1) remind myself why I have chosen this path and (2) pay…
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Travelling while vegan: Brittany and Normandy — the struggle was real
Content warning: apparent griping about “first world problems.” For ten days I finessed my way through a triple-challenge. Brittany and Normandy are tough at the best of times. So that was challenge #1. Add to that being on a tour with omnivores, where for the most part the dining venue was organized and not up…
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Why vegans avoid honey
I’m on a photography tour of France right now with a group of people who aren’t vegan. And though everyone is nice about it (at least to my face!), it’s been a bit of a challenge. When I’m trying to get along with people, especially new people, I’m not inclined to go toe-to-toe about reasons…
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Whom do you care for?
Bruges is a lovely town in Belgium, known for its beauty. Think well-preserved medieval buildings and quaint canals. It is also home to one of Europe’s oldest surviving hospital buildings, Sint-Janshospital, which is now a museum. The main hall where they used to care for patients has the grandeur of a church. It operated as…
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The ableism of arguments from intelligence
A friend to whom I recently recommended Ed Yong’s An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms around Us thanked me this week. He loved the book, and rightly so. It’s stellar, as I reported when I read it some time ago. And I was happy to have it brought back to mind.…
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Are vegan foods “highly processed” and is that an objection?
Earlier this week a friend tagged me in a post, suggesting a possible blog topic (thanks, Sam!). The gist was that they keep hearing complaints about how vegan foods are “highly processed,” and yet the Gusto vegan sausages they had for dinner didn’t seem to be. The ingredient list, which my friend included a photo…
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Is imperfect veganism a defence of moral imperfection?
I warn you now: I may not be able effectively to edit out of this message an underlying whine-y tone (will try!). I’m recovering from the sting of SSHRC Insight Grant rejection of an application for funding to support my work on imperfect veganism. I dedicated three months to it last summer and felt really…
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What is a vegan to do when a favourite plant-based business expands to include animal products?
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve heard of two example — one local here in London, Ontario and one elsewhere, in LA — where a formerly fully plant-based business has decided to “change its business model” to include animal products. This decision always generates backlash among vegans, who see it as a betrayal and,…
Vegan Practically 