Vegetarians need a new approach


If you happened to be strolling down Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue last week, you might have stopped in your tracks to look at a 10-foot-long dog lying on its side, covered in ketchup and mustard. This is part of another protest hosted by Mercy for Animals. Though advocating for animal rights is a worthy cause, the tactics that animal rights organizations employ to advocate vegan and vegetarian diets must change direction.

Alan Hung | Daily Trojan

Alan Hung | Daily Trojan

The vegetarian and vegan crusade has good intentions. PETA makes a valid point by highlighting the mistreatment of animals. According to PETA, stressful conditions for livestock are commonplace in the food industry. Small cages, jam-packed sheds and filthy feedlots are the mainstays of the industry. Animals lie around, are drugged to be fattened and kept alive in conditions that would otherwise kill them.

Though some might dispute the accuracy of these statements, other news sources verify PETA’s claim. The recent outbreak of salmonella at Foster Farm’s chicken plants, according to the Portland Oregonian, expanded to 300 cases in 20 states and Puerto Rico and further emphasizes PETA’s quest against animal cruelty. A letter from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to Foster Farms stated, “Your establishment has failed to demonstrate that it has adequate controls in place to address salmonella in your poultry products.”

Though the cruelty might be real, the impassioned vegans and vegetarians of Mercy for Animals cannot expect to convince others to abstain from meat by guilting them into it. Vegans and vegetarians should cater to humans’ inherent selfishness  instead of sticking to the lofty altruistic reasons that most people cannot relate to.

Take the Foster Farms incident, for instance. While we might not care too much about the chickens suffering, the impact that it has on our health does stir change. As Los Angeles Times opinion writer Paul Whitefield said, “Can we at least agree that we shouldn’t allow the stuff we eat to make us sick? Even the penny-pinchers in Congress ought to be willing to sign on to that. As in: I’ll trade you a couple of aircraft carriers for some inspectors who’ll make sure that my chicken sandwich won’t kill me.”

Motives tend to stem from the self, from issues that will impact us as humans. Though PETA’s claim that caged animals, deprived of exercise, channel all their energy to producing flesh, eggs and milk for human consumption is frightening, the effect of consuming these animals that have been psychologically perturbed is the pivotal point for most people. Genetically altered foods, such as milk from rBST-treated cows, are looked for with caution on the market shelves for fear of what it might do to us rather than the animals.

This self-absorbed mindset toward what we eat is something that vegan and vegetarian activists ought to take advantage of.

Changing food culture based on the cruelty done to animals is noble, but ineffective.

If animal activists and vegetarian organizations want to avoid being labeled as radical groups, then they must redirect the way they approach the public. The signs that Mercy for Animals held up, featuring photos of kittens posing with fluffy chicks and a puppy and piglet snuggled next to each other read, “Why love one but eat the other? Choose Vegetarian.”

These arguments make it too easy for their opponents to simply answer that some animals are meant to be pets, while others are intended to be livestock.

 

Valerie Yu is a sophomore majoring in  biological sciences and English.

Follow us on Twitter @dailytrojan 

5 replies
  1. Alan
    Alan says:

    I agree with a number of things you bring up in this article, Valerie. People are not convinced of things be being guilted into it and the animal advocacy movement should not engage in this type of activism.

    However, I urge you to think more about the last statement you make that “some animals are meant to be pets while others are intended to be livestock.” The truth is, there’s no meaningful difference between animals we call pets and those considered food. Similar to the cats and dogs many of us welcome into our homes, chickens, pigs, and cows are able to suffer from pain and experience pleasure in many of the same ways. They are unique individuals with a desire to live and avoid pain and suffering. What we choose to eat may be a personal choice, but who we eat, isn’t.

    Fortunately, it’s never been easier to go vegetarian (or eat more meat-free meals on Meatless Monday) with an abundance of of plant-based version to virtually any food imaginable. To see the video the meat industry doesn’t want you to see, visit http://www.meatvideo.org and for free vegetarian recipes check out http://www.chooseveg.com

  2. Chris
    Chris says:

    This article should have been titled “PETA Needs a New Approach”…not vegetarians. I became a vegetarian several years ago for health reasons, and also because avoiding beef is better for the environment. I have never had a single interaction with PETA in my entire life. It sucks that animals get mistreated but that has nothing to do with why I’m a vegetarian. To imply that PETA represents the interests of all vegetarians is like implying that all rectangles are squares, which geometry shows us they’re not. All squares are rectangles but not every rectangle is a square. More than likely all members of PETA are vegetarians, not all vegetarians are idiots, er…members of PETA.

    -Chris

  3. Ras
    Ras says:

    The annoying, shrill, sanctimonious tactics of PETA and drum-beating vegans make me want to eat more meat. I am fine with people making personal choices for themselves but i find it despicable when they imposed their own perceived taboos onto others.

    • stacy
      stacy says:

      When you take the life of another living creature, you are imposing on these animals. Why is that so hard to understand?

      • ras
        ras says:

        People that decry meat need to travel more to parts of the world where starvation is commonplace. Many ppl in the US need to appreciate and respect the plentiful food source we have – perhaps too plentiful – they take it for granted and get on their high horse about nothing.

        BTW – are you also opposed to leather? How about the myriad number of products you use that “imposed” animal products in some manner be it testing or for their fats, etc. PETA and annoying vegans love to just TSK TSK others – that is their kick. This is also, BTW – what liberals love to do as well.

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