UVA News 2010-11-10
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UVic Vegan Association
Nov 10, 2010, 10:27:48 PM11/10/10
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Hi everyone,
We're going to try to send out regular email newsletters. These newsletters will keep you apprised of UVic Vegan Association activity and will include articles or resources related to veganism. If there's anything you'd like to see in the newsletter, please let us know.
In this newsletter:
1. Recent Events: Peaceable Kingdom Screening
2. Coming Events: Cooking Class
3. Likely Events: Tell Us Your Preferences!
4. Thought for the Day: A Little Bit of Cheese?
Event Reports
=============
The screening of Peaceable Kingdom on Saturday saw the host living room packed with people (and cats). There was great discussion afterwards that has inspired the UVA directors to organize more events. The yummy carob-chip cookies that Jordan brought weren't too shabby, either. Thanks go to those who helped organize it, and thanks to the attendees for coming out to see this powerful film.
Coming Events
=============
Cooking Class: Our next cooking class will be on the evening of Nov. 20 (a Saturday). The theme of this class is "Back to Basics". We'll bust out some classic recipes such as Macaroni'n'Cheezy Sauce and Banana Bread. We'll also spend time focusing on the basic nutritional needs that vegans face. Invites and details for this event will be coming out in the next few days.
Likely Events
=============
The UVic Vegan Association tries to fulfil its mandate by having a number of events that advocate for veganism, support vegans, and raise money for sanctuary animals. One of the factors that determines our event schedule is ... you! Yes, if you are interested in a particular event, please let us know.
Events we're considering are:
- Vegan Discourse: What is best for the UVic rabbits?
- Vegan FAQ: Learn how to address the common questions and comments that vegans face. This is great for new vegans who hesitate to tell others of their choice to go vegan.
- Vegan Nutrition 101: Tips on how to be a healthy vegan.
- Another film screening and another Veganism 101 session.
Thought for the Day: A Little Bit of Cheese?
============================================
Choosing to go vegan is just the first step in the pursuit of leading a non-speciesist life. Due to a lifetime of indoctrination - from family, friends, teachers, doctors, commercials, ... our entire society - it can be a hard task to consistently think of non-human animals as persons and not as things. This is one of the reasons why aspiring vegans may look at one ingredient in a food dish or beauty product and think, "It's just a little bit."
For anyone who decides that all sentient creatures, all beings who have an interest in living free from exploitation, belong in our moral community, it is important to realize that it's not a reduction of use that is important, but an elimination of use. The idea that it is okay to use a "little bit" of cheese or bee's wax when you're vegan is no different from saying that it's okay to be vegetarian or it's okay to eat 'humane' animal flesh and still fulfil our moral obligation to animals.
Why do people choose to become vegan? There are many possible catalysts, but the UVA feels the main reason that people make this choice is because they start to align their everyday actions with a commonly held belief: the belief that we should not cause unnecessary harm to animals. Wanting a little bit of cheese on our pizza merely amounts to satisfying pleasure or convenience - a definite lack of necessity. The harms associated with animal products are not hidden or hard to understand, so consuming that "little bit" means we have now taken a big step backwards and decided that, yes, it is okay to harm an animal unnecessarily.
Another way to help identify, understand, and deal with our residual speciesism is to put these situations into an appropriate human context. Would Amnesty International believe it is okay for countries to engage in just a little bit of human execution? Would our efforts to eradicate domestic violence allow for just weekly beatings? Monthly? Yearly? Of course not, and so shouldn't we treat our ethical commitment to animals as something that can be occasionally ignored.
If we claim to take animals' interests seriously, and everyone who has chosen the vegan path has done so, then we cannot allow ourselves to succumb to our old speciesist thinking. Yes, we may face peer pressure, or inconvenience, but just remind yourself why you made the decision in the first place. After all, the inconvenience that animals face is far greater.
We hope that anyone who decides to consume or purchase a "little bit" of animal products first thinks about this. And perhaps thinks about the cow who was separated from her young, the bees who starved to death, the male chick who was suffocated, or the rabbit who was force-fed shampoo. Just because of a "little bit".
- UVA Directors
"Veganism is only a minimum standard of decency, not a maximum standard of purity."
- Dan Cudahy
We're going to try to send out regular email newsletters. These newsletters will keep you apprised of UVic Vegan Association activity and will include articles or resources related to veganism. If there's anything you'd like to see in the newsletter, please let us know.
In this newsletter:
1. Recent Events: Peaceable Kingdom Screening
2. Coming Events: Cooking Class
3. Likely Events: Tell Us Your Preferences!
4. Thought for the Day: A Little Bit of Cheese?
Event Reports
=============
The screening of Peaceable Kingdom on Saturday saw the host living room packed with people (and cats). There was great discussion afterwards that has inspired the UVA directors to organize more events. The yummy carob-chip cookies that Jordan brought weren't too shabby, either. Thanks go to those who helped organize it, and thanks to the attendees for coming out to see this powerful film.
Coming Events
=============
Cooking Class: Our next cooking class will be on the evening of Nov. 20 (a Saturday). The theme of this class is "Back to Basics". We'll bust out some classic recipes such as Macaroni'n'Cheezy Sauce and Banana Bread. We'll also spend time focusing on the basic nutritional needs that vegans face. Invites and details for this event will be coming out in the next few days.
Likely Events
=============
The UVic Vegan Association tries to fulfil its mandate by having a number of events that advocate for veganism, support vegans, and raise money for sanctuary animals. One of the factors that determines our event schedule is ... you! Yes, if you are interested in a particular event, please let us know.
Events we're considering are:
- Vegan Discourse: What is best for the UVic rabbits?
- Vegan FAQ: Learn how to address the common questions and comments that vegans face. This is great for new vegans who hesitate to tell others of their choice to go vegan.
- Vegan Nutrition 101: Tips on how to be a healthy vegan.
- Another film screening and another Veganism 101 session.
Thought for the Day: A Little Bit of Cheese?
============================================
Choosing to go vegan is just the first step in the pursuit of leading a non-speciesist life. Due to a lifetime of indoctrination - from family, friends, teachers, doctors, commercials, ... our entire society - it can be a hard task to consistently think of non-human animals as persons and not as things. This is one of the reasons why aspiring vegans may look at one ingredient in a food dish or beauty product and think, "It's just a little bit."
For anyone who decides that all sentient creatures, all beings who have an interest in living free from exploitation, belong in our moral community, it is important to realize that it's not a reduction of use that is important, but an elimination of use. The idea that it is okay to use a "little bit" of cheese or bee's wax when you're vegan is no different from saying that it's okay to be vegetarian or it's okay to eat 'humane' animal flesh and still fulfil our moral obligation to animals.
Why do people choose to become vegan? There are many possible catalysts, but the UVA feels the main reason that people make this choice is because they start to align their everyday actions with a commonly held belief: the belief that we should not cause unnecessary harm to animals. Wanting a little bit of cheese on our pizza merely amounts to satisfying pleasure or convenience - a definite lack of necessity. The harms associated with animal products are not hidden or hard to understand, so consuming that "little bit" means we have now taken a big step backwards and decided that, yes, it is okay to harm an animal unnecessarily.
Another way to help identify, understand, and deal with our residual speciesism is to put these situations into an appropriate human context. Would Amnesty International believe it is okay for countries to engage in just a little bit of human execution? Would our efforts to eradicate domestic violence allow for just weekly beatings? Monthly? Yearly? Of course not, and so shouldn't we treat our ethical commitment to animals as something that can be occasionally ignored.
If we claim to take animals' interests seriously, and everyone who has chosen the vegan path has done so, then we cannot allow ourselves to succumb to our old speciesist thinking. Yes, we may face peer pressure, or inconvenience, but just remind yourself why you made the decision in the first place. After all, the inconvenience that animals face is far greater.
We hope that anyone who decides to consume or purchase a "little bit" of animal products first thinks about this. And perhaps thinks about the cow who was separated from her young, the bees who starved to death, the male chick who was suffocated, or the rabbit who was force-fed shampoo. Just because of a "little bit".
- UVA Directors
"Veganism is only a minimum standard of decency, not a maximum standard of purity."
- Dan Cudahy
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