Eating Simply

Guide to Vegan Living

The two biggest things I've done to simplify my life is to eliminate TV and stop eating meat. Society tolerates such things, but it doesn't embrace them. I used to feel odd about missing references to commercials, sporting events, reality shows, news programs, etc. Now I joke about my cultural illiteracy. However, the link between TV and consumerism is no joke. Eliminating the materialism and all the complexity associated with that facilitate the pursuit of a simple life.

Veganism is harder to joke about because, no matter how discreet you try to be, it usually makes others uncomfortable. Only one half of one percent of the population consume no meat, fish or dairy products. Thoughtless consumption of animal products is an established cultural norm. Nearly all of the pathetic animals slaughtered and consumed today are inhumanely raised in filthy Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, with staggering environmental and health costs. Agribusiness externalizes much of these costs on society. 

The agricultural industry depends on the public to ignore the violence, cruelty and environmental damage associated with their products. These businesses-that-run-the-government successfully lobbied states (across the red-blue spectrum, from South Carolina to Vermont) to pass 'Ag-Gag' laws. The statutes outlaw simply photographing the unspeakable cruelty - even if the photographer is on public property! New York is also considering such a law, making 'UNAUTHORIZED VIDEO, AUDIO RECORDING OR PHOTOGRAPHY DONE WITHOUT THE FARM OWNER'S WRITTEN CONSENT' punishable by incarceration and specifying financial liability for any damages. If these places were treating their animals right, they wouldn't care if you took a picture.

Instead, our freedom-loving society will throw you in jail and take your money if you post a tweet of employees (I wouldn't call them 'farmers') torturing animals. A nation of animal lovers must also reconcile a cognitive dissonance every time they eat. Vegans, by their very presence, illuminate a hideously dark subject. They also aren't the life of the dinner party!

But, if you can deal with rejection, veganism vastly simplifies living. It liberates us from the mental stress and discomfort associated with maintaining a burdensome cognitive dissonance. It simplifies food shopping and cooking. Even cleaning the kitchen is easier because you don't have to degrease your dishes and decontaminate biohazards. Microbiologists assert that a typical home has more germs - fecal bacteria - in a kitchen sink than in a toilet! Meat is practically the exclusive source of the pathogens.

The best part of veganism involves health. It can be an effective way to lose weight and keep it off. It can also drastically reduce cholesterol levels (and all those other blood test values) and keep them in the optimum range.