When Amazon.com bought Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion in 2017, some vegans assumed it would be a massive boost to veganism. It’s easy to see why: Self-described vegan CEO John Mackey remained in his position, and with such an enormous infusion of cash from Amazon’s winner-take-all Jeff...
In earlier posts, I've criticized HSUS and other organizations for their subversion of the species rights movement. They support slaughter and consumption of meat. Some question the wisdom and the necessity of bringing our differences up for debate publicly. Challenges and debate are healthy,...
Nonvegans often claim that their ancestral dietary habits justify continued exploitation of others. Advocates for animal agriculture and other sectors like hunting, fishing, and trapping make this assumption without factual support and reveal a fundamental lack of understanding about human...
Occasionally I’m reminded of how many vegans are working globally to transform humanity. Too often I forget this and shrink into a single person sitting at a keyboard on my desk. In my post today, I’m keeping them in mind, aware there are many people with their advocacy experiences in places I...
We need to look no further than the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to see how humane as applied to humans has evolved internationally. They state, “The actual meaning of ‘humane treatment’ is not spelled out, although some texts refer to respect for the ‘dignity’ of a person or...
Series Summary In his previous book, Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan told the story of how plants like apple trees, marijuana, and tulips “thrived” because of humankind’s need and appreciation of them. He defined “thriving” as whenever humans expanded their geographic range and numbers, and...
It is our experience with nature, our increasing awareness of ecosystems, the operational norms of animal agriculture, and the sentient and non-sentient individuals under the yoke of carnism that lead millions of people to campaign for what must come next: a deeper, new human ecology that reflects...
Recall that earlier in his book, Omnivore’s Dilemma, author Michael Pollan saw nothing in the eyes of steer #534 ("As I gingerly stepped toward him the quiet shuffling mass of black cowhide between us parted [Pollen’s steer was now at the feedlot], and there stood 534 and I, staring dumbly at one...
Michael Pollan wants us to believe that our predation on individuals from other species should exist in the future because it existed in the past, and that our current predation upon domesticated and wild species is a natural (my word) human behavior. He attempts to equate the predatory...
The bias we find in Omnivore's Dilemma ensures the arguments of vegetarians and vegans will look weak and the carnist omnivores’ positions look strong. For example, we should reject the book’s inference that philosophers Peter Singer and Tom Regan represent all beliefs held by millions of...
