So, I was pretty strictly vegan for a long time, but lately, I've been fucking poor, so I've been flexible about this when the food is free. Most animal foods are totally unpalatable to me at this point, but bagels with an egg glaze? Eh. I'll deal with it if I'm not paying for it.

I used to have some friends who called themselves freegans. They didn't want to economically support factory farming (a position I share), but anything free was fair game.

I think this argument can be extended to buying leather/fur secondhand. Ie. then the money goes to Goodwill or whatever, not to the animal industries.


Still. Even if there's no real ethical problem, I, personally, feel a bit icky about it. Eating (or wearing) animal-y stuff makes me feel sad. Just not quite as sad as overdrafting my bank account.

Which I'm in danger of doing right now, which is why I snagged a muffin (and fruit) from the breakroom at work.


Toss in your two cents if ya like. . .

I'm hungry.

jerseykrs said:

I'm not. I had a muffin.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

Show off.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

Or suffering from malnutrition, or dying of hunger.

As you suggest, it's simply too late. The money has already been spent. Leaving the muffin for an omnivorous colleague doesn't change anything. Well, okay, eating the muffin makes you suffer a bit, whereas the omnivorous colleague will probably get a small amount of pleasure from it. However, if the muffin is a leftover that will otherwise be thrown away, perhaps it's better to eat it than waste it.

BTW, you'd probably be quite surprised at all the vegetarian food in my kitchen... Boca burgers, Gardenburger riblets, pasta with non-meat sauce....

HereToRockYourWorld said:

i agree about the vintage fur/leather comment...i would never even buy vintage fur items because even on a simple asthetic level, i just think fur looks ugly (not a big fan of fun fur even)...but a beat-up leather jacket from a charity shop? i don't see the harm. the money goes to charity, not to the industries that killed the animals - like you said.

i think everyone has to set their own boundaries with this kind of thing. i think there are broad lines in which we can all agree certain practices are cruel, and then i think the farther you go out there, the blurrier the lines become, and it becomes more about the individual.

matt said:

I wouldn't be surprised. Those things are yummy.

Wait. . . WAIT. . . THERE'S FOOD IN YOUR KITCHEN?!?! Like, "food" that isn't a carbonated beverage?

Ok, you're right, I'm surprised.

Posthumous said:

Bascially.

I think some things are truly ethical issues, and some things are just personal sqeamishness/sentimentality.

And yeah, fur coats are stupid looking.

I didn't realise there was a word for this. I did it for a while, last year. I wouldn't buy meat but I'd eat it, if given it.

I started buying poultry, eggs and fish again this year though.

.
[Edited 4/11/06 16:39pm]

Hey - do whatcha feel is ok for you.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

Actually, for me it's more of a convenience thing. I don't like spending a lot of time/effort on cooking, especially after a day at the office. Let's compare preparing a Boca burger to a frozen hamburger patty:

1) Remove Boca burgers (I usually eat two at a time) from freezer. Cut slits in plastic pouches. Microwave for three minutes. Let sit for one minute. Done.

2) Place skillet on stove and wait several minutes for it to heat up. Remove frozen hamburger from freezer and place on hot skillet. Try my best to avoid the flying grease droplets when the cold meat hits the hot pan. (I've burned myself more times than I can count and ruined at least a few shirts.) Watch hamburger for something like ten minutes and periodically flip with spatula. Again, be careful about hot grease splatters. Check hamburger to make sure it's well-done so I don't die from E. coli. Discard hot grease in empty can that I keep in the freezer so I don't clog my plumbing.

* * *

Also, I've never subscribed to the idea that a meal isn't really a meal without meat. Maybe it's partly because I was raised Catholic and followed the rules about abstaining from meat on certain days. (Yes, I know that seafood doesn't count as "meat" in this context, but we certainly weren't eating fish every Friday.)

I do need to eat meat occasionally to feel well, but I can go for days without it, and I don't bother keeping track of it.





There's not much, but enough to keep me fed.

Of course, there are plenty of carbonated beverages too.

I'm not a vegetarian, but when I have leaned in that direction it was because of how I felt about consuming the product, not because of who gets paid.

And if you consume the office bagel, and it's not left lying around uneaten, there's a chance that someone will notice and possibly buy more next time instead of less. So indirectly you may be supporting the evil corporation.

I'm certainly not judging you, since I still eat McDonalds from time to time, but you posed the question, so...

HereToRockYourWorld said:

roadkill is OK as long as it was not YOUR car

charlottegelin said:

Only in Australia

i am.... Carniverous

matt said:[quote]

HereToRockYourWorld said:

Boca Burgers are really much, much better cooked in a skillet, actually. But it doesn't take that long, and you don't have the grease issue ('cause vegetable oil is liquid at room temperature). Not that I've never been lazy and microwaved them, obviously.

Interestingly (to me. . . probably not to anybody else ), I never bought a microwave after I moved in October. I haven't really missed it.

NDRU said:

And your bagel argument is exactly why I haven't been a freegan. But that was when I could afford food.

I think there's a sane balance to be found. . .

IrresistibleB1tch said:

. . . and I think this is a good example of that sane balance.

charlottegelin said:

Hey, my old freegan friends actually specifically mentioned that they were cool with roadkill.

Band name: Cool with Roadkill.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

I think of that kind of idealism as a luxary. That means, if I was hungry, I wouldn't care where the food came from.

NDRU said:

Of course. But in cultures where most people are hungry, factory farming doesn't exist, and the problem largely goes away.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

there's a first!

HereToRockYourWorld said:

Yes, but you say you're too poor for food. I assume that's kind of an exaggeration since you're on a computer, but not impossible for someone in the U.S. (for example, I'm guessing you're not in Ethiopia) to be hungry.

NDRU said:

It is an exaggeration, for sure. Would be better to say, I'm too broke to turn down free food. I agree with your point.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

I have a lot of respect for people who walk the walk and don't support any companies that they think are wrong. I'll try to do the right thing generally, but I won't make myself miserable to do it.

HereToRockYourWorld said:

They do taste better if prepared in a skillet, and perhaps I don't have to worry about clogging the kitchen sink. However, hot grease splatters are still an issue. I have burned myself (very minor burns, to be sure) and ruined clothes by cooking Boca burgers in a skillet.

Maybe I just need to buy an apron.

matt said:

A nice metrosexual apron.

And a splatter screen, silly! It's amazing to me how many people don't own these things:

Teacher said:

I was only joking! though kangaroo is so yummy