in portland now, just finished the powell’s book store q&a. thanks for coming to the l.a and seattle and portland events! oh, some things about ‘gristle’.
1 ‘gristle’ isn’t a vegan book. miyun and i are vegans, but our goal in putting out ‘gristle’ is solely to draw attention to the consequences of animal production. ‘gristle’ is an informative book, but hopefully not a didactic or editorializing book. we just want to make the information available and then let people decide what they want to do with it, if anything. i’m a vegan, but ‘gristle’ isn’t. it’s just a little encylopedia of the consequences of industrial animal production.
2 one of the recurring questions we’ve heard is ‘veganism is expensive, how do you expect working families to eat well?’ the answer: remove subsidies. our tax dollars subsidize factory farms and animal productions, from the feed to the water to the transport, etc. if all federal tax subsidies were removed from factory farm animal production a family of four would spend around $80 to have a meal at burger king. meat is cheap solely because it’s subsidized by our tax dollars. the answer: remove subsidies and let factory farmed meat actually be subjected to free-market economic conditions. the sad and tragic irony of federal subsidies for animal production is that our tax dollars go to subsidize an industry that: destroys animals, destroys communities, is dangerous for workers, decimates the environment, and yields a product (meat)that causes cancer and heart disease and diabetes and obesity. it’s hard to say that it’s money well spent.
3 a sort of vegan aside… i was talking to a friend of mine who is a staunch meat eater, and he said ‘vegan food, ew, gross, and no flavor’. so i said: ‘a challenge. for one month you eat meat and i eat vegan food, ok?’ he said: ‘ok, sounds awesome.’ i said: ‘so that means for one month you have: no ketchup. no pepper. no onions. no bread. no french fries. no orange juice. no pasta sauce. no pasta. no rice. no vegetables. no spices. no garlic. no fruit. no ice cream (sugar and chocolate and vanilla are vegetable products). no candy. no bacon (as it’s spiced with plant products). no sausage (as it’s spiced with plant products). just unflavored meat and dairy.’ since then he hasn’t said that vegan food is tasteless and gross. i often wonder: if vegan food is tasteless then why is it an integral part of making meat taste good?
4 ok, that’s it for now, i guess. hopefully see you in nyc or dc at the ‘gristle’ events there. thanks,
moby