a post about my friend, catherine

 Hello! 

My friend Catherine passed away two weeks ago. Maybe she was your friend, too. She was friends with so many people. Today was her funeral. I wasn't able to attend in person, but there was a live stream and so there I was, sobbing from 3000 kilometres away. 

I met Catherine somewhere between 11 and 13 years ago, in the summer. I was going to the cricket with her brother and, despite having never met me, she made sure I was fully catered for. All I remember was these amazing vegan jellies, and her late arrival because of complications. Veganism 12 years ago was still not mainstream, and I hadn't had jelly lollies in forever and I was so, so blown away by her generosity and thoughtfulness. Savouries, sure. Some fruit? Definitely. But bloody vegan jelly lollies? 

Two other things I have definitely eaten that Catherine made for me were: 

The vegan cheeseburger cupcakes that I screamed about to her face - W I L D, so much effort for so little payback! Of course I ate several of them, but I remember telling her that I would have been happy with something so much less intricate and involved. 

Cupcakes at this wedding 

The last thing she made for me were lemon and passionfruit cupcakes, on the Saturday before she died. I was sitting on the train, tired, and I was a bit reluctant to travel all the way to Coburg; but it was lunar new year, and she'd made me a crochet dragon and i DEFINITELY wanted it, and it's always nice to see Catherine. So she decided to make cupcakes. They were still warm when I arrived; they were so fresh out of the oven that they fell apart when she decided to move them by grabbing the tops of them. I took half a dozen away; I didn't want to take that many, but she'd made a flavour that her husband Andrew didn't even like! So I ate two even just waiting for the bus (the bus! the things I have done for you, Catherine). 

I have played with many of Catherine's recipes over the years; she was one of the first omnivorous melbunnies I knew who would so enthusiastically cater to peoples' different dietary needs. 

Reflecting on my life, and having had her in it, as one is wont to do after a funeral, I think I'm going to be cooking some of Catherine's recipes in the near future. I will modify them all, as she would have wanted, and maybe I will tell you about them. Probably I would cook them for you. In fact, today I'm cooking two cheesecakes, recipe testing for a friend - I definitely would have told Catherine about them, I think she would have been interested in them. 

Here are some other words about Catherine: in memoriam by someone who has known her half her life; in loving memory from the smart bitches.

On this day, and every day, may we be generous with our spirits, and our skills, and leave the world a more full, happy place when we waddle off. 

My love to you all 

misc christmas party noms

The flattie (Bella) and I hosted a Christmas party last night! We did minimal catering because we were too busy and I only got home at 1700 and our first guest arrived at 1805 (as per our invites), but I did prepare a few things.

I made crunchy chewy clusters, which I've been obsessed with ever since Cindy first introduced me to them (at the same time as I introduced her to If You Are the One, so it was a fair trade). HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

I basically only sort of use Cindy and Michael's recipe, and what I made last night was so amazing that when I tried to pack the last handful away, Ral scooted up to me and shoved them all in his mouth.

I melt 100g of dark chocolate couverture. While it's melting I combine a cup worth of dried fruit, usually goji berries, white mulberries, and 3 or so dried bananas (note these are like liquorice rather than banana chips), diced small, with a third of a cup of cashews. When the chocolate is melted I add a pinch of salt and a third of a cup of desiccated coconut, then mix the fruit and nuts until they're all covered. Put them on a baking tray that has baking paper on it (important! for non-stick), and then fridge them for an hour. Done. Delicious. So much yum.

I also made pizza pinwheels, ginger and five spice biscuits cut into sharks and penguins, and gluten free Swedish jam thumbprint cookies, and that's a recipe I've been using forever and highly recommend.

There's no picture of the food, so here's a picture of us in our Christmas party clothes.

planet vegmel birthday potluck + blog event part ii

It was Planet VegMel's birthday! So there was a birthday picnic at Edinburgh Gardens, and the weather was beautiful. I took a whole bunch of photos at the picnic, if you'd like to see them you can check them out at my flickr. Cindy has also done a bit of a round up post!

There were zines (which you can download here)



and badges



and there was lots of food!



For drinks, we started with chamomile lemon iced tea, with maple ice cubes, made by K; and a mango lasso made by the Veganator.

Michael made potato chickpea enchiladas, originally seen on veganise this; Emilly made an eggplant salad; and I made the quinoa avocado salad that has been remixed by many VegMelers.

Toby experimented with tempeh bacon, remixed from Where's the Beef. This was probably my highlight of the picnic, I totally recommend it! Also involving tempeh was Em's gado gado.

In news of other remixes, Carla brought along mock crab cakes, remixed from Cindy and Michael; and Mel made tofu quiches, originally seen at Vicki Vegan and Green Gourmet Giraffe.

Danni made sundried tomato bread and pumpkin + miso muffins (remixes from non-VegMel blogs).



For sweets, Cindy and Michael made PB & choc sandwiches, based on peanut butter alligators and chocolate ganache from Sugarspoons.

K made ginger ripple cake, based on a recipe by the Veganator; Mel made apricot delight, remixed from Green Gourmet Giraffe; and Em made Turkish Truffles, a remix of Mel's rum balls. I remixed chocolate caramel slice, from Johanna's original recipe.

In original recipes, Vicki posted about her peanut butter balls; Johanna brought blueberry cake pops (and they were so amazing); and Carla delighted us with lamingtons.

And that was the potluck, but not the end of the birthday:




two more submissions for that recipe sounds very familiar… previous entries can be found here.

Cindy and Michael remixed a beetroot chocolate cake, originally from the Fairest Feed.

Like Cindy and Michael and myself, Mel remixed Toby's Singapore noodles, a delicious noodle treat.

that recipe sounds very familiar... part one

It's Planet VegMel's 2nd Anniversary! Happy Anniversary, Planet VegMel! It's been an exciting two years for the Planet, I think, as it's grown as a resource. And there are still lots more ways in which it can grow, not just in number of blogs subscribed, but lofty goals for mapping and referencing and all sorts of exciting things.

As part of the birthday celebrations, I am super proud to host the 'That Recipe Seems Very Familiar…' blog event. A number of VegMel bloggers have remixed the recipes of other VegMel bloggers, ranging from minimal alterations to huge variations of deliciousness.

The recipes linked below have been submitted in advance of Planet VegMel's 2nd Anniversary. But if you've got something to submit, this doesn't close you out! I'll be making a second round up post next week, some time after the Birthday Picnic Potluck (this Sunday at Edinburgh Gardens), so that anyone who wishes to remix something for the Potluck can do so. And I hope to see you there! (keep an eye on the Facebook event if the weather looks grim, for the backup plan)

In chronological(ish) order!

Mel at Veganise This has remixed the haggis (and haggis pizza) originally posted by Johanna at Green Gourmet Giraffe.

Cindy and Michael remixed kari kapitan, originally blogged by Steph (me!) at Vegan about Town.

I remixed the potato boston bun, also originally by Johanna at GGG.

Cindy and Michael remixed cottage tofu, originally by Johanna.

Cindy and Michael remixed the very familiar baked cherry/berry cheesecake, seen previously at Gretal Getting Fatter, Easy as Vegan Pie, and vegan about town! (it's totally an amazing recipe)

K remixed salted caramel ice cream, adapted from Cindy and Michael.

I remixed lemony snickerdoodles, originally at Sugar Spoons.

Johanna remixed the baked beans recipe, previously seen at veganise this! and where's the beef, and originally from Veganomicon.

Mel remixed delicious tofu with steamed vegies, adapted from In the Mood for Noodles. And then Johanna remixed it too!

Cindy and Michael remixed cauliflower and caramelised onion tart, originally made by Carla at Easy as Vegan Pie, and previously remixed by Lisa.

In news of more noodles, K remixed a meegoreng originally seen at vegan about town.

Cindy and Michael remixed Toby's Singapore noodles; and two days later, so did I! (because we all love noodles)

Cindy and Michael remix hash browns, originally by Vicki Vegan.

I remixed lemon pepper cashews, dubbed "cashew crack" by Cindy and Michael.

K tries out apricot delight, seen on Green Gourmet Giraffe.

K remixed Zucchini Quinoa Lasagna, originally seen on Vicki Vegan.

Em made almond jam slices, a somewhat a remix of my coconut and jam slice.

Thanks to everybody for participating in this event! It allowed me to rediscover some old favourites, and discover new things (lemon pepper cashews are AMAZING).

potluck 2: comfort food

Oh dear patient friends, I apologise for the delay in getting this carnival up. But I promise, though it is small and slightly delayed, that it is still a good read. This time the theme was comfort food, and all of these posts are about comfort food! Delicious, comforting food.

If you are one of my usual vegan readers, please note that not all posts linked to today are vegan, but they don't really talk about food specifics and you should read the posts anyway, because they are important and amazing and good.


Oddcellist talks about comfort food:

When I talk about the things I can cook, I tend not to talk about Chinese food—because I don't cook the way my mother does, even though I hear her voice every time I cook (fry the ginger until its flavor blooms, use day-old rice to make fried rice, people here like things too sweet), because I remain incredibly recipe-bound.

Vi writes (and draws!)about small comforts: tāng yuán.

Azuire writes ٹیڑھی کھی, about comfort food that's monolingual (and not):

What I felt when I discovered that اچار was not called that by others (and I know it was اچار because I'd had an argument about it) was shock. Pure and simple. The English names of food-things that had previously existed only hypothetically were now widely accepted as the only names for things. It felt incomplete, inaccurate.

In comfort fooding, Glass_Icarus maps a history of her comfort food.

I've realized that I don't so much rely on specific foods for comfort as I do on cooking and eating with specific groups of people. 火鍋 with my immediate family is different from 火鍋 with my relatives in Taiwan is different from hotpot with all the different permutations of my "usual suspects," friends from ballroom/undergrad. Dim sum with my "American grandma" is different from dim sum with my Chinese family friends (where there's never any explanation involved but the check-grabbing fights remain the same).

Sam Miskiv writes on disordered eating and veganism (and, in a way, comfort food).

Ephemere talks Hapag-kainan, dibdib: My language is one that eats and is eaten. If one is to speak to me of comfort and discomfort -- speak to me of food. And of rice.

Linstar writes about what makes comfort food:

I’ve often been asked what my favourite food is and I have very usually replied with something along the lines of my mum’s laksa or my mum’s spring rolls or something to that effect. My mum’s cooking. It wasn’t until recently when I was sitting down talking to a work colleague that I actually realised some of my favourite comfort foods aren’t necessarily my mum’s cooking at all, but my mum’s cooking brings an association of love and comfort. I’ve actually come to realise my favourite comfort foods are anything that can be shared, and that it’s the company more than anything which makes comfort food comforting.

And a little aside: Counter Culture, a book which collected food histories from the kids that Lifting Voices works with. Their funding deadline is past but the book looks great!


And now, with my spoon in one hand and my chopsticks in the other, I am off to eat my own comfort food, though I failed to blog about it. Thank you for reading Potluck 2! Potluck is intended to be an occasional carnival for multicultural and intersectional discussions of food, including but not limited to food discussions intersecting with disability, gender, sexuality, fat, animal rights, and cultural and racial issues. If you are interested in hosting the next Potluck, please drop myself or glass icarus a line!

last call for submissions: comfort food!

Just a reminder that submissions for potluck 2: the comfort foodening are due on the 31st of May! I know, I know, I haven't even written anything yet. TOMORROW. NO SERIOUSLY. I'm going to be talking about pandan.

Get your submission on!

potluck 2: deadline extension!

The deadline for Potluck:2 (Comfort Food) has now been extended until May 31st! That gives you a whole extra two weeks to get something in! Have at it! Just a reminder:

Submissions can cover anything you like, and you do not have to stick to the theme! but please remember that we are trying to talk about intersections. Potluck is, after all, intended to be a carnival for multicultural and intersectional discussions of food, including but not limited to food discussions intersecting with disability, gender, sexuality, fat, animal rights, and cultural and racial issues.

More details at the original post! Please submit! TELL YOUR FRIENDS.

reminder for potluck 2

Just a reminder that submissions for Potluck 2: Comfort Food are due in about a week! (The 15th) You do not have to be vegan to participate, posts from all types of eaters are totally cool, so long as you are talking about food and intersectionality!

Guidelines are available at the original post! Please submit something!

I should write something too, whoops.

call for submissions: potluck #2: comfort food

Do you remember Potluck #1? Of course you do, it was super exciting, and all about holidays. I am pleased to announce that I am hosting Potluck #2: Comfort Food. Submissions can cover anything you like, and you do not have to stick to the theme! but please remember that we are trying to talk about intersections. Potluck is, after all, intended to be a carnival for multicultural and intersectional discussions of food, including but not limited to food discussions intersecting with disability, gender, sexuality, fat, animal rights, and cultural and racial issues. How many times have you gone to eat your comfort food, only to be told it's gross and weird and disgusting? How many times has advertising told you that your comfort food is wrong and terrible?

Submissions are open until May 15th, giving you a comfortable six weeks to get something in. You can leave submissions in this post (please note that comments are moderated but will eventually appear!). Please feel free to submit links to your own posts or to someone else's. You may submit multiple links. Links will be included at the discretion of the host.

Please note that this is not just for vegans! It is just here because this is where my food stuff, and also I am pretty sure glass icarus is not vegan. :o)

Also we are looking for the next host, so if you are interested feel free to get in contact.

some links about animals and food politics and things

unexpectedly a lot of links

Pets petrified in cyclone crisis

Pets were not allowed in the cyclone evacuation centres, while farm animals were in paddocks when Yasi hit.

RSPCA spokesman Michael Beatty says there have been plenty of bird deaths as well as reports of animals wandering the streets.

and No-pet evacuation rules 'putting lives at risk'

Cassowaries are getting help after the cyclone!

Animals in Brazil Suffering After Disastrous Floods

10 Horrifying Stories of Factory Farming Gone Wrong, a pretty gross slideshow (USA-centric)

Sled dogs massacred after Canada Winter Olympics - business dropped off after the Olympics, so the huskies that were brought up specifically for the Olympics were then killed.

In other 'why are humans so crappy' news: Cockfighting bird stabs California man, Jose Luis Ochoa, to death: police. Specifically, cockfighting: why do it?

Back in Australia, an article on the ABC where the risks for jumps jockeys are identified. So if when you're arguing against jumps you find that people don't care about the horses, try this argument instead.

An op ed at the Herald Sun on a new proposal around disposal of young calves.

Where climate and conservation collide

At the state's largest wind farm at Woolnorth in the island's north-west, 19 wedge-tailed eagles are known to have been killed since it began operations in 2003. Another three sea eagles also have hit the rotors.

At Vegans of Color: How NOT to Inspire More People to Go Vegan, on an awareness graphic.

The Face of Exploitation by s.e. smith at This Ain't Livin', on the human exploitation elements of food (both animal and vegetable).

I link to Treehugger way too much, but: Chinese Activists Call Canada Racist For Selling Seal Meat because Canada has sold seal meat to China (perhaps) on the assumption that those Chinese will eat anything.

This is not vego-specific (though our catastrophe's addition at the end is), but how to shop when you are poor is a good post.

at the smh: Wasteland: the $7.8b of food Aussies throw away .

I failed to post about this before call for papers closed, but the 4th Annual Australian Animal Studies Group Conference is being held 10 - 13 July at Griffith Uni in Brisbane.

Potluck #1 is up! Announcement for #2 is coming soon.

announcing: potluck (a food carnival of intersectionality)

I love talking about food. And reading about food, and people's experiences with food. So Glass_Icarus and I, inspired by some recent posts (including but not limited to gross, weird, inedible (redux) by vi, Doodh se Dhuli by deepad, and seven things by troisroyaumes), have decided to start an ongoing food carnival, looking at multicultural and intersectional discussions of food.

There are no real limits on theme; however, the focus of the carnival is on thoughts and experiences around food through various topics that you might see around the social justice blogosphere, including but not limited to food discussions intersecting with disability, gender, sexuality, fat, animal rights and of course cultural and racial issues. We welcome you to share your recipes as well as your thoughts and experiences, but we ask that you do not submit posts with recipes only.

Wow, how much stuff did I forget to include in that list? Heaps! This is what happens when you write a blog thing when your headspace is somewhere else (writing learner guides for courses on education for sustainability). Sorry! There are many more various topics that should have been included on that list! And I want to write about them all! Well, I want someone to write about them. I probably can't write about food + being trans, or food + religion, or food + disability. FOR EXAMPLE.

The theme for the first potluck is holidays. Submissions can encompass anything you like, including holidays you might be celebrating nowish (Christmas, Hannukah), or recently (Eid al-Adha), or soon (Lunar New Year), or ages ago. Any holiday or festival.

You can submit in the original announcement post, or via email to glass_icarus AT dreamwidth DOT org, who will be hosting the first edition.

Please feel free to submit links to your own posts or to someone else's. You may submit multiple links. Links will be included at the discretion of the host. We welcome anyone to participate from any blogging platforms. The deadline for submissions for the first edition of Potluck is JANUARY 21, 2011.

This is totally relevant to you, vegans and vegetarians who read my blog! Write about intersectionality and food. DO IT.

me + usacentrism + monday morning links

I saw Frente yesterday! Everything else that happened over the weekend pales in comparison. Even the odd election (did you get to vote? I know people who couldn't get to any voting points because of the flooding!).

I realised that, two weeks after the fact, I had yet to post a link in my other blog about my intersectionality talk being up at The Scavenger, so I just did that, and took the opportunity to ramble a bit about the USA-centricity of AR (and other social justice topics) online. If you wanted to come over and weigh in, or give me your thoughts, that would be great! intersectionality 101: addressing racism and classism in animal rights activism (a talk) + USA-centrism.


This slightly odd article has been doing the rounds: The Rise of the Power Vegans. It's an interesting enough read, but I found it odd and I'm not sure why.

Unsurprising but interesting to have in a study: Animal-welfare news sways meat consumers:

News coverage of animal-welfare issues causes U.S. consumers to cut back on meat purchases and spend their money instead on non-meat items, a study indicated.

Cows, Goats Escape from Slaughterhouse, Only to be Forced Back In

I meant to link this a few weeks ago, but: Poultry producer's workers claim intimidation. Miscellaneous worker intimidation might not seem that relevant, though it is in a chook production facility, but I've started collecting these sorts of articles in Australia. One of the barriers to effective AR in Australia (I've found) is that all our information for back up comes from the USA or from Europe, so I think it's important to document the patterns (whether they are similar to those famously documented overseas or not) in order to have solid evidence.

One of the things that frustrates me about working in the environmental/climate change sector, as a vegan, is the fact that people are often really invested in not being vegetarian. This article frustrates me: Eco Friendly Fur or No Such Thing? Not necessarily because I'm like 'no fur no fur!' (though I am): but because an argument that starts with 'but they're a rodent! and they're doing environmental damage!' ignores the suffering aspects. Here is my confession: I totally prioritise reducing environmental damage. And I am very critical of introduced species. But humans, you know, did the introducing! So maybe it is our responsibility to not kill them in the usual painful methods used for getting fur. I'm there for reducing their damage on the environment, but pain is not really the answer.

ooh it's melbourne cup day

one of my least favourite holidays. at least now that i'm in melbourne, and it's a public holiday, i don't have to find excuses to not go to work / not join in the "celebrations" (i used to hide in my office whilst everyone else ate chicken and watched the race).

instead of making a bet on the cup, maybe you could make some sort of appropriate donation, or sign the pledge to never bet on cruelty.

at the punch, ward has written about the brutal truth about the horse racing industry; and up at vegaroo, sharon has a list of other alternatives you can do today (including options for cities other than melbourne). there's a protest picnic near flemington (with free mr nice guy vegan cupcakes!).

or you could post one of these links on your facebook wall, and see if it starts a verbal fisticuffs, like it already has for some people. :o)

isms in our vegan

Vegans of Colour summarised the Morrissey thing really well, but in case you missed it, Morrissey declared Chinese people to be a subspecies, on account of the way they* treat animals, which I guess he thinks is much better than the way, say, the UK or the USA treats their animals? I don't know, I'm just guessing. He could be thinking anything. And I'm Chinese, so I probably beat my penguins. Or something.

I always enjoy reading about hypocritical people! It totally makes my day!

Here is my pull quote from the VOC article:

Probably my two biggest gripes about these near-sighted race politic expressions of animal rights are that:

1) they really perpetuate, particularly amongst people of color, the misnomer that veganism can only be narrowly defined as a white, middle-class subculture and that;

2) vegans of color are further marginalized within the discourse of animal rights whether or not we cry foul at the egregious white-supremacist twists on these representations of animal rights politics.

As with Morrissey as well as the rest of the white animal rights crowd, here’s a itsy-bitsy tip when attempting to articulate a discourse about animal rights: a little nuance goes a long way in figuring out where the root of the problem lies and where the solution can begin. The intersection of race and ethnicity between veganism is much more complex than you might make it out to be.

The comments to the VOC post include a charmer about how China should be wiped from the earth is...well, that's lovely, but until you wipe every other country from the earth I'm just going to sit here and try to dull my hatred of hypocrisy, you know?

I'm working on a post about classism in the veganism and ethical food movements (I know you can't wait, you're just lucky I've been sick), but in the meantime, here are some tumblr and other links that you might be interested in reading:

• more vegans of colour: Veganism and the Class War
• seaponies' original post, on privilege and veganism, and two responses (interesting for what they bring up; I do not necessarily endorse their points): the discussions a lot of (white) vegans are having aren't good enough for me... by faketrain; and by meanibeani.
• some comments by thingsmreading and radeicallyhottoff on classism and racism in veganism

GOOD TIMES!

Leave exciting linkies in the comments.




*WE HELLO

linkies

I know this won't come as a surprise to anyone, but: Pampered pigs 'feel optimism'. PIGS are capable of feeling optimism and pessimism, depending on their environment, a UK study revealed overnight.

As you know I was in Perth recently! So I blogged a vegan to-do list at Vegaroo!

Hey, so do you like Planet Veg Mel? Now you can like Planet Veg Mel on Facebook! Yeah, we're nerds. What of it?

At Vegansaurus: Surprise! Another quest for “ethical eating” ends in an omnivorous diet.

some sunday reading

Sausage-addicted kookaburra too fat to fly

TOO many tasty sausages almost killed this kookaburra.

But health worries weren't the threat. She became so obese from barbecue handouts she could not fly when attacked by dogs in a Mosman park.

THANKS, HUMANS, is what the kookaburra should be thinking.

Animals Australia: Exposing poultry's dark side, a broiler chicken investigation.

An investigation into one of Australia's largest chicken meat producers that supplies major retail outlets has revealed routine and shocking animal abuse. Every year in Australia 488 million chickens endure brutally short and undeniably cruel lives inside factory farms. Animals Australia's investigation video shows baby birds suffering from heart disease, lameness, thirst, starvation and trampling inside a shed packed with over 40,000 birds.

Telling An Old, Old Story: Animal Cruelty and Human Violence at This Ain't Livin'.

At the Huffington Post, Veg and the City: My Beef With Locavores, on the growing anti-vegetarian component of locavoreishness, and what that means.

And Be Happy About the Octopus, about Paul the Octopus and how he started receiving death threats, and what that means.

I finished reading Eating Animals, and I have plans to watch Food, Inc this week. So more on those soon!

miscellaneous links

I don't know anything about this ad campaign (because I...don't watch TV in Europe...), but I still am horrified by what is going on here. A report at the Daily Mail: Meerkat misery: Thanks to that TV ad, they're now a must-have pet…but behind the cute image lies a shocking cruelty. This is an article about meerkats becoming pets, being kept as single meerkats, in small cages, all sorts of horrible care issues.

Food labels not battleground for animal welfare

Animal lovers can have a say - what a great title, for a situation that is about a minster declaring it fate for animals to be tested on:

Mohd Ali had on May 28, during a meeting with his Facebook friends at The Curve, Kuala Lumpur, said God created animals to be used by humans, including to be eaten and animals needed to be sacrificed in order to find vaccines and cure for diseases.

Miss T has a post up about Animal Justice Party of Australia.

About dairy milk: World Milk Day or Weapon of Mass Destruction?

On WMD, let's remember the 1 million bobby calves who were taken from their grieving Mums, only to be slaughtered as 'waste products' of the dairy industry -- so that the milk nature intended for them could be fed to humans...
On WMD, let's spare a thought for the struggling Murray Darling Basin. It takes 200 litres of water to get one glass of milk. Not only is this the driest inhabited continent in the world -- our river systems are at record lows. But I'm taking shorter showers while the dairy industry is draining our waterways

At the Guardian, an article: UN urges global move to meat and dairy-free diet

Apparently there has been a lot of coverup as to how many animals have died due to the BP oil spill: Dying, dead marine wildlife paint dark, morbid picture of Gulf Coast following oil spill

perth world vegan day

It's ages away! I know! But the super awesome Sarah is looking for volunteers to help make it big and cool in Perth this year. Check out the link for more details! AND GO DO IT. Also Sarah is very cool, so you should feel free to ask her questions if you need!

the ability to make choices

In the post Elitism and the Movement, Prof Susurro discusses the idea that veganism as a movement has played a role in perpetuating a classist discource. She interrogates this idea, which was a riff off a post at Vegans of Colour asking does second-hand figure into your ethics equation. Prof Susurro's point was that questions that position 'choice' as the key element imply that all vegans have this choice, ie, can afford to/have the ability to make this choice. Framing it in this way erases vegans who don't fit into a middle/upper class position.

Prof Susurro's entire post is very interesting, as are the comments on both posts. The comments especially really interrogate a lot of intersections with veganism, including transphobia and feminism and racism. I know that when I write my blog, my assumption is that my audience are middle-upper class, well-educated, and (based on who comments) primarily white. And for the most part, vegan or vegetarian. I tend to assume that we are all operating from certain privileges regarding free time and class and available cash, but I acknowledge that whilst that is my reader base, that is not the reality of all vegans or vegetarians (or people who would like to be vegans or vegetarians but cannot make that choice).*

A lot of what I read around the blogosphere is about people making 'wrong' choices, and about how veganism is cheaper than other, animal-exploitative options, but statements whose base message is that fail to recognise that for some people, there is no option in there to choose.

Anyway, Prof Susurro's post really got me thinking about the ways that I can a) enable people less privileged than me to be able to make a vegan choice if they want to, and b) make veganism more accessible. It's also got me thinking about the assumptions that I make, and how judge-y I can be as a vegan sometimes. Lots of thinking. It's an interesting post! I really recommend reading it, and the comments (though some of the comments get very deraily and defensive). And if you've never encountered intersections before, it's not a bad post in which to get an introduction.




*an aside: I mostly know Malaysian and Chinese non-vegans! So if you have any Malaysian or Chinese vego buddies, please feel free to hook me up.

some links and outrage

I may or may not be back with a food post today, but briefly:

Kekovich takes Australia Day lamb campaign global

After five years of campaigning against ‘unAustralian’ behaviour across the nation and urging us to unite over a lamb chop on Australia Day, Sam Kekovich is set to take his cause global.Convinced that mankind is facing a pandemic that threatens its very existence - unAustralianism - Sam will ask the United Nations to declare 26 January ‘International Australia Day’ in his 2010 Address.

OH GOOD because nothing makes me feel better about being a Chinese-Australian vegan than being told I have to kill lambs in order to count as an actual Australian.

Some other links for the morning:

On meat consumption, equity and human rights by Sarah at the Vegan Benefits Blog

Why vegans were right all along at the Guardian.

As a meat-eater, I've long found it convenient to categorise veganism as a response to animal suffering or a health fad. But, faced with these figures, it now seems plain that it's the only ethical response to what is arguably the world's most urgent social justice issue. We stuff ourselves, and the poor get stuffed.

I regularly read vegan.com because Erik Marcus is always talking about and linking to interesting stuff, and he has written The Year in Meat 2009, a really interesting read on animal agribusiness and vegarianism (mostly US-centric) in 2009.