The Food On Your Plate

There are many movements afoot in the animal welfare world not the least of which is veganism. For those who don't know, vegans do not eat anything made by or from an animal. No dairy. No eggs. Protein sources are tofu and beans and the diet is predominantly plant-based. I know many veterinarians who become vegans once they start vet school because the issue hits too close to home.

That being said, there is also a movement gaining momentum for factory-free farming. In fact, California recently passed legislation by nearly a 2 to 1 majority, that will ban commercial farms from keeping calves, pregnant hogs or egg laying eggs in cages too small to permit them to stretch out and turn around.

For those who care, I was once a vegetarian in my youth, not out of any great save the animals feelings, but more to assert my independence from the establishment represented by my parents. It lasted until college when it became too much of a hassle. I do not eat certain types of red meat (veal, for instance) because I find the methods of keeping veal calves to be totally inhumane, and I try to only eat grass-fed, free range beef products. I do eat chicken and fish.

I tell you all of this because Jeffrey Masson, whose two previous books, When Elephants Weep and Dogs Never Lie About Love were runaway best-sellers, has recently written a book about his life as a vegan. The Face on Your Plate: The Truth About Food sounds like a fairly sane read on living the vegan life.

For one, Masson admits he isn't perfect. According to a recent New York Times

article, if Masson discovers that he's eaten a bit of cake made with butter, he swallows it and moves on. "It's just too weird and too hostile to go 'blech' and throw up and say, 'I can't believe I ate that,'" he admits. In fact, he calls himself "veganish" and makes a convincing argument for the lifestyle since he admits its harder than it looks.

In fact, the best excuse for eating butter or meat, according to Masson, is "because you like the taste." He doesn't buy the arguments that suggest animals like cattle and chickens exist only because we eat them. "We're the only animal who gets to choose what we eat, so we can choose to do what's human and also much healthier," he says.

Here's a startling revelation that does have me thinking. Masson once raised two chickens who, according to him, were very social birds. They loved to come into the house and sit on his desk while he worked at the computer. His wife made him put the birds outside and when he did they immediately banged on the window to be let in. "They have such strong personalities," he laughs.

His point here is that the image of free range chickens is silly. Chickens, according to him, like to fly, take dust baths and hide their eggs. Not to mention, they don't like to be separated from their young. So whatever we do to chickens to ultimately make them grace our dinner plates is not what might be classified as a good life.

I'm betting Masson's book will have a lot of people thinking more carefully about their food sources. Let me know if you read it.