Legal Niches

Where we?ve been?winter break recap

By jennifer

We’re finally back from our long winter’s nap…or our last extended winter break before we enter the real world of jobs and two-day holidays. It’s a little hard to get back in gear after such a long hiatus. Also, the mere act of being vegan in the deep south (where our families are) required a bit more emotional power than usual. My family is very supportive — this was my first Christmas at home as a vegan, and my mom made some awesome vegan food. I’m remembering the gravy-and-dressing…mmm…. However, vegan-friendly restaurants are harder to come by down there, and the whole atmosphere in general is more meat-centric than in D.C.

This reminded me of the importance of having support networks for vegans in all parts of the country, not just on the coasts. I’m lucky to live here, where being vegan is easy and not really…bizarre. Also, it reminded me that I need to win the lottery so that I can invest in starting vegan restaurants in the south and midwest. For lunch one day, we went to the only vegetarian restaurant in my hometown — I’d never been there — and it wasn’t really very amazing. It was okay, but it’s not exactly the best advertisement for the veg lifestyle. It would give a meat-eater the impression that all veg food tastes…healthy. But, still, kudos to the restaurant for bringing healthy veg food to a non-veg-friendly town!

Joel went to visit his parents for a few days after Christmas, and he had some interesting conversations with some family members regarding veganism. (I don’t talk about it with my family, really…I like to avoid conflict with family instead.) Perhaps he’ll write a more detailed post about it, but, in general, he found that the environmental/global poverty argument was most effective with his immediate family members (who are quite liberal). The idea of that we use much-needed grain to create a small amount of meat for the wealthy had a big impact. The idea of animal suffering wasn’t very effective with any of his family (although I think he just talked to male family members about this….I have a feeling that women, on average, respond more positively to the idea of animal suffering.)

Finally, the trip reinforced my belief that, in many parts of the country, the animal movement must collaborate with religious groups to be a powerful force. It’s easy to forget the social power of religion while living on the east coast, but it’s a vital part of the social structure in most of the country. Of course, I’m not sure how best to go about this in my personal life, since religion and animal issues are two of the most conflict-producing social issues around! However, the Christian Vegetarian Association has excellent resources for personal outreach. Through their website, I recently bought Good News for All Creation: Vegetarianism as Christian Stewardship, which I’m looking forward to reading. And HSUS has a new Animals and Religion initiative as well.

So, all in all, our winter break was an educational experience (as well as a nice relaxing vacation). I hope that I can use these lessons to make this year a good one for the animals!

Full post as published by Animal Blawg on January 07, 2008 (boomark / email).