Activist FAQ

We want to emphasize our commitment to speaking our truth (link to blog).  Everyone has different lived experiences and different knowledge to share, and your answers to the questions below may be completely different from the ones we have posed.  The answers here reflect the beliefs and experiences that we as individuals hold.  We hope that you will read and consider what we have shared and be inspired to construct your own answers based on what you know and what you want to share with others.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1.) Why are you vegan?

2.) What’s wrong with eating meat?

3.) I like eating meat!

4.) I was vegan for a while, but I felt tired all the time because I didn’t get enough protein.

5.) What will happen to all the animals if we don’t eat them?

6.) God put animals on the Earth for people to eat.

7.) I don’t eat red meat. I only eat chicken and fish.

8.) People have been eating meat for thousands of years!

9.) The way animals are treated in agriculture is terrible. I always buy humane, free-range, organic meat, dairy and eggs.

10.) How can you justify spending your time helping animals when there are so many people who need help?

11.) Animals are better off being raised on farms than living in the wild where they face predators, disease and starvation.

12.) I believe in the circle of life.

13.) Animals kill other animals for food, so why shouldn’t we?

14.) Don’t dairy cows need to be milked?

15.) What are your thoughts on organics?

16.) I hate PETA!

Jenna’s answers:
1.) Why are you vegan? I’ve chosen veganism because it is most consistent with my belief that no being should be used without his/her/hir consent.  Just as I similarly oppose sexism, racism, ableism, cissexism, classism, heterosexism, and myriad other forms of oppression that exist in the world today, I also oppose speciesist oppression by choosing to not eat, wear, or exploit non-human animals.

2.) What’s wrong with eating meat? I object to the consumption of meat because it is the flesh of another being, obtained through her slaughter, without her consent.  The food we call ”meat” — more accurately, the body parts of pigs, chickens, cows, and other beings — is unnecessary in a human diet and is too much a product of exploitation for me to condone its use.

3.) I like eating meat! Food is a very personal thing for many people, and as members of a culture raised to view the corpses of other animals as food, it can be daunting to imagine a life without those bodies on our plates.  I agree that there is definitely a period of adjustment we have to go through when we eliminate animal products from our diets.  However, once that period of adjustment is over — once I came to realize that my diet no longer exploited anyone — I have found that I don’t miss it.  Not a bit.

4.) I was vegan for a while, but I felt tired all the time because I didn’t get enough protein. Protein can be obtained through a variety of plant-based sources.  Beans, lentils, soy protein, nuts, and grains all contain a healthy amount of protein.  I am not a nutritionist, and you should speak with one if you have specific concerns, but a number of great resources are available on the LOVE website, including vegan recipes and nutrition information.

5.) What will happen to all the animals if we don’t eat them? Domestic animals are currently bred and raised specifically to be slaughtered and eaten (or otherwise exploited by humans).  If we stop consuming their bodies, they will eventually no longer exist, save for those in free-living situations.

6.) God put animals on the Earth for people to eat. I don’t practice any organized religion, so I don’t feel qualified to respond to this question.

7.) I don’t eat red meat. I only eat chicken and fish. Chicken and fish are still exploited by humans for their bodies and by-products.  They deserve just as much consideration as other animals, and I do not endorse using those animals without their consent.

8.) People have been eating meat for thousands of years! People have been doing many things for thousands of years that are unnecessary today.  We can live healthfully and happily on a vegetarian diet, and by doing so, we ensure that other animals live healthfully and happily as well.

9.) The way animals are treated in agriculture is terrible. I always buy humane, free-range, organic meat, dairy and eggs. Those methods of food production are also problematic, unfortunately.  Any system in which animals are being farmed for their body parts or their by-products is ultimately using those animals without their consent, and thus is not consistent with an ideal of non-exploitation.  I choose to live opposed to violence and exploitation, so I do not consume any animal products, free-range, organic, or otherwise.

10.) How can you justify spending your time helping animals when there are so many people who need help? I think people and animals living under oppressive systems deserve equal consideration, and they all need allies in their struggles for equality.  In fact, I devote much of my time to helping both human and non-human animals.  Choosing veganism helps to keep my actions in line with the goal of a world free of exploitation and oppression.

11.) Animals are better off being raised on farms than living in the wild where they face predators, disease and starvation. Animals in free-living situations are not being forced to do anything they do not want to do.  I oppose subjugation and exploitation, and animals being raised for food, clothing, entertainment, or science are being used without their consent.  I would prefer that they were living free and able to make their own choices.

12.) I believe in the circle of life. I believe in non-exploitation.

13.) Animals kill other animals for food, so why shouldn’t we? We have the choice to live happily and healthfully on a diet free of animal products.  Some animals do not.

14.) Don’t dairy cows need to be milked? Cows only produce milk to feed their young.  In order to continually produce milk for human consumption, they are kept in a continual cycle of pregnancy.  This is traumatic and oppressive, and I choose not to drink cow’s milk so I do not support that system of oppression.

15.) What are your thoughts on organics? “Organic” does not mean anything in terms of animal liberation; it simply refers to the food that animals are being fed.  While organic food has many positive qualities, it does not mean that animals are not being oppressed.  “Organic meat” and “organic dairy” still require that animals are kept in cages, exploited and oppressed, and used without their consent.

16.) I hate PETA! LOVE takes a radically different approach to opposing speciesism than PETA does.  Some of our resources may be interesting to people who dislike PETA’s tactics.

Miranda’s answers:

1.) Why are you vegan? For me, advocating for veganism is an active response to the oppression happening in the world. My belief is that veganism is a series of choices one makes over their lifetime that do not support the exploitation of other beings.

2.) What’s wrong with eating meat? Meat, along with eggs, dairy, fur, or leather, are products that are the result of the exploitation of another being. Someone else’s body was used and/or killed without their free consent and I object to that practice.

3.) I like eating meat! Many people do. I was raised as a lacto-ovo vegetarian and so, never had to give up meat. I did have an addiction to cheese and thought it tasted really good. However, once I learned about the system of oppression that exists because humans like to consume meat, dairy, and eggs, the taste of cheese became less important than not supporting that system. Every time I was tempted to eat cheese, I thought of what cows and their babies had to endure and the taste of cheese became inconsequential to me. After some time, the temptation disappeared.

4.) I was vegan for a while, but I felt tired all the time because I didn’t get enough protein. I hear that a lot and it is important to take care of yourself as you make changes to your diet. Did you change your diet overnight? It may help to incorporate vegan meals into your daily routine more slowly so that you become comfortable with new foods gradually. As long as veganism is your end goal, it is totally okay to take your time with changing your diet.

5.) What will happen to all the animals if we don’t eat them? Since the majority of the animals eaten in the U.S. are bred specifically to be killed, if we no longer ate them, we’d no longer breed those animals and they just wouldn’t exist anymore. Most likely, this change would be gradual so there wouldn’t suddenly be cities overrun by cattle in the streets and highways blocking traffic. : )

6.) God put animals on the Earth for people to eat. I do not practice Christianity so don’t have enough knowledge about the Bible to answer that one.

7.) I don’t eat red meat. I only eat chicken and fish. Chicken and fish have to die just as cattle, pigs and other “meat” animals do so that we may eat them. All of these animals were not given the choice to die or not, so that we could eat their bodies.

8.) People have been eating meat for thousands of years! I make my choices based on what I know and experience now, not on what others have done in the past. Also, because humans are omnivores they can live healthily on a plant-based diet.

9.) The way animals are treated in agriculture is terrible. I always buy humane, free-range, organic meat, dairy and eggs. Whether someone is raised in a pasture or inside of a tiny cage, they are still being denied the choice to live their lives as they would like, where they would like. They live and die to serve the interest of those with the power to decide when and how they will live and die; they are not perceived to have a value beyond how they might benefit us.

10.) How can you justify spending your time helping animals when there are so many people who need help? I believe that the choices made in the name of veganism are choices that benefit all beings, human amd non-human. Living veganism is about fighting oppression in every aspect of our lives, not just what or who we choose to eat.

11.) Animals are better off being raised on farms than living in the wild where they face predators, disease and starvation. Animals living on farms were bred to live there and wouldn’t be in the wild otherwise. So if we did not choose to eat these animals, they wouldn’t exist.

12.) I believe in the circle of life. Honestly, I’m not so sure what exactly that phrase means within the context of a modern U.S. society. If you could please explain what you mean, I’ could better answer your question.

13.) Animals kill other animals for food, so why shouldn’t we? Since we are omnivores, it is true that we can be healthy eating other animals, but it also means that we can be healthy eating plant-based foods. Being omnivores means that we can make a choice to not use or kill other animals. Every time we eat, we have the opportunity to make that choice. Why kill someone if I can live healthily without doing so?

14.) Don’t dairy cows need to be milked? Cows only produce milk when pregnant. Therefore, in order for humans to consume cow milk, the cows must be impregnated either by artificial insemination done by a human (rape), or by being raped by a bull.

15.) What are your thoughts on organics? Organic only refers to the food given to the animal. The animal is still being used and killed without their consent and for human benefit whether they are fed organic food or not.

16.) I hate PETA! Okay, I’m not PETA. I believe in the vegan ideal of non-exploitation, which is different than the ideas promoted by PETA. If you’d like, I’d be happy to discuss the differences with you.

Victor’s answers:

4.) I was vegan for a while, but I felt tired all the time because I didn’t get enough protein.
Why did you decide to switch to a vegan diet? … What were you eating when you were vegan?

5.) What will happen to all the animals if we don’t eat them?
We don’t raise and kill animals for their benefit. We raise and kill them so we can eat their bodies. If we really want to do something beneficial for non-human animals, we could start by not eating them.

7.) I don’t eat red meat. I only eat chicken and fish.
Why did you choose to stop eating red meat?

11.) Animals are better off being raised on farms than living in the wild where they face predators, disease and starvation.
We don’t raise animals on farms to protect them. We raise them on farms so we can exploit their bodies to satisfy our desire for dairy, eggs, and meat.

12.) I believe in the circle of life.
Humans don’t really have any predators, and so it’s easy for us to appeal to abstract concepts like the circle of life to justify our ongoing exploitation of non-human animals.

14.) Don’t dairy cows need to be milked?
Dairy cows don’t produce milk for humans to drink. They produce milk to feed their children. When we drink cow’s milk, we are in a very real sense stealing it from their children.

15.) What are your thoughts on organics?
I think it’s great that there’s more awareness about healthier foods. I’d like to live in a world where everybody had access to organic foods, where our ideas about what is healthy food included the health of the workers who grew and harvested the food, the health of the Earth, and the lives of non-human animals who today are killed for food.

16.) I hate PETA!
I don’t like them either. I think their campaigns are disrespectful and hurtful to both human and non-human animals. What don’t you like about them?