TOM REGAN
Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, North
Carolina State University.
My wife, Nancy, and I became vegetarians over 30 years ago. At the time, we didn't have any friends who were vegetarians. In fact, we didn't even know any vegetarians. Given our circumstances, we felt like we were absolutely alone. It was several years before we began to make contact with other like-minded people.
Eating out was a challenge. There weren't any upscale restaurants that served vegetarian dishes. They thought a vegetarian dinner was a slab of steak, a baked potato, and a tossed salad, only hold the steak. And even though Nancy and I were no longer youngsters, her parents and mine both thought that by not eating meat we were doing something dangerous and unhealthy.
Compare these snapshots from our past with the way things are today. Take the Triangle Vegetarian Society, for example, a vibrant, growing voice for vegetarianism in the area where we live. For several years, TVS has sponsored an annual Thanksgiving banquet.
Attendance has grown from 20 or so to upwards of 300. In the past, vegetarians were limited to two or three tables. Now, we require a whole restaurant, for the whole day. As for the food, it is 100 percent vegan gourmet, consisting of so many tastes and textures, colors, and aromas that mere words cannot do it justice. Oh, and did I mention? It's healthy, too.
So, yes, we have seen many changes, and many of them for the good. As for the future, Nancy and I believe that change will continue to be the order of the day. While health and environmental considerations will move some people to adopt a vegetarian way of life, the core concept — the one that will play the greatest role in fostering the growth of what we believe in — is respect for animals. There are many efforts underway, and more to come, aimed at improving the living conditions of farmed animals to make their life more 'natural.' This includes providing them with less crowded, more 'humane' daily environments in which to live. We have no doubt that many of these initiatives will succeed. Paradoxically, though, the more 'natural,' the more 'humane' their living conditions become, the more acceptable eating animal flesh is likely to be in the minds of many consumers. This is the greatest challenge we vegetarians face in the years ahead, which is why our central message must always be the same: we don't show respect for animals by eating their corpses, no matter how 'natural' or 'humane' the treatment they have received.
MICHAEL JACOBSON
Co-Founder of Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)
Back in the early 1980s, I think vegetarianism was considered a stupid, bizarre diet. There was probably some begrudging acknowledgment that vegetarian diets were healthy, but those acknowledgements were accompanied by copious possibilities of nutrient deficiencies. The nutrition community was constantly trying to find fault, saying you could just eat soda and Twinkies and you'd be a vegetarian.
It's quite amazing to read articles in the journals of the American Dietetic Association that really acknowledge the mental benefits of a healthy vegetarian diet, and the dietary guidelines for Americans emphasize eating more vegetables and whole grains, even more than eating lean meats and fat-free dairy products. I think that those kinds of publications reflect a major change in the way vegetarianism is viewed by the establishment.
I think the weight of opinion is acknowledging the benefits of a more vegetarian diet. When you look at the American Heart Association's and the American Cancer Society's recommendations, they are very much in line with the dietary guidelines for Americans. It is curious that one of the contrary forces, to some extent, really encouraging the consumption of animal products is the sustainable agriculture movement, where anything produced by a local sustainable farm is good. They do not recognize that meat, even if grass-fed, is likely to increase cancer risk, and dairy products certainly increase heart disease risk.
Ideally, in the future, people will be eating a more vegetarian diet, and the animal products that are eaten will be produced on sustainable farms with the animals treated humanely. Americans aren't all going to eat a vegetarian or vegan diet ever, so we should encourage a more sensible way to produce animal products.
NANCI ALEXANDER
Founder of Sublime Restaurant and the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida
In Florida, about 20 years ago, it was difficult to find a tiny store (large walk-in closet-sized) that had some organic vegetables and grains in bins, a single refrigerated unit, and maybe a frozen unit. Most were not very appealing. >
Usually, a bulletin board could be found in the store. Then, about 15 years ago, a large store called called the Unicorn Village and Marketplace was opened in Aventura, Florida. The owner sold it to Whole Foods and, five years later, became my original partner at Sublime. Vegan restaurants started appearing on the scene in Florida about 12 years ago. These restaurants had a seating capacity of about 30.
In 2003, Sublime, a vegan restaurant, was opened in Ft. Lauderdale. Sublime seats 175 people.
I think, in 25 years, we should see quick-service vegetarian restaurants, like McDonald's. Meat analogs have come to resemble animal products, leaving people little reason to eat animal flesh.
| VEGETARIAN JOURNAL | Issue Three 2007 | < previous |
