Respectful Vegan/Omnivore Co-habitation

The February 26 edition of Newsweek has a warm article, by Jenny Andrews headed, "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman (and Child); How does marriage work for a tofu-loving vegan and a fish-eye-eating omnivore? Deliciously."

It opens:
"When my husband, Ken, and I were planning our wedding two years ago, we toiled over the menu even more than most anxious couples. As a Jewish vegan who doesn't eat meat, poultry, fish or dairy products, I wanted to share vegan delicacies without feeling I was pushing an agenda. My Chinese-Japanese-Hawaiian husband wanted to be sure his relatives would have enough to eat, and to incorporate Chinese banquet foods.

"In the end, our caterer served a gorgeous organic vegan meal, complete with Chinese long noodles (representing long life). We added line-caught wild fish, served whole to symbolize abundance and good fortune (in Chinese and Hawaiian tradition). After a Jewish blessing over wine and challah, Ken worked the room, teaching people to extract and eat the fish delicacies: the eyes and cheeks.

"I became a vegetarian as a teenager, with the mixed motivation of loving animals and wishing to confound (and inconvenience) my meat-eating parents. Then, five years ago, I became a vegan."

The article discusses the respect the two people show each other in the realm of diet. My favorite paragraph is:

"It is tradition to celebrate a child's first birthday with a luau--including a whole roasted pig. A friend of the couple dutifully raises the pig from the time of the child's birth and slaughters it for the party. After being initially appalled, I came to appreciate the care taken in this tradition. The symbolic little piglet is better off than a factory-farmed animal. Still, I had to put out the word that any Babe-butchering in our honor would offend my vegan sensibilities. We have five more months to figure out what to serve instead. Soy in a pit? Tofurkey?"

With an entirely respectful attitude, Andrews makes it clear that slaughtering a pig to celebrate a family event is out of the question.

Many of us, for the sake of the animals, would like to see veganism spread quickly through society. Societal acceptance of vegan lifestyles is a good step in that direction, and articles such as this, which take veganism seriously but show warmth and respect for those who do things differently, can only help.

You'll find the whole article on line at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17201476/

It opens the door for veg-friendly letters to the editor. Newsweek takes letters at letters [at] newsweek.com

Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Remember that shorter letters are more likely to be published. And please be sure not to use any comments or phrases from me or from any other alerts in your letters. Editors are looking for original responses from their readers.


(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. You may forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts if you do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this parenthesized tag line. If somebody forwards DawnWatch alerts to you, which you enjoy, please help the list grow by signing up. It is free.)