Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Was it just me or was this book really insulting to people who have chosen not to eat meat?

Or just give your thoughts in general.

I liked the idea of the book. Eating local is good, and it'd be kickass to be able to raise my own food. Then I got about halfway through the book and the eye rolling began.

Agreed. I stopped reading the book halfway through. I completely appreciate the idea behind the book, and I think embracing local food is a tremendous thing, but I found the book a bit self-indulgent. It didn't hold my interest for very long.

Once upon a time I owned and read this book and loved it. I was a long-time vegetarian but newly vegan and I guess part of me sort of believed that veganism wasn't totally self-sustainable, or at least empathized that not everyone has the means of, say, living of the land without eating animal products (which sadly is true in some places on this planet but that's another matter).

But that was then. Now, I'm way more impassioned over animal rights and the ethical side of veganism and I've been thinking about that book a lot. Some recipes are real good, (such as the blackberry-basil-balsamic crisp) she writes fantastic prose, and it's got great info on growing food, food oppression and politics and agribusiness (I mean, factory farming). I love her fiction writing. But I've been thinking about that book lately, and what I think is that it would probably make me very angry if I re-read it today. I realize much of her argument is over LOCAL food, but at least on the health level I think basically everyone on this forum is living proof that vegans thrive juuuuuuuuust fine.

I totally want to give my money to female authors but I can't give my money to animal-killing authors.

All other things being equal, local is of course better, environmentally-speaking.

But all other things aren't equal.

Eating meat—even locally raised meat—is probably worse, environmentally, than eating nonlocal (even really, really nonlocal) plants.

http://www.newscientist.com/mobile/article/dn13741-food-miles-dont-feed-climate-change--meat-does.html

You don't need to choose between your ethical concern for animals and your concerns for the environment. They are in sync.

i thought the book was pretty good, except the parts written by her teenage daughter, who is apparently an expert on all things biological, nutritional, and yogic.

"there have never been any truly vegan cultures because they accidentally ate bugs and that's how they got their B12! LOL!"
while completely neglecting the fact that B12 is a product of bacteria, not animals.