Some Hard Truths for Ethical Vegetarians

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         SOME HARD TRUTHS FOR ETHICAL VEGETARIANS  
  
  
                      INTRODUCTION  
  
   Vegetarianism is a vital, healthy lifestyle, and is  
embraced by many people for many different reasons. This  
document is addressed to those vegetarians who avoid  
meat, and in some cases animal products in general, for  
reasons having to do with personal and/or environmental  
ethics.  
  
   Animal rights and environmental organizations generally do   
a very good job of informing people of the positive aspects  
of vegetarianism, but they tend to neglect some important issues 
that are likely to make people realize that is virtually  
impossible to live a completely cruelty-free lifestyle. This is
understandable; they want to encourage people to do what they
perceive to be the right things, and some probably have political
motives for omitting information. Nevertheless, we need to have
some understanding of the whole picture, including both the good
and bad, to make truly informed choices in our lives. What
follows are what I believe to be the most important - and most  
neglected - facts that ethical vegetarians need to know.  
  
  
            ANIMAL TESTING AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS  
  
   Many of us make a genuine effort to both avoid  
products that contain ingredients derived from  
slaughtered animals, and to support the development of  
alternatives to the use of living animals in medical  
research. Most of us are unaware of the extent to  
which monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies, which are  
complex compounds produced by living immune systems, are  
used in common medical testing. HIV testing, pregnancy testing  
(including home pregnancy tests), feline leukemia tests done on  
companion animals, and many other tests that analyze blood or  
urine to detect specific antibodies contain these substances,
usually but not always derived from mice or rabbits. The 
animals used to create these antibodies are killed, and their
blood extracted, to provide them. Some monoclonal antibodies
are produced via cell culture, but use cells that were
originally derived from living animals, and generally utilize
a culture medium that contains animal products (see below).
    
   Another area in which animals are routinely killed is  
the testing of medical equipment for "pyrogens", or  
fever-inducing agents. This means that sterile medical  
supplies, including IV tubing, are tested for safety  
using laboratory animals.  Animals are also routinely
used to test new prescription drugs, and to lot-test
many over the counter drugs.
    
   These few examples are just that: examples, not a  
complete list. Ethical vegetarians should be aware that  
when they use standard medical facilities and tests, the  
chances are they are participating, however unwittingly  
or unwillingly, in a system that uses many of the  
practices that they oppose. Even emerging alternatives  
like cell culture often use animal products; cell culture  
very often uses calf or fetal calf serum in the growth medium. 
It remains up to the individual to decide whether or not they
wish to simply accept these uses of animals as a necessary 
evil, work within the system to try to change it by expressing
their objections and offering to try alternatives, or to  
withdraw from participation in Western medicine as currently
practiced.  
  
  
                    COLLATERAL DEATHS  
  
   Many vegetarians believe that, because they do not eat  
meat, no animals die to feed them. Unfortunately, this is  
rarely if ever true. Anyone who eats food that is grown  
using mechanical plows and harvesting machines must  
accept partial responsibility for the large numbers (no  
hard figures are available) of animals who die beneath or  
within these machines, or who die from pesticide and  
chemical fertilizer poisoning. This collateral death toll  
varies widely depending on the crop grown, the methods  
used, and the geographic features of the area. What a  
vegetarian does or doesn't eat can have a large effect on  
how many deaths they share responsibility for causing. 
Eating organic, preferably locally grown, food is a good 
way to reduce our impact on wildlife.  
          
   Nonetheless, it appears that rice, when sown and  
harvested mechanically, takes the greatest toll on higher  
animals, especially amphibians. This is because rice  
paddies can support large populations of animals in a  
relatively small area. Again, accurate figures are not  
available for the numbers of animals killed in rice  
production, and some (but by no means all) organic rice  
growers provide valuable habitat for migratory birds and  
other large animals, working to avoid lethal clashes with  
them. Still, if you believe that a frog's life counts as  
much as a bird's, consumption of commercially grown rice  
(with the rare, expensive exception of hand-harvested  
wild rice) is problematic at best.  
  
  
           OMNIVORES, HUNTERS AND VIVISECTIONISTS  
  
   People who eat meat are not inherently evil. While this may
seem self-evident to most people, some ethical vegetarians, in
their zeal to convince others of the rightness of their
lifestyle, demonize people who eat meat. It's true that eating
meat supports the slaughter of animals, but when you look at  
collateral deaths, including those related to transportation and 
energy use, the line between those who support the killing of  
animals and those who do not can become blurred. A committed  
environmentalist who rides a bicycle, lives in an energy
efficient apartment, and eats an occasional free-range chicken 
is certainly doing no more harm to the animal population - and is 
probably doing less - than a vegetarian who lives in the suburbs 
and commutes 50 miles to work in an SUV. Even typical meat eaters
are not engaging in deliberate cruelty; they are behaving in a  
manner consistent with their societal values.  
  
   Demonizing people who are different is counterproductive,  
because a friendly (or at least polite) vegetarian invites, by  
example, contemplation of their lifestyle. Hostility invites 
only more hostility, as well as dismissal of one's ideas.   
  
   It is difficult for most ethical vegetarians to  
understand, much less condone, hunting. Some vegetarians  
accept that some subsistence hunting is no worse than  
raising domestic animals for food, while others believe  
that anyone who is capable of personally killing an  
animal is innately Evil. Like most simple ideas applied  
globally, this near-universal characterization of hunters
is a mistake. Many hunters truly believe that they are doing  
what is best for wildlife by managing populations, while  
others point out that a deer killed by a hunter has at  
least had the chance to live free for a while, unlike  
most animals raised for food. It is not my intent here to  
debate these claims, only to point out that they are  
worthy of consideration, as are people who practice what  
they believe to be ethical hunting.  
  
   Similarly, people who perform medical research using  
live animals are not universally evil. Most believe that
they are performing important work for the good of humanity.
Many of them also try to ensure that the animals used suffer 
as little as possible. Again, I do not wish to debate the 
merits of animal research here; I just want to point out 
that most of these researchers are also normal people, with
deeply held beliefs and ethics. One can disagree with them
and try to change the structure of medical research without
directing violence and hatred personally at researchers.   
  
  
                 EGGS AND DAIRY PRODUCTS  
  
   Lacto-ovo vegetarians often believe that, because they  
don't eat meat, they are doing enough to reduce the  
suffering of animals at the hands of humans. While it is  
possible to eat eggs and dairy products that have been  
produced in a reasonably humane fashion, the eggs sold in  
typical supermarkets are usually the product of battery  
hens: chickens who are crammed with other birds into tiny  
cages, unable to move much or even stretch their wings;  
often painfully debeaked, and who are fated to end their
short lives in a slaughterhouse, or to die of infection.
The antibiotics sometimes given to the birds to keep them
alive under these conditions may also be contributing to
the increasing numbers of antibiotic-resistant strains of 
bacteria. Even some eggs labelled "free-range" are merely 
part of a marketing ploy by people who do little to improve 
the lot of their laying hens. Local, organic eggs from
producers who allow site inspections are the best bet for
those who wish to eat eggs without causing extreme suffering.
  
   Dairy cows, who once led a pretty good life, and still
often do, are now increasingly confined to stalls for much 
or even all of the day, and given growth  hormones that both
increase milk production and damage their health (and quite
possibly human health as well). Their male calves are almost
always taken away at an early age and raised as either crated
veal calves or as "feeder veal" in pens away from their mothers.
Buying organic dairy products can go a long way toward reducing
suffering, but remember that even organic dairy farming is 
linked to meat production, and that nearly all dairy cows are
slaughtered before they reach old age.   
  
  
                       CONCLUSION  
  
   Life is complicated, and black/white, good/bad  
worldviews can be both perilously wrong and  
counterproductive. It is important that ethical  
vegetarians, like everyone else, think for ourselves, and  
learn to think critically. We are not going to get all of  
the knowledge we need from advocacy organizations, or  
from industries that have a vested interest in  
concealing, or at least veiling, the presence of animal  
products and animal testing in our everyday lives. The  
most effective way to promote vegetarianism is to  
understand its implications and limitations, and to treat  
those who disagree with it with respect and civility. The
best way to promote our lifestyle is to strive to inspire
others by our example.     
  




          Copyright 2000, 2001 by Michael Cerkowski
          Distribute freely, but do not alter.