On my mind...

Over the past couple of months, there have been two incidents within the online vegan community that have been bothering me. As vegans, we stand for a few big causes: animal rights, environmentalism, and health/nutrition (and more, I could easily break down into sub-categories). We scoff at defensive omnivores who give us a hard time about human rights, because damn straight we care about humans too. And yet....

I am more than just a vegan, and I stand for more than just "vegan" issues. One thing that really bothers me about our society is that with labels comes separation. (Thank you to Pema for inspiring me to really think about these issues.) Vegan. Yogi. Partier. Pothead. Doctor. Lawyer. Lobbyist. Surfer. Techie. Gay. Runner. Corporate. Mother. Artist. All of these labels that can be broken down into even more sub-labels really mean nothing. Aren't we all just people? Don't we all want the same things, to be happy, healthy, safe, and loved? How do these labels make life better? Do we really need more separation between us?

So here's what's been bothering me.

Remember Tasha? Formerly known as the Voracious Vegan? Back in November, she spoke out about no longer being vegan and was hit with such a mean-spirited backlash that it was shocking. And after multiple threats on her blog and on twitter, she's disappeared. I can only imagine how difficult it was for her to write that post, let alone to come to the decision that a vegan diet was not optimal for her health (to an extent, based on my research and the research of my friends, I do find that hard to believe, though we are all different and perhaps a vegan diet is not for everyone). Yes, she put it out there to the blogosphere, and that does make it the business of her readers, but really, what right do we have to judge her personal decision?

And then, last month, there was some drama between two amazing cookbook authors, Isa Moskowitz and Lindsay (Happy Herbivore) Nixon (both of whom I really respect--I own and love all of Isa's books, and every one of Lindsay's recipes I've tried has been a winner). Basically, one was accused of plagiarizing the other's ideas. They both said what they had to say via their blogs and/or forums, and as the saying goes, somewhere between those two sides lies the truth. But it got really ugly when their followers started ganging up via amazon book reviews. Like I said, I really respect both of these authors, so this made me really sad. And when both of their cookbooks arrived (I ordered them prior to the drama), I couldn't bring myself to cook anything from them (fortunately, I also received Terry Hope Romero's awesome Viva Vegan on the same day, and also fortunately, I've since happily cooked from both Isa and Lindsay's books). And there it is. More separation. Between people who should be allies. Why?

I try to just go with the flow. I work really hard to not force my viewpoint on my omnivore friends: I am happy to simply cook good vegan food for them and share nutrition and food policy info if they ask (or via facebook). I blog about food and gratitude and positivity; I engage in the twitterverse, and I love that it gives me a vegan community that I don't really have in Miami Beach. I try to keep controversy out of my blog. But I couldn't sit back and watch any longer. Dearest vegan blogger friends, I hope that you're still my friends.

xoxo,
LJ