Topic List for our research project

[SemiCharmedQuark]

Tofunut got us started off with "What is a vegetarian". That's a great one. I think we've probably all been asked if we eat fish, right?

What else do we have?

[flvegan]

1. I think that logically, "what is a vegan, and what's the difference

between a dietary vegan and and ethical vegan?"

[WhollyHeretic]

2. Something about the environmental impact would be good

Here is a study by the U.N.

http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000448/index.html

29 November 2006, Rome - Which causes more greenhouse gas emissions, rearing cattle or driving cars?

Surprise!

According to a new report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalent – 18 percent – than transport. It is also a major source of land and water degradation.

Says Henning Steinfeld, Chief of FAO’s Livestock Information and Policy Branch and senior author of the report: “Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems. Urgent action is required to remedy the situation.”

Of course this won't matter to the rabid anti-veg crowd. I've already seen them dismiss it with no thought here on DU. It's a great article to show open-minded people though.

[stuntcat]

4. (thanks for this article)

(I forwarded it to some old anti-environment acquaintances online. I tried to tell them this last year and they said I must be wrong :eyes:)

[WhollyHeretic]

3. Something to answer the old crap about it not being healthy.

A couple of articles from impartial sources would be nice.

A list of vegetarians who are in good shape would be good too.

[yewberry]

5. I'm going to jump in again.

If my voice is being heard too much in this discussion, please let me know.

I like the ideas so far:

What is vegetarian?

What is vegan? (That one might be a little tough--people seem to prefer to think in black & white and look at this as a rigid checklist instead of a larger lifestyle/series of boundary-setting individual decisions.)

What are the environmental concerns/consequences that result from a western-style meat-based diet?

Is a vegan diet healthy? (We could link to Elad's post or ask him to repost it.)

What else? How about:

"Veg*n diets cause the deaths of untold millions of small animals and insects during the harvesting of vegetables."

"Humans evolved to eat meat."

"Is breast milk and/or oral sex vegan?" (We might get shut down on that one--it could certainly be seen as inappropriate by some.)

"Why does all veg*n food have to be fake versions of real food?"

"Plants feel pain, too, carrot-killer!"

"Veg*n food doesn't taste good/doesn't fill me up." This, too, might be a hard one. A lot of folks won't understand that tastes and preferences actually change during the process.

"If we all went veg*n, what would happen to all of those cows/sheep/chickens/etc? We can't just turn them loose--they're domesticated!"

"Veg*n food is SO expensive!"

"What do you EAT?"

"Wow, isn't that hard to make that kind of commitment? Don't you want to eat meat?" (This might be hard to work through for some people. Realistically, for most of us, there's a point at which we just don't see meat as food, so no, we probably don't miss it. I just don't think about it and I can't imagine eating it, so it's not a big deal and there's no sense of deprivation. At the same time, my position here comes from my own viewpoint (21 years veg*n) and a discussion with my husband (12 years O-L vegetarian), so that might be less universal than I perceive it to be.

I know that there are more, but that's what I've got off the top of my head.

[flvegan]

6. Hell no, tofunut, your voice is NOT

being heard too much.

If we're going to be serious, we need to break out each point and debunk/debate/de-stupidify each one. You've raised a number of good ones, each deserving a thread in which it should be discussed.