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I don't read political vegan blogs, cause I don't identify with a lot of vegan politics. I try not to be "purist" about any of my opinions and isms, and things can just get too heated and bordering on judgmental in parts of Veganland.
But I follow some vegan food blogs because they tend to be friendlier, more laid back places. I don't read them every day, or even every week--I just pop in once a more or so. I don't even make the recipes, lol, cause I use cookbooks. I just like to see the pictures and read stories about their cats I guess.
One of my faves--I use her cookbooks all the time, especially for desserts--was telling a nice, happy, benign little story, and used this picture as a passing illustration:
It kind of bothers me. But I don't want to say anything there. I can't think of any way to phrase my feeling without sounding hostile, or it becoming A Thing. Every popular blogger has her Followers, and they will defend her to the death. We've all witnessed it, maybe we've been part of such defenses.
I just think you can make a point about McDonald's being unhealthy without using a fat image.
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It must have bothered me more than I realized cause I don't think I've been back since. Ugh. The fat hate--no thank-you. For more good writin's on that subject, see La Fokker, she regularly writes about it and just did a 9 part series on weight!
Around that time this cookbook author also started asking people to send her their stories about how switching over to veganism made them healthier/feel better, and she started getting into the China Diet stuff (of which there have been thorough critiques) and I just tuned out.
I'll always love her cookbooks cause she uses great ingredients, but... you know how it is... we tend to read information that will reinforce what we already believe, right? China Diet says veganism's best? Then that's the only study we'll talk about! Neal Barnard says veganism cures Diabetes? Bring it on!
Well, when it comes to a lot of my big beliefs, I consciously try not to only expose myself to What I Want to Hear. I try to read not just the idiots from The Other Side, but the best representatives, as JS Mill would have me do. And this tends to lead me awaaay from True Believers. And now I'm too extreme even for the cooking blogs! :-D Oh la. Good thing I never needed to be the cool kid.
Haley's chewing on the power couplings, I think she wants breakfast. Gotta go!
4 comments:
I'm not lovin that picture. I think that it is hostile and demeaning. I'm sure some people think it's incisive or even hilarious. hey, i laugh whenever some character falls down in a movie and that's pretty tasteless so I won't make a fuss about someone posting the pic, I just don't like it.
I love me some dairy so it's unlikely veganism would ever work for me...I'm perfectly willing to believe that it's healthier than my diet. I just don't subscribe to it.
I'm with you on this one. No one who has struggled with their weight "loves" to look like that - and no one with a weight problem would find that picture funny.
The Fat Nutritionist recommended a book called Health Food Junkie. I didn't even read it all. The first few pages blew my mind. He talks about cooking for a kind of commune. There are at least 20 different philosophies he has to take into account. Nothing over 150 degrees for the raw people, nothing raw for the macrobiotic people, etc.
The thing is, I knew all those philosophies and why they thought they were the one true way to eat. Some of them I'd even subscribed to once. Even though they directly conflicted with others.
You just have to find what works for you and right now, I don't know what works for me. A dear friend who spent a lot of time and energy taking care of her body died of breast cancer at 34yo last summer and it's thrown me for a loop.
If Cara dies of breast cancer and some 98 yo guy comes on Johnny Carson and says his secret is hot dogs 3x a day, whiskey and cigars - why bother?
Sorry - ranting. Hate the fat hate pic.
I really enjoyed Michael Pollan's books. He has an entertaining style, so even if you disagree he's a fun read. But he also footnotes, so you can at least track where he gets his arguments. He's basically just part of the slow food movement--less processed food, less meat.
I'm vegan for animal-compassion reasons, so it's never a health issue for me. So it annoys me when vegans use random health factoids to back up what is really a political choice, cause they get very selective with their data.
Sorry about your friend, JJJ. :-(
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