SGN Page 44

by Madelyn Arnold

We are who we eat, and then some
Many of us ITC [In The Community] are vegetarians, and a higher percentage of Lesbians are vegetarian or vegan than in any other segment of society. Im not sure that my reasons square with others, though of course there are many: strict Buddhists, and Seventh Day Adventists, for example, have religious reasons; food faddists, animal lovers, picky eaters and beauty freaks have others. In a way, its like being queer: no matter how we got this way (or frankly, how we act) here we are. There shouldnt be any ranking of Good and Sufficient reasons but its difficult not to think of some as evidence of a kind of nobility, and others as, well, venal. THE VEGETARIAN AS SENSITIVE We ITC likely think of ourselves as sensitive people, and Ive come to believe thats often true, and that it makes sense. Straights tend to think of (at least male) Gays as sensitive, with the subtext that sensitive means weak. Yet the idea that Gays are more sensitive (here I dont mean, better at color-coordination) could have had a basis in what was historically their/our process of self-acceptance. Articulating our difference may have meant examining many aspects of what we think and do: what and how we consume what, whats affected, and why. If so, maybe the emotionally easier transit into Gay adulthood weve been fighting for will affect this self-examination [and maybe the idea of easy self-acceptance is a myth!], reducing the number of us who are veggies (or, say, Quakers). Right now, though, there are lots of us around. And maybe a sense of separation tends us to like pet animals? Stroll The Hill sometime after supper. No dearth of dog-walkers...but maybe that could change, too. RANKS OF RANKS Some people believe that the violent deaths of food animals cause the release of harmful compounds, by which perhaps they mean adrenaline. I am not sure I understand their logic. And there are some who have picked up the idea they can retain youthful skin and hair and the robust nature of youth (ahem), if they do not eat major (or red) meat (mutton, swine, beef), but instead minor flesh, such as from fish and fowl. Fake vegetarians. Now, Im not the kind of person who seeks out vitamins, minerals, bath oils, bubble-baths and massages, etc., and Im afraid of people who do. Im afraid that, in their search for physical perfection, they will unashamedly grab anything from vitamins to sautéed children [read: Elizabeth Bathory]; I have known people vain enough to use Human Growth Hormone back when they were hogging an extremely rare drug away from others who needed it desperately. It was used to bulk them up or make them more handsome... [Human Growth Hormone is now made artificially.] A VEGETARIAN DIET AS HEALTHY A veggie diet isnt necessarily healthy, depending on the vegetarian. One thing is certain, however, a vegetarian needs to known more about nutrition than the average omnivore. Do you know what kwashiorkor is? I would have told you it was a condition found in Third World countries, inner cities, and Appalachia. Was I ever surprised to find it closer to home. I was in college and had little money, but my jobs had covered expenses pretty well. When I became a veggie, I just dropped bologna and meat-based soup. Life got even cheaper: instant coffee, peanut butter, canned peas and ten-day-old white bread. After three months I was surprised to see I was gaining weight in my legs are and belly, and I caught every bug flitting by. Finally, enjoying a kidney infection at the infirmary, I was told this weight was edema, and my blood protein was impossibly low that I had a protein deficiency disorder: kwashiorkor. The doctor was a hearty, efficient man, and flicked aside the idea of meatless diets. I was being silly or worse. I must immediately start to eat here he started to lay out foods to include in my diet, and I interrupted him. It had been hard enough for me to make the veggie decision (for psycho-social reasons), but I had, and was not going back. Entire cultures throve eschewing meat all I had asked him to do was treat my infection... He decided I was serious. When he came back, his arms were loaded with books on nutrition. MISSPENT YOUTH Actually, I had unexpectedly become a vegetarian at the age of six, though as with most folks, it didnt last. Our family had been visiting a relatives farm, and although I had known where meat came from, that day Id actually watched a hog being butchered. It was moved into the barn lot, suddenly shot behind the ear, jerked up by its back feet, and its throat cut. Something about that paralyzed me, and although there was plenty of gore, it wasnt that. After all, I had gone stomping through the woods with my father, flushing out game birds and seen pheasants plucked and rabbits gutted, aswarm with fleas and mites. I had eaten their flesh. The first rabbit I had seen shot screamed a thin keening - so my father quickly broke its neck. So I wasnt raised to be sentimental, but there you have it. A few moments before that shot I had been scratching the hogs back with a stick. After the shot I refused to eat meat. Im fascinated by parents who say of their offspring: I dont know what to do with [hr/m]. After all, I cant make [hr/m] eat [spinach/whatever] if [s/he] doesnt want to, can I? Um. I dont remember my parents expressing this dilemma... The issue was discussed with me, after which I returned to the table to sit with some care, and eat what was put in front of me. Later I realized that the hog had had a fine hog life, that up to a moment before its death it had been greedily slurping mush in short living without dread, typical of stock on a family farm, and nothing at all like the lives and deaths of most meat animals today. In adulthood, the hardest thing about embracing a meat-free life was the knowledge that I was often going to be refusing that socially acceptable love, food from others. Turning it down meant rebuffing that sense of community (and pride) shared food represents. I come from that world where one offers food or drink as a matter almost of honor, and it is boorish for a guest to always refuse. But when I understood how corporate farming robs meat animals of lives before their deaths, I was confirmed as a vegetarian (frequently vegan). When I can find milk from cattle raised to see the sky and actually eat grass, I use milk and vegetarian [non-calf stomach enzymes] cheese. I wont pay someone to do a thing in a way I would refuse to do it. EPILOGUE There are economic and ecological reasons to consider, about which Frances Lappe has written, and there are the Right Nutrition arguments for vegetarianism, about which I dont know much. But in any case if feels like acceptance to be able to go to Gay-friendly veggie restaurants, and its nice to have the vague impression that Gay-owned restaurants have veggie items. Back to those ITC being veggie-conscious, back to that statistic on how many ITC are veg... I used to think that if family farm beef butchered as above were available, I would eat it again, but that day came, and I couldnt force it into my mouth. My doctor wants me to eat fish, and I cant do it (although Im told some are killed with high voltage electricity). I guess Im a hypocrite, like most. Yet what if everybody chose my diet. How quickly and how cruelly would food animals be done down? Look what has happened with that noble human companion, the horse? We humans only allow a few of each kind of animal. Maybe thats not what we intend, but thats what happens: witness the diminution of all sorts of species. If we cant exploit an animal, it tends to disappear... unless of course, its a rat, or a coyote or such. That is, unless it lives off us. Okay, I admit it. Im one of those sensitive queers; worse, a sensitive Lesbian. But since I was small I have had the conviction that a creature which can learn (lemmings, cats, goats, Brahma bulls) must have a form of consciousness. Self-consciousness definitely exists in orcas, gorillas, porpoises and chimpanzees. Is it the same sort of self-consciousness humans have? I hope not. I havent stopped hoping for superior forms of life. But I wont eat them. Madelyn Arnold, an early Gay Liberation activist, is a novelist and journalist contributing to the SGN since 1975. And hasnt all this dank and moldy weather been just LOVELY?