Sowing the Seeds of Veganism

I was thinking about the Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary calendar of rescued animals photographed by Deb Durant that's on my refrigerator.

It's on the refrigerator, but when you open the refrigerator door you'll see nothing that came from the animals in the calendar. No animal secretion smells, nothing that's dripping bloody liquid. People flock to photos and calendars on refrigerators. You're telling them what's important to you, and they always at least take a gander, but usually ask some questions, too.

I could be reading into this, but it does appear that there's some discomfort on the part of non-vegans when they look through the calendar and I tell them the story. Most had no idea that there were sanctuaries that include animals we use for food, though they don't flinch at the idea that I have a friend who spends her Saturdays (or is it Sundays now?) shoveling poop.

The calendar is a seed--it's a way into the conversation that is likely to continue once the refrigerator door opens and the guest is looking for something to eat.

Books are seeds, pamphlets are seeds, the horrifyingly dry gluten-free cookies I made last night would be seeds if I weren't about to throw them into the garbage (luckily I made only a dozen and can try to fix the remaining 2/3 of the batter). Films are seeds (and Eric of I'm Vegan took a bit of a spill and when he's healed a bit more he'll get back to finishing up), blogs are seeds, vlogs are seeds, my recycled inner-tire rubber handbag is a seed. Websites can be seeds if they don't promote animal products while saying animals aren't ours to use; I find that confusing.

And when you're checking out at the health food store with your cans and bag of vegan dog food, how could that not be a seedy opportunity?

I call my greyhounds sneaky activism opportunities. They're discussion starters and it's up to me to steer the discussion based on how it begins. Here are a handful of conversations I've had over the past few months, with people who stop me to say whatever they need to say about greyhound racing (most people can't wait to tell you their opinion):

• Greyhound racing should be banned (and why).
• Segue into horse racing.
• Possible segue into the tie to gaming that's artificial, but legislated, and needs to change. There are plenty of places to play poker here. Doing it at the dog track when you don't believe in dog racing is supporting an industry you don't believe in. And furthermore, the "I use less gas than going to a casino in Fort Lauderdale" excuse is nonsense. You don't really care about the gas. And look at it this way, you can spend more time in your $85,000 car! (You think I'm talking about someone specific?) And the casino's a much nicer place!
• Parlay greyhounds aren't for entertainment to they're not for eating to chickens aren't for eating either (this one takes a couple of minutes + a willing receiver).
• Parlay greyhounds aren't for entertainment to they're not for experimenting on to neither are mice (again, takes a minute, but I've done it).
• Of course, there's the pure breed discussion as well as the breeding of dogs, in general, discussion (most frequent after the racing discussion for me).

All of this, just from walking through the neighborhood 4-5 times/day. And evidently the dogs are interpreted as an invitation, as when I'm not with them no one stops to talk to me (hmmmm). So there you have it: greyhounds are seeds, too. Big, lanky, bony ones, but seeds nonetheless.

Comments

[Patty]

I have had similar conversations while walking with my greyhounds. I usually say something like: "No animal should be bred for the purpose of being exploited for profit, whether it be for entertainment or anything else." This can sometimes lead to animals used for food, depending on the receptivity of the other person.

[Jose Valle]

I like the seeds metaphor, it's really good. There are so many ways to plant them... I know that in my path toward veganism & AR, I received my different seeds and all of them, at the end, grew together some years later to help me change my mindset on humans-nonhumans relations.