The Gist: Welcome to the final week of October, and our last discussion of Animal Camp by Kathy Stevens! Thank you for all of your questions for the Q+A with Stevens this week—her answers will be posted this Friday.As I said previously, we finished the book this week, which consisted of more touching stories from Stevens regarding Catskill Animal Sanctuary. She also ends with her plea for people to adopt the vegan lifestyle, which she believes to be a very important step in helping to stop the atrocities of factory farming, as well as saving the environment.
The Discussion: I leave you with two final discussion points to start us with the conversation. I look forward to reading your thoughts!
1. What is your number one reason for being a vegan or vegetarian—ethics, health, environment, etc.?
2. What are your final thoughts on the book? Did it make you hopeful, sad, or inspire you to action in some way?
The Assignment: Next week, we will begin our discussion of My Year of Meats by Ruth L. Ozeki! Please read from the prologue through chapter 3 by Monday, November 1.
~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig
1. I am vegan because I in a position to live happily and healthily without the consumption of animals products, and I owe that to the animals! There is no reason why I should value another creature's life any less than my own. I think many people feel that way, but for whatever reason, so many people make excuses for themselves. There are no excuses!
ReplyDelete2. The book made me sad, yes, but hope is more along the lines of what I was left with. I am so inspired by Kathy Stevens' desire to help and learn from the the rescue animals she cares for, and it makes me so happy that there are people like her in the world. I wish there were many, many, more!
1. The reason I decided to become vegan was first and foremost for the animals, then for the environment, and then for the health benefits. I admit that I would never have even considered going vegetarian, let alone vegan, if I had not picked up Skinny Bitch looking for some tips to lose weight-I had no idea what the book was really about! But after reading the stories on what animals go through, it completely changed my outlook on food for life.
ReplyDelete2. There are parts of this book that are sad, but then reading about how farm sanctuaries are making such a huge difference in animals' lives is incredibly inspiring! I immediately did an online search and found out that there is a farm sanctuary an hour or so from where I live and I can't wait to visit and volunteer there!
I also loved how Kathy tried to talk to her audience about why they eat meat. It's so hard to talk about in an open, nonthreatening way because most of the time one or both people will get defensive and it will turn into an argument!
I had weight problems and started reading abut different diets and tried just about everyone and none of them worked. Then I came upon one that I thought I would try. It was all about no refined food,no processed food etc.I also wanted to use organic products, like shampoo etc. So I started to read up on products, that is when I discovered all the animal product that goes into these items,I thought how horrible that was and decided to buy animal free products right away.
ReplyDeleteThen I realized that the diet I had been on had no meat in it. I started reading up on how animals are treated before they end up on my plate. I became sick with the thought.
I lost a huge amount of weight( which is good, but now seems inconsequential compared to the poor animals. I could not go back to being ignorant of what I was consuming, on every level, not just the animal factor. I also found out I had a severe allergy to milk and cheese. I thought my asthma was just bad, but in the end I have a slight case of asthma,it was the milk doing the rest.
So I started for health reasons but now it is all about the animals. I do wonder how many people would find a cure for their physical problems if they cut the cruelty out of their diet.
This book made me happy and yes I cried too, but it strengthened my resolve to continue with this wonderful vegan thing. I have no family or friends who are even vegetarian. I live in a town that thinks I am odd. I have to drive 45 minutes just to find the food I can eat. It has not even been a year since I made the switch but I can not imagine going back.
Books like this help me and sites like this let me know I am not alone.
"What is your number one reason for being a vegan or vegetarian—ethics, health, environment, etc.?"
ReplyDeleteMy primary concern is animals. But as my knowledge and experience grows I become more interested in the environmental and health aspects.
Hi everyone, and thanks for the comments so far! It definitely sounds like animals are the number one reason for going vegan, which is wonderful in my opinion. When I went vegan I was in high school, so of course image was a big deal. I would say that I went vegan half for health, and half for the animals. But now, it's definitely for the animals, and health is just an added benefit! Thanks again for your comments, and I look forward to reading more.
ReplyDelete~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig
Great blog you havee here
ReplyDelete