Nineteen. That’s the total number of mosquito bites I received last week in Hawaii. Nineteen, despite trying to apply IPM with physical controls (long sleeves and long pants every single day — as a result of which I was bitten on the face, neck, fingers, and feet), cultural controls (dumping out any standing water and [...]
Posts Tagged ‘vegetarianism’
21 Aug
Is it OK to eat invasive species?
Here’s the scenario: the Chinese mitten crab is an opportunistic and invasive species in Europe and the US that outcompetes native species, damages fish salvage facilities, disrupts local food chains, and causes considerable environmental and economic damage. To the Chinese, mitten crab is a sought-after delicacy. Lightbulb. Humans are so good at eating species into extinction [...]
7 Aug
Vegan Week Recap
It’s a day early, but I’m officially ending vegan week. Like a bad relationship, a promising start fizzled into something where my vegan diet and I sat sullenly in the same room and stared at opposite walls. Up until about Wednesday, things were great. I had fun trying out new recipes, enjoyed the moral clarity, didn’t [...]
27 Jul
[Not] Eating Animals and Absolute Morality
As an ethical vegetarian, I strongly believe that eating an animal when I have the option not to is morally objectionable. Full stop. However, as a relativist; I don’t believe in objective morality. If you choose to eat animals, in full knowledge of what that entails, I don’t think it’s my prerogative to judge whether your choice [...]
21 Jun
The Impossibility of Eating Compassionately
You know what I really hated about Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle? It wasn’t the elitist-hobby-farm-thing. It wasn’t even her daughter’s insufferable smugness (though there definitely moments when I put the book down in disgust). It was the chapter in which Kingsolver set about vegetarian-bashing. One of her key arguments against vegetarianism is that millions [...]
19 Jun
The Dairy Dilemma
I hate to say it, but I’ve come to the conclusion that eating dairy products isn’t really morally defensible. As an ethical vegetarian, I don’t have a problem with eggs; I think it is possible to have happy, free-range chickens laying unfertilized eggs. I don’t have a problem with using animals as long as they’re treated compassionately and fairly [...]
