5:00

last week I ran a 4:55 1500. This week I ran a 5:00 1500. The question is, why? And what can I change this week in order to have the best possible week? Was it sleep, was it the lack of speed workouts on a track, was  it diet, or was it something else entirely? I have no idea. Furthermore, if it was food, was it simply the food I was eating at Baca? It certainly wasn't a balanced diet, and was very heavy on soy, which I have trouble digesting, and might be mildly allergic to. Normally, some soy is fine, but an entirely tofu-based diet doesn't work well for me. I need to get my vegan protein from other sources like quinoa or nuts. The easiest way to rule out this concern would be to eat non-ethical dairy: Rastall meat is okay, but I am severely limited in my choice of dishes, since many of them include some kind of dairy. To best prepare for my race this weekend, then, I should eat nonethical dairy products.

But when I eat non local, unethical animal products, I am essentially saying that my sport, my hobby (running as fast as possible) is more important than animals' quality of life. It's not a question of health on a survival scale, but a question of optimum nutrition. To put myself first is unjustified, ethically. To eat non-ethical meat and dairy anyways would simply be an acceptance my immorality. I've accepted my own immorality before, when I shoplifted and didn't feel guilty about it. So why can't I eat dairy and not feel guilty about it? The answer is affect- by shoplifting I am not participating in or endorsing an oppressive lifestyle for another morally considerable creature.

So what do I do? Eat dairy, and accept my immorality? Eat dairy, and feel guilty? Or don't eat dairy and constantly second guess myself if I don't race well? I have no idea, and I have to decide soon.

Veganism on the Road

Knowing where your meat and dairy products come from, how the animals were raised, and how they were killed takes research. This means that whenever I'm traveling, I pack food, or I eat vegan. I can't pack everything though. I try, but this week especially, I haven't had time between getting back from Iowa, going to Baca, and leaving for DIA an hour after getting back on campus. So I only have enough packed food for about 50% of my meals. Our coaches always bring us to a grocery store to get food, but the problem is, it's always Walmart. Thus, I have a choice to make- I need a balanced diet in order to race. So do I choose to get vegan protein from Walmart, or forego veganism for vegetarianism when we eat at restaurants?

Sitting in the car as I made my decision, this is the information I had available to me: Walmart is a conglomerate giant that probably ships it's products from all over, so the fuel impacts of vegan versus Walmart are fairly similar. We have already looked at the treatment of animals in the dairy industry- the living conditions of laying hens, the constant calving of dairy cows, their living conditions, the fates of the dairy cows' male calves. What about the impacts of Walmart? They hire people part time, in order to save on benefits that they would need to give to full time employees.

I believe that animals and humans should be equally morally considerable. Thus, by both of the ethical theories we've studied (Utilitarianism and Kantian) I should have picked the Walmart alternative. The abuse of animals via the dairy industry causes considerably more pain than the economic limitation of humans: employees still have social services available to them, and are not being de-fingernailed (what I imagine the human equivalent to de-beaking would be), raised in closets, or having their children sold off to be fattened up and killed as a delicacy (veal). Thus, Utilitarianism dictates that I should go to Walmart. The animals are being used as a means  more than the Walmart employees are. Walmart employees could, theoretically, terminate their contract (although one could argue that quitting might not be an option for employees because of their economic situation), implying that they have some control over their own lives.Walmart is making a contract with their employees, rather than owning them This suggests that walmart employees might be treated as means in some cases, but to a lesser extent than animals in the dairy industry.

But I didn't pick the Walmart option. Instead, I had bagels and cream cheese for breakfast, and pizza with cheese on it for dinner. So why did I make this decision? I didn't sit down for half an hour and think about the pros and cons, the ethical consequences. I simply acted on instinct. There's something weird about Walmart. Maybe that's because I've always avoided Walmart; my parents taught me to. Normality dictates that it's more okay to eat dairy than it is to go to Walmart. Perhaps it's also because of my instinctual preference for my own species. Is that ethical though? Is a bias towards one's own species acceptable? As much as I believe equal moral consideration should be accorded to animals when making ethical distinctions, I think that a preference for our own species is important in making the most acceptable decision. (The most acceptable and the most ethical decision aren't always the same.)

I also wanted to look further into Walmart's practices, my instinctual leeriness of the business. Walmart is not  environmentally sustainable. ( http://www.sierraclub.org/pressroom/media/2011/2011-06-walmart.pdf)
Based on this information,  my earlier assumption that dairy and Walmart foods had roughly equal ecological impact is probably incorrect, although it would be very difficult to compare the two without spending an incredible amount of time on the issue. It imports many of it's goods, forcing US suppliers out of business. Furthermore, it closes local businesses in many of the small towns it moves into. It is anti-union, and provides  few opportunities for employees.(http://www.pbs.org/itvs/storewars/stores3.html). Although the pain caused by Walmart might be less significant than the pain caused by the dairy industry, the company is much more widespread than the dairy industry, and as such, might actually cause more overal pain. Thus, by utilitarian theory, I made the correct choice.

Did I make the right choice though? What if this decision was evaluated using Leopold's land ethic? In this case, the environment becomes morally considerable as well. To what extent is the land ethic a more relevant/valid or less relevant/valid theory when making a decision between Walmart and veganism?

Update

I am in process of scheduling a meeting with bon appetit to talk about where they get their eggs and milk from, so hopefully by the end of the week I'll be able to add them to my list of  local, ethical, okay-to-eat foods. In the meantime, however, I have been eating vegan plus beef and pork that comes from Rastall (Rastall sources its' meat from Ranch Foods Direct, who buys local, free range meat. However, one of their fowl suppliers, Redbird, only packages localy. Therefore, I avoid the chicken and turkey served by Rastall). Engels claims that it is "extremely easy to adopt a vegan diet" and that doing so is also healthier, which makes me wonder if he has ever tried to be vegan. A surprising number of foods are vegan- I discovered that pop tarts, frosted mini-wheats, and potato chips are all vegan. The most readily accessible vegan options have proved to be junk food though, which significantly contradicts' Engels claim that a vegan diet is healthier. Perhaps a vegan diet is easier if you are buying and cooking all of your own food, but as a college student, I would say that a carnivorous diet would definitely be healthier, simply based on accessibility.

Veganism's Ethical Alternative

My best friend has been vegetarian her whole life- she's never had meat, of any kind. As a little kid, I thought that was really cool. So my second grade self decided to have a go at the veggie thing. I think I lasted about two weeks before I caved, asking my mom for salmon, steak, lobster, and chicken for dinner. The thing about vegetarianism is that it's really difficult, especially if you don't have a clear understanding of why one wouldn't want to eat meat.

A couple of years ago, though, I tried again. I thought about the implications of my meat consumption, environmentally and ethically- Where was the meat I was eating coming from? How was the animal raised and how was it killed? How did effect the ecosystems from which it came- did the way it was farmed disrupt the environment? Was it wild-caught or farmed? How much corn was farmed in order to feed the animal? This time, I lasted six months, but it wasn't lack of commitment that stopped my meatless streak, it was athletics. I know there are a lot of pro athletes out there who do just fine on a veggie diet. And I tried. I read books, went to a sports nutritionist, ate cottage cheese and broccoli and spinach and almonds up the ying-yang, but my body still craved meat, and my times (i'm a runner) weren't where they should have been. 

I wasn't ready to give up completely though- I'd decided I didn't want to eat meat for a lot of reasons. So I made a compromise. I eat meat, but only if its "happy meat" (as my family calls it). Before I consume any kind of meat product, I look into where it comes from. It needs to be free range, local sources with humane slaughter methods. The locality and the grass-fed (for beef), grain-fed (for fowl), or wild caught (for any seafood) element addresses some of the ecological concerns associated with the meat industry, while the free-range and slaughter method standards ensure a higher quality of life. Once I started eating meat again, I started running faster. I wasn't putting any more effort into my races, but my times dropped, more significantly than my training should have caused them to. I've found that this system works well for me- I get the nutrition I need, without compromising the things I believe in. 

I've been eating only local, ethical meat for two years now. I've always considered extending my standards to all animal products- many of the same issues are present in the dairy industry as in the meat industry- and so for this project, that's what I want to do. I'm going to cut out animal products from my diet, until I can figure out if the food i'm eating is coming from local, ethical sources. As the class goes on, I will use my blog to outline where the different meats and animal products that Bon Appetiet serves are coming from, making it a resource for others in addition to a record of my own choices. I think blog number two's going to have to be about eggs- with any luck, Mike's omelets will make the okay-to-eat list. 

-Betsie