Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA

Hi, Hesher,
I agree with you in one respect: vegetarianism is not cute. It is very serious. For example, I feel that an important issue regarding food is that people deserve to be told the truth so that they can give informed consent before they eat something/someone. A 4th grade teacher has told me that when her students discover hamburger comes from cows, they say, "Yuck!" I was dismayed that no one had told these children earlier about what/whom they are eating. I feel that the failure to inform children about the source of food, or the repercussions of eating it, is an ethical violation...as is forcing a child to eat meat when the child does not want to do so for her/his own ethical reasons.

An education system is sorely lacking if children make it to the 4th grade without anyone teaching them anything at all about what has been going into their bodies for much of their lives. Many children care about animals and do not want them to be harmed. This sense of compassion is one that I wish our culture nurtured consistently...and luckily as social consciousness shifts there have been many gains. For example, 110 years ago people did vivisections on dogs without any anesthetic, thinking the dogs' howls were like the sound of a gong being struck. Most people now know other animals are feeling beings and are not like machines.

The secret vegetarian handshake, on the other hand, is rather cute. --Erica

Originally Posted by Sansa Stark

I'm down with Jesus, in that case.