Protest Kitchen by Carol J. Adams

Author:Carol J. Adams
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781633411104
Publisher: Red Wheel Weiser

You might think that vegans spend their time interrogating ingredient labels, looking for the stray whey and the unneeded egg. But what we have learned to interrogate is the propaganda that encourages meat, dairy, and egg consumption. It comes from corporate advertising and with the full backing of the federal government.

Animal activists could point out how Western meat eating became coupled with this faith in political progress and democratic optimism. The four food groups of the 1950s were tied to two myths that interweave: that meat provides the best form of protein and the myth of cultural (and culinary) improvement—that our diet is constantly improving. Yet, it is hard to imagine that the arc of the universe bending to justice includes usurping one-third of the landmass of the world to be used for animal agriculture. Or that it bends toward justice when we are slaughtering more animals than ever and confining them in worse ways than ever.

Faith in political progress may keep us from recognizing the erosion of democratic protections and systems. If we believe that basic democratic institutions can withstand any assaults, we may miss the signs that they are instead crumbling. Timothy Snyder, a historian of modern Europe at Yale University, says that the optimistic assumption that the federal government can withstand assault on its institutions may prevent us from responding accurately and fully.

We see worrisome assaults on freedom and democracy in countries throughout the world, among them the autocratic tendencies introduced by Donald Trump and embraced by some segments of the U.S. population. These include depicting the mainstream press as unreliable, offering alternative false narratives, undercutting regulatory control, gutting government institutions, showing a weak commitment to democratic rules, demonstrating a willingness to curb civil liberties, toleration or support of violence, and using federal law enforcement agencies to go after an administration's opponents—not to mention a troubling fondness for and praise of other authoritarian leaders. In response, our protests must be broadly based, vigorous, and not only against, but in defense of rights and institutions.

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