Tuesday, September 1, 2009

attraction rather than promotion


it is much better to attract people to veganism via good ol' fashioned cooking rather than promotion. what do i mean by that? i mean make some effing cookies. these are the chocolate chip coconut cookies from vegan-a-go-go. we like them a whole lot here at the jewbacca ranch. the recipe calls for an egg substitute of your choice, and hands down the flax seed option works best!

a little over a year ago, when i told mr. jewy i was going vegan, he balked a little because he thought i was going to turn into a self-righteous killjoy who made food that tasted like dirt. he recalled a vegan friend of his in the early nineties that brought cookies to a party that tasted like ass. i informed him vegan cooking has come a looooong way since then, adding that just because someone is vegan doesn't mean they can cook. mr. jewy still ain't vegan, but he happily eats 98% of what i make and no longer drinks cow's milk. it's progress, not perfection--upgrades are good.

anyway, how do you deter people from veganism? pushing the issue. being uppity about your eating habits. talking about it while omnivores are eating-(*"eeew, how can you eat that? do you know how long meat rots in the colon?"), giving people gory pamphlets, or setting them down to a good ol' fashioned PETA endorsed animal abuse movie. seriously, why do people think this is a a quality method to bring peeps over to our side? we don't sit around and watch footage of people being killed to know that murder isn't a good idea. why would people want to watch this other than to get riled up or be seriously depressed? for the record, i don't want or need to see any of those movies to know what happens to animals. i don't need to read about the torture either. i've read about it once, and put the book down. i know animals live a life of torture for the sake of human taste and consumption. i actually have quite the (pun intended) beef with PETA that could easily fit into a series of blog entries, namely the organization's blatant fataphobia. after seeing a billboard that exploited a fat child sponsored by the organization, i wrote them telling them i'd never go vegan again because of them. now i guess, i'm happily eating my words. via cookies, of course.

*=look, i know omnivores give us the same crap about how we eat: "ewww...." isn't it irritating? then don't do it to them.

so again, make some baked goods. cookies, cakes, pies, and bars are the easiest things to make vegan. don't tell people what's in them or that they're vegan unless you have someone who is allergic to something at your workplace. marvel at their requests to have the recipe.

13 comments:

Mona said...

yes!

Also, isn't it annoying when people lump together PETA supporters and vegans as a whole? I'm always like: "No thanks! I'm too busy eating So Delicious to run around trying to degrade women/minorities/overweight people."

Jen said...

((((nodding head in agreement with ms. mona)))) double bump for that "sexiest vegetarian" award. wtf is up with that?

laura said...

I love this post and could not agree more! And please, let PETA have it in a post one of these days! What a bunch of d-bags :(

Jamey said...

Yeah, I definitely agree not shoving it in everyone's face is a better way to do it. If they ask questions, by all means talk away, but there's no point in trying to force the issue.

I guess I kind of love + hate PETA. For every genuinely decent and civilized contribution they give to their cause, they have about 20 crazy-ass annoying promotions that I think totally nullifies any good they could have done.

I desperately need to get back to baking - buying my vegan goodies gets a little expensive after a while.

nora said...

those cookies are so thick! they look like muffins!!

Jen said...

@nora: aaah, that my dear is me using muffin tins for the dough. you have to add a minute to the baking time, but they make a nice, thick, chewy cookie. to boot, you can use these as "cookie cups" and top while the cookies are still warm with some vanilla soy delicious to cut the sweetness.

Bianca said...

Well said. Those cookies sound fantastic! I still need to get Vegan a Go-Go. I have all of Sarah Kramer's other books, so I'm not sure what I'm waiting for.

Do you bake your cookies in cupcake tins? I love how substantial they look.

Bianca said...

Okay, I'm gonna have to learn to read the other comments before commenting. Duh. I see Nora already asked. Just ignore me. :-)

Tami said...

What a great post. They're enough annoying people in the world that we don't need vegans joining their ranks!

And yummy looking cookies. I'm so glad veganism isn't what it was back in the 90s!

Chelsea said...

This is my approach to vegan education, too - make good food and people will eat it! I do think the undercover videos and stuff are really important, but would never force that on anybody.

Please pass the cookies!

Anonymous said...

Amen sistah!

Monique a.k.a. Mo said...

Hell to the yeah. Cookies over douchebaggery any day.

Julie said...

I am so glad you posted this. Recently, I've been thinking about the fact that I'm glad I'm a vegan, but I don't like most vegans. The 'holier-than-thou' attitude sucks. The "holier-than-thou-mixed-with-idiocy-and-objectification-of-women" attitude that is promoted by PETA just makes me want to barf. Some days, I'm pissed enough that I wish I weren't vegan, so I wouldn't feel lumped in with this crowd. But I'm not doing it for them, so the hell with them anyway. Thanks again for posting this. It's good to be reminded that being uppity isn't the answer. It's all about the cookies.