The Green Quote: Moby Confronts Al Gore About Eating Meat And Being Green
Filed under: green and famous — Michael Parrish DuDell @ 10:16 am
August 25th 2009
“I asked Al Gore about why he didn’t mention this in ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ [as animal production is responsible for more greenhouse gases than every car, bus, truck, bus, plane and boat on the planet combined]. He answered honestly, basically saying that getting people to drive a hybrid car isn’t that difficult. Getting people to give up animal products is almost impossible. I appreciated his honesty.”
-Moby sharing his conversation on spinner.com with Al Gore about why An Inconvenient Truth doesn’t mention meat-free diets. What do you think about this statement? Chime in and share your thoughts!
via: vegetarianstar.com
Whoever….Don’t knock/pick on Americans. It’s actually pretty arrogant and speciecist of you to do so. I am an American, vegan, and well educated on all the topics, including the environment, poverty, etc. Your insults actually set the vegan movement back about 30 years instead of helping the animals. Chill out and take a breather next time…haven’t you ever heard of “get ‘em with kindness” before? Your unfriendly rants don’t really help…some people just really don’t know the facts and that’s your chance to educate them…don’t miss the opportunity.
The cost and ease of being a Vegan in America is largely dependent on where in America you live. Where I live now (Seattle) it is very easy and cost effective to be a vegan. There are plenty of vegan restaurants as well as a plethora of farmers markets to buy locally as well as specialty shops that cater to the vegan lifestyle. Where I grew up in Indiana is entirely different. If you wanted to fight traffic and go to Chicago to purchase your food then sure you could be vegan. But most people there could not justify the added expense of driving 45 minutes to an hour to the city to get their variety of veggie proteins. In fact many of the people I know that tried to become vegetarian or vegan in that area suffered from mouth sores from vitamin B deficiencies and anemia because there simply was not enough variety of vegetables and plant based proteins available at the local grocery store to support their lifestyle. This is changing as meat substitutes become more mainstream, and becoming vegetarian is a little easier, as long as you never eat in restaurants. However, I feel that it is still a challenge to get the type of variety of foods that is needed to be healthy whatever your diet is in a large part of the US. As mental models change so does the availability of these foods, but this is a slow process where insults do not help.
I am a meat eater. I have tried not eating meat and I would equate it to an addiction. Sure its physically possible to go without it, but eventually the craving for it is so strong that I almost feel a need to slaughter an animal myself. And I did, in fact, do just that. And it was delicious.
Eventual change in the lifestyles of humans is possible, but unless the government actually did the unthinkable and outlawed butcher shops, people will always eat meat.
So, here I am muddling through all of this and I can’t help but keep noticing that most of the vegans sound like they’re enticing you to join them, which I guess is the aim. Everyone seems to have some inspirational story about how they came to be a vegan and will share it with you instantly because they want everyone else to become vegan too. That’s not a dietary choice, though. It functions more like a religion and, well, the problem with religion tends to be certainty of truth. Everyone would like to think they have certainty of truth, which is the draw to various religions and lifestyles, but please, make it a personal matter. I understand that in order to realize your vision of the world you need to have others who share that vision, but to do it in such a negative way leaves you behind your idea and not embracing it. Whenever somebody says:
“But now that I’m a vegetarian, I feel so much better (on all levels), and believe me I love the sun”
I can’t help but feel like I’m being sold the finest snake oil money can buy.
Jules,
I’m sorry if I personally offended you. That was not my intention and for that I apologise. I know better than to generalise…
However, your country’s attitude (and thus the majority of its people) towards the rest of the world has been, for a long time, nothing but arrogant and imperialistic. I sincerely hope this will change with your new president.
“some people just really don’t know the facts and that’s your chance to educate them”
Actually many people don’t want to know the facts because that would shatter the illusion they are living. But you’re right. And sometimes I do lose my temper a little bit…
“Whenever somebody says:
“But now that I’m a vegetarian, I feel so much better (on all levels), and believe me I love the sun”
I can’t help but feel like I’m being sold the finest snake oil money can buy.”
I’m not trying to sell anything and if you had carefully read Christy’s comment and mine, you wouldn’t have written such a nonsense!
I love the taste of bacon first thing in the morning! I love the taste of a big, juicy steak at night!
Hell I love meat balls and chops and tongue and I’d even give haggis a try!
I’ve had the game of Africa and Australia and eaten a bit of Frenchy horse made pie.
But truly oh truly after reading all those comments I’d really love to taste a self-righteous Vegan thigh!
Now, now don’t be all concerned. I knowed it’s against the Law. So don’t go getting Hippie eyed with me.
Get the laws changed to a Vegan majority and then the cows can sip tea and dream of human mastery!
I gave up meat in 1993 for the last time. I did one more thing people seem to be unwilling to commit to though. I vowed never to procreate. With over 6 billion people in the world, most of them meat eaters, I think any contribution on my part would be quite unnecessary. I only wish more people would see it that way.
we all give up meat and the economy is also fucked
Eating animals immoral?Not sure.Factory farming very immoral,thats for sure.Vegan diet healthier?Not sure.Ethically correct FOR SURE!
Dont eat tortured aniamls fools!!!!
To Whoever: Man,are you from another planet! Your comment that poor people only eat fruits and veggies shows just how far removed from real life you and your ilk are. Poor people in the U.S. can’t afford fruits and veggies from the supermarkets and don’t have access to farmer’s markets, which are out in the ‘burbs where the rich live and shop. Read The Grapes of Wrath. It is cheaper for the poor to buy a five dollar chicken than a five dollar bunch of asparagus. A three dollar pack of hot dogs fills the poor up more than a three dollar pack of strawberries. An order of vegan sushi is seven dollars, a meal at Mickey D’s five. You claim my examples of true hunger are extreme but hunger like that it is all over the world. Believe it or not, some people do have to kill humans to feed their families! My point-being a vegan is a personal choice of yours that you are able to pull off because of your particular circumstances. Lose your job, home, health insurance, car, support system, etc. and see how fast you scarf down a hot dog or hamburger in a soup kitchen, buddy. I’ve seen former bleeding hearts like you in the line many times. Being a vegetarian or vegan in the U.S. is a luxury, a lifestyle choice usually made by wealthy people. You see it as “giving up” something so you think it’s easy to do. But the ordinary under-employed, under-educated working stiffs who live in poor neighborhoods, ghettos, or towns have to eat what is available where they live. Give the economy a bit more time and you’ll see what I mean. I am leaving this site now-I have a life.
Wake Up Vegans! We all know Al Gore is a hypocrite. The question is who is he working for and what is Their Real Agenda? Follow the $$$$$$$$$$. Global Warming the is the result of extensive overgrazing livestock producing methane gas.
“Almost impossible.” What on earth does that mean? It’s difficult, obviously. Is that a reason to give up on something so imperative? Al Gore obviously thinks it’s impossible to get himself to go vegan, so of course he’s going to say it’s impossible to get others to do so. Start with yourself before you start calling others “impossible.” I’ve been vegan for a little over a year… before that, I said, “I could never be vegan.” And before that I said, “I could never be vegetarian.” Then, of course, after the transition impossibility suddenly became possibility and no turning back. People tell me all the time, “I could never do that. I could never give up cheese. I could never give up chicken.” In my head I think “So what?” I tell them, “I said the same thing.” Once you’re on that track, it just becomes a habit and no turning back, at least if you’re determined. But if you sit there and say, “I can’t do it,” then of course you can’t do it because you don’t even believe in it. When people need to lose weight, do they sit around saying, “I can’t lose weight?” or do they say, “I need to lose weight. It’s hard, but I need to lose weight!” Eh? Now, losing weight is a more personal issue than going vegan and so has to be tackled more personally, but even that could be addressed more publicly than it has been. And it should be. These are public, not just personal, issues we are talking about.