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Any article that begins with a headline such as this is bound to ruffle some feathers, so let me begin by saying that I know better than to get into an argument with anyone about veganism. It’s akin to discussing politics around the dinner table, or religion at a bar counter. In the end, someone will get affronted and I will end up getting my opinions force-fed to me through a biodegradable straw.

The aforementioned headline, which hopefully made you click on this link, relates to a rather interesting article that appeared recently in the Telegraph, entitled ‘Jeremy Clarkson has Exposed the Lie at the Heart of Veganism‘.

The writer, a rather eloquent young ginger named Patrick Galbraith, argues that a recent episode of Clarkson’s Farm, which featured ‘Jeremy Clarkson breaking down in tears over the death of his piglets’, should serve as a poignant counterargument to the one-dimensional vegan view that meat=murder.

I am not a fan of the childishly bombastic Jeremy Clarkson and his particular brand of idiocy, which is perhaps best illustrated by his latest buffoonery where he tries his hand at farming, but I also don’t identify as a murderer for enjoying a tjoppie, so despite the two unsavoury subjects of the piece, I approached the article with an open mind. After all, not keeping an open mind turns an argument into a fight, so let’s not fight.

Despite the provocative headline, Galbraith’s focus was on the relationship and bond that farmers have with their animals, through the lens of Clarkson’s tears, which in his mind served as a good argument against the meat=murder ethos of vegans.

It would be a stretch to say that they love their animals in the same way that somebody might love a pet poodle. But they certainly respect and admire them and, in this country anyway – on small to medium-sized farms – they come to know them as individuals.

This idea flies against the belief that many vegans hold that animals are simply kept as beasts in servitude until their flesh can be consumed. According to the writer, “Farmers might seem like heartless bastards but the reality, as evidenced by Jeremy Clarkson breaking down in tears over the death of his piglets, is very different”.

What it is about, however, is the relationship and bond that farmers have with their animals.

It’s at this point that I began nodding in agreement, and as you can read here, decided to stick my fork into this particular lamb roast of a subject.

I grew up on a farm, and like most farmer’s kids, I was taught from a young age that nature is sacred. I watched my father work in nature as opposed to trying to dominate it, and the few times I saw him cry was almost always over the death, or mistreatment of animals. On several occasions I witnessed him spend more money on veterinary costs for an animal than he could ever hope to recoup by selling the same sheep or cow to an abattoir. He justified this by saying that an animal shouldn’t suffer, full stop.

I would stick my neck out and say that the average responsible farmer does more for the conservation of nature than any hate-spewing vegan on Instagram. Of course, there are many reasons people become vegan, and not all are based on ignorance or hatred of Spur. But to say all meat is murder by solely pointing to the cattle yards we all see on Netflix doccies is ignorant.

The real heartless bastards are not our farmers; they are the people who won’t pay a proper price to buy the sort of sustainably and ethically produced meat that people who enjoy meat prefer. They are the people who ship cattle across the oceans in stinking ships to ensure that profits are maximised.

If given the choice, most farmers would love to shut down the cattle yards seen in Netflix doccies, and not just for economic reasons. These practices are horrific and give people a reason to throw blood at paintings and scream bloody murder. Eating sustainably produced meat, however, doesn’t make you a murderer, just as eating walnuts doesn’t make you responsible for people suffering drought.

Galbraith’s article might not persuade vegans to try a tjoppie, but it should emphasise that you are allowed to be comfortable with your place on the food chain and be a nature lover. If that exposes the ‘lie at the heart of veganism’, then I reckon the kid’s got a point.

[source:telegraph]