Bill White writes about Walk for Farm Animals

Bill White, columnist for The Morning Call, is well known for being an animal lover. I’ve followed his countless articles about Almost Heaven Kennels, a puppy mill just down the street from me. So it wasn’t too surprising that he would be the one to write about Farm Sanctuary’s Walk for Farm Animals in the Call. I was very happy to see his article (entitled Hilda the Sheep rose from the dead), and didn’t hesitate to thank him for it (you should too! bill.white@mcall.com)

Except that not only is Bill an animal lover, he also loves to eat. A lot. Including lots of meat. He has a contest at Musikfest called “Eat Your Way through Musikfest.” He eats obscene amounts of food from vendors all over the festival on the first of ten days, and anyone else who eats everything on his card of favorites gets a prize bag full of Morning Call goodies and a Bill White t-shirt.

Let me make it clear that I am not writing to slam this contest. I am a huge fan of eating and have been known to eat obscene amounts of (vegan) food in the past (every time I visit Strong Hearts in Syracuse, NY for example). I just think that it would be a wonderful thing for veganism if Bill could bring his two loves together: eat lots of vegan food. For a week. And then write a column about it for The Morning Call. I think everyone would benefit from it.

On a vaguely related note, the next time the festival rolls around I plan on doing my own version of Eating Through Musikfest: on the first night, I’ll go around to all the vendors and eat every single vegan option available. Unfortunately, I may still be hungry when I’m finished.

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Things That Boggle My Mind

1. Walmart-brand fair trade coffee.

I went to Walmart the other day because I was in dire need of more coffee, and noticed that they have Sam’s Choice fair trade coffees. This confused me a little, because of Walmart’s reputation for treating their employees poorly, so… apparently they care more about farmers in other countries than people right here? I know the case is more likely that they want to look good and people are starting to demand more fair trade so they’re just speaking to that demand, but it’s still a bit of an oxymoron.

I’ll admit that I don’t always buy fair trade, I almost always drink Yuban 100% Columbian just because that’s what I grew up with. I did end up purchasing some of the Sam’s Choice fair trade though, because it seemed to be the best choice out of the limited selection. I even decided to live a little and try Costa Rican (like I said, I always drink Columbian out of habit) because I was in the mood for something different… and it was in a pretty purple bag. I think I may have found a new favorite country of origin for my coffee!

2. “Animal lovers” who eat meat.

I’m going to try to keep this short, because otherwise I could rant and ramble forever and not get anywhere. But there are so many people out there who claim to love animals, they even donate to and work at (or even run) humane societies and animal protection agencies… yet they eat animals, an act which necessarily causes pain and suffering to the animals and is not necessary for our survival. This discord between actions/opinions will never make sense to me (or most other vegans), and I’d like the people this describes to think long and hard about why they say they love animals but still eat them, and then get back to me. Like, seriously.

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