Privilege: The U.S. Vegan Movement, Whiteness, and Race Relations (part 3)

Introduction
In the last post, I described some of the reasons how and why the animal and veg*n movement(s) are alienating to people of color. In summary, U.S. vegans present themselves as middle-class, single-issue activists who think they have the one truth which all others should accept, yet, dismiss other humans’ struggle against their own oppression as marginal. Not only do they avoid race by promoting “color-blind” politics (which only makes race issues invisible), some may be explicitly racist and colonialist by targeting an entire country and/or culture for “cruel” practices with little effort or care to assist those within those cultures who are working on similar campaigns. I recommended that middle-class white American vegans need to engage in empathetic dialogue with people of color, the working class, and “foreign” countries/cultures as the first step for establishing better inter-racial relations, respect, and furthering veganism.

In part three and four of this series, I will discuss how, beyond alienating and offending people of color who are not (yet) vegans, “a lack of race-consciousness has [also] made invisible those people of color who are already vegans.” VOC, despite being indispensable fellow members in the AR and veg*n movement(s), are nonetheless persistently marginalized and deeply hurt by how they are identified by fellow vegans as exotic Others whose own everyday oppression must come second for the sake of liberating animals. If there were only one reason—and don’t get me wrong, there are a sh*t ton—many white vegans ought to become more conscious of their race privilege, it is to end the hurt and alienation their ignorance causes their partners and allies to experience.Read more »

The Racial and Colonial Politics of Meat-Eating (part 2)

Colonialism: Cattle, Class, and Hunger
Tragically, the genocidal imperialist policies of the United States did not cease at the end of the 19th century. David Nibert, who in Animal Rights/Human Rights (2002) argues that human and animal rights cannot be fully achieved within consumer capitalism, notes that 20th century American agricultural interest in Guatemala and other Central American countries resulted in the deaths and disappearances of tens of thousands of people.[17] The United States supported and helped install dictators in order to secure land from which to extract agricultural resources, mostly fruit and beef. Communities of people were uprooted and displaced from their land as U.S. corporations and regional elite bought or leased it until only 3 per cent of Guatemalans owned 70 per cent of the arable land.[18] In the Amazon, competition over land has resulted in the cattle ranchers appropriating forest from the indigenous and forcing them into slavery.[19]Read more »

The Racial and Colonial Politics of Meat-Eating (part 1)

Introduction
Contrary to the perceptions of many Americans whom I have met, a plant-based diet is not isolated to a middle-class white elite in Anglo-American countries; it is quite common among people of color if one is to take into account countries outside of Europe and former British rule. The invisibility of the much more common plant-based diet is in part a product of most U.S. Americans’ deficient education in world geography, culture, and history. Further, because many East Asian and Latin American restaurants in the USA have menus filled with meat-centered entrees, many white Americans falsely assume that those animal-based dishes are commonly eaten within their countries of origin, forgetting that restaurant meals, gourmet food, and meat are primarily foods for the middle and upper class (the minority).

According to World Watch, collectively a person in industrial nations (most likely an affluent white person) will consume on average three times the flesh of mammals and birds as someone from developing nations (most likely a poor person of color), and a person in the U.S. will consume five times that amount. [1*] When fish and dairy are taken into consideration, Western Europe becomes the world’s largest consumer of animal products. [2*] In both cases, with the exception of Japan (a huge fish consumer) and a few South American countries (Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay—huge beef consumers), people of color have very little access to animal products. Of course, much of this distribution is related to class--which only further highlights the intersections of speciesism, nationalism, racism, and classism.

Not until after WWII have US Americans had "privileged" access to cheap, fast, subsidized “meat.” Most Americans seem to have little conscious that only a little over one hundred years ago, almost 90 per cent of American resided in rural areas[1] and chicken was as expensive as shrimp and eaten in only 1/100th of the quantity today.[2] In an interesting reversal, today the poor commonly lack geographic and/or financial access to fresh produce. Recent studies have shown that even in in the agricultural state of Iowa, rural people have limited access to food, living in what are called “food deserts”[3]—a situation more associated with poor intercity neighborhoods.[4].

The privilege assigned to meat by the U.S. federal government is very evident in a graphic from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine that juxtaposes the federal subsidies pyramid with the federal nutrition recommendation pyramid: while over one-third of one’s servings should come from fruits and vegetables, these foods receive less than one percent of federal subsidies, while meat and dairy receive almost three-fourths. [3*] Even when made more affordable, nutritious whole plant-based foods are neither affordable enough nor culturally valued enough to overthrow meat and dairy as the centerpieces of the American diet. Even with a 10-percent subsidy on fresh produce, low-income Americans would still not be eating the dietary recommendations of fruits and vegetables.[4*]

In the following post I will examine--following Carol Adams analysis of the “sexual politics of meat”--the racial and colonial politics of meat (and milk). Unlike previous discussions of the topic such as The Dreaded Comparison (1996), I will not cover the psychological and analogous dimensions of racial/interspecies oppression, but rather the structures of Northern, American, White, and middle-class privilege that drive the intersections between the subordination of non-human animals and non-white human animals.

My intent is to show how Anglo-Saxon cultures have juxtaposed themselves to other cultures and “races” through their diets, establishing themselves as the human identity and others as essentially deviant and ethically marginal. Further, I describe the historical and ecological relationship between animal exploitation, colonialism, and the genocide of Amerindians. Finally, I put forth evidence that people of color within the United States (and in other countries) are still marginalized and whose lives are put at risk in order to increase the profits of animal-exploiting, multi-national corporations.Read more »

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning and Portable Generators

The graphic posted on this blog post shows the proper placement of a portable gasoline-powered generator. The photos on the 12/14/08 blog post are a few of the 30 or so photos I took of generators in southern Maine during last week's ice storm. They are all NOT properly placed because they are not far enough away from the houses.

So far we have tallied over 30 people in Maine with documented carbon monoxide poisoning from last week's storm. Preliminary analysis indicates that the vast majority were associated with misplaced generators. And, my own perusal of southern Maine indicates that is quite common. In fact, out of the 30 photos I took, not one is of a properly-placed generator! Consider a few facts:


Carbon Monoxide = CO is an odorless, tasteless, invisible and deadly gas.
CO is created from any combustion or burning of fuel.


In Maine, we have on average 150 people per year seen in emergency departments for CO poisoning, and 1 - 5 deaths.


The Maine 1998 ice storm - 2 deaths from CO poisoning, and well over 100 people were seen for CO poisoning in hospital emergency departments, mostly associated with the use of gasoline generators.


What can we do?

1. Know that gasoline-powered generators make a LOT of deadly carbon monoxide gas – one portable generator can produce the same amount of CO as 100 idling cars!! (http://blogs.consumerreports.org/safety/2006/12/growing_concern.html)


2. NEVER operate a generator in an enclosed or semi-enclosed space such as a basement, garage, barn, or enclosed porch. Doing so may send you and your family to the hospital and may even kill you.


3. Place generators outside far away (at least 20 feet) from any doors and windows that may allow CO gas back into the house, and make sure the exhaust is directed away from the house. Buy an appropriate electrical cord sufficiently long.


4. Keep generator and your hands dry to avoid electrocution. Many people use a canopy-like structure on a dry surface where water cannot reach the generator. It is important to plan ahead on where and how to place a generator safely outside of your home.


5. Have a working battery-operated CO alarm, especially if you have a generator. Only about 1/3 - 1/2 of Maine homes have a CO detector at all.


6. Do not use cooking equipment for heating inside - such as grills, stoves, or ovens.


7. Know that CO symptoms are: flu-like symptoms - headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness - plus confusion and loss of consciousness. Some may have shortness of breath, palpitations, or chest pain. Often multiple people and pets are sick at the same time.


8. If the CO alarm goes off and you have symptoms, call 911 and get everyone
outside.


9. If you have questions call the Northern New England Poison Center at 1-800-222-1222.


A battery-operated CO detector makes a wonderful Christmas or Hanukkah gift!!

Ice Storm 08 Photos of Generators

On December 1st, the 20th Anniversary of World AIDS Day, Governor Baldacci and Dr. Mills joined Andrew Bossie, the Executive Director of the Maine AIDS Alliance and a number of others in the State House Hall of Flags for an event marked by celebration, somber remembrances, and a garnering of leadership.

We celebrated that life expectancy for those diagnosed with AIDS has increased from 4 months for those diagnosed 20 years ago to 8 years and climbing for those diagnosed now. We remembered the hundreds of Mainers who have died of AIDS over the years. And, we garnered political, health, and faith-based leadership to address the challenges faced by the estimated 1,600 Mainers diagnosed with HIV and to prevent the further spread of the infection.

I felt privileged to play a role in this day, and met some incredible Mainers with inspiring stories!

For more information on AIDS

Maine CDC HIV Website: http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/boh/ddc/hiv_std_vh.htm

Maine AIDS Alliance: http://www.maineaidsalliance.org/

US CDC HIV/AIDS Website: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/

Dora

Heating Crisis in Maine

We have been quite busy the past few weeks with budget deliberations, the annual fall public health and medical conferences and meetings, and addressing some public health brushfires (hepatitis A outbreak, etc) that are exacerbated by a staffing shortage.

Despite these challenges, it is important we continue to address emerging health issues. One of these is the current heating and economic crisis. Mainers are more dependent on oil for heating their homes than any other state. So, the current economic and heating crisis has a number of public health ramifications.

Three ramifications are the focus of a recent health advisory: carbon monoxide poisoning, hypothermia, and respiratory health secondary to wood-burning. This health advisory and other fact sheets and information can be found on our Stay Healthy This Winter webpage at: http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/boh/heat_2008.shtml.

Additionally, Maine CDC funded a telephone survey this fall of about 32,000 Mainers on a variety of heating and energy issues, including on transportation, carbon monoxide, and commuting issues. The results of this survey, along with district results, can also be found on the Stay Healthy This Winter webpage.

Our epidemiologists are also tracking more intensely illness and deaths due to these three major issues - hypothermia, carbon monoxide, and respiratory health. The information gathered and resulting analyses we hope will inform future efforts.

We hope these materials and efforts can help the many Maine organizations and people who are working hard on assuring a safety net for people this winter. Let us know if there are additional ideas you have!