The last thing the AR community needs is another great person working for a shitty organization and having to apologize for their euthanasia programs or the fact that they have recently supported a lift on the ban on horse meat. It surprising how much this has come up in both my tumblr feed and…

You’re on the right track, but I posted those links simply because of the availability of the actual government data (read: tax forms, filing reports with the VA ag board, etc). Yes, they are special-interest groups, but they also post their findings, their data and what they find through freedom of information requests (you can do the same if you want, but it takes about 6-8 weeks usually). Point being is that they have a $30 million+ budget and spend more time making ads than anything else. I also find it very difficult that between the early 1990s and today, that more than half of the animals they receive deserve to be killed because of lack of room/they deem them unfit/whatever the reason (most of them are voluntarily surrendered by their owners, as are most rescue animals, you can ask anyone at your local ASPCA where their animals come from. This means that they were at one point cared for, at least nutritionally if not minimally mentally). I support euthanasia as a last resort, but last year’s figures of nearly 96% are unbelievable. Moreover, their staff’s nonchalant manner of killing thousands of animals and making up reasons on the fly in past years (before 2006 or so) was deplorable and started me severely questioning PeTA’s stance on anything.

That being said, I still don’t condone their support of horse meat sales in the US (a PeTA link, just for you) just so that it can be monitored. I think their “naked instead of wearing fur” campaign was ridiculous and over-the-top and strayed away from real issues, they have a history of supporting not-that-horrible-I-guess animal-killing devices for consumption, support the reform of the meat-eating industry (not it’s abolition), their use of celebrities to convolute their message even when those celebrities aren’t vegan or were bullied into campaigning for them (Herschel Walker and Rhianna are two recent icons that are not vegan yet campaign for PeTA), using sex to sell veganism with their soon-to-launch porn website (and then make people’s genitals wretch with images of animal slaughter. Great way to get your masturbation on), co-opting organizations that (to my knowledge) never stepped on their own toes the way PeTA does, not to mention literally thousands of other reasons that I have a huge issue with them on a very fundamental level. I have followed PeTA since before I was vegan just to see if they actually did a good on what they say they believe in. Point being, they really don’t. I’ve sat in on too many talks and speeches from PeTA reps to know that for the most part, they are all full of shit. They use iconography in place of actual organizing, abuse people just as much as the next horrible multimillion dollar nonprofit and encourage icon worship and false ideals. Their tactics don’t help people stay vegan, even if they do go vegan. They use the fad industry to create soldiers without any real meaning behind it.

Personally, I would like to have 20 AR activists that actually mean it and stay solid on their principles and messaging than a hundred empty shells.

Edit: On a completely off-topic note I just realized how much I hate this reblogging stuff. It’s not that aesthetically pleasing. Sucks.

SERIOUSLY!?

95.9% of animals are un-adoptable, PeTA? There are more people than ever looking for companion animals. Shit, the imgur community would adopt all of the ones that could so much as breathe if given the chance.

Instead? Kill all the ugly ones.

I guess some animals are better dead than fed (that slogan totally comes from here, because she’s clever like that).

I make no apologies in my hatred of this organization. I make no apologies for this organization. Maybe it’s because I was a professional organizer for so long that I forgot what it’s like to apologize, or maybe it’s because I apologized to myself for so long that I’m tired of letting myself down.

So, yeah, fuck PeTA.

Edit: For the sake of full-disclosure, the above link is from the Center for Consumer Freedom, a non-profit special-interest group that, by all means, does not like PeTA and what they call “food police.”  I do not necessarily agree with their views, but I do use them a source of data that they legitimately obtained through Freedom of Information Requests which would normally take 6-8 weeks to receive from the federal government. If you want to request these documents for yourself, feel free to file a request with the federal government here: http://www.foia.gov/

Also, full disclosure: I hate that Sea Shepherd has a TV show, I think it’s bullshit.

I have stated this before, but I think palm oil as a whole is pretty deplorable; to the environment, animals, and humans. But, I also hate hydrogenated oil. Most cupcake frosting and frosting recipes call for either hydrogenated oil- or palm oil-based fat substitutes. This makes me sad and makes my skin feel sticky.

But, the when discussing our favorite not-out-of-our-kitchen cupcakes, the issue of palm oil in their frosting came up. Because we are poor and not in an industrial kitchen with access to large quantities of high-quality fair-trade goods, we don’t have shortening in the house with the exception of the very small thing of crisco I’ve had for years that I use for my cast-iron skillet and we definitely don’t cook with it. But, we do buy goods that probably use large quantities of palm oil all the time, thus being delicious and fluffy. This conversation made me remember the linked blog post I read a while ago, so I looked it up for you so I could share.

Anyway, the link above, which is from 2010 and still applicable I’m sure, did some serious looking-into of fat/butter substitutes and their companies, with sources provided as well as direct responses from companies. If you’re going to purchase it, at least know where your palm oil is being sourced from and what impact it has on the local people, animals and environment. I try as much as I can to exclude it from our house and the recipes I put here, but some things will eventually be unavoidable since it’s added to just about everything.

Eat smart, eat ethical.