Interesting. I didn't know he was a vegan. I just surmised it from his stance. Thank you for confirming it.
I stand by what I wrote, he is nit-picking the wrong people. If he really wants to bring about change, he should be supporting the very writers upon which he is heaping his vitriol. These writers have collectively done more to change people's minds about food than most. They are not the enemy. Myers is picking and choosing quotes to support his thesis while, apparently ignore their arguments for the humane rearing and slaughter of animals.
I don't think anyone can answer the question, "if it is humane then why does it end in the death of the animal?" to the satisfaction of someone who sees the death of an animal as not an option. There is no bridging that gap as far as a vegan is concerned. For my money, there are two things that need to happen that can make things better:
1) The industrialization of animal husbandry needs to change (if not stop). Battery hens, cattle farms, etc are not good for the animals and not good for the end product, to the point that many of the issues we've had with e-coli, etc. are a direct result of the processes we use to bring food to the table.
2) People need to get involved and closer to the animals they eat. People should learn where their food comes from. They should get up close and personal with the rearing of their food and the slaughter of their food. I don't mean to suggest that everyone becomes a farmer but they should be more directly exposed so that meat is not just something in a Styrofoam package at the supermarket.
If you want to read someone who isn't, strictly speaking, a vegan, who espouses much of what Myers says, but in an increasingly nuanced matter, try reading some of what Mark Bittman has been writing of late. He has made a large move in the last year or so from being someone who ate what he wanted, when he wanted to someone who consistently flirts with veganism.
His thinking is more along the lines of what I have suggested above... eat less meat. He has said that he eats like a vegan all day and consumes meat at dinner. It is a solution, not the solution. Everyone needs to find their own path.
If I could have my own farm and raise, chickens, lambs, cows, etc. I would do it. I have a feeling though, my own lack of preparedness would be more cruel to the animals than the abattoir.
