BoingBoing's Xeni Jardin Goes Vegan

Xeni in "totally faux fur!"

Last week blogger Xeni Jardin decided to give veganism a try. "So far I feel great, and it's a lot easier than I thought" she says. Her inspirations were "Joi Ito's blog entries about his own vegan bodyhacking experiment" and a recent Rolling Stone article about the egregious pollution and lawlessness of industrial hog farmers Smithfield Farms.

Hopefully Xeni sticks with her new choice, but her tone makes me think this might be fleeting. Even though she's clearly disturbed by factory farming, Xeni says she doesn't want to be "one of those annoying vegangelicals who tries to convert everyone to tempeh."

Either way, there's been a resounding response from both veg and omni BoingBoing readers. And even if it's just temporary, who doesn't love a little more "vegan hot" in the blogosphere?

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• 1.

  Comment by Christopher on January 21, 2007 7:44pm:

  Xeni Jardin giving veganism a try is awesome news.
  
  (Xeni, if you're reading this, try to keep it up and explore the richness of a vegan lifestyle -- a richness whose main nutrient is actualized compassion.)
  
  The old "I'm-vegan-but-won't-evangelize/be annoying-about-it" pre-emptive defense is just a meme. And we all know that even memes need a little compassion now and then. This meme, hopefully, will die a peaceful death some day.
  
  It's also a meme that vegans ourselves have had some hand hand in perpetuating (with the willing assistance of the unthinkingly pro-meat mainstream media). This is a subject for a post unto itself, and has to do with being a Joyful Vegan instead of an Angry Vegan.
  
  Joyful Vegans don't need to evangelize so much as just simply be unapologetic about their visible lifestyle choices. They are comfortable with who they are.
  
  And even if they do choose to proactively evangelize, Joyful Vegans don't do it defensively, certainly, and they generally do it in a way that is not only not annoying, but usually perceived as very enlightening.
  
  After all, what's to be defensive about? It's no secret to anyone what humans are doing to animals in farms and labs. The argument in need of defense is the one that supports a system that makes the Matrix look like a walk in the park, not the one that raises questions on the basis of fundamental concepts of compassion that even a small child could understand.
• 2.

  Comment by RQ [www] on March 4, 2007 3:16pm:

  RE: Rolling Stone... did you notice how much of the article glorified their dominance and profitability? Read it just the non-pollution related paragraphs and you'll see its company propaganda planted this story as a way to communicate Smithfield's dominance & profitability. Visit here to be enlightened:
  http://richardquick.blogspot.com/2007/03/ive-been-cruising-caribbean-in-get-rich.html
  
  or see the other related articles at richardquick.blogspot.com
  
  See you on the veranda!
  
  RQ