Author: Leslie Cook

I don’t come from a tradition that views money as the source of all evil. Money is useful. Money feeds people, saves people, builds and creates. Money can accomplish amazing things. It can also subvert a political system, corrupt our food supply, limit our medical options and destroy entire populations.

Kind of like the mantra we hear from the NRA, “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” Yeah, and money doesn’t kill people, people kill people.

But too many bad things are happening with guns in the U.S. And too many bad things are happening when a very few people have all the money in the U.S.

Well, it’s a big world, and the problems in it are complex and multi-faceted, and no single solution is going to solve our problems — but we have to start somewhere. Better regulation of guns and money seems like a good place to start. Or two of many places to start trying to correct our problems.

So one of the things I notice is that money is power. It gives people a bigger voice. Maybe they’ll use that voice to do something I agree with, something wonderful, something that benefits the world. But maybe they’ll use that voice to do something I don’t like at all or that is destructive. And if that money gives someone a bigger voice than me, or a bigger voice even than a majority of people, that’s not right. That’s not what democracy is about. One person, one vote.

Today I saw a couple of things on Facebook that started me thinking about how this money theme winds its way through my brain right now, impacting my food choices, lifestyle choices and politics.

1) The first is that picture at the top of this page. A friend who “liked” it commented she wondered why it’s so hard to find this place in life. I’m thinking it has something to do with the complications caused when money is the foundation of our existence in this culture — and by that, I’m not talking about having lots of money. I’m talking about having it, not having it or having some of it. It doesn’t matter — it’s not the money itself. It’s the fact that money is the basis of our values, it’s the engine that drives the machine in this country. It shapes our decisions. It can put us in situations we then have to spend all our time supporting. It can keep us up at night. It can distort how we see things. It can militate against simplicity, making our lives very complicated.

2) The second was a conversation surrounding a post on GMOs and Monsanto. On the theme of distortions, a professor of mine once said with regard to the Bible, the narrative is shaped by those who “won,” historically speaking. So applying that principle to the current state of our food supply mechanisms, I wonder if the narrative hasn’t been shaped by those who “win” in this culture, namely those who have money? Good research is expensive, and someone with dollars has to support it.

A blogger I like raised questions about some comments I made related to GMOs. And the comments are well-taken. But what occurs to me is that there is so much hype out there on all sides of any issue, so much research on all sides of any issue — that an ordinary person, someone who’s not a scholar in these areas and has other things that consume their time, could spend the rest of their life reading through it and still not find “the truth.” And back to money: there’s the question of who’s funding the research and making it public? For the most part, probably “mainstream” food operations who are making lots of money. That doesn’t make it bad, just one-sided.

The internet has changed the picture to an extent by democratizing our voices, but opinions or guesses or concerns aren’t the same as solid research, which brings a non-mainstream opinion back to the reality: money governs, to a large extent, the ability to do the research and disseminate it.

So the medical profession told us for years that butter and eggs will kill us and didn’t say a word about added sugars in foods and lack of fiber. Different information was out there — just not enough funded studies and not disseminated widely enough. And a strong sugar lobby that suppressed information. Now we have those with money going after a small company that is successfully selling an excellent vegan mayonnaise.

I’m not a conspiracy theorist, not at all. But I do think money chooses what research will be done, what information will be put out there, spreads it far and wide, in short, has the capability to influence our view of things. I don’t have time to research everything, especially things not in my area of study, so what I see is what crosses my line of vision. What crosses my line of vision as far as good, solid research is more likely to be well-funded and widely marketed research. Or quick and easy posts to the internet that may not yet have research backing them.

3) Medicine brings me to the third thing, a video series I’m watching. I was born in 1948. I’m old enough to be the beneficiary of many years of unchallenged bias in favor of medicine rather than “healing.” I recognize in myself hesitation when someone starts to talk about the latter for prevention and treatment instead of conventional medicine. I’ve watched how difficult it has been to achieve recognition and legitimization for basic concepts like “integrative medicine,” the damage we have caused to ourselves with our food choices, the link between certain diseases and environmental factors including our food choices. It’s difficult to achieve recognition and legitimization for the role of meditation and faith in health. For the potential that naturopaths, eastern modalities, folk remedies, faith-healers, shamans, rituals and ceremonies, micro-nutrients and more may have something to offer in terms of healing. What are we so afraid of?

Why do we suppress ideas and approaches that don’t fit with one point of view? And invest quite a bit of money accomplishing that suppression, by the way. Why not spend the same money on doing and disseminating good research?

And that brings me to the third item I want to share on this topic. I came across a 9-part video series on cancer that drew my attention. I approached it with my usual ambivalence, favorably inclined toward health and healing but indoctrinated to view only conventional medicine as a “real” solution to this terrible disease. Plus I was looking for the sales pitch.

I haven’t yet come to the sales pitch for this series, and I have been fascinated with some information in it about how mainstream medicine came to be while alternative approaches were suppressed and made illegitimate. I can’t vouch for all the information in this series — I haven’t even viewed the whole series yet — but it accords with my personal belief that our bodies seek health and are capable of amazing healing. We just need to get out of their way. In that process, fear is our biggest enemy. There are also enough points that I know are true that it stimulates my interest in the rest.

Most importantly, the video series brings me hope. I’ve lost four people I care about to pancreatic cancer in the last three or four years. The common element was that all were told, there was nothing else to be done. No hope.

I believe there is hope, for pancreatic and other cancers. This video series gives a specific shape to my belief. That shape may change over time, as conventional medicine has, but I’m open to considering these possibilities and would like to see us putting money into learning more about them.

What if these things work in the ways people claim? Why shouldn’t they be covered by insurance, especially when conventional drugs on which people depend can get 5000-fold increases in price overnight? From the death rate for those affected by pancreatic cancer when treated by conventional medicine, which is covered by insurance, I’d say we don’t have much to lose by insuring alternatives. And the alternatives cost so much less because they rely on our natural ability to heal.

Why shouldn’t these possibilities be included in any discussion of options before we say, no hope?

For more, visit my blog, vegetatingwithleslie.org, “Like” me onFaceBook/Vegetating with Leslie or follow me on Twitter,@vegwithleslie.

I added a category to my posts and a section to my blog: Politics. When I began my blog, I dedicated it to my Dad, a man deeply engaged in and committed to the democratic political process.  He was an acute political observer, and his insight into eventualities based on what he saw was amazing. We argued passionately about those issues on which we disagreed, but more often than not, he proved right over time.

I always considered myself apolitical, but that seems to be changing as I get older. I’m learning that my food choices have a political dimension to them, so I want to use my blog to think through my beliefs and values in a larger political/philosophical/religious context. As thinking about food has sensitized me to certain political issues, I believe it can also be an important way to clarify and express my values.

Besides, a blog dedicated to my Dad just has to include discussions of current political issues.

I welcome comments. Even when I disagree with people, I learn from them.  I want discussions to happen in a peaceful, respectful way here and in my Facebook page, though, and will remove or not post any comments put forward in a hostile or demeaning tone as well as those using provocative epithets.

For more, visit my blog, vegetatingwithleslie.org, “Like” me on FaceBook/Vegetating with Leslie or follow me on Twitter,@vegwithleslie.

Well, it’s about to be frightful, anyway. Coming into the end of summer here. 🙂  This post was written two or three years ago when it really WAS winter, sometime in the vicinity of Groundhog Day in Woodstock, Illinois, backdrop of the movie by the same name. It appeared in The Woodstock Independent.

Just a few days ago the Groundhog saw his shadow.  Easy for him to do.  He went back to his burrow.  I, on the other hand, have to leave mine every day, and I’m freezing!  I seem to have lost the ability to keep myself warm no matter how many layers I pull on before I brave the cold and wind and snow.

I decided it’s time to become proactive.  The last time I made this decision was in the winter of 1982/83.  In that year, as in this one, wind chills plunged to 40-60 degrees below zero.  I found myself never wanting to leave my burrow . . . that is, my home . . . and specifically, my fireplace.  I needed to take action, so I bought a winter camping tent and a sleeping bag designed for use in the most frigid climes and went winter camping to toughen up.

That worked pretty well.  It carried me through a few years.  But this is 22 years later, and my tent and I are a little older and worn.  My thoughts turn to other solutions. Here is a question that bubbled up: could I raise my body temperature with food?  It seems logical that I could, so I began to do some research. Here is what I found:

YES!

“How?” is another question. I found several answers.  I chose those that made sense to me based on this thought process: It requires energy (expressed as heat) to process food.  In fact, food processing may warm your body as much as two degrees (every degree counts in this weather)!  The more energy a food requires for processing, the more likely it is to heat your body.

So which foods require more energy for processing?  One estimate is fats require 3%, carbohydrates require 7%, and proteins require 20% of the energy (calories) they supply for processing.  I would therefore expect that protein is most likely to heat your body and complex carbohydrates next most likely.  Fats are least likely.  But does that correspond to the reality?

Turns out it does!  Lean protein tops most lists of warming foods, followed by complex high fiber carbohydrates like whole grain breads, brown rice, oatmeal, beans, almonds and apples. Root veggies like sweet potatoes, Idaho potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, and ginger require more energy to digest than above-ground veggies.  Above ground veggies recognized for their thermogenic properties include cabbage, kale, and Brussels sprouts.  Spices and spicy foods like cayenne, peppers, salsa, chili and mustard stimulate metabolism by as much as 20% or more and can also warm you.

OK, so now I needed to apply that to my vegetarian lifestyle, all-carb all the time.  Beans, grains and nuts top my list because in addition to the fact that they are high fiber complex carbs, they are a great protein group with complimentary amino acids.  Isn’t it interesting that the veggies most effective at raising body temperature are also the most readily available during winter and are, in fact, considered winter veggies?  So winter veggie stews . . . bring them on!  And be sure to make mine spicy!

It turns out that warming the body is really about exercising the metabolism and giving it a boost, so the same diet should be great for weight maintenance as well.  Indeed it is!  Just be sure to include good fats in your winter warming project for satisfaction and to help you avoid craving sweets (which are not warming, just inflammatory . . . and that’s a whole different story).

In the final analysis, keeping warm is all about making your body work, whether it’s camping in frigid weather or exercising in the cold with light clothing or making your metabolism pump harder.  This year I’m opting for exercising indoors in my fleece and enjoying some hearty, spicy veggie stews.

Butternut Squash and Carrot Stew with Quinoa
This is one of my favorite Middle Eastern style recipes.  I love the warm, golden color from the butternut squash, carrots, paprika, and turmeric.

Stew
2-4 TB extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tsp Hungarian sweet paprika
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp peeled, minced ginger
1/2-1 tsp Hungarian hot paprika
6 plum tomatoes, petite diced
2 TB fresh lemon juice
3 cups 1-inch cubes peeled butternut squash
2 cups 1-inch cubes carrots

Quinoa
2 TB olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup finely chopped peeled carrot
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 bunch fresh cilantro
2 bunch fresh mint

Stew
Cover the bottom of a pan with extra virgin olive oil.  Add chopped onion, garlic and ginger.  Saute briefly.  Add plum tomatoes and juice of two lemons. Bring to a simmer.  Add remaining seasonings.  Simmer briefly.  Add peeled and cubed butternut squash and carrot pieces.  Stir, and place a tight lid over the pot to steam the mixture until squash and carrot are fork tender but not mushy. Check periodically for moisture content, adding a bit of water if necessary.

Quinoa
Cover the bottom of a small sauce pan with extra virgin olive oil.  Add chopped onion, minced garlic and slivered almonds.  Saute briefly.  Add chopped carrots and remaining seasonings with 1 cup quinoa and 2 cups water, stir, cover tightly and cook until done (10-15 minutes).  Chop the mint and cilantro together.  Add half to the stew. Reserve the other half as garnish.

A nice way to serve this beautiful meal is to place a portion of stew on a plate, leaving an opening in the middle.  Place an ice cream scoop (1/2 cup) of quinoa in the middle of the stew.  Garnish with remaining mint and cilantro.

Happy, healthy eating!

For more, visit my blog, vegetatingwithleslie.org, “Like” me on FaceBook/Vegetating with Leslie or follow me on Twitter,@vegwithleslie.

These delicious peppers are a great favorite with all my friends. They are NOT vegan. I needed to make something for a friend who is neither vegetarian nor vegan nor wants to be so decided to make these, which I knew they liked.

The recipe came originally from the New York Times and is readily available on the internet. Just search on Stuffed Yellow Peppers with Israeli Couscous and Pesto.

I’ve modified and simplified so I can put it together very quickly and easily. First of all, I use a commercially prepared pesto. As most of you know if you follow foods I make, I almost never use commercial products. Every once in awhile I find one I like and that meets my standards, though, and this pesto is one. I can get it at Costco, and it’s all organic ingredients, all real food, no distressing additives and tastes very good.

I roast the peppers first. The yellow are really pretty, but red or orange or a mixture would be fine. Green would be fine, for that matter, but they taste a little different to me. I cut off the lid of each of the peppers and trimmed away seeds and extra pulp on the inside of each pepper. I rubbed oil lightly on the outside of the peppers and roasted them in a pre-heated, hot oven (550 degrees) for 10-15 minutes until they had a few brown spots and appeared slightly wrinkled and done.

While the peppers are roasting, I prepare the filling, which is just a matter of cooking some whole wheat Israeli couscous and adding some salt and lots of pesto to it. I added a little extra Parmesan cheese as well.

For the sauce, I still prefer homemade to commercially prepared, and it’s so easy to make tomato sauce. I don’t peel the tomatoes — just wash them. I put them in a pot with a little extra virgin olive oil, salt and chopped fresh basil, put the lid on the pot, bring to a simmer, turn down the heat, and cook until well-stewed. If you like a little heat, you can add in some crushed red pepper, and if you love that basil flavor, add in a little more chopped basil at the end of the cooking time.

That’s it! Here are some quantities for 4 peppers:

• 4 yellow, red or orange peppers
• 1 cup dry whole wheat Israeli (toasted) couscous
• Half of a 16-ounce jar of pesto or an equivalent quantity homemade
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 cup extra Parmesan cheese, opt.
• Salt, to taste

If you’re looking for easy and yummy, this is it. I’ll try to come up with vegan version in the not-too-distant future.

For more, visit my blog, vegetatingwithleslie.org, “Like” me on FaceBook/Vegetating with Leslie or follow me on Twitter,@vegwithleslie.

Finally! A new permanent addition to my vegan repertoire.

I’m not big on substitutes, so I’ve had a hard time working my way into a vegan diet. I like eggs and cheese, and despite the claims that people can’t tell the difference between vegan cheeses and the “real thing,” I  haven’t been successful in making anything remotely satisfactory.

So…I approached this substitute with some doubt: Tuna Salad without tuna? OK.

I have to tell you, though, this was a taste treat. The texture is right. The taste is right. It was really delicious, and I’m salivating for another one as I write this.

The Woodstock Farmers Market fresh tomato helped as did the homemade spelt challah, but as you see from the intro picture, I also enjoyed the chickpea “tuna” all by itself as well, and it was great!

So here’s what I did: I just made “tuna” salad the way I always used to except that I used chickpeas (dried, cooked, drained and slightly mashed) in place of tuna and Just Mayo from Hampton Creek instead of Hellman’s Real Mayonnaise. I want to tell you, Hampton Creek got that Mayo knocked! It’s delicious, and the consistency is just right.

This was so easy to do. I’m looking for vegan things to make that I love and that are really easy. This is the first item I’m going to add to my permanent folder other than my longstanding Middle Eastern favorites that are mostly vegan anyway.

Ingredients

• Chickpeas, dried, 1 cup
• Just Mayo from Hampton Creek, 1/4-1/2 cup
• Celery or red bell pepper, 1/4 cup chopped
• Onion, 1/4 cup chopped
• Pickle Relish, 1/4 cup (actually I used homemade spicy pickles, chopped)
• Green olives, 1/8-1/4 cup chopped
• Salt, 1/2 tsp.

Instructions

1. Rinse and cook the chickpeas in water to cover until done. Drain and mash slightly.
2. While chickpeas are cooking, chop the celery, pepper, onion and olives and set aside.
3. When mashed chickpeas cool, add the reserved chopped veggies and Just Mayo and salt to taste.
4. Add a little ground pepper if desired.

Enjoy!! Now maybe it’s because I put all the things I always used to use for tuna salad into this chickpea salad that it tasted the same. Or maybe it just did taste the same, even better. Doesn’t matter. I just enjoyed eating it and can’t wait to have it again.

For more, visit my blog, vegetatingwithleslie.org, “Like” me on FaceBook/Vegetating with Leslie or follow me on Twitter,@vegwithleslie.

Even if you don’t usually like olives…this is one to try! I use Middle Eastern olives. They are very different from domestic olives, and I like them so much better! So far I’ve only found Israeli brands that make pitted (Osem, Beit Hashita), which is what you’ll need for this salad.

This sauce is amazing, and if you love olives, you will love this salad heated and eaten over brown rice or whole grain pasta. I serve the olives as part of a mezze (Middle Eastern appetizer table) either cold or hot.

SPICY OLIVE SALAD

Ingredients

• Extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 cup
• Garlic, 5-6 cloves
• Tomato paste, one 6 oz. can
• Plum tomatoes, 6-8 petite diced
• Lemon, 1/2 unpeeled
• Hot chili powder, 2 tsp.
• Szeged hot paprika, 1 TB
• Swad chili pepper (I use Swad, very hot), 1/2 tsp.
• Cilantro, 1/2 bunch/cup, chopped
• Mediterranean green pitted olives, two-and-a-half 19.5 oz. cans (drained)

Instructions

1. Wash lemon, slice the half you’re using into about 6 slices, quarter the slices.
2. Heat olive oil in a saucepan.
3. Sauté minced garlic lightly in oil.
4. Stir in tomato paste & diced tomatoes and stir ’til mixed.
5. Add lemon slices and stir.
6. Add remaining ingredients except cilantro and olives.
7. Bring back to simmer, and cook until lemon quarters are tender.
8. Stir in chopped cilantro.
9. Remove from heat.
10. Add sauce to drained olives. Stir gently but thoroughly.

Enjoy these olives warm or cold.

For more, visit my blog, vegetatingwithleslie.org, “Like” me on FaceBook/Vegetating with Leslie or follow me on Twitter,@vegwithleslie.

Ful is Arabic for fava beans (as hummus is Arabic for chickpeas). This is another popular Middle Eastern salad to serve as part of a mezze (Middle Eastern appetizer table), alongside of hummus, or all by itself. It is a street food in the Middle East and is part of breakfast in Egypt. There are many versions of this dish. This is mine:

FUL
Ingredients

• Fava beans, 1 lb. dried (small) beans
• Chickpeas, 1/2 lb. dried
• Plum Tomatoes, 6 petite diced
• Garlic, 1 TB minced
• Extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 cup
• Lemons, juice of 2 (1/4-1/2 cup – I use closer to 1/2 cup)
• Cilantro, 1/2 bunch, chopped
• Salt, 1 TB (scant)
• Cumin, 1-1/2 TB
• Red pepper, crushed, 4 tsp. (scant)

Instructions

1. Rinse small fava beans and chickpeas, place together in a pot to cook, and add water 1-2″ over the top of the beans.
2. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until done, 1-2 hours.
3. While the fava beans and chickpeas are cooking, prepare the sauce.
4. Petite dice the tomatoes. Cut the green beans as shown in the picture. Mince the garlic. Squeeze the lemons. Chop the cilantro.
5. Add the extra virgin olive oil to a pan with the minced garlic and allow garlic to simmer for a moment.
6. Add petite diced tomatoes and remaining seasonings except cilantro.
7. Stir and simmer tomatoes and seasonings for a few moments until mixture is saucy. Turn off the heat.
8. When sauce mixture is cooled, add cilantro.
9. When beans are cooked and well-drained, place in a bowl or back in pot, and add sauce.

Ful can be served warm or cold. I prefer it warm.

For more, visit my blog, vegetatingwithleslie.org, “Like” me on FaceBook/Vegetating with Leslie or follow me on Twitter,@vegwithleslie.

Oh, so good! I could sit down and enjoy a meal of just these.

Ingredients

• Green beans, 1 lb.
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1/4 cup
• Plum tomatoes, 4 petite diced
• Tomato Paste, 4 TB
• Garlic, 3-4 cloves minced
• Turmeric, 1.5 tsp.
• Cumin, 1.5 tsp.
• Salt, 1.5 tsp.
• Hot paprika, 1 tsp.
• Lemon, juice of 1/2

On another occasion, these were some organic French style green beans I was able to get at Costco. Beautiful:

Instructions

1. Sauté the minced garlic in extra virgin olive oil.
2. Add petite diced tomatoes, tomato paste and other seasonings and simmer for a short while.
3. Add prepared green beans, stir, cover and cook 30 minutes.
4. Stir, replace cover, and cook another 30 minutes.
5. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Eat and enjoy, or serve up as part of a mezze, a Middle Eastern-style “appetizer” table.

For more, visit my blog, vegetatingwithleslie.org, “Like” me on FaceBook/Vegetating with Leslie or follow me on Twitter,@vegwithleslie.

Cecil the Lion. He’s everywhere on the Internet. I can’t bring myself to look at most of it. It’s something like what I felt in the years I was reading about the Holocaust. At some point, my reading threatened to overwhelm me, and I had to stop. I had to put a distance between myself and that story. I know it’s there. I know what happened. I just can’t come that close to it anymore and continue to live a productive life.

I first became vegetarian over 50 years ago. The reality of being the only vegetarian in my world through much of my life made it exceptionally difficult, and I went back and forth a number of times over the years. No more back and forth during the last twenty years.

There were many reasons for my vegetarianism, and I’ve written about some of them in my blog. The primary reason was that I felt it was moral cowardice and irresponsibility to purchase meat in plastic and styrofoam at the local grocery store. If I were going to eat meat, I should slaughter the animal myself, directly accepting responsibility for the life I was taking. That would never happen – because I don’t want to kill other creatures. Period. So why would I buy and eat the flesh of another creature just because the whole process happened out of sight?

My vegetarianism was based on a statement of Adelle Davis, that she eats only the products that animals give us without suffering. Turns out that in today’s world, there are not products animals give us without suffering. I started moving toward veganism a couple of years ago, and that is the basis of my comments about Cecil the Lion.

I’m finding this transition to veganism difficult, partly for health reasons, partly for social reasons and partly because I love cheese and eggs and am not a fan of substitute foods. I read a lot, and I experiment with cooking. I take every opportunity I can to make and share vegan foods with others so I can build a social network that still enjoys my food. I try to immerse myself in vegan culture online, because I know how acculturation works. For reasons I mentioned above, though, I keep some of the horrific pictures of animal suffering that some vegans post out of my view. I know it’s there. I don’t want to be overwhelmed.

One day when I was reading, I came to an ad about vegan boots. Vegan boots?! I read more as I thought about my new leather clogs, the first new shoes I’ve purchased in 10 years. I thought about the (two) leather belts in my closet.

But what I thought about most was that as thoughtful as I am about veganism, the whys, the wherefores, the hows of it, the fact that I wear leather shoes simply escaped my attention. I didn’t think about that.

Since then, I have thought a lot about that disconnect. It occurs to me that we all have a tendency to disconnect. The places where each of us disconnects are different, but it’s there. Sometimes it’s a conscious disconnect, as I did from the stories of Cecil. Most of the time it’s unconscious, like me believing whole-heartedly in the importance and necessity of veganism in today’s world yet wearing leather shoes.

I’ve debated what to do with those new shoes, the first in ten years. I considered giving them away and buying some vegan boots. There is a principle in my religion of not wasting the fruits of the earth. I decided that since I already have them, I will wear them for another ten years until they wear out. They will be a testament to my human imperfections and contradictions  and will keep me humble.

I continue to think about why I had that disconnect. I mentioned acculturation. I was born into and grew up in a world where the norm was to use animals for our purposes. It was sanctioned by religions, although if you read between the lines of the Bible, which is the religious literature I know best, you will see that even animal sacrifice is in part expiation for fellow creature-killing. Rabbinic commentaries suggest meat-eating was permitted after the flood as a channel for human violence. But the fact is, it is permitted, and it was a normal (and pretty much unexamined) part of every day life.

I was also born into a suburban world, a world where most of us, at least in this country, were no longer farmers and were no longer directly connected to the cycle of life and death that results from being closer to nature or living in rural, farming environments. We got our food from the local grocery store, already neatly packaged and separated from its source. Culturally we had no awareness of sources, not for food, not for clothing and not for much of anything else we used. Remember, I’m talking more than half a century ago.

And things changed so dramatically over the last half century. Grocery stores are huge compared to what they were. Fast food and cheap clothing is what we expect. And the source of those products has changed so dramatically. Factory farms have entered the landscape. Our numbers have increased, but so have our appetites. Everything became mechanized while we weren’t watching. And our separation from the issues of survival and the process of life and death is total, with devastating effects to our spiritual state and our emotional state.

It’s hard work to reconnect. It’s step-by-step work, work I feel I need to do — but I also don’t want to get overwhelmed by the suffering in the world, the suffering and pain we endure and the suffering and pain we inflict.

Maybe some moral isolation is a necessity to live productive lives. Incidents like killing Cecil the Lion remind us, though, that it’s a luxury we can’t afford. It’s not enough to condemn the action of a man who killed a beautiful creature for “sport.”

Concerned people have heard the stories and seen the pictures of what allegedly goes on at factory farms. I wrote a post titled “5 Reasons Vegans Shouldn’t Publish Disturbing Animal Pictures.” These pictures are just too disturbing, and I wonder what they accomplish.

Can we live in a world like this and not become morally immune? I did. I didn’t notice my shoes.

A friend of mine, Pauline Yearwood from Chicago Jewish News, shared this comment on FaceBook, and it seems appropriate:

From Gary L. Francione, The Abolitionist Approach to Animal Rights

If you are upset about the killing of Cecil the Lion and you are not a vegan, then you are suffering from moral schizophrenia. There is no difference between Cecil and all of the animals you eat who value their lives as much as the lion valued his.

I have been a moral schizophrenic in my life, and to an extent, I probably will always be one. But for my own spiritual health and for the health of the planet, I will work every day to be less of one.

For more, visit my blog, vegetatingwithleslie.org, “Like” me on FaceBook/Vegetating with Leslie or follow me on Twitter, @vegwithleslie.