A Change Is Gonna Come

Props to Sam Cooke for my title :-)

There've been times that I've thought I couldn't last for long
But now I think I'm able to carry on
It's been a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come

This is something I have been thinking about lately. I spent probably an hour talking Jen's ear off the other night about it. I think that there might be a societal shift in the offing as far as animal exploitation goes. Now, I am fully aware that in our history, this is probably by far the worse time to be an animal.....almost 10 billion are slaughtered in our country alone each year. I can't even hardly get my mind around that number. That is billion with a B. It doesn't bear thinking about.

I gave up eating meat in 1993. I went vegan in the fall of 1997 (wow! 9 years!). I have seen a shift in the public. Yes, in a social event, a vegan is going to be odd man out. It still sucks to try to eat out sometimes. People still look at you like you are a tree hugging freak sometimes (well, I am a tree hugging freak but still.....you know what I mean). But it *is* getting better. I have seen this in the past 13 years. Grocery stores are carrying more natural food. There is a strong local agriculture movement. It is easier (not easy, but *easier*) to eat out. We are invited to a wedding in October that offers a vegan dining choice. There are major vegetarian magazines published. And I am starting to see some of the issues so dear to our hearts being discussed in the popular media.

In the past year, two of Newsweek's columnists have written positively about vegetarianism and animal rights, George Will and Rabbi Marc Gellman. Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, published in 2001, indicted our food industry practices. Supersize Me by Morgan Spurlock was a documentary hit in 2004. What is amazing to me is that these aren't the 'usual suspects' with this subject matter. Part of what I fear is that things have gotten so bad that these people are compelled to speak out against the horror and travesty. They are not specifically advocating vegetarianism but argue more along the lines that our current system is out of control and we have to establish a more reasonable and compassionate model, for our health, our environment, our animals, our workers. But I don't care what their reasons are, I am happy they are speaking. They are reaching an audience that needs to hear what they say, an audience that might be receptive to the ideas if it comes from them instead of us. How does the saying go? It is always darkest before the dawn? As bad as things are now, I hope, hope, hope, that I am right and that the dawn is coming, that a change is gonna come.