What can you eat on the sentientist diet? The sentientist diet doesn't differ greatly from the vegan diet. In my mind no food should be 100% off the menu. This doesn't mean that you can eat little bits of chicken. It means I think there might be situations where eating chicken isn't a bad thing or the worst option. An example being chicken that has been thrown away. Mainly though, the idea is you eat a vegan style diet and if you want you can eat bivalves like mussels, oysters and scallops. Some might argue bugs aren't sentient but I don't agree with this. I think they deserve the benefit of the doubt.
So the menu in my mind for anyone wanting to consume an ethical diet is as follows
- Legumes (kidney beans, butter beans, navy beans, soy, lentils, chick peas)
- Grains (wheat, rice, rye, oats, millet)
- Fruits (bananas, oranges, apples, pears, pineapples etc)
- Vegetables
- Seeds (quinoa, sunflower, sesame, chia, flax, hemp)
- Nuts (walnut, almond, pecan, pine)
- Tubers (white potatoes, sweet potatoes)
- Seaweed (kelp, nori, dulse)
- Fungus/mushrooms
- Bivalves (mussels, oysters, scallops, cockles, clams)
- Thrown away animal products
- Animals that have died of natural causes
Being a vegan is like being in high school. You've got the popular kids everyone listens to. You've got the rumours about health that spread like wild fire, and the fear of being yourself, having your own mind and opinions on things. The vegan world today seems to be mostly made of copy cats who don't really get the fundamental concepts of the vegan philosophy. Most vegans rather than eat an animal that had died of natural causes would eat plant foods that somehow caused harm to animals, because “vegans don't eat animals”? Even if no-one killed it and the plant alternative cause more harm. I thought veganism was about doing the best we can to reduce suffering. To cause the least harm, but it seems evident to me lately that most are more concerned about how they appear to others. An example I think somewhat proves this is the following. Something I hear a lot is “When I went vegan I gave all my leather items to charity”. What does this solve other than making you look more “vegan”? Does the animal spring back to life? No. You've just shifted something you consider a problem onto someone else. Who cares if someone else is wearing that leather jacket you got rid of. As long as you're not wearing it right? And we wonder why people are so confused about veganism. Because we are confused ourselves. We say one thing and do another.
Vegans don't eat animal products is the golden rule. Even if eating one animal saved thousands. A vegan wouldn't. This makes no sense. Posing this scenario to vegans I'm not met with an answer. I'm met with an avoidance. They state it's not realistic or that they'd find some way of not eating the animal at all. Why can't they just answer the question. Because they know their answer wouldn't make sense or they'd have to admit to agreeing to eat the one animal which they think would take away their “vegan badge” or spot at the cool kids table.
Even if the animal has no brain like an oyster. It's still an animal that deserves right according to many vegans. "Veganism, we care about sentient animals and non sentient animals." Why? What if we discovered a sentient plant? We would be able to eat that right? That's not animal. Or are sentient plants now included? Maybe they wouldn't care about sentient plants. I'm not sure any more.
A question that comes up often is, are backyard eggs vegan? Like if you have a pet chicken and it lays eggs can you eat them? Well for starters animal products aren't vegan so I don't know why people don't just stop there. No. The most popular vegan response is “They're not ours to take”. Is this the best we've got? It's a period. Yes chickens do enjoy them, but they certainly don't need them as they're not obligate carnivores. Most of these vegans don't actually have chickens but somehow they know better than people that do have chickens who say most eggs basically just rot because the chickens don't want them. "Chickens need them for nutrients people will say." I think this assumption is based on the fact it contains nutrients. So does a human period, but I'm not seeing anyone advocating for this practice. Apologies for the gross thought. The same people will say eggs are bad for your health even in small amounts, but to chickens they're beneficial they say. How does that work? I would think since chickens are so much smaller it would be even worse for them. The fact that it comes from their bodies and they enjoy them sometimes doesn't indicate nutritional benefit or need. It's reaching is what it is. People are looking for a way to make it so all animal products are always off the menu. The golden rule. Why is it so hard for a vegan to admit that eating animal products might not always be bad or the worst option? I'm not suggesting "backyard eggs" are vegan necessarily by the way.
So in this high school scenario I am very much an outcast and that's fine, but if I'm so outcast and disagree with so much of what vegans believe, should I call myself one? Many will say yes you are one like it or not as you fit the definition. Although to many I wouldn't be since I support things such as eating non sentient animals. I do believe labels are useful so what are my options? Perhaps the term "Sentientist". This is judging something's worthiness of rights based on whether or not they are actually a conscious sentient being. This solves the issue of bi valves like oysters (non sentient), although some may say they are sentient. It also detaches me from the stacks of vegan dogma going around. It may seem like a big thing to ditch the vegan label but you have to remember this word has only been around for less 100 years and was made by one man. Give Sentientist some time and maybe it too will catch on in a similar way. Do I think we'll see suitable for Sentientists written on food? No, probably not, but I do believe the term will help more people understand what veganism is really about. I hope dogma doesn't get attached to this label too.
