Vegan Green Tea Cupcakes & Open Minded Ranchers
There aren’t many days I get to deliver vegan green tea cupcakes to open minded ranchers. The irony of it all is just so fulfilling! And to say that they LOVED the green tea cupcakes! I so appreciate an open mind. I am not vegan because I stick my head in the sand and would rather not know what happens to animals in our commercialized production industry but rather because I am educated about what happens as are most vegans which is why we choose to eat this way.
On Friday I visited Mike, a physical therapist, for some help with an injured hamstring. We often talk about my vegan lifestyle because I think he’s never met someone like me. See Mike grew up on a cattle ranch in northern Arizona. His dad still owns that ranch. He works at rodeos and has three cow of his own that he puts through 4-H and sends to slaughter to raise money for his grand kids. To Mike, there is nothing wrong with using cattle for industry. He’s always lived that way.
On his dad’s ranch, the cattle get to roam for hundreds of acres and eat grass. Imagine that! They are not kept in a feed lot and eating terrible animal byproducts and high-fat grain. They actually get to live a pretty normal cattle life but then, of course, in the end they are slaughtered for meat. While I don’t agree with the slaughtering part, I have to be thankful that there are still some ranchers out there that do allow their cattle to roam. But there is little profit for them to make. The demand for meat is high and people don’t want to pay much for it. So ranchers like these sell their land so they can retire. Eventually that will only leave feed lots for cattle. So sad 🙁
Mike however is quite progressive … or seems to be since I’ve made his acquaintance. He likes my cupcakes and even went to Sprouts Farmers Market to busy some non-dairy cheese. Turns out he’s lactose intolerant but didn’t really think there were better options until we started talking about it.
Today I’m feeling so happy that I can have these dialogues with people like Mike because I am opening his eyes to variant food options and my perspective on raising animals for food. He also is helping me understand the challenges ranchers face in today’s marketplace. He’s not likely to go vegan but he is trying vegan cheese and that’s a start 🙂
I have been using soy cheese and tofu noodles lately as new additions to my diet. Have to admit more about nutrition and low-fat/high protein options than avoiding the more traditional . . . but still a foray into new food options 🙂
Jenn that is so exciting! There are so many great alternative cheese options … my new favorite addition is tofutti cream cheese. It tastes just like regular cream cheese. I also like rice and almond cheese.