Yes, I’m vegan. No, I’m not an activist.
Current Mood:
Angry
Hi there, I’m vegan. That means that I don’t eat meat or any animal products. I am vegan for my health. Low fat, zero cholesterol, high energy. And flavor. I never really started eating good stuff until I started cooking vegan food.
When I tell people that I am vegan, I will often see a bit of a cringe, as though I am going to start preaching at them. Did I preach at them before? No. Am I going to start protesting in front of your fridge? Nope. If you ask me about it, I’ll be glad to talk to you, but I’m not going to preach at you. It’s a sad state, however, that people automatically expect me to preach at them about killing the cute little animals just because I’m vegan; I’m more likely to preach at you about the health concerns. I don’t dig the poor treatment of animals. I get the activism. I’m in your corner, activist folks, animals should be treated humanely. Wearing fur sucks. But I’m not an activist.
I agree that more people need to know where food comes from. More people need to know what Big Ag does to produce the massive amounts of food. More people need to learn about the health risks of eating a diet high in meat and animal products. However, they are more likely to laugh at the activists that complain about irrelevant things, thus minimizing the big picture of the poor treatment of livestock, then eat another hamburger. People like that produce things like this. They think that all vegans are whiny activists that only want to complain. Oh wait, I’m complaining, now aren’t I? 
I recently started talking on Twitter to a teenage girl that’s learning about farming, and has some farm animals, via 4H. She likes to talk about her 4H experiences, but is repeatedly attacked by activists about factory farming. She’s not factory farming, you morons. Not every farmer stuffs their cows into tiny little stalls where they will live until they collapse and die. Some farmers actually put their cows out to pasture, feed them good stuff, and take great care of them without shooting them up with rBGH. Yes, her critters get antibiotics, it’s called responsible animal ownership. Would you deny you children antibiotics if they were ill? Honestly people, not every farmer is a “factory farmer.” You know the stories of back in the olden days when people had fields of crops and pigs rolling in the mud and chickens pecking at worms in the coop? Those farmers still exist. And they are some of the hardest working people in the world. But when I tell them that I am vegan, it’s like I’ve told them that I am a vampire and they want to hold up the sign of the cross to me.
I totally respect farmers. That’s where our food comes from! If you, as an activist, don’t like Big Ag, go after Big Ag. Don’t go after mom and pop farmers who are just trying to make some money digging in the dirt and raising animals like people have been doing for thousands of years.
Yes, factory farms exist, and they suck. Big Ag is an unspeakable evil with their horrid, inhumane treatment. However, not every farmer is Big Ag. Not every farmer grows giant fields of GM corn and soy. Not every farmer shoves as many animals as they can into a tiny space where they will live until they die. And hey farmers, not every vegan is an activist.
“Oh my goodness, it’s naked people!”
*eye roll*
Esctatic
And that’s exactly what it is, it was a poor family dish. The level of difficulty to cook it is minimal. If you can make mashed potatoes (boiling chopped up potatoes and mashing them), then you can make stamppot. The kind of stamppot I make is with boerenkool, which is kale. Kale is that thick frilly leafy stuff that you see on salad bars. It’s a cabbage. The end result (especially of boerenkool) is not too pretty, so if you have a picky eater that turns up their nose at stuff that looks “strange” then this may not be the best dish to try on them. Once you get past the looks, it’s pretty darn tasty. I am going to share the “recipe” (I really shudder at calling my “throw everything in the pot” meals a recipe), but you can toss in whatever you like. This meal is traditionally made with polish sausage and bacon, but I’m vegan, so I’m not going to put that in my recipe. 
The only “gotta have” here is the spuds. And this particular recipe makes a LOT of food. We like leftovers around here, but I’d reckon it would feed a family of 6 and you’d still have leftovers. Adjust your ingredients accordingly.
