Celebrity Veggies – Part III
In part III of Celebrity Veggies Dawn interviews ‘Living Doll’ Cindy Jackson, famous for having had the most plastic surgery operations of anyone worldwide. She is also the lead singer of UK rock band The Dollz and has penned books about cosmetic surgery and anti-ageing. Cindy supports various charities including PETA and the RSPCA.
Why veggie? As a teenager I found cruelty to animals abhorrent. I grew up in a farming community which doesn’t give you much chance to separate the fact that you are eating an animal from it just being food. People who live in the cities go to the shops and they see it plastic wrapped and they don’t equate that with the animal. I saw it when it was alive so I made the connection that I was eating a living, sentient being. I instinctively found that disgusting.
Difficulties: Being a vegan has never presented any difficulties whatsoever. Wherever I go, even travelling, I can always find vegetables to eat. Socially, my closest friends are vegans so it's a way of life for us all. As far as romance goes, it has served as a valuable filtering process. On principle I could never live with or marry a carnivore.
Misconceptions: That we need to consume meat as a species. We don’t! Animals like cows and human beings have blunt teeth, apart from the front canines in humans. We can eat a vegetable diet. There a wide variety of vegetables out there.
New World Perception: I wouldn’t say that I look down on people who eat meat. I would say that if they really knew what into meat production and the cruelty involved and then they still ate it, then they are insensitive and uncaring. If people only knew what antibiotics are given to animals and fish and the way they are injected with hormones to create a quicker life cycle, where they grow up quicker and can be slaughtered quicker. These are carcinogens. It doesn’t make sense to eat poisoned food.
Societal Education: People are indoctrinated by the meat and dairy industry. It’s big business. Farmers hate vegetarians. I don’t touch milk. The colostrum of another species was never ever meant to me consumed by a human being. Cows don’t even drink milk for their entire lives. We drink it for an entire life span and how much of that growth hormone from a cow meant for a calf gets into our system. Some schools of thought credit higher risks of cancer with consuming this bovine growth hormone.
An Inspiration? I have put people off milk when they are about to take a big sip, calling it cow pus. I have put people off of non organic farmed meat and fish. I tell people about how non organic fish ends up swimming around in its own faeces and is full of antibiotics. Tuna has the mercury risk. I don’t preach but if someone asks me I will tell them.
Fence sitters advice: Just do it! If you have any qualms and doubts about whether it will be healthy just see your GP, get checked out and buy a book, get your food balance right. Even people who eat meat should be having a balanced diet. It opens up a whole world of possibilities for healthy eating.
Hmm...I do approve of most tactics to persuade people into vegetarianism/veganism, but calling milk 'cow pus' simply isn't accurate or a particularly adult thing to say. I'd be interested to hear what she has to say about that. I think there are far more positive ways of promoting non-carnivorous diets than appealing to people's squeamishness.
Posted by: Abi (Editor) | May 15, 2007 1:54 PM