I’m vegan, but I don’t believe in proselytizing. It’s not up to me if you’re vegan or not—it’s up to you.

I am fine to answer questions, if friends have any.

That said, I am curious—nay, confounded—why factory farming is a thing. I get that most folks want to eat dairy and meat. I don’t agree with that. But what I do think we could all agree on is that factory farming is cruel. And most of us hold our own ethics in high regard. So why would we eat tortured animal food?

It should be the one thing we can all agree on.

As for affordability, meat and dairy are inefficient and made affordable only by tax subsidies to big ag and big corporations.

It’s easy to be poor and live healthfully if and only if there’s access to decent, real food. Food deserts are a real thing, and we’ve covered them extensively. My mom and I grew up poor—she never made more than $12K a year, and I lived on food stamps and school lunch vouchers—but she gave me simple food and we made it through, if only barely sometimes (hello, rice)…

If you have a thoughtful view on this, and don’t just want to attack others (vegans or meat-eaters), please contribute your two cents.