The day an MP told a vegan to “have a T-bone steak"

What would you think if a member of Parliament told a vegan to “have a T-bone steak” when she’s only questioning his support to livestock and cattle producers? I’d think it’s insensitive, to say the least. But that happened. Wayne Easter, a Prince Edward Island MP, gave that response to a Twitter user, Richelle Benoit. He later admitted that his response was inappropriate because he didn’t know she was vegan. Here’s the context: Lawrence MacAulay, also a P.E.I. MP, tweeted about a meeting with cattle producers. Richelle, who describes herself as an animal advocate, asked if the environmental issues caused by livestock had also been discussed. Easter, who had joined the meeting, said they’d talked about “how livestock contributes to the economy, creating jobs, utilizes land, & provides healthy food.” The discussion kept going until the moment below.

Oh, wow! I remember track the whole discussion at Richelle's account, which was taken down later. I’m far from defending Easter, but I guess I understand his out-of-place answer. Let’s suppose that the question was coming from a meat-eater. It’d be pathetic. The ones who eat animal products can’t really criticize livestock, can they? They’re benefiting from it.

Meat-eaters wouldn’t confront the MPs about animal cruelty and the environmental issues caused by livestock. Some don’t really care, and most don’t clearly know the extension of this. But I have to say that T-bone steak isn’t the healthiest food on earth, people (see the nutritional facts table on the right).

Regardless of our choices, there are facts. Eating less — or no — meat and consuming less dairy are good for the animals, for the environment and for our health. MPs certainly know that.

Even if we don't care about our health our our future because we — the MPs included — won’t be here in 100 years, our descendants will. So what are you planning to do about it?

Photo credit: © Liz West under Creative Commons via Flickr