Welcome to Small Bites, Sound Bites, a midweek segment of food for thought podcast where I share short, succinct, thoughtful responses to typical questions, myths, and misconceptions related to plant-based eating, veganism, and animal protection.

You can get written transcripts of this podcast by going to joyfulvegan.com slash donate.

People spend a lot of time rationally defending eating animals. People also spend a lot of time avoiding looking at the violence inflicted upon these animals to turn them into parts for us to eat.

We're uncomfortable knowing we're contributing to violence against animals because we know they feel and suffer, but we also derive pleasure from eating animal flesh fluids and ferments.

It's called cognitive dissonance, this discomfort we feel knowing we're contributing to harm, but not wanting to stop contributing to harm.

It's all part of this process of willfully blinding ourselves to what is an ugly reality. After all, who likes to think of themselves as doing something that hurts someone else? None of us.

So in order to alleviate discomfort, that dissonance we feel, we have to either change our behavior or change our rational thinking about our behavior.

The problem is our attachment to meat dairy and eggs is emotional. It's based on habit and tradition and pleasure, and it's really hard to let go of something we have so much history in and so many relationships connected to.

And B, we tend to resist changing our behavior, i.e. becoming vegetarian or vegan, so we tend to opt for something that's a lot easier, changing our thinking about our behavior.

In doing so, it means we have to think differently about any harm our behavior may cause, even more than thinking differently about any harm we may be causing.

We have to couch our behavior in positive terms, even if we have to fudge the truth, avoid reality and lie to ourselves.

It's what we have to do to protect ourselves if we're not going to change our behavior.

We have to come up with what sound like really good rational reasons, but are really only justifications and excuses.

So what's your favorite rational for eating animal flesh and fluids? I think I've heard most of them, but I just want to make sure I haven't missed any.

That's what this series is all about, just cutting into and getting underneath these excuses that we make.

I get it, I was there, I made them myself until I stopped. For the animals, this is Colleen Patrick Kadrow, you can find me at joyfulvegan.com. Thanks for listening.

Thank you.

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