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The Rainbow Vegetarian Café in Cambridge, England, has announced that it will not accept the new £5 polymer notes, introduced by the Bank of England in September. Last week the British vegan community discovered that the notes contain trace amounts of beef tallow, which is animal fat, and are therefore unacceptable by their cruelty-free standards. A heated online controversy has resulted, including a petition asking the Bank to remove tallow from the polymer.
The Rainbow Café's owner, Sharon Meijland, told The Telegraph that her stance was announced last Wednesday, at the end of a BBC radio interview on the unrelated topic of Christmas food.
"We sponsor the Vegan Fair and announced on Wednesday we would not be accepting the £5 notes because they are dubious ethically. We have been providing food for vegans for 30 years and have tried to be as ethical as we possibly can...This is not just a restaurant, it's a restaurant where tiny details like this are really important."
Is any of our money cruelty-free?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by mendax on Tuesday December 06 2016, @03:46PM
They could do all their business with coins. Of course, that's a lot of coins. I wonder if they would feel the same way if the new fivers were greased with tallow made from the fat of human corpses, people who died of heart attacks or were killed in accidents?
Personally, I think these people are hypocrites. By-products of animal slaughter make their way into all sorts of products, such as the dyes used in plastics.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Tuesday December 06 2016, @04:09PM
It also pains me to point out that even vegan food involves animal death. How many field mice were crushed by the combine harvester that collected the wheat in your bread? How many birds and bugs are killed in the orchards either deliberately for pest control, or accidentally during harvesting? I really don't think the planet would support the current population if every morsel of food had to be hand-picked and organically grown.
I have nothing against vegans, in fact I admire their dedication and the sacrifice they are prepared to make for their beliefs, but I do get the feeling that the effort of going vegan is not worth the tiny returns above going vegetarian.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by mendax on Tuesday December 06 2016, @07:09PM
Indeed. Death is required in order for people to eat. Who is to say that plants don't suffer as they are mowed down, picked, or starved for water or plowed under when no longer useful?
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
(Score: 1) by Francis on Wednesday December 07 2016, @04:12AM
Vegans, at least the ones that aren't insane, generally draw a line when it comes to intent. They'll typically use medicines that are tested on animals if they don't have other options and they'll eat fermented foods as bacteria aren't high enough on the food chain to be aware of anything that goes on.
I've even heard vegans acknowledge that if you're genuinely malnourished, you might have to go off the diet to build up your strength.
It's rather unfortunate, that in recent decades there's been a slide towards the mindless type of veganism that doesn't pay any attention to the health consequences that can come from improper diet.
(Score: 2) by CoolHand on Wednesday December 07 2016, @01:11PM
Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job-Douglas Adams
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday December 06 2016, @09:15PM
How about if Americans donated the necessary tallow, taken from them voluntarily with liposuction? Everybody wins.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 07 2016, @05:51AM
I wonder if they would feel the same way if the new fivers were greased with tallow made from the fat of human corpses, people who died of heart attacks or were killed in accidents?
Is this a real question, or do you already have an answer in mind? I think many more people than just vegans would have an issue with this.
Not all vegans hate humans, and not all people who come to like certain animals more than other humans are vegans. It's easy for some people to dislike humans because humans are intelligent and yet they often squander this intelligence.
Personally, I think these people are hypocrites.
I'm sure you'd also accuse them of being hypocrites if they didn't do this. In fact, if your standard is that someone is a hypocrite because they're not perfect and are merely doing the best they can to follow their principles, then there are very likely countless things that you're a hypocrite about as well.
A lot of people complain about rabid vegans, but rabid anti-vegans are just as annoying.