ABSTRACT
From Aldo Leopold's attempt at reestablishing wolves in Wisconsin to the present, environmentalists have been perceived as radical idealists out of touch with average citizens. As the Goodes illustrate, the commonplace of environmentalists as eaters of weird, meatless, or expensive food resonates in the US. Environmentalism has also been cast as a back-to-nature religion. Vegetarianism has been associated with environmentalism at least since the 1971 publication of Francis Moore Lappe's Diet for a Small Planet. Meanwhile, analysis of vegetarian websites indicates that animal rights and health trump environmental motivators, while numerous sites promote vegan apparel as "cruelty-free" rather than "sustainable". Some environmentalists do share a "back-to-nature" ethos with the self-reliance or homestead movement, which advocates moving off-grid, growing produce, and raising livestock, among other activities considered alternately "sustainable" and/or "independent". Meanwhile, the National Rifle Association (NRA) claims that environmentalists advocate gun control so rigid as to ban hunting rifles and shotguns.
