All the time people ask me questions about why I am a vegan or even, what is a vegan?
Simply, a vegan is someone who lives a life based on compassion. They consider every life to be important and special. Every cow has a life, has a heart, has emotions and has memories. I don’t believe it is Ok to kill.
Almost everyone can understand why someone would be a vegetarian, but it is difficult for them to grasp the vegan concept. I have been a vegetarian since I was 12-years-old (11 years now). I never thought it was ok to kill an animal just so I could have a snack. I quickly learned there were adequate alternatives. I ate dairy and eggs till I was 21. My reasoning was that you did not have to kill an animal for its milk or eggs, but I soon realized that I was wrong. After doing a lot a research and watching videos I realized that dairy animals and egg chickens are inevitably exploited and killed for their “goods”.
Dairy cows are given hormones and other drugs to produce more and more milk. They are kept indoors and treated like machines. And when they can no longer produce milk, they are turned into meat.
Poultry are reportedly the most abused animal in the world! Chickens are deprived of sunlight and crammed 3 or 4 into tiny cages. They go crazy from lack of basic affection and they start to peck each other to death, so their beaks are chopped off when they are babies. When they can no longer produce eggs, they are usually too skinny to be used as meat so they are commonly buried alive.
So, why vegan? Why not? I have alternatives. Soymilk is delicious and works the same in recipes. Egg-replacer works great in cakes and other desserts. And I can look at my lunch and say, ” no animals were harmed in the making…”
Not to mention the environmental repercussions. Just do a simple Wikipedia search to see how bad livestock is on the planet http://vegetarian.about.com/od/vegetarianvegan101/f/environment.htm
There are alternatives to everything. And they are easy to find with little effort. Am I healthy as a vegan? Absolutely! I recently had a blood test and my protein, iron, everything came back, top notch. My doctor said, “How does it feel to be in such great health?”
For more information go to goveg.com
So I leave you with this video; whether you agree with me or not, you should at least know what or who you are eating.
mohawkonline said,
January 25, 2008 @ 12:09 am
Hey Steven!
Great post! It’s always interesting to hear why people have chosen a vegan lifestyle. You’ve stronger will than I Mr. Keddy!
I enjoyed the conversational tone of this, Steven. You did a great job of combining recent news and video with your story. The only things I could suggest in terms of style is maybe next time try and pump it up a little! Maybe throw a little attitude in there. Couldn’t hurt!
Also, try breaking up your long paragraph into smaller, more bite-sized ones. Suits the medium better and also helps your readers switch gears from thought to thought.
Excellent work.
10/10
Cheers,
Roz
veggieguy said,
January 25, 2008 @ 12:13 pm
Excellent post. It is funny how the line between vegetarian and vegan is the difference between “health conscious” and “stark raving mad”.
I’ve been experimenting with raw foodism, which seems to be way on past “stark raving mad” – somewhare near “completely bats$%t”.
But it’s a gradual process for many people. Going from omnivore to vegan is pretty tough, and vegetarianism is a good stop along the way. That’s why I try to provide recipes that appeal to people wherever they are along the path.
Have a great day!
Lee