Why I Am Vegan

Sometimes, when I tell someone I'm vegan, I catch their glance; An – “oh she must think that she is holier than thou,” glance. It is almost imperceptible. Sometime is it is accompanied by an, “I could never do that,” or they start listing off all of the food they do or do not eat. They will justify their breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I didn’t even ask. I was just trying to let them know, politely, that I am not interested in their cheese dish. I am not turning my nose up at your food. I just can’t eat it. I am vegan.Why am I vegan?That is a great question.When I was 15 years old, I learned about factory farming. My best friend on the planet at the time had a brochure that talked about cows. It was just a small paper, but it had a big impact on my life. Thank you Meredith – you may not even remember sharing that paper with me, but you did and it changed my life.The funny thing was, I really wasn’t able to fully understand the animal thing. I got the idea of animal cruelty from that paper but I just gave up cows mostly because I thought red meat was unhealthy. That made it easy. It was an easier out.I could just tell you that I was amazing and gave up meat just like that, but NO. That was not the case for me. I grew up a meat and potatoes girl. I was more interested in giving up the red meat for health reasons – which was totally ironic because I would drink coke and a pinwheel everyday when in high school. My family thought I was weird for eating Bocca burgers while they all had hamburgers.I remember that someone told me that they had an egg free cake. It was delicious and I thought it was magic. I would ask her to make it.Later in life I had digestive issues, which I discovered was a gluten intolerance. It was terrible. I had become ill and lost too much weight and my health was declining. I gave up gluten after a five-month struggle and my life was changed. Did you know that non-organic chickens are pumped up with wheat gluten? I could never eat another chicken again… because again for health reasons it made a food based decision.I received a lot of peer pressure to eat meat. It was hard to be different. (At least for me. I like to be non-confrontational and I hate to be a pain in the ass.)I moved to the Stanford Inn where I worked at the Raven’s and met Jeff Stanford. I have him to thank for sharing the idea that plant-based foods could be amazing for me and my health. But there I was exposed to the ideas of compassionate living. I was exposed to a compassionate, organic and life altering lifestyle.I am now a compassionate vegan who loves the health perks.The more I journeyed down the rabbit hole, the more I learned.  I began to learn about the environmental implications that eating meat has on the planet. Just by the simple act of giving up MEAT - I am healthier, the planet is healthier and I spread more compassion.  I learned about cruelty to chickens, baby chicks, pigs and gestation crates, cows and their mamas, especially milking cows, the lies of free range, and so much more.  It became plain that I was affected by their pain and I could not understand my own revulsion to the idea of one animal being eaten for food while eating another animal. It was time to change my habits for good regardless of what people thought.I don’t want to be a pain in the ass for people but I choose to live my life in a way that feels like I am making a positive change in the world. Changing the food that you eat on a daily basis makes a great impact. It changes your connection with the world. My daily life is about living life to the fullest in the least negative way possible. I hope that more people can make a change so that we can shift our impact on the planet, spread more compassion and kindness and increase our health and well-being.Choose a life that will save the planet for future generations. Open your heart to the idea that our food choices create generosity, love, understanding and compassion.Share a piece of your vegan journey in the comments below.Photo Credit: angus clyne via Compfight cc