Wow Ursus, what a cool story! Good for you. Did your husband go vegan too? If not, how did he respond to your decision?
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Wow Ursus, what a cool story! Good for you. Did your husband go vegan too? If not, how did he respond to your decision?
I can imagine the pressure your family will be under but you sound determined; good for you!
I met lots of Finnish while living in Beijing who were vegan, so I know there is support out there for you. Meeting other families is comforting. Back in London I didn't meet other baby/mamas but all the health care providers were familiar with vegans and gave us no trouble.
Hope you have a smooth ride as well!
@ rainbow- my husband is not vegan. he eats vegan at home and also cooks vegan. at work he usually chooses vegetarian option (there's usually nothing vegan) etc, but sometimes he just has the urge and has to eat meat/ dairy. fine by me, I'm not gonna preach ;) guess he will eventually stop, especially after little one starts asking difficult questions :D
@ pat sommer- i will have to look around and try to meet other vegan families, always helps to know you are not the only one and exchange experiences :)
I'm sure your husband will soon follow suit! I went vegan, then my mum, then my dad and then my little sister! Lead by example! :D
Hi everybody, this is my first post so *waves*
I might be stupid but I couldn't see and introduction thread so I guess this a good place to start.
Anyway, here is my vegan story...
I was born to a Vegan mum and a Vegetarian dad (who is now a vegan as well), I was raised vegetarian until I was thirteen when I decided I wanted to go vegan like my mum. It was easy for me really as my mum knew all the nutritional information to give me a helping hand. I was pretty much a vegan anyway as my mum cooked mainly vegan food and only every now and the would she put dairy in my food. All my clothes and soap were already vegan so the transition was very easy for me.
I know I had it lucky as we had supportive family who used to make sure that they would eat veggie or vegan food when we went to visit and would always check the ingredients to make sure it was okay for us to eat.
Unfortunately my friends weren't the same, nor were my teachers or doctors. When I was a baby my doctor wanted to send me for tests even though I was more healthy than any of the other children in my area and continued to be through school. My teachers would always try and make me eat meat at lunch times (and would also blame my dyslexia on my diet, can you believe that?!). They would even write letters to my mum to tell her that I needed more nutrition in which my mum would respond that I hardly ever got colds or flu and a list of what nutrients I ate everyday. She was never a 'preachy vegan' but if someone got at her about it she'd give it right back.
I can't pretend that non of this affected me but after years of questions and comments like 'what do you eat?' , 'no wonder you're so skinny' and 'you'll get this illness or that problem', etc I think I have finally started to let it go over my head without getting upset about it. I know what I believe in and that is enough for me. I'm not a 'preachy vegan'. I am open to questions about it if people are actually curious or even interested in becoming vegan but tend to ignore the people who want to get into an argument with me, I know that there is no point in getting involved as they will never change their view on things, which is very sad but true.
I hope one day something will change and that people will actually think about what they are eating and/or wearing. I know it's slowly changing as when I was young their was hardly anywhere we could eat out but now their seems to be more and more vegan friendly places to eat and more awareness of what is going on. There will always be some people who don't give a damn, but hopefully that they will be only a small percentage of society instead of the majority.
My finance is now a vegetarian, he was a meat eater when I met him but I cooked him a vegan meal and he said it was so good even without the meat. He realised soon after that there was no need for him to eat meat and that he would slowly make the change to being vegan. He has cut down on a lot of his dairy intake and he is in the process of sorting through his clothes. Hopefully he'll have the strength to carry on even with all he comments and questions he'll get whenever he meets up with his friends
We are having a baby and we are currently looking into how to raise the vegetarian and hopefully even vegan. I am looking through books and asking my mum loads of questions about how best to do it. I have to admit that I'm rather scared. I have wanted a baby for as long as I can remember and I'm not as strong as my mum is, I don't want lots of people criticising my mothering skills. I know it'll probably be fine, but I am worried about it.
So that is my story, it did turn into a bit of a rant, sorry about that...
Um so yeah, that is my first post done. Yay!
^Wow, your story is neat. Generations of vegans. I hope you're able to raise your baby vegan. Have you read Becoming Vegan by Brenda Davis and Vessanto Melina? There's a chapter in there on being pregnant and vegan and raising vegan kids. I thought the information was good, but I'm not pregnant and don't have any children.
I haven't read that book yet. Thanks for letting me know about it, it sounds just like what I need to read. I have a great book on nutrition that my mum swore by when I was young but it's a bit old now and the pages are falling out! So I need a new book.
What a cool story ruth151! Lucky you to have a vegan parent! May your child one day understand their luck at having you!
That's a really amazing story! Like you I have vegan parents, (I converted them :P) and they are currently raising my little sister vegan. I understand the pressure that you will be under. Just stand your ground and do what you know is right in your heart. When me and my partner have children (most likely be adopting) they will also be raised vegan.
I found this one better then "becoming vegan" : http://www.amazon.com/Plant-Based-Nu.../dp/0907337260
http://www.vegfamily.com/
Brilliant! Thanks Wendy :)
Emzy1985: It's great that you converted your parents. :) I know it'll be fine to raise children vegan and when I read some more books I'll be happier and more confident about it. I know I'll have to fight many doctors along the way though.
Rainbow: I know I was very lucky with the parents I have. I'm very happy and thankful about how they raised me. I did get terribly bullied at school about it though and hopefully by the time my child goes to school things will have changed as I really don't want them to be bullied.
I got bullied too, so I understand. I was vegetarian until I was 11, then vegan. I got teased even for being vegetarian, because this was twenty years ago and was still very much the exception to the rule. When I went vegan, I was the only vegan I knew, and in my immaturity I was rather preachy about it. That certainly didn't win me any friends! But having been through these things ourselves, learned how to develop coping strategies and how best to relate to other people and their negative attitudes, we can guide our own children through it. Unless your mother was a vegan while still at school, she may have had only sympathy to offer. You will be able to offer your child more concrete practical advice on how to handle such situations.
Also, while kids may pick on someone for being vegan, they may equally pick on someone for being clever, stupid, fat, thin, tall, short, red-headed, bespectacled, smelly, spotty, gangly, voluptuous, flat-chested, shabby, posh, promiscuous, celibate, or anything else that isn't considered sufficiently "normal". As very few kids are lucky enough to be entirely "normal", chances are that most kids will get picked on at some point. Teaching a child how to address such situations with humour, diplomacy and an appreciation of their intrinsic self-worth is far more valuable than just hoping that they will fit in, and I am sure you will be better placed than most parents to do just that.
I know I'm bringing up an older thread, but I'm new and wanted to tell my story :thumbsup:
I have been a huge animal lover my entire life, but I never really connected my love for animals and the fact that I consumed them on a daily basis. When I was a freshman in high school I was at McDonalds with some friends and one of them asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. As I was chomping on my hamburger, I said "an animal rights activist". The irony hit me like a sledgehammer. I threw out the rest of my burger and became a vegetarian then and there. Because I was in high school and didn't have the support of my family at the time, I only last a year as a vegetarian, I wasn't eating well at all and became sick. I added chicken and fish back into my diet (haven't touched beef since that day though).
As I got older, I really started to think about what eating meat meant and I toyed with the thought of going vegetarian again. Along the way I made friends with a few vegans and thought there was no way I could ever do that. If giving up chicken again would be hard, giving up dairy would be impossible. But the thought stewed in the back of my head for years.
I had gotten to a place in my life where I was eating like complete crap for convenience, a lot of fast food, sweets, junk in general and I felt like crap. I decided it was time to jump in feet first and try vegan. I challenged myself to go completely vegan for one week and see how I felt. With the help of my vegan friends I armed myself with some awesome recipes and stocked up my kitchen with vegan food. I ate more delicious food that week than I expected. Everything I made tasted awesome and at the end of the week I didn't miss the meat or dairy in my diet, so I decided to make it stick. Also during that week I read The Kind Diet which opened my eyes to the horrors of the meat and dairy industry (like many others, I believed the whole "happy cows" bull from the dairy commercials) and what it does to our bodies. This knowledge solidified my choice and I have stuck with it now for a little over two months and I have never felt better in my life.
Thanks for breathing life into an old thread!
All the best in your vegan journey
Ok, I was directed here by pat sommer so here’s my story!
I remember being around 11 and having a day off school, My mother used to work as a courier so I’d gone along with her this day. One of the places she had to drop something off was the local abattoir.
I remember sitting in the car waiting for her to come back and looking at the sheep beyond the fence line. That was the first time it hit me that I shouldn’t be eating them.
From then began my journey, I went vegetarian but didn’t do it properly; I was very young and basically just ate what my family was having sans meat. This meant that I was not getting full enough or satisfied enough and I gave it up thinking it was too hard.
When I was around 15 I decided I would give it another go.
This time I lasted.
At around 21 I went vegan and lasted for around 6 months but again gave up as it was “too hard”.
I had, however, felt great the whole time I was doing it but being that age I was going out a lot and could never find anything to eat. So I went back to being veggie.
The whole time I was vegetarian I felt like I was a hypocrite, how could I not eat their meat but then use them for so many other things? I attended duck shooting protests and many other causes to do with animal lib but was still wearing wool, eating cheese etc.
What flipped me over the edge was watching “Earthlings”. I’m sure it’s a cliché story, but it’s true J
I cried for the whole thing. I sat there bawling my eyes out feeling like the worst thing in the world, repeating how sorry I was over and over as if they could hear me. It was worse than any horror movie I had seen; I was actually gasping out loud and had to fight the urge to just turn it off.
So there it is. My story. I still feel immense guilt about having eaten and used animals for clothing in the past but all I can do is live well now.
My little brother went vegetarian for a month as a birthday present for me when he was around 17, 5 years later he is still vegetarian and the only other animal product he eats is cheese and I reckon I can get him off that as well.
My husband is an omnivore, but since we have been together his meat consumption has decreased greatly and I’m only a pinch away from convincing him to try going veggie for a month, vegan is too much for him at the minute, but one step at a time….
Now my main struggle is trying to understand how other people don’t feel this same guilt, yes I ate eggs and milk and cheese, but I always felt wrong doing it. Why don’t others feel this way?
about a year and a half ago i was living in a really bad situation. i had barely dragged myself through school and was on academic probation. i was overweight and depressed as well. i did nothing but eat, sleep, smoke , and drink. my roommate was the same way. i couldn't care less about myself or my health. i don't know what made me do it, but one day i just decided that i had had enough. i started eating healthier ( or what i thought was healthier at the time) and exercising. all of the sudden i felt more motivated. my brain's ability to function increased. i did better in school (last semester i got my scholarship back), lost weight, and quit my bad habits. over the school year i ate meat less and less without really noticing. i began trying alternatives to milk and cheese. unfortunately my roommate didn't follow suit. she downward spiraled until she quit school and her job and went to rehab. this sounds like an awful thing to say but i was relieved. i could finally focus fully on myself and my health and not take care of her all the time ( she is 7 months sober now by the way and is back in school). when she left i got my own place. this allowed me to really work on self improvement. i became addicted to yoga and healthy food. meat and dairy were very rarely in my kitchen. then i started watching documentaries about the food industry and america's health problems ( after which i then read a few books). i realized that i basically already ate a vegan diet. so i switched completely. i couldn't stand knowing all of the horrible issues meat, dairy, and eggs caused both for animals and for humans. it has been about a month now and i am loving it. i feel and look great. i think i might be inspiring my sister to make similar changes in her diet. lets hope she does! then we will have another great story.
Thanks for sharing your story, LRP; I enjoyed listening!
Amazing that folks don't feel the same guilt and revulsion yet after all the chipping away of ignorance you are up too... Time will tell.
Glad to hear you are well and fit and here amongst us, Trinity73x!
Good news about your room mate as well.
Best of luck with your studies :)
Time for my Vegan story, i can't promise it will be interesting or full of any adventure or whimsy sadly :p
Since i was old enough (i imagine about 4 or 5) to make it clear what i wanted and didn't want to eat i simply never had an interest in eating meat and i was for the most part a Vegetarian i would occasionally eating crisps with meat flavourings, the fact i did that makes me kinda angry with myself, but hey it's in the past now.
In 2009 i suffered some health issues and the symptoms were an increased heart rate and discomfort in the chest area and this was eventually diagnosed as being due to severe acid reflux and it was this moment in my life that made me think a lot and not just about my diet. Around this time i was drinking milkshakes fairly regularly and pumping myself full of Luzozade (sports drink, to get me through work) and i believe this caused some of my health issues.
From 2006/7 onwards i had began opening my mind more to a lot of things and by 2010 i had made a lot of new friends both on and offline and a few of these were Vegan and until that point i hadn't really ever met anyone who was Vegan (or at least they never mentioned it) so naturally my interest was peaked as i consider myself to be a very "peace and love" kinda guy so i looked into it and it seemed just logical for me to become a Vegan.
It was April 2011 when i became fully Vegan and i had great support from my Vegan friends and since i've been Vegan i've not wished or wanted for any products or foods that i may have enjoyed as Vegetarian, which to be honest wasn't much anyway as i rarely consumed Dairy. I feel in a way i was destined to be a Vegan as in recent years i have grown as a person while all around me at my age are settling down and towing the line society has laid out for them to follow.
I do also believe i would of gone Vegan at a much earlier age if i had been exposed to it sooner or just of been educated better, i don't think in my whole time at school Veganism was mentioned by either a teacher or a fellow student.
I also believe the area i grow up while nice enough and full of friendly people (well some), it isn't a place for aspiring people it seems, very much a run of the mill place where people do as they're told and don't want to stand out as being different. All men around my age will spend their time talking about football (soccer), ogling women and stuffing their faces with whatever food they can access, normally meat and that lifestyle just seems empty, boring and wrong.
I've not met anyone with any real hopes or dreams or with a similar attitude to life as my own within my own town and am keen to meet more Vegans and spread the word of Veganism. :)
I decided I wanted to be a vegetarian when I was 15, when I could not justify eating meat just because someone else from an industry had slaughtered, skinned and prepared it for me. I did not feel comfortable being a hypocrite. I considered myself fortunate enough to have seen, first-hand, what happened to animals on factory farms, which only enforced my discontent with eating meat.
Even though I intially started off as vegetarian, I did not consume much dairy, due to intolerance, so I became vegan for two reasons. Over time, my body seemed to reject dairy products more and more, and during that time, I also looked more into the truth in how dairy is processed and produced. Since I did not consume dairy very regularly anyway, I decided to adopt a vegan diet and have been feeling the benefits ever since.
I have obviously become a lot more aware of things, one of the main eye-openers for me was watching Earthlings. As disturbing and upsetting as it was (and is), I also learned a lot more, which has only compelled me to continue and maintain this lifestyle.
Up until the age of 18, I was happily omnivorous. I ate little red meat but I loved fish, poultry, and dairy. Eggs tended to make me ill (if I ate too many, my kidneys couldn't seem to cope), but I enjoyed them nonetheless.
When I got to college, there was this tutor whom I had a huge crush on. She was sweet and articulate and because I was an awfully awkward teen, she took me under her wing. I found out that she was vegetarian, and when she explained the reasons behind her choice of diet, I fell hook, line and sinker. I went veggie and stayed that way for 8 months. My mum was supportive and my dad was all proud, like I was making some huge political statement (bless him).
The problem was, I was doing it for somebody else and not for myself. Other than my mother and father, my family and friends were quite anti-vegetarian, and every mealtime with them became a debate about vegetarianism. I left college and lost the support of that beautiful tutor. A few months later, just after I'd started university, I caved. After that, I was addicted to meat in all its forms: cured, smoked, fried, grilled - you name it, I ate it. I also LOVED cheese and when I eventually got pregnant, I craved milk like you wouldn't believe.
Then about 7 months ago, I watched an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, in which she explained her reasons for becoming vegan. She cited the documentary 'Earthlings' as her motivation. My curiosity was piqued, but I didn't want to make the same mistake as I had previously (i.e. I didn't want to go vegan because I was copying someone I admired). So after a few weeks of contemplating, I switched on the documentary with an open mind, just to see what would happen.
I was horrified. The images, the sounds, the screams - that documentary destroyed me. It also completely changed my life. I had been comforting myself with half-arsed arguments that just weren't true: 'free range' was a label that had little meaning and so-called 'kosher' food was nothing of the sort. The truth was - and is - that every animal suffers. Every animal lives and dies in fear and pain. And I had been taking their flesh and their bone and their tissue and their milk and putting it in my mouth, for no other reason than because it tasted good.
I have been vegan ever since. It was a tough transition, because everything in my life up until that point had been omni. My boyfriend's parents question me about my dietary choices every time I visit: they are convinced I'm going to die and drag my son down with me (and this is coming from a couple who drink a bottle of red wine every day and eat veal and venison in abundance!!!). But this time, it's different because I'm not questioning myself. I'm so happy with my decision and I feel so much cleaner and healthier being vegan. Making this choice and sticking to it has taught me to trust my own judgment: I've come out to my boyfriend as gay (a secret that has been tearing at me since I was 6 years old). We will be separating in the near future and I hope to bring my son up as vegan (at least when he's with me - my other half is steadfastly omni and won't hear of it).
Thank god for 'Earthlings' :).
xox
Brave girl MamaBee!
Hope it all goes smoothly for you, MamaBee, your son and soon-ex. Like you said, you can trust yourself :thumbsup:
Keep spreading the word Enchantedgypsy25 :-)
Here's to learning and growing, csteiner12 :bigsmile:
Brilliant. I've been vegan over 14 years and going vegan is one of the best things I've ever done in my life. I eat so much more different food than ever before and I love the food I eat. I could never be anything but vegan. With all the vegan food you can buy these days you never 'miss out' and anyway 'missing out' on the odd foodstuff that isn't vegan is nothing compared to what an animal is put through via the meat/diary industries etc.
I went vegan when I was 22, I had tried to before that (I was vegetarian from aged 18) but moved to Germany and didn't have enough courage or enough knowledge to keep it up. When I moved back to the UK and lived with other vegans I quickly learn how easy it was and they were really inspiring.
I'll never forget when I was vegetarian and got a lift from a vegan guy one time and he asked me if I ate meat, I was really pleased with myself and answered that I was vegetarian and he looked at me and said 'Oh, you're half-way there then!'. I just had never considered that you could go further. I did and I have never looked back!
Veganism is going to take over the world (I hope!). For the sake of the animals and the environment.
Lets hope so :)
Hello! I'm thrilled to find this community, as I am extremely new at this. I went vegetarian 3 weeks ago, switching to vegan a few days into it because I found that there is no such thing as 'cruelty free' dairy products. Interesting, when I asked friends to help me find some, they all asked, "What do you mean, 'cruelty free dairy'?". And these are not ignorant people, so the question surprised me.
With the Internet and my Kindle Fire, I've already downloaded several cookbooks and wonderful recipes. I find it is all much easier than I would have imagined, and even though I am not 'tried and true' yet, I am never going back. For many years I've wrestled with my conscience, feeling profoundly horrified by the treatment of animals on factory farms. I can no longer be a part of such a brutal, callous and indifferent system.
I love that this forum recognizes that veganism is so much more than nutritious. It's a way of being, of loving and respecting life in all of it's many forms. The health benefits are, for me, the side effects of doing what you know in your gut is RIGHT.
Like everyone else here, I am a true animal lover. Like a previous poster, I have had rats that I adored. I have had rabbits, a ferret, and of course cats and dogs. I currently have four cats and one dog. Veganism to me is the right thing to do for the animals, of course. But it's also about people. What does it do to people to treat animals the way that they are treated on factory farms? What does it mean about a people to blindly ignore such horrific suffering so that mouths can be stuffed with foods that aren't even good for you.
It's an insult to our integrity as a species, in my opinion. I would not say this in the general public for fear of hurting the cause of animal rights, but of course meat eating is wrong. We all know it here, and it's a relief to be able to say so bluntly.
Again, I am so happy to find this community. <3
I'm glad your path is easier than expected Brigetta B. Technology for the greater good! check out Food.com and search For VEGAN anything.
...and Dee Dee, you certainly have arrived :thumbsup:
I watched Earthlings one night in bed, the next day onwards i didn't eat meat. That was two years ago. To solidify it i fell in love with a one day old baby rooster, it thought i was its dad. It only lived one week but i was madly in love with him, So god dam cute. It was like a brain explosions in one night realising that animals no matter how small deserved equal rights to us, and that we were the ones that stuffed up the circle of life. We conquered the planet, but we tipped the scales and now we will all pay.
:)
Another Earthlings convert here! I was looking for Joaquin Phoenix vids on you tube one night when I stumbled across the link for Earthlings. I wasn’t really concentrating, just clicked and watched…and watched…and watched. It was just so profoundly horrific - so utterly earth-shattering and uncompromising in it’s message - that it was like I’d suddenly snapped out of a life-long stupor and I could see things clearly for the first time. Honestly, it was as if Mr Phoenix had personally handed me the red pill and I was out of the matrix and into the real world, lol. Well that was about three weeks ago, and I haven’t looked back since. I can honestly say that it wasn’t so much a conversion to veganism as it was an outright epiphany - I can’t even look at meat, milk, eggs, etc, without feeling sick to my core.
I can’t believe how naive I was not to question the ethics of animal slavery. Never again.:sad:
Ever since we started eating better, I wanted to be a vegetarian. I highly respected them and wished I could do the same. But I didn't know HOW. I just wasn't educated in it. I had no idea what was going on (and hadn't been for a long time!) in the world around me in relation to eating meat. I never thought that being a vegetarian was more than just not liking the taste of meat, or "trying to save the animals". I was raised to believe that there was nothing wrong with eating animals. I never knew how these same animals that I enjoyed eating, were crying out in desperate agony before they were routinely slaughtered, on a conveyor belt destined for MY own plate! Of course, I never pictured any of this when I first became a vegan. I sort of begged my mom for us to go to this live cooking class right outside our local Whole Foods. We went and it was so impressive--desserts sweetened only with dates, no added sugar! I always would admit that I've, "always had a problem with sugar"--in a sense that I LOVED it and it doesn't quite love me back. ;) So, my mom and I, easily impressed with this "Chef AJ", bought her book! At the end of the session, though, she said a few things that were striking to us—she was a vegan, and didn't eat oil, and just minimal sugar and salt. She mentioned all oils being bad--even olive oil! Even olive oil?! We were stunned, but were willing to make any changes to our staggering diets. The cooking class was in October, and since March of that year, we'd been jumping around on a few different diet plans, even lacto-ovo vegetarianism was in the mix. We wanted to get healthy the right way, but hadn't a clue which "diet plan" it was. We read Chef AJ's book and watched a few nutritional documentaries: one called Eating, one called Food Matters, and eventually Forks Over Knives! All these videos blew us away! The week after we got Chef AJ's cookbook, we went through our cabinets and threw away ALL our oil, and any products that had any oil in it. Another thing Chef AJ mentioned in her book was that a doughnut was made up of sugar, salt, and oil. If we saw a product in our pantry that had those three ingredients together, we might have well been looking at a doughnut! Everything from our "healthy" Kashi breakfast cereal, to Italian salad dressing, to our favorite sandwich spread Miso Mayo, to dairy-free whipped cream, even to crackers! It was ridiculous what we were finding when we looked at everything thoroughly! We threw it ALL out, and felt so good! Needless to say, we needed to go grocery shopping! ;) We started cooking vegan meals the following week, but we still had animal products when we went out, or were with others. We didn't exactly know how to take this big change, and weren't really ready to dive head first. A month later, by November/December, we finally starting declaring to others that we were vegans and have been a lot more comfortable in sharing with others. I've been so excited to meet other vegans and I've found a few so far. I've read Healthy at 100, The China Study, Diet for a New America, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, and Forks Over Knives (the book). I loved reading all these books and I've even emailed a couple doctors for their opinions of issues. I actually spoke to Dr. Esselstyn on my cell phone!!! I have been learning a lot, and am still interested in reading as many plant-based nutritional books and studies I can find! ;) My journey in veganism has been gradual, but so rewarding! I love being able to share facts with others. My family are all vegan (the four of us) and still limit fat, sugar, salt, and oil. We've all lost weight being vegan, too! No more diets!! My cousin is reading Diet for a New America and is becoming a vegetarian. Being a vegan is so exciting! Not only are you helping your body, giving it natural food, but you're not harming animals, saving the environment, not costing the government billions of dollars on health insurance, and so much more! If anyone needs encouragement out there in being a vegan--whether you need new recipes (I love to cook and try new vegan recipes), health facts, or just some encouragement, I can help. :)
Excited to be vegan,
Miranda
...you certainly will be a big help to the vegan movement!
Enjoyed your story. See you in the recipes section:-)
...never again. You get a hallelujah from me :thumbsup:
I've been trying to watch the film 'Earthlings' since two posters mentioned the impact that it had on them. It's horrible. So incredibly difficult to watch, I can only take it in small increments. However, I think anyone who eats meat should watch it, I agree with the statement that 'those who eat animals do not deserve to be shielded from these realities', or something to that effect was mentioned in the film. It hit me in recent months just how MASSIVE the scope of the suffering is, and it's all I can do not to sink into a very deep sadness. And shame. It's hard not to be ashamed of our species. You really don't have to be a rocket scientist or a 'tree hugger' to know in your gut that this is not just wrong, it's evil. I will never go back. I'm ashamed that it took me this long to do what I know is right. I am from Texas, raised by rednecks but always felt like I myself was from another planet because I have always seen things so differently than the people around me.
the only people that watch these type of films are vegans! talk about preching to the converted. I cannot get anyone i know to watch these films, they'd rather not know incase it puts them off eating meat?!?!? I fast forwarded thru Earthlings yesterday to see what it's like before i get time to watch it properly and i dont know if i'm gonna be able to without getting too upset.
My husband watched Earthlings. He told me to watch it but I don't think I could take it. Like Brigetta B said, sometimes I have to make an effort not to think about it otherwises I know i'd sink into sadness. Its too much.
I tried to watch the glass walls video on meat.org and probably lasted less than a minute before I had to turn it off with tears streaming down my face.
I feel like I already know too much, sometimes I wish I didnt and could be ignorant. But i'm glad i'm not.
Daffodil, I can't express my outrage at people who don't want to know, it's too great. Ignorance is not bliss, I truly believe that the suffering might not be so extreme or widespread if people knew exactly what was going on. The fact that they are WILLFULLY ignorant is just...mind boggling.
Here in America, bizarre new laws are being passed that actually forbid the filming of these suffering creatures. Besides being blatantly unconstitutional, they only PROVE that the suffering is wrong. You don't try to hide things unless you know they are wrong.
I should have done this years ago. This is who I have always been supposed to be; ever since I was a very young child, I've had an enormous affinity for animals. They are clearly conscious and aware, and we are talking about MILLIONS AND MILLIONS of suffering creatures in my country alone. On a spiritual level, what does that mean? It's such a tragic, horrific thing.
Just a bit of info on the massive efforts to hide the truth from the American people-not that they care all that much. : ( But as I mentioned, this is UNCONSTITUTIONAL. Just another example of how large corporations, in this case, food producers, have such massive influence over the American government that even the constitution doesn't stop them.
http://animalrights.about.com/b/2011/03/23/bills-to-ban-undercover-factory-farming-videos-moving-ahead-in-iowa-and-florida.htm
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/ar...rutiny/254674/
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/27/opinion/27wed3.html
I was a huge meat and dairy fan from a very young age, there wasn't many things I'd turn down. I was very heavy into body building from 20-27 and was pretty strong with a typical meat-head attitude towards vegans and vegetarians. We actually have a long time vegan at my job who we all used tease and give a hard time or ask stupid, impossible questions. Like I said, typical meat-head. I was always concerned about the quality of food I ate but around 26-27 I started really digging deeper into the origins of my food, meat, dairy and greens alike. I got a subscription to Netflix and watched food inc., king corn, foodmatters etc. and really changed the way I bought food. I cutout HFCS I even quit smoking cold turkey one day (two years this week actually). Finally I watched forks over knives and I was blown away, the next day I went into work and asked our resident vegan for earthlings and I haven't touched meat or dairy since. Since I made the switch I've done so much research and the deeper I dig the happier I am about it. I always cared about animals but never saw meat or dairy consumption as unethical but the more I know now I just wish I made the switch sooner. It does feel good knowing I can eat a meal that satisfies me and doesn't hurt any animals in the process. The biggest thing for me is just how good I feel, no more headaches, migraines, acne, fatigue, etc. the list could go on. I recently got a checkup at the doctor and I'm in better health than I have been in 8 years and I don't even go to the gym anymore. Once I'm finished moving into my new place I'm going to join the gym up the road, I'm excited because knowing how good I feel now I really am sure I'll have better results than I have in all the years I've spent at a gym.
Even better is that I've inadvertently gotten two of my closest friends, fiancé and one employee to greatly reduce their meat and dairy intake and the employee has expressed to me that his ultimate goal is to get himself, his son and his wife on a plant based vegan diet. I'm happy It's gaining popularity and people are starting to see through the myths that surround veganism. If I went vegan, there is a chance for everyone. I'm the last person in the world I would expect to adopt this lifestyle.
I recently heard about biodegradable engine oil and got really excited, I planned on using it and was about to go buy it. I read a few reviews about it and in doing so I found out it uses animal fats and tallow from meat processing and I thought "A. I'm vegan. B. the meat processing industry is so dirty, how can I justify this as an environmentally friendly product?" so I passed on it and purchased plain old synthetic. Never could have pictured myself thinking this way. Haha.
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