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Thread: The guy who wrote '7 Reasons I Never Went Vegan' is now a vegan

  1. #1
    Ex-admin Korn's Avatar
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    Default The guy who wrote '7 Reasons I Never Went Vegan' is now a vegan

    Some guy called David wrote an article called 7 Reasons I Never Went Vegan a while ago. He still wanted to try it for a month, and wrote about it here: What I Discovered When I Went Vegan for 30 Days.
    He was asked a couple of days ago what his current diet is, and responded that he was vegan now, 'for good'.

    Here's one observation he shared after his 30 day experiment:

    "One thing I am finding during this experiment (and I’ll write more about this when I’m done) is that I could never really be open to the ethical issues while I was still eating animal products. I mean, I’d watched the slaughterhouse videos and had an emotional reaction to them before. But while watching, I always had to harbor some rationale in my mind why it was still okay for me to consume animals, so I could never really be quite emotionally open to what I’m seeing. It was either change my lifestyle at that very moment, or subconsciously tone down my emotional involvement in the reality of what happens in the animal food industry. Does that make sense?"

    It makes sense to me. The body controls the mind more than we like to admit, so if our taste buds and wellbeing/effort ratio is OK with eating a plant based diet, it's a lot easier to agree in vegan viewpoints afterwards. And in order to have any valid viewpoints about what it feels like to live on a vegan diet, one of course needs to try it first, at least for a few weeks. (Yes, this is a hint to our non-vegan visitors. )
    I will not eat anything that walks, swims, flies, runs, skips, hops or crawls.

  2. #2

    Default Re: The guy who wrote '7 Reasons I Never Went Vegan' is now a vegan

    Very cool that he's staying vegan! I went through this, too, and had the same mindset as him. It took me 8 1/2 years to finally go vegan for good, so my advice to non-vegans is don't think it's impossible and never give up on it!

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    Vegan-bellydancer's Avatar
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    Default Re: The guy who wrote '7 Reasons I Never Went Vegan' is now a vegan

    I can relate to that. I went vegan for vanity reasons ie to lose weight but am now sticking to vegan for ethical reasons, which I didn't really relate to as a meat eater.

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    Default Re: The guy who wrote '7 Reasons I Never Went Vegan' is now a vegan

    Yes, BUT ...

    ... when you read that original article carefully, he gives 7 reasons ... and invalidates each of these reasons that actually they are not real reasons.

    So the original article is IMO a rather cleverly written piece that will get other omnis, who are looking for reasons to keep what they are doing, to read it and discover that it is not so bad. IMO that original piece is written by a guy who certainly sees the need to go vegan but is still pondering whether he wants to make the commitment.

    Nevertheless, great news!

    Best regards,
    Andy

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    Default Re: The guy who wrote '7 Reasons I Never Went Vegan' is now a vegan

    Hi there,

    I'm the author of both those articles and I wanted to clear a few things up since I've received a ton of feedback (positive and negative) on both of them.

    "7 Reasons I Never Went Vegan" was not meant to be a case against veganism, and this should be obvious to anyone who actually reads it (as opposed to skimming it or just reacting to the headline, as many did). I did mean it at face value though: those were the real reasons I never considered going vegan, but that doesn't mean they're good ones. I had reached a point where I could see that none of my reasons for staying omnivorous were good reasons.

    I do experiments on my website (usually trying something out for 30 days) and I wanted to do one involving a diet with strict no-go zones. I'd never had to exercise any discipline with my eating, so I wanted to find a particular culinary ethos and try it out. So I ate only vegan food for 30 days. The experiment centered around diet, but I also did not (knowingly) buy any animal products during that time. I really just wanted to see if it was as difficult as I imagined. It wasn't nearly.

    The original article was meant to appeal to omnivores, to look at wading into veganism from an omnivore's perspective, rather than to just "flip" and tell them from the other side that they should do it too. I wanted people to think along the same lines, and come with me, instead of just thinking "Ok, you do that, we'll stay here."

    I do have misgivings about how I said I "went vegan for 30 days" when I don't feel I really did my due diligence in making sure I was not buying animal products at all, and I don't want to perpetuate the notion that veganism is a diet. Reading them now, both articles strike me as a bit naive and ignorant about veganism. But that's okay, it was new to me and it still is.

    As I mentioned in the passage quoted by Korn, I found that I was suddenly able to see how compelling the ethical argument for veganism really is, but not until I was no longer eating animal foods. I am convinced now that nobody can truly comprehend the moral implications of exploiting animals while they are still doing it. Before rationally considering anything, we must defend ourselves, which includes our lifestyles. So an omnivore will feel compelled to defend omnivorism, which supersedes the possibility of honestly considering an opposing position. I think this self-defense reaction is what inhibits most people from going vegan, and that's why I think it's so important to encourage people to try it out, otherwise they can never quite see it rationally.

    In any case, within a week of starting my experiment, I knew I would be going vegan for good. I felt great -- clean and responsible and honest (and healthy!) in a way I never had been before.

    Glad to be here.
    David

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    Ex-admin Korn's Avatar
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    Default Re: The guy who wrote '7 Reasons I Never Went Vegan' is now a vegan

    Hi David, and welcome!
    I will not eat anything that walks, swims, flies, runs, skips, hops or crawls.

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    Default Re: The guy who wrote '7 Reasons I Never Went Vegan' is now a vegan

    Quote David7 View Post
    ... and this should be obvious to anyone who actually reads it (as opposed to skimming it or just reacting to the headline, as many did).
    I read this article about someone writing "if you read so far mention bananas in your comment" in his/her blog and it took a lot of comments before someone actually mentioned bananas.

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    Default Re: The guy who wrote '7 Reasons I Never Went Vegan' is now a vegan

    Quote CoolCat View Post
    I read this article about someone writing "if you read so far mention bananas in your comment" in his/her blog and it took a lot of comments before someone actually mentioned bananas.
    That reminds me of a quiz we got in high school. At the top it said in bold "Make sure you read the directions before answering any of the questions" and the questions were something like:

    1. What is 3+5?

    2. Stand up and pat your head that many times.

    3. Draw a cat on the attached blank sheet and put it on the floor beside your desk.

    ...and the nonsense continued for ten questions, and after the final question it said something like:

    "Put your pencil down, don't do any of the questions and watch your classmates make fools of themselves."

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    Default Re: The guy who wrote '7 Reasons I Never Went Vegan' is now a vegan

    Hello David,

    great to have you hear!

    Do you want to share some of the (positive and negative) feedback you received on your blog (assuming there is more feedback than just the comments to your blog entry)?

    Best regards,
    Andy

  10. #10
    Crusty Rat
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    Default Re: The guy who wrote '7 Reasons I Never Went Vegan' is now a vegan

    Quote David7 View Post
    That reminds me of a quiz we got in high school. At the top it said in bold "Make sure you read the directions before answering any of the questions" and the questions were something like:

    1. What is 3+5?

    2. Stand up and pat your head that many times.

    3. Draw a cat on the attached blank sheet and put it on the floor beside your desk.

    ...and the nonsense continued for ten questions, and after the final question it said something like:

    "Put your pencil down, don't do any of the questions and watch your classmates make fools of themselves."
    Hah, I remember my little sister mentioned getting that quiz and she was the only one sat down not doing anything.

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