To the vegans : What led you decide to become a vegan please?!
To the vegans : What led you decide to become a vegan please?
I am asking because Im a meat eater, but someone close to me is a vegan and they love their food and dont miss the meat and the dairy products. But Id like to know please what makes you decide to have a vegan lifestyle? Is it about no cruelty to animals or is it about health issues as well, such as a better/purer diet?
Answers:
i never felt happy eating meat - even as a child, and was soon a vegetarian, but i then began realising just how many animal products were in things - everything from washing powders to shoes to makeup. becoming a vegan is a natural progression for alot of vegetarians i think - i don't think many go from meat eating to veganism. the dairy industry is so linked to the meat industry, and i hate to think whats in a pint of milk - if you google for an article the guardian did on that you'll find it interesting.
its about trying to live life which is a cruelty free as possible, but as the previous poster said, its hard to do that 100% in our society.
Better diet. But with added fish and chicken (skinless),
even a better diet. Red meats taste great, give energy,
but the cholesterol adds up!
I asked a similar question awhile ago, and most of the answers were regarding animal cruelty.
I was a vegetarian for many years... over 40 years actually... and never thought I would give up cheese.
One day I found out that most cheese in the US (at that time) used animal based rennet to coagulate the milk to make the cheese. I realized that even though I thought I was not eating anything from a dead animal I still was as rennet is an enzyme often made from the stomach of calves and lambs.
That was it! I did research on the cruelty of taking baby cows from their mothers, the cruelty of the veal trade... and have not eaten any dairy products since - now 7 years.
It is not easy being vegan as there are all sorts of things where animal products crop up. If you live in a city you cannot truly be 100% vegan as you probably use a PC, ride in a car.. and there are many other products that have 'hidden' animal ingredients in.
However, I do the best I can - it is what I want to do and I do not expect anyone else to do what I want.. I wish they would but I don't expect anyone else to!
My path to travel I guess.
Don't let the phase a "vegan diet is better for you"......
A well balanced diet that has the right amount of protein, sugar and fat is just as good if you don't have any junk food in it.
Vegans don't just not eat any animal products, they will tend to not eat junk food, drink alcohol and in general excerise more.
A well balance diet that does include meat is just as healthy as any vegan diet as long as its in the right protions. and you will just live as long as any other vegean as long you excerise, don't smoke and don't drink alcohol.
But at the end of the day its down to if you believe that using animal products meat or dairy is cruel and nothing else, as a vegan diet full of veg oil can be just as bad as a unhealthy diet.
Yes, one can. Many men and women, who were not vegetarian, started working towards improving the conditions of animals. They were born in non-vegetarian families and they were raised with animal flesh and dairy products as their main food. A stage came in their life when they realized what truly fair treatment toward animals would mean. They joined their hands with those who were saving and protecting animals. In the process, not only did they become kind to animals, but also to themselves. This way, many animal rights workers have become vegetarian at some time in their lives. If not, they are kind at heart, but still a slave to old habits of meat eating.
Those who are born and raised vegetarian are lucky. Their minds, speech, and actions are nourished for kindness to animals and all other non-human life. Most individuals who are raised with those values will not harm animals, nor will they support any harm to animals.
Here is a true life example -- ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
My Transition to Vegetarian...
I was born into a Russian/American family and raised as a typical American meat eater. My evolution into the animal and environmental rights movement has been gradual. A turning point for me occurred when I was 15 years old. A friend and I had just eaten hot dogs for lunch, and walked next door to a leather shop. I whispered to her that she shouldn't buy anything in there because it is all dead animals. The clerk behind the counter heard my comment to my friend and asked me if I ate meat. I was shocked. I had never made the connection before that moment. I never realized that the meat on my plate was anything but 'food'. As I realized, while standing in that store, that meat is dead animal, I replied, "No, I don't eat meat" to the clerk. My friend thought I had just lied to the clerk. I explained to her that from this moment on I would not eat meat. That was 26 years ago. My personal evolution continued when I saw the pain of a dairy cow being separated from her calf and realized that the male calves on this farm were being shipped to veal facilities. I then quit using dairy products. I am now a strong advocate of strict vegetarianism for our own health and the well-being of animals and the environment. Rae Sikora("Jivan Sanskar")
more at my web site http://jainism.co.nr
Various teachings in books from great spiritual masters and world leaders have influenced me greatly to take this path of liberation. And when you think that most human diseases are contracted by meat eating!!!!!and all the suffering that animals go through as if they were a mere object...... But the biggest share of credit goes 2 my brother who was my guru in this undertaking.
Me? Well, I just was doing research on diet pertaining to optimum fitness levels. That led me to taking out everything that hindered my athletic performance -- I started with meat, then dairy, then all these other things like food colourings, preservatives, msg, refined salt, sugar, flour and other refined products. The more I investigated my diet, the more I discovered that it was a total sham -- a complete lie. I dug deeper into the topic and discovered links not only to my health, but to the economy, the environment, animal treatment breeding experimentation and the list just goes on and on and on... just imagine that since the industrial revolution people have been using animals the same way they use trees... just cut them all down and make them into as many products as possible in order to make as much money as possible without looking at anything else but the end goal -- profit. Money rules, and money makes the rules, thus you can only *fully* trust the food that you grow yourself. Sad but true.
Well you got both of my reasons for becoming a vegan...
I also don't like meat... And being a vegan is more environmentally friendly
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