One of the first questions a vegan will ask another vegan is, "So, how long have you been vegan?" How long was it since you became a vegan. What's really interesting is that you just don't turn around one day and say hey, I'm a vegan!--you really actually become one.
I say this because in order to be a successful vegan, it has to be consistent with your ethics and outlook on life. You have to have some good reason to make you avoid a food you previously thought was great. The thing is, sometimes it takes a while to figure out exactly what your ethics and outlook on life actually are with regards to food.
Let me tell you the story of how I became vegan.
First, it's important to establish that I am an animal person. My entire family is particularly fond of animals. I grew up with three dogs, two cats, and a rabbit. I identified intensely with my pets, loved them as much as I loved my family. I never really did think about the meat that I ate though--my favorite sandwich was ham and cheese; Happy Meals were my nirvana.
I remember my grandfather. He would often speculate about how cruel slaughterhouses are, how sad it was that cows were getting shot between the eyes. I would listen with fascination, but still never really made the connection between the vivid images of death and dinner. But I was listening.
My parents often received mailings from the Humane Society of the United States, or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. I remember when I first read those words, I wondered what that meant, the ethical treatment of animals. What was that? The more I thought on it, the more I liked the idea. Ethical...interesting.
Then one day I was reading a magazine, and read that some celebrity was vegan; that was the first time I saw what a vegan was--no meat of any kind, no cheese, no eggs, no milk. I remember thinking that I couldn't go vegan because then I wouldn't be able to eat any of my favorite foods. A thought later and I reasoned, well, I could go vegetarian--I'd still be able to eat lasagna. Then I forgot about it all in the rush of growing up.
When I was 15, I opened up a PETA mailing and there they were, the slaughterhouse pictures. I started reading. And reading. And something just clicked inside my head. When I ate Kentucky Fried Chicken, I saw the bones piled up on my plate and I thought how strange and weird it seemed, how caveman like. Then I had dinner at my grandmother's house, and she served a very rare roast. I couldn't stop staring at the blood on my plate. Meat stopped looking like food, and more like something dead.
I announced to my Mom one day that I was going vegan. She was a bit skeptical. I believe the actual words were something like, how can you go vegan when you don't even like vegetables? Good point. We hit on a compromise; I could begin by going vegetarian, and she would support my decision to go vegan only if I did more research on what it was exactly, and what to eat. So, I became vegetarian for about a month, and then I switched to being vegan (after reading Diet for a New America). That was just shy of 15 years ago, and I'm quite happy in my vegan world.
This is what's kind of cool about vegans--a hard-core meat eater today could very well be the militant vegan of tomorrow.
I say this because in order to be a successful vegan, it has to be consistent with your ethics and outlook on life. You have to have some good reason to make you avoid a food you previously thought was great. The thing is, sometimes it takes a while to figure out exactly what your ethics and outlook on life actually are with regards to food.
Let me tell you the story of how I became vegan.
First, it's important to establish that I am an animal person. My entire family is particularly fond of animals. I grew up with three dogs, two cats, and a rabbit. I identified intensely with my pets, loved them as much as I loved my family. I never really did think about the meat that I ate though--my favorite sandwich was ham and cheese; Happy Meals were my nirvana.
I remember my grandfather. He would often speculate about how cruel slaughterhouses are, how sad it was that cows were getting shot between the eyes. I would listen with fascination, but still never really made the connection between the vivid images of death and dinner. But I was listening.
My parents often received mailings from the Humane Society of the United States, or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. I remember when I first read those words, I wondered what that meant, the ethical treatment of animals. What was that? The more I thought on it, the more I liked the idea. Ethical...interesting.
Then one day I was reading a magazine, and read that some celebrity was vegan; that was the first time I saw what a vegan was--no meat of any kind, no cheese, no eggs, no milk. I remember thinking that I couldn't go vegan because then I wouldn't be able to eat any of my favorite foods. A thought later and I reasoned, well, I could go vegetarian--I'd still be able to eat lasagna. Then I forgot about it all in the rush of growing up.
When I was 15, I opened up a PETA mailing and there they were, the slaughterhouse pictures. I started reading. And reading. And something just clicked inside my head. When I ate Kentucky Fried Chicken, I saw the bones piled up on my plate and I thought how strange and weird it seemed, how caveman like. Then I had dinner at my grandmother's house, and she served a very rare roast. I couldn't stop staring at the blood on my plate. Meat stopped looking like food, and more like something dead.
I announced to my Mom one day that I was going vegan. She was a bit skeptical. I believe the actual words were something like, how can you go vegan when you don't even like vegetables? Good point. We hit on a compromise; I could begin by going vegetarian, and she would support my decision to go vegan only if I did more research on what it was exactly, and what to eat. So, I became vegetarian for about a month, and then I switched to being vegan (after reading Diet for a New America). That was just shy of 15 years ago, and I'm quite happy in my vegan world.
This is what's kind of cool about vegans--a hard-core meat eater today could very well be the militant vegan of tomorrow.
