This week, I'm celebrating one year as a vegan!
I became a lacto-ovo vegetarian at age 16, about 14 1/2 years ago, probably most motivated by my younger brother's committment to the cause. The literature from PETA that he received helped too. One day, it just hit me, that I couldn't eat a poor animal who lived in suffering only to become my chicken sandwich.
Then, I read more about how egg-laying hens suffer, crammed into crates without room to stretch their wings or roam, and how poor dairy cows have their babies taken away from them only to be confined for their miserable brief lives. And "cow pus" from the multitude of infections that dairy cows' nipples suffer from due to the machinery that milks them, that grossed me out.
But it took me a year and a half from that point to become a vegan. I had no idea how to live without dairy or eggs -- how do you dine out at restaurants? What about birthday cake? My (now ex) husband loves making me French Toast -- wouldn't he be disappointed?
I realized that going vegan was the right thing to do. For the animals, for my health, and for the environment. There are more dining out options than I ever thought; a birthday cake can be made vegan, and so can French Toast.
I've never regretted becoming a vegan. I only wish I'd done it sooner.
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8 comments:
Congratulations! I went vegan only 3 months after I went veggie because of all of the conditions you mention in your post. I hadn't even thought of any of that until I went veggie.
That is WONDERFUL! I've been vegan for 10 years and can't imagine living any other lifestyle. I read somewhere where the average vegan spares the lives of approx. 83 animals a year! So, I know my choice is making an impact.
Wow. Has it really been a year already?
Congratulations! I'm glad your decision has been working out so well for you. :-)
Happy Anniversary! And Congrats!
Woo hoo!!! Congrats to you... I think many people have that same sentiment after being vegan for a little while - that they wished they had done it sooner, for how much better they feel and of course for the benefit of the animals. Time to celebrate with some vegan cake or chocolate! :)
Mazel tov! It took me until I was 33 to go vegetarian, but I went vegan a few months later. I objected to veal long before I went veg, and once I learned of the dairy-veal connection, I stopped consuming dairy. I stopped consuming eggs because of the horrid treatment of the poor hens.
I wish I had gone vegetarian sooner. That's my only regret.
Your story is an inspiration for me. Congratulations on your one year anniversary and thank you for a hand up for a vegetarian wanabe vegan.
ps -- I'm going to try your Indian Chickpea recipe. I adore garbanzos!
GREAT!!! Congrats (belated) to you. I have been a vegetarian almost as long as you've been alive! (I'm 40, started when I was 15 1/2.) I'm not quite a vegan but I get closer every day. People like you give me the impetus to get there. YAY for you.
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