Happy
!!!
I am vegan because I love life - for mySelf and for others. I am vegan because I am an animal lover - a true animal lover - and believe that we, as humans, have no right to abuse, confine, torture, or kill animals at our own will for our own selfish, personal reasons. I am vegan because I would never harm or eat any of the four cats that reside with me in my apartment, and, therefore, should extend the same to other animals. I am vegan because animal foods are one of the, if not the greatest, leading cause of global warming, environment degradation, climate change due to the horrendous practices of factory farming and the animal food industry. I am vegan because animal foods are one of the, if not the greatest, leading cause of today's deadliest diseases and chronic conditions, led by heart disease and cancer. I am vegan because my eyes were opened to the horrors of the animal food, clothing, entertainment, and testing industries, and I no longer wanted to contribute to them. I am vegan because I care about my health and my body and eating plant-based is the healthiest choice I can make for mySelf. I am vegan because I care about other people. I am vegan because I do not want to contribute to global hunger; I want to help prevent it. I am vegan because I want to live a long life on this planet. I am vegan because I promote and live by the ideals of Ahimsa, compassion, kindness, responsibility, accountability, awareness, consciousness, prevention. I am vegan because there are plenty of foods that are available for me to eat. I am vegan because all of the tastes and textures of the foods I ate when growing up and of my early adulthood are available to me with the variety of delicious food options. I am vegan because I want to help others become aware of healthier, more compassionate ways to eat and live. I am vegan because no living beings deserve to die for another living beings' pleasure. I am vegan because it totally aligns with my values and beliefs of doing the least amount of harm while living the fullest, most fulfilling life through my passions and dreams.
I am vegan, and today I celebrate World Vegan Day. Will you join me?
Why are you vegan? What does being vegan mean to you? Why is living vegan important for the world?
All the best and yummiest to you.
Love. It.
ReplyDeleteA retired learning consultant and teacher, I've learned so much in the past three years about healthy eating, factory farms, animal welfare, environmental degradation, climate change, and moral and personal responsibility toward all living things and the planet that we inhabit. Important topics that were sometimes easier not to think about.
ReplyDeleteAbout three years ago, my husband received less than positive feedback from his cardiologist. I started cooking vegan meals for my husband and myself two to three times a week for health reasons. Both my son and daughter-in-law were vegans. They offered helpful suggestions and give me a beautiful vegan cookbook as a holiday present. My son asked me to read Eating Animals by J. F. Foer. That book had a profound effect. I became a vegetarian...and a year later after watching a Gary Yourofsky video, I fully adopted veganism. I now own a dozen vegan cookbooks! It has been a wonderful, life-changing decision...with so many positive implications not only for personal health and personal satisfaction, but for animal welfare, environmental issues, world hunger, and so much more.
Interestingly, my husband has not become vegan, though he does eat mostly a plant-based diet. I am the only vegan in our 60+ social group. Except for one, my friends do not want to think about what they are actually eating, about the health consequences, about factory farming, pus and blood in milk, environmental consequences, etc., However, some are actively including more plant-based foods in their every diets and let me know when I've had some influence.