Making the leap to VEGAN

baby cows are NOT trash :(

This link is just part of the reason that I have decided to cut dairy out of my life. I cannot believe that it has taken me this long to allow myself to see the truth. Animals are not trash and should never be treated that way. I allowed myself to see some of the videos of how cows, pigs, chickens, geese, turkeys, etc are treated at farms and it sickens me. It sickens me that for the almighty dollar, animals are allowed to live in disgusting, painful conditions and treated like machines rather than the living, beautiful creatures that they are. I can no longer support an industry that abuses these creatures anymore. It is so sad that people are being fooled by the pictures of "happy cows," wide open pastures, and loving farms on the packaging of dairy and meat products. I feel sick enough that I supported them for this much of my life, but I am THANKFUL that for the rest of my life I will know better.

I only wish that EVERYONE could feel this way. I wish that there was a way to spread this message without sounding preachy or self-righteous. I guess the only way is by the occasional facebook/twitter posting for now to try to get people to open their minds to what is going on. I can also become involved in local organizations and continue to support places like the Gentle Barn and Farm Sanctuary.

I am VERY thankful that Craig is also an animal lover and he is on board with me.He is willing to give a vegan lifestyle a try too! He has a unique way of transitioning in - he tells people "I am vegan when I cook at home, but vegetarian when I am out" since he feels overwhelmed about not being able to find anything to eat when he is out at bars and restaurants, which is understandable in the beginning stages. I think that in time we will find options at our favorite places, even if it means asking the waiter to change up the selections for us.

For now, that may be how I approach things - if we are out and I have no other options, maybe I will have to allow myself to have a dairy item....BUT in time, i would love to be able to just say no to it no matter what the circumstance. I think this will be a learning experience as we go along...maybe there will be situations where we have no choice but to have a small amount of dairy in a dish - we will see as we go along.

I am glad to have very supportive friends for the most part...I feel lucky to know others who are giving this a try so its been fun to be able to share websites, recipes and ideas.


For those interested in learning more....

Food Inc  is a wonderful documentary that exposes the truth about the food industry. I will never look at food the same way again after watching this. This didn't just focus on meat, but also on the soybean and corn industry, which I learned some shocking things about. I continue to read about all the new things I learned from this.

Meet Your Meat  (narrated by Alec Baldwin) is one of the graphic videos that I forced myself to watch. As much as it made me cry, I needed to see the truth. I think it was important for me to look at the images to truly understand the suffering animals live through each day for the sake of meat, eggs, milk, cheese, etc... It isn't a happy cow on a happy farm like the commercials show. Its a miserable cow in miserable conditions. Please watch for yourself.