Why I'm going Vegan

Everything is challenging me today. Friends, band drama, boy drama, work stress. I don't wanna talk about any of it.
instead I wanna organize my thoughts around a question I'm sure I'll get asked a lot in the coming year-
why i am going vegan.


The short answer is, 70% health, 30% morality.


The long explanation comes from a lot of research...


This is something I started thinking of doing 2 years ago, but I wanted to be thorough and do all the research before making such a drastic change. 


In the last 2 years I've been slowly phasing out meat and dairy in small steps. First I switched to organic/free range. Then I cut back on red meat. Then I moved to a lot of dairy substitutes, soy milk etc. And on my 30th birthday this year, I'll finally cut the rest out. 


The final kick to do it has probably been the change in my social group. I'm around more vegans and vegetarians and when we cook together, instead of missing meat and dairy, I'm find a ton of new amazing food I've been missing out on. Avacados w/honey? Almond flaxseed butter with apples? Pita chips with peach salsa? 


So here's kind some of the things that stuck with me while I was researching. Some of it I kinda knew, some of it was a surprise. 


Health


1. Dairy products are designed by nature to include steroids and hormones needed by young animals of the same species during development. Dairy from other species contains naturally occurring chemicals which can be cancerous to humans.


2. Consuming dairy means consuming all the harmful chemicals ingested by the animal during their lifetime, fertilizer, veterinary medicine, antibiotics. 


3. Protein found in all l plants is healthier than the protein found in animal products because animal protein has saturated fat and cholesterol which lead to heart disease. 


4. Processed foods contain chemicals not found in nature. They effect the body by causing chemical addiction in the brain and also changing the receptors in the cells of the stomach lining which communicate the feeling of satiation to the brain.  


Ethics


1. The combination of price competition with no protection under animal cruelty laws incentivizes unethical farm house and fishing treatment. 
           -Since only recently pregnant animals produce milk, female cows are kept constantly pregnant. After giving birth, if the calf is a male, it will either be put to death or raised for veal. 
           - Many sea animals are in danger of being accidentally killed as a byproduct of fishing.  In Indonesia, for every one pound of shrimp, an average of 26 pounds of other sea animals were killed and tossed back into the ocean.


2. A vegan diet saves an average of 96 animal lives each year.


3. Farming contributes 40% more to carbon monoxide emission than all of the world's transportation combined.


4. Animal agriculture is a grossly inefficient way of growing food.  It takes 7 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of meat. Meat also takes 70% more water and energy to produce. As long as world hunger exists and we don't have unlimited natural resources, meat is the least efficient type of food to produce. 




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So while I recognize the stereotypes behind veganism, it feels very right to me. Taco Bell and cheddar cheese is gonna be extremely tough but I have a lot of will power when I'm educated.


2 more months....