Going vegan
Table of Contents
I’m not writing this to convince anybody but myself. I have bad long-term memory. If I put my decision and the reasons going into it in writing it can help me sail through future seas of doubt.
Why vegan? #
I’m not going vegan for the animals. I’m doing it for me. Animal products are holding me - and humanity as a whole - back. Physically, ethically and spiritually.
Definition of veganism #
Being introduced to this definition was what made look into this topic again.
Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude — as far as is possible and practicable — all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose - Vegan Society
The highlighted passage is key to me. Other definitions are black-and-white and insist that absolutely any consumption of animal products is evil. But peoples bodies are different. There might be someone who can’t live without a particular animal product. If they reduce the intake to as far as possible, they could be vegan as per this definition. Even with a non-zero consumption of animal products. Though it does require sensitivity and honesty with oneself.
The physical #
I’m not gonna make any health claims. Those by themselves did not convince me, no matter how much evidence there was.
How it makes me feel #
When I started with 100% raw food I found myself going back to cooked eggs. Without them I could feel truly satisfied. My body craved a nutrient it did not know where else to get. After some reading and experimenting I did not need eggs anymore. (I needed more green-leafy vegetables. Like way more. See Sunfood Diet Success System and it’s triangle for more info.)
Fish, eggs and dairy were still an occasional part of my diet at this point. What I noticed was how different I felt after eating a meal with and without an animal product. It was always noticeably worse. I had acquired a sensitivity I did not previously possess and I could clearly sense that I was better off without animal products and gluten.
The product itself #
I watched documentaries about the conditions the animal are held in. Milk cows are standing in their feces. Even a small cut will become infected in those conditions. Some infections grow so debilitating that the cow can’t walk anymore. They are isolated and “treated”, but if it gets worse they go off to the slaughterhouse. Still good enough for ground meat😋 A lion would never go after an animal like that. That is tainted meat. The contaminated milk from puss-ridden utters is not any better.
“You are what you eat” and what the factory-farmed animal eats is the cheapest, pesticide-riddled, GMO-modified, unnatural (for their species) feed that big industry can get their hands on. The end product is of such low nutritional quality that the animal needs to be fed vitamin B12 supplements for the meat to contain any. That’s why meat eater in the know will insist on grass-fed beef. Otherwise the animals shitty diet end up on ones plate.
The ethical #
Gary Yourofsky makes the argument pretty convincingly. I also find that the pictures rationally examined speak for themselves. Most of these animal live their whole lives in conditions that would classify as torture if they were applied to humans (constant stress, noise and light = sleep deprivation, no sun or fresh air ever, not being able to turn around, sleeping in your own feces and lots more as allowed by your local regulations!)
The milk cows have it especially bad. They are doing 3-7 years of torture, with a sprinkle of the the regular rape plus having their children ripped away from them. At least for the rotisserie chicken it’s over after a month. Vegetarianism is not the answer to those cows prayers.
The spiritual #
This one is hard to explain. If you have not experienced this it might be hard to imagine. You really appreciate it if you have it though.
For me, it’s easier to feel things, I have a greater sensitivity in many regards. Connectedness to myself, my wife and the universe comes easier. Less ego and worldly attachment.
Every man who has ever been earnest to preserve his higher poetic faculties in the best condition, has been particularly inclined to abstain from animal food, or from much food of any kind. - Henry David Thoreau in Walden
Conclusion #
With this transition away from animal products I feel better for it physically, ethically and spiritually.
- I felt secure having experienced that all my nutritional needs could be met without animal foods.
- I felt motivated by feeling physically better without them.
- I felt ashamed for the extent of humanities unconsciousness as manifested in this torture apparatus.
- I felt drawn by the spiritual openness it afforded me.
After eating raw previously it was not hard to switch and seemed the logical next step.
References #
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