Not a lot of people know why I'm vegan, they only know that I once wasn't. Not a lot of people ask why, but when they do I can't help but to make it sound complicated. I'm not never good with words you see.
So let me tell you a little about me. I'm 22 years old, born and raised in Michigan. I grew up on pizza and McDonalds, with the occasional White Castle. When we ate dinner at home we had lots of deer (dad's a hunter) and pork and beef. When it came to dinner there was no question, some type of meat would be on the table. But it wasn't all bad, we had lots of veggies to. I grew up a little plump, but I never blamed it on eating meat. I blamed it on my love affair with baked goods and desserts. Needless to say I had a pretty awesome childhood.
When I moved to Atlanta to go to an Arts College, I finally got the internet! For most people this would be no big deal, but for me it was. I only got to use the internet a little at home using a AOL cd, or at the library, or a friends house. I grew up asking a lot of questions, and never really getting answers. So when I got the internet from my dorm, it was like a whole new world of answers. It was amazing.
After 2 years in college, eating whatever I could cheaply get my hands on. I started to slowly learn about factory farming. I didn't care at the time that animals were being killed. Since I grew up in a family of hunters it wasn't something to be bothered by. But I did care a lot about what the farmers were feeding there animals. Because I knew whatever the cattle ate, I ate as well. So I would try to find "cleaner" meat, which turned out to be very expensive for a college student. At this time I dabbled in vegetarian meals and occasionally vegan meals. I started getting highly upset about the situation that beef and pork that was not factory farmed was more expensive, then the beef and pork pumped with expensive drugs and hormones.
So came the new year and I made a promise to myself to live happier. So I cut the stress of finding cheap none factory farmed meat out of my life.
I became a vegetarian.
I thought of it as an adventure, a challenge. Little did I know, not a lot of people would support me at first. My parents flipped out with worry and concern, my boyfriend a little worried, and some friends thought it was a phase that would soon burn out. But the more research I did, I stronger I felt on the subject. It also didn't help that I worked for a fast food place where management would belittle me for my beliefs on the subject. But I was happy to help customers that came in looking for options that we didn't display on the menu. It was then that I learned what I was doing wasn't a norm to most people and that it made them uncomfortable.
In the year I was a vegetarian, I put a lot of minds at ease. I also made a lot friends at supported me, they showed me sources, recipes, and respected me. Some were vegetarians, vegans, meat eaters and some were once vegan or vegetarian and went back to meat. My boyfriend didn't go vegetarian, but he didn't eat meat as much as he used to. But little did I know, what I was doing wasn't helping my body as much as I hoped it would.
Remember my love affair with baked goods and desserts.
When money got tight or I got stressed, it was lots and lots of dairy, and grains. My body was not happy with me at all. So while one day eating a cheese pizza, and reading a sad story about a cow. It clicked some where in my mind that if the meat coming from factory farmed animals is bad, then what makes the products coming from them any better?
That day I went vegan. And I have been now for about a year.
No one freaked out as much when I told them I was going vegan. A lot people were confused about what a vegan was more then anything.
Around this time I was over the factory farming and more into how animals were being treated. I hated it and felt so strongly about it. It bothered me that what we do to farm animals would be considered animal abuse if we did those things to cats or dogs. And that no one cared.
That's the reason why I'm vegan, but there's a reason why I plan to stay a vegan. Not only for the animals being mistreated, but also for my health.
A lot people in my family have to take medicines and shots. I don't want that for myself, and I know since I'm from this family I have a chance of getting these diseases when I'm older. I've been promising my parents since jr. high that I would not grow up to have to take pills everyday. I'm still not sure to this day weather or not they take me seriously. But I know being a vegan cuts my chances by 50% to 80%.
So for my love of animals, and my health I am vegan.
I want food to be my medicine, not the other way around.
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