In a society that’s becoming increasingly more aware of environmental issues and improvements, as well as personal health choices in regards to food, I feel that it’s important to get as much information out to the young population as possible.
I decided to become vegan two years ago when a friend of mine requested a free vegetarian starter packet from PETA, and I realized that this is something that’s important to me. First, let’s define these terms. A VEGETARIAN is someone who abstains from eating meat. This is the umbrella term under which various other terms fall, such as ovo vegetarian (eats eggs), lacto-ovo vegetarian (eats dairy and eggs), pescetarian (eats fish), and vegan.
Vegans abstain from consuming any products that come from animals. Vegans don’t eat honey, fish, diary, or eggs, or anything that contain these products. That means no marshmallows or Jell-O (they contain gelatin, which is made by grinding up animal bones), only milk-free chocolate, and none of those honey crackers! Vegans also often don’t wear anything that comes from animals, such as leather, wool, or silk.
Depending on your background, veganism can be either very difficult to imagine or very easy. Being from Texas, it’s hard for my family and friends back home to understand this lifestyle choice and I’ve been called “pretentious” before. I’ve faced a lot of adversity making this change but it is definitely a process, one that I’m still going through today. People just don’t understand why someone would go against the norms, and in the case of animal rights, a lot of people just don’t want to think about it.
People become vegetarians and vegans for a wide variety of reasons. It’s well known that a diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables and low in meat contributes to a long life with less disease. So some make the change for health reasons. Others realize the inhumane, unregulated manner that animals are treated when bred and raised for slaughter, eggs, milk, etc, and decide that they want as much of a cruelty-free lifestyle as they can manage. Sometimes the choice is environmental – the rainforests are being destroyed to make land for cattle grazing, and the amount of food grown and fed to cattle that are going to be slaughtered could solve world hunger. The cattle also contribute CO2, a greenhouse gas causing the global warming scare, and the destroyed trees mean that there’s less foliage to absorb the CO2 and release oxygen.
Whatever the reason, veganism is an important and growing form of activism and lifestyle. Unfortunately there are a lot of vegetarians and vegans who give the lifestyle a bad name, indeed being pretentious or extreme, and turning a lot of people off (PETA is a good example).
I’m not saying you should run out and buy every vegan cookbook you can. I’m not saying you should throw out the meat in your freezer. In my perfect world, there would be no need to exploit animals, but I understand that it’s not so easy for others, or it doesn’t make sense to them. I plead, though, that you at least be kind to vegetarians. Don’t be hateful because they have a cause. It’s what they believe in and if they’re not shaming you, then don’t shame them back.
This article hardly covers what it means to be vegan, but I hope that it helps get some good information out from a quiet, definitely NOT pretentious girl who just strives for understanding. If you’re interested in more information, a simple search engine can provide you with plenty of websites with information. Be wary - there’s a lot of misinformation and craziness out there, but the online vegan community is large, welcoming, and helpful.
Veganism is a huge decision for people to make, for whatever reason. It takes time, thought, and effort, but it’s rewarding beyond imagination. To feel that simply with changing my dinner order I am able to take at least a small part in change does indeed change me.