WHY VEGAN

Not really into reading about how/why I became a vegan? Just wanting some information about why you should consider going vegan? Scroll down past my story to the bottom of this page for links to videos which are meant to empower and educate you on the importance of veganism! Looking for suggestions for vegan alternatives? Click HERE to see the things I love!

I get asked this a lot, “Why did you go vegan?” Upon telling people my quick response, “for the animals and for my health,” they usually respond with, “Well I could never do that because I love __________ too much!” (Fill in the blank with some kind of seafood, meat, dairy product, or eggs.) Their response is an all too familiar one to me because that’s exactly what I had said back in the day. I never thought that I would be vegan. It wasn’t like I was a hardcore steak lover or anything but I did like chicken, a lot, and my love for breakfast foods meant that I practically lived off of eggs. I hadn’t been raised around vegetarians or vegans and frankly, up until about my junior year of high school, I really didn’t even have a clue as to what those words truly meant. So how on earth did I end up going vegan?

It all started when I decided to cut toxins out of my bath and beauty products. It was a simple task, print out a list of all of the bad things in these kinds of products and then just throw out anything with those ingredients and replace them with something better, something healthier. Once I got into the process however, I made the decision to not only toss the stuff with bad ingredients but to also toss anything that was tested on animals because I claimed to be an animal lover. In swapping these products out for their less toxic, cruelty-free replacements I started to notice that a good chunk of the replacement products were labeled, “vegan.” It didn’t take long for my curious nature to take over and for me to start researching just what exactly this whole crazy vegan thing was about.

Through countless Google searches I started to learn more about veganism. I also began to learn more about animal cruelty and factory farming. Despite all of my newfound knowledge however, I was still a little hesitant. I thought up one excuse after the next (none of which were even accurate) as to why I couldn’t be a vegan.

I can’t have soy because of my thyroid disease.

I’m not sure it’s really healthy.

I don’t think I’ll like much vegan food.

It would be almost impossible for me to live without eggs and cheese.

With my list of excuses held tight, I decided to go vegetarian because I thought that I could actually manage that and I thought that there would be nothing wrong with keeping milk, cheese, and eggs in my life. Now what you need to know about me is that I’m a person who believes one should never stop learning and improving oneself. With that said, throughout my nearly 4 months of living the vegetarian life, I kept educating myself about animal cruelty in the food industry. My eyes were becoming fully opened to the horror behind the dairy and egg industries and that was making it really difficult for me to continue to eat those products. Every time I reached for a piece of cheese, a glass of milk, or an egg all I could see were images of abuse and suffering. I could feel the pain I was causing, the amount of sadness and cruelty that my food choices were contributing to the world, and I knew that something needed to change. In that moment, I made the commitment to go vegan. That was September 2015.

It might sound cheesy (or should I say cheezy?) but to me, veganism is all about love -love for yourself, love for animals, love for humanity, and love for the planet. I am beyond happy with my decision to completely commit to the vegan life and I can honestly say that it has been one of the best things I’ve ever done. I want others to experience this kind of happiness, fulfillment, and yes, love, too, that’s why I’m an activist and an advocate for veganism. (I’m also an activist and advocate for animal rights!) I hope that you’ll take a moment to watch a few videos about veganism to better help you understand why I’m so passionate about it and why you should consider going vegan if you’re not vegan already.

Below I have added links to some videos that I strongly recommend you watch if you’re interested at all in learning more about veganism, factory farming, etc., and please note that if the video contains graphic images I have declared that however, I always say that if you can’t watch it then you shouldn’t be supporting it with your diet.

Click HERE to learn more about factory farming -this animated video is non-graphic.

Click HERE to learn more about the dairy industry -this video does contain some graphic images but it also contains a lot of really important information so I strongly recommend you watch it.

Click HERE to learn more about veganism in general and why it’s important -this video is non-graphic.

Click HERE to learn more about what vegans see vs. what non-vegans see in the world around them -this video is non-graphic.