It is not uncommon for any Vegan to be asked this very question, each person has there own reasons and story why they became Vegan. I have seen many debates online and in the news, meat eater against Vegan each giving what they consider a valid argument why the other should conform to the others beliefs.
I reflect upon my own past why was i a meat eater, why did i not see and understand many years before, I believe it was because i was not ready to hear it at the time, I like most meat eaters consider that i needed to eat meat for its health benefits, i believed this because people far more educated than myself had told us it is what we need to do, I have however a so many have learned that much of what we are told is influenced by the powers that be, for instance many years ago the tobacco had scientist prove that smoking was good for us, combined with intelligent marketing, influenced many tens of thousands of people to smoke, i myself was one of them (luckily i do not smoke anymore, big smily face) Now you could consider that in this day and age this no longer happens, however this is not the case the companies have just got better at pushing there products, backed by qualified people who for a small price would most probably sell there own kidney, convince us to keep buying these companies products. It is no wonder that many are still resisting the change that is as far as i can see inevitable.
You see it is only a matter of time before we no longer see meat or dairy on the shelves, the reason for this is the same reason why animals still suffer. Shops and supermarkets are driven by consumer spending and the less people who buy the less they will supply, it is that simple, eventually it will not be profitable for companies to sell products made from any animal by product. You also have to consider this by buying cruelty free no one suffers, yet you can still buy your burger or drink your milk shake it is just made from plants instead of animals.
Since becoming Vegan i have seen the pace pick up as more and more companies go out of business, we are all becoming more aware of our health and with the help of social channels such as youtube and facebook are able to see first hand the effects of animal agriculture.
One of the big issues on everyones mind at the moment is Global Warming, currently countries around the world are trying to reduce the impact they have on the planet before it is to late and mother nature takes over completely, a big contribution to global warming is animal agriculture, we clear thousands and thousands of acres of land, to make way for crops to be grown, most of the food around the world grown is fed to livestock, did you know it takes around 8 pounds of grain to produce a pound of meat and this also does not include the amount of water livestock drink.
Health is a big problem any where in the world, many illnesses we see today have only come around in the last 30-40 years, heart disease has been on the rise for some time, but how can this be many of the illeneses we suffer from today are down to the diet we eat, studies such as the China study have shown that we can track health issues and diet, we have become a world of fast food takeaways, mass producing animals to meet with a growing population, at the same time we have seen countries that never used to suffer from heart disease now catching up with the US as they change there diet to more meat and dairy.
Weight is big business, you only have to watch youtube to see this it seems that everyone is suddenly starting some new fitness channel nowadays, it is not surprising that weight is a issue when milk is designed to turn a new born calf into a young cow, there is more casein in cows milk than humans and high levels of oestregen, to much oestergeon can cause us serious issues such as cancer, many people are actually lactose intollereant. I remember seeing a photo of a man in a business suit drinking from a cow. But because we bottle it up in convienient packaging we drink it but we sould not gom out and drink from the cow itself and we are the only species on the planet that still drinks milk in adulthood and drinks another species milk.
Of all the reasons to become Vegan i think the biggest is animal welfare i still see images of some of the footage i have seen, animals killed whilst still aware of what is going on, you can literarily see the fear in there eyes, and why do we do this, because we can we are the one thing wrong on this planet yet we are the most privileged, we have the ability to be so amazing and achieve so much yet there are people on this planet who still corrupt it for there own gain, we all know who i am on about. However there is hope as large food chains such as Tesco, Morrisons etc are starting to produce there own vegan options, many celebrities are starting to get behind Veganism.
So why am i Vegan, have you got all day as it may take a while lol, I am Vegan because i choose not to benefit from the suffering of someone else, I am vegan because I have a responsibility to leave this planet in a better condition than i found it, I am Vegan because if i eat plants instead of animals we can give much of the food we grow to those who are hungry in the world, I am Vegan because i am fed up of watching rainforests that have been growing for thousands of years destroyed to make way for food frown, by being Vegan much of the land we use for growing food could be given back to the wildlife around us, i am vegan because i wish to live a life free from illness due to high cholesterol and finally i am vegan because i owe it to my children to remain healthy enough to look after myself when i am older and not burden them and put them through the sadness of myself laying in some hospital bed because of the food i have ate (dont get me wrong i know i may still ill, but for reference i have not been to the doctors in over 4 years)
Comment below if you are Vegan and what made you become Vegan
Zero Waste Vegan 