Okay, this is not an easy question and I get it a lot! Not so much from people here in San Francisco (although it has happened here many times too). More from my family in Minnesota. I grew up there and we, of course, were carnivores. I mean, it is beef country! Cows, cows, everywhere! And so I really never heard the term vegan until I was in college and it was shortly after that I started to think about trying out at least a vegetarian diet. So, I gave up eating beef first. That lasted about a year and I felt a lot better. I had been hearing and reading about the effects of beef on your digestive system and so that was my main reason. I thought I would feel better and low and behold, I did. Well, then I went back to full carnivore diet for many years. I moved to San Francisco in 1997 and started to meet a lot of new friends, many of whom were vegetarians. Some of them eat seafood once in awhile and honestly, it is never really discussed much in terms of political reasoning. I slowly adopted a vegetarian diet then went back and forth and then finally one day, about 3 years ago, I woke up one day and decided to give the vegan diet a try. I had been hearing things about greenhouse gas emission from cows (gross, I know) and also how our oceans are polluted and then of course you hear how many non free range animals are treated (not a pretty picture). So all of those things impacted my decision but mostly it was the fact that I knew that by not eating animal products you also greatly reduce your chances of contracting heart disease and cancer. Now there is a good reason all by itself. So, I would say my choice was based about 25% on moral and ethical reasons, 25% political reasons and 50% on health reasons.
It was not easy to make the leap. Growing up eating meat I naturally craved it so I find comfort in the many fake meat products on the market. Veggie burgers, sure, but how about veggie chicken, steak, ribs, you name it! Some of them are not so healthy (lots of added sugar and chemicals or whatever) but it really satisfies that itch. I know some vegans who think it is ludicrous to have all of these fake meat products but I have come to realize that they are usually the ones who were raised on a vegetarian or vegan diet and so thus have never really associated with the joys of eating meat products.
Enough for today. Happy Halloween anyone out there who is possibly reading this.
Cheers,
Tim
