Hey there,

Today I’m posting the second ‘Vegan Chat’ post and it’s all about why I’m vegan. Last week I talked about how I ended up where I am today and what brought me to lead a vegan lifestyle and I thought this would be a good addition to that initial story. Like I mentioned in that post there were many reasons as to why I moved towards and finally comfortably settled with veganism and listed here are the four main reasons that really did it for me when doing so.

These are the four things that motivate me to continue leading a vegan lifestyle. To me that motivation was important especially in the beginning as I was transitioning and I’ve heard many people say the same thing. It is easy not to reach for a piece of dairy cheese when keeping the reasons for your choice to be vegan close to your heart and clear in your mind.

Whilst what I’ve written in this post is brief and sometimes simplified it is spoken from my heart with all the information that’s on my mind daily. I’ve listed at the end as well as dotted throughout the post some resources where you can find more extensive information about the things I will be discussing which I hope will help filling in the blanks where I’ve left off.

I really hope that this can give you some insight into what goes on in my head as I make the lifestyle choices I do and I’m also hoping that these ‘Vegan Chat’posts will eventually provide some of you guys with the motivation and support that I got from various blogs as I made my way to veganism.

Anywho, here goes; my four reasons as to why I’m vegan.

 

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‘The Best Speech You’ll Ever Hear’ by Gary Yourofsky


ANIMAL WELFARE


The way all types of animal products are being brought to us today through what is now called ‘animal agriculture’ is nothing less than brutal. And this applies to all types, I really don’t put much belief in whether it says ‘organic’ or ‘local’ on your packet of meat or eggs or not. Animal rights may vary from country to country but the fact that one of the most influential countries in this world, the United States of America, classifies animals raised for the purpose of food are not considered animals under the animal rights act is really an indicator of how far the exploitation of animals for human pleasure has been taken. This classification means that those animals have very little protection at all and are not considered in any other way than for their worth as a monetised product. This happens all over the world today and personally I think it’s disgraceful to think that we as humans have the right to take and use as we please from the earth and it’s inhabitants in the way that we do today without considering the impact it has on others and the planet as a whole which leads me into my next point.

Another note on this subject before I move on though; I’ve only touched on one aspect of the way we as a society mistreat animals , and very briefly at that, and it might it’s important to give some thought to other places where animals are kept against there will to please human beings such as water parks, zoos, testing facilities in everything from science projects to hygiene products, bullfighting and the list can go on. I know it’s a lot but that’s the whole point. I think it can be very sobering to consider the many ways in which exploitation of animals occur in our day to day life.
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Maybe you guys would consider taking a moment to think about this and actually investigate how this makes you feel. So often we simply close our eyes and ears to the reality in which we live, and this is for many reasons and I can completely understand why – I used to do exactly this in many aspects of life. I do think however that my life has become much richer from opening myself up to the world and what happens in it. It has made me wiser and brought on passions within me that I didn’t know existed. The pain of considering certain aspects of life can broaden our span of understanding and the way we interact with other beings and the world around us, and it is worth the ugly feelings for the other beautiful feelings and thoughts of change for the better.

The ‘Earthlings’ Trailer 

BE AWARE OF GRAPHIC CONTENT


ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT


Now leading on from what I just touched upon of taking for granted as a human right to take what we want , or think we need, from this earth without considering the consequences. Our environment is undergoing huge changes, and if you are a non-believer of this I urge you to reconsider and do some reading and soul searching into why you are denying a detrimental fact. Now you might think what has being vegan got to do with the environment? I will not be able to touch on every aspect of this issue in this short post but here comes a few things I think about often regarding this subject .

One resource that I’d like to draw some information from right here and now is a documentary called Cowspiracy, it is has had a great impact on many people since it was released in 2014 and this is why; the film presented some very ugly facts about the animal agriculture industry’s impact on the environment, something that is criminally unrepresented in the environmental debate due to its potential to have a ‘negative effect’ on the heaps of money made within the animal agricultural sector every day.

In broad strokes the film talks about the fact that it takes 56% of the United States’ fresh water to grow feed crops for live stock and that 18-51% of Greenhouse Gas Emissions are the result of animal agriculture. These are numbers that simply cannot be ignored in the world we live in today as climate change is a major issue concerning all of us and will have more direct impacts on our lives in the future.

These are just a couple of numbers in a sea of other issues like deforestation for making more space for grain crops to feed live stock and space to keep live stock or the facts that our waters are being poisoned by animal feces coming from animal agriculture. The list can go on and if you are truly interested I’d suggest you check out Cowspiracy to start and go from there.

The Official ‘Cowspiracy’ Teaser/Trailer


HEALTH BENEFITS


In my personal experience being vegan has done wonders for how I feel physically and mentally. I used to have terrible indigestion which lead to aches and constipation which I do not suffer from anymore. I might have an occasional upset stomach when travelling as it brings irregularity to my eating habits and often brings unfamiliar bacteria to ones system but other than that I am completely symptom free. I also feel that my energy levels have become higher and I also feel more positive in general, probably due to my increased energy levels and living without constantly putting stress on my digestive system.

In addition to personal experience there are many scientific studies showing that the most beneficial way of eating for us humans is plant based. One of my favourite sources of inspiration for this subject is ‘The China Study’ by Colin and Thomas Campbell which was a large study carried out in China which proved that in areas where people ate less meat, poultry, fish, eggs and dairy products there was also less disease. Especially so in the areas of cancer and cardiovascular disease. This is huge and it is important to understand these correlations because no bacon can be worth risking a chance of a long and healthy life free from disease. And the fact that we can prevent such common diseases means that we can lighten the load for our health centres and leave space there for people who really need them.

We can take charge of our own health and that is a very powerful thing, think about it!

The Official ‘Forks over Knives’ Teaser/Trailer


KARMA AND SPIRITUAL WELL BEING


Consider the fact that when you eat an animal today that animal was born to die for you after having been manipulated and mistreated it’s whole life. Consider that when you drink milk or eat cheese it comes from a cow which has been continually impregnated by a forceful human hand and each time she gives birth her calf has been taken away and she has to return to a narrow space where she simply gives and gives with nothing in return. Consider that when you eat an egg that egg comes from a chicken who probably doesn’t get to see the light of day and is crowded by other chickens in small spaces and all she does is also simply giving with nothing in return. Not to mention the male chicks who are born but not needed for egg production who simply get milled alive.

There is really no need to subject animals to such cruelty, science proves it, and I truly believe that ingesting such pain and suffering cannot be healthy on a spiritual level. Energy is real and in my book the energy of what we eat somehow gets transferred into our systems and contributes to who we are and how we act. If you believe in karma in any way you must know that eating animals and animal derived products will bring you a lot of bad juju.

Being vegan gives me a clear conscience and eating vegan food helps me attain a clear energetic mind and a healthy body. Living a compassionate life where I do the least amount of harm to other beings is beneficial for others for sure but it’s also beneficial for me. This makes being vegan easy. Many people seem to think it isn’t but when you know why you’re doing something it comes easily and naturally. All you need to do is open your mind and then your heart to the truth and they will tell you what way is a good way.

Meditating on top of the world; Table Mountain, Cape Town

The points I’ve been putting out here today are very simplified and limited due to the size of this post, for more scientific texts, speeches and films I have included a resource list below for your continued research. This post simply reflects how I reason around the life choices I’ve made concerning my vegan diet and I hope my reasoning can provide you with inspiration and little nuggets of information.

Thank you all for reading this, I’m incredibly happy to have you guys to share my vegan journey with and if you have any questions or want advice on vegan matters you can always leave me a comment or shoot me an e-mail! x

 

Here is a list of resources I’ve found useful in my own education as to why veganism is important:
Cowspiracy (+ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpmTiHjUEBU)
Earthlings
Forks over Knives
Foodmatters

The China Study

The Best Speech You’ll Ever Hear by Gary Yourofsky
Mic the Vegan
Bite Size Vegan
nutritionfacts.org


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