Why I'm Going Vegan

“One farmer says to me, ‘You cannot live on vegetable food solely, for it furnishes nothing to make bones with’; and so he religiously devotes a part of his day to supplying his system with the raw material of bones; walking all the while he talks behind his oxen, which, with vegetable-made bones, jerk him and his lumbering plow along in spite of every obstacle.” - Thoreau, Walden (chapter “Economy”)

“[Too] many people use food as a personal statement. It’s best to avoid arrogance, or using food as an emblem of virtue.” - from “Eat it Raw” by Karen Olson, Utne Reader April 2002

One day about a month ago, I was idly watching one of those how-it’s-made, Mr.-Rogers-style shows on the Discovery Channel or The Learning Channel. Thousands of wee, fluffy chicks were whizzing along on huge conveyer belts, thoroughly enjoying the ride. This was so adorable I said, “Awww, look at ‘em! They‘re so cute!” (If there’s anything chicks love, it’s chicks). At a certain point the chicks were plucked off the belt by workers who checked their wing-tips to see if they were male or female, then tossed the chicks into corresponding chutes that brought them to smaller conveyer belts. I wondered if this was like the Egg-dicator in Willy Wonka, but really didn’t pay much attention beyond that point. I probably changed the channel.

A day later, I picked up Disinfo's Everything You Know is Wrong and read Mickey Z.'s "Fear of a Vegan Planet." That's where I learned that the chicks in egg factories are sorted by sex so that the male chicks can be euthanized. This would be bad enough. But it turns out the factories are often too cheap to bother with euthanization, so they simply dump the live male chicks into dumpsters and let them die of starvation/dehydration or exposure.

highway to hell


I decided to go vegan. I was already a veggie- and tofu-lover who only ate red meat twice a month, tops, and though I know I'll miss seafood, I can't knowingly support a heinously wasteful factory-farm system. If I lived with Hudderites or something, I’d have no problem eating eggs and milk, because I’d know they weren’t obtained through the most inefficient and cruel means possible. I’m not against the killing of animals. I’m against wasteful, unnecessarily cruel use of animals.
I’m not out to be a meat cop.
I’m not out to convert anyone. As with any other personal choice, this came from within and was my decision alone, and that’s how it has to be with everybody.
I’m not doing this to be trendy.
I haven’t given in to any peer pressure. I live in Alberta, for crying out loud! If anything, there’s peer pressure to eat bucketloads of (potentially mad) beef.
I’m not doing this for religious reasons. I’m not Buddhist, nor do I worship animals or believe we are all one in some cosmic sense. I don’t think of animals as human.
I’m so not joining PETA. I’m a confirmed “specist” and always will be. Besides, those people can be real wackos.

I've already been warned by a few concerned friends that this could be "dangerous", but as most people know, I'm a research junkie and will have no problem finding lots of alternate sources for my protein, iron, B-12, calcium, etc. The green juice I drink every morning, alone, has 70% of the day's recommended dose of B-12, and I've always had to get most of my calcium from non-dairy sources, anyway. These days it's entirely possible to have a well-balanced vegan diet that provides all the proper amounts of nutrients, and is pretty tasty besides. I already make a lot of vegan dishes, including a scrumptious dairy-free creme brulee. I'm still in transition, finishing off some of the non-vegan items I have around the house, but by the end of this month I will be fully vegan, grateful that critters aren't dying so I can have supper. No longer will I have to don a Hazmat suit and hose down the kitchen with corrosive household cleaners just to prepare a chicken breast, or worry that my brain will go all spongy thanks to a Quarter Pounder with Cheese.