In the past, I associated veganism with a limited choice of flavorless dishes. I also did not really feel or believe that my attitude could change anything. It started changing around 6 years ago when I began investing more in my self-development. The idea to stop eating meat appeared while listening to one audiobook of Anthony Robbins: Living Health. Surprisingly, my first reason for not eating meat was not connected to ethics. It was about being healthy. Tony described that we consume meat that was created from fearful and tortured creatures. Therefore, why put this result of suffering into our bodies?
After that time I have never looked back. I did not even feel eager to eat any dead animal. Why should I? If eating people would be socially allowed, would we also crave eating each other for the taste? What is the fundamental difference between a human being and any other creature? We are all children of this amazing world. We are all given a personality, character, and willingness to live. And I believe that it should be our fundamental right to be alive.
None of us is really able to understand how this world works. Why we are here and how long we will be here. We are surrounded by the unknown. But we feel so supreme. So superior. So much in charge. We lost respect. We neglect that slowly we are killing our own home. Because the truth is that we are simply another species of the planet. Nothing less and nothing more.
My path to veganism slowly evolved. I remember being proud of buying free-range eggs and organic milk thinking that this is the way to support animals. I felt like I was doing something good. I believed that I supported the good treatment of animals. However, I was not able to keep it always. When we ordered a pizza to the office, I was going for a vegetarian version. I felt justified, I did not have any other option.
Step by step, I was consuming less and less animal products. What started being a burden was the fact that I declared myself to be a vegetarian therefore when someone in the office was sharing chocolates it was not that nice not to take one. I started thinking about where the ingredients of all food I eat were coming from. I kept watching documentaries about animal agriculture and I started understanding one simple truth: as long as we rely on animal products there will always be suffering. Why? Because whenever there is a need, money follows. Whenever there is money, there is greed and willingness to achieve profits. And ethics and profits are often not aligned. Whenever we drink milk, we take this milk away from a baby cow, which the milk was created for. It does not matter the size of the farm that a cow came from. This milk was produced for a purpose. Whenever you pay for it, you agree that a baby cow will either be killed or in the future impregnated to produce more milk for people. Moreover, all cows that are kept for milking will be finally taken to the same slaughterhouse when they are used enough. Each and every time you buy or drink milk you give your consent to it.
What about chickens and eggs? The mentality is similar. First, you agree for keeping the hens that are laying eggs and to kill them when they stop. Why keep an animal that is not bringing any profits? Second, you agree to kill male chickens since they are a by-product. The so-called happy chickens will be also taken to the same slaughterhouse as caged chickens. Same fear, same pain. Did they really deserve it?
Last but not least – the people that I know who support organic animal agriculture also consume animal products from factory farming. An egg from a tortured and caged hen looks very similar to an egg from a hen that was living in the countryside. Similar to a glass of milk. It is still supporting the same industry.
There is a lot of misinformation about vegan nutrition. Yet, it is proven that you do not have to eat animal products, to be perfectly healthy and thrive. If so, why do we keep supporting the cruelty? Why do we look for ethical ways of exploitation? The answer is simple: a tradition, a culture, or a habit. I do not see many people wondering what has bigger value, their taste or the life of another creature.
Veganism is not about a diet. It is about choosing a way of life while being kind to other creatures. It is about being more conscious and compassionate.
For me changing my life to be cruelty-free was one of the best decisions I have ever made. However, it is still evolving. I do not only avoid using animal products but also I try to limit the amount of plastic and look for the most sustainable solutions.
We all live on this planet and we are all responsible for it. All of us can make a difference. All of us everyday vote with our money for the future we will have. You are more powerful than you think. You can already resign from buying commercial products which you can be sure involve an immense amount of animal suffering. You can watch documentaries, most of them available on Youtube or Netflix. You can change your habits and inspire other people to change.
We look at the Holocaust from the Second World War as something terrifying and unfair. And yet most of us agree for a similar situation to happen right now. Most of us support it. All of us should decide which side of history we want to be on. Do you want to be the person who is standing out and fighting for the lives of the voiceless or do you want to be the one who is contributing to their suffering?