I’ve heard many people refer to a vegan lifestyle as restrictive. At first glance I can understand where this deception may come from. All you hear about is people concentrating on the things they ‘cant’ have. Yet if someone were allergic to something that’s not held against them. Yet when I point out to someone it’s not that I ‘cant’ have something but I chose not to they look at me like I’m being stubborn, or pretentious. The word restrict means to confine within limits. I find it some what ironic that this word is used to describe a vegan lifestyle when becoming vegan has opened up so many more options to me. If you think about the different types of ‘meat’ available to the average omnivore, that is restrictive, cows, pigs, and chickens. At first glance you hear vegetarian you think lettuce, carrots, tomatoes. I’ve heard people refer to these foods as ‘rabbit food’. Yet, there are over 40 varieties of lettuce, 50 plus kinds of vegetables, countless types of legumes and beans, rice, grains, and so much more.

I’ll tell you what a vegan lifestyle is restrictive to. Vegans are restricted to the types of cancer and serious illness apt to suffer. We are restricted to the amount of money we’ll spend on healthcare, and the amount of medications we’ll have to take just to sustain. And most of all we are restricting the amount of suffering caused by our personal choices.

If our society was more conscious of the environment and our health more people would be raised vegan and thus the lifestyle wouldn’t seem so difficult. It’s much harder to make this transition mid journey, but that doesn’t mean its not worth while. The right thing to do in life often is what’s hardest.

Oh boy, I really don’t know where to start with this one. Plain and simple I just don’t get people. I don’t know if it’s commitment issues, lack of knowledge, or just plain laziness? I’ve said many times being vegan isn’t about being perfect. It’s about choosing the path that causes less harm. Our society doesn’t always give us a choice, so we may have to do something we are opposed to. For example medications. Some medications have herbal substitutes, but some do not. Some medications are the result of many animals being tortured, but we cant always control that. So of course I don’t consider myself or anyone else less vegan for having to consume something they would normally be against in order to be healthy. The difference lies where we do have choices.

I will apologize to my friends in advance if the things I am about to say offend you, but I must say them.

I have a friend, whose vegan, that I sometimes wonder where his/her ethics stand? There’s been times when he/she carelessly would purchase products to only find out while consuming them they contain an animal product. Ok, this is an honest mistake, we’ve all done it. But for them to say ‘I bought it I’m eating it’ makes me question where their motive is coming form? I just don’t understand how someone passionate about something can put money above their ethical values? I’m sure they don’t think about it that way, at least I hope not. Another example, and I’m sure some of you will think I’m on my high and mighty horse here, but I’m really not trying to judge or point fingers, just want to understand what motivates people. I’m afraid in to many cases it’s money. And I think its extremely sad for people to put money before their beliefs and values. I digress, another instance where I can’t figure out people’s mind set is when someone openly fights for a cause then turns around and supports the opposing side. Lets say for example, there’s an industry or company that openly is against something you stand for. Why would you support that company buy purchasing it’s goods? It would be like me protesting against leather then turning around and purchasing something, doesn’t have to be leather, but from a leather shop. Does that not seem a little hypocritical? I believe the saying ‘practice what you preach’, otherwise you have virtually no credibility.

Next, what about vegans/vegetarians that ‘cheat’ by tasting certain animal products they would normally be opposed to? I just for the life of me don’t get it. If you are vegan/vegetarian for ethical reasons aren’t you ‘cheating’ on your ethical beliefs? Its one thing if you don’t have a choice. I recently heard a story of a vegan traveling on a 20+ hour flight being so distraught by the fact she had to eat non-vegetarian because the airline lost her preordered vegan meal. this girl had no choice, we need to eat and if there’s no options we have to eat what’s given to us. But to have veg food in front of you and reach across the table to try non-veg food is beyond me. Why do people want to identify with vegan/vegetarians if they don’t really live their lives that way? I’ve had non-vegetarians say to me, ‘you can cheat, I cheat on my diet all the time.” I want to say, ‘yea that’s why your still a fat ass” but I don’t. I simply remind them I have no reason to cheat because I’m not missing out on anything by choosing living my life cruelty free.

I may be wrong, but wouldn’t it be fair to say people who don’t smoke, don’t because it may cause cancer or other horrendous diseases? So it stands to say if there were a label on any and all products that could have a negative effect people may be less likely to consume it. Such as ‘beef’ or cow products. There are numerous studies available that show eating meet may lead to certain types of cancers. Why is this not general public knowledge? Basic common sense should tell us this, but most of the time is fails us. So we need a warning label until it is generally known. Maybe it isn’t general knowledge that the animals we consume are pumped with all kinds of hormones and steroids, but I think it‘s becoming more so. It’s just easy to dismiss when we’re hungry and don’t realize the consequences and or alternatives. There are cultures around the world that don’t suffer the diseases and cancer rates we do in america. These very same cultures have a high percentage of vegan/vegetarian based diets. Coincidence? I think not. Americans consume the most ‘animal products’ across the globe, and Americans suffer the most from illnesses such as heart disease, high cholesterol, and colon cancer, and contribute the most waste. So why is it that we don’t require a warning label suggesting such products may cause cancer on meat/flesh? I’ve seen labels on certain cheeses containing casein, which is in every cow based cheese. Casein, in case you don’t know, is a protein found in cows milk that has been linked to causing cancer.

On the flip side we have products using this ‘may’ tag as an advertising ploy. We’ve all seen or heard the commercials for products making claim that by consuming that specific products “may lower cholesterol”, “may help you lose weight”. “may … fill in the blank.” So why is it more acceptable to use such ploys for advertising purposes? I guess that’s obvious, good ‘mays’ sell products, bad ones don’t. So why are we, as consumers, taking the advice of the party that has only profit to gain? We need to demand a high standard for the way our foods are labeled. Until that happens, its up to us as consumers to be conscious of the products we are buying and ingesting. Learn to read between the lines, if something sounds too good to be true, it is! There’s no miracle pill or cure for anything. Take responsibility for being over weight or eating foods that are making you ill, and stop the bad habits. If you’re not watching out for yourself who will, the industry trying to make a profit off your stupidity? (sorry, harsh, shall I say lack of knowledge instead)

More disturbing news…

This story is sad in may ways, but it defines the true laws of nature. Instead of summing up the story here it is;

DOG ATTACKS GATOR , GETS OBIT

Freddy was a cairn terrier, 5 years old, 19 pounds of ferocious. His favorite toy was a rubber goldfish that squeaked when he chomped on it. Once he chased a possum and made it play dead. Once he chased a UPS truck and nearly got run over. Every day, when Sarah Frey took him for a walk and her two cats tagged along, Freddy chased away anything that got near the cats.
On Tuesday, she took him to Al Lopez Park in Tampa. He was not wearing a leash. Suddenly he took off. Only he knows why. Frey did not see what happened next. She is grateful for this. Other people did: Freddy saw a gator and ran to the edge of the water. The gator was about seven feet long. Freddy stared down at the armor-plated carnivore and began to bark. But he did not stop with mere barking. He jumped into the black water. And became a meal. A statelicensed trapper will kill the gator . — Thomas Lake/tbt*

We’re so quick to say eating meat is ‘the food chain’ or ‘law of nature’ yet when a truly natural thing occurs in nature we contort it. I am extremely offended, disturbed, and outraged at the fact the gator was destroyed. WTF would you expect a gator to do when food willing walks into it’s territory!? The owner of this animas should consider herself lucky I am not allowed to sentence her, because she would be in jail for being responsible to destroying 2 lives. There are reasons pets should be kept on leashes, mostly for their own safety. I try not to hate people, but this woman gets my blood boiling. This is the second instance in just a few months where food has willing walked directly into it’s demise and the gator is punished for doing as nature intended. Why aren’t we as humans punished so harshly?

I’m not sure where to start. First off I’d like to bring attention to a local news paper called the Tampa Bay Times (TBT). I’ve been reading this paper for about a month now and have been astonished at some of the stories I’ve uncovered. This is a free local paper distributed all over the Tampa Bay area, and thus very mainstream. I’m not sure if it’s a journalism trend right now, but I’ve found several stories related to slaughterhouses and animal abuse. These stories don’t point out Veganism per say, but I’ll be dammed if at least one of these stories doesn’t stick with people and maybe one day lead them to the connection of the destruction and harmful behavior they are causing not only to the animals, the workers, but also themselves.

The very first story I came across was about secret undercover video under covering slaughterhouse cruelty shot by the Humane Society in a California slaughterhouse. The article was a mere snippet into the story, but powerful non-the-less. There even appeared a picture of a cow that was unable to stand where the caption read ‘In a scene from the undercover video, a slaughterhouse worker kicks a cow that is too sick to stand or move.” Just the fact that this had any mention at all in such a mainstream paper had me abashed. Of course as Vegan’s, this kind of thing isn’t anything new or even shocking. Here is the corresponding link to the story:

http://tampabaytimes.fl.newsmemory.com/ 

Several questions arose upon reading this article. Why is it worse to torture than to take a life?, and How can anyone think what is revealed in this video is so wrong if killing isn’t?

A coworker of mine also read the story, and when I inquired about the story to another in her presence she could not listen, and was nearly brought to tears at the mere mention. Yet the very same women continues to eat meat. I really don’t get this. How can anyone care so much for animals they are brought to tears at the thought of them being harmed, yet eat the very same animals? She even admitted to having to talk herself into eating burgers some times. Out of all the horrible things I’ve learned since becoming Vegan I must say this has shocked and horrified me the most. Knowing something is wrong but still doing it is so unconscionable, is it not? Still I sit he in bafflement, stunned into silence with no words to describe my query into this woman’s train of thought and corresponding actions, and people like her.

The thing about killing animals for food is that it’s a job that no one really wants to do. Think about it. Working in a slaughter house is nobody’s dream job. Unfortunately the people most likely working these horrific jobs are people with no other options. I know a lot of people think that caring for animals means someone cares less for humans. But that’s simply not true. I think its just the opposite. Yes I care what happens to animals, but I care so much about what the people have to go through in order to provide the animals for others to consume as well. When you think about it, its un-humanitarian to consume animal products. There’s a big difference between someone saying they could kill an animal for food if they had to and people virtually being forced to kill billions day after day. Think about what these people go through. Think about how you would feel having to look in the eyes of the innocent as you slit their throats. Is this a position you would ever want your loved ones to be in? Can you imagine being proud as a parent to have you child have to do this for a living? Put aside the health benefits, the impact our out of control meat eating has over the planets energy crisis, and the 10 billion needlessly mutilated and killed animals, and think about what you are doing to your fellow humans. Is eating animals really worth destroying another human being?

Ok, it’s a brand new year, and most people resolve to get healthy. So do it! Just cut the crap, stop wining and get healthy! I’m sick to death of all the commercials for the magical dieting pills, and the prescription drug advertisements to lower cholesterol. Get off your fat asses and eat healthy! Of course, the best thing not only for you, but the environment, and animals would be to go vegan, but I know most people aren’t ready for that drastic of a change. So start out slow. Try planning more meals without meat and cheese. Its really not that difficult. Veggie soup is a great way to fill up and eat healthy. You can put pretty much anything you want into it. Just start with some veggie broth and work from there. Pasta and tomato or pesto sauce is great too. The bet way to be healthy is to change your eating habits, not go on a diet. Dieting is a temporary fix, and its to easy to ‘cheat’ on a diet. When you make up your mind to eat healthy there is no need to ‘cheat’ because you can eat whatever you want. One of the best things about being vegan is being able to eat more and not gain the wait!

Think about it, do you really want to spend most of your life struggling with weigh loss? Or having to plan out your day according to which pills you have to take? Not me, I want to live my life. Our county is the biggest drug pusher, we are continually bombarded with commercial after commercial for new drugs. After a while we begin to think its normal to take 5 pills a day just to function. This is not normal! Side affects and long term usage can often be more damaging then the original diagnosis. Not to mention we are beginning to self-diagnose according to advertisements. Did you know doctors in this country get paid more when patients are sicker and prescribed more medication? Doesn’t that seem a little backwards. In Europe doctors are paid based on the good health of patients, not bad. Drug companies aren’t allowed to advertise and brainwash like they are here. Just stop and think about how you want to live when your older. If you think its normal to have to depend on machines and medications, your right, it is becoming the norm in this country, but that does not mean its optimal. You have the power right now to change. The sooner you at least begin to cut out all of the harmful things you put into your body, i.e. meat, cheese, and dairy, the more likely you will be able to actually live your life.

This is the reason I do not support PETA. I have no idea how many of its members are Vegan, or even Vegetarian, but I’m positive is not many. I recently met this girl who claims to be an animal activist, I mentioned something to her about eating meat and she flipped out on me. I think she may be a little psycho anyway, but come on people. If u care at all about animals how can you justify eating them?? Its so hypocritical to say puppies and kittens are worth saving yet calves and piglets aren’t. Get a freaking clue. I know its hard to make the connection between your pet and an animal you’ve never met, but it’s not so far fetched. I guarantee if more people were around farm animals and saw that they too have their own personalities, likes and dislikes, that they couldn’t justify eating them any more. Because they taste good isn’t a good enough reason to do what we do to them. WE HAVE NO NUTRITIONAL NEED FOR ANIMAL FLESH OR SECRETIONS. None! So to eat them is merely for pleasure, yes I once ate steaks, bacon, cheese sauces, and yes I enjoyed them, but I’ve learned what happens to them and how selfish I was being by eating them. This girl briefly spoke with wouldn’t even give me a chance to tell my side. I simply was making a statement about her supporting animals yet eating them. She informed me she didn’t eat them any more (which I think she was lying), but she’s not vegan because that’s too extreme. I don’t understand what’s so extreme about it? Which leads me to believe she doesn’t really have a clue what it means to be vegan, like many people. But I tried talking to her, I wanted to tell her I wasn’t trying to convert her or anything. In fact I commended her on her compassion for animals. I mistakenly thought we were fighting for the same cause, and wanted to shre that with her, but I see I was wrong. Unfortunately its because of people like her that the animals continue to suffer. People like her make people like me seem ‘extreme’ As long as vegetarians continue to ignore the suffering in their milk and egg products, the suffering will still exist.

I’ve been thinking a lot today about being vegan. The word vegan means so many different things to so many different people. I’ve been trying to actually define and give it a clear meaning for myself. I’ve decided that not eating meat or animal products really isn’t abut the animals, I mean it is of course, but not the way people perceive it to be. Its not that I think dogs and cats are cute and cuddly, or that I’m repulsed by the knowledge of what I’m eating. When I sit down to eat I simply ask myself is what I’m about to eat worth the suffering and torture of another living thing? (I apologize in advance to the person this references, but you’ve made me think quite a bit about quite a lot) Lets say for example I am faced with a choice between two similar products, one is made with milk and one is not. Lets say the one with milk may taste a little better, (and that’s only because I’ve been raised on it) but the other is edible, and healthier for me. This is what being vegan means to me. Simply making choices that reflect my beliefs/morals/ethics. I know that by not eating animals I’m not exactly saving them. This is what I mean when I said being vegan isn’t about the animals. To me its about changing what I find pleasure in, such as things that do not contribute to suffering. But suffering isn’t even the right word, even if an animal wasn’t tormented before having its life taken I find it extremely disturbing that we as humans feel we have the right to give something life only to take it away. Isn’t this what religious people would call “playing God”? I do not find pleasure in this and I doubt many of you do. Yet most people don’t make the connection that eating meat, cheese, or eggs is merely for pleasure and we have no nutritional requirement for any of these “animal products.” We are all faced with many choices every day, but we don’t always have available to us the thing we would choose. For example, when I’m sick I don’t always have the resources available to me to choose between a product that was tested on animals and one that was not. I may even have to choose a medication with an animal bi-product in it. I don’t feel this would make me not vegan. What makes me vegan is the ability, no the want, (we all have the ability) to choose the non-animal option when there is one available to me. Its not that I cant have something (meat, cheese) it’s that I choose not to, and that’s an important distinction for people to recognize. I am not perfect, and I don’t try to be. I just try to do the best I can when I can and I hope you all luck in doing the same.

Here is an article I found in Friday’s edition of the Tampa Bay Times.   (11/16/07)

Vegan Thanksgiving

Tampa Bay’s 2nd annual Vegan Thanksgiving Day Feast is Thursday at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tampa, 11400 Morris Bridge Road. Social hour is from 1 to 2 p.m. followed by the potluck dinner from 2 to 5:30 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults who bring a dish to share or $15 without a dish. Children under 12 are free. To RSVP, call (813) 365-0317 or visit www.vegtampathanksgiving.com. Already have plans for Thanksgiving? Local vegetarians and vegans meet for dinner at 5 p.m. the second Saturday of every month at Trang Viet Cuisine, 1524 E Fowler Ave. in Tampa. —Ah, Thanksgiving, a time for friends, family and, of course, feasting.   For most Americans, food plays no greater role than on this day of thanks. Taking center stage: Tom Turkey.  But what happens if you don’t eat meat? If the sight of a dead bird on the table makes you sad, even sick?   It’s a situation seen in dining rooms across the country.  “It’s a very stressful day for most vegetarians and vegans,” said Joan Zacharias, a 10-year vegan who used to eat McDonald’s every day in college.  You and your meatless plate of sides become the center of attention. Meat-eating relatives roll their eyes and wonder aloud why you won’t eat the main attraction. You feel like a target.  “Thanksgiving is really all about the bird,” said vegan Michelle LaFleur. “It becomes offensive to some people when you don’t eat it.”  To make the day happier for herbivores, Zacharias and LaFleur are organizing a vegan Thanksgiving Day feast in Tampa. No meat in the gravy. No milk in the mashed potatoes. No eggs in the pumpkin pie.  “We wanted vegans to have a place to go where they didn’t have to say, ‘What’s in this, what’s in that?”‘ LaFleur said.  The women, who are active in local vegetarian groups, came up with the idea last year. They thought it would be a success if even 10 people showed up (after all, most people have family obligations on Thanksgiving). Much to their surprise, 150 people came from as far as Orlando and Sarasota.  “I never expected it to be such a hit,” said LaFleur, 36. “People were walking in with tears in their eyes.”  Guests brought their favorite vegan dishes, enough to cover nine 8-foot-long tables. From the tofurkey to the (eggless) nog, everyone went home stuffed. Proceeds went to the Adopt-A-Turkey Project, which rescues turkeys from the baking pan.  “I could eat everything that was on the table,” said vegetarian Tanya Cherifi, 31, who plans to attend next week’s dinner with her sister. “A lot of times (restaurants) put sausage in the stuffing, chicken broth in the vegetable soup and bacon in the baked beans.”

Vegetarians and their more extreme vegan counterparts, who don’t eat anything made from animals, choose the lifestyle for health and animal rights reasons.  Roger McDowell, who plans to skip his family dinner for the vegan potluck, stopped eating meat to lower his cholesterol after his dad had a heart attack. A few years later, he became a vegan after a having a epiphany with a cow at the state fair.  “I looked into those big cow eyes, and it hit me,” he said. “I decided I don’t have to take this guy’s life to sustain my own. I thought, I’m going to go all the way.”  So does Robert Barrington. A 285-pound body builder, he says it’s a myth that vegetarians can’t gain muscle weight. This Thanksgiving, he’s grateful for his family, friends – and the smell of a meatless kitchen.  “We’re too technically advanced to be eating animals anymore,” he said. “And I don’t think there’s anyone who eats more meat than I did.”

And here’s my letter to the editor: 

     First if all I’d like to thank you for the story on the vegan Thanksgiving in Tampa.  It’s very rare to even see the word vegan in a mainstream publication.  I would however like to express one concern.  I was somewhat offended when the article referred to vegans as being extreme counter to vegetarians.  I understand to many who don’t really understand what it means to be vegan, our lifestyle may seem extreme, but truly it is anything but.  Many vegans are ethical vegans.  The reason we don’t consume any animal products, wear them, or condone animal exploitation in any way is the same reason most people don’t eat meat.  The suffrage of animals is all the same- if not worse in the production of things such as milk, cheese, and eggs. 

Let me try to present this with a different perspective.  Take a group of Christians for example.  Within this group some may feel more ethically driven by living to the full extent of their beliefs by following all the commandments and/or scriptures to the best of their ability.  While others may feel a stronger ethical responsibly towards only that in which they feel affect them personally.  Would the first person be considered ‘extreme’ in comparison? Or lets consider Catholics.  Would you consider the Pope to be ‘extreme’ in his religious beliefs when compared to the ordinary worshiper?  I don’t believe so.  If a vegetarian is so for ethical reasons then they are somewhat hypocritical and confused, thus reinforcing the ‘extreme’ view people have when it comes to vegans.   Vegans aren’t really extreme or radical we just seem that way because we live in a meat and dairy driven society.   

 Thanks again for the article and thank you for your time,
Megan Majeski