I had originally planned on posting this before the election. But then, decided that since no one would have the required attention span to follow it through, it could receive a better viewing AFTER the election, when we all of us would be happy and talking about an enlightened future that would be so bright in possibilities, we'd need shades.
That didn't happen. So now I just have to dump it now, here, and move on.
But the point I originally wanted to make back in September, is that Veganism seems to have turned an important corner and is rapidly moving towards mainstream-ization....
I first heard about vegans in college. It sounds funny now. I asked someone who was vegetarian and they outlined all the steps of vegetarianism. I had assumed it was simple, you didn't eat meat... But no, they mentioned those who ate eggs, who ate fish, who ate dairy products and then, they said something I still remember...... "and there are some.... so strict...who won't touch anything at all that comes from animals... They are called Vegans..."
As an 18 year old, I thought they must be the strangest sort. People who'd totally dropped out of life, or who were so priveleged and spoiled, they could afford to live on special diets made up of only the most expensive ingredients. And supplements.. Oh, how they must have supplements....
I'm one of those vegans now.
And I probably am because it is easy to be one. Working hard for nothing is something I'm not good at. If you want me to do something, you have to make it simple and easy.
I never, ever, ever expected to become a Vegan... No. Not me. I was a meat person... Yep... as long as there was no possibility of salmonella, I'll take it rare, ma'am. And chicken? Turkey? My favorite... provided it was over 165 degrees.. (the safe level at which salmonella dies)...
Lamb? Special occassions. Veal? Only in restaurants when my bank account was higher than average....
As a naturalist, I understood that killing was part of the equation but assumed that killing for food was now sterile in food-corporate America, humane, and therefore, what could be wrong with it? We had machines for that, didn't we?
I think the first seeds were planted here on Kos... It's going back years, either one or two and I have no way of even remembering the title... (If you know, please credit it in the comments)... It was about that guy who was doing MRI's or CT scans on dogs... he pioneered how to make them stand perfectly still and so, we were able to get brain scan pictures of their emotions...
I always knew that dogs were like humans, cats too. But as a naturalist again, I assumed it was genetically caused. Innate behavior. They acted like they had emotions because that tended to survive better especially if living in a human world, but they really didn't feel like we do as people. The brain scans proved me wrong... These dogs were very similar in pictographs as human pictographs of the same thing. Ok. So dogs can love.
It was a nanosecond stretch to jump from dogs to cows to lambs and chickens.... I remember seeing a chicken crying over his mate hit by a car... Yes, that would explain it. I remember dogs missing their owners overseas and then becoming wild upon seeing them again.. Again, yes that would explain it.
Bottom line, with this proof, scientific evidence, one can ascertain there is little difference in the emotional structuring between humans and other mammals...
But I was a creature of habit. That was not enough or actually, I had a problem remembering NOT to order a Whopper when I was hungry, and chase it down with hot salty french fries.
When my daughter expressed a desire to become vegan, I thought "great"... I'll experience vegan-ism vicariously.. 6 months is what I bet she would follow through on it.
Looking back? The biggest thing holding me from changing was that I would be considered a "wus" by the unenlightened, for not eating meat. That might cost me a promotion. It might trim down some of my social encounters, etc.. Because, aren't real macho tough people the ones who eat meat, and the cowardly, skimpy, skampy, squirrelly ones are the vegetarians?
My daughter says... "I just saw the best argument for going vegan,.. ever... " In my head: "yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm never going to watch it... " I tell her, "put it on a tab (of my open browser) and I'll listen to it... She did and left and I think I was doing laundry... totally ignoring it, when the speaker said.... "You remember the Matrix? Blue Pill and Red Pill?"....
I like the Matrix.. I love that scene and all it implies. I ran over, got the screen off sleep, and backed a few clicks on the video....
Choosing Vegan-ism is like choosing either the Red or Blue Pill... If you choose the blue, you go to sleep and wake up remembering nothing that happened. Once you take the red pill, you can never go back. You know too much and it becomes a one way trip.... due to choice.
Very interesting twist... so now (following through on that argument) it was more macho to take the red pill like Keanu Reeves, than to go back to sleep by taking the blue and doing all one had done before... Well... that arguement just took away the un-macho part of being Vegan...or reversed it. Taking the blue pill and ignoring what meat was doing, was now the wussy action... Cool.
I went further... Of course they showed cruelty to animals. and that was sad, but not enough to cause me to give up meat. For I have a cat, who kills mice, and he is very cruel to them...
But there was one statement that hung me. " Is there any real way to humanely kill? " "Hi, we are going to kill you... but it will be humane. You will cease to exist... but we will be humane about it"... No.. obviously, I would be very upset about being put to death, especially if I had nothing to do with the judgment being levied upon me... Today is your 29th Birthday. It is time to die.. Get in the truck, we're taking you on a trip.." Yes.. I'd be upset... scared. And pretty irate. Livid even.
Maybe I should rethink this, I told myself at this point in the presentation. But no... I do need calcium from milk. I do need protein, and must have animals for that... Nice try, I thought, but vegan-ism was obviously not for me.
Ok. I resolved to myself... I won't be vegan... then I was hearing my own question being asked by the speaker in the video.. "some say they have to eat meat because of calcium and protein....”
Then a picture of an elephant came up... OK, got me... then a rhino, then a hippo, then a Mountain gorilla. where did their protein and calcium come from? The ones to make those huge bones? Those huge muscles? Just plants.
Obviously if they can get enough... to grow THAT big, I could get enough for my body's needs.
And suddenly I was out of reasons to make myself continue eating meat... I could choose to use my food budget dollars to support a meat-alternative economy... If there was no real biological reason, why should I continue to fund with my purchases, the slaughter of millions of animals that wasn't necessary? That’s how I started being a vegan.
It was the quality of life that hooked me after I started. There are awesome vegan foods prepped, ready to pop in the oven, which being veggie, tend to hang around the same price range their more expensive meat-filled ones do.
I found this next thing to be true in my shopping... Whereas "buyer beware" is the common rule of thumb among commercial meat-packing products... everything that was vegan, from the get-go, was absolutely awesome.
With today's apps, one can pull into any fast food spot, know what is vegan and order through the drive through. Almost all places have something vegan... (McDonald's the rare exception)...
Vegan-ism is not more expensive... They have vegan Ramen noodles... (chili flavor)...
The only problem we found was that if you were already doing gluten free, then being vegan and gluten free limits a lot of choices. One could always cook at home.. but even that is difficult to swing both in the modern world of today.
Since becoming Vegan I have found ourselves using more natural ingredients... Hungry? Mic a baked potato... Before, I used to hop in my car, drive to Taco Bell, eat, and drive back and walk through the front door still sipping flavored high fructose corn syrup in carbonated water....
Aye. This is getting long; I'm not going to be able to say everything I wanted to... But here is the biggest surprise I got out of vegan-ism, one no one mentioned, and one I did not expect....
If you are older, matured a little, maybe with some graying of the hair.... after you go vegan you poop like you are in your twenties again... For you younger readers that probably sounds funny... But as you too start to age, parts of your body no longer do what you remember them doing and it scares you enough to tell your doctor, who at least confirms the worst is NOT wrong with you... But going all plants, and no animal products, does make your digestive system feel 20 years younger.. Just sayin'. Think back to college... Yeah, it’s like that... It also does wonders on the urinary system... Don't know why, and will accept it could even be psychological... I'm only telling you without proof, and take it how you will... All those problems i naturally assumed were irreversible and would gradually get worse, are gone now...
Nuff said. But that tells me that our bodies seem to appreciate dissolving plants, and were rebelling over animal products...
I don't want to sound all "high and mighty now"... Hopefully I edited well enough so that does not come across. For in reality, I'm a very bad vegan... i cheat sometimes. Like when I buy "JUST VEGGIE" brand of cheese substitute and it has casein (milk protein) in it... I'll eat it anyway... (My daughter won't).. I've sneaked a couple of meat sandwiches or two at public functions where there was no other option... etc.. Probably soon, I am going to buy a Whopper because it smells so good when I drive by going to work...
But despite those, this is true... After indulging in any animal product, my body sends a signal back... "what the hell did you do that for..." Something in my wildest dreams, I'd NEVER expect to happen to this former meat lover... and I really love eating plants now...
I use the phrase "turning the corner", because it reminded me of what happened in the market of gluten free. A family member was one of the first diagnosed and finding things without wheat used to be an ordeal... Then, after one single point in time, it became marketable and suddenly, everyone was listing their wheat and many were going gluten free. But prior, one had to carefully read through every lable. One could not trust managers in restaurants to be accurate (some wheat products had other names). One almost had to eat pure unadulaterated food... "I'd like a salad of lettuce. tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and no dressing, just bring me oil and vinegar, please"
Vegan-ism has turned such a corner. it is catching on. It is easy. And it is something that would help the globe even as populations grow and food growing areas shrink...
I can probably truthfully say... now I'm eating "better" as in enjoying more of what I eat now,,, than before when I ate animal products...
Tonight, we ate tacos... there was some soy stuff that when seasoned, mimics taco meat perfectly. And though full, you feel lighter than had you eaten meat inside them... Your body is telling you "thank you."...
I'm really liking this vegan thing... and forget the morality... it's fun to be Vegan now, and that was probably the biggest shock to me....
It was the Matrix, man...