If you are reading this, then you might be curious about veganism, vegetarianism, or why someone might suddenly switch to a different eating style after 42 years. I’m as surprised as anyone else. If this was a religion, I would be “born again”.
I literally feel like I was living in an alternate universe, and was pretty much oblivious to a lot of issues. My eyes have been opened, and I don’t see how I could ever forget.
All of us over 30 years old or so grew up in a time and place that is VERY different than it is today. We’ve had a population explosion- over 7 billion people live on this earth- it was 3.6 billion when I was born. We have twice as many people to feed. Many countries are much more developed, and they want the same standard of living that we have. The ice caps are melting- global warming is happening faster than predicted.
We can’t live the same way our parents did, or that we did a few decades ago, and have the same quality of life. It is not sustainable. When I was very young, we didn’t put babies in carseats, young children didn’t wear seat belts. Would anyone suggest we continue that practice despite what we have learned, and know how we can save lives?
It is not all about the animals, although they do play into this. I grew up believing that it was okay to eat animals because they were raised for us to use as food. With that reasoning, can you say it is okay to enslave some people because they were raised for that purpose? The process used to convert animals into food is wasteful and cruel, and it is creating an enormous environmental impact.
I think I actually started this journey based on more the health implications of a plant-based diet, and that now is the least important aspect to me.
There is an alternate universe that exists, if you are willing to look at it. It is a hard truth.
I’m passionate about this, but don’t worry, I will not be converting you directly on the playground or elsewhere. I’m not asking anyone to do anything- except to keep an open mind.