Why vegan? My personal story to veganism.

First of all, I’d like to wish you all a very happy Veganuary! If you are attempting to be vegan, or giving meat-free Mondays a go to transition and cut down on your animal consumption, then a massive well done, and thank you, you are making a difference to animals who cannot speak for themselves.

What is veganism?

The Vegan Society defines veganism as:

“A philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals.”

In December 2014, just over 5 years ago, I decided to commit to being vegan. I had been transitioning for about 6 months.

Growing up vegetarian

I had been an intermittent vegetarian up until then, probably around collectively half of my life was vegetarian and I grew up caring deeply about animals, both human and non-human. My parents brought myself and my sister up as vegetarian, but we slid into eating fish because of being fussy children. We avoided products tested on animals, and tried our best to eat ethically to the best of our knowledge, as vegetarians. Ethical consumerism was a big part of our family life. I feel lucky and recognise that I was lucky to growing up with this kind of awareness as this meant that when coming back to vegetarianism and then eventually veganism, this foundation was already laid. 

My eyes were opened to their suffering

After chatting with an inspiring colleague, I discovered how dairy cows are treated – forcibly impregnated in order for them to give birth to a calf, and then have this calf taken away, so that humans can take their milk. How even free range eggs come from a world where male chicks are destroyed, days old, because they are ‘surplus’. How bees making their honey to last them over the winter, have that hard work taken away and an inferior sucrose is given to them instead, so that humans can take their honey away.

Suddenly, a whole new world opened up to me. I read about people on plant-based diets thriving, athletes such as Fiona Oakes and Patrik Baboumian, as well as regular humans. Admittedly, I didn’t go vegan with my diet over night.

Skip through a rocky teenagehood, a fairly typical university experience and some other crucial to me life experiences, I decided to return to vegetarianism in 2013. I had been thinking about really who I wanted to be in life and what I wanted to contribute to the world. I didn’t want to cause suffering to any body, including animals. I then began looking into veganism, I knew a couple of vegans and documentaries were starting to come into my periphery.

Transitioning

I knew I wanted to cut it all out eventually, but wanted to do my research so that it was a long lasting change and my body could get used to living this way. I stopped buying dairy milk, experimenting with nut milks, then cheese, then eggs. I began to feel like I had more energy, that I was all round healthier and more integrated. I was able take up tae kwon do and cycling.

Friends and Family Reactions

Friends and family had various opinions and reactions. Some thinking it was extreme, some thinking I could eat nothing but lettuce leaves, some curious and one or two even inspired. One of my closest, but distant friends had gottento veganism just before me, so this was a quiet encouragement to me, too. My mum was concerned that I would end up eating too much soya and not a balanced diet, but was supportive – they are both more or less vegan now themselves. At times I did feel a little isolated, resources such as blogs, recipes and communities online were incredibly helpful for remedying this as well as informing myself not only of what was really going on but also nutritionally. 

Moving forward

I haven’t looked back since; I have become more physically fit, more focussed and happier. Things joined up fairly quickly. It’s widely reported and may seem obvious now, I didn’t realise when I initially embarked upon veganism, the huge impact animal agriculture has on our planet, though I’d always cared about the environment.

I continue to learn and discover more. Veganism has never felt like a sacrifice and has been quite the opposite, it has changed my life for the better. My diet is more varied and I’m living a life integrated with my ideals and principles.

In our western society, which can often feel like it’s all about every person for themselves, and profit before people and animals, there seems to be a shift towards a kinder, more aware way of life.