Why are you Vegetarian/Vegan?

[Legal_Beagle]

Hello all,

I have just gone vegan, it is two weeks today. A few things about me: I never thought I could give up meat or dairy. No offense to those of you who did not like the taste of meat but I am/was the opposite. I never really had a problem with eating meat, and while I agree with the some of the opinions that we are not necessarily still developed to continue eating meat I still do not think that it is evil.

I am in law school and this semester took a class on Animal law. We watch videos every class. I have seen some horrendous things. While seeing this horrible videos I was still eating meat. I was particularly taken aghast by factory farming. If you don't know about factory farming you should look it up. It is something that we as a society should be protesting adamantly. The CAFO Reader is a great source to find out all about them. So...

Basically I decided that I would go vegan over Lent. 1. I wanted to see if I could do it and 2. I wanted to feel less disgusted with my own apathy. I love animals, and to mirror other comments I believe all animals are the same (There was a video of piglets being thrown into a cart which made my cry because it actually reminded me of my dog).

So while I have not been doing this long I have found it incredibly rewarding. First I lost 2 pounds in the first week. Which was super nice! Also I don't have the same shamed feelings about the horrible treatment of animals because I am not. Now, this may be an unpopular statement but I have not found the transition particularly hard. I am eating healthy, not just junk food, because I have been attempting to lose weight as well. There have been hard days but overall it has been extremely rewarding. Although my boyfriend has been extremely supportive of me, going to vegan restaurants, making vegan food and always checking labels.

I am unsure whether I will keep the veganism up after Lent but if I do not then my boyfriend and I are going to commit to cruelty free meats alone. This is complicated because there are no formal regulations from governmental agencies requiring the humane treatment of farm animals. However, Whole Foods does monitor this based on a step system. So if I do return to meat it would be under those conditions.

[hayleylujah]

This is my first Craftster post, yay!
I have been vegetarian 5 year and vegan 4 years. I actually was inspired to try a meat-free diet by the band AFI. I was (and still am) obsessed with their music, and when I found out they were vegetarians I thought I would give it a try too.

After I made the switch though I started thinking about how eating an animal is just gross! People are grossed out in horror movies when zombies eat flesh, but that's basically what we're doing when we eat meat. I then went vegan because I started to research the cruelty in dairy/egg farms, and I haven't looked back ever since. I even started a blog (limabeanlover.wordp ress.com) to chronicle my vegan cooking adventures and recipes.

[robotlove]

Hello~ I've been a vegetarian ever since I found out about the process of how hot dogs are made back when I was in middle school. After that, I refused to eat hot dogs and bologna, which later excluded red meat. In fact, as a kid, I was always pretty grossed out by the look of ground chuck in the package. {bleh~} Chicken and turkey were the last to go. I've been a vegetarian for at least 15 years (with a short 1 year vegan stint) and i'm always amused by people who tell me they couldn't not eat meat for that long, but you know... I never miss it. I'm happier eating my baked tofu than I can imagine myself being if I bit into a hamburger again.

[taschevapartner]

I've been vegetarian for 2 years and I feel a lot better now.

[scastorbleu]

I first went vegan when I was 17, and have been on and off ever since. Despite coming from a highly carnivorous family of active hunters, I never liked meat and I always loved vegetables. (I was not exactly a cool kid, if you might guess *haha*.) I'm now working on going full-tilt vegan again, as well working towards a rawer diet. I never liked mushy overcooked food... and now I know why; your body gets NOTHING from it!

It isn't a disinterest in meat that really inspires me towards veganism, though. I don't see any reasonable excuse for people to eat animals anymore, at all. I do feel differently about those who hunt and kill for their food than those that have someone else mass produce and slaughter their meat for them, but I also don't think I am willing to kill my own food, considering how fond of animals I am and how little I care for meat in the first place. I am very fond of seafood, particularly sushi, and may consider occasionally fishing or procuring my own fish for special occasions. But overall, I think--for one's body and the environment--a raw vegan diet is the best way to go.

[electricyarn]

I have been a vegetarian since I was 18. That was 1985 (27 years). I'm from Texas and always thought I needed meat to live even though I never really like it. Then I heard a news report on the radio that said new research shows that vegetarians are healthier than meat eaters. That was all I needed to hear. I don't want an animal to die or suffer because of me. Also, I never thought it made sense that our bodies should digest the same types of materials that they're made of. I do eat vegan as much as possible, but it's expensive.  I was surprised to learn only a few years ago that white sugar is filtered through bone char (cow bones) and a lot of other food products contain animal products.

[kfad]

I have been vegan for 5 years now.

We started the switch when my husband was researching how to lower is cholesterol without meds. But the more he learned about where food comes from and what meat and dairy production does to us and the environment... It just made sense to us.

Although because we both have a passion for food (he cooks and I bake), weight loss is a bit of a challenge.

And, as someone new to this site, I am so happy this corner of the site is here!

[Breezed]

I have never been vegan/vegetarian but my bf and I are enrolled in a vegan challenge in a few weeks. It's purpose is not to make you stop eating meat but to be informative of the options, the possible health benefits, how to prepare vegan recipes - both raw and cooked, things like that. I have always been told it's not good to stop eating meat, that it's more expensive to go veg., etc. I tried to stop eating meat as a teenager because I hated red meat.
But I am not confident I can do it because there are so many vegetables I don't like but I really want to stop eating meat. This is the only thing that has ever stopped me; my lack of confidence in myself. My bf wants to do the challenge for the detox benefits but will consider continuing if it goes well. He is looking for a healthier lifestyle, although he is already in very good shape. My primary reason is I hate knowing I am eating an animal and the possibility of how that animal was treated; secondary is to be healthier. If I can remember I will post back here during/after my challenge.

[white_lilyblossom]

I've been vegetarian for the last 11 years, since I was 14. I was always surrounded by vegetarians - my sister and my two best friends are vegetarian since early childhood - and I always wanted to take that extra step, since I love animals, but i liked meat a lot and it was hard for me. And then when day at a family dinner I was staring at a steak and I just felt like I was going to throw up. It was like a switch flipped. Never touched meat again.
Being vegan is more of a struggle for me. Ideology-speaking, it's a lifestyle I want to embrace, I think it's right and I don't want to be a part of the exploitation system that the dairy and eggs industries are. But it's a lot harder. When I'm at my apartment during uni, it's easy - I don't touch any of it, because I don't buy it, there's no temptation. I generally eat a lot healthier - no sugar, only whole-wheat stuff, only home-cooked food. When I'm at my parents' during weekends or holidays, and they buy EVERYTHING - I sin sometimes. I eat eggs, although we only buy free-range eggs so that's something. That's the only kind of eggs I will eat. Sometimes I'll eat a little chocolate, or cookies that have butter in them. Nothing more than that though. I still cook with dairy and eggs though, for friends and family.
I'm trying to commit to this life-style, but it's a touch and go - I've been completely vegan between ages 18-20, and then I started eating eggs. I started eating dairy again a year and a half ago, stopped after half a year, started again for two months, cut it again. I'm okay with eating eggs every once in a while, but I really object to dairy products so I'm really trying to cut that for good.

[jasonmath11]

I have never eat meat because i dont like it.