Animals deserve the same rights and voice as people. Coming from a relatively new vegan, my eyes have been opened wide, and my lifestyle changed for good. Although it has not been long, my dramatic changes in eating and purchasing has led to many realizations about the world.

We do because we do not know. If every person in the world was informed and educated about the cruelty that is inevitable for most animals in the world, a significant amount would no longer support great consumer products that torture and test on animals. I know the struggle of going cold turkey off of meat, let alone dairy, eggs, and all animal products. It is very difficult. So, this is not my plea for everyone to become a vegan or a vegetarian. It is simply my objective response to criticism I get from others about my choices in eating and products I do not support.

It is accustomed to our lifestyle in America to think that our body needs meat in order to get enough protein or energy to survive, but this is a serious misconception. Animal meat is actually harming your body in the sense that if you do not buy all organic and fresh-fed meat, it is contaminated with harmful chemicals and bacteria. Plant based protein is actually a much healthier way of getting the necessary proteins your body needs. Another thing that I personally find convincing about a plant based diet is that if you binge eat on steak or burgers, you feel full and gross. But, I cannot remember a single time that I ate too many veggies and felt mopy. Is it a coincidence?

People do not realize that the milk they buy at the grocery store was meant for a baby calve taken from their mother at birth within a Factory farm. That 8.5 billion chicken are slaughtered a year for their meat, and the other 300 are used and abused in egg production. Male chicks are often gorund up alive within the egg industry. The bacon you are eating, was gotten from a pig in an overcrowded, inhumane cage without access to sunlight or fresh air.

These images are real factory farms and show only a fraction of what happens to these helpless creatures.

I want people to be more aware of what goes in to each product that they buy. There is always more than what meets the eye. My choice to become vegan was not to lose a ton of weight or to make a social statements or prove that I am different. I want to give a voice to the voiceless. This was the first step. My goals to come will be to donate and take vocal stand against factory farms, animal testing, fighting, and all forms of cruelty.

If you take a look at the most important part of you nutrition label on your food, the ingredients list is most likely a large clutter of words you do not know. Why do we feel it is okay to put something in our body that we do not even know how to pronounce? We don't eat mud because it is dirty, but we do eat the animal skin that is in our Jello, yogurt, cereal and candy? Words like "castorium" or "Isinglass" which are actually Beaver's anal secretions and fish bladders. Today, people have no idea what they are eating and how badly it is harming their bodies.

When it comes to our lives, we find it absolutely horrifying that a cannibal would murder a person for their own benefit. I find the murder of animals to be no different in any means. If it is repulsing to eat another person with a beating heart, what makes it different to take the life of an animal with the same beating heart? Many say that it is because of the overpopulation of animals, however, they were here first. Overpopulation would not be an issue if we were to simply let nature take its course. Animals should not be locked away in zoo's to "protect" them and put them on display for others to gawk at. They deserve to be out in the open with their families, living.

Animal cruelty is something that does not stop with just our food however, it is incorporated into our everyday items. Did you know that band aids, Windex, Post-it notes, Kleenex, toilet paper, razors, contact lenses, make up brands, face products and much more test on animals first? I think that the world needs a dramatic awakening. Cruelty will unfortunately always be apart of society, but supporting it, only makes it even more "okay'.

If I can leave you with one last thing, please take the time to actually educate yourself about what you are buying and feeding your bodies. Take the extra minute to read the ingredients list on your product. Odds are, if there is more that 3 things you do not know the name of, it is not healthy for you. You were given an amazing body and life, don't waste it.