When I was seven I had my first piece of meat.
I'm ashamed to admit that my first taste of meat was a McDonalds hamburger that a much younger me devoured. It's also scary how much I enjoyed it at the time. For a seven year old me who lived off of fruits, veggies, and other organic vegetarian food meat was forgine. Being the oldest child, I was rightly the tester child. For the first few years of my life TV was put at a minimum, my palette was restricted from meat, and I was encouraged to read.
After eating my first hamburger I was hooked on meat. It became a stable in my everyday life until the age of 13 when I decided that going vegetarian would be 'edgy.' So I set off on my new adventure for all the wrong reasons.
Needless to say, it didn't last long.
My adolescent vegetarian experience lasted for no more than a month before I broke down and ate chicken. I wasn't eating the right foods and I was miserable. I thought going back to my old eating habits would be easier than confirming to a new standard. For me I took the easy way out.
Fast forward four years and change. My stepbrother was a vegan for 10 years, something he was proud of but didn't push on other. When asked why he chose this 'alternative' life style he simply said that he didn't believe in killing another living being for your own gain. For a few weeks I pondered this. I was always the type of person who stood up for animals. I cried when I saw the ASPCA commercials as I'm sure many of you do. I thought I was being a good person because I only ate chicken and scoffed at red meat.
My transition to vegansim wasn't a gradual as it should have been. I woke up one morning and decided that I was done eating animal byproducts. Instead of whining myself off of dairy and meat I came to a halt. My body took a while to adjust to the sudden change- it wasn't very happy with me. Then after a few weeks my body became used to the new diet and I noticed different things about myself. Much to my delight I was less bloated, less lethargic, my hair was getting stronger, and I was all around happier.
Whether it was the new vegan diet or the fact that my life was slowly started to get into place, things started to seem better. I was saving on average $3.50 a day by cutting out meat. My eating out options were restricted so more money was saved. I started to see more money in my bank account and less pounds on my hips.
I'm not an idealist- I know that in many places and for many people a vegan diet isn't possible. I still run into people who when I tell I'm a vegan they scoff as if it's a dirty word. Let's face it; vegan's get a bad rap. I've met many vegan's who will berate non-vegans about their lifestyles. There are many people in my day to day life who tease me about my new lifestyle. But there's an uncomfortable trend that I've noticed amongst my vegan community.
Some vegans will lash out as non-vegans and vegetarians about their lifestyles. I've met vegans who won't date non-vegans simply because they cannot agree with they morally. While I applaud their ability to stick to their morals, this isn't what a vegan lifestyle is supposed to be about.
The 'logo' for veganism is 'cruelty free'. It's printed on almost every piece of vegan merchandise that I've purchased. If vegans preach a non cruel lifestyle then why do some feel the need to lash out at non-vegans? Though I morally don't agree with their lifestyles, it's not my place to lash out. Being a vegan is supposed to be about living without the cruelty of the meat and dairy industry looming over our heads. In lashing out at non-vegans that's promoting cruelty.
It does nothing for the cause of animal rights and veganism to verbally attack non-vegans. It gives the cause a bad rap and stigmatizes the lifestyle. In my brief time as a vegan I've learned one thing; don't let cruelty into your mouth and don't let it out.
