Do I Have to Change My Life? Yes, Kind Of, But That's a Good Thing

categories: Animals in the Blogs roundups, Farm Animals, Vegan

Published July 01, 2009 @ 02:41PM PT

Somehow, when I was putting together the recent roundups, I accidentally looked past a post that I knew I wanted to share the moment it was published over a week ago. Ryan of Veg Blog recently received--and shared--an e-mail from a Saudi reader asking some questions about going vegan or vegetarian. Included in his response to the reader was the following bit of thoughtfulness:

Now, let me start with what I see to be the key question here, one that I sums up the trepidation a lot of people have about going veg: “Do I have to change my entire life?” The answer, in short, is yes. For the change to be meaningful and lasting, I think going veg does have to feel like a life-changing experience.

However.

The problem isn’t changing your life. If you spend your entire day kicking babies and one day you decide to stop, that’s a life-changing event, but it’s not one that should feel like deprivation. It’s a change in your life that’s positive, one that that you can embrace and feel good about. And that’s what going veg should be. If you focus on all of the things that you’re “giving up,” it’s going to feel like a sacrifice, like you’re missing out on something. What you’re doing is making a declaration about what it is and isn’t OK to eat, wear, and use. One thing I’ve noticed is that meat is no longer a food to me. I would no sooner eat a piece of chicken off of someone’s plate than I would eat their napkin. It’s just not food.

Ryan went on to offer some supportive insights about the process of going vegan as well, but I'll let you read all that over at the original post.

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Photo courtesy of Flickr user Iaian Alexander

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Comments (8)

Well done Ryan. Nicely written and very helpful.

Posted by Michele McCowan on 07/01/2009 @ 03:08PM PT
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I think there should be more posts like this. Almost every time I tell someone Im vegetarian I am asked "well, then what do you eat?" The answer is obvious to me, " I eat everything else." At first my decision seemed like a sacrifice, but now im not even tempted, espescially since there is all the yummy meat substitues now available in main stream grocery stores.

Posted by alyssa dockter on 07/01/2009 @ 03:51PM PT
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That's hilarious. "I eat everything else."
I'm using that.

Posted by Luella - on 07/02/2009 @ 06:48AM PT
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Kicking babies ... yes, better to give up the habit.

It's true the urge to eat meat has gradually been leaving me over the past several years. My vegetarianism is still a source of endless fascination to coworkers, friends, family. Their biggest question, for those to whom I've not explained it already, is Why? Why are you doing it? Health? (no), environment? (a little) ... leaving what everyone seems to dread, the "animal rights" motivation.

I explain it in different ways to different people, but it's surprisingly difficult to explain sometimes. For instance, sitting at the steakhouse a few weeks ago with my coworker and his friends who I was meeting for the first time. I put it in pretty nonconfrontational terms ... I can't even remember what I said, but it certainly wasn't "I believe eating meat is morally wrong," which is the actual reason. It makes people really uncomfortable so I go out of my way to make it clear I'm not passing judgment on anyone. Like "both sides of my family include cattle ranchers ... my grandparents just sort of scratch their heads and say 'huh'". All of which is true. It's a lot like explaining that I left the LDS church ... people are curious but also wary.

I guess I haven't been veggie long enough to get my blurb down. Any suggestions?

Posted by Dave Bennion on 07/01/2009 @ 04:56PM PT
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Hmm... one would think that several years would be plenty of time.

Once I said, "I don't like to eat animals." The other person turned out to be vegetarian and said she felt the same way. lol

If I think the person can comprehend it, I talk about "exploitaiton." But you need to be vegan to talk about that.

I really just try to tailor what I'm saying to the person, but it's hard when you don't know them very well. And I tell people there are two ways to answer why I'm vegan: 1) how I became vegan, watching videos of factory farming, and 2) I disagree with the exploitation and believe that animals should not be commodities or property, but respected as sentient beings.

Posted by Luella - on 07/02/2009 @ 06:57AM PT
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Dave - boy do I empathize. I have been vegetarian for 25+ years and vegan for over 5. I do think catering the response to different people is a smart idea. People get so defensive when you tell them that you find the torture of billions of animals for the American taste buds, well, distasteful.

I think what has been most effective for me is living it. I don't apologize, but I don't judge. I get a lot of ribbing that I take light heartedly. I feel that when people came at me with their bible poised to bash me over the head - I was repelled by the notion of religion. But when I was approached by someone that was a good example of Christianity without the preaching, without the "you're going to hell!" rhetoric - I was much more open. Same thing. People choose to avoid the changes they know they need to make. Being happy, healthy, good spirited and well humored is the best example you can be. I say, when others ask, that I love animals and believe that the do unto others as you would have others do to you is a good credo that I have extended to all living beings. I get the standard questions and I usually keep it short and sweet and offer up an emailed link to video. Also bringing vegan treats to my office has helped significantly.

Posted by Penny Hornsby on 07/02/2009 @ 08:21AM PT
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"I would no sooner eat a piece of chicken off of someone’s plate than I would eat their napkin. It’s just not food."

This is a great way of putting it!

Mmm.... napkins....

Posted by Lisa Smolen on 07/03/2009 @ 07:09AM PT
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If you give up dairy and meat for the good cause of the animals and that being your reason, you should no longer miss the foos because you would feel deeply about it and not see a nice steak or a cram pie on your plate but murder and cruelty.

Posted by Soodle Billy on 07/07/2009 @ 02:35AM PT
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Stephanie is an independent animal rights advocate, a vegan, a tree-hugging environmentalist, and a freelance editor and writer. She lives in St. Louis with an aging corgi-lab and an adolescent rescued pit bull.