sometimes i get the vegan blues

What are the vegan blues? I decided to give an introduction to lay out my thoughts on what this blog is about. For starters, I don’t think veganism gets enough attention. There aren’t enough vegans and there aren’t enough vegan websites. I love many of the blogs that are out there, and so I want to contribute. Hopefully veganblues.com will be a place you come to drop a line when you want to rap about the vegan blues or read something you can relate to.

Today I am a fully committed Vegan but I sometimes encounter difficulty with the culture at large because of this passion I have. That is the basis of this blog. I think something like .5% of Americans are vegan. Ideally, I would like that number to be 100%. I don’t like proselytizers, preachers, or other people who try to tell you their way is the best and only way to live, I don’t like being told what to do or telling anybody what to do or how to live, and generally speaking I think everybody should mind their own business. But, I feel very strongly about veganism.

About me - I went vegan in December 2007. Veganism was not something I thought about for a long time in my life. Thinking back I had only really heard about the idea at very occasional but memorable instances. It’s not hard for me to figure out why - in so many ways the truth about food was out of sight. Growing up I had a good family, community, I went to some pretty good schools, everybody said I was a smart kid, a few minor health issues, I watched a lot of TV (I suppose I could have learned about veganism on TV…) anyway, I was a pretty typical kid. So why is it that the idea of veganism only came to me as a serious consideration at age 22? I made it straight through college without the thought ever crossing my mind.

My primary reason for this change came because I was reintroduced to the horrors of factory farming, a harsh reality which I realize directly extends to virtually every product that is made from or contains animal ingredients. I read “Skinny Bitch” and I suppose I was sapped. I cried learning about some of the standard industry practices which I inevitably realized were behind so much that I loved, owned, or consumed. I ate bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches for breakfast daily, lox cream cheese, BLTs for lunch, pizza, chicken salad, cold cuts, burgers, steak burritos, lots of sour cream, melted cheese. I used to drink extra milk because I was always a short kid. No ice cream!? I just bought new leather gloves. But no matter, I could no longer support these industries, I was eating torture. The books i read early helped me realize that there were alternatives. I spent maybe a month planning my last non-vegan meal. It never panned out, the last time I ate meat was a Whopper in the car on the way back from Atlantic City. I had just finished reading “Vegan Freak”, now I had a stomach ache, and I was done. I didn’t tell anyone for three weeks, I just needed to see if I could make it. In the end, I realized that if there were other things I wanted to improve about my life, there was no better place to start. This had to be the first step.

Same thought went for the broader good of the world, for all the conspiracy theories, I didn’t realize something so profoundly unjust had always been right in front of my face, and i could actually do something about it. I realize that there are gentle and caring farmers and other kind situations out there, but it seems that these are few exceptions in today’s world. this same idea eventually went for the debate of whether people are biologically meant to eat meat, as I knew is essentially done in some manner in every part of the world. but I realized these ideas were truer for the past than the future. I felt I had to take a stand, and serve as an example for others about how easy the change could come. I realized at that point in my life I was presented with a choice, and my decision not to consume animals made me feel very powerful and proud. This has not changed.

Since that time, I have been exposed to a wealth of new ideas that I had never heard of or ever considered. for example, now I believe that our diet has more to do with our health than anything other factor. So many people are diseased in this country and the world, and I find it hard to believe the cultural rejection of the community of alternative points of view on this subject matter. I believe there is every health indication for us all to move to a whole foods plant-based diet. Regardless of the health arguments, in my heart I hope there is no person who would approve of the treatment of the animals that go into the different products they buy. The information is out there (i will share my sources on this blog, i hope you do too). I hope other people see this information and begin to make a change. If you are not aware of the realities, you need to learn some interesting and some heartbreaking facts about these issues. I can’t judge someone for their lifestyle choices, and this includes food choices, but I sometimes shed tears for the prevalent ignorance on the subject matter, and the denial or resistance to the truth about the direct impact and (therefore power) that we have.

Unitl I changed my eating habits, I did not realize that there is actually so much cultural resistance to this philolosophy. As a human being, we are supposedly evolved, intelligent and caring species. But in thinking about veganism as a philosophy, I come across many people who are stuck in old ways and thoughts, many people do not see the need to change, people who don’t think that they can change, maybe they believe they will not make a difference, sometimes people just don’t care. There are so many reasons. But to the logical and also caring person who falls into this group, I ask you to seriously consider where your food comes from. There are so many reasons to think vegan (even if you won’t commit 100%).

I made the connection that where our food comes from and what we eat has everything to do with many of the ecological and other problems we have around the world. We all try so many ways to be better people and make the world a better place. How better to make a profound difference than by making an active change in something we do every day, 3 times a day? Our history in America is about fighting for peace liberty and freedom - I believe now that these things begin with what you put on your plate. I am not saying here that if you are not vegan then you are not a good person. I am saying that in my mind there is no better time or place in our lives to start making an effort for what I believe is to the ultimate benefit of humanity. Practice of veganism is in my view is one of the most peaceful, positive, empowering experiences.

Think whatever you like about my point of view on this blog, but know that it comes from a place of love. This is not about being the food police or the health police or whatever. This is because of all the people in my life who i love and value and appreciate and also people who I do not know but have influenced me. It is with love that I want to spread information and compassion to what i recognize as a very underinformed and even misinformed population at large. I have found a great deal of material out there that supports this line of thinking, however, there is clearly a lot of work to be done to spread the word about the food industry practices, and holistic health perspectives, and also spread love to the animals.

All this is the essesnce of the vegan blues, and so much more. Like anything in life you gotta take the good with the bad, being vegan is no exception. There is a broad spectrum of hurt and pain and general negativity that I have experienced through these vegan eyes, and I hopefully doubt I am alone. Lets put it into twleve bars, so to speak (and then literally at some point). You will hear some of my stories and have the opportunity to respond and post your own, so keep posted.