- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
I'm a vegan. Which is more of an extreme form of vegetarian. Vegans not only don't eat meat, they don't eat ANYTHING from animals. No meat, milk, eggs, you name it.
People always ask me how I became vegan and what made me decide to become a vegan. Well, here is my story...
I used to eat meat. Yep, I wasn't even vegetarian. But that all changed over 9 months ago. You see, I've always wanted to be a vegetarian ever since I was very little because I loved animals. The only problem was that I never thought I COULD actually become vegetarian. I've been skinny all my life and I figured if I cut out meat I would probably die. And meat was like the staple thing I used to eat.
As I grew up and became old enough for a job (age 16) I was really glad because I knew I could buy all the stuff I wanted, like video games and DVD's! But then, on August 18, 2003, when I was at the age of 18, I was eating a homemade, beef hamburger. And after I had eaten down to the center of it, I noticed there was a really small piece of what looked like fat or gristle or something. It looked gross. I stuck my thumb to it, and as I pulled back, it stretched and then went back after unsticking to my thumb. It really made me feel sick seeing that. I couldn't help but think how bad it could be for me, and then... I started thinking about being vegetarian again. I was thinking, "well, I have a job, so maybe I can buy all the vegetarian food I need. And to help me, it was a good thing that a vegetarian began working at my work not too long ago at the time. I asked for his help in finding some vegetarian foods, and he helped me do just that.
At the same time he was helping me find foods to eat, I was also looking up all the vegetarian information I could find on the internet. I wanted to know every aspect of it. I wanted to know what animals went through, I wanted to know how unhealthy it wa to eat meat and whetever else I could find. But then, over the course of 2 weeks, I began finding out more and more on what vegans were all about. I really didn't know anything about them. All I really knew about was vegetarianism. But I was soon learning that becoming a vegan was the best way to go since you're still hurting animals even on a vegetarian diet. Just not as much. But I dind't want to hurt them at all. So then I was about to go even more extreme. I decided to become a vegan. So now things were more limited to me. I had to find even more of other things to eat. To help me, I started looking for ingredient lists to find out what was an animal ingredient, and what was not. To help me keep up with the list, not just on my computer, I created a web site with the lists I dug up and compiled, along with other helpful information. I used Geo Cities to make the site, and the site became http://www.geocities.com/biggreenvegan. Which is a spin-off of my old http://www.geocities.com/biggreenx web site. My new Big Green X web site hasn't been updated in a while, but was created due to the fact I couldn't update my old one for some odd reason. But my new BGX web site is http://www.geocities.com/thebiggreenx.
So anyway, as I found even more information on veganism, I found something I hadn't really thought about too much as I was going through a bit of a hassle trying to make sure I didn't end up buying and eating food that might have an animal ingredient in it. It was on a web site, I can't even remember where I saw it. But anyway, it said "you only have to find out about a product once." And that was it! That's all I needed to know to keep going. And it was so true. That's all I needed was to find out about a product once and then I would always know. It's not like you have to keep searching for the ingredients always. And after a while, it was very easy to just run into the store and grab what I wanted and go.
Also, I forgot to mention that there is more than just animal cruelty and health to worry about. But the environment as well. Even as a kid I cared for the environment and wanted to help. But you can't be an environmentalist and chow down on meat at the same time. So with all the benefits that come with being vegan, how can I refuse?
As for PETA, I don't hate them. But there are some things they do that I don't like. And that's because they have put themselves in a position where a lot of people hate them and aren't going to listen to what they have to say. And that's not a good thing for them to do for themselves if they really want to get the word out. You can't just go around bombing places and having whacked out riots. It's just giving animal protection and animal rights a bad name. They shouldn't do things such as commiting crimes to get their point and message across. And that reason is because people are going to look at them and what they believe in is a bad thing and might not have any part in helping them by doing things such as not eating meat. To me personally, what they do is something I would like to dream of doing, but wouldn't actually do it because I know that is not the way to succeed.
But PETA is more than the negative sides some people only see. They have also won lawsuites against places like KFC and Yum! And now they must must take better care of their chickens in the place they come from. Such as increasing the living space and improving the way they are killed. Like killing them with gas so they don't have to suffer. And to stop feeding them antibiotics which can be harmful to people (as you can see, the meat industry is only worried about profit regardless of the animals they kill or the people they hurt and even the environment. Just like the tobacco company). And yes, contrary to what many people think, MOST and nearly all of the meat people eat come from factory farms. Many factory farms have very cruel conditions that animals must endure. Staying in small, cramped spaces there entire lives and feeding them antibiotics to survive these conditions that can make the animals very sick and are tortured in the most cruel ways of killing them than you'd ever think was ever done to them. But the government doesn't care as long as it's "business as usual." It's no wonder the PETA gets as angry as they do. But they can't stop it with acts of crime. They might change some minds, but they may never change others because of their acts. And if you ask me, I think it makes them look crazy, even if they are not. And therefore they may be causing more harm than good for the cause.
I would like to change people, but I will try do it in an orderly fashion that lets people take their time in converting. Some people just can't quit just like that. Some feel they can but some feel they can't. Some people feel they might need more time. If peole already believe one way, then bombing a building or anything of that nature isn't going to change mids just like that. People need time to accept a new way. You can't just force people to change either, they have to be able to decide for themselves. That's what PETA needs to understand. And I probably couldn't make them think that way by bombing them now could I?
cheers,
Twisted Chains