Adventures in Going Vegan
Yes. I’ve decided to go vegan.
After years of fascination with the topic of food and where ours comes from, and having read several books and numerous articles on the topic, I’ve finally reached the book that tipped me over the edge of vegetarianism into veganism.
I’m reading, and have nearly finished, Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals. Rather than preaching a no-meat lifestyle, Foer simply embarks on his own quest to analyze the stories we tell ourselves about the food we eat (and thus the stories that guide our food-related decisions), the important roles food plays in our lives (social, familial), and most notably, to learn what’s really going on before eggs are so neatly packaged in cartons, meat wrapped in plastic and fish sliced into pristine filets. I’ve read about factory farms before. (Thank you, Michael Pollan.) But something about Foer’s book drove it all home for me.
I think it was when he made it clear that “free range” and “cage free” are meaningless terms, and that more than 99 percent of animal products are produced under factory farm conditions—including laying hens and the cows used for milk. It was learning that just about all animals involved in the production of animal products, even if it’s not meat, suffer. And suffer dramatically. It was seeing the statistics about our public health—from diabetes and cancer to H1N1 and whatever outbreak is next—and how clearly the diseases stems from our food and how its produced. It was learning that the industry is more or less self-regulating. So basically, it’s not regulated at all. For instance:
Common Farming Exemptions make legal any method of raising farmed animals so long as it is commonly practiced within the industry. In other words, farmers—corporations is the right word—have the power to define cruelty. (Foer 51)
It was re-learning that not eating meat is one of the most impactful things we can be doing to fight global warming.
According to the UN, the livestock sector is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions, around 40% more than the entire transport sector—cars, trucks, planes, trains, and ships—combined. Animal agriculture is responsible for 37% of anthropogenic methane, which offers 23 times the global warming potential of CO2, as well as 65% of anthropogenic nitrous oxide, which provides a staggering 296 times the global warming potential of CO2. The most current data even quantifies the role of diet: omnivores contribute seven times the volume of greenhouse gasses that vegans do. (Foer 58)
I can no longer rationalize my support of this industry and these choices being made for me. This is something I can proactively choose not to support, the first step of which is choosing my food differently.
I’m vegan, not a crazy hippie
I think the term “vegan” comes off as radical. Dramatic, even. In telling people, recently, about this change, I get a lot of taken-aback, slightly startled reactions. And I often find myself explaining, and on occasion defending, why. (Hence, this post.) It’s as if in saying “I’m vegan,” people think I’ve said “I’m joining PETA.” (Which I haven’t.) Though, anytime I told people I was vegetarian, it didn’t come as such a surprise. And surprising enough to me, going vegan isn’t as huge of a change as I expected. I already rarely make eggs, let alone have any. I’d already meandered from milk-milk to almond milk. And I’m the queen of tofu stir fry with quinoa.
It’s being more conscious about snacking and meals out that’s providing the greatest challenge.
Are Peeps vegan?
No. They are not. But my office manager and I got a tear-induced laugh about it around Easter (long story), and it perfectly exemplifies my new thought process: the need to stop and think first. I can no longer break off a piece of a Specialty’s cookie tempting me in the break room, and I can’t dip my hand into the bowl of foil-wrapped (milk) chocolates. It’s probably a good thing, seeing as the culprit is so often something packed with sugar, which is, evidently, killing us, too. I have to research restaurants’ menu options more than before. And while at first it just seems like more trouble than it’s worth, the more I read and learn, the more I feel motivated to stay committed to my choice.
Just say no to Tofurky
If you have a food allergy, or decide to eat alternatively, it’s the perfect time for it. The specialty food industry is booming now more than ever before, offering a slew of products for non-meat eaters, gluten-free eaters and the like. (Like the Nooodle and Sophie’s Vegan Seafood.) But there are whole foods, and then there are replacement foods. I didn’t go vegan so I could stock my fridge with fake meats and other sodium-packed, processed junk.
Where does it end?
The research cycle seems never-ending, that I can’t just stop here (and I won’t). That there’s still so much to learn about, say, where the almonds in my almond milk come from and how that is made; learning if buying organic really matters or if local is good enough; keeping up with what fruits and veggies are in season and where and how they were grown, etc. Must I stop buying leather products, too?
At heart of it, I’m simply doing the best I can. However it works for me may not be how it works best for other people. I still eat honey. I’m not the perfect vegan, if there even is such a thing. But for right now, with the information I have, this is what I’m deciding to do. And it makes me ever more thankful to have a best friend who’s vegan (and gluten-free), a sister who’s dedicated to doing it (in her own way) along with me, and thanks to a progressive city, a slew of vegan-friendly establishments at which to dine.
Photos courtesy of Flickr and Creative Commons (Main photo from incurable_hippie. Peeps photo from arimoore.)
Kudos to you, Anna! Your conscious choices in eating is very inspiring… I went pescatarian at the beginning of the year and have been exploring more and more literature on sustainable food and sources… perhaps one day I’ll make the vegan jump!
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