2013: The Year of the Vegan
It’s almost the New Year!
The last few days I have been thinking about my New Year’s Resolutions, from last year (this year).
I was kind of thinking…I’ve barely done anything!
But you know what I have done this year…learned about veganism. Which has become so much more important to me than I ever thought it would be.
HA. It is funny to think about now, but I was one of those people who thought vegans were angry and extreme. I thought it was annoying when people constantly posted on Facebook being like KNOW THE TRUTH!
I remember passing tables set up with brochures on animal testing on the street as a kid. I looked at it and was shocked but then quickly looked away, thinking it was too insane to be true and that these people were probably crazy.
I remember thinking, “what’s wrong with free range eggs?”. “How is dairy bad?”. I also remember not wanting to know the answer.
I remember thinking Moby was like the only vegan out there, this weird skinny looking guy.
HA.
This has been the year of waking up and seeing the truth.
I only became vegan last fall.
Inspired by the commenters on this blog, I started getting more interested in animal rights on my vegan shoe blog (wow, remember when this blog was just about shoes…).
I read Free the Animals by Ingrid Newkirk, followed by the documentary about it by Shannon Keith (who I interviewed here), followed by Jenny Brown’s book The Lucky Ones. (she lays out the whole argument for veganism in that book and after I read that I remember telling my then boyfriend, I really want to go vegan, and I started trying for real.)
(Shannon Keith, head of The Beagle Freedom Project)
But it was only really when I listened to the Animal Voices interview with Anita Krajnc and was so inspired I felt compelled to interview her myself…did I feel like I really understood anything about animal rights.
Isn’t it funny how you think you understand something, but you really have no idea how little you understand it at all.
The whole concept of bearing witness.
I hate it, but it works.
The more you look at the torture and deaths of animals, the more you care.
I think it’s because the reality is so much worse than you thought.
You’re like “Trust me, I know what happens.” But you don’t.
Real death, real pain, real fear, suffering, torture. You can’t understand the weight of it unless you’ve seen it with your own eyes. Even though that’s literally the last thing anyone wants to do.
And also you see that what everyone tells you about how animals are just animals is kind of a lie. You SEE the humanity in the animals. You see how we all share like the life force or something. Something that makes us able understand each other without words.
I saw an article saying this leading hybridologists think that humans evolved when a chimp mated with a pig and that explains all these things our evolutionary history can’t explain. Even if it’s not true, that makes so much sense to me. If pigs were our ancestors it would explain why when I look at a pig I see myself.
Animals: strangely human. Humans: strangely animal.
photo by Anita Krajnc
You know what’s kind of scary. I now youtube animal abuses almost for fun. Is it fun to watch? HELL NO. But I know now that the more I watch the more I will be strengthened against all the bullshit coming at me from every direction–from the ads on tv, the posters at whole foods, the well meaning arguments from your best friends and family–and the more I will be able to simply and clearly defend animals.
- happy cow farms beef……….
The more I bear witness or look at these videos, the more it is like the fog that was clouding my mind falls away and the more the truth is revealed.
People would not believe how hard food companies try to FOOL us into eating animals and make the violence invisible.
I’ve learned soo much this year. To the point where sometimes I have felt MINDBOGGLED about how sinister and like the plot of an Orwellian sci-fi thriller our world really is. Who would have believed it?
(“take my sour cream and cheese…thank you very much, Love, Cow”) WTF! from Chipotle
Who would have believed that swimming with dolphins is actually supporting the bloodiest massacre of dolphin families you’ve ever seen in the creepiest cove on earth (I recently have been watching footage from The Cove).
It is incredible that so few people understand these horrifying facts.
Sometimes it has honestly been really frustrating.
It is just so sad. Tears come to my eyes as I write this. It is so unfair. Thinking of pigs in their bars.
Tonight I watched this thing tonight on youtube from Oprah about a horrible case of child abuse. Not to minimize that at all, but that is exactly what pigs go through their whole lives.
What can I do? Everyone is still under a spell.
Well, this year I have become way more vocal about my beliefs. I used to hate to explain to anyone why I was a vegetarian. Now I try to use every opportunity to tell people I’m vegan, even sending my closest friends harassing text messages like “GO VEGAN!!!!!!!!!!” out of the blue. The other day this guy was selling cashew cheese in Whole Foods and I walked up to him and said “I’m vegan too” out of the blue. I felt this connection with him because he was selling vegan cheese. I don’t think he was vegan so he gave me a nervous laugh.
I guess the best thing to do if you can’t do anything much yourself is give money to people who can do a lot for animals. Maybe my favorite moment of this year was when I published my article on The Pig Preserve. At the end I wrote something like if you donate you now know what good things it will be supporting. It’s so true. That place is truly great. Giving them money is basically like saving a pig as it allows them to take in more pigs and give those pigs true freedom and happiness. (one can donate through Facebook)
Anyway, this year has been huge for me. Though I may not have achieved all my goals, could anything really have been more important than waking up to the truth. Honestly, I feel blessed to be able to see it.
The people who bear witness, in a way, it’s like they are the chosen ones (like in the buffy the vampire slayer movie).
They wake people up and explain the truth.
My favorite quote has always been The Truth Will Set You Free. I find that so true.
Have I been set free by seeing the truth of how animals are treated in this world? At first I thought no because it is kind of a horrible burden to bear. But then I thought yes, because well, I don’t know.
I guess it’s like if the holocaust were going on, would you want to know or would you want to continue to live in ignorant bliss. What if you were somehow participating in it.
You’d want to know, right? And you’d want everyone to know. Especially your friends and family. If no one knows about it, no one can stop it.
What do you think. Has veganism/the truth set you free? I’d love to hear your thoughts, vegan or not.
Also thanks so much to everyone who has read, liked, commented, observed from afar on this blog. You have started me on this path, inspired me, taught me and complimented me and made me feel wonderful.
Love Jay-Z,Beyonce and me. (3 vegans)
they decided to go vegan yesterday. that makes them vegan? being vegan is a life change, not something you do for publicity. i’ll take their 30 days if it saves some lives, but they are not vegan….yet.
We’ll see how long it lasts, but I think we should commend them for trying! They are huge influencers and them going vegan is probably the equivalent of like a 100 million advertising budget. They’re the king and queen of pop culture!
Great post and recap of the year. I didn’t know you were a “new” vegan. Well you’re doing amazing things so keep it up! I feel motivated to do more when I know there are other vegans out there who care and are trying to make a difference. And to think I once also thought vegans were weirdos :) Not anymore! The future is vegan!
Thanks Jean!!!
thats a nice review and call for action. dad
awesome. and good on you. I think ‘bearing witness’ is one of the best things one can do, even if it really does annoy people (then I think compared to their annoyance… what animals go through is truly horrific so that gives me strength!). I’m lucky I have people around me who are genuinely interested and it does make them think (and eat a bit less meat so that is good).
what I’m always curious about though is why more vegetarians aren’t vegan. unless it’s because it’s just difficult or they don’t think about it. clearly meat-eaters mostly don’t think about it at all but obviously vegetarians have started thinking about it. I wonder if they are all feel they are in transition.
Thanks!!! About the vegetarian thing…I was a vegetarian for like 17 years without going vegan. People would ask me, would you ever go vegan? And i remember saying…well i don’t really know what’s so bad about dairy, they don’t hurt the cows. And I always bought free range eggs..so I thought that the chickens lived a happy life. I remember when it clicked when I was like…oh wait….a cow needs to be pregnant to make milk…I had no idea!! And it wasn’t until I saw pictures of veal crates did I even realize the horror of what they have to do to make milk. It’s so insane I think no animal loving vegetarian thinks about it at first. I think a lot of vegetarians might just become vegetarian out of common sense because they love animals…but since they didn’t come to it through an educational documentary like earthlings or something they never imagine the abuses on dairy and egg farms. It’s hard to believe hens aren’t clucking away happily on some beautiful green farm when you get a carton of free range organic eggs. And until you see the videos of all the chicks being ground up…you would never believe it! I think most vegetarians don’t want to bear witness, because ironically, they are animal lovers and what animal lover wants to bear witness to animal cruelty. It is amazing to me how much horrific stuff people just don’t know about, and won’t ever really know about…because of our tendency to turn away and not look at pictures of animal cruelty. I never!!! looked before. Now I know it is a paradox. The more you are an animal lover, the more you need to look and bear witness. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts with me. I loved getting your comment!
that’s really interesting. I wondered if people just didn’t know… I guess I was lucky enough to start the journey when there was loads of info. perhaps before there wasn’t much. also I grew up with loads of vegetarians who were Hindu, and of course they still have dairy (although not eggs).
love your blog btw. and I love the illustrative images throughout this piece! made me smile!
Thank you :DDD You should start a blog as well and tell your story.