Certainly, this kind of creature compassion has existed for many centuries (several eastern religions espouse this paradigm, such as Buddhism and Jainism), but the industrial revolution has made this kind of paradigm much more necessary and desirable. With industrialization and capitalism comes the maximization of profit and thus the minimization of expense. This created the massive industrial complexes used for most meat, egg, dairy, wool and fur production. Thousands of animals are crammed into holding areas with little or no room to move, let alone live a life. Free-range farms where the chickens, pigs and cows can roam around the yard or pasture freely are on the way to extinction. To these companies, animals are no different than toilet paper, just a product to pump full of chemicals, cut-up and sell. Most dangerous of all, is that these processes have been removed from the public eye, which encourages extreme detachment from these animals. It's not your neighbor farmer Joe, doing the necessary duty when Betsy the cow gets old; it's some overworked and underpaid bludgeoner who kills hundreds of cows in a row, sweat stinging his eyes, missing on occasion, insensate to the sheer brutality and gore of the slaughter.
Why
did I become a vegan? As a child. I was very sensitive and empathic.
I always liked animals and when I first found out that meat was made out of
animals, I was apalled. I wanted to become a vegetarian right away, but my parents
said no way, not till I lived on my own. On my first day at college (August,
1994), I was officially a vegetarian. As I became interested in learning more
about vegetarianism, I learned that there were health benefits (the heart disease,
obesity and cholesterol problems that plague America are much less of a risk
for vegetarians) and environmental benefits (vegetable crops take much less
land for more produce than cattle grazing, which at current levels is very damaging
to the land, air and nearby rivers). Also, I experienced a new form of persecution
at the hands of meat-eaters: at the mere mention of my vegetarian state, many
people would get upset and become very defensive and/or attack me as if my diet
was an affront to them. One of the most common things I heard was "but
you're wearing leather shoes..." pointing out a supposed hypocricy, a flaw
in my lifestyle. Others simply claimed it was unhealthy or unnatural. My parents,
especially, tried to convince me I was wrong, that I should eat meat, even on
a few occasions trying to trick me into eating something with meat in it. My
middle sister, who became vegetarian shortly after me, also gave me a hard time
about a pair of blue suede shoes I bought at a thrift store on break at home
and feeling horrible, I asked my mom to return them for me. These incidents
provoked me to rethink my lacto-ovo leather-using vegetarianism, and along with
a quiet young vegan woman named Helen convinced me to pursue veganism. I learned
that the animal compassion, health and environmental benefits were much bigger
for a vegan diet than for just vegetarian, although the enactment was much more
difficult. I gradually stopped wearing leather shoes (throwing out my old shoes
seemed too wasteful; I waited until they wore out and didn't buy more) and experimented
with soy milk and other vegan alternatives for nearly 1 year. I decided I liked
it, I felt better, and it gave me a ready response to the nay-sayeres who tried
to point out my hypocricies; these shoes are NOT leather.
As of September, 1995, I have been vegan. I read ingredients on
everything I buy and ask questions in restaurants; if I know some animal was
harmed for it, I won't buy it. Mostly my friends have been supportive, though
many of them don't understand it. My parents at first were extremely upset and
as I was only 17 and still living under their financial umbrella, this created
many problems (including a forced regimen with a school nutritionist and something
like 20 supplement pills a day, until I was feeling sick and refused to keep
it up). I think, however, that time has proved that my lifestyle didn't kill
me and that it wasn't just a rebellious whim, so they've come to accept it,
if not like it. One of my sisters is now vegan, the other a vegetarian.
Clarifications.
Biologically, humans are omnivores. They are adaptable, they have sharp
teeth for flesh and flat teeth for chewing plant materials. Although the easiest
source of nutrition is a diet consisting of both meat and plants, clearly there
is a choice. Modern technology and transportation systems make the just-plants
option easier than ever in the past. Also, vegetarian is a term
used to describe a plant-based diet. Fish, seafood and poultry are not
part of a vegetarian diet - people who misuse this term cause a lot of problems
for real vegetarians by confusing non-vegetarians. Strict vegetarianism would
be the same diet as vegan (only plant products), but most vegetarians are lacto-ovo-vegetarians
(people who eat plants, eggs and dairy).
What can you do? If you want to learn more about veganism and animal compassion, you can review the links below, there are many helpful hints on how to help animals. If you're only half-convinced or not yet ready to make such a big step, you could begin by eating less or no industrialized meat. Look for "free-range" meat products and avoid eating at fast-food restaurants and other places where the animals are sure to have been mistreated. Stop thinking of meat as a separate thing, remember and realize that it is dead animal flesh and the animal that gave its life for your sustenance deserves some respect.
For the love of animals: please do not try to force a vegan diet on a carnivore (such as a cat); carnivores will get sick and die (our technology is not good enough to synthesize all their necessary nutrition from plant sources). If you want an all vegan household get an omnivore (such as a dog) or an herbivore (such as a guinea pig or rabbit) for your animal companion.
History: The term "vegan" was coined by Donald Watson in the early 1940's. It is a sort of abreviation of "vegetarian" (first three letters and last two), but is pronounced "VEE-GAN (with a hard "G"). It was initially intended to be a shorter term for "non-dairy vegetarian," but quickly grew to define those who do not consume any animal products. The Vegan Society was founded in 1944 by Donald Watson (a long-term vegetarian in England), "to work for a new relationship with the rest of sentient creation in a symbiotic relationship if possible, to 'live and HELP live' rather than to just "live and let live.'" Donald Watson died in 2005 at the age of 95. Each November 1st is World Vegan Day.
See also the animal compassion section of my blog.
General Resources:
Shopping (shoes, etc. - animal byproduct-free):
More shoes (regular shops with non-leather options)
