Day 2 - 30 Day Writing Challenge

Good Afternoon!

30 Day Writing Challenge of the day is:

It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. - Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance

The world is powered by passionate people, powerful ideas, and fearless action. What’s one strong belief you possess that isn’t shared by your closest friends or family? What inspires this belief, and what have you done to actively live it?

This is a very easy one for me to talk about. For me, it is being vegan. I haven't always been vegan as you will read in a moment. I was a meat eating, dairy loving, "normal" person. It was only a year and a half ago that I changed my life. While I have some very supportive people around me, I also have people that do not understand why I have made the choice that I have - to cut animal products and the suffering that comes along with them from my life. This past February, Mercy For Animals released a video called Farm to Fridge. It had a profound effect on me and I felt that it was as good a place as any to start sharing with my family and friends, the reasons why I have made my choice. 

The response to my letter below varied from radio silence to thank you's. My brother, a staunch meat eater, who believed anything I told him was "vegan propaganda", called me after watching about 5 minutes of Farm to Fridge and said in a very sad and quiet voice, "why were they doing that to those piglets?" While my brother is not vegan, he does make smarter choices about where his food comes from and eats more vegetarian than he used to...and this is so huge to me I cannot even begin to describe it to you accurately.

On the flip side, my husband and I recently lost our friendship with another couple over my lifestyle change - I was told this much in an email. It is a story that I don't think needs to be looked at right now, but the long and short of it is that I am actually ok with this. I have come to terms with the fact that sharing the knowledge I am picking up along the way means that I will not always have the popular opinion and that I may lose some relationships in the process. Is it sad? Of course it is sad; it sucks. However, does it mean I feel more at peace knowing that I am doing something good for a cause I believe in with all of my heart; yes it does. And that is worth more than a friendship with people that, as it turns out, aren't very good friends at the end of the day. I also look at this way - if I hadn't shared the Farm to Fridge with people, my brother may have never had his change of heart...again, that means more to me than I can say. It has helped me keep spreading the word as gently as I can.


And, here is the letter I sent out back in February:

Hi Everyone,

 
Let me preface this email by saying a) I apologize for any spelling/grammar mistakes, it's just that I am feeling quite passionate about this subject, and b) that those of you who know me the most, know that I was not always vegan. I loved cooking big feasts that included roasts, maple glazed bacon, buttered beans, cheesecakes... you name it, I loved to cook and eat it. Even as a vegetarian I ate cheese with almost every meal and the thought of having to give up Devon Cream with scones wasn't one that ever crossed  my mind. However...

January 4th, 2010 was a big day for me - it was the day I became vegan and changed my life. I opened myself up to a new way of living and have never been happier or more sure of something I have taken on. I do know though that a lot of people still don't necessarily understand why I did this, so, I thought I would email this video which is 100% the reason why. I started to watch it and was hit with the immediate thought that I had to send it out. Every time I see these videos I am struck by how very helpless I feel at  what has happened to these animals and struggle with how to do something to help the ones that are out there now.  I try not to inundate people with my lifestyle choice, but the longer I am vegan and the more I see and research, this becomes harder. I know the stigma that vegans have - that we are all crazy, standing on soapboxes and shouting our views to the masses. I get it. I used to have the same thought about the new lot I find myself in. Please know that my sending this out is not me preaching that my way is better than yours, it is simply my way of trying to give something back to the animals that have suffered needlessly, all in the name of food, fashion and research; it was watching something like that this that opened my eyes to a new way of living and I am hoping to pass this along to as many of the people I know and love as possible.

I'm not going to lie, this video will be hard to watch but, the way I get through it is by reminding myself that they all had to live through what is shown here and to me, watching is a way to honour them and their lives, however short they were. Every year in North America, we kill approximately 10 billion animals - yes, billion, that wasn't a typo - and despite what the meat industries would have us believe, most of these animals do not live good lives. For most, from the minute they are born they are abused, neglected and terrified for the entirety of their short existences and this video will show you just how bad it is for them. My hope by sending this out to all of you, is that you will watch it, or try to.

The recent outrage over the horrifying killings of the dogs in Whistler got me thinking that if all of these rational people are so angry over this atrocity, then maybe there is hope for more than just dogs and cats. Maybe if people come to the understanding of what happens to factory farm animals everyday, that some of these people will see the correlation between the two; the Whistler dogs and the factory farmed animals that suffer the same and worse, everyday. I thought that maybe if people really start to think about it, they will see the only difference between these sets of animals is that as a society we have chosen to show dogs and cats compassion and love while for the most part, factory farm animals are subjected to things that are horrendous and unspeakable. I know that anyone who watches this video will be appalled by it and will at the very least, start looking for better choices for where their food comes from. My personal belief is that there is no such thing as kind meat, that nothing should have to die so that I can satiate my appetite, but I also know that this is a choice that can be hard to come to. If, after watching this you have any questions about the video or going vegetarian/vegan please let me know, I would love to help you out in any way I can.

Obviously my hope is that one day these videos won't exist and I won't ever again have to send an email out like this but until that time comes I will keep trying to be a voice for those that don't have them.

http://vegan.com/blog/2011/02/08/mfa-releases-from-farm-to-fridge/

As a side note, Vegan.com is a great site for those of you who are passionate about where your food comes from in general. The blogger links to all sorts of stories that will make your heads spin and really get you thinking about what big corporations get away with. It is well worth the read beyond the above link.

Also, I still do cook, and I still love to create a feast for those I love, it's just a different version. Sure, the names of some of the ingredients may not be ones that most people are used to hearing, or ones that people associate with a great meal, but I assure you, just because you choose to eat a different way doesn't mean it tastes any less great. 
 
Love,

Me