leogirl
07-09-2003, 03:38 AM
I've always loved animals.
As a kid growing up in Alaska, I would try to feed the bears I saw on camping trips crackers with peanut butter but they'd always run away. And I would also hide and cry whenever my stepdad gutted the fish he caught. I even tried to attract dragonflies by pretending I was a tree just because I think they are the most beautiful insect.
I never really ate much meat. I hated chewing on it. I was (and still am) the type that won't eat anything with a funny texture (ie jello, tapioca, beef jerky, okra). Funny thing was, I liked fish. Fish was my meat.
Anyway, when I was 13 my cousins and I rented Phases of Death. We were dorks and we always tried to scare eachother. My mom suggested it so we watched it. I was in complete shock. I never knew that animals were USED like that. I was disgusted. I felt the blood rush through me and that was it. I announced my vegetarianism. I was not going to succumb to animal brutality any more (well, I tried at least). I even stopped buying P&G products and boycotted McD's because they are poison (I once did an animal rights protest at one).
It took me about a year to fully commit to vegetarianism. See, I'm Filipina (I know, unusual to be a Filipino vegetarian, vegan at that!) and my mom is very traditional in her ways of cooking. She wouldn't cook for me because she thought me being vegetarian was just a fancy label for my teenaged angst. So I have to admit, I did start off by picking meat out of my food. But I felt stupid. It wasn't vegetarian at all.
So, as months passed and I became more serious about my vegetarianism, my mom still didn't cook for me. It wasn't that she did it out of malice, she just didn't get it. So I was forced to fend for myself. For a long time I ate nothing but wheat bread with yellow mustard and romaine lettuce sandwiches. Everyday...GAG!
It's been 8 years. WOW!! I am so stokt for myself. I have even learned how to cook friendly.
Now I am pushing myself just a wee bit more. I have decided to go Vegan. I never thought to do so before because I just couldn't imagine life without cheese pizzas and mint chip ice cream (Geez, the things I base my decisions on!).
I volunteer for an animal shelter that is near a farm. One day a few weeks ago, I decided to take a dog for a walk on the farm. That is when I saw a cow up close for the first time in my life. All that I saw was the cows sorrow. All I saw was dirtiness. Then I realized that being vegetarian is one thing but depriving a calf of THEIR milk is just as cruel as consuming meat. And if you think about it, eggs are just freaking nasty! So I stopped eating them.
I have made that small but enormous step into veganism. I'm feeling good. I'm learning new and interesting things about animal rights and animal derived products. I feel stronger in my heart. I am a bit lazier than usual but I was told that that is normal.
I have adapted a whole new way of life and perspective on food. I have lost my desire for chocolate and ice cream which is really cool. Oh, and I read ingrediant labels obsessively. Before something goes in the cart, I read the label. Ah, the joy of shopping now.
So, that's it. Three & a half weeks and counting...
As a kid growing up in Alaska, I would try to feed the bears I saw on camping trips crackers with peanut butter but they'd always run away. And I would also hide and cry whenever my stepdad gutted the fish he caught. I even tried to attract dragonflies by pretending I was a tree just because I think they are the most beautiful insect.
I never really ate much meat. I hated chewing on it. I was (and still am) the type that won't eat anything with a funny texture (ie jello, tapioca, beef jerky, okra). Funny thing was, I liked fish. Fish was my meat.
Anyway, when I was 13 my cousins and I rented Phases of Death. We were dorks and we always tried to scare eachother. My mom suggested it so we watched it. I was in complete shock. I never knew that animals were USED like that. I was disgusted. I felt the blood rush through me and that was it. I announced my vegetarianism. I was not going to succumb to animal brutality any more (well, I tried at least). I even stopped buying P&G products and boycotted McD's because they are poison (I once did an animal rights protest at one).
It took me about a year to fully commit to vegetarianism. See, I'm Filipina (I know, unusual to be a Filipino vegetarian, vegan at that!) and my mom is very traditional in her ways of cooking. She wouldn't cook for me because she thought me being vegetarian was just a fancy label for my teenaged angst. So I have to admit, I did start off by picking meat out of my food. But I felt stupid. It wasn't vegetarian at all.
So, as months passed and I became more serious about my vegetarianism, my mom still didn't cook for me. It wasn't that she did it out of malice, she just didn't get it. So I was forced to fend for myself. For a long time I ate nothing but wheat bread with yellow mustard and romaine lettuce sandwiches. Everyday...GAG!
It's been 8 years. WOW!! I am so stokt for myself. I have even learned how to cook friendly.
Now I am pushing myself just a wee bit more. I have decided to go Vegan. I never thought to do so before because I just couldn't imagine life without cheese pizzas and mint chip ice cream (Geez, the things I base my decisions on!).
I volunteer for an animal shelter that is near a farm. One day a few weeks ago, I decided to take a dog for a walk on the farm. That is when I saw a cow up close for the first time in my life. All that I saw was the cows sorrow. All I saw was dirtiness. Then I realized that being vegetarian is one thing but depriving a calf of THEIR milk is just as cruel as consuming meat. And if you think about it, eggs are just freaking nasty! So I stopped eating them.
I have made that small but enormous step into veganism. I'm feeling good. I'm learning new and interesting things about animal rights and animal derived products. I feel stronger in my heart. I am a bit lazier than usual but I was told that that is normal.
I have adapted a whole new way of life and perspective on food. I have lost my desire for chocolate and ice cream which is really cool. Oh, and I read ingrediant labels obsessively. Before something goes in the cart, I read the label. Ah, the joy of shopping now.
So, that's it. Three & a half weeks and counting...