How Did I Become a Vegan

I tried being vegetarian before. Many times I tried and tried, but no success. I felt hungry all the time and was craving the food that I was avoiding: meat. It was torture! And I used that as an excuse to go back to my old ways, as some people call it, an omnivore. Even worse, I ate with carelessness. I would eat any calorie-fat-additives-preservatives-and-everything-else-laden foods. I was not in rebellion, I was just not caring.

About a month ago (a few years after my last attempt) I decided to start eating healthier (not thinking about vegetarianism at all). I started reading about nutrition and healthy food choices. I read a lot. I was doing better with my food choices, but not as I wanted to be doing or as I could be doing. And then the "vegetarian conscious" inside my head popped yet once more. I said to myself "I need to do this the right way. I need to read, and learn how vegetarians make this work. How does this work?".

It occurred to me that it was a good idea to listen and watch podcasts about the subject. So I went to iTunes and searched for podcasts about nutrition and cooking. I downloaded many video and audio podcasts and continued learning about nutrition and stuff. I would listen to them on my morning commute and watched and listened to them on long car trips. And I became, once again, a so-called "ovo-lacto vegetarian" and I was doing a lot better this time (because of all that I learned about nutrition and healthy food choices). And it went like that for a couple of weeks.

Even then, the only reason that I had for becoming a vegetarian was my own health; maybe the environmet (a little bit), but nothing else. But then I listened to the "Vegetarian Food for Thought" podcast from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, founder of Compassionate Cooks. And that was the turning point. This was the very first time in my life that I really paid attention to someone speaking about the suffering and horrible living conditions to which we submit the animals that end up on our plates. I was so moved by what I heard that I couldn't just ignore it and pretend that it didn't matter. I could not continue supporting the industries that inflict the suffering. I just couldn't.

I searched for information on animal exploitation; I watched videos; I read, listened and watched reports titled "this is what the X, Y, or Z industry doesn't want you to know". I cannot find words to explain how I felt report after report of horrible scene after horrible scene. But even though what I learned is so hard to take in, and so painful, I felt very much liberated. Because I found a very strong and important reason to change my eating habits. Because now I know the truth, and I can do something about it. Since then, I am a Vegan.