Personal Narrative: I Am A Vegan

I have adopted veganism into my lifestyle because I don’t support the ethics behind the meat, dairy, and egg industries. Whilst already vegetarian for a year, I unintentionally came across a video about veganism that introduced new and persuasive facts that I had no prior knowledge about; I knew immediately that this lifestyle was for me. Unlike vegetarianism, veganism is a lifestyle and what that means is no leather, no feathers, no products that have been tested on animals, no products including animal ingredients, etc.. Those wanting to become vegan should take it slow because then they can discover new recipes and replacements, and it doesn’t seem so overwhelming. The main thing to focus on is trying your best.

A lot of people always ask me why I am vegan and my answer is I love animals, I feel bad for them and it is healthier. As a vegan I try a lot of new food that I didn’t like before now I love them like kiwi. I try to eat organic food as much as possible. When I live on my own I want to recuse a dog and a pig from an animal shelter. That is how Eliza from The Wild Thornberrys imprinted me and my passion that I have for

I've been vegan since June 24th, 2014 for the animals, environment and my health. It wasn't until after becoming vegan that I really thought about my health. I had tried many different diets before for weight loss, but never

I had stumbled on a film titled Vegucated about 6 months ago. It was much like the very well known documentary Food Inc except it focused more on uncovering what really goes on inside a slaughterhouse and dairy farms. The reason I bring up these movies is because they steered me onto a new lifestyle, and that was going vegan. It was hard at first for many reasons. One being, I enjoyed eating dairy products, and the other being how would I get protein from non-animal products. In the beginning there were a few times I cheated and had to have some meat

When I first transitioned into the vegan lifestyle I was ashamed of what people may think of me. Looking back it was something so irrelevant, but seemed so serious that I even refused to be open about to my own boyfriend and closest friends. I would binge watch vegan youtubers on my laptop and be inspired about how opened and proud they are to

Growing up, I was the kid that threw the mac and cheese and chicken fingers of the kids menu to the side and ordered a medium rare filet mignon. My dad joked I was “cows’ worst enemy” when I devoured cheeseburgers two meals a day and stacked my plate with more meatballs than spaghetti. Had anyone told me that I would go vegan, I would have told them they were insane. Now, I have gone just over three years without my formerly cherished steak, and it has been an experience that has taught me more than I could have ever imagined. Living in a house where I am the only vegan presents many challenges every meal. In the beginning, I spent weeks exploring the “vegan meal” boards of pinterest, finding recipes that fit into the strict diet guidelines

While i was heading to the Food shelf, i found myself getting excited to clean the food shelf. From what i remembered from last week, the place was chaotic. From the start of the service learnings, i would think to myself "i wanted to help the food shelf the best I can." and heading towards the class today. i remembers

I would love to say that becoming a vegan was a walk in the park, that the process was overnight and I would wake up as a successful new person. I would have loved to have said all those things but the truth is, it wasn’t that easy. My transition to a non-meat eater was a gradual one. A gradual transition might have been the best for most, but it wasn’t the best for me at all. Instead of having a set out plan, changing

Educating yourself as a vegan is the first step to becoming a vegan. Something as simple as watching a documentary about certain foods can educate you and open your eyes to a vegan diet. Knowing what you can and cannot eat is a necessity as a vegan because you will still need to get the same protein and nutrients you did when eating meat so your body doesn't feel a drastic change. When you know what you can eat, you aren't challenging yourself to not knowing what you can’t eat and satisfying with what you have in your home and not knowing if there is any actual animal products in this certain item. When you know more about vegansim, it allows you to open your mind about what you put into your

3 and a half years; that’s how long I have been vegan. I would rave about the benefits, but vegans are told that doing that is shoving our beliefs down someone’s throat. I became healthy, both physically and mentally. It feels great and something that makes you feel great makes you want to talk about it. Vegans get a bad reputation for that, but people who talk about feeling great from fitness or a sport do the same without being stereotyped.

My scale was my ticking time bomb. Every time I step upon it, I was a pound closer to my death. I didn’t concur with me at the time, but I was anorexic, I had an eating disorder. I was never was fat child growing up. As I grew older I did accumulate a few extra pounds, but it never became an issue until seventh grade. I became extremely fixated with my figure, to the point of not eating. I would forcefully make it a game and see how many hours I could go without eating. I would wait endless hours until my stomach ache, to the point of fainting to consume something. If I did eat the meal would consist of soup or one piece of chicken. I dropped down to a low seventy pounds that summer of 2013, and I specifically remember jumping for joy as if

It is a true mystery how I came to acquire the degree of peculiarity I have over my entire lifetime, I suppose it was a mix of circumstance and predisposition. Despite my traditional upbringing in Mexico as a catholic, my ideology has morphed into its own unorthodox line of free thought. I am a vegetarian animal rights activist, a feminist who doesn't abide by social constructs of gender, I believe in the liberation of individuals confined by conventionality, and I am a member of the Communist party who believes "Proletariats have nothing to lose but their chains"

After wholly accepting my new lifestyle, the subsequent hurdle was convincing my husband to support, and hopefully jump aboard, my veganism. I found documentaries about the health benefits of veganism and made the next few day documentary nights.

As different crazes and fads are appearing each day, we have come to expect them to simply fade away as the hype passes. However, veganism has stood the test of time in our fad society and is still increasing in popularity. Originally only thought to be a religious lifestyle, many people from different walks of life are becoming vegans. However, this poses many questions and sparks heated debates, mainly from omnivorous people who believe that veganism is against life’s natural order. Vegans, then, argue against an omnivorous lifestyle by bringing up facts about humans’ biological makeup and how humans are, contrary to popular belief, herbivorous by nature, not omnivorous. While both sides present good arguments to some, the veganism lifestyle contains more benefits and less harmful cons than an omnivorous lifestyle.

Some would not be able to live without eating any animal products in their diets, such as, meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy products, and honey. For vegans, however, this is a normal way of life. Vegans are frequently misunderstood as either people who have eating disorders, or an unnatural passion for animal rights. It is time for people to realize that veganism, a challenging yet rewarding lifestyle, goes way beyond being skinny or caring for animals. In reality, veganism can be extremely advantageous to anyone who adapts it as a way of life and has many different benefits that come along with it.