Think you can't go vegan? Think Again!

November 1, 2007 : 10:03 AM

Celebrate World Vegan Day by challenging yourself to make the change - the animals will thank you!

Story by Debbie Delgado-Hand, Vegan

Have you ever wondered how you (yes you!) could make a greater difference in the lives of animals and also positively impact the environment, other people, and your health all at the same time? You can and it’s so much easier than you ever imagined. If you are ready to take make a change and take a challenge, the day has come.

Today is World Vegan Day. Adopting a plant-based diet is one of the first and easiest ways you can begin to end suffering in the lives of animals right this very second. No fancy tools to buy, no expensive subscriptions to send a payment, it can start right now in your own kitchen or your next trip down the grocery aisle.

“Veganism is way easier than I was expecting,” Maralee Sanders of Winooski, Vermont said.

A Vegan diet is not one that has you relying on iceberg lettuce and veggie burgers but rather opens up a much wider variety of foods than eaten on the Standard American Diet. “It's not deprivation, like a lot of people think,” continued Sanders who has been vegan for almost two years. “I've learned a lot about food, and have really discovered a love of cooking I never had before, as well as a lot of new foods that are far more exciting than ‘meat and potatoes’."

So many wonderful resources and cookbooks make the transition to a vegan diet convenient and simple. Pick up any of the Sarah Kramer cookbooks (La Dolce Vegan is this writer’s favorite!), Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Vegan with a Vengeance or Dino Sarma’s Alternative Vegan and you’ll see just how easy taming your pots and pans can be. And you will be surprised at how many vegan alternatives are being offered in restaurants or how accommodating chefs will be at making a dish with a vegan twist.

But being vegan goes beyond our pantries. As stated on the Vegan Society’s website “People are increasingly becoming aware of the direct correlation between what they eat every day and the health of the planet. Environmentally conscious consumers are concerned not only with food miles, over-packaging, pesticide use and GM (genetically modified) foods, but also question the environmental sustainability of modern animal husbandry.”

Rebecca Moore of Ft. Worth, Texas has been vegan for 16 months and sums it up best.
“Being vegan has changed me in so many ways. I’m no longer fighting the constant guilt of causing so much pain and suffering with the choices I make. In every aspect of life – mentally, emotionally, and physically – I am happier and healthier since becoming vegan and choosing to live a life as free from cruelty as possible.”

Are you ready? Today is your day.

READY TO GO VEGAN
Get your free VegKit - CLICK HERE

VEGAN COOKBOOKS AT BARNES AND NOBLE
Students go Vegan Cookbook
How it all Vegan
Vegan with a Vengence
The Garden of Vegan

VEGAN WEB SITES
Meatout Mondays
Vegan Action
Gentle Thanksgiving
World Go Vegan Days
FARM USA

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Photo of Grunty, by Molly Wald, Best Friends Photographer

Comments

November 3, 2007 at 10:59 AM
posted by: steffie92

Thanks Debbie for the great piece. I became vegetarian almost a year ago although I should have made the switch years ago. I have also been making the transition to vegan for the last few months. I have no problems not drinking milk. I haven't drank cow milk for a very long time even before I became vegetarian. Avoiding cheese and using vegan cheese is fine with me too. I think the whole process has been very easy and I feel great both mentally and physically. My husband has cut down on his meat intake dramatically as well and he will not drink cow milk, only almond or soy. This is coming from your average meat and potatoes kinda guy. He eats more vegetables in the dishes I prepare than he probably did in his whole life before he met me. It is hard to break the mold, getting people to understand why you physically do not need animals products in your diet. I have definitely opened the eyes of some of my friends and family who may not go vegetarian or vegan but are using more vegetable substitutes in their meals.
One last thing, this should be posted on the BF Vegetarian and Vegan Community too!

November 3, 2007 at 2:29 AM
posted by: sharonstjoan

For Laddie,

Vegetarian food may include milk products and eggs, but all vegan food is dairyless.

November 2, 2007 at 1:49 PM
posted by: laddie

I am hoping the Vegan cookbook has soyless & dairyless menus. I cannot eat soy & am lactose intolerance. Any suggestions?

November 2, 2007 at 10:53 AM
posted by: Faith

For anyone that thinks they might be missing out on sweet things I recommend a new book called The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick Goudreau of Campassionatecooks.com. It's a beautiful book full of fabulous recipes. Being vegan these days is so easy with lots of good products out there and so many exciting cookbooks.

November 1, 2007 at 11:02 PM
posted by: marla

This wonderful Thank You

November 1, 2007 at 10:35 PM
posted by: PamelaB

I am delighted to see this story on International Friends!

In addition to the intolerable pain and suffering of the animals in question, it is becoming frighteningly clear from all sorts of research and study that factory farming is having a disastrous effect on the world's environment. Not just our environment, the world's environment.

And guess who is one of the world's leaders in this cruel and unsustainable practice--the West, of course, with the US at the head of the pack!

Factory farming is based on greed, for it regards both animals and our natural world simply as commodities to be exploited for profit. Bad things happen when our fellow creatures and other forms of life are conceptualized only as 'things,' like a plastic toy or or cardboard box or a gas-guzzling SUV. Only the SUV is far more highly valued in our culture than the poor lamb that winds up on the dinner plate of the driver!

November 1, 2007 at 7:16 PM
posted by: kathy_g

EXCELLENT article-thank you!
It's amazing how "at peace" you feel when you try as much as possible to live compassionately. A part of you long "asleep" becomes awakened-you become more alert to the needs of others, as if a veil slowly removes.
And as stated-there is no need to worry about health-I lost 141 Lbs and my cholesterol dropped from 210 to 160 simply by changing the way I ate.
I LOVE to eat-and enjoy having fun with food, which I can do being vegan-my conscience is clear.

November 1, 2007 at 6:31 PM
posted by: Spax

Beautiful writing, Debbie! Going vegan is indeed easier than most people think, and on top of it you can throw away your scale too! I don't know any vegan worried about weight, and you can eat as much as you want (yes, dessert, too!). A vegan diet reverses heart disease (google Dr. MacDougall or www.pcrm.org) and even diabetes. Good for the planet, good for us, and good for the animals, what more could one want.
Andrea

November 1, 2007 at 12:12 PM
posted by: ratmom

Go Vegans. It's beyond just what you eat. It makes you think about every aspect of your life and its impact on others. Don't kill your fellow travelers on this planet; make it a world that includes them.

November 1, 2007 at 12:08 PM
posted by: Feral1

Via Vegans ! I have been a vegan for many years and it all started with my cat. She was a feral and extremely sick. I was up all night caring for her and it dawned on me that all animals (including the human kind) on this planet feel pain, fear, etc. I could never eat, wear or use products that use animals. My soul was never the same. It is an amazingly freeing experience, I cannot explain it. But, it is.