An Open Letter
to my friends and family (and anyone else who's ever been a little veg-curious)
I know. It's weird. It's extreme. It's crazy. Maybe from the outside it seems like all those things, but I swear to you that it isn't. I've learned a lot in the last year about animal agriculture's ethical, environmental, and health impacts. And I have to say, this is the most un-crazy I've felt in a long time.
You may say that this goes against how I was raised, but I don't think that's true. You're right, I was raised a hunter. From an early age, I was taught how animals think. I learned how to track deer and spot them out in the wild. Maybe you've also read Ender's Game, but I really feel that it's impossible to understand another creature in that way and not love them the way they love themselves. Now, if you know any real hunters, not the glitzy trophy hunters, but true sportsmen, you'll know that these are people that truly love animals.
So I'll tell you now what ultimately convinced me. It was this one nagging thought. How can I love my dogs so deeply, and still be willing to financially support the torture of similarly intelligent animals? There are many ways we try to justify it. Go ahead. Do it now. But the more I thought about it, I kept coming against this hard truth: the dogs and cats that we love and cherish so much are no different than the cows, pigs, chickens, and lambs that we torture for food. And we don't have to. It is only through some great hypocrisy that we are able to love one and disregard the other. I'll let you convince or un-convince yourself of this, but after coming to this conclusion, I found myself unable to slip back into comfortable ignorance.
I think it matters how we treat other living things. We may have evolved eating meat, but not like this. Have you seen videos from in factory farms? This is not the meat our ancestors ate. When you eat something borne of so much suffering, it gets into you. It digs in deep and stains you. Can't you feel it? Realizing this, I've never missed meat. I've never missed eggs or milk. I never forced myself to be vegan. I simply found myself in a position where I was repulsed by the entire concept of these products.
It's everyone's responsibility to make informed decisions. Don't fall into the trap of defending your ignorance or hypocrisy just to make yourself feel better. You have to learn what you can, and make the best choices that you can with what's available to you. I'm not going to try to sell you on the health benefits of being vegan, but if you're interested, I will encourage you to do some research and form your own opinion. However, protein deficiency and malnourishment have not been an issue for me. And maybe the ethical implications of animal consumption are also up for debate, that's for you to decide. There is, however, no room for debating the environmental impact of animal agriculture.
Don't think for a second that labels like organic, cage-free, and ethical absolve you of the consequences of those products. Animal agriculture tortures animals and is destroying our planet. People are starting to realize the huge problems we're facing with global warming, water usage, ocean deadzones, and de-forestation. And it's all heavily dependent on animal agriculture. Humanity cannot continue to consume animal products at the current rate; we simply won't have enough resources to meet demand. But curbing our demand won't be solved by throwing blame onto one another. It's not a contest of who can be the best vegan/vegetarian/environmentalist. Fixing this is a team effort, and responsibility falls to everyone to do the best they can.
I guess what I really want to say is, you don't have to be scared. People have this tendency to attack vegans that I'm still trying to understand. I think if they simply disagreed, they wouldn't be so toxic about it. But why? Are people afraid of what might happen if they had to face the consequences of their choices? Or are they just afraid that that last piece of bacon might have truly been their last? I want everyone in that position to know that they don't have to be afraid. It's a hard thing: to accept who you are, admit that you can improve yourself, and not take on the guilt of who you were.
I'm vegan because the world is dark and scary and so full of hate. I've been full of hate. But negative thoughts do not beget positive changes. This is how I've brought a little more compassion into the world. Being vegan isn't about making other's feel bad. It's about leading by example. It's about voting with your checkbook. But most of all, for me, it's about filling yourself with love.
