So on that fateful night, American Idol sucked (boo Idol Gives Back, although giving to charity is great, let's just do it without Idol) so Duncan (the huz) actually got to pick what we watched for once. Food, Inc. just so happened to be on PBS that night (and commercial free!) so we decided to watch for a bit. I was engrossed after minutes. We hear about all the crap that goes into our food nowadays, but nobody really seems to care as long as it tastes good. I used to make fun of my one college roommate for wasting all her money on organic food. God, did I have it wrong...
Even though all the hormones, chemicals and pesticides that do end up in our food is totally filthy, what really got me about Food, Inc. was the mistreatment of the animals... I am an animal lover to the core (I try to get a new pet weekly and am always shut down by the evil huz) and the images in the film really got me. How could I eat that meat when all the cute animals had been so abused just for my cheeseburger? I spent most of those two hours with my hand over my mouth in shock and trying to fight back the tears. The second the movie ended, I knew I could never eat meat again...
(If you haven't seen Food, Inc. you really need to. It's worth it just to know what you're actually consuming. We eat a minimum of three times a day. Don't you actually want to know where what you're putting in your body came from??)
So, I decided I'd become a pretend vegan. Pretend because I didn't want to eat meat and I wasn't supposed to have any dairy. I've had crazy weird health problems (read: nasty, disgusting hives) for almost two years now and we believe (although really these effing doctors have no clue) that I can't tolerate/am allergic to dairy. Sooo since I'm supposed to avoid it anyway (although I really never did), I would be a pretend vegan who still enjoyed the occasional (i.e. daily) ice cream cone and scrambled eggs every morning.
A day or two after watching the film, I went to a Barnes and Noble in the city and started browsing the vegan cookbook section. I bought two cookbooks along with The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone. I knew she was a vegan and she looked normal to me and being the weight-obsessed girl I am, I liked that she called it a diet. I read the whole thing through by Saturday morning and was thoroughly convinced that I'd made the right choice in becoming a vegan and that I would be a real one, not just pretend. The way we get most of our dairy products and eggs involves horrendous ammounts of animal cruelty as well. Most chickens have their beaks ground off so that they can't hurt one another. After that all that's left for them to do is be force fed hormones and pop out eggs for us. Have you ever really thought of that?? When we eat eggs, we're eating a hen's reproductive organ. Um, why do we think that's yummy or a good idea? So nast. (And yes, I meant to type nast, not nasty.)
I was very proud of my decision and wanted to tell everyone (as I usually do with everything, don't tell me secrets). However, my friends' reactions were definitely not what I expected. I got a lot of skeptical "Seriously?" with raised eyebrows and "Haha, ok... Let's see how long this lasts." Boo supportive friends. Although, I do totally understand where they're coming from. I'm not exactly known for picking something and sticking with it. I think my current career plan has changed four times just this month...
But that's ok. It made me that much more serious about being a vegan. Now I have to prove to them and myself that I can do it and make it work. I have to do it for the cutiepie animals that we're slaughtering for no good reason. I have to do it for the environment that's being destroyed by all the methane produced by the livestock industry in the US (more than all transportation combined!!!).
One hiccup in my path to veganism, though, was when one friend asked me if I was going to be a real vegan and stop wearing/buying leather, wool, silk, etc. Woah, upsetting. I love my shoes and purses. I definitely see where my future difficulties with being vegan will lie...
So anywho, I'm a vegan, believe it or not. I started this to keep you up to date, find some support and let others know that there are plenty of us out there trying to figure out what's right for us, animals, the environment and the world. The huz told me to start this blog since I'm probably not your typical vegan. The first thing he said when he saw my vegan cookbook (How it all Vegan!) was, "You're not allowed to look like them now that you're a vegan, ok?" Apparently he has a vendetta against tattoos. But he thinks there will be "other preppy, suburban, white girls" who will want to hear my side. He may have a point, but I think I'll still punish him for the comments...
So peace-out for now. I had my first vegan grocery shopping trip today. I'll post about it tomorrow.
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