By : Rose Sevilla
I was a vegetarian for over 20 years. No meat, no poultry, no fish nor seafood, no gelatin--basically no product that stemmed from needing to kill an animal ever entered my body. I saw veganism at the time as extreme and unhealthy (my attempts at going vegan in my late teens were uninformed choices that did in fact make me weak and terribly thin). I justified not making the leap from vegetarian to vegan by telling myself and others that I consumed dairy and eggs because it didn't hurt the animals. Then, I saw Earthlings.
What struck a tremendous chord for me was the fact that male calves of dairy cows are usually slaughtered almost immediately. I have no idea why I hadn't sought this knowledge before! As the mother of 3 young boys, I was horrified. Not that a female calf's fate is any better, destined to spend her life confined and riddled with infections such as mastitis (having gone through that, I wish it on no creature. It is an extremely painful thing to endure while trying to nourish your offspring).
Earthlings opened my eyes and my soul to the suffering that goes on not only through the consumption of animal flesh, but rather through all animal products. I am now quite proud to call myself a vegan, and often point those who wonder why I made that choice toward Earthlings. I proselytize almost daily, not by telling people what they should and shouldn't eat, but rather by example. My three sons are thriving examples of this compassionate lifestyle as well.
PS. If every one of us inspired ONE person to go meatless imagine the difference we could make in ten years time. I am going to collect inspirational vegetarian/vegan stories to share with everyone. If you think your story will inspire others, please share with me by sending it to info@veglov.com. I will post your stories on this www.veglov.com blog. I believe everyone has his/her own story, I think it must be great when we can share our stories and inspire others. Let’s make the world a better place. ~ Xiao Kang.
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