I became a vegetarian in my freshman year of high school. When I gave up meat, I was only really giving up chicken because I already didn’t eat red meat. So my choice to become vegetarian was solely based on me. I recently became a vegan and that was definitely not based on me. I’m a huge lover of cheese and dairy in general (half & half, evaporated milk, mac & cheese, cheesecake… the list of my favorite foods goes on and on). But one night I was surfing the Internet and somehow, I still haven’t figured out how, I ended up on FactoryFarming.com. If any of you have been there, you’ll know what I mean when I say it literally changed my diet forever. Just reading the articles and research information, not even looking at the photo gallery, made me so sad. I seriously sat at the computer and cried for about twenty-minutes straight. I was in such shock. Here I thought I was “good” to animals by not eating meat. I hadn’t ever thought about dairy.
After I got over the initial shock, I went to my parents and I told them I was never going to eat any animal products ever again. Well they asked why and I told them. They weren’t as shocked as I was because it turns out my mom knew already (she’s a lacto-ovo vegetarian). My dad’s Mr. Gotta-have-my-meat-and-rice-every-single-night-or-I-die, and he’s always been like that. So what I told him didn’t even scratch the surface of his emotions. I could tell he thought I was being weird and “emotional” about it, even though he tried to hide it. I think they thought I was just tired and a little grossed out. I know they didn’t seriously think I would live up to what I had said. My mom said, “Why don’t you go take a hot shower.” The shower helped, but the fact that I was rubbing animal products all over my head to get “clean” only made me feel worse. I knew that I just could not bring myself to eat anything having to do with an animal ever again. I felt like I might as well torture and kill it myself if I’m going to cook it for dinner and eat it.
Because I was already a vegetarian, I thought that being a vegan would be "not that hard." I mean, how hard could it really be to not eat cheese and drink milk?? Well, let’s just say that train of thought ended real soon. After reading labels like crazy and looking up weird ingredient names on my list of animal products (thanks to PETA), I soon realized that my diet would consist of peanut butter, rice, lettuce, and apple juice until I could talk my mom into taking me to the veg store. My mom surprised me by buying me vanilla flavored soymilk and a bunch of nuts to munch on. I wasn’t expecting such support so early on. She initially thought whey was a type of grain or wheat thing and told me that the margarine we had was vegan. So I ate it. And when I found out what whey is I just about puked. I quickly gave up the margarine, which really shocked my dad. After that, my mom took me to Down to Earth (a health food store), and we bought some food. I was even more surprised when she bought me organic, all-natural shampoo.
My mom is by far the most supportive of me. We do have arguments over certain things (like if I’ll work someplace that serves or promotes meat), but overall, she’s been really sweet about it. In fact, she’s using soy margarine now after I cooked her some zucchini with it. My dad and sister aren’t as supportive. My dad will eat meat until the day he dies (which will come sooner if he continues eating it, which I try to tell him). My sister was annoyed a lot at first because it gave her another reason to see me as the “health freak,” but I’ve noticed that she’s eating less meat now, and half the time she doesn’t even finish it. I definitely feel like I’m making progress with them. I think it took them by shock because I actually stuck to my word, but they’re slowly getting used to my new way of life.
Other than my friend in Maryland, who became a vegetarian after I told her to go to FactoryFarming.com, all my friends eat meat. Since mostly all of them are guys, they see meat as their masculinity. Sad, but true. So the comments about my “weird” food are always coming out. Initially, one of my friends literally tried to convince me that being a vegan is a ridiculous way of life. I told him that if he hadn’t seen slaughter pictures, which he hadn’t, than he had no right to tell me what he thought. We don’t argue as much now, and he’s stopped trying to change my feelings.
Whenever I meet new people or talk to people I know that don’t know I’m a vegan now, it always brings about an interesting conversation. My favorite reactions are always “So what DO you eat?”, “Don’t you think plants have feelings too?”, and “You’re weird.” The most annoying, and rather hard to deal with, is “Oh they don’t really do that to animals” or “Something’s wrong with you.” I’ve learned that responding respectfully and informatively is best. However, if they’re really arrogant, in other words if the meat has taken it’s toll, I just say tell them that they can chose to eat meat and it’s up to them to make that choice, likewise, it’s up to me to choose NOT to eat it. It’s really as simple as that. Most of the time that won’t shut them up and they’ll ramble on about lack of protein and being a "hippie," but after I’ve responded nicely it’ll just make them look like the rude and overly aggressive person they’re being.
My veganism has definitely affected my relationships with people. Once people know I’m vegan, they watch every little thing I eat and like to say “THAT has animals in it! I know it!” It feels like they’re just waiting for me to screw up at my own game. Of course, what I eat never does have animal products in it and they end up feeling dumb. But it’s made me aware of how much our society has become totally accustomed to meat and dairy like it’s a religion. It’s a learning process in many ways!
Becoming vegan has been awesome. I haven’t been doing it for that long, so I’m still getting used to dealing with people’s reactions and trying to decipher ingredients on everything. Regardless of the extra effort it takes, I fully enjoy it. I feel happier, more energetic, and like I really can make a difference. Now when I see things about factory farms, I just feel sad and try to look for ways to change it. I don’t feel guilty anymore! Seeing those things makes me that much happier that I choose to be vegan. Meeting and dealing with people who aren’t vegetarian and are particularly anti-vegetarian, is really sad to me. I don’t understand how they can be so unkind. But I’m learning how to deal with them better and I enjoy telling them about my vegan life when they ask (okay, I admit, even when they don’t ask). Veganism rocks my world! Oh heck, it IS my world!
--Tabitha lives in Hawaii.
