Choosing vegan, to honor everything I believe in

Last month I finally chose to walk the vegan road. I use the word ‘finally’ because I feel it has been a slow and gradual progression over the last 15 years.

In 1995 I read the book Fit for Life by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond and was introduced to the fact that humans are the only other animal that drink another animal’s milk. This totally grossed me out and my thoughts immediately drifted to how disturbing and incorrect it is for humans to suck on cow teets. Just because someone has packaged it up in a bottle or carton makes no difference. It’s still milk that has been squeezed from a cow, and in my opinion should only be used for one thing … feeding baby cows. So my milk drinking days ended abruptly. For some odd reason though, I didn’t put cheese in the same category. Strange, I know.

Over the next five years my taste for meat declined. Correction, not so much the taste of it, but more so the flesh component. Have you ever bitten in to a piece of meat and visualized biting in to the arm, leg or torso of an animal, and that the chewy bits of meat is too closely associated with chewing your way through the flesh of that animal? Those type of visualizations also grossed me out and ended my meat eating days, with exception to mince meat in lasagna, spaghetti bolognese and carpaccio (the paper thin raw beef), as these styles of meat required no tough chewing and melted in my mouth.

My fascination for food, health and wellbeing led me to study a 3 year Diploma of Nutrition and it was during those classes that I was exposed to the horrifying documentaries about chickens in battery farms, their ghastly diet, abnormally unhealthy living conditions and outrageous cruelty and suffering. Add to that, the accounts of negative health effects that the consumption of these chickens and eggs were having on the human population. I was so appalled by this information that I have never eaten a piece of chicken since, but somehow I remained an egg eater, as long as they were the biodynamic organic free-range variety.

Jake's random thoughts about becoming a vegetarian

I stopped eating meat in 1996 when my wife also decided to become a vegetarian for health reasons. I thought it would be easier if we ate the same meals, and I also thought it would be a healthy choice for me. I was never a big meat eater, especially as a kid, but I enjoyed hamburgers and meat in foods such as chili and spaghetti. During the first six weeks a vegetarian diet took some getting used to, and meat was still very tempting. For anyone deciding to become a vegetarian I’d recommend having a large number of interesting recipes on hand because you’ll be eating different meals than what you enjoyed as a meat-eater.

At first, tofu and vegetarian hot dogs did not seem very good but now I love them. When dining at restaurants, vegetarians need to ask if rice, soups or dips are prepared with chicken stock. And you might automatically get bacon bits on your salad or baked potato, so vegetarians will need to be vigilant about making sure that meat is not a hidden component of their meals out. Some restaurants are more vegetarian-friendly than others, and most can create something with veggies and pasta if there are no other options.

I don't care if the animal dies, I just can't metabolize it

My title comes from a Far Side cartoon - meat packing sign read 'we only kill depressed cows' and a picture of cows saying 'kill me, eat me'.

In 1987 my 15 year-old daughter became a vegetarian. I believed she did it only to inconvenience me. Ten years later she had the pleasure of hearing me say 'you were right'.

In February 1996 my doctor told me to just go home, dial 9-1 and wait for the stroke/heart attack to hit before I dialed that last 1. I was 47 years-old, 40 pounds overweight, and my cholesterol was 427. Serendipity rules, and at home I had a newly purchased book by Dr. Dean Ornish, HEART DISEASE REVERSAL in which he professed 'no meat, no fish, no chicken, no eggs, no oil, no cheese'. He recommended 'cold turkey' so to speak, as drastic steps bring drastic positive results so I went that route. I did miss meat and chicken for a year or so, but the immediate increase in energy, well being, and feeling clean were big payoffs.

I would never, could never, go back to eating meat, fish or chicken. I did not last long without eggs and cheese, but today I'm at a healthy weight and my cholesterol is (drum roll, please) 156.