Vegan Homesteading
As I dig deeper into who I am, I uncover more stereotypes and expectations. Not all apply to me, or would even be set with me in mind. The simple idea of being a vegan is hard enough for people to understand, but once you add in the idea that I am also a homesteader, the confusion grows.
How is it possible to live a life free from eating animal or animal by product while homesteading.
A Bit About Me
I am the Yeti, it's nice to meet you! I am 6'5" tall and 260 lbs. I have been meat free for nearly 7 years, and 100% vegan for almost a year. When I talk about being vegan it is just a label. Not that I have any need to label myself, but that a simple label might help others understand what they think I am.
My journey being meat free has been a long one. It started as a simple experiment and has grown beyond my wildest ideas. The world is unfolding and I am seeing the truth behind the curtain. Some may read this and think I am speaking about eating meat, or the industrial meat complex. I am not. I am talking about the secrets of the universe. Per what Nikola Tesle says....we need to think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration. This used to mean nothing to me until I understood what he meant.
The universe is energy. Everything around us is energy. Things appear solid based on how the molecules are vibrating. This is now how I think. Once I wrapped my head around the idea of energy I began to research bio electricity. A very simple explanation is our bodies use certain elements in what we eat to produce electricity at a cellular level. This is what causes our heart to beat. Sodium, Potassium and Calcium.
After learning more about what infact makes our bodies function better, I have chosen that. To eat in such a way that my electrical frequency may change. Hopefully, to increase and to change my whole self to function more fully in a dark world. The idea that we are all connected and can feel each other should be considered.
Animals On The Homestead
For years we have had a variety of animals on our homestead. We have mostly had chickens and rabbits. The rabbits were a major asset to our homestead. The amount of manure they created for our garden was incredible. We even raised rabbits to help locals have a better meat source than Walmart. This didn't last. As I became more aware, I could feel it differently. We made the decision to get rid of all the rabbits.
Chickens....man, I love chickens. I love having them around. I love hearing them. I love watching them just be. I have always wanted chickens. They are a source of manure for our compost, and are great bug collectors. Stacie D (@freedomtowrite) loves to eat farm fresh eggs too. I choose not to, and it is all ok.
If we ever have a larger property, I suppose we will look into animals that will keep the grass cut too.
How We Eat
We are eaters. When we eat we usually measure by the pound. Stacie D has a wonderful collection of recipes that keep us satisfied. These even include her wonderful desserts. When we talk about how we eat, most think it is super complicated, but it is not. It is just a matter of cutting out the meat and dairy. For those that haven't tried it, I challenge you to do it for 3 weeks.
What I Have Noticed
What I have noticed in our community is the need to be gritty. The need to get our hands dirty and make life happen. This often comes with gardening our own food and even harvesting our own meat. On several occasions I have read people saying that they must be getting soft because they are having trouble killing and processing. I do not see this as a negative thing, but as a positive. It is never easy to take a life and if someone chooses to eat meat, they should be the one to kill it.
Empathy
em·pa·thy
ˈempəTHē/Submit
noun
the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
This is a major thing in my life and often steers decisions that I make. Not just in my eating choices, but how I interact with others. The world is a very large place, and we all have a role here. As we choose to navigate through different situations and communities we need to be conscious of our decisions. What I mean is, when we make a decision we should have put real thought into our actions.
What I think
Is it possible to be a vegan and a homesteader....if you want to label, yes! Is it possible to grow as individuals along our journeys, yes! As we all choose the direction our lives go I hope we can support each other, even if the choices are "different". Be well.
Many years ago my oldest daughter made some changes in her life (after her grade 4 concussion incident) and started eating healthier; one of the changes she made was to cut out meat from her diet, That was back in 2006, and she has remained meat free since. I can't really declare she is a vegan or a vegetarian, but she does not eat meat, fish, eggs... but she will eat cheese. Her overall health seemed to improve.
When I first read the title of this post, my initial thought was "vegan homesteading"? How is that possible.... my mind immediately thought... oxymoron but after reading the post completely, I can see how the lifestyle wouldn't hamper your health needs.
Right! Most people have that same idea. Like somehow homesteading means we have to raise and kill things. It just isn't the case. I feel bad when others think they are getting soft and then others say it is just part of the life, again, not the case. Just trying to bust another stereotype haha. I am glad your daughter is doing better! Be well.
Too many labels in the society
I went vegan for the animals in 2016, but it wasn't my initiative. My then 6 yo son wanted to be earth Ranger and didn't wanna make animals sad, so he wanted to stop eating animals. I said to him, that is known as veganism. My husband was on board. My youngest son is no-no
Later on my perspective is moving more to vegan for health, as I learned vegans can be nasty toward each other. I do care for the animals, but even the animals with brains (us that is) can not be compassionate toward each other, that's just facepalm to me
Today I still live meatless, eggless, dairy free, no honey, but my husband has given up, and my oldest son would still have pizza party at school once awhile (school has fundraiser and no vegan options). And I don't care what any other vegans would say about us.
I won't certainly leave my husband and kids, and there are (newly) vegans who bring up this matter in groups, the feeling of disgust or helpless living with "carnist" - I hate this term!
Be damn if you are vegan, be damn if you are not
😂
We have always dream to go homesteading once we have enough $ to buy a land here, and we would have bunnies and chickens. I don't know yet what the future bring but for now I am what I am 😉 Meatless, eggless, dairy free, and no honey girl. I try as hard as I could to find info on products I buy, but it doesn't mean I will throw away jackets, bags, that I got before I went vegan, that's just wasting $
Anyways long comment, sorry!
That is wonderful. It is really funny that while people talk about loving animals they seem to forget to love each other. It is great that you continue to learn and stayed the course. I think like anything, the biggest reward will be long term. Good luck. Be well!
"The universe is energy. Everything around us is energy. Things appear solid based on how the molecules are vibrating." Not only that but when we experience life through our eyes we are not actually seeing the object it's self, but the light that is being reflected off of what ever we are looking at. So in away we never actually experience the physical world directly.
Also, Have you ever tried ground nut? It's a native legume that produces tubers. It was a sacred plant of the Cherokee, and is high in protein. One plant can produce around five pounds.
We have not tried ground nut. It sounds amazing. Thank you for sharing a great perspective!
I often wondered about homesteading and being vegan. So good to see an answer to that. Are you able to provide all your nutrition from the homestead or do you still outsource for certain things (which I think most homesteaders need to do at some point anyway)?
Also glad to hear you haven't ruled out animals from the growing process. Plants and animals have an interlinked cycle whether you choose to eat them or not.
Yes! I do believe we are all part of the process. Even when we humans die, we should return to the earth and not in a vault and embalmed. We do have to go to the grocery store still. We try to get as much from the land as we can, but there are things we just don't have.
"Return everything to the earth." So true.
It's pretty much impossible to do everything yourself. Do you have much of a community around you?
Yeah, there are others around. Where we are is pretty "everyman for himself".
Oh. Not so supportive to each other then?
Umm, well, if you needed something, maybe. It depends what you consider supportive. We encourage each other, but that is because so many people come and then leave. So we want each other to make it, but the interactions are not frequent.
You have described my inner energy's perfectly. Until now I have not admitted this to myself. I have tried raising livestock to eat. I cannot do it.
I am building an off grid lifestyle. I currently have three goats and four chickens. I love them. It is not possible for me to kill them and eat them. There is plenty of food growing on the land I steward,strawberry's,blueberry's,apples,broad leaf plantain,dandelion,clover many more wild edibles. There is room to have a large garden. That is the direction I am taking my life it feels correct. I have friends who do raise livestock to eat and that is fine. It's just not for me. It feels good to write that. Thank you for expressing your self this way it has been a big help to me.
You are very welcome. Life is so good. The spectrum is so much larger than we think. We need to be ok with the idea that life is life. We will always extort something as long as we live, but we can certainly live more consciously! Be well.
You had me at "Vegan Homesteading" :D
My family has been heading towards a vegan diet for about a year. More veggies and fruit, whole grains and nuts. We still eat a small amount of chicken, fish and rabbit. We feel better, have lost weight and have more energy. So, we'll just keep coasting, making small changes as we go. Sooner or later we will reach a point where we can feel comfortable.
Yeah! It is all about the journey. I was able to go cold turkey, and I don't look back. It is important that we find our own way or it is hard to stick to. Be well!