How I Became Vegan
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I was five or six years old when I first heard the word “vegetarian”. The concept intrigued me, though I found it slightly confusing too. I can’t remember who told me precisely what “vegetarian” meant, or how exactly they informed me that it is necessary for animals to die in order for humans to eat meat. I do know that I was in my great-grandmother's kitchen with a few different adult relatives, and one way or another, a conversation about vegetarianism was happening.
I can remember musing aloud that it would be nice to save animals. I had always loved cats and dogs, and had even adopted a hedgehog who lived in the garden as “my pet” for a while (this involved cooing over the hedgehog's cuteness any time I spotted the sweet prickly creature out and about). My mother and great-grandmother told me that it would be better to wait until I was an adult before becoming a vegetarian, as they didn’t think children could grow big and tall without eating meat.
I mulled this over for a few moments. In my own naive little head, I believed that I would be a serious adult at the age of eighteen, all set to embark on a big, important career and claim a mortgage (that amuses me greatly now), but I wanted to become a vegetarian sooner than that. Sixteen struck me as an age when I would have finished growing big and tall, and would be sufficiently close to adulthood to become a vegetarian without anyone scolding me about it.
“Okay, I’ll be a vegetarian when I’m sixteen then.”
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One morning at the end of April 2007, I woke up, walked downstairs, entered the kitchen and found myself announcing to my startled mother: “Mam, I’m not going to eat meat anymore. I think I want to be a vegetarian from now on.”
Before those words escaped my mouth, I hadn’t consciously intended to say them – the announcement was a total surprise even to me – but as soon as they were out, they felt right. Some time later, I remembered what I had said as a child: that I would turn vegetarian when I was sixteen years old. The things that our subconscious minds can remember are amazing.
I went vegetarian entirely on a whim, so this decision might have been expected not to last. My dad predicted I would be eating meat again by Christmas (a prediction he continued to make for several years). But somehow, this strange, whimsical notion of mine was one that stuck. From that day onwards, I never again ate any meat that came from land animals, though I often alternated between eating fish and then not eating them.
Every now and then I would read something about the devastating impacts that commercial fishing methods were having on our oceans – which would prompt me to stop eating fish – only to be guilt-tripped into eating it again after hearing that I would be irreparably damaging myself if I chose not to. Countless marketing campaigns told me that omega oils from fish were the best by far and no other source could come close. I now know that there are plenty of other good sources of omega oils – linseed and flax are just two examples – while questions have also been raised recently about the levels of mercury and other ocean pollutants in fish oil. In the late Noughties, however, fish oil was where it was at.
Throughout those years when I was a vegetarian/sometime pescetarian, I could never explain exactly why I would not eat meat. Whenever anyone asked me that question, all I could offer them was a feeble, “I just don’t want to.” From the moment I made that strange, on-the-spot decision to stop eating meat at the age of sixteen, I was driven forward by an impetus that I didn’t really understand.
My decision to become a vegan was very different.
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I was scrolling through Facebook one evening in late January 2013 when my eyes were drawn to an advertisement for a video called What Came Before, which had been produced for a U.S. farmed animal sanctuary called Farm Sanctuary (the creativity that went into that name is something to behold) and narrated by Steve-O. I knew of Steve-O and I had heard of Jackass, but had never watched it. I have still never watched it, in all honesty, but that's beside the point. 😛
What Came Before took an excruciatingly detailed look at the deprivation, violence and unrelenting misery that animals trapped within the factory farming system must endure. It left me in tears. I turned to Google as soon as I had finished it, wanting to know more about veganism.
When I learned that cows had to be kept pregnant in order to produce milk, I was shocked (much to my embarrassment). I kept asking myself, how could I not have known something so basic and obvious? I had known for many years that mammals – including humans – do not produce milk unless they are nursing offspring. Why had I somehow believed that this wouldn’t be the case for cows? The simple answer is that I had never taken a moment to consider the reality of dairy cows’ day-to-day lives. As a lifelong urban dweller, I had also never been exposed to the reality of how dairy farms operated. Instead, I had held onto a pleasant, but patently false idea that had been with me since childhood: namely, that cows magically produced milk all by themselves and lived blissful, carefree lives out on the pasture until they died of natural causes.
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Little by little, I educated myself on all of the various issues involved. I slowly began to cut animal products out of my life, hoping to do so in a way that wouldn’t be noticed at first. I knew that I wanted to remain vegan for the rest of my life – I knew that just as surely as I had known that I wanted to be a vegetarian as a child – but I wasn’t ready to speak openly about that decision for a long time. Several people around me expressed concern, confusion and even outright annoyance over my newfound interest in veganism, so I didn't want to add to their annoyance more than was strictly necessary.
I had been in a pescetarian phase at the time of watching What Came Before, so the first step I took from that day onwards was to stop eating fish. Eliminating dairy produce from my diet was a significantly more awkward process that took several months. I didn’t achieve it until the 1st of June 2013, when I boarded a plane to New York, planning to spend a few months there, and somehow I knew – I just knew – that when I came home, I would be a confident, wholehearted vegan.
Breaking away from home and going abroad for a while turned out to be just what I needed to solidify my intentions. The dairy industry is deeply embedded within Irish culture, and I somehow knew that it would be much easier to adopt a fully plant-based diet away from the pressures of home, the awkwardness of having to constantly justify what I was doing, and my niggling fear that I was being impossibly rude and difficult every time I turned down a piece of cheese.
Since then, I have been an activist with a range of different groups. I'm an introverted activist who would die a thousand deaths at the thought of appearing to be "pushy", but I am an activist nonetheless. 😉 My activism has basically involved standing at an information table alongside a few other people, ready to hand out leaflets or engage in brief conversations with anyone who voluntarily approaches us or wants to ask questions.
Before closing this post, I want to briefly highlight some of the challenges that can arise when doing on-street activism, so that if anyone who is interested in getting involved with this type of work comes across this post, they will know what to expect.
No. 1: Mistakes will be made. I sometimes received questions about nutrition or agricultural practices that I couldn’t answer. I soon learned that the best thing to do when that happened was to simply admit that I didn’t know a lot about the particular subject that the person had raised. I used to turn to other, more experienced activists who knew more about the subject in question. These encounters always proved to be invaluable learning experiences for me, as well as the person asking the question!
No. 2: Be aware that differences in opinion will arise between different activists. Everyone involved is human, after all!
No. 3: It is okay not to be close personal friends with every fellow activist you encounter. See point above regarding differences in opinion! I was fortunate enough to find a tight-knit group of friends through my work with the information table. These are the people who always have my back, no matter what, and I could not be more grateful for them.
No. 4: Know your own values and know that you have the right to remain strong in the face of those who would try to break them down. I experienced a few incidents of misogyny while volunteering at the table, and I was also made deeply uncomfortable by a few people who approached me professing an interest in veganism, while also making casual racist statements and expecting me to agree. I will not entertain anyone who expresses support for animal rights while simultaneously espousing homophobic, sexist, anti-choice or racist views. My decision to embrace veganism was an extension of my core belief in the dignity, autonomy and inherent value of all other individuals on this planet, whether they are of my own species or not. I have sometimes been disappointed to witness a few vegan activists appearing to pander to the toxic beliefs that some people approaching the table have held, so long as they have expressed some sign – however faint or implausible – of being willing to consider veganism.
No. 5: It is absolutely, 100% okay to stay at home sometimes, rather than engaging in the sometimes draining interactions that street activism can involve. Putting your own mental health first is a necessity, not a luxury. How you can effectively assist the animals if you yourself are running on empty?
This is such an informative and through post about why going vegan is a good choice.
I love how much work you have put into this.
I stared my journey when I was around 18 quitting red meat and pork, after that I only ate chicken and fish for a decent couple of years.
My boyfriend wanted us to stop eating fish and chicken to we stopped ( I was very picky about eating chicken and fish and prefered to eat a vegetarian diet anyway). Then after a few more years we wanted to do a vegetarian boot camp with workout and food schedual but could not find any. That's when hubby found Jon and Katherine Venus.
After that day a year and a half ago we have been full on vegans and never turned back :).
And I feel better than ever :)
Thank you for sharing your story too, @nicoleslife! 😊
what a great article @aislingcronin! Congrats for standing up to your parents at first, and then taking activism to the streets. I wish I could be more involved inn street activism, but unfortunately I live in a very remote area, and there is no vegan network here. So I'm doing what I can from Steemit =). Will keep reading your stuff, you have a new follower!
This was the case with me too ...with no vegan network in my city. But I realized that someone has to create "that" network. This belief itself led me to start activism. Years later, now my city has quite a good network of activists who are always eager to conduct regular outreaches.
But to each his own. You are doing pretty good activusm online.
yeah I live in a small village...for now it will have to be online unfortunately. IIt's ok though, every small bit helps, right?
How awesome that you created your own network. How did you do it?
Thank you @evecab. 😊 It's funny - my mother is now one of the most passionate, dedicated vegans I know. When I first went vegan, though, she was quite worried about whether I would get enough nutrients. She soon learned that it was possible to be perfectly healthy on a plant-based diet, and went vegan herself! My dad is kind of a "reverse vegetarian" now. He eats meat but doesn't eat dairy... He is supportive of my mother and I being vegan though! I'll follow you too.😃
Aisling, your story and my own are not a million miles apart. I was only thinking that I should talk to VEGO and pop up to do some table activism! Is there any cube of truth happing in the near future? I don't have loads of free time but I could tear myself away from the family for a couple of hours some weekend.
Keep being you!
I think a lot of vegans' stories are similar, for sure. Some people I know were able to stop eating all animal products at once, completely, and they never looked back. In my case, though, phasing out dairy did take a while.
I'm a bit out of the Vego loop at the moment, sadly. My schedule never allows for me to be there on a Saturday these days. They do have a Facebook page, though, where they advertise what they're doing each week! The link is here, just in case you aren't following the page already. 😊
LOL, Yeah I am already following, Not on facebook at all really but I must pop on by and have a look at schedules.
I love reading people's reasons to go vegan, and I feel like most of us have so much in common. It's just crazy for example how before going plant-based it didn't even cross my mind to think about the obvious truth about cows and dairy industry. After having educated myself, I felt disgusted, and knew I was never going back. I loved reading this, such a great article from you! :)
This article is absolutely beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing your story. So often in vegan, or any health related writing the focus seems to be on the finish line. I love writing about the transition. I particularly resonate with your 4th tip. For so long I would read a headline then just repeat it rather than deepening my understanding to the point of actually being able to discuss the topic in depth. The more I learn the more fluid my conversations and writing become. Much like you say in the 2nd tip, taking in different opinions is vital in cultivating a diverse knowledge base along with continued personal practice. Glad to have found your account! I'm new to steemit it and look forward to enjoying more of your content!
Thanks Joe! Welcome to Steemit. I highly recommend joining the Vegans of Steemit group on Discord if you haven't already done so – it's a great place to get support from like-minded people.
Ahaha, a very introverted style of activism! (That's totally how I do it, too. I will staff a table, and let people approach me...Activism is hard for introverts...)
Oh my God @tessaragabrielle, you are so right! 😂😂😂