Why Vegan??? A tale of a couple who only wanted to do better…

Take a moment to look at this couple…this is definitely the happiest day of their lives and little did they know, this was only the beginning.  Now take another glimpse of this photo…the last thing you would think is that this typical, attractive couple would be vegan in a matter of months after this photo was taken.  And you may ask yourself “Why?”  Well, sit right back and you’ll hear an interesting tale of how veganism became a way of life for this family and how they hope to inspire others just by being themselves 🙂

It all began roughly around mid August of 2008.  I wish I remembered the exact date but that’s irrelevant to this story…Anyways, one afternoon I took the day off of work (I believe it was due to a doctor’s appointment and I had no intention of going back to work afterwards) but Chuck recently introduced me to Hulu and I was fascinated with the fact that I could watch any show I wanted whenever there was nothing good on TV.  Yeah, I love the old “idiot box” as much as I love shopping 😉  While looking for TV shows to watch, I came across a TV series called 30 Days that was hosted by Morgan Spurlock.  I loved Super Size Me and figured, this should be right up my alley.  After watching a couple episodes, I was intrigued…maybe slightly hooked.  Then I came across an episode from the show’s third season titled “Animal Rights.”  Back then I knew enough about the topic but not so much on the vegan lifestyle so this episode really opened my eyes in no way ever before.  About an hour later, Chuck comes home from work and I told him about the show I just watched.  Out of curiosity, he decides to watch it with me.  His response afterwards was (and we both can still remember this moment verbatim) “I can do anything for 30 days!”  To him this was a challenge and coming from a man who is proud war veteran having served in Afghanistan, he’s had his fair share of challenges.  To me, it was about doing what’s right, not just for my health but also for the animals.

The first thing Chuck did (god bless him for this one!) was to go online and research more about veganism and also to find recipes that would not intimidate a first timer…The food was probably the easy part.  From day one he fell in love with VegWeb.  The website had reviews from average folks like him who enjoy cooking a good meal as much as eating it 🙂  The hard part was looking at graphic images that I will spare the details and just tell you to Google “Factory Farming“.  One thing for anyone to consider is that approximately 99% of the meat we consume in the US comes from factory farms.  Regardless if you claim to buy “organic” or “free range meat” the USDA standards for those are soooooooooo lax (unless you know these farmers personally and feel confident that they go above and beyond standards which is rare) that you might as well buy the cheap stuff that was exposed to drugs and unnecessary cruelty…

Now stating the terms “drugs and cruelty” might have shut off a few ears so I am going to take a moment and not sound like a walking PETA ad.  This is not the tone I want to set for this blog because I am not a paid employee of any animal rights organization and if you want more details, feel free to go to an organization that is near and dear to both Chuck and I called Compassion Over Killing.  They are not about the shock factor, celebrity glam, or showing scantily clad women in lettuce bikinis (sorry guys!) but they do get things done by hosting non-intimidating (and very fun) events to get the word across and also encouraging food companies and restaurant chains into becoming more vegan friendly.  I’m sure there are other great organizations out there as well, but to me this organization gave us the tools we were looking for and because of that, they have our full support 🙂

Now back to the story at hand…

The first vegan meal we prepared was sooooo delicious that from that point on, we never looked back.  I think at some point we discussed after our 30 day challenge that we would go back to eating the meat and ice cream in the freezer until it was gone (to not be wasteful), but that plan flew out of the window and Chuck’s parent’s probably had enough non-vegan food to last them a few months!!!  Telling our family and friends about our choice to go vegan was in my opinion, similar to what I would think of one’s “coming out” would be like…

This is no surprise…you always loved veggie pizza over meat lover’s when you were growing up.”– Chuck’s parents

I’m sure at this point, I got a decent chuckle out of you…thus, it’s safe to say the rest was history!!!

Now in conclusion (and on a different note!), I just wanted to end this post by letting you know that although I am not aiming to be famous for this blog but I definitely want people to follow my crazy life.  You’ll notice on the upper right of this blog there is a nifty “Follow” icon that kinda has a Google logo attached to it.  Just click on it and the rest is easy 🙂  I am open to comments on my blog as well so I know what my audience is thinking.  Also if you have friends who might get a kick out of a new up and coming vegan blog, just refer them right here…it’s that simple.  As I gain more followers, I really would like to liven it up and have giveaways selected by yours truly (this should be soon I swear!).  And always, if you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to leave a comment or email me.  By the looks of the events in my house this afternoon, I definitely smell another blog post in the works within the next day or two :p  Have a great evening!!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.