Readers have informed me that "free range" and "humane" are empty labels, and don't mean the animals were treated any better.
Today marks day five of my Vegan Challenge. I was prompted to eat a vegan diet based on a UN study released last week. The report found evidence that a global diet shift away from animal products is needed to help prevent resource depletion and alleviate world hunger. The report said agriculture accounts for 70 percent of our global freshwater consumption, 38 percent of the total land use, and 14 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, more than half of the world’s crops are used to feed animals, not people. So, I’m going vegan for two weeks to reduce my environmental footprint, and to prove to others that it’s not so hard.
My last few days have actually been pretty easy. I’m easing into the diet quite well, and it’s becoming more of a routine than an effort. I picked up a vegan cookbook today called “Vegan On The Cheap” by Robin Robertson that I’m excited to use.
Currently I’m in Chicago visiting friends. I’m staying with four meat-eating men, so I planned ahead and brought a lot of my own food. Some of them seem convinced that veganism deprives you of essential nutrients. Sometimes it’s easier to walk away than to argue, but this is part of the problem. Do you try to explain your point of view to people who aren’t open to hearing it?
Anyway, I’ve received some amazing comments full of advice from vegans. I want to share some of these hints and insights with you, because they have been so helpful.
First of all, here are some great websites for recipes:
ChooseVeg.com – Offers an easy to navigate list of recipes for the biggest meals of the day, and tops it off with snacks and dessert recipes. Also suggests protein sources, cooking tips, and a number of reasons for making the switch. Try to ignore the occasional typo.
HappyCow.net – Figures out where you are, and finds vegan and vegetarian restaurants close by. A great tool.
Vegetarian Food For Thought- A website with podcasts, so you can learn about a healthy diet while you hang out around the house.
Here are some sites that detail animal rights, and where our food comes from:
Farm to Fridge- This link offers shocking videos from within slaughterhouses that will rock you to the core. ChooseVeg.com also outlines how “free range” products promote animal cruelty. To quote the site, “Free range means that the animals must have some access to the outdoors, but there are no government regulations about how much outdoor area must be provided.” Many people have commented on my interests in eating animal products so long as the animals were treated humanely, and I understand now, that this may be an impossible feat.
Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer – This website offers a forum for like-minded people to share their stories about making the switch. I’ve been meaning to read the book, as well.
Ingredients vs Activism – Matt Ball’s essay on how to actually execute a vegan lifestyle. It offers a really interesting look at the vegan mentality, and offers advice on how to translate conviction into activism. “Instead of spending our limited time and resources worrying about the margins (cane sugar, film, medicine, etc.), our focus should be on increasing our impact every day,” Ball says. “Helping just one person change leads to hundreds fewer animals suffering in factory farms. By choosing to promote compassionate eating, every person we meet is a potential major victory.”
The Feminist’s Dilemma- Ari Solomon’s essay on the Huffington Post website about milk production, and what the female cows go through in order to produce the milk we put in our cereal. The cows must be pregnant to produce milk, and when they give birth, are given 24 hours with their newborn, the essay says. The calf is then taken from the mother and if it is female, becomes a dairy cow. If it is male, it’s often sold to become veal.
FarmSanctuary.org – The free range and humane myth, explored.
Keep the advice comin’, and I’ll update tomorrow. Thanks for reading.
The Vegan Challenge Series
Other Articles by this Author:
Book Review: “The Story of Stuff” by Annie Leonard
Defunding attacks inspire increased donations to Indiana Planned Parenthood
Preview: Indiana high school principal on budget cuts, teacher layoffs
Move Your Money campaign having unexpected impacts, according to Huffington Post staff
Effects of Move Your Money campaign are indirect but present
Jessica is a freelance writer from West Lafayette, IN. She recently graduated from the Indiana University School of Journalism with her B.A. in journalism and a concentration in political science. Her works have been featured in a number of publications including HELEN magazine, The Bloomington Herald-Times, and CafeAbroad.com. Jessica is an environmentalist with a passion for the outdoors. She also has an insatiable appetite for travel, and was fortunate enough to spend a semester abroad in Rome, Italy. She currently lives in Indiana but is planning a move to New York City in the near future. Visit her Web site here.
I tried this experiment in early 2002 at the age of 40. So far, so good. Seemed hard at first and you do get a lot of interrogation and harrassment. That is just the normal reaction people have when something seriously challenges their worldview. The more aggressive they are in questioning and challenging you the more likely they are to come around eventually. You just respond politely and encourage them to investigate on their own. Anyway, I never enjoyed eating as much as I do since becoming vegan. People have no idea how limited their diets are when they are not vegan.
Insightful?:
0 
0
I’m so glad you found some of the websites I listed helpful! There’s a couple there that I haven’t heard of myself, so I will definitely check them out. As for other people, if they are genuinely interested, I will definitely answer all questions and converse about the issues, especially the ones they seem most interested in (i.e. animals, health or the environment). If someone is really just rude, I don’t really bother as nothing you say will change their mind. Setting a good example and eating yummy food is more likely to slowly shift their perspective. From personal experience, I think the most aggressive people are the ones that don’t want to evaluate their choices in life and see if they really fit in with their belief systems because that means they may have to change and change is scary for many people. It’s easier to deny and pick on the vegan. I usually just refer people to watching Earthlings if they really want to know why I’m vegan (you can watch for free at http://www.earthlings.com/). Oh, also, The China Study is the book to read on the health perspective. Dr. Cambell has a movie coming out soon on the topic too. http://www.thechinastudy.com/about.html and http://forksoverknives.com/ So I definitely applaud you for your openness to learning new things and the respect you have shown vegans. I truly appreciate it.
Insightful?:
0 
0
As Sonja said, Earthlings is a wonderfully eye opening documentary about the treatment of nonhuman animals by humanity. It really reinforced my love of the helpless and convinced me to become more active in educating others.
I hope you’re having a great time trying veganism and that you don’t become discouraged by notions of purity or difficulty. Remember the words of Matt Ball in the “Ingredients vs. Activism” article you mentioned. This is about making a positive change in the world in a realistic way, not about purity.
I look forward to reading more about your progress!
Insightful?:
0 
0
One other resource that I would recommend is http://www.veganhealth.org/ This is my go to guide for the most updated informaton on vegan and vegetarian nutrition. I am not sure if it is a good resource for starters, but it contains a lot of crutial information about nutrients that need more attention in vegan diets. And it is a great resource for people staying on vegan diets.
I guess this is one more thing that will help people stay healthy and avoid common pitfalls that many people getting familiar with this diet make. There is also a book on this topic that goes into greater detail about all of the macro and micronutrients: Becoming Vegan (http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Vegan-Complete-Adopting-Plant-Based/dp/1570671036)
Both of the above resources were put together by vegan Registered Dietitians. And by the way, they are not the only ones. At this point I am familiar with 11 vegan RDs. But this is another topic I guess : )
Insightful?:
0 
0
“Some of them seem convinced that veganism deprives you of essential nutrients.”
In the early days of my veganism, I had to constantly decide whether to educate or walk away. The easiest “out” I had was to ask them “are you really interested in the facts, or are you just teasing me?” If they were really interested, I handed them a short vegan nutrition pamphlet. (Always at the ready!)
For those who were more interested in teasing, 10 years of sustained good health on a vegan diet have quieted them down significantly.
Insightful?:
0 
0
I would second the veganhealth.org recommendation. Jack Norris is an extremely helpful RD who takes you through each and every vitamin and mineral that could possibly be of concern to vegans (or anyone!). It’s really not hard to get all your nutrients on a vegan diet, but he tells you exactly what’s important.
Insightful?:
0 
0