Vegetarianism is a diet. Veganism is a lifestyle.
We do it for the animals
If you’ve ever had a pet, you know there’s a spark of life, sentience and cognizance in animals. We cannot in good conscience play with Fido in the backyard, then come to the supper table and cheerfully dine on Bessie. We’ve been socialized to accept the death and exploitation of certain animals and not of others, but, as Romain Roland writes in If God is Good, “To a man whose mind is free there is something even more intolerable in the sufferings of animals than in the suffering of man, for with the latter it is at least admitted that suffering is evil and that the man who causes it is a criminal. But thousands of animals are uselessly butchered every day without a shadow of remorse.”
Bob and Jenna Torres (authors of Vegan Freaks: Being Vegan in a Non-Vegan World) define ethical veganism as a lifestyle commitment to reduce the needless suffering of animals – and damage to the earth – through our purchasing decisions, our diets and our example to those around us.
We do it for the world
George Bernard Shaw said, “While we ourselves are the living graves of murdered animals, how can we expect any ideal conditions on earth?”
We do it for ourselves
Human bodies function at optimum capacity when fueled by a vegan diet. Senses previously dulled by the stagnation of animal flesh and fat in our digestive systems and blood streams are consistently sharpened when these foreign substances are eliminated. Thought processes speed up, blood sugar levels and energy increases.
But there’s more to it than that. Physical health aside, there is a spiritual aspect to consider. Psychology looks for cruelty to animals as a precursor of cruelty to people. Leo Tolstoy said, “As long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields.”
Kate Simmons is a communication professional living in Minneapolis, Minn. If you have questions about this site or any of the sources cited on this weblog, please e-mail kate.a.simmons@gmail.com and reference “Vegan is a Lifestyle” in the subject line.
