Guest guest Posted March 29, 2000 Report Share Posted March 29, 2000 In a message dated 3/29/00 5:45:53 AM Mountain Standard Time, suzy writes: << Anyway, this was a VERY long answer to your simple question and I hope I didn't bore you with the details!! Suzy >> ****************** Not at all! I loved your story. It was very well put. Ever think of writing a book yourself? Holiday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 29, 2000 Report Share Posted March 29, 2000 Hi Holiday, Well, how I became to become vegetarian/vegan... First, I should tell you I was raised a bona fide carnivore. My mother wasn't the best at ferreting out good nutrition for her children, and my step-father was the kill-your-own-and-grill-it-outside kind of guy. I do remember visiting my step-father's mother's farm often, and my favorite cow was once an entree'. This trauma brought about my refusal to eat meat then, but my parents promptly beat that out of me. I was raised a hunter, as well. On my 13th birthday my step-father made sure I received my Hunter's Safety card before the candles on my cake were out, and I got a rifle scope and hunting knife as presents that year. (The candle story is an exaggeration. The gift description isn't.) In my twenties I was into body-building and had a huge appetite. I ate at Wendy's both lunch and dinner, grabbing a Single for lunch and a Double on my way home. At 27 I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. I often wonder how much of this disease is connected to the way I ate. I became a vegetarian almost overnight shortly thereafter. It was really quite odd the way it happened. My then-boyfriend and I were at a book store when he ran into someone he worked with. They began discussing a recent case and as the conversation droned on and on, I started glancing around for something to do. We were standing in the Nature section and I happened to pick up the book " Animal Liberation, " by Peter Singer. I flipped through the pages and saw the horrific conditions the animals were in. I picked up another then called, " Save the Animals! 101 Easy Things You Can Do, " by Ingrid Newkirk. I bought both. That day I vowed never to eat meat again. It had never occurred to me to question the ethics of what I had been doing. It had never occurred to me to wonder if killing animals was wrong (since that first incident with Blacky, the cow). It had never occurred to me that the meat in my meal came from somewhere... WHERE? HOW? WHY? I never asked. Now the answers were right in front of me and I couldn't ... wouldn't... look away. Even funnier - my then-boyfriend used to argue with me constantly... he would insist I needed a POINT in life. He was an attorney and felt he was doing his part to help society, but what was *I* doing? What purpose did I have? His favorite thing to say to me was, " If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. " He grew to regret those words. After my eyes were open to the suffering of animals, I became part of the solution and I insisted that he do the same. I sold my black leather coats and boots shortly after this epiphany. This change in the way I viewed the world made me soon question EVERYthing I'd ever thought or been taught. I became more humanitarian in nature, more mindful in my daily life, and more compassionate in general. Those books sparked my journey into animal rights, environmentalism, and human rights activism. His conscious was not as sensitive as mine, however, and we soon separated. At any rate, I've been a Vegetarian ever since. For the last three years I've been Vegan. It makes me wonder-- if I had been allowed to follow my own heart when I was so young, would I have ever eaten meat? I'm willing to bet I wouldn't have. I loved that cow. And I loved ALL animals. It's amazing what a little brutality in child rearing will accomplish. Anyway, this was a VERY long answer to your simple question and I hope I didn't bore you with the details!! Suzy suzy http://sgsikora.homepage.com -- " Remember that this is a country founded by slave owners that wanted freedom. " --- George Carlin ___________ NetZero - Defenders of the Free World Click here for FREE Internet Access and Email http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 30, 2000 Report Share Posted March 30, 2000 Suzy, your conversion story is wonderful - just the sort of thing I joined this list for in the first place and a brilliant example of nature overcoming nurture. My story covers a shorter time span but is probably just as wordy. I stopped eating meat in my mid twenties and found it easier than I expected. I also stopped using leather, which seemed logical. I had never been happy about eating animals, but like most people it was what I was used to. Anyway, sixteen or so years passed, during which time I continued to drink milk, eat cheese, cream, honey and eggs, and dare I say it - I also ate fish. I could make excuses for that one, but what's the point, it's history. I suppose in the back of my mind I knew that a cow had to give birth to produce milk, but like most people I conveniently didn't think about it. Last year, March 1999, I bought a British magazine called The Big Issue. It's produced for homeless people to sell and thus make a living, so it is a little " fringy " and anarchic, but nothing too dangerous. Right at the back of this life-shattering magazine was a full-page picture of a vivisected ginger and white adult cat, screwed into some mechanical contraption and very obviously dead. I don't remember how I got home, I was distraught. To think that this could still be happening - I had no idea. The picture was all part of the campaign to close down Hillgrove Farm, the last UK breeding centre of cats for vivisection, so of course I sent a donation and asked to be put on the mailing list. When I read the campaign magazine one of the articles asked people to write letters of support to AR prisoners, which I duly did, to a dozen or so. Most replied at least once, but one guy, Pete, I got into a regular correspondence with. He is a strict vegan and very forthcoming with his opinions (nicely of course!), but he didn't realise the depth of my ignorance because in one of his letters he wrote " of course as you know the dairy industry is just as bad (cruel) as the meat industry " . Well actually no, I didn't know, because I'd never taken the trouble to find out and oddly enough the cruelties of the dairy industry are not exactly broadcast on prime time television over here! Well, when I read that I knew that I had to find out for myself, so I found the Vegan Society's web page and read the entire contents of the " Why Vegan? " section. Instant conversion. I didn't go so far as to throw away my existing foodstuffs, but I never bought any more that contained any animal products whatsoever. Of course I've made a couple of mistakes, who hasn't? But I blame that on the manufacturers and never buy their stuff again! I've been purely vegan since June 1999 and I will NEVER EVER go back, no matter what. Cheese was hard to give up, but compare my suffering as a result of not having a food I enjoy with the suffering of a cow giving up calf after calf during her brief life - forget it. The whole animal-based industry is sick. So that's me. Cathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 30, 2000 Report Share Posted March 30, 2000 On Thu, 30 Mar 2000 07:58:40 +0100 Cathy Jupp <Cathy writes: > Cathy Jupp <Cathy Cheese was hard to give up, but compare my suffering > as a result of not having a food I enjoy with the suffering of a cow > giving up calf after calf during her brief life - forget it. The whole > animal-based industry is sick. > > So that's me. > Cathy I love this statement, thanks Cathy. BTW, I'm new to the list. Been lurking when I can. I'm Vicki, I've been vegetarian for about a year. An aspiring Vegan since the first of this year. There have been setbacks, like when we go out to eat. That's the hardest part for me, although I'm making progress. One of the things I use to help me refrain from any animal products is visualization. At first it was the meat, I just picture a cow or pig or chicken in a factory farm and I have no problems not partaking. I also use this for dairy, although I've discovered that dairy doesn't agree with me anyway, so that's a big help. I still have trouble here and there, but I don't beat myself up about it, I'm doing SOOO much better than a year ago, and I'm always trying to do even better than that. I'll get there. Anyway, nice to meet you all. Vicki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 30, 2000 Report Share Posted March 30, 2000 In a message dated 3/30/00 2:33:03 PM Mountain Standard Time, AutuamnSaphire writes: << I'm doing SOOO much better than a year ago, and I'm always trying to do even better than that. I'll get there. >> ****************** YES YOU WILL!!! GOOD FOR YOU :0) Holiday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 6, 2000 Report Share Posted April 6, 2000 Suzy- I think that was a really inspiring story and not too long at all. I like hearing peoples reasons for making the change and I think that most people who grew up eating meat continued to do so throughout their life. I think that kids who grow up eating meat and being taught that, just think it is the right way of life. It is great when those few, like you, have a sort of awakening and begin to think about what they are doing. I can't even imagine being friends with my soon to be dinner. Talk soon -Katie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 6, 2000 Report Share Posted April 6, 2000 that was incredibly inspiring..... sorry this is so late... *casey* " S.G. Sikora " wrote: > > " S.G. Sikora " <suzy > > Hi Holiday, > > Well, how I became to become vegetarian/vegan... > > First, I should tell you I was raised a bona fide carnivore. My > mother wasn't the best at ferreting out good nutrition for her > children, and my step-father was the > kill-your-own-and-grill-it-outside kind of guy. > > I do remember visiting my step-father's mother's farm often, and my > favorite cow was once an entree'. This trauma brought about my > refusal to eat meat then, but my parents promptly beat that out of > me. > > I was raised a hunter, as well. On my 13th birthday my step-father > made sure I received my Hunter's Safety card before the candles on > my cake were out, and I got a rifle scope and hunting knife as > presents that year. (The candle story is an exaggeration. The gift > description isn't.) > > In my twenties I was into body-building and had a huge appetite. I > ate at Wendy's both lunch and dinner, grabbing a Single for lunch > and a Double on my way home. > > At 27 I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. I often wonder how > much of this disease is connected to the way I ate. > > I became a vegetarian almost overnight shortly thereafter. It was > really quite odd the way it happened. My then-boyfriend and I were > at a book store when he ran into someone he worked with. They began > discussing a recent case and as the conversation droned on and on, I > started glancing around for something to do. We were standing in > the Nature section and I happened to pick up the book " Animal > Liberation, " by Peter Singer. I flipped through the pages and saw > the horrific conditions the animals were in. I picked up another > then called, " Save the Animals! 101 Easy Things You Can Do, " by > Ingrid Newkirk. I bought both. > > That day I vowed never to eat meat again. > It had never occurred to me to question the ethics of what I had > been doing. It had never occurred to me to wonder if killing > animals was wrong (since that first incident with Blacky, the cow). > It had never occurred to me that the meat in my meal came from > somewhere... WHERE? HOW? WHY? I never asked. > Now the answers were right in front of me and I couldn't ... > wouldn't... look away. > > Even funnier - my then-boyfriend used to argue with me constantly... > he would insist I needed a POINT in life. He was an attorney and > felt he was doing his part to help society, but what was *I* doing? > What purpose did I have? His favorite thing to say to me was, " If > you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. " > He grew to regret those words. After my eyes were open to the > suffering of animals, I became part of the solution and I insisted > that he do the same. > I sold my black leather coats and boots shortly after this epiphany. > > This change in the way I viewed the world made me soon question > EVERYthing I'd ever thought or been taught. I became more > humanitarian in nature, more mindful in my daily life, and more > compassionate in general. Those books sparked my journey into > animal rights, environmentalism, and human rights activism. > His conscious was not as sensitive as mine, however, and we soon > separated. > > At any rate, I've been a Vegetarian ever since. For the last three > years I've been Vegan. > > It makes me wonder-- if I had been allowed to follow my own heart > when I was so young, would I have ever eaten meat? I'm willing to > bet I wouldn't have. I loved that cow. And I loved ALL animals. > It's amazing what a little brutality in child rearing will > accomplish. > > Anyway, this was a VERY long answer to your simple question and I > hope I didn't bore you with the details!! > > Suzy > > suzy > http://sgsikora.homepage.com > > -- > " Remember that this is a country founded by slave owners that wanted > freedom. " > --- George Carlin > ___________ > NetZero - Defenders of the Free World > Click here for FREE Internet Access and Email > http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html > > ------ > Get a NextCard Visa, in 30 seconds! > 1. Fill in the brief application > 2. Receive approval decision within 30 seconds > 3. Get rates as low as 2.9% Intro or 9.9% Fixed APR > Apply NOW! > http://click./1/2646/3/_/651892/_/954333917/ > ------ > > > Post message: > Subscribe: - > Un: - > List owner: -owner > > Shortcut URL to this page: > /community/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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