Once upon a time …
I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, I had brown hair, ate meat, and left fighting for rights to all the activists you practically trip over when you walk down the street.
At the tender age of 27 I moved to East Tennessee and in short order became a full fledged activist, a vegetarian, and went blonde. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but it seems like I had to leave California for my true inner Californian to come out.
Even so, when I gave up meat it had nothing to do with the animals and everything to do with the fact that I don't want to eat something that has poop in it (beef) and I don't want to eat anything that prompts the questions, "is this how cannibals feel when they eat people?" Gross.
This all brings us to today, well actually it brings us to the middle of November, and the decision to go vegan. Here is what happened, my good friend and I were discussing our moral qualms about wearing/purchasing leather shoes and handbags, when we came up with the idea of using leather from cows that had died of natural causes. Brilliant, I know! It was going to be how we would make our millions. So from there we decided to do a little research. We thought, what about dairy cows? What happens to them when they've no longer produce milk? There has to be some sort of adorable retirement home for dairy cows where they live out their lives in peace, occasionally getting struck down by lightening, but otherwise dying of natural causes. "Natural Causes" would be the biggest sensation to hit Hollywood since Scientology!
I feel that I should warn you at this point that ignorance is in fact bliss.
Here's the deal, not only is there not a retirement home for dairy cows, their lives "pre-retirement" are awful! Oh, but what about small independent farmers, you say? Sure, I'm sure there are farmers out there who treat their dairy cows like the ladies they are, but I'm pretty sure you aren't going to find their cheese in the grocery store. The Humane Society's full report on the situation is pretty horrifying. So, due to the disturbing information we gathered on the dairy cows, I decided to go vegan. I can't stop thinking about those poor cows who are essentially sex slaves, producing calves so that they can produce milk, forever and ever until they stop producing milk, with absolutely no bodily autonomy. That's not right, y'all. I'm not going to go into more detail, but I do encourage you to read the report above.
Now, here I am - vegan and utterly (no pun intended) miserable. Everyone suggest soy cheese as an alternative and other similar products, but you know what? Soy cheese sucks. It is the grossest. And most vegan cookbooks that I've found have been full of dishes that sound like torture to eat. Where's the cookbook that that's gonna give it to me straight?
I would love to hear from other vegans (new and veteran) with suggestions of recipes, substitutes, or who just need a place to vent. I know that I am making my own life choice, and that many of my non-vegan friends will tell me that I have no one to blame but myself, but that doesn't make this any easier.
Seriously, y'all, this sucks so bad.
I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, I had brown hair, ate meat, and left fighting for rights to all the activists you practically trip over when you walk down the street.
At the tender age of 27 I moved to East Tennessee and in short order became a full fledged activist, a vegetarian, and went blonde. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but it seems like I had to leave California for my true inner Californian to come out.
Even so, when I gave up meat it had nothing to do with the animals and everything to do with the fact that I don't want to eat something that has poop in it (beef) and I don't want to eat anything that prompts the questions, "is this how cannibals feel when they eat people?" Gross.
This all brings us to today, well actually it brings us to the middle of November, and the decision to go vegan. Here is what happened, my good friend and I were discussing our moral qualms about wearing/purchasing leather shoes and handbags, when we came up with the idea of using leather from cows that had died of natural causes. Brilliant, I know! It was going to be how we would make our millions. So from there we decided to do a little research. We thought, what about dairy cows? What happens to them when they've no longer produce milk? There has to be some sort of adorable retirement home for dairy cows where they live out their lives in peace, occasionally getting struck down by lightening, but otherwise dying of natural causes. "Natural Causes" would be the biggest sensation to hit Hollywood since Scientology!
I feel that I should warn you at this point that ignorance is in fact bliss.
Here's the deal, not only is there not a retirement home for dairy cows, their lives "pre-retirement" are awful! Oh, but what about small independent farmers, you say? Sure, I'm sure there are farmers out there who treat their dairy cows like the ladies they are, but I'm pretty sure you aren't going to find their cheese in the grocery store. The Humane Society's full report on the situation is pretty horrifying. So, due to the disturbing information we gathered on the dairy cows, I decided to go vegan. I can't stop thinking about those poor cows who are essentially sex slaves, producing calves so that they can produce milk, forever and ever until they stop producing milk, with absolutely no bodily autonomy. That's not right, y'all. I'm not going to go into more detail, but I do encourage you to read the report above.
Now, here I am - vegan and utterly (no pun intended) miserable. Everyone suggest soy cheese as an alternative and other similar products, but you know what? Soy cheese sucks. It is the grossest. And most vegan cookbooks that I've found have been full of dishes that sound like torture to eat. Where's the cookbook that that's gonna give it to me straight?
I would love to hear from other vegans (new and veteran) with suggestions of recipes, substitutes, or who just need a place to vent. I know that I am making my own life choice, and that many of my non-vegan friends will tell me that I have no one to blame but myself, but that doesn't make this any easier.
Seriously, y'all, this sucks so bad.
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