The ‘moments of vegan epiphany’ videos I posted last week with Gene Baur and Victoria Moran struck a chord. They have inspired a generous outpouring of readers’ own personal stories of vegan epiphany.
Here is a small sample of the personal experiences readers shared.
Patricia Seals at Animal Place Rescue
Dear Lani,
It was so good to meet you at Farm Sanctuary Saturday. Thank you so much for inquiring about my story. I’m also glad to know about you and your plant-strong fitness.
February, 2008, the Humane Society of the US started ramping up the Prop 2 campaign, outlawing veal crates, pig gestation crates, and overcrowded battery cages for egg laying hens.
At that time I was living with my two brothers. I returned home from errands one morning and one of my brothers came storming out of his bedroom saying, “It’s terrible. It’s enough to make a person want to go vegan!”
I asked him what he was talking about, stunned by his vegan statement. He had just seen an ad featuring an undercover investigation showing cows being abused at a slaughter facility.
I had been changing the channel and not watching the ads, but I changed my mind. I lost my appetite from watching the videos and from thinking about all the stuff (I can’t call it food) I’d been eating. I knew I had to face what was going on and make my own decision how I would go forward with my life.
I was horrified by what I saw, but disturbed that I wasn’t entirely surprised. I spent some quiet time thinking about becoming vegan myself and what it would mean to my life. Shortly after noon that day, February 24, 2008, two weeks after my 59th birthday, I went into the family room and told my brothers that I was going vegan and I wouldn’t be eating animal products anymore. Then I left the room.
Besides eating 100% veggie, I became a volunteer at Animal Place, and attend events to support animals and spend time with other vegans.
What happened to the brother that put vegan in my mind? He didn’t change his ways, but I am forever thankful to him for his outburst that changed my life for the better.
~ Patricia Seals, Martinez, CA
The calf Kimberly Ann saw at the county fair
Hi Lani,
When I see meat, poultry ,etc, I see the trauma and torture they went through…
At the county fair this past summer, I had to leave the barn where I seen a 1 day old calf separated from its mother and it was sucking peoples fists…all alone and it sickened me.
But as the beautiful people above me are saying “wish the whole world would get the message….” ~ Kimberly Ann, Tonawada, NY
Lani,
I went plant-based for health reasons – and thankfully met some really wonderful Vegans who helped me understand what Veganism was all about – and it was so much more than the food that I eat.
I became Vegan shortly after. For me it was about a lot of things – but mostly, just doing the right thing… no creature should have to suffer because of my choices. I did not want to cause any harm to any living thing, and Veganism is the only thing that I could personally do to stop causing harm, abuse, torture, death of innocent beings -it meant not hiding behind industries who cause that pain either. It wasn’t a hard decision – it was simply a choice to stop using animals, and deciding that it was simply wrong to ever do so. ~ Natala Constantine, Vegan Hope
Want to read more? Check out the Vegan Mainstream facebook thread where readers responded to last week’s post. Have you a story of ‘vegan epiphany’ to tell? Please share in comments below.
Thanks for reading this post. Please join me on my facebook page here, too: http://www.facebook.com/lanimuelrath. See you there!
Lani Muelrath, M.A. is Vegan Mainstream’s Health & Fitness Expert. Watch for regular articles from Lani on how to be a strong, healthy, fit vegan. Articles, videos, and more from Lani at www.lanimuelrath.com.
Lani is also “The Plant-Strong Fitness Expert” of www.lanimuelrath.com and creator of Fit Quickies™. She has a Master’s Degree in Physical Education and over 30 years of experience as a teacher, coach, and trainer. She has received awards for her instruction, created and starred in her own CBS TV Show, and her expertise in the area of health and fitness is called upon by examiner.com, Dr. John McDougall’s Health and Medical Center, Dr. Neal Barnard’s 21-Day Vegan Kickstart program, and Engine 2 Diet. She is Certified in Plant-Based Nutrition Certification through Cornell University.
