Three Very Simple Reasons Why I'm a Vegan

A lot of people ask me why I'm a vegan. Sometimes, I just smile and don't say much at all, and sometimes I find myself rambling around forever in a way that soon makes both me and the person who first asked the question visibly uncomfortable.

But when it comes down to it, my reasons for being a vegan are pretty simple, and are the exact same reasons why many people choose a life of voluntary simlicity.

Reason #1: It's good for my health. I'm not going to go into much detail about this here, because there are experts who have written extensively on the topic. If you are so inclined, read The China Study and Becoming Vegan.

Reason #2: It's good for my wallet. Seriously, being a vegan saves me money. Except for an occasional meal out at a favorite vegan restaurant, being a vegan is pretty cheap. By and large, veggies and fruits (even the locally grown and organic variety) are reasonably priced. Nuts are worth the price I pay for them, considering how small a serving size is. Even my expensive vegan protein powder doesn't cost me nearly as much as the average person spends on buying meat, cheese, and dairy products. Do I sometimes get upset that my organic soy milk costs so much more than regular milk and that it rarely goes on sale? Of course I do. But then I just revert back to Reason #1 above and I relax.

Reason #3. It's good for the environment. And I'm not just talking about the animals here. Of course being a vegan is good for them. :) It's also better for the air, water, and land. Again, you don't have to research much to learn the impact that the Standard American Diet has on our environment... and how being a vegan is a lighter way to walk through life.

I'm really not an expert on veganism. I just know that it makes sense for me personally. It aligns with my values and makes me feel good about many of the choices I make on a daily basis. That's it.

If you've ever considered giving up animal products, I encourage you to do your research and then take the leap. Try it. If you don't like it, you know, you can always go back... And if being a vegan seems like too big of a stretch, join the "Meatless Mondays" movement. Give up meat one day a week, knowing that on Tuesday you can go back to eating whatever you ate on Sunday. You might just find yourself not wanting all that meat after a while.

Oh, and check out my brother's blog here. He's the person who inspired me to go vegan. And he writes about it quite a bit on his blog. And he's pretty smart and entertaining. But again, that's just my personal opinion. :)

Birke Baehr: What's wrong with our food system | Video on TED.com

Birke Baehr: What's wrong with our food system | Video on TED.com

So Thankful...

So thankful for time spent with family and friends, for the comfort of knowing that every year - no matter what has transpired - we will all gather in this time and in this place. And sometimes we might cry a bit, remembering years past and those loved ones who are no longer with us, but we always will come around to a place of laughter, and celebration, and love. Anyone who has ever spent a Thanksgiving at my family's house knows that it is a time that is not easily captured in words, or pictures, or even memories... it's kind of one of those, "you had to be there" things. And for those of us who have been lucky enough to gather together year, after year, after year, well, we all know that we are blessed beyond measure. So thankful this is my family; so thankful this is my home...

Storytellers

I wrote the following years ago as part of the introduction to my undergraduate thesis - And They Were Heroes: A Collection of Family Stories.

I sat in my grandmother's study sifting through volumes of family documents as the sound of my grandfather's favorite Bocelli video concert drifted up the stairs. As my mind wandered from the stories in old letters and immigration documents to recollections of my own family experiences - a memorable family vacation, the smell of my mother's famous spinach stuffed shells (marking her once-a-month culinary creation) - I could not help what wonder what the stories of my family's past would mean to me, and what the stories of my own past would one day mean to future generations. Why was I so interested in the stories of my ancestors, of my great-grandparents, of my grandparents? How did these stories of memories past fit into the fabric of my own life?

Sometimes people have a tendency to believe the stories of their own lives are less important than those they read about in history books or hear about on television. And sometimes people believe their own stories are more important than the stories of people around them - friends, neighbors, strangers. It was my grandmother who taught me that all individuals and all families have their own important stories to tell; not stories that make them greater or less than anyone else, but stories that make them unique, stories that bind them to their pasts and connect them to their futures. Stories can be the powerful links that connect generations otherwise disconnected by the barriers of time and distance and memory. To find insight and light among a trunk filled with torn, yellowed letters and postcards; to see resemblance in a smile shining through a dusty old photograph; to discover a hidden strength in the stories of long lives well-lived - these are the qualities that compel me to tell my family's stories - stories that have given me a greater understanding of not only who I am, but also of where I have come from.

I miss you already...