Vegetarians?

The other issue of course is the moral... people can't deal with the killing part of eating meat. Animals do it, take life for food, all the time, but I think we have issues with our own brutality and animality. Factory farming and completely cutting people off from how they get their food is definitely not the way to go, though...

The difference, though, is that carnivorous animals do it out of necessity. Humans do not need to eat meat (and in fact most of us are doing more harm than good to ourselves by doing so) to survive.


I certainly don't strive to force my beliefs on anyone else. My husband is a meat-eater and refuses to eat much of my veggie-fare, and I don't chastise him for his choice at all. I respect meat-eaters' choice in the same way I desire them to respect mine. I do wish, though, that more people would inform themselves of what is in their food, especially their animal products, where it comes from, and also be more aware of some of the disgusting practices involved in factory farming. I've heard numerous meat-eaters say "I just don't think about it," or "I just don't WANT TO think about it" in regard to these things. And I'll admit, I was the same way, but my conscience finally got to me. I honestly feel happier, healthier and more at peace without animals on my plate.

No-- the transition was pretty easy for me for a few reasons.

Although I had considered it for a while, I decided overnight to just stop eating all dairy, which was the last non-vegan element in my diet. One night, I ate pizza and ice cream and felt so sick afterward that I said, "Enough!" and just gave it up.

A second thing that made my transition so easy was the overwhelmingly positive response from my body! I felt better. My skin cleared up quickly. And, most surprisingly, my allergies went away. I used to take prescription and over-the-counter allergy medicines all year round to manage my indoor and outdoor allergies. When I gave up dairy, all of my allergies disappeared--I haven't taken any medication for them in years.

I do admit that the biggest challenge in being vegan comes from how other people see you. They're either interested or they're annoyed by vegans. The second challenge is, of course, finding vegan-friendly foods in restaurants. But this is becoming easier as more restaurants post menus and ingredients online. And, if you're polite and patient, you can ALWAYS get the chef to make something simple and delicious for you.

I'm vegan for both ethical and health reasons-- I'd never want to go back to a non-vegan lifestyle. It's an integral part of who I am and what I believe.

Oh I wish they carried Morningstar products here in Canada..I really miss that..I heard the Lightline products (smartbacon) was good too..I can pretty much get most Yves products and some Boca stuff. I'm going to a store tomorrow that has their own line of meatless too that I want to try.

Can you get Quorn? We are just starting to get that here in the States, but I know in England they have TONS of Quorn products and I like them a lot more than Yves (it's a poor substitute for Morningstar! Sorry, Yves fans! lol) From my experience, you get more UK products in Canada than we do here. Worth searching out.

And it's easy to go veg even without those products. SOOO many easy veg meals to make. I love sauteed vegs (asparagus, any leafy greens, mushrooms and onions and peppers to make a veggie hoagie.) Oven roasting stuff is also nice since you can use less oil.

Good luck! Feel free to add me, too, and/or PM for any thing.