Vegan 101
We have been getting questions from friends lately about our vegan lifestyle, some curious and some concerned. We wanted to have a place where we could share the answers to these questions in a format that was easy to share and digest. Writing this post has now turned into a series of posts! We will be posting from this series once a week for as long as it takes, so if you know anyone that may benefit, please have them subscribe. We aren’t experts, scientists, medical doctors, or gurus, so please don’t trust us as such, but trust our sources who are experts, scientists, and medical doctors. We will do our best at researching accurately and citing sources for you to follow-up on.
What is a vegan?
There are many nuanced definitions of what it means to be vegan, but here is the definition we live by: A plant-based diet. No consumption or use of anything derived in whole, or in part, from an animal. The majority of foods that meet this definition are meat (yes, fish is a meat), dairy, eggs, and honey. For us, this is more than a diet, it’s a lifestyle. And o the seasoned vegans out there, we do know this would extend to a list of products too long to list here including white sugar, some cosmetics, wool, etc.
How we became vegan.
We’ll post more on this another time, but we wanted to name some resources that were instrumental in our journey to becoming vegan. These aren’t all the resources we consumed, but are a great way for anyone wanting to learn more:
- Food Inc – This film got us thinking about the food industry, in general, and how our food choices matter. (A non-vegan resource)
- Forks Over Knives – A documentary that introduced us to the vast health benefits of a plant-based diet and the detrimental effects of eating animal products.
- Eating Animals – This book was our tipping point. A fairly complete look at the ethics of eating animals and factory farming. Jonathan Safran Foer also helped us understand the environmental impacts of eating animal products and the social/family impact of going vegan.
Why we are vegan.
Simply put, it’s evidence, compassion, and responsibility. When we opened our minds to the body of medical evidence, environmental evidence, and the moral and ethical realities of the animal industry, we were changed. The evidence led us to have compassion for our bodies, animals, and the environment. Between what we had learned and what we felt, we knew we had a responsibility to change our lives. After being fully vegan for a year now, we feel responsible to share what we are learning with others.
In the coming weeks and months, we will be covering a variety of topics. These include: The health benefits of going vegan, the environmental impact of our food choices, the moral and ethical issues surrounding the animal industry, answering common misconceptions of veganism, things that keep us from going vegan, and the difficulties of being vegan. We hope this series will empower you to make informed lifestyle choices. If you have questions or topics you’d like covered, email them to questions@tran-planted.com. Stay tuned as Vegan 101 continues!
Me and my wife are slowing going vegan. For two weeks we have given up all meat. We have not quite got rid of all the cheese yet, that one is harder. We both love the way food makes us feel without the heavy meat feeling. I am also a fan of the new cooking world that had opened up to us.
Awesome John! Honestly, I don’t know how married couples do split diets. I’m glad to hear you and your wife are taking steps together. The less cooking involved, the better we feel after the meal, especially without the meat. The Chinese salad my wife just posted is one great example of that.
Cheese and dairy was the last stand our old diet had. I think it took us around 2 years to give dairy up. We’ll be talking more about why dairy is so hard to kick in a later Vegan 101 post.
It seems like dairy is in everything and everywhere. After watching forks over knives and having one last hamburger, that made us feel horrible we kicked out meat and we are feeling alive. It seems like when we have a vegan dinner we feel so much more awake. Keep up the blog you have great stuff on it.
Pingback: Vegan 101 Health: Overview - Trans-Planted
I’ve been surprised at how easy it’s been for me to go vegan over the past year. It started with my first-ever (and last, I hope) high cholesterol reading, and continued through “Vegucated” and other books and movies. It’s been a delicious journey!
Pingback: Rachael Getting Better » Eating Animals