Why Vegan?

I've flirted with the idea of becoming a vegetarian for many years. In fact, I've gone as long as 50 days without meat, but I never really had a reason to stay meat-free. I'm a Latina, and my basic food staples include meat and cheese in just about every dish. Think about it... 

Enchiladas: Tortilla, cheese, chicken and sauce

Tacos: Tortilla, meat, cotija cheese, cilantro and salsa

Chilaquiles:  Tortilla, cheese, meat and sauce

Don't even get me started on menudo or pozole!  

It's hard to imagine a life without meat (let alone cheese), and whenever I would tell my parents I was going vegetarian, they would ask me what the heck I was going to eat. 

I never imagined I would be sitting here writing a blog about becoming VEGAN! I went to college in one of the most liberal cities in the United States: Boulder, Colorado, and it was there that I first encountered veganism. I just brushed it off as a crazy lifestyle that some people choose. Even when I was considering becoming a vegetarian, I never once thought about becoming vegan. 

So what caused the switch? This movie: 

Last week I caught one of the ugliest flu bugs I've ever experienced. I was bedridden for nearly five full days as my body tried to recover. When I was not sleeping off my fever, I was watching Netflix documentaries. I started with Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, then I watched Hungry For Change, and because Netflix recommends documentaries based on your recently watched items, I clicked on a recommendation called Vegucated.

I'll be honest, when the introductory commentary by Marisa Miller Wolfson stated that this was a documentary chronicling three people's challenge to lead a vegan lifestyle, my first instinct was to switch to another film. However, the film was so entertaining and informative that I could not stop watching it. What I learned about animal agriculture was enough to make my stomach turn. I just can't unsee what I saw, and I refuse to continue to turn a blind eye to it. This documentary gave me the emotional and moral connection I was looking for all these years. It showed me how selfish I have been to allow these animals to endure cruel practices just so that I could enjoy a piece of bacon or a good burger. Not to mention the waste and environmental degradation these mass-producing farming practices create. 

I may only be one person... 

I know that my decision to become a vegan will not make a significant impact on animal agriculture, but I am a wife, a daughter, a sister, a granddaughter, a niece, a friend, and a future mother. My friends and family members will eventually inquire as to why I have chosen this lifestyle, and I will share my reasoning with them. I will also continue to educate myself about leading a vegan lifestyle and the power of plant-based diet. 

I will not judge...

One thing that I really liked about this documentary was that there was not an elitist or "holier than thou" feel to it. When the participants of Vegucated struggled with the transition to a vegan lifestyle, Marisa was very open and non-judgmental about it. I have been a meat-eater for 29 years. My decision to become vegan is based on my own personal sense of responsibility to nature and the environment. I will not judge others for continuing to eat meat, and I will not try to force my ideas on them. I can only hope to inspire through example.