Kathy Freston on the Ellen Degeneres Show
In my opinion, I think so many people are not vegans because they refuse to see the truth about what they are eating. Sadly, our society chooses convenience over our own health and the welfare of others. I strongly believe that if more people would ask questions about where their food comes from and the cruelty that animals endure in our farming industry, I think more and more of us would be vegans. I, like many people, had a hard time accepting these horrible stories as truths. It wasn't until I started doing my own asking and reading, that I realized the horrors that plague our farming industry and the horrible abuse that we humans inflict on defenseless animals.
When I am so often asked, "why are you a vegan?" so many answers run through my head at once. And although I would love to tell that person all of them, they are usually only mildly peaked with interest as to why I, as a big strong human, top of the food chain, would choose to eat plants rather than MEAT. I have found over the last several months of being a vegan an answer that is short and sweet and encompasses the true and honest way I feel about meat. I tell them that I am not interested in having any part in the abuse of another living thing, therefore I choose not to eat meat or any meat by-products.
Having said that, I came across a wonderful book at the book store today. For those of you that watch the Ellen Degeneres Show, you probably caught the episode with Kathy Freston. First let me say, awesome woman! She's just one of those people that I would love to sit down and have a cup of coffee with. For those of you that do not know her, she is a vegan activist that takes a spiritual approach to health and diet. Anyways, while in the book store today, I came across her book Veganist. I of course grabbed it and immediately found a cozy seat and curled up ready to soak it all in. I almost immediately got stuck on the chapter about the horror stories of how and where our food comes from. There were a couple of stories in the book, that to say the least were not for the faint hearted, but that were about undercover "agents" in different aspects of our food industry. There was a story about our chicken industry, one about our egg industry, and another about our dairy industry. This brings me to my first point, that if people would really put two and two together and see our farming industry for what it is, I think more people would be vegans. The atrocities described in these select stories were enough to make my stomach churn and my heart ache. And although I wanted to put the book down, I knew I had to finish the story. I knew that I had to read it for myself. Although that particular chapter made me physically and emotionally sick, above all else, it actually made me glad to know that I don't contribute to those animals' pain.
The rest of the book is not nearly as sad but equally thought provoking. It's filled with wonderful insight and powerful knowledge of how diet heals us, inside and out and how little changes can save the world. Check it out for yourself or buy it here.
You can also read more on Kathy at http://www.kathyfreston.com/
Eat well my friends
and harm none
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