As Christmas day nears, I’ve been thinking about jolly ol’ Santa and his love for milk and cookies … how his turning vegan could be the biggest gift to vegan activists everywhere.
Imagine the influence he’d have. Children worldwide would be begging their parents for freshly-made almond milk with a side of raw vegan truffle balls, forget the cows, thank you very much.
So, without further ado, here is my letter to Santa this year—10 reasons he should go vegan. I just hope he gets it on time…
1. Your cholesterol levels, Santa, would be back to normal. No more need for those pesky GP visits and poisonous pharmaceuticals;
2. Your energy levels would skyrocket, especially if you adopt a mostly raw diet. Raw, live foods are packed with enzymes, which are the givers of life. Kids everywhere want to see you around for a long time to come. Eating raw and vegan is healthy for you, animals and the planet.
3. Santa, I know you love animals. What bigger gift could you give to them than not eating or wearing them?
4. I don’t mean to be rude, Santa, but being overweight is a serious risk to your health. Did you know tummy fat raises your risk for high blood cholesterol by about 50 percent? A healthy vegan diet will have you at your optimal weight in no time.
5. Most cookies are laden with butter and processed sugar. Many of the mass-produced kind are even worse, with ingredients made up of numbers and boasting names impossible to pronounce. Santa, do you know where your cookies came from?
6. Drinking cows milk has been linked to all sorts of dis-eases, including asthma, osteoporosis, heart disease, diabetes and more. Making milk from nuts is a cinch and doesn’t require harming animals or using massive amounts of the earth’s energy.
7. I hate to be the one to break it to you Santa, but that big fur collar that keeps you warm as you deliver your presents once belonged to real, live animals — defenseless creatures who were tortured and skinned without a second thought. I’ve also been told that fur has formaldehyde in it, which has been known to cause cancers. I don’t want you getting sick, Santa.
8. I know eating on the run must be tempting to a busy man like you, Santa. But I think you should know that fast food meats have thousands of additives that are addictive and fattening. Much of the meat on menus today are also full of pesticides and hormones.
9. Bacon and pork may be tempting, but did you know that pigs are more intelligent than dogs? Word has it they are intelligent as a three year old. I know you’d never eat a three year old, would you, Santa?
10. Those fancy leather seats in your sleigh may be comfy Santa, but did you know how many cows died to make them? If you compare your ride to the average Mercedes Benz, my guess is around seven.
So Santa, if you’re reading this, I urge you to take the pledge. Go vegan in 2010. Imagine the energy you’d have delivering presents next year. Those rosy cheeks would have a truly healthy glow, Mrs Claus could learn new culinary skills, whipping up raw vegan recipes to share with the elves. I’m certain Rudolph would be grateful too, knowing for certain he won’t be re-named venison when it’s time for retirement.
And to PETA, I think I’m onto something. I’ll let you take it from here.
i really hate how people make it seem that no one should eat meat ever…i understand if you want to eat more healthy but to claim that everyone should do this would ruin the world…dont believe me? If we didnt have dear season people would be hitting them with their cars all the time causing accidents and harming people and the animals so should we put the meat to good use or just let it get hit? Also we are all going to the die eventually why should I waste my life eating and drinking stuff that is like 10 times more expensive and less tasteful? Also lets say we don’t kill any animals ever again…the animal population would increase and where does that leave humans??? stopping on the highway for cow crossing? Even animals eat animals…does that mean we should try and turn wolves and coyotes into vegans too? Maybe we should help expand the life span of more dangerous animals like poisonous snakes and killer bears so the population of them can increase. Maybe promoting a vegan life as more healthy is a good idea but saying that no one should eat real meat ridiculous and bad for the well being of humans in general.
Great letter to Santa! I just wanted to say hi (HI!).. I’m another vegan Australian living in New Zealand
Love the blog! I’ve added you to my links..
PS: I was going to respond the the comment above but I’ve decided to leave it.. It’s too bizarre to even know where to begin
Hi Nikki, fellow Aussie! Lovely to receive your comment
I’ve included a link to your site too. Love it!
Hi… I originally wanted to comment on the letter to Santa, but after reading @Jessica’s comment, I really couldn’t resist. In regards to the “everybody’s going to die” theory, YES that is obviously a true statement but does that mean animals should be tortured or skinned alive just because they will die anyways? Seeing as she comments on “dear season” I assume she lives Louisiana or somewhere back East, has weight issues, health issues, has low self-esteem and is uneducated. Was that mean? Sorry… LOL
I really hate how people make it seem that it´s normal to eat meat. eating animals isn´t good use. That´s like saying smokin´ and drinking is good use. Being vegan isn´t waste at all and it isn´t 10 times more expensive and less tasteful. Being vegan is treating yourself like a princess, every meal is a party. It´s ten times cheaper then non-vegan food if you choose the right products instead of grabbing fake steaks and stuff like that. And it’s more tasteful. I never enjoyed food so much untill I became vegan. No i’m in love with food. I get compliments all the time of vegetarians and meat-eaters about the food I serve them. (unfortunatly I don’t know other vegans). So Jessica, try to be vegan before you make a comment like this ’cause you don’t know a F*ck about a vegan lifestyle. The opposite of what you think is the truth.
Ofcourse the animal population wouldn’t take over because when we stop eating meat it’s not necessary to breed them.
Do you really think the animals will be set free when everyone decides to stop eating animals? Do you really think every peace of corpse you ever eat came from a wild animal instead of a “farm” (better say factory) where it was abused?
Ofcourse you shouldn’t turn wolves and coyotes into vegans, that’s ridicilous. You can’t compare humans with wild carnivores.
ps. My website is in dutch, I’m sorry
@ Jessica
You should actually garner an understanding as to how population growth works. An animals population (except for humans) is entirely dependent upon availability of sources and predators in the area. Since us humans fear things with sharp teeth and claws we have drastically altered the ecosystem by slaughtering them and removing predators from rural ares. Any deer population booms are a result of our meddling to begin with, so us continuing to meddle isn’t going to help.
“If we didnt have dear season people would be hitting them with their cars all the time”. Well considering that a) we already hit them all the time and b) that was a strawman argument that has no factual basis, I have to disagree. There are more viable, ethical and supportive means of preventing auto-animal accidents. They are called animal bridges. They have many in Colorado and the animals learned to use them. In the areas with the bridges non-human animal related accidents have massively decreased. Same applies to Florida, that instead of building an animal bridge they built animal tunnels. It was just as effective as the bridges. As for cost, if our tax money that was allocated to support dairy and animal farming was moved to building these safe havens for wild life the cost would be negligible.
Not to mention Jessica that not only has the FDA approved and validated that a vegan (and vegetarian) lifestyle is more healthy than one with meat and dairy. Or that Nikola Tesla, Thomas Alva Edison and Albert Einstein, the essential fathers of our modern world, were all vegetarian. Not only were they healthy, they helped usher the world into a new era. Please Jessica before you get angry about something and argue against it, at least get your facts and do some research. The Human body does not need meat to survive, sustain or be healthy. And as for dairy, we are the ONLY species on the entire planet (that’s one out of 10,000,000 approx.) that consumes dairy after infancy and the dairy of another species. In fact, it is believed, that nearly 80% of the world is lactose intolerant to varying degrees.
Eating meat is both unhealthy and unnecessary, especially in today’s world. While you may have the choice to do so, you are depriving the non-human animals right to a choice. And that’s why I am a vegan.
I love this! Just the right amount of wit & truth… Good on you!
Very cool message to santa! I dig it!
Josh, that was a really great way to put it, very mature and factual! I have a hard time being so calm because I get fuming, but that shows me that you can be calm and get your point across… I loved the facts and your points. kudos.
Since choosing the Vegan lifestyle, I have been able to eat the most delicious, and healthy food ever.. and I am actually saving money in the long run! Add on the Health and its a win-win-win!
Santa will be getting homemade almond milk and vegan cookies from me!! Happy Holidays everyone!
I don’t know that there have been 10 concrete reasons listed yet… but much of this discussion is ridiculous particularly since at least a portion of the authors of the comments/posts do not think that Santa should even be acknowledged or portrayed as as something believable. Many individuals think that the premise or story of Santa is a total untruth and should not be told to children. If something is unbelievable or unreal how can you argue that something (Santa) should become Vegan? Let’s create a different heading for this discussion because there are really 2 (or more) different platforms to be discussed here. Yes. There are many concrete reasons why we as homo sapiens have no reason to consume meat, and can live extremely healthy lifestyles without meat or animal products, but those reasons have not a thing to do with Santa. Thanks.
Thanks Felicia, appreciate your feedback. T’was just a wee bit of holiday fun, and not intended to upset anyone
Happy holidays
It didn’t upset me at all. It’s just that Santa has nothing to do with Veganism. I just think that most individuals who support Veganism don’t believe in the whole Santa Claus lie, so they should be seperate topics. May your holiday season be filled with love and support of family and friends!
Thanks Felicia