I love hearing about other people’s journeys to veganism. From their first a-ha moment to details of their day-to-day experiences of better health and spiritual awakenings, living life free of animal meat and by-products.
If the media reports are right, veganism is on the rise, with new blogs, food products and clothing popping up every day. There’s definitely change in the air, and it feels good to know lives are being spared and that kindness and consciousness is taking over.
While we still have a long way to go, there are so many inspiring people out there spreading the message. David Rafter and Amanda Rootsey are two shining examples of veganism in action, having transitioned to the lifestyle about three years ago. Founders of VeganEra.com, the Australian couple are also spreading the message offline via roadside billboards and merchandise that spreads the vegan message.
“Time is starting to become very critical in terms of our environment and the world is showing us that the way we are leading our lives is definitely not in harmony. We have to do something to change,” David says.
I asked him to share their inspiring story…
When did you become vegan?
I began the loving journey about three years ago when I was around 26. For me, it was a transition, initially I went vegetarian then after a couple of months I dropped dairy and soon realised that I had become a vegan!
Why did you decide to become vegan?
Upon reflection, it was a process. When I was 25 I had lead a bit of a party lifestyle and enjoyed the night-lights. I got really sick of how bad I was feeling all the time. So I dropped everything, I remember the point in which I said to myself that I would no longer go out, I would no longer drink and that it was time to drop meat from my diet.
Honestly, at that exact moment I could feel a massive shift take place in my life. It was the conscious decision to stop killing and lean on the side of compassion that I felt a very big lift in my soul.
At this time I was living on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland (Australia), and I had decided to start getting healthier. I was running and surfing, really enjoying being with nature. I had just finished a run through the national park, where I leant on a tree and I could feel the energy of the Earth coming through it. I couldn’t believe it. I was in total shock as I could feel the lungs of the Earth inhale and exhale. At that moment I knew that we were all connected. From the souls of the animals right through to the limbs of this tree. At that moment, I knew that this was my path.
My life has definitely changed; my soul feels so amazing and so light. It is like a massive weight has been lifted and I feel closer to Heaven. When you feel this feeling, there is no turning back – you just want to continue feeling it. I actually get covered in goose bumps talking about it.
Actually, coinciding with this, my father told me to go out and work on his dairy farm for the day. Believe me, I was kicking and screaming the whole way. When I did get there, my worst fears were realised. I could not believe how much pain and suffering existed. Dead calves in the middle of the paddock, their mothers standing over them, screaming in pain. If the calves were alive, they were locked in pens so small that they could barely stand. The pain and suffering in the cries of the mothers was terrifying. I couldn’t bare it any longer – I had to lock myself in the house, turn up the TV and try to block it all out. Clearly when I got back I said in no uncertain terms that I would never return to that place ever again.
Also, my brother had been vegetarian for about 10 years, and had been buggin’ me for ages to drop meat. At the time he was living in America, and I Skyped him and told him the change I had experienced. He was so excited for me. He then sent me a documentary that I watched via you tube in which it showed the whole process of how the meat gets on to your plate. At the end I was in tears, I felt so much sorrow that we could do this to our beautiful animal friends. If it wasn’t sealed in concrete before then, it was now.
How has your life changed since?
My life has definitely changed; my soul feels so amazing and so light. It is like a massive weight has been lifted and I feel closer to Heaven. When you feel this feeling, there is no turning back – you just want to continue feeling it. I actually get covered in goose bumps talking about it. The feeling is indescribable, you feel like you are floating on a cloud the whole day and you want to share that with the world.
Can you tell me about Vegan Era and why you decided to start it?
Vegan Era started in 2009 and has been going strong ever since. Along with my partner Amanda and of course our little staffy girl Trudi, we felt the need to spread this feeling to the world.
Initially we found a lot of information about how much damage the livestock industry has done to our planet. We just couldn’t believe that this information was not out there. We felt a very strong need to create a place where people could come and learn more about the choices they make and the impact their diet can have on reversing climate change.
Then in 2010, Amanda was diagnosed with cancer. In the beginning Amanda was determined not to go down the conventional path as we had done lots of research into the harsh impact chemo has on our bodies. So we did a lot of research on how diets can help heal the body. Again, we couldn’t believe how much information was hidden from us. We came across a great book called The China Study, and from that moment on we wanted to share the health benefits of a Vegan diet.
Read More Post a comment (8)
There’s a lot of controversy surrounding the topic of raising children without meat or animal byproducts in their diet. Opponents of veganism will argue that vegan kids won’t get the vitamins and minerals that they need or that the diet is overdoing it at best and fanatic at worst.
The truth is, however, that feeding your child a vegan diet has a range of positive effects not only on their bodies, but other humans as well as the environment as a whole.
Vegan Kids Maintain a Healthier Weight
The rate of childhood diabetes is an ever-increasing epidemic. The Center for Disease Control estimates that about 13,000 children are diagnosed with this chronic disease annually. This is largely due in part to the excessively high instances of childhood obesity, with about 33% of children being overweight and half of them considered obese. Studies have shown that body mass index is directly related to the intake of meat. Thus, vegans are less likely to be overweight than those who regularly include meat in their diet.
Being overweight or obese contributes to a number of health problems and chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, increased likelihood of heart attacks, clogged arteries, cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal problems – the list is endless. Starting your children off with a well-rounded vegan diet is setting them up to live longer, healthier lives.
Vegan Kids Contribute to a Greener Earth
One of the most disturbing side effects of meat eating is the damage done to the environment. In the scramble to “go green” before our Earth is irreparably destroyed, diet is often left out of the equation. However, it is one of the easiest things to change that would create the biggest impact.
The hidden killer of the environment is the agricultural sector. Meat and livestock production account for almost 20% of the world’s greenhouse gases – that’s more than transport! As a vegan, your child won’t be a part of this toxic equation.
Vegan Children and Reduced Consumption of Water
Though 70% to 75% of the Earth is covered in water, and up to 60% of our own bodies are made of this liquid substance, we are having a serious water crisis. Up to one billion people aren’t afforded the luxury of clean water – that’s one in six people.
What does veganism have to do with water consumption? A lot. Meat eaters who enjoy fine dining at a California steakhouse or eat hamburgers regularly are probably unaware that their dinner requires 5,400 gallons of water. For the same amount of water, your vegan child can eat 41 pounds of bread or 150 servings of pasta. Raising a vegan child equates to utilizing this precious resource in a more conscious way.
Enough Food for Everyone
World hunger is another huge problem that we are facing as a global community. However, it’s not for lack of food that there are so many people going without – it’s that the food is being kept out of people’s mouths. The majority of the world’s soybean supply, along with an obscene quantity of grains, is being fed to fatten up animals being raised for food. According to a study done by Cornell University, in the US alone, the grain used to feed livestock could feed 800 million people. Vegan children aren’t contributing to the world hunger crisis.
Vegan Kids Enjoy Spiritual Benefits
Killing is denounced by practically every major and minor world religion. However, the meat eaters of the United States are responsible for the death of almost 10 billion animals every year. The saddest part? This only accounts for about 15% of the animals that are murdered annually around the world. No matter what type of religion, spiritual path, or moral principles you practice, eliminating needless murder from your life and your children’s lives will only improve your spiritual fitness. Children beginning life without ingesting animal products is a great first step to leading a spiritually balanced life.
Jasmine Stephenson is a guest blogger for An Apple a Day and a writer on earning your online nursing degree for the Guide to Health Education.
Photo courtesy of Robert Whitehead
Making the decision to go vegan is a different path for everyone. The reasons behind the choice may range from healthy living to animal rights. Whatever they are, making the decision to be vegan is one of the biggest gifts you can give yourself, animals and the planet.
I was chatting with Be Genki‘s Sam Sample last week and she mentioned she’d recently made the transition to veganism, after years of flirting with it. I asked if she would be happy to share her journey in the hope of inspiring others who are thinking about becoming cruelty-free. Here is her story…
There’s a high chance that you may be toying with the idea of choosing to be vegan. The reason for writing this particular article is that you may find that it touches a part of you, just as living it has touched all parts of me, and that it may help inspire you to take the final step. ~ Sam Sample
Last month I finally chose to walk the vegan road. I use the word ‘finally’ because I feel it has been a slow and gradual progression over the last 15 years.
In 1995 I read the book Fit for Life
Over the next five years my taste for meat declined. Correction, not so much the taste of it, but more so the flesh component. Have you ever bitten in to a piece of meat and visualized biting in to the arm, leg or torso of an animal, and that the chewy bits of meat is too closely associated with chewing your way through the flesh of that animal? Those type of visualizations also grossed me out and ended my meat eating days, with exception to mince meat in lasagna, spaghetti bolognese and carpaccio (the paper thin raw beef), as these styles of meat required no tough chewing and melted in my mouth.
My fascination for food, health and wellbeing led me to study a 3 year Diploma of Nutrition and it was during those classes that I was exposed to the horrifying documentaries about chickens in battery farms, their ghastly diet, abnormally unhealthy living conditions and outrageous cruelty and suffering. Add to that, the accounts of negative health effects that the consumption of these chickens and eggs were having on the human population. I was so appalled by this information that I have never eaten a piece of chicken since, but somehow I remained an egg eater, as long as they were the biodynamic organic free-range variety.
As time went by and my love of food and good nutrition grew, so did my love and respect for mother earth. Each day I was inspired to learn a little more about the “truth” of the type of world we live in, how my choices can have an effect on the future of the world based on the simple fact that every time I buy a product I am saying to that company, ‘keep on doing what you are doing.’ I am supporting everything that company does: every source of raw material, every packaging solution, every environmental standard that they are undertaking, every form of employee relations and every marketing choice.
When creating Be Genki, the range of bath, body and home care products, I was adamant that the brand had to be certifiably “animal cruelty free”, not containing any animal derived ingredients and certainly not allowing any of the products or ingredients to be tested on animals. Yet, I still was consuming eggs, cheese and a portion of meat once every few months. Hmmm… I wasn’t wanting to use animal products in my skincare products but was happy to eat them. Interesting inconsistency don’t you think?!
Being an advocate for holistic health and wellbeing, and possessing the inclination to think about what consequence my choices are having on my life, my loved ones’ lives, the community, the planet, and future beliefs, standards and ideals, choosing vegan seemed like the natural thing to do that would honor everything that I believe in, (that is, to help improve my awareness, consciousness and communion with mother earth.)
The tipping point for making the choice, however, was watching the short clip VEGAN For the People. For the Planet. For the Animals. (see below). Quite simply, the short film clip makes sense. Choosing to be vegan not only nurtures myself, but my loved ones, future generations and the world in which we share. Oh… and I look and feel so much healthier since making the change. Love those extra perks!
Photo courtesy JelleS
One of my best friends and favourite intuitive healers is Rebecca Dettman. If you haven’t checked out her Psyched in Stilettos blog and her new self-titled website, RebeccaDettman.com, both are treasure troves of transformative spiritual information. I always look forward to Rebecca’s weekly newsletters, from which the following guest post was first published…
Is that a dead animal on your face?…and lying in your bathroom? Let me be really, really brutally clear about this. L’Oreal tests their products on animals. So does Shiseido. Not to mention Covergirl, Pantene, Clairol, Johnson & Johnson’s, Oil of Olay, Max Factor and Oral-B. Disgusted? Shocked? You should be – especially if you could see what happens to our poor furry friends inside those horrible, godforsaken laboratories. 
While the exact number of animals used for cosmetic testing is unknown, it has been estimated that around 38,000 animals are used and killed in the development of cosmetics in the European Union every year. “The problem is that most cosmetic products are imported from countries where animal testing is very widespread,” says Helen Roser, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Association for Humane Research, “and so the chances are that many of the cosmetic products that we use here everyday have been tested on animals.
“If someone sues a cosmetic company because they have had a bad reaction to its product, then the company has a better defence if it is able to claim that the product had been tested on animals and found to be safe. However, different species have different genetic make up and animals do not provide an accurate measure as to whether a product is safe for humans to use.”
Did you know this?
The terms ‘not tested on animals’ and ‘against animal testing’ on cosmetics packaging aren’t regulated – thus manufacturers can legitimately claim that a finished product has not been tested on animals, despite the fact that the ingredients used to make the finished product have been tested on animals.
The good news (thank God):
The ever-progressive European Union (who have also banned other nasties, such as DBT in nail polish – get with it Australia!!) is bringing a new ban on the testing of cosmetic ingredients into place in 2009. In addition, there will also be a ban on the sale of cosmetic products and ingredients tested on animals for all but three tests (reproductive toxicity, repeat dose toxicity and toxicokinetics) from 2009. “The ban will have a huge impact on the amount of products available to use that are cruelty free,” says Roser. “It will also be likely to put more pressure on other countries, like the United States, to ban product testing.”
Plus, check the Choose Cruelty Free website before you buy, as every brand on their Preferred Product List has filled out a comprehensive legally-binding questionnaire re: their the ingredients, formulation, manufacture, packaging and more. “If a company is on our list, you can be as certain as you can be that they have not been involved in animals testing,” says the site’s Cherie Wilson. “If a company is not on the list, it means they test or have declined to answer our questions. We have contacted every company we know of or that has been referred to use by consumers.”
So, you want to know the animal friendly beauty brands? Try these for starters:
A’kin
Al’chemy
Australis
e.l.f.
Guinot
In Essence Aromatherapy
Le Tan
Springfields
Musq
Trilogy
Rabbit photo courtesy laverrue
Main photo courtesy dreamglow pumpkincat210
1. Start with you. While scientists once believed we were separate from everything else on earth, we now know that couldn’t be further from the truth. We human beings are made up of the same stuff that makes up the stars we gaze at, the grass we walk on and the very food we eat. Spiritual teacher Deepak Chopra says it best: “At some point in our lives, the realization dawns upon us that freedom does not come from external situations or circumstance. All of creation, everything that exists in the physical world, is the result of the unmanifest transforming itself into the manifest. Everything that we behold comes from the unknown. Our physical body, the physical universe — anything and everything that we can perceive through our senses — is the transformation of the unmanifest, unknown and invisible into the manifest, known and visible. The physical universe is nothing other than the self curving back within itself as spirit, mind and physical matter.”
With this in mind, how we think about ourselves, treat ourselves and feed ourselves becomes a whole new ball game: every negative thought we hold and reaffirm to ourselves is also reaffirmed to the universe, every bad diet choice directly affects the health of universe, every unkind action or thought towards another has a direct affect on the universe and so on. Making conscious, educated choices every day is the first and most important step in healing the earth. A great place to start the education is with inspirational author and teacher, Louise L Hay and her bestselling book You Can Heal Your Life
2. Change your diet. While the meat and dairy industries do everything in their power to ensure consumers believe meat and dairy help us grow healthy and strong, there is much evidence to the contrary. Besides the undeniable health risks of eating meat and dairy that can no longer be ignored due to the rise-and-rise of cancer cases, there’s another reason it’s important to reassess the amount of animal products in your diet—and that’s the detrimental impact meat production has on the planet. A 2006 United Nations report found that the meat industry produces more greenhouse gases than all the SUVs, cars, trucks, planes, and ships in the world combined. When asked by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) what personal change people could make to help the environment, ex-Beatles star Paul McCartney answered, “I think the biggest change anyone could make in their own lifestyle would be to become vegetarian.” Find out how here.
As with anything, it’s about being kind to yourself during the process if you decide to give up meat and dairy. Do your research to ensure you do things at a pace that works best for your body and lifestyle. An important thing to remember: vegetarianism and veganism are not diets in the common sense of the word, or religions for that matter. Rather they’re a lifestyle choice—an action resulting from understanding how everything on the earth is deeply connected, and how what we put in our mouth has a profound effect on everything we are and do. That means taking it all one meal and day at a time, so leave any feelings of guilt or failure at the door. Every step you take towards making a difference adds up. Be proud of yourself and tell yourself often.
3. Stop buying plastic water bottles, shopping bags or containers. We’ve all certainly heard it before: buying water in plastic bottles and getting plastic bags at the supermarket isn’t a good choice for the environment. Treehugger.com has an article that gets straight to the point detailing what is known as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” or “trash vortex”: (it’s) essentially a floating expanse of waste and debris in the Pacific Ocean now covering an area twice the size of the continental U.S. Believed to hold almost 100m tons of flotsam, this vast “plastic soup” stretches 500 nautical miles off the Californian coast, past Hawaii and almost as far as Japan. Gotta see it to believe it? Watch this.
As said before, being kind to you, also means you’re being kind to the world around you. Plastic water bottles contain the cancer-causing chemical known as Bisphenol A, which leaches from the bottles to the water you consume. Step one: buy a reusable water bottle. Step two: fit a reverse osmosis filter to your kitchen tap (same goes for the shower: many municipal water supplies are not only highly chlorinated, but also contain high levels of pharmaceutical drugs—such as antibiotics, oral contraceptives etc—which get ingested through the skin, which is the body’s largest organ. Read more here.
Read More Post a comment (4)
At some point in our lives, if not often, we feel and/or face fears. Fear of what others think of us, fear of dis-ease, fear of terrorism. It’s how we decide to act (or not) every day that can move us closer or further away from our true, fear-less, nature. Sometimes, a little guidance can be a big help…
1. Stop eating animals.
Just as we feel fear, so too do animals. While they may not function with the same mental intellect, we are emotionally linked. When a cow or sheep is held in putrid, cramped quarters or goes to slaughter, it too feels fear—a negative emotion that is, no doubt, transferred on some level to the person who eats the animal. As a human race, we are feasting on fear every time we eat a piece of, particularly factory-farmed, animal flesh. A question to contemplate: does the amount of animal products consumed by humans contribute largely to our everyday fears? Check out Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals.
2. Identify it for what it really is: False Evidence Appearing Real.
As human beings, we are essentially controlled by two emotions: love and fear. We act out of one or the other. The beautiful thing? We have the ability to choose the thoughts we think and by guided by the emotions we feel. While much of the fear we feel is pre-programmed into us as an instinctual response to potential danger, much of the every day stuff we fear isn’t dangerous at all. We have simply convinced ourselves what we’re fearing is real.
3. Stop watching the news.
Reading and particularly watching the news is hypnotising. Watch enough negative stories and you’ll soon be in fear of walking out of your own front door. If you think about it, I mean really think about it, is there any reason we should repetitively see and hear about stabbings, murders, acts of terrorism and the like? Does it make you feel safer? Does it foster a feeling of love? Of course not, and it’s not meant to. Rather, it invokes a fear response, which in turn makes us hand over our power to those who we think can “save” us, including governments and doctors, when in fact each of us is responsible for our own reality, as well as our own health and wellbeing. If you’re an avid news watcher, put down the remote for two weeks and monitor how different you feel. A study by David L. Altheide states: Fear is bigger news than mere crime or even violence. Fear has become a standard feature of news formats steeped in a problem frame oriented to entertainment. Entertainment abhors ambiguity, while truth and effective intervention efforts to improve social life reside in ambiguity.
4. Research natural healing therapies.
There are natural herbal and homeopathic remedies that can help with overcoming fears. To quote website nativeremedies.com: “Fear becomes a problem that needs to be addressed when it turns into anxiety, panic or phobias. Herbs such as Melissa Officinalis, Lavandula Augustifolia, Chamomile and Passiflora Incarnata are just a few examples of a natural approach to overcoming fears by reducing stress, calming the nervous system and relaxing a fearful mind. Many natural remedies for fear and anxiety combine a number of calming herbs to achieve the best results for overcoming fears and addressing all the different symptoms of a panicked response.” Also explore natural healing treatments such as Reiki, Emotional Freedom Technique and hypnotherapy.
Read More Post a comment (0)
“A human being is a part of the whole, called by us the “Universe”, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest … a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.” ~ Albert Einstein
