Vegans: What gave you that final "push"?

Question

What was "the final straw" for each of you that made you decide to go vegan? Obviously we all respond to different motivators...was it the dairy industry? Eggs? Leather? Just curious, and thanks for sharing....

Answer 1

I read "Diet for a New America" and "The Food Revolution" and came away unable to come up with an ethically defensible reason *not* to be vegan (for ME, I mean, not for everyone on the planet.)

Once I knew I wanted to go vegan, I found a copy of "Vegan with a Vengeance" and it honestly convinced me that I *could* go vegan because the food was so appealing.

Answer 2

i felt like a whimp just being a vegetarian.

I am actually lactose intolerant so being a vegitarian, I was already half way to being vegan. I just needed to watch of for those "natural ingrediant's" and gelitan etc.

My final straw was watching the movie "Earthlings". I had seen other videos before but Earthlings really hit me hard. I decided I could not support any part of that industry anymore and in December of 2006 I decided it was time to step it up.

:)

i LOOOVVVEEE being vegan. Best decision I have ever made.

Answer 3

A big part of going vegan was understanding and coming to the realization that I was eating something that was inside of an animal!! I have never even pet a cow or chicken but I have eaten what developed inside them.  {shudder}.  

Seeing what the meat, dairy, egg, fur, pharmacological companies, circuses, and pet traders do to animals was truly horrifying and I was an emotional wreck for a few days after reading/seeing material about the conditions in intensive farms.  

Also with the realization that I was eating animals, came the thought that I don't own any of these creatures and no one has the right to eat "whatever they want" if it causes pain and undue suffering.  

We are not here for the purpose of exploiting, we are here for the purpose of protecting.  And when people figure that out we can move on to start protecting one another, our streams and trees, and the animals.

Answer 4

For me it was the dairy industry - knowing how closely related it is to other forms of factory farming...and the VEAL industry. I just couldn't stomach to look at dairy in the same way after that. Those poor babies!

Answer 5

I'm not sure when the exact moment was but in time I learned that though certain vegetarian options did not come from directly killing an animal the industry still kills these same animals and or their offspring. And let's not forget that the majority of these animals are subjected to horrid living conditions.

People need to realize unless someone has a rescued pet cow who happens to have an excess of milk or female pet chicken(s) who have unfertilized eggs that would otherwise go to waste most animals are slaughtered in the end with the first to go often being their male offspring. In other words it is only a matter of time for their demise as the name of the game is maximizing profit. Old females and males have little other economic use other than using their bodies as flesh.

Intellectually understanding these realities makes one realize unless they have access to highly specialized circumstances that they are being a hypocrite by not eating flesh but the by products of these same animals. Besides it is hard once you are in the habit to always delineate and adhere between the highly specialize circumstances of the excesses of rescued animals and farmed animals.

Good question. I have enjoyed answering.

Many Blessings : )

Answer 6

I was a vegetarian prior to becoming a vegan, so it wasn't that much of a change. I finally decided to become a vegan because of how badly cows and chickens are treated. I just couldn't stand to be part of it anymore, so I became a vegan. I also didn't like eating anything with cholesterol in it either because my brother has a slightly elevated cholesterol, so I was also just being safe because who knows, high cholesterol might run in my family. But I mostly became a vegan because of how cruelly animals are being treated.

Answer 7

I became a vegan, because I do not like the idea that a cow carries her baby for over 9 months. Than after giving birth, her child is taken away so quickly, so humans can have the milk versus the calf. Which later feed very poor lack foods so it can be a tender veal.

As a woman,(I am 31). When I have my child, I would never want any person, to take away my child. So I can not support a industry that uses that method dominantly. I understand there are farms that do not, but 90% (by tyson, cargrill, smithfield) of beef and dairy cows in this country are raised on intensive farming conditions.

When I turned 31, I become more confident in myself and my choices. I realized that my money is power. So I use my money to support companies that are ethically inlined with my morals. I have a choice. I choose to not support an industry that cause so many cruelties. I also buy from companies that do not employee children in developing countries.

Answer 8

It was a combination of many things. I saw a video and researched the cruelty of dairy production. I also did my environmental research project on the ecological impact of dairy production. The sheer volume or resources consumed and wasted produced boggled my mind.

I also lost faith in the free range labels. The severe lacking free range guidelines and laws also led me to lose faith in the free range system, and stop eating eggs.

I didn't own much leather to begin with, but after viewing some videos and doing some research on not only the cruelty involved in leather production, but also the human exploitation of poorer communities the use of heavy metals and carcinogens in their production and the environmental impact of leather production, I simply couldn't buy it with a clean conscience.

Answer 9

Well what got me is the fact that they pimp females  ( layer hens and dairy cows ) in order to get eggs, veal, and milk.  Then after treating them like whores they kill them and turn em into burgers , pot pie or leather.  That was enough to stear me into full-fledge veganism once I found out the truth.  I wouldn't want my mother, gf, or sister (if I had one) used and disposed of in that way. I'm a bit sensitive about the way that female forms of life are oppressed.