Earth Day

The Earth is our home. Everyone knows that. It's so vital to our everyday lives, and without it, we simply could not and would not exist. We all know the problems: deforestation, the usage of fossil fuels, greenhouse gas emission, global warming... I could go on, but we've all heard of it, and in fact, I'll bet most of us are educated on it. It's amazing to me how easy it is to look at a problem, scratch our heads, and walk away. To continue on with daily life the way we always have. We do it in our schools, in the food industry, and in the way we are destroying the earth. We live in a world of constant denial, but we do it by choice. I'm guilty of the same thing. We all are. Why? Because we don't know how to make a difference.

The problems seem so large, and we are only humans - humans without the capability to make a change in the systems that are so overwhelmingly problematic. I might not know how to reform the schools, or to save the world from evil.  I'm not saying to give up your car, or even to care much about the amount of gas you put in your 9mpg Truck. I'm saying that there is a solution that each and everyone of us has control over. That we can ALL make a difference in a way that helps the environment more than you could even imagine.

The United Nations said that raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all of the cars and trucks in the world combined. By switching to a plant based diet, you are actually saving more carbon emissions than if you were driving a Prius. 50% more. [If you're a vegan driving a Prius, then go you!]

In the United States, 70% of grain grown is used to feed farmed animals, which we later slaughter and eat as food.  Millions of people die from simply not having food. If we all were vegan, and that 70% of grain didn't have to go to food production, hundreds of millions of people could be saved from starvation.

Looking at resources alone: it takes 12x as much land, 13x as much fossil fuels, and 15x as much water to produce one pound of animal protein than it does to produce one pound of soy protein.

I got all of these facts from: http://www.chooseveg.com/environment which is a great website that shows just how much raising animals for food hurts the environment. All health benefits aside, going vegan is the solution to changing the world, one person at a time. If you love being able to go on hikes, smell the trees and the grass, and enjoy the amazing Earth we are blessed with, then please consider eliminating some meat and animal products out of your diet, or adopting a vegan lifestyle entirely. It is so easy to pretend that the choices we make don't contribute to the 'bad,' but the truth is that they do. You don't have to live in denial, you just have to acknowledge that it is the responsibility of each and every individual to take care of the planet, and this is how you, as an individual, can do it.

Cravings

It has officially been over a week since the beginning of my journey! 

I am incredibly excited to be able to blog about how wonderful I feel physically, but unfortunately, that post isn’t today. Let me begin by saying that I haven’t “cheated” at all, and I still fully and wholeheartedly believe in my decision to go vegan.

To be honest, I have not been feeling very well. There are a lot of physical repercussions that have come from my decision to go vegan. My post is not to discourage anyone from attempting to cut animal products out of their lives, but rather to express my journey in a way that is extremely raw, real and true.

As a typical American consumer, we are raised on the ideals that food is not a necessity to live off of, but rather a luxury that comes as we please. When we want ice cream we go to Dairy Queen, buy an ice cream cone, and we eat it. We don’t feel guilty. Sometimes, we stuff our faces so full of pizza that we physically can’t move. It is amazing to me that I never realized that is the way I was for so long… Sure, I knew that I ate what I wanted, and didn’t eat what I didn’t. But my whole entire diet was based upon cravings. When I wanted something to eat, I found a way to eat it. It is a ritual I practiced over and over again for twenty years.

The struggle I have been facing the most this past week is changing my mindset about the way that I approach eating. Because my body is so addicted to meat and dairy products, I am craving them. This basically means that everything I want, I am no longer willing to eat. For twenty years, I have always eaten what I wanted in the moment and now, I am refusing to. This has been incredibly difficult on me mentally and physically. Whenever Andrew asks me what or where I want to eat, I get extremely irritated and nearly (or literally) burst into tears. Side note: he is fantastically supportive, and I appreciate his patience with my crazy self right now!

            By making my transition to Veganism so quickly and cutting animal products out of my life immediately, I think my body has just been in shock. It has been extremely challenging to find food I really want to eat, but with time I am confident I will crave plant-based foods. Yum!

On a more positive note, (because I want people following my blog to know that this is such a POSITIVE, and life changing experience!) I can’t believe how simple it has been to find foods to eat! I have never grown “hungry” from a lack of food! Grocery shopping has become easier and I am learning the ways of a vegan-life with each passing day.

Yesterday, I made vegan vegetable lasagna with ‘chicotta’ (ricotta made from chick-peas). It was incredible. I will post the recipe sometime this week! Also, Andrew treated me to vegan Neapolitan ice cream in a gluten-free cone last night… Maybe life as a vegan isn’t too bad :)

My plug for the week: If I have influenced you in anyway, or you just happened to stumble upon my blog and are interested in doing something incredibly impactful, please take the time to pledge to go vegetarian during US VegWeek! It is the week of April 21^st. You can sign up to participate in this AMAZING experience here: http://usvegweek.com/pledge/   

The Decision

My name is Carrie Hall. I am a twenty year old college student majoring in Middle Childhood Education. I have decided as of April 6th, 2014, to adopt a vegan diet and lifestyle.

Going vegan was something that I never thought was possible. Let me reiterate the fact that I thought all vegans were crazy.. I was a "normal" American who indulged in trips to Steak 'n Shake, cake and ice cream feasts, and chicken nuggets galore. When I met my boyfriend, Andrew, a vegan of six years, I called him crazy and reiterated time and time again how completely insane he was to have given up so much food that was a part of my everyday life. He was so accepting of my non-vegan diet, but in the back of my head, I always wondered if it really bothered him. His choices were so radically different than mine and clearly they were very important to him (they must have been, he was so dedicated!). So, I became open to his way of life.

I started going grocery shopping with him. We ended up getting a lot of things I didn't know existed. Vegan cheese, vegan milk, vegan crab cakes, even! I began to use my love of cooking and baking in a way that met his lifestyle choices - I cooked vegan meals. Successfully. And, might I add - they were good! I was surprised at how amazing vegan mac and cheese was. We still went to all of my favorite restaurants on date nights, and during our Spring Break trip to Chicago, ate a completely vegan diet. I began to realize that it might not be convenient to be vegan, but it was definitely achievable.

This past weekend, we decided to watch a documentary about Veganism called Vegucated. Little did I know how much of an impact those two hours would have on me. By becoming educated about the food industry and the way animals are housed, "taken care of," used and slaughtered, my life had changed forever.

It is easy in our society to pretend that this horrible industry doesn't exist and to forget that most of our diet comes from it. American culture has allowed us to act in this way and for it to be considered "normal." It seems like such an impossible task to "give up" nearly everything you eat. So, I never did. For twenty years, I pretended that this industry did not exist. I disconnected the meat I consumed from the lives of the animals it took to produce it. By opening my eyes, my heart, and my mind to the idea that it is possible to change, I have. I can never go back to the way I was before.

I am striving to do what I can to ensure that people are educated about the meat industry and the way that animals are treated to produce food for us to consume. Through this blog, I want to be able to express my feelings, explore new ideas, explain my struggles and how I have overcome them, document recipes I've tried (and loved, hopefully!) and overall share what I find in my experiences with others. I believe that education is vital to progressive movement and reform in society, and I hope that through my education and decision to go vegan, I will be able to educate others about the food industry and its desperate need for change.


"People care about animals. I believe that. They just don't want to know or to pay... They're [chickens] packed body to body, and can't escape their waste, and never see the sun. Their nails grow around the bars of their cages. It's wrong. They feel their slaughters. It's wrong, and people know it's wrong. They don't have to be convinced. They just have to act differently. I'm not better than anyone, and I'm not trying to convince people to live by my standards of what's right. I'm trying to convince them to live by their own." - Jonathan Safran Foer.