@SFTerisa
Nina Simone sung the song To Be Young, Gifted and Black while I don't compare myself to the literary great who the song was written for I will attempt to capture the the rhythm of the three word title into a realm that best suits my life right now: Black, Natural and... Vegan; well almost vegan. OK, not really "almost" so much as I considered it seriously for about a day.
My hair is natural; I live in California and I bring my own reusable bags to the grocery store (that last part is county law). I’m pretty much what my parents would call a hippy. I’m pretty much what I would have called a hippy about 10 years ago. And now I’m considering going vegan.
My hair is natural; I live in California and I bring my own reusable bags to the grocery store (that last part is county law). I’m pretty much what my parents would call a hippy. I’m pretty much what I would have called a hippy about 10 years ago. And now I’m considering going vegan.
Well, considered.
A friend of mine recently successfully transitioned into the vegan lifestyle. She invited me to go with her to a Farm Sanctuary where they take in abused animals who somehow survived being bred for food.
I went with an open mind; honestly, hoping to be convinced that a vegan lifestyle was for me. To my surprise, I was not convinced.
My initial motivation to go vegan was that:
-my body has decided to reject dairy and I’ll have to change my diet anyway
-I think it might improve my health and my state of mind
On our tour, we met some turkeys whose toes had been cut off and beaks burnt off (before being rescued) to prevent fighting. The turkey we saw could barely balance himself to walk. I would post photos but my phone seems to have forgotten where it put those files! Anyway, it was a pretty shocking sight and realization.
She pointed out the friendly turkeys and we all went over to pet him. It hit me later that I should have asked why this group didn't fight to change laws instead of promoting a vegan lifestyle. I never did ask that question and don’t have an answer for you now but it seems logical…right?
We headed to a chicken coup that contained an obese bird. She explained how the chickens were bred to be obese. We moved on to meet sheep and cows and pigs. The pigs were fat and lazy; even though they received belly rubs from our group, they never even once opened their eyes. It must be a nice life especially now that they won’t be bacon. At this point, near the end of the tour, my friend fell ill; we think it was heat stroke and she concluded it was because of her diet. But I noticed that she hadn't drunken any water. It’s debatable.
Along the walls of the tour reception area; there were arguments about not eating pets or things with faces and something about not eating carcasses; which made me think of “Interview with the Vampire” where Lestat tells Louis not to eat the dead, then I thought about people eating live deer like a lion (or a zombie). I have a very vivid imagination. The point is it didn't launch a moral dilemma; it just made me think silly thoughts. For some reason, I feel guilty about not being convinced and not really sure why I don’t feel more gravity in the situation.
After the tour, we went to a restaurant to have lunch. I really didn't want to eat anything that I had pet on the tour so I weighed the arguments in my head.
I thought back to how on the tour our guide explained you can be vegan and overweight. "People are gaining weight and no one knows why;" she said. I don’t know where she grabbed those facts but if I’m going to make a dramatic lifestyle change to be healthy I really want it to show.
Furthermore, it seems you practically have to be a nutritionist to really balance out your diet as a vegan or a carnivore. There is a lot of vegan junk food. Sugar is natural but in high quantities can be unhealthy. Just like on the other side of the fence carnivores can fall into traps just as easily. So no matter which path you take, you need to be on top of your food choices.
