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I Love Animals TOO MUCH to eat them


My feelings of hesitation and weariness towards animal products are all too familiar. Ever since I was little, I remember struggling with this internal conflict… especially towards meat. Family dinners and gatherings always included meat, always. Meat was the “main staple” and we didn’t have any vegetarians in the family. My brother and I drank cow’s milk with dinner every night while growing up, because milk has “calcium” and that is what you are supposed to drink in order to grow big and strong, right? Well, that is what most parents are led to believe. 


Although cow’s milk is meant for baby cows like breast milk is meant for infants. Weird to say (or write, rather)… but when you think about it, the concept just makes sense. The word “vegan” never came up until one of my elective classes during college at Purdue University. Animal Ethics. I chose this class not realizing the sadness it would entail, and the emotions it would stir up. My professor was 100% vegan in every aspect of his life. From cruelty-free toothpaste to clothing to cleaning products, and obviously food. He looked exactly like Einstein, crazy hair and all! He shared stories about his visits to the slaughterhouse and how the system works…



 His stories made my bones quiver and still do to this day. Much of my time spent in that class was with my hands covering my eyes, trying to spare my brain from any more torturous images and malicious videos. I thought about removing myself from the class but the only alternative was Ancient Greek Mythology… ehh no thanks! Even though my professor was wacky, I couldn’t help but admire him. I had never met anyone like him before, let alone a vegan. His pure love and respect for the animals, for his health, for nature and for our planet opened my eyes. When I reminisce about my courses at Purdue, his class sticks out in my mind. My heart carved out a spot for him and the perspectives he taught me. From that point on, I dabbled with vegetarianism, but I wasn’t in tune with my body like I am now. I wasn’t fully connecting the dots… yet. Fast forward to about five years ago…? 



 A Saturday night at home with a glass of wine and Netflix. My boyfriend (at the time) had gone to the gym so I found myself scrolling through documentaries (why not movies?!! ha) I came across Vegucated. This documentary stood out because I remember seeing it all over Twitter. I started following vegan Twitter accounts a few days prior (subconsciously, I think?). How ironic, the stars had aligned! Just kidding… but really… I read the description and knew if I watched this, I’d be crying the rest of the night. For some reason I was okay with that!! We all need a good cry every now and again. It was one of those days where I felt relaxed and open for anything, plus I was intrigued to know what the vegan hype was about. Boy, was I in for it… Throughout the documentary, concepts started to click in my mind as if I was buckling my seatbelt. I was in the process of connecting to the plant based lifestyle. My mind was in horror, shock and became overwhelmed with anger, but I was connecting on a higher level. I felt nauseous but I knew it was necessary; there was no way of getting around these feelings. As much as I didn’t want to think about it, this was real. I could see the animals suffering from anxiety, fear, and immense pain. They knew what was coming and could sense it. How could they not? I watched absolutely unnecessary, heartless acts being performed and it brought up real human emotion that stems from instincts. Raw emotion, real happenings and video footage led me to this daunting crossroads in my life.. I realize most documentaries show the worst of the worst and not all slaughterhouses run the same but I still saw what I saw… it still happened to those animals and happens everyday… I’m unable to remove the images from my mind.? Feeling those feelings opened a new door to an unknown world. Those same familiar feelings from years before, but with a higher level of understanding and compassion. After the documentary ended, I sat there for a while

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