Now, the concept of veganism has been widely discussed, especially over the last few years and has gathered quite the following. Over the last five years, vegans have shown an increase of over 550 percent. That increase rate has been mainly demonstrated in Western countries, Eastern Europe and Israel. Now, veganism is even acquiring a following in Latin America, Asia and Africa! But what is all this kafuffle about? What is veganism?
Veganism is formally described as: 'the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products, particularly in diet, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals.' And so if we translate that into general terms, it simply means an abstinence from animals products. Meat, eggs, cow's milk, cheese, butter - all are no-go zones that are not touched if you are correlating yourself with a vegan diet. But NO cheese - are you insane!? What about the morning glory of bacon and eggs? Who could possibly imagine life without the glorious presence of a steak? Without those treasurable temptations, would life even be worth living? Why would some sane soul in their right mind put their self through that treacherous torture?!?
BBC Radio 4 released an article titled 'Seven reasons why people are going vegan' (linked below) that quite fittingly list the main reasons why people choose a vegan diet (I will list them but if you want more expansion on those you can look at the link itself). Here are the seven most common reasons: against animal cruelty or the ethical argument, going green, health, personal anatomy or challenging the status quo, social media and the vegan revolution, celebrity endorsements and greater opportunities to choose vegan options. Those are supposedly why most vegans go vegan. Personally I have found that you can generally break down vegan reasoning into 3 different principles: ethical, health and environmental. Falling under those are a mountainous range (mountain range, if you will) of information and supporting evidence to those points. Of which, I will not go into due to the fact that if I did, I would not know where to start! There are great resources out there that can explain the vegan ideology better than I ever could such as some documentaries on Netflix: 'Cowspiracy', 'What the Health' and 'Game Changers'. All are extremely informative, eye-opening, confronting, entertaining and will leave you in a state of utter shock. So, if you're keen for a confrontation, go ahead and check those listed above out on Netflix.
With that being said, when I returned home from Argentina to New Zealand to decided to do it and begin a vegan lifestyle. Straight off the bat, it was the perfect opportunity to establish that into my life as I had not accustomed myself into anything else yet in NZ. This decision was definitely not an impulsive one and I actually wanted to be vegan for a while, yet it would have been unfair whilst living in a host family. Veganism and even vegetarism are not huge cultures there, either. Especially in a land where they have asados (big BBQs) every weekend and claimed to have to best meat in the world. Never before had a been a massive carnivore (despite bacon, bacon will forever my long lost love, I genuinely feel like an ex-addict sitting in bacon rehab) nor had I ever been a huge cheese fan - both go those were items that were easily able to be moved out of my realm. Eggs were the tough one, unexpectedly. You never know how good eggs on toast are until they're gone.
Within the first week back in NZ, I went to my friend's flat for dinner and they had prepared this beautiful roast that had delicious vege all marinated within the meat sauce that smelled incredible - that tested my belief system and will intensely. But, I managed to successfully overcome that temptation which built up resistance against other things as well. 2 months have past and meat and all other animal products are just not seen as food to me anymore. I know what I can eat, therefore, anything that does not fall under that category for me personally does not gravitate any attention of mine (more or less, depending on whether it is teriyaki chicken on rice or not). As I have continued this vegan journey, I have realised how groggy consuming animal products would make me feel. Eating plant-based makes me feel lighter and energised; fuelled to take on the world and whatever it happens to present me with. For this reason, I will never return to the consumption of animal products.
One thing that I have found is that it is quite the conversation starter and I have received quite the grand amount of comments on the matter. But rightly so, it is an inevitable service (food) that we witness and experience everyday so of course it is going to require some explanation. Sometimes it feels that I am a burden in restricting my eating capacity around other people. All because the act of food is formed around the social experience too. The act of explaining why I am vegan is not a past time pleasure of mine if it creates conflicting comments that I have to debunk. I am always open to answering questions, but as long as they are from a genuine place. To sum up, when someone hits me with that question: 'why?' My response has been condensed down to this: if I have the opportunity to eat cruelty free and reduce my carbon footprint and it has been proved to make me personally feel better physically and mentally - I will continue to take up that opportunity - that's my conviction. Because of the benefit it has brought into my life I only want to suggest veganism as a mode of action to other people too. See what consuming less from others can do for yourself.
This blog post to purely written to share my personal experience with veganism. It has not been written to enforce any opinion upon anyone - just to share my experience.
If you have any further questions based on this blog post or anything else in regards to this blog or personal queries, be sure to get in contact with me through this website or through the blog's instagram.
RESOURCE LINKS:
~ 2019, The World Of Vegan: https://wtvox.com/sustainable-living/2019-the-world-of-vegan-but-how-many-vegans-are-in-the-world/
~ Veganism on Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veganism
~ BBC on Veganism: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5PBX369GxWfBHFHFRrkCvCl/seven-reasons-why-people-are-going-vegan
MORE LINKS:
~ Link for previous blog post: https://www.madein2000.com/post/16-the-abandoned-blog
~ Link to 'Born In 2000' instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellawasbornin2000/
~ Link to 'Born In 2000' opinion form: https://www.madein2000.com/we-want-you-r-opinion
Make sure you send through recommendations, considerations and comments in regards to this blog. If you have anything that your wanting to hear, Ella is listening! Be sure to subscribe to the mailing list and become a member to receive notifications and more information.
This blog will encompass the life of a 19-year-old kiwi chica. Composed of stories, advice, life lessons, worldly observations, videos and whatever else Ella's life brings to surface.
For all of this and more, read my new found blog 'Born In 2000': established on the 28th of October, 2019. Where Ella Gibson explores her life that exceeds all limitations. Publications should be expected twice a week. Take this present moment now and rock it!