The Children Of Vegetarians Become Vegans
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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the children of vegetarians become vegans. I mean this in both a literal sense (kids who grow up vegetarian often later become vegan) and also in a metaphorical sense (vegetarianism is often a stepping stone towards veganism).
While most vegans will agree that vegetarianism is not enough and that veganism is the true starting point for an ethical lifestyle, we should be careful not to judge vegetarians too harshly, since they are usually on their way to veganism anyway. They need our help, not our condemnation.
I say the children of vegetarians become vegans because it was true for me (I became vegetarian as a small child and grew up vegetarian, then went vegan as an adult). And I say it because others have a similar story.
Case in point, Andre Kroecher, one of the inventors of Daiya vegan cheese said:
“I grew up on a strict vegetarian diet as both my parents were vegetarian. It was a logical progression for me to go vegan for so many reasons. We had a miniature dachshund or ‘wiener dog’ and I figured that if I wouldn’t eat him, how could I eat other animals which are easily as emotionally developed? In the early ’90s my wife and I started going vegan and pretty much phas[ed] out the last remaining dairy (cheese) from our diet. This was largely in response to all of the information relating to [the] ethical and health aspects of vegan diets. I remember waking up and realizing that if I had to be born a livestock animal, a modern dairy cow would have to be the worst because of the prolonged torture these animals have to endure before their eventual slaughter. When T. Colin Campbell’s The China Study came out it really reinforced my feelings on the health aspects relating to animal product consumption.”
Read the entire interview at SuperVegan >>
I join you in refusing to downplay the beginnings of vegans. I was “becoming a vegan” without knowing it back in 1957. Bit by bit, decision by decision, I arrived with the vegan convictions. I did all this on my own without being aware that there was even such a thing as a “vegan”. If it weren’t for the Internet I probably still wouldn’t know. Since high school, I heard the beat of the distant drum and was willing to be considered odd when I quit hunting on principle. Standing alone isn’t fun, but its rewarding to know that if nothing else you are not contributing to the suffering of others. Those with vegetarian parents are blessed far more than they realize.
.-= Harry Hebert´s last blog ..Quotes – Page 178 =-.