Vegetarian/Vegan

This post is mainly just for me to jot down some thoughts I'm having. I've toyed with the idea of vegetarianism for years, and actually went meatless for about a 6 month period a couple of years ago. Of course we all know that I love animals so that was always a huge motivating factor for me, but not motivating enough to overcome the ease and convenience, and deliciousness, of meat eating. Not motivating enough to take huge leap outside the box and label myself "vegetarian" or "vegan." Here in the south you might as well grow a 2nd head. I didn't want to deal with explaining myself to people over and over, or to inconvenience others who might be cooking for me.

Well now that I'm a mom, my interests have changed. Now the health of me and my family trumps all of the above. I am very, very seriously considering making the switch to veganism. Here are the things I have recently read and/or seen that are the catalysts for this giant overhaul.

The China Study is fascinating and infuriating. It is very science-y, but I challenge you to read it. It is basically saying that animal consumption increases risks of most chronic diseases including diabetes, heart disease, cancer, Alzheimers just to name a few. It also explains in detail how these studies get covered up by the industries and government. I'm not one to jump on every conspiracy theory bandwagon that rolls by, but I'm a scientist by nature who needs explanations and this data is jaw dropping.

Whitewash- think cow's milk is good for you? Yeah, I did too. If you don't want to tackle The China Study yet, start with Whitewash. I have been dairy free since last summer and now I have no plans to go back to consuming cow's milk and I certainly won't be introducing any dairy to Lucy.

Earthlings and Food Inc both focus a lot on animals. Earthlings isn't just about food, but more about how we are all creatures of the Earth and on the exploitation of animals by humans. It is extremely graphic and hard to watch. But I forced myself because if I can eat it, then I should be able to watch it. Food Inc talks about animal issues some but it also exposes a lot of the government/lobbyist/industry issues of why our government issued food recommendations do not match up with what science says is healthy for us.

Ok, that's all pretty rambling but I needed to get it out of my head and into words a bit. I know this is very non-mainstream and that makes people defensive. For some reason, saying you are a vegetarian or vegan is threatening to a lot of people. I'm beyond the point in my life where I will make major decisions for myself and my family because they conform to societal norms. I'm hopping out of the mainstream because the mainstream is polluted, overweight and unhealthy.