So, I thought I'd talk about what I first watched and read that got me into veganism. Without further ado, here's the list (in somewhat chronological [viewing] order):
Video
Got the Facts on Milk? : An eye-opening documentary about the "benefits" of milk. This encouraged me to kick the habit of drinking 2-3 glasses of cow's milk each day. After doing some research, I switched to almond milk, as I mentioned in my first post.
Forks Over Knives : Great introduction documentary to veganism and its benefits over a meat diet. This definitely sparked the interest to switch!
Food, Inc : I was led here from forums on the above documentary. This was one documentary of many to come that had some graphic videos and showed the inside of factory farming.
Vegucated : Different style of documentary in that it follows three people as they switch to a vegan diet. But it's still chock full of information, as well as a graphic video of the inside of factory farming.
"Best Speech You Will Ever Hear" : Found this on YouTube one day; I believe someone had posted it on a feed of mine. Not entirely sure how I found it. But I'm so glad I did! This definitely is the best speech you will ever hear. The speaker, Gary Yourofsky, delivers the message of veganism crystal clear. There's also the Q&A session after he gave the speech and I recommend it as well.
101 Reasons to Go Vegan : I'm not sure what the 101 reasons were, but this was another great speech on YouTube. It definitely made me think of some things in a different light.
Diet for a New America : It's an old documentary, but I still recommend it. It's still informative, even though some of the statistics are a little out-dated.
Oprah Winfrey Show (Oprah & 378 Staffers Go Vegan, 2/1/2011) : Found this the other day of an episode Oprah did on a week-long vegan challenge. It was interesting to watch and had some good information, as well as one of her correspondents, Lisa Ling, taking video inside a factory farm.
Vegan Gal: Change Your Food, Change Your Life : Great "documentary" that starts with a roughly 30 minute speech about why switching to a non-meat, non-dairy diet is beneficial. The rest of the video is chock full of helpful tips on how to switch to veganism, such as what to buy at grocery stores, restaurants, as well as recipe ideas.
Earthlings : I have yet to watch this documentary, even though I've had it for quite awhile. I think I've been holding off as I've heard it has some very intense, graphic videos from hidden cameras in factory farms.
Books
30-Day Vegan Challenge : I'm currently reading this and it has a plethora of information. I'm not (currently) doing the 30 day challenge, I'm merely reading the entire book. I've learned a few new things as well as things to keep in mind when switching to a vegan diet.
Audio
Vegetarian (it's vegan!) Food for Thought Podcast : I haven't listened to them yet, but these are podcasts from the same writer of the above book, so I'm sure each episode will be full of great information. [Edit: I've started listing to these podcasts, about 1 a day. I'm nearly all caught up. I HIGHLY recommend subscribing and listening to them as they're very informative]
Websites
Animal Ingredients List : Incredibly useful website that lists a bunch of animal ingredients, so when buying products you can double check those unrecognizable items are from animals or not.
Environmental Working Group Cosmetics Database : An amazing database where you can search up products (such as those in cosmetics) to see its function, any concerns, its toxicity. Remember, just because a product may have no animal ingredients, it can still use toxic ingredients which aren't any better for you.
Vegetarian Resource Group: FAQs on Ingredients : Upon asking an online store about their ingredients, I was led to this website which had some very useful information and answered a few questions I had.
ADAPTT : The website of Gary Yourofsky (see 'Best Speech You Will Ever Hear' above) that has a plethora of information on veganism.
Post Punk Kitchen Forum : As the title states, it's a forum. And what I really like is that it's divided into different sections, such as pregnancy, make-up, food, etc.
These are just a sampling of what I've seen and read. There are obviously more books out there, as well as websites, and I'm sure there's plenty of more documentaries and videos on the subject. But hopefully what I listed above will help someone else who's just starting out, like I am.
~Lindsay
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Introduction
Hello there! :)
Just wanted to start this blog off with introducing myself and how this blog came to be.
My name is Lindsay and I'm currently 24 years old. I'm originally from Montreal in Canada, but upon meeting Ben (my husband), we married and (after getting a US visa) I moved to South Dakota. I'm going to be graduating from college next month with two degrees: Programming and Visual Communication. I'm currently interning at a local hospital where I'm shooting videos of doctors and specialists, then editing them to be used on their website, their Facebook page, and their YouTube channel.
My entire life I've always eaten meat and consumed dairy products, and never thought anything of it. Sure, I loved animals (and still do!), but I guess I never thought about WHAT the animals had to go through for me to get meat and dairy, or the harmful side effects of me ingesting it.
But all that soon changed starting at the end of December 2012. I was browsing Facebook when I came upon the following image shared by one of my friends:
As I loved milk at the time, I didn't want to spend that much anymore. So, I Google'd "milk alternatives" and that's when my eyes were opened in this area. I soon found myself searching for "why milk is bad for you" and my awakening continued. I quickly discovered that cow's milk is NOT good for you. The only milk we humans should be consuming is breast milk when we're first born. Once we're weaned off of it, we no longer need milk. I learned the truth about milk and its side effects.
After that, I stopped drinking milk. For the box of cereal I had for breakfast, I got unsweetened almond milk. I couldn't even tell the difference between that and cow's milk! Although, I haven't had JUST almond milk in a glass, so I'm not positive on how it tastes on its own. I did buy though chocolate almond milk and although my initial reaction was that it tasted very nutty (and I don't like nuts), now about 2-3 months later, I hardly notice the nutty flavor.
Anywho, I soon began watching documentaries on veganism. Most of them showed videos of factory farming and it just broke my heart to watch these animals suffer. I haven't quit eating meat entirely, but I try not to eat as much anymore. I'd like to become 100% vegan in the future, but I think it's going to be a slower transition for me, rather than going cold-turkey.
About a month ago, I soon realised that being vegan isn't just about consuming meat or dairy, but also buying regular day products (such as make-up, hair care, lotion, etc) that don't contain animal ingredients (or, going further, don't test on animals either). Very rapidly, I started noticing just how many animal ingredients were in everything I used: shampoo, conditioner, shaving cream, body wash, body lotion, make-up remover wipes. Heck, even my vitamins and supplements seemed to contain animal ingredients! Even now, my head spins thinking about everything I'm going to need to buy in order to live an "animal-free" life. My desire is that within the next year or so that I can use everything I currently have and once an item is all used up, I'll replace it with a vegan alternative.
I should probably end this very long introduction. My future blog posts will be on specific items and my venture into transforming my life into a vegan one. Wish me luck!
~Lindsay
Just wanted to start this blog off with introducing myself and how this blog came to be.
My name is Lindsay and I'm currently 24 years old. I'm originally from Montreal in Canada, but upon meeting Ben (my husband), we married and (after getting a US visa) I moved to South Dakota. I'm going to be graduating from college next month with two degrees: Programming and Visual Communication. I'm currently interning at a local hospital where I'm shooting videos of doctors and specialists, then editing them to be used on their website, their Facebook page, and their YouTube channel.
My entire life I've always eaten meat and consumed dairy products, and never thought anything of it. Sure, I loved animals (and still do!), but I guess I never thought about WHAT the animals had to go through for me to get meat and dairy, or the harmful side effects of me ingesting it.
But all that soon changed starting at the end of December 2012. I was browsing Facebook when I came upon the following image shared by one of my friends:
As I loved milk at the time, I didn't want to spend that much anymore. So, I Google'd "milk alternatives" and that's when my eyes were opened in this area. I soon found myself searching for "why milk is bad for you" and my awakening continued. I quickly discovered that cow's milk is NOT good for you. The only milk we humans should be consuming is breast milk when we're first born. Once we're weaned off of it, we no longer need milk. I learned the truth about milk and its side effects.
After that, I stopped drinking milk. For the box of cereal I had for breakfast, I got unsweetened almond milk. I couldn't even tell the difference between that and cow's milk! Although, I haven't had JUST almond milk in a glass, so I'm not positive on how it tastes on its own. I did buy though chocolate almond milk and although my initial reaction was that it tasted very nutty (and I don't like nuts), now about 2-3 months later, I hardly notice the nutty flavor.
Anywho, I soon began watching documentaries on veganism. Most of them showed videos of factory farming and it just broke my heart to watch these animals suffer. I haven't quit eating meat entirely, but I try not to eat as much anymore. I'd like to become 100% vegan in the future, but I think it's going to be a slower transition for me, rather than going cold-turkey.
About a month ago, I soon realised that being vegan isn't just about consuming meat or dairy, but also buying regular day products (such as make-up, hair care, lotion, etc) that don't contain animal ingredients (or, going further, don't test on animals either). Very rapidly, I started noticing just how many animal ingredients were in everything I used: shampoo, conditioner, shaving cream, body wash, body lotion, make-up remover wipes. Heck, even my vitamins and supplements seemed to contain animal ingredients! Even now, my head spins thinking about everything I'm going to need to buy in order to live an "animal-free" life. My desire is that within the next year or so that I can use everything I currently have and once an item is all used up, I'll replace it with a vegan alternative.
I should probably end this very long introduction. My future blog posts will be on specific items and my venture into transforming my life into a vegan one. Wish me luck!
~Lindsay
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