Most Americans Eat Meat...

Let's face it: if you are like over 90% of Americans, you aren't a vegetarian.  Less than 3% of us identify ourselves as "vegan," that is someone who consumes no animals or animal-derived products.  Why are vegans and vegetarians in the minority?

It seems like everything in American culture tells you to eat meat, dairy, eggs, and other animal-based foods.  And let's not forget the cultural pressures to use leather, wool, silk, and other animal products in our clothing and other products.  News media, marketing, and tradition all tout an animal-consuming lifestyle.  Even our doctors and regulatory agencies recommend an omnivorous diet.

You Make Your Own Decisions...

Something every mature, intelligent man must do is form his own opinions and beliefs.  There comes a time when one must reassess dogma, tradition, norms, and culture and seek his own personal truth.  An introspective man might often find that those things that influence his current thoughts and beliefs might have very little innate credibility.  For instance, he may be surprised to learn that trusted agencies like the USDA might have interests other than his own health and safety.

The point is that a gentleman is willing to take all preconceived notions and analyze them against facts -- even new facts.  Only an open mind can grow.  I know that I can quote study after study and case after case, but all will fall on deaf ears if you are not willing to reconsider any and all of your current beliefs and opinions.

There Are Many Reasons To Consider...

There are many good reasons to consider a vegan lifestyle, but most of them can be grouped under five main categories, generally first attributed to Bruce Friedrich's lecture, "Vegetarianism in a Nutshell."  You don't have to agree with all five theses.  Think for yourself!  Just analyze the ideas as objectively as possible and form your own opinions.  Try to cast aside your upbringing and your current habits and consider the following with an open mind...

  1. A vegan diet can improve your health.  It's no secret that meat, eggs, and dairy contain saturated fats and cholesterol.  They are also low in fiber, vitamins, and minerals when compared to fruits, vegetables, and grains.  Omnivorous diets are also linked to heart disease, high blood pressure, and many cancers.
  1. A vegan lifestyle helps the environment.  The gaseous wastes of factory farming are estimated to contribute over 30% of greenhouse emissions.  Solid and liquid wastes contaminate the land and water supply and even the food supply which created them.
  2. A vegan lifestyle honors human rights.  Did you know that world hunger could be solved by veganism?  The fact is the world's agriculture creates more than enough food for every man, woman, and child on earth; but enormous waste is created by the fact that we feed much of our crops to livestock.
  3. A vegan lifestyle condemns cruelty to animals.  More and more evidence accumulates every day that animals are thinking, feeling beings.  Their senses and emotions can be compared to our own.  The old excuse that "animals don't feel pain the way we do" just doesn't hold water anymore.
  4. A vegan lifestyle advocates animals rights.  Animal rights are basically an extension of the evidence that animals are complex conscious creatures with emotions and senses are real as our own.  Imprisoning, torturing, and killing animals is unethical.

Not Every Vegan Is An Environmentalist...

...But every environmentalist is a vegan.  If you truly care about the planet, its systems, and it's creatures; there is little as hypocritical as consuming animal products.  The cruelty and waste associated with factory farming is a detriment to the earth, to animals, and to humans!

If You Have Already Changed Your Mind...

Congrats!  Perhaps it is time to change your diet or your style!

Learn More...

Don't believe me?  That's OK.  I've got tons of books, papers, and studies to back up my case.  Enjoy!