Unsurprisingly, I've heard several times today questions (and occasionally insults) about why I don't eat animal products. I've never really addressed this before on my blog, mostly because I figure if you're looking at a blog about how to make vegan ice cream, you probably aren't asking, "Why vegan?" Since I've gotten so many new visitors, though, I figure now's the time to answer the question.
To distill my reasoning to its purest form, I am vegan for the following reason:
Animals raised for food (whether for meat, milk, or eggs) suffer tremendously. We do not need to eat animal products to be healthy. Therefore, this suffering is unnecessary. Causing unnecessary suffering is unethical. I want to live an ethical life.
I could detail the abuses suffered by animals on modern farms--whether organic, free-range, or conventional--but there are many websites that already have this information presented in a clear, factual, and documented manner.
- Birds raised for meat
- Birds raised for eggs
- Cattle raised for meat
- Cattle raised for milk
- Pigs
- "Free-range" animals
So there you have it. On a much lighter note, tonight I spoke to the Stanford University animal rights group about promoting veganism as a way to reduce animal suffering. I specifically talked about Vegan Outreach's Adopt-A-College program. Best of all, I made cupcakes! (I figured that ice cream would melt.)So here's your lovely host, displaying carrot cupcakes with vegan cream cheese frosting (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World).
