My Epic V*gan Story of Awesomeness

Tomorrow is my veggieversary. I went vegetarian 11 years ago on that day. I have shared my vegan story before on social media and here is an extended version. Enjoy!

When I was 14 years old, I spent my time online blogging, chatting on MSN and secretly playing Neopets. This was before Facebook and I was too young to be cruising through random forums. The night before Thanksgiving, I had clicked on an MSN profile (remember those?) and saw a link to a website. Me, being nosy, clicked the link and it took me to a video. There was nothing flashy about the website so I had no idea what I was about to watch. The video was called Meet Your Meat. I remember watching men be violent with turkeys and throwing cinder blocks at piglets. Nobody was around. I started crying. The next day, I refused turkey at Thanksgiving dinner in front of my parents and grandparents.

A turkey friend I met at my trip to Farm Sanctuary in 2013

I didn't know anything about vegetarianism when I made my decision to stop eating animals. I didn't know any vegetarians. I didn't know what the public thought about vegetarians. Since social media wasn't big, I wasn't bombarded by infographics or thrown into debates about vegetarianism. I was not exposed to it by television. There weren't any vegetarian cookbooks in our house. None of the meatless meals my mom cooked were called "vegetarian". I had no idea what I was getting myself into. All I know is that I didn't want to cause pain and suffering to animals anymore. Going meat-free was the first step to embracing a cruelty-free lifestyle. With no guidance, no knowledge and one accidental movie-viewing, I became a vegetarian.

Looking back, there were a few key events that made me perceive animals as beings who have the capacity to suffer. My dad is a fisherman. One of my favorite pastimes was to go fishing with him. He explained to me that fish suffocate when they are out of water so we always put the fish back after we caught them. When I was 13, I went fishing with someone else and we left all of our fish we caught to die in a bucket. I felt sad, guilty and anxious. I asked if there was something we could do to make their deaths go faster. I was told "Not unless you want to slam their heads into the side of the boat." I was torn. I really wanted to do something for those fish but I couldn't. That was the last time I went fishing.

My dad is still a catch-and-release fisherman and I learned something new about him tonight. He believes that fish can feel pain and stress, especially when a hook becomes embedded into a sensitive place like the tongue. He feels remorse when a fish he catches dies. He has come across a number of fisherman who abuse the quota system or kill their catch and let the bodies go to waste. He doesn't understand why people kill these beings for fun and destroy their habitat in the process. He's unknowingly taught me that even fish, which are often perceived as being unable to feel pain, and their habitat should be respected and protected.

Blacketts Lake outside of Sydney, Nova Scotia. This was one of my
favourite places to fish as a kid.

When I was in junior high, my Family Studies teacher told me that she had bought tofu for a student who didn't eat red meat so that she could participate in class. My teacher even brought in Yve's faux turkey slices for the class to try (they were delicious dipped in ketchup!) I had her for Sewing Club and one meeting, I talked to her about vegetarian diets. I remember telling her that I want to go vegetarian when I grow up because I don't think we need to kill animals for food. I admitted that I was scared that my parents wouldn't let me go vegetarian while I was still living under their roof. Even though my Family Studies teacher wasn't vegetarian, she was very open-minded towards people who choose different lifestyles and diets. I got the impression that being a vegetarian was no big deal and that most people would be accepting of it. Boy, was I wrong. I am bullied because of it. I receive back-handed comments. I was the recipient of the chant "For every animal you don't eat, I am going to eat 3!" in high school. I have been told that I am going to get sick and/or die. I have lost friends over it. Now, the bullying has becoming pretty sick and twisted. Instead of calling me names or trying to turn me off by citing common myths, people accuse me of being a judgmental, holier-than-thou preachy vegan who thinks that all meat eaters are murderers and horrible human beings. In the past, I would get angry at people sometimes I and probably deserved some of those comments. It seems like now, just mentioning the V-word makes people think I hate them. I was naive in thinking that everyone is like my family studies teacher.

Look at these preachy, judgmental vegans who are
trying to struggle you with hugs and choke you
with candy. How dare they! Somebody call the po po!

Finally, my uncle told me a story about how a vehicle ahead of him had hit a deer and it took the RCMP 3 shots to put it out of its misery. I thought the end of the story would be one of sadness and empathy for the casualty but instead, my uncle laughed and told me that he took the deer home with him and put the body in the freezer. I didn't think laughing about the prolonged death of an innocent animal was appropriate and I felt really awkward and sad. I wound up writing about this story in the blog I kept in junior high. When I read my blog last year, I had written in that entry that I would go vegetarian one day. I don't know what was going through my mind to associate a tragic accident with vegetarianism, but I was thinking about it.

I don't know what happened to me to make me feel this way about animals. Somehow the brainwashing about meat being healthy, yummy and "humane" didn't fully stick.

SETA protesting the commercial seal hunt
at the 2007 Juno Awards.

I was a vegetarian for 9 years. In my early days, you'd find me on Veggieboards learning about food and animal rights issues. It didn't take me long to learn about the diet and I even stopped wearing clothing made from animal products like wool and leather. In those days, there were few vegetarian products available to me. I was limited to Yve's and Silk soy milk for the longest time, but I made it work with a lot of help from my family.

In high school, I joined a student animal rights group called SETA.The organizer, Mr. C, was the first vegan I have ever met. We would watch documentaries, hold monthly demonstrations for the students and make trips up to Halifax to participate in protests. Once I started sharing my lifestyle with people, I became hated but I fought back. I had spent most of my life being bullied for being fat, ugly and geeky. I was no longer in the mood to sit back and let the hateful comments fly. I became somewhat alienated but I don't really care. I was not about to eat bacon again to "fit in".

About 2 years ago, I decided to go vegan. Some people who tolerated me as a vegetarian suddenly couldn't deal with me any longer. But for every "friend" I lost, I found a new one who understands me. I'm happier now because I am doing all that I can to reduce animal suffering and I love being part of a growing movement. I can walk into a grocery store now and get a cruelty-free version of anything I am craving. Three vegan restaurants have opened up in Halifax since I moved here and the people who run them are amazing. I've gotten involved in the vegan bodybuilding community which is full of compassionate, supportive people.

Why kill animals when you have access to this
awesome veggie meat and cheese? Bonus feature:
it won't cause heart attacks!

I've grown a lot in 11 years. I am no longer that timid little girl that didn't want to kill fish or squash bugs. I am no longer the person who calls people names when they throw their immature insults at me. I became a fighter, a myth buster and an advocate. I want peace for all human and non-human animals and I am going to fight for it as long as I am alive. That is who I am. Deal with it.

Now what would have happened if the video I had clicked on was porn instead?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Franny and I at Farm Sanctuary.