VEGAN: Try it; you might like it

I’m not here to convince others to become vegan. What I ask of others is to simply understand why I choose to be vegan. I want my dietary choices to be accepted by others rather than ridiculed for being different.

I need to start by saying I was raised on meat. I ate normal meals like average kids do with beef, chicken, etc. It was not until seven years ago that I made the choice to go vegan. I was at the age in my life when I could cook my own meals. The desire to become vegan stems from my love for animals. I have an unusual amount of love for animals of all shapes and sizes. The thought of eating a piece of food that was once an animal who was roaming the Earth happy and cute made me sick to my stomach and sick to my heart. I couldn’t handle the notion of eating something that could have once been an animal friend of mine.

One of the transitions that made the switch easy for me is I have never been a meat lover to begin with. If the heartburn of eating animals was not enough, then watching videos of the cruel conditions animals are raised in and put through when going to slaughter was enough to set me over the edge. It breaks my heart to be aware of the awful conditions and cruel torture these animals go through for my pleasure of eating them.

BRITTANY CLARK

Post Falls