I don't remember exactly when I became vegan. I remember the day I decided to become vegetarian. It was in 1973 and I announced to my mother in our kitchen that I was no longer going to eat meat. Back then there was no talk of veganism and I didn't have any resources other than the book, "Diet for a Small Planet." I was the only vegetarian I knew for maybe 45 years! Unfortunately, I didn't awaken to the cruelty of dairy until much later. I picked up the book Dominion by Matthew Sculley and it woke me up. Until that book, I didn't really even know about the cruelty to animals in factory farms. I didn't eat them but for some reason I didn't think about their plight either. Dominion set me on a path of watching videos of factory farming and slaughterhouses and after seeing the reality, I got more serious. My conversion to veganism took longer though since I had just spent several decades with cheese and eggs as my staples. I honestly don't even remember the year. Was it 2008? 2010? I had a lot going on in my life during those years and this just fit into the mix. Of note, I am a vegan minister and podcast host (The Spiritual Forum podcast). While my podcast is not exclusively vegan, I like to talk about animals and spirituality and restoring our right relationship with the animals. I also lead an annual Whole Planet Spirituality retreat, which rests at the intersection of animal love, planet consciousness and spirituality.