In 2009 I started to realize how polluted the environment and all food systems really were. I started to decrease my animal consumption while increasing my local plant consumption and never looked back.

Hi, my name is Sherrie, and together with my husband Steve, we want to help people, animals, and the planet through our love of food, recipes, and community pop ups.

As you see us today, we definitely are not how we have always been.

For most of my life, I carried a quiet question inside me:
How is killing something benefiting my body?

There was always an underlying whisper:
How does another living being have to suffer for me to live?

It simply never made sense to me.

That question would surface again and again. I would feel it deeply, then rationalize it. I would tell myself it was normal. Necessary. Just the way things are. Eventually, I would dismiss it, and for many years, I did.

I got married in 1996, had my son, and in 2006 went through a divorce.

In 2006, I became a single mom. It was a rough season. Survival mode was real. I was working full time in Human Resources while raising my child and rebuilding my life from the ground up. During that time, I made the decision to go back to college and earn my bachelor’s degree. I knew I had to create stability, not just for myself, but for my child.

It was a season of grit, growth, and rediscovering who I was.

During that time, I began reading. Books became a lifeline. I was searching for strength, perspective, and something steady to hold onto. Even though I did not fully understand it yet, something inside me was beginning to wake up.

In 2008, I experienced what I can only describe as an awakening or an ascension of some sort. My entire life shifted. It felt as though a veil had been lifted, and suddenly I was seeing the world, myself, and existence through a completely different lens.

Around that time, I read everything I could get my hands on: The Power of Now, The Four Agreements, Jack Canfield, Abraham Hicks, Ram Dass. I was hungry for understanding, searching for truth, presence, meaning, and connection. Something inside me had opened, and there was no going back.

Soon after, I met Steve. He lived an hour away, and after a few months of dating, we both knew we were building something real. From the beginning, our paths felt aligned, not perfect, but intentional. We are still together today, growing, learning, and evolving side by side.

By early 2011, I had returned deeply to my spiritual practices. Meditation became a daily anchor. I was reconnecting with purpose and remembering who I was.

Then in 2016, during one meditation, something happened that changed everything.

As clear and strong as anything I have ever heard internally, a voice said:

“Stop eating meat.”

It startled me. It was not frightening, it was direct. It felt like me speaking to me. Like a truth that had always been there finally refusing to be ignored.

When I came out of meditation, I told Steve I was not eating meat anymore. He asked why. I simply said, “I just do not want to.” I did not tell him about the voice at first. That came a year or two later.

Without hesitation, he said he did not want to eat meat either.

And just like that, together, we went vegan.

What followed was reinvention. You are conditioned your entire life to cook one way. Suddenly, everything changes. Steve especially began playing in the kitchen. We discovered spices we had never used, techniques we had never tried, and flavors we did not even know existed. What once felt limiting became expansive.

But our shift was not just about food.

Eating plant based is good for the planet. It is kinder to animals. But for us, it also brought peace.

There is something powerful about aligning your actions with what your heart has been whispering all along. When we stopped fighting that inner voice and started honoring it, life felt lighter. Clearer. More aligned.

Being vegan is not about perfection for us. It is about doing the best we can with the awareness we have. It is about choosing compassion when we have the option. It is about living in a way that feels honest.

Once we made that shift, it did not feel restrictive. It felt freeing.

And now, through food, recipes, and community pop ups, we simply want to show that living gently does not mean living small. It can be joyful, creative, abundant, and deeply satisfying.

I have been an on the wagon off the wagon vegan. I have recommitted to the lifestyle; I will not cave into pressure again I live in Florida and have planted over 20 different varieties of fruit trees a plants as well as vegetables. I have plans to add more this spring. I love to garden play instruments, paint, draw, craft and exercise and yes lastly cook/prepare healthy foods.

I went plant based in August of 2018, and then actually went vegan in November 2025, I wish I had done it sooner instead of making excuses and overall, not making the ethical connection all the way.

Después de muchas veces haberlo intentado decidí de una vez por todas que esta es la mejor forma de alimentarme. Deje de pensar en las cosas que dicen de la proteína y de la supuesta deficiencia y no vuelvo atrás. No hay duda que esta alimentación es la más nutritiva y limpia para la mejor función del cuerpo humano.

Welcome to The Bull, Queenstown’s only destination dedicated to
authentic, 100% pure vegetarian & Vegan, Jain, Swaminarayan Indian cuisine.

From traditional North & South Indian flavours to comfort-style meals,
every dish is crafted fresh daily with homely spices and warm Indian hospitality.

The movie "Chicken Run" was the catalyst for my whole family, starting with my older sister, who immediately gave up meat in response to the film. This inspired my parents to look into the ethics of their consumption habits. When I was around 8 years old, my mom read me a passage from John Robbins' "Diet for a New America," and I was moved to become a vegetarian as well.

As a kid raised on the internet, I went on to take inspiration from animal rights activism content and investigation compilations like "Meet Your Meat." The book "We Are All Completely Besides Ourselves" was also a big inspiration for me.

By the time I was 15 years old, I had heard of "veganism," and out of curiosity on one random day, decided to look into it. The short "Dairy is Scary" video summarizing the cruel practices of the industry was one of the first things I found, and that was enough to convince me to go vegan.

Ever since, I've been committed to continuously learning and evolving to be more mindful about the impact of my daily choices, and finding ways to help others do the same.

I was vegetarian and I went vegan after watching Earthlings Documentary

Slowly transitioned for health reasons from being a full omnivore, to cutting out red meat .
I did this for approximately 6 months and then went to vegetarian, for around 3 months. I then switched to fully vegan for the animals and for me

In October of 2005 I felt the pain that got me started on this journey. I came home from work and looked through the stack of mail on the counter. I found a letter from an insurance company about a life insurance policy that I had recently applied for. I was a little anxious, because I had issues getting insurance a few years earlier and ended up being put into a higher risk category, that just meant I had to pay more for the coverage. I actually had to pay about 6 times as much as my wife, for the same coverage. It was a bummer, but I paid it and was covered.

I opened the letter, and there it was. Denied. Nothing mentioned about going into another risk category, or follow-up medical assessment, just denied. This company would not sell me a 20-year term life insurance policy. It might as well have said no thank you, as much as we would love to take your money every month, you are not worth it. Internally, I immediately translated this into a 20-year death sentence. This huge company, with all of the data in the world, ran the numbers and doesn’t think I’m going to make it another 20 years. It hit me hard. I can still feel it, being told I had less than 20 years to live. Especially at a stage in life where I should have felt like I was just getting started.

As I stood there, 33 years old, on medication for high blood pressure, weighing 360+ pounds, with a 54-inch waist, I felt depressed and hopeless. Thinking to myself, how did this happen? Why did this happen? I’m not a bad guy. My life isn’t so bad. I’m not so unhealthy, am I? Or, maybe I am…

Looking back, there were lots of good things happening in my life. My wife and I were married, in love, living in our dream home, and starting a family. We already had one 18 month old son, and our second was on the way. I had a good job that I actually enjoyed. We did lots of fun things like snowboarding, biking, skateboarding, and spent lots of time with friends. At the same time, there were things that were difficult for me. At 6 feet 4 inches tall, and weighing 360 pounds, it was painful for me to sit in arm chairs in the conference rooms at work. I overflowed my seat on airplanes when I had to travel, and I had to ask the flight attendant for the seat belt extension just so I could buckle up. I couldn’t shop for clothes in regular stores, everything had to be ordered. And, I had to buy heavy duty everything from ladders to do work around the house, to oversized kitchen and dining room chairs. I couldn’t even weigh myself on a standard bathroom scale.

I shrugged off all of those things with a simple statement – I was a giant. and I just went about living my life. Being both tall and fat, I somehow justified it as me just being bigger, taller and wider, than everyone else. I’m sure others saw right through that, and I now know that as a classic victim mindset, but at the time it was enough for me to brush it off and not really do anything about it. Until one day, at the local fair…

Late in the summer of 2005, I was walking around the local church fair with my wife Cathy, and 18 month old son Evan. I was carrying Evan against my chest, like dads do, and we were pointing out the rides and games, with all the flashing lights and ringing bells. I’m not sure what Evan was thinking, he seems to just be curiously taking it all in, and not sure what to think. As we walked around one corner though, his eyes lit up! Evan spotted it. There, right in front of him, was Thomas the train. I actually don’t even remember if it was really Thomas or not, but to Evan it was definitely him. His face immediately lit up, and he started squirming in my arms, and pointing at the train anxiously. He was getting really excited, and that got me excited for him. We walked straight toward the train and as we got close, I started to pull Evan from my chest to hand him to Cathy, so she could take him on the ride. But, as I did that, he held on to my shirt and tugged. He was pulling on my shirt, and didn’t want to let go. He didn’t want to be handed off to Cathy. I could tell, he really wanted me to take him on the Thomas the train ride. I took a deep breath, and pulled him off my chest anyway, and put him in Cathy’s arms. The truth is, there was no way in the world that I would fit on that train. At 6 feet 4 inches tall, having a 54 inch waist, and weighing over 360 pounds, they simply didn’t make rides for people my size. Certainly not a children’s ride.

Anyway, after pulling him off my chest, Evan refocused and was back to being excited about getting on the train! They handed their tickets to the conductor (ride attendant!), and climbed aboard. Both Cathy and my son were getting ready for the ride of his life.

What happened next, literally changed my life forever. While I was standing there with a smile on my face and watching them climb aboard, the attendant asked me to please step aside and wait behind the railing. That’s when it hit me. I looked down, and there I was, literally, standing behind a metal barrier and just watching, as my wife and son circled the track. They were giggling, smiling, laughing, pointing, and having a great time. And, I was standing there, outside the fence, watching. Literally watching. Like an outsider, or an observer, who wasn’t allowed in to participate in my own life. I was physically unable to do something that I REALLY wanted to do. Something that my 18 month old son really wanted me to do. And, as they went around and around, I just stared, and thought, and I asked myself – is this the kind of dad I am? Is this the kind of father that I’m going to be? Is this the kind of husband that I have become? What else is my wife going to have to do for us, because I’m not able to do it? Is this really the kind of life that I have made for myself?

I knew the answers to those questions were yes. What I was experiencing standing outside that ride, on that day, was exactly the life that I created for myself, and I wasn’t happy about it at all.

Combine my experience at the fair, all of the little annoyances that were starting to add up, and now being denied a 20-year term life insurance policy, and I was ready to change, again. You see, I grew up heavy. I was always the fat kid. And, I had tried to lose weight, several times during my life. Sometimes it worked for a few months, or even a year, and then before I knew it the weight would be back. I was so determined at this point though. I wanted to do it and I wanted it to be different. I wanted to be healthy, and I wanted it to last! The only problem, was I didn’t know what to do. Obviously, I had not yet found anything that would work for me, but I started anyway.

It was December now, and I was going to make 2006 my year. I set a new year’s resolution to lose 50 pounds in 2006. I immediately gave up sweets and soda, and was going to figure out how to just eat less. I did that, for a few months. I didn’t eat any sweets, I didn’t drink any soda, and I was keeping myself hungry. And, I saw absolutely zero results. I had not lost a single pound. That was another tough one to take. It was depressing. I still had time though, so I kept searching for something that was going to work.

In March of 2006, I found it! While searching Amazon for weight loss books, I came across Dr. Fuhrman’s book Eat to Live. I read the description, and it made a lot of sense to me. I read the reviews, and it sounded like it worked for a lot of people. They were getting results, so why not me? I ordered the book, started reading it, and changing my diet immediately. I focused on eating more, lots more. More fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and seeds, and less of everything and anything else. I did not make hard rules in the beginning about the things I would not eat. I really did focus on eating more vegetables and fruit, and letting that crowd out the bad stuff. It was a good plan for me. There were no feelings of failure, and I woke up every day on a mission to eat more healthy vegetables and fruit than I had the day before, and it worked.

By the time my second son Henry was born, on May 2, 2006, just 2 months after buying Eat to Live, I was already down 30 pounds! I couldn’t believe it, but I loved it, and that was all the motivation I needed to keep pushing.

I continued, eating more and more vegetables, fruits, beans nuts and seeds, and cutting out everything else, including oil, breads, flour, sauces, sweeteners, and even pizza. I ate huge salads, and tons of greens. I made big batches of bean chili with mushrooms and kale. I made delicious soups with broccoli and roasted red peppers. I ate everything over steamed spinach, kale, broccoli, or other greens, and usually with a side of steamed asparagus or some other vegetable. I snacked on fresh fruit, carrots, and celery. I seriously ate more vegetables and fruit than I thought was possible. And, it was working.

After those first two months of big weight loss, I settled in, and was losing almost exactly 8 pounds every month. It didn’t come off evenly, at 2 pounds a week though. Sometimes it would start slow and then drop in a few days, and other months it would be more even. Either way, I did watch the scale daily to see, learn, and understand what was happening with my weight. I really liked what I was seeing, and I was noticing it in other areas as well.

I started going to see my doctor every few weeks, so she could help me track these changes, and she started ramping down my blood pressure medication. I also started having fewer migraine headaches. She was also very impressed with the rate I was losing the weight, and told me to keep doing what I was doing. I really liked hearing that. It was a totally different experience than the doctors visits I was used to.

By December of 2006, one year into this attempt to lose weight and get healthy, 10 months after reading Eat to Live and switching to a whole food plant based nutritarian diet, my blood pressure was normal without medication, I was no longer experiencing migraine headaches, and I had lost a total of 90 pounds – completely blowing away my goal of losing 50 pounds for the year! I felt amazing!

It was the end of the year again, and time for another new year’s resolution. What was I going to do though, other than just continue? This was working great, but now, for the first time in my life, I decided that I wanted to start exercising.

It’s worth taking a second here, to point out that I lost more than 90 pounds without exercising at all. I mean nothing. I never went for a walk around the block. I never went for a bike ride. I didn’t step foot into a gym, nothing, absolutely nothing. I want to make that crystal clear, to highlight the power of my new diet. However, now, with 90 pounds gone and my body being healthier than ever, I had energy, more energy than ever, and I actually wanted to do something with it. I decided that I was going to start running.

I had never played sports or exercised in my life. I was active, riding bicycles, skateboarding, and snowboarding, but I never exercised specifically. That was about to change. I didn’t follow a plan, but my wife had a treadmill in the basement, and I went down to give it a try. I started walking and then I would run for 30 seconds or so until I lost my breath, and then I’d go back to walking. I did that for a half hour, every day, and just kept trying to run a little longer each time. I progressed pretty quickly, to the point where I could run a minute, then a quarter-mile, then a half-mile, then eventually I could run for a full mile. I would warm up, run a mile, take a walk break, and run another. I just continued and the runs got longer and the walk breaks got shorter, until I could run a few miles in a row.

In March, I signed up to run my first 5k race, and it was the coolest. Being out there with everyone hustling around the registration area, signing up, getting bibs, warming up, it was like a swarm of bees all moving in different directions getting ready for the same thing, and I couldn’t believe that I was actually a part of it. After that race, I was hooked! I was hooked on living a truly healthy lifestyle that included eating a purely whole foods plant based nutritarian diet, and running.

I continued progressing with both in 2007. I kept eating more and more vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts and seeds, and almost nothing else. I also kept increasing my running, by trying to extending my longer runs a little farther and farther every time. Even with adding all of this exercise, I continued losing almost exactly 8 pounds a month, every single month, until September 2007 when my weight loss stopped just as suddenly as it began.

At that point, I had lost a total of 160 pounds with new weight of 197, my blood pressure, triglycerides, and cholesterol were all ideal without medication, I was no longer getting migraine headaches, I was down 18 inches to a 36-inch waist, and I re-applied and got that life insurance policy. In the preferred category!

On top of that, the piece of mind that I have now, knowing that I am truly healthy on the inside means a lot to me. Bing a very active part of my kids’ lives, and knowing that I am going to be with them for a very long time, really means the world to me.

Growing up, I always wanted to lose weight so I would look good. When I was starting a family, I cared less about the weight and looks, and really just wanted to be healthy. Now, that I have my health, and the weight is gone, I want to continue because of the incredible life that I have now! I literally feel good and have fun every day, and am especially proud to be a positive role model for my family, and others that I care about. The feeling I get from truly living life, the way that I do now, is beyond my wildest dreams. There is nothing that would ever make me want to make me give that up.

Was vegetarian for many years but ate brie cheese. Then got talking to barber in Portland and he explained dairy industry to me and that was it. My wife and I have been vegan for the animals since about 2022 and wish that was true of 99% of others not 1%.

I AFFECTED BRAIN STROKE, AFTER FOLLOWING VEGAN DIETMY HEALTH Improved

I started my vegan journey when I watched Forks Over Knives in 2012. I stopped buying animal products that date. I learned how plant-based foods can help heal the body and protect from heart disease while thriving with longevity. I found Forks Over Knives while searching for natural ways to lower high cholesterol, which "runs in my family".

hi, i've been a vegan for over 10years. Love animals hate animal agriculture

So,my cousin was a murderer…and he is still free.The court decided that he can slip those crimes under the pillow if he pays a very big sum.To stand up for those innocent people and animals.This is why I am a vegetarian🙂

I went vegetarian at 10 for the animals. Until I realized at 13 that to be for the animals I needed to go vegan. I now run a vegan group called Vegan Squad Community committed to helping 10 million people go vegan and provide support around the world!

Although I had been vegetarian since 1987, it was meeting Miyoko Schinner and taking her Advanced Cheesemaking class on April 1, 2013, that turned me into a vegan. I had been carrying around some vague understanding of what the lives of dairy cows are like, but it took meeting the phenomenal vegan powerhouse Miyoko to give me the final "boot in the butt", so to say, to get me over the edge and make me happy to embrace the lifestyle. I became a dietary vegan the very next day and gradually made the "whole self" vegan transformation--a term that the wonderful Angela Crawford introduced in her book "The Vegan Transformation" many years later--over the next couple of years. I was timid to claim the label "vegan", however, as I was afraid I might unknowingly eat a non-vegan cookie or something that someone offered me and didn't tell me wasn't vegan, and someone would see me doing it which would add to all the confusion about what is and isn't vegan, and so on... I didn't want to add to that, so I didn't claim the label until 2016, when a friend of mine in the theater convinced me to "just own it!"
Moral of the story? A couple of very kind vegans helped me go vegan too--hooray for vegans changing the world, one person at a time!

It took me a while to become completely vegan because of the environment of impact of the vegan process food but I decide to completely become vegan and give up my seafood that was the only thing think I need to give up to become completely considered to be vegan

My now husband and I went vegan after watching What The Health in 2017 on our first date. What started out as a 2 week trial period turned into a passion for the lifestyle! We now run an annual retreat in Northern Michigan called the Vegan Wellness Retreat helping hundreds of other vegans connect!

I became vegan after becoming more involved with local community and non-profit organization, The San Francisco Vegan Society. First as a volunteer then as the festival coordinator which is my current role. I am vegan for health, animal welfare and the environment.

Going vegan is the best life-changing decision I've made. Currently building a vegan protein directory website!

I went vegetarian in middle school and later went vegan during my early years in college.

I have been passionate about creating a vegan world for over three decades.

I went vegan aged twelve after my sister went vegetarian but I found out how eggs and milk were produced

Will add later

Just before Halloween I went to Barnes and Noble and found a book in the diet and exercise section called Skinny Bastard. It looks fun and edgy and like an interesting read. I did not know it was a vegan book but once I started, I couldn't stop reading and learning about the horror animals go through for our consumption was just too much to ignore. So the next day after finishing, I was vegan and I haven't looked back since.

Kasho’s Vegan Story

I am a 51-Year WFPB Vegan. I have not been sick nor been to a doctor for illness in 51 years!

I was constantly sick as a child and got the FLU every September for 23 consecutive years, from the age of 5 till the age of 23, regardless of whether or not I got a Flu shot. I also had between 3 to 5 colds every year. When I contracted the Flu every year I would be bed ridden for at least 5-7 days. In 1973 when a produce manager at a vegetarian market gave me some 25 herb Chinese Tea and it miraculously removed my fever and I was well within 6 hours of drinking the tea, I decided to take this man up on his suggestion that I adopt a vegetarian diet.

When I became vegetarian and gave up all meat and fish, I did increase my consumption of cheese and there was no change in my weight. I was slightly chubby. As a vegetarian for 15 years I only contracted the flu twice and each time it was a mild case.

In 1988, I had the great fortune of attaining my life-long goal of Buddhahood while meditating. I shall not describe the profound experience but I was suddenly overcome with a burning desire to “Save Living Beings”. Having grown up in New York City I was completely ignorant of animal farming and I knew nothing about the production of milk. I merely assumed that no harm came to the dairy cows when giving their milk. However, it was absolutely imperative I determine that no animals were harmed so, the following day
I went onto a PETA website called “milksucks.com” (now defunct) where I learned the awful truth about milk production. The cows don’t roam the fields eating their normal diet of grass. Rather, they are chained to their stalls, get no exercise and are fed GMO laced Soy and old stale candy bars. When a cow gives birth the female calves are sourced to be milk-producing cows while the male calves are left to starve and sold as veal. Having discovered this horrific, abused life of cows, I instantaneously took a vow to become a 100% vegan and to never again consume any product that comes from any other living being.

Three months after becoming 100% vegan I noticed all of my pants were too big and kept falling down. I discovered that I had suddenly lost 35 pounds in having given up cheese and milk products! I conclude that Dr. Neil Barnard, President of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine was correct when he said “cheese is more dangerous than meat”. When I quit eating meat I did not lose any weight but when I gave up cheese I lost 35 pounds! I’ve read most of his books.

In 1993 I went to a Buddhist meeting attended by 30 people and a week later received a notice from that meeting organizer informing me the guest speaker had Tuberculosis and it was recommended I visit the doctor for a check-up as Tuberculosis is an air-born illness. I did not go to the doctor but a month later went to donate my blood platelets to help cancer patients. Two weeks later I got a letter from the clinic that I could no longer donate blood. In phoning the doctor he informed me that I had a Tuberculosis Antibody in my blood which prohibited me from donating blood. When I asked what this meant, the doctor told me that apparently, I had been around someone who had Tuberculosis and because my immune system is so strong my body created an antibody to prevent me from contracting the illness!

In 2004 I had a motorcycle spill and fractured my leg and, being unable to work I ended up in a homeless shelter for 12 months. Everyone in the shelter had bedbug bites all over their bodies except for me, the only vegan. I even awoke one morning and found a bedbug on my sheet right in front of my eyes. I concluded my never having gotten a bedbug bite to have been the result of my vegan diet and that the bedbugs were not attracted the pheromones my body emitted.

Eight years ago, in 2016, at the age of 71 I received a phone call from a V.A. nurse asking me to come in for an annual physical. I told her it was not necessary. She insisted saying to me, “No, let me explain. The doctor has not seen you in 25 years and given your age he just wants to make sure you’re in good health. I went and gave blood and urine samples and returned the following week to see the doctor. He looked at my lab results and then he staired at me. Then he looked at the lab results and again he staired at me. When he did this a third time I became concerned. I asked, “Doc, what’s wrong?” “How old are you?”, he asked. “I’m 71 years old.”, I replied. Then the doctor said, “Well, according to these lab results, you appear to have the body of a 35 year old. I’ve never seen anything like this before. I said, “That’s because I’m a 46-year WFPB vegan. I’ve been studying nutrition for 45 years. I’ve concluded that only three things cause illness in humans, meat, dairy and chemicals.”
And when you eliminate those from your diet you never get sick! My body is the living proof of everything that Dr. Michael Greger says in his book, “How Not to Die”.


And now, my body is living proof of everything that Dr. Michael Greger says in his latest book, “How Not to Die”.

I’ve created the Buddhist Diet:


“Eat only fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, organic whenever possible.”

This diet is revealed and explained in my forthcoming book, “The Truth About Buddhism”. The Truth about Buddhism is that “there is no meat-eating in Buddhism” because the Buddha clearly states, “He who eats meat is no disciple of mine.”

Most people are completely unaware exactly what is in their food. Unbeknownst to most people, food manufacturers are permitted by the FDA to add up to 1,000 different chemical ingredients without having to list them on the “Ingredients” label of packaged food! Unless you eat only plant-based organic whole foods, you really don’t know what’s in your food!!!

Want to know what causes cancer and ALL illness?

MEAT, DAIRY and man-made chemicals (GMO’s pesticides, artificial flavorings and colors.) are the cause of all human illness.

I am living proof that if anyone follows the diet I have created they will be able to attain Optimum Health just as I have.

KASHO,
The 21st Century Buddha

In 2012 I learned the horror behind the fur industry through a video I watched on social media. I was absolutely devastated. Soon after I did a deep dive into the other ways in which animals are exploited. I first focused on food… and my heart was shattered. I soon became vegetarian. Years went by and I finally connected with the dairy & egg industries and once I joined the animal rights march in 2019, I decided to become a full on animal rights activist. I’ve been a strong voice for the animals ever since, participating in all sorts of events, such as vigils at slaughterhouses, disruptions, protests, and more. I am a volunteer and VP on the Board at The Barnyard Sanctuary and have gone on to study Plant-Based Nutrition at the T Colin Campbell Institute for Nutrition Studies. I so hope for a vegan world and if I am not around to see it, perhaps my children will be! - Vegan for the animals always & forever!

I became a vegan in early May 2022. It’s been a long but inevitable journey driven by concerns over food safety, the environment, and animal welfare.
2003 - Gave up red meat
2017 - Stopped all meat, pescatarian
2022 - Stopped Seafood and Dairy
May 2022 Fully Plant-Based
I grew up in the United Kingdom, and my concerns over food safety started with the revelations of what we were feeding cows and other animals to bolster profits in the meat industry. This included meat-and-bone meal, the remains of other animals, which led to the “Mad Cow” (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE, and its human version, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, vCJD) disaster.
Over 4 million head of cattle were slaughtered in an effort to contain the outbreak, and 178 people died after contracting vCJD through eating infected beef.
Over time, I researched more into the meat industry and its impact on the environment. Meat accounts for approximately 60% of greenhouse gas emissions from food production, twice that of the production of plant-based foods. But it is not only the greenhouse gases released, the pollution of the land and water around these massive, industrial-scale operations due to the waste slurries has become a major issue. As an avid hiker and runner, I realized as I passed farms that they no longer smelled like animal farms but more like chemical factories.

Hello, my name is Chloé. I am 14 (in 2025).
I am very lucky because I was raised vegan and I will never be able to thank my parents enough. 🙏💖
I do a lot of activism (you can find me on IG, fb, TikTok, YouTube, Bluesky, Mastodon...)
I live in Montréal (Canada).
I speak French and English.
I have a lot of family in France and I go there every summer. 😊

After a life-changing incident, I re-evaluated everything, starting with what I put on my plate. That shift in awareness led me to embrace a plant-based lifestyle and ultimately inspired me to create my own vegan catering business, VECETO Catering & Events. Now, I combine purpose with passion, serving food that’s kind to the body, the planet, and the soul.

I went vegan after being deeply inspired by the health reform teachings of Ellen G. White. Her writings opened my eyes to the connection between diet, health, and spirituality. I came to understand that what we eat doesn’t just affect our bodies—it shapes our thoughts, our emotions, and even our ability to discern spiritual truths.

Ellen White warned that meat eating clouds the mind, inflames the lower passions, and leads to disease. She wrote that many animals are diseased, and that consuming their flesh can transmit cancer, tuberculosis, and other conditions. Her words made me realize that eating meat wasn’t just a health risk—it was a moral and spiritual danger.

As I adopted a plant-based diet, I experienced clearer thinking, better energy, and a deeper sense of peace. I also noticed that my desire for simpler, more natural things in life increased. I felt more connected to God’s original plan for human health—the diet given in Eden.

Going vegan, to me, isn’t just a lifestyle choice—it’s a part of my faith. It’s about honoring the body as a temple, caring for creation, and cultivating purity in both thought and action. I believe that by following God’s health laws, as outlined by Ellen White, we prepare ourselves not only for better life now—but also for greater spiritual clarity and readiness for the life to come.

I went vegetarian after reading Peter Singer's Animal Liberation and vegan after reading The China Study by T. Colin Campbell.

My Vegan Journey – From Cruelty to Compassion

Namaste, my name is Kumar. I am 44 years old. My journey toward veganism began around 2016, and today I live fully as a vegan — not just in food, but in heart and soul.

In the past, I was running a profitable business involving meat and fish. I used to find pigs, buy them, and send them to the butcher. Early in the morning, I would go to the butcher shop to collect the meat, piece by piece. Slowly, I began to notice things I had ignored before — the pain in the animals’ eyes, their cries, and the fear they felt. These sights and sounds started troubling me deeply. It made me feel I was part of something very wrong.

I started thinking: What gives us the right to take away their lives for our taste or profit?

That’s when I made a decision — to change. I gave up the meat and fish business and started a small vegetable and fruit business. Financially, it is not as successful, and sometimes I struggle to meet daily needs. But my heart is at peace. My mind feels calm because I am no longer causing pain to innocent beings.

I also made my child vegan, with love and care. I teach her the value of kindness and that all creatures — big or small — have a right to live on this Earth. I want her to grow with a compassionate heart and to understand that true strength lies in protecting the weak.

This is my humble story — from cruelty to compassion, from profit to peace. I may not have much, but I have found something greater: a life of honesty, love, and nonviolence.

I’d wanted to go vegan for a long time for ethical reasons, but it always felt close to impossible while travelling non-stop – I've always worked in travel and tourism – moving on every couple of days in different locations and countries. Then I had a bit of a health scare, and that gave me the push I needed. I went vegan overnight – no animal products, no processed food, no sugar – and never looked back. What started for health reasons now lines up with everything I’ve always believed in. Sometimes bad things lead to good outcomes.

I saw Cowspiracy on January 10, 2015, but I didn't fully commit to veganism until I participated in the first regularly scheduled Toronto Chicken Save vigil and discovered severed chicken feet in the transport truck outbound from the Maple Leaf Slaughterhouse.

Went vegetarian in 2010 after watching earthlings for ethical reasons and then started meeting animal rights activists in 2015 and looked further into the subject and once i learned how dairy was made i went Vegan in February 2016 and have been an activist ever since.

I became vegan in 2022 after joining the National Health Association, where I was inspired by their mission and the life-changing benefits of a whole-food, plant-based lifestyle.

I stumbled upon the Food Revolution Summit in 2019. I had been diagnosed with pre diabetes in early 2015. After attending the summit, I went all in with a vegan lifestyle. I lost nearly 20 pounds in less than 6 months. My taste buds changed and I felt much better. Since then, I have educated myself on Veganism and in 2024, I was accepted into the PCRM Food For Life Instructor program and was licensed in June 2024.

My wife and I decided together that this was the healthiest lifestyle to embrace.

The animals deserve to live!

Long term vegan and vegan online store owner.

I became vegetarian when i was at primary school, something considered very weird in the Uk in the 60s. I am ashamed to say i then stuck my head in the sand until 2019 when someone asked me if i was vegan. All i could hear was a mother cow's pain when her baby was taken away. I instantly became vegan. At the time i was working for a charity called Education for health , i started conversations with Dr Shireen Kassam about a possible collaboration, i became treasurer of a vegan animal sanctuary whose mission is to create a more compassionate, sustainable world ( www.pohpsanctuary.com) and have co founded Plant Based Future which has a goal to support organisations to reduce carbon emissions by influencing their staff to eat plant based one day a week. ( www.plant-based-future.com)

Was vegetarian since 90's then went vegan.

I had quite a few health problems and came across Dr Robert Morse promoting an all fruit diet to heal.
I couldn’t get myself on board with it until one a day a friend asked me to watch a documentary about how animals were treat (I can’t remember which it was) but it traumatised me and I went vegan that day. I was also pregnant and the smell of cooked meat was making me feel really poorly.
I never really liked meat and was quite scared of eating it, I was very particular about how it had to be cooked and cut but I never knew why. Love meat free life and I’m raising two young children meat free, 4.5 and 1.5 and never had meat.

I have always found safety and joy with animals and went vegetarian at age 11 and then vegan many years after that after I learned more about the dairy and egg industry. As time went on, I felt more vibrant than ever and it was empowering knowing I was not a part of such a cruel and unsustainable industry. This led to starting an animal sanctuary so their stories could be shared far and wide!

Ethical vegan. I care deeply about animals.

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In the summer of 2024 I watched Maa Ka Doodh while I was on a plane to Sarajevo, my father's hometown. I went completely vegan for the animals shortly after.

I went vegetarian/vegan shortly after my mother died & after my (environmental scientist) sister gave me the research on it. Never regretted it once but hard to find a community in the Midwest!

I wanted to be healthier and cut out red meat mainly.

I watched Forks Over Knives on Netflix while I was working abroad in South Korea as an English teacher. Soon after watching the film I got a call saying that an aunt on one side of my family and an uncle on the other were diagnosed with cancer. They both unfortunately passed before I could make it back to the states to see them. After that I watched the film again and went vegetarian for my last year in Korea since there was a lot of pressure at work to consume some form of animal product. I told myself that when I got back to the US, I was going fully vegan, which I did. And after a while I learned about animal sanctuaries and started becoming a regular volunteer at some near me, which introduced me to the animal rights aspect. Then I started watching documentaries like Cowspiracy which introduced me to the sustainability side. The more documentaries I watch now, the more it reinforces that I made the right decision. From "They're Trying To Kill Us" and "The Smell of Money" showing the social justice sides, "Speciesism The Movie" and "Live and Let Live" showing me the more philosophical arguments, "The End of Medicine" and "Eating Our Way To Extinction" showing me the global health and environmental impact, and "The Game Changers" showing me the impact on athletic performance.

Nutrition's favorite team is closing the gap between understanding the science behind the health benefits of food and how to apply that to your plate. TheDocandChef.com

I was born into a family that followed the teachings of Natural Hygiene, so I've been vegetarian since birth. Some of the early doctors of Natural Hygiene included limited eggs and dairy. When I met my wife in 2001, we shifted to exclusively vegan at the same time (Nov 2001).

10 years ago, after decades of being vegetarian, I decided to make the jump to veganism.

In 2019, I was placed in a medically induced coma because of what I was eating my body kept breaking down and at 1 point I was entering into the hospital over 6 times in one month!!! My Doctor told me that if I did not change my diet that I will be in a state of physical decli regarding my health. I was over 215 pounds and I was entering into the high presention and prediabetic stage. I was really tired all the time I had no energy and I was unmotivated and my mental state was really bad. I began to see exactly what the problem was and as a result I began to investigate the possibilities of vegan. By chance I saw the shows on Netflix called the Game Changers, What the Health, and Live to 100 and I began to look at more vegan documentaries and it was then that my mind was fully made up to go completely vegan. One thing I noticed is that when I became vegan I began to realize that my energy level increased dramatically and my mental outlook increased dramatically all of my vitals went to being as if I was in my late 30s I am in my mid-fifties now. I started doing things like gymnastics, yoga, circus training. I have served in 4 branches of the military and I am healthier now than I ever was when I was in the military. The more I began to investigate the more I began to realize the cruelty to animals and the more I began to detest eating meat,, cheese, and dairy. I went from weighing 215 pounds down to 154 pounds and yes I have my Before & After pictures it would like to show them to you. I want to be interviewed for your series because I truly believe that my story is an inspirational one.

I started with being vegetarian at 16 years old (20 years ago now!) and then made the switch to vegan 7 years ago. At the time, when I was 16, I was working in a restaurant on Thanksgiving day. I remember the amount of turkey's I saw in the back of the kitchen that were being cut for dishes. Maybe even a little worse, I remember how many people ate less than half of their dinner, scraping the remains into the trash. In that moment I wondered: on what scale is this happening around the world? How many turkeys have to die to make this possible? I was also heartbroken at the amount of waste. I went home after my shift and started searching these questions online... and I learned about factory farming, I learned about the numbers, and it changed my life.

My story final

My Story Cancer Story

My vegetarian lifestyle began in 1978, due to a serious life-threating medical emergency. An emergency surgery was performed which almost took my life. An ovarian cyst had ruptured, causing lots of internal bleeding and a lot of pain. The surgeon said he drained about 4 to 5 pints of blood before he could see what was going on. My life nearly slipped away. The pain and suffering endured can be compared to the pain and suffering of animals being slaughtered. As a result of that experience, the consumption of animals that suffered and died left my life entirely and I had a firm knowing that I would not participate in the taking of innocent lives. I could no longer justify it. I wanted my life and I knew the crying suffering animals were fighting for their lives too. It became something I could not do it. I understood!

This began an amazing journey into food and humanitarianism. These new feelings calmed my spirit. Many books on the subject were purchased and read. Attending lectures and classes on the subject became my new normal. Potlucks were the best, providing stories from practicing vegetarians that helped me to develop my own skills.

One of my lifelines was a magazine called Vegetarian Times. As a military family we moved often, however, that magazine always arrived in the mail every month without fail with new recipes for me to try, new stories and new research for me to consider. We were truly ready for this lifestyle change. My family made the transition to vegetarianism.

Several changes were noticed in my family as we progressed with the new lifestyle, that encouraged me. First, my son’s allergies and frequent trips to the hospital for 5-10 day stays each year became fewer and fewer. Then, finally no more trips to the hospital.

Next, our body odors changed. My daughter came home one day from school and proudly announced that her teacher had said she was the best smelling kid in her class. She was the only vegetarian. This had been my own observation, but she was proud! The whole family’s body odors changed! Additionally, my husband’s weight stabilized. His general disposition improved. Finally, my own energy vastly improved. The energy was much needed with two children, a husband and a household to manage in addition to a job.

These improvements in my family encouraged me to challenge myself with learning to prepare awesome dishes. We did not miss the meat consumption! The creole cooking style of seasonings was blended into my vegetarian cooking. This made for tantalizing meal experiences for everyone that ate at our house. One couple asked me to write a little book of recipes as a wedding gift for them. This honored me. Positively affecting the lives of others with my own experience made me happy.

This lifestyle continued without any health concerns, then divorce happened.

In 1991, I lost my precious son at age 19, in a car accident on the base. He was serving in the U.S. Army at Ft. Hood Texas. The diet had helped rid him of his asthma, as a result he was able to serve in the military, which was one of his dreams.

Around the year 2000, serious pains developed throughout my body. My sleep got crazy. My brain was foggy. Places on my body could not be touched at all! Fibromyalgia was diagnosed. Children who are abused are more likely to have the condition when they grow up is what I understood about it. This may happen because abuse changes the way the brain handles pain and stress. My childhood was an abusive one!

My own research on Fibromyalgia produced three books from the Health food store. All three books recommended a raw food diet because of its live enzymatic cleansing action. They suggested that the enzymes would reduce inflammation and that would put Fibromyalgia in remission. I didn’t observe anything in the books that would hurt me. The diet was simply raw uncooked fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and grain. The dishes were simply beautiful. I gave it a try.

Four weeks after beginning the raw food diet, my weight went down by 20 lbs. and the Fibromyalgia was gone! My energy surged again to it normal state. The food was delicious and beautiful. It was more creative than my vegetarian dishes and I loved the challenge of a live, living foods diet.

This food style was clean and organic! Raw food potlucks and lectures popped up everywhere. This gave me the ability to take classes and to go on weekend retreats. The new people, in this lifestyle, displayed tenacity and I liked that.

Another lifestyle change became necessary in February 2009, when I was diagnosed with a very aggressive Stage 4, T-Cell Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Shock exploded in my brain! My diet and daily exercise habits had been superior. I was confused sitting there on the gurney, in my oncologist office.

My oncologist said, while fighting back her own tears, “Your people come to me with these horrible cancerns and I can’t do anything to help. Honey, I am so sorry to give you this the bad news, but the most I can give you is 4 months with this nasty cancer you have. If I can put the cancer into remission you could have as much as 2 years, but it will not be pretty and you will suffer greatly. “It will not be pretty”. “I don’t want to get your expectations high because this does not look good”. My oncologist walked away from me. She continued to look through my file, while I sat there dazed! I sat there trying to make sense of what she had said. Suddenly, she interrupted my thoughts by happily saying, “Wait a minute, I am looking at a pathology of a 30 to 33-year-old, I was 61 years old at the time. I can help you because with this pathology I can get you into a bone marrow stem transplant program,” and she did.

This was the power of raw food. Make no mistake about that! The power to back my biological age up in half, that’s powerful! In that moment, when she said I had a pathology half my age, I clearly understood the power of Genisis 1:29, which I had put so much faith in. There it was, the fruit of the trees and herbs of the field to my rescue! I was 61 years old with the pathology of a 30-33-year-old. I felt so blessed to have found and practiced this diet which had so much hidden power. This caused me to advance to the top of the transplant list.


The literature indicates that chemotherapy destroy patients’ immune systems. Everything the transplant patient eats must be microwaved to death again! Without the support of your immune system, spores from an apples, an oranges and bananas could kill you. Patients cannot touch any live food.

I am always 100% vegan and I keep my diet at least 90% live living foods. I am 14 years post cancer with no pain in my body and I take no pharmaceuticals! My story illustrates the power of a plant only diet! It had my back when the chips were down and continues to nourish my body mind and spirit.

I am a51 year Vegan

I became vegan 12 years about after having stage III colon cancer.

In 2017 I acquired Alpha-gal syndrome. Since this diagnosis, I changed my way of eating, personal hygiene products, and household cleaning products. I began to educate myself about nutritious foods and natural products that do not poison the body.

At the same time during the process, a very beautiful spiritual awakening occurred that showed me a new way of thinking and perceiving non-human animals. Seeing the similarity we have in the ability to feel and love. Therefore, starting in January 2022, I immersed myself in the beautiful world of respect for life, non-violence, connection with feelings and never again consume, use or exploit a non-human animal regardless of its species. I live a vegan life and base my diet on a 100% plant-based.

I went vegetarian when I turned 50; then one & a half years later got an email suggesting that I try the 30 Day Vegan Challenge. I wasn't sure what my intentions were but knew at the time it would help me take the next steps to veganism - if I could do 30 days I could do so forever, right? When the challenge ended I never looked back. Vegan for the animals, not for my health - no animal products whatsoever in food, clothing, cosmetics, household items etc. I try to just set a positive example by my actions, always.

I watched the documentary 'Game Changers' on Netflix with a friend and later Cowspiracy. It was very soon after that I went Vegan in the second half of 2020 out of compassion for the animals and that remains my motivation till date. The only regret I will ever have is not going vegan earlier. I would like to connect with Vegans across the world and motivate people to Vegan through my actions

I am a 51-Year WFPB Vegan. I have not been sick nor been to a doctor for illness in 51 years!

I was constantly sick as a child and got the FLU every September for 23 consecutive years, from the age of 5 till the age of 23, regardless of whether or not I got a Flu shot. I also had between 3 to 5 colds every year. When I contracted the Flu every year I would be bed ridden for at least 5-7 days. In 1973 when a produce manager at a vegetarian market gave me some 25 herb Chinese Tea and it miraculously removed my fever and I was well within 6 hours of drinking the tea, I decided to take this man up on his suggestion that I adopt a vegetarian diet.

When I became vegetarian and gave up all meat and fish, I did increase my consumption of cheese and there was no change in my weight. I was slightly chubby. As a vegetarian for 15 years I only contracted the flu twice and each time it was a mild case.

In 1988, I had the great fortune of attaining my life-long goal of Buddhahood while meditating. I shall not describe the profound experience but I was suddenly overcome with a burning desire to “Save Living Beings”. Having grown up in New York City I was completely ignorant of animal farming and I knew nothing about the production of milk. I merely assumed that no harm came to the dairy cows when giving their milk. However, it was absolutely imperative I determine that no animals were harmed so, the following day
I went onto a PETA website called “milksucks.com” (now defunct) where I learned the awful truth about milk production. The cows don’t roam the fields eating their normal diet of grass. Rather, they are chained to their stalls, get no exercise and are fed GMO laced Soy and old stale candy bars. When a cow gives birth the female calves are sourced to be milk-producing cows while the male calves are left to starve and sold as veal. Having discovered this horrific, abused life of cows, I instantaneously took a vow to become a 100% vegan and to never again consume any product that comes from any other living being.

Three months after becoming 100% vegan I noticed all of my pants were too big and kept falling down. I discovered that I had suddenly lost 35 pounds in having given up cheese and milk products! I conclude that Dr. Neil Barnard, President of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine was correct when he said “cheese is more dangerous than meat”. When I quit eating meat I did not lose any weight but when I gave up cheese I lost 35 pounds! I’ve read most of his books.

In 1993 I went to a Buddhist meeting attended by 30 people and a week later received a notice from that meeting organizer informing me the guest speaker had Tuberculosis and it was recommended I visit the doctor for a check-up as Tuberculosis is an air-born illness. I did not go to the doctor but a month later went to donate my blood platelets to help cancer patients. Two weeks later I got a letter from the clinic that I could no longer donate blood. In phoning the doctor he informed me that I had a Tuberculosis Antibody in my blood which prohibited me from donating blood. When I asked what this meant, the doctor told me that apparently, I had been around someone who had Tuberculosis and because my immune system is so strong my body created an antibody to prevent me from contracting the illness!

In 2004 I had a motorcycle spill and fractured my leg and, being unable to work I ended up in a homeless shelter for 12 months. Everyone in the shelter had bedbug bites all over their bodies except for me, the only vegan. I even awoke one morning and found a bedbug on my sheet right in front of my eyes. I concluded my never having gotten a bedbug bite to have been the result of my vegan diet and that the bedbugs were not attracted the pheromones my body emitted.

Eight years ago, in 2016, at the age of 71 I received a phone call from a V.A. nurse asking me to come in for an annual physical. I told her it was not necessary. She insisted saying to me, “No, let me explain. The doctor has not seen you in 25 years and given your age he just wants to make sure you’re in good health. I went and gave blood and urine samples and returned the following week to see the doctor. He looked at my lab results and then he staired at me. Then he looked at the lab results and again he staired at me. When he did this a third time I became concerned. I asked, “Doc, what’s wrong?” “How old are you?”, he asked. “I’m 71 years old.”, I replied. Then the doctor said, “Well, according to these lab results, you appear to have the body of a 35 year old. I’ve never seen anything like this before. I said, “That’s because I’m a 46-year WFPB vegan. I’ve been studying nutrition for 45 years. I’ve concluded that only three things cause illness in humans, meat, dairy and chemicals.”
And when you eliminate those from your diet you never get sick! My body is the living proof of everything that Dr. Michael Greger says in his book, “How Not to Die”.


And now, my body is living proof of everything that Dr. Michael Greger says in his latest book, “How Not to Die”.

I’ve created the Buddhist Diet:


“Eat only fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, organic whenever possible.”

This diet is revealed and explained in my forthcoming book, “The Truth About Buddhism”. The Truth about Buddhism is that “there is no meat-eating in Buddhism” because the Buddha clearly states, “He who eats meat is no disciple of mine.”

Most people are completely unaware exactly what is in their food. Unbeknownst to most people, food manufacturers are permitted by the FDA to add up to 1,000 different chemical ingredients without having to list them on the “Ingredients” label of packaged food! Unless you eat only plant-based organic whole foods, you really don’t know what’s in your food!!!

Want to know what causes cancer and ALL illness?

MEAT, DAIRY and man-made chemicals (GMO’s pesticides, artificial flavorings and colors.) are the cause of all human illness.

I am living proof that if anyone follows the diet I have created they will be able to attain Optimum Health just as I have.

KASHO,
The 21st Century Buddha

My wife Patty and I , originally from San Francisco and Boston respectively, both grew up within the invisible belief system that eating animals was normal, natural and necessary. We were both animal lovers, or so we thought. It was during the pandemic of Covid-19, living in Miami, that we came across documentaries, books and articles that removed our blindfolds and led to the light switch moment to make a change for the better. And it was because of Covid-19, a zoonotic disease transmitted from animals to humans, that we realized the hypocrisy of the human relationship with animals and the absurdity and destructive nature of the food production system on animals, humans, the planet and social justice as a whole. Today we continue to learn and grow and share our insight as animal rights, vegan and social justice activists, volunteering for several organizations. True Justice 4 All, a novel published in September 2024, our only book, and truejustice4all on Instagram, are our written contributions to the movement of which we are dedicated.

After starting on my spiritual journey and listening more and more to my body, I realised that eating meat and dairy was just a habit and my body didn't actually want or need animal products. Then on 4th April 22 my wife and I watched the German movie BUTENLAND which is about a rancher who turned his ranch into a cow sanctuary and we went vegan.

In my pursuit of living a more authentic and conscious life I realized quickly that eating animals was no longer an option for me.

I am a remote freelance professional who is passionate about supporting other vegans.

I watched What The Health and went vegan and my cholesterol went from 265 to 165. So, I started asking others to go vegan and now I am a vegan for the animals!

I am just beginning! I have felt it in my heart for awhile now!

I'm a vegan in college. I study journalism at Wichita State University and have written for the university's newspaper and other local publications. I went vegan at 16 after watching popular documentaries and Bong Joon Ho's "Okja", following a short vegetarian stint. I love finding new recipes and learning more about sustainability and health.

I went vegan gradually from 2000 to 2009

So I went vegan first sometime in 2012 after watching a raw vegan youtuber talking about animal cruelty especially with dairy industry , now I was primarily already a "vegetarian" with 95 % of my non fleshy foods but I've been vegan since 24th Jan 2014 when I was able to connect the dots of human, animal and environmental health when I reconnected with the interconnectedness of all planetary system ( natural & man made). Since I was already an environmentalist for a few years before this pivotal movement, it was surprising to me that I went vegan for animal cruelty reasons when I would never claim to be an animal lover but that's not a reason to deny them their reverence and basic right to freedom. And now it's been so long since I've been on this path, that most days I don't even remember why I went vegan in the first place, the dots keep connecting and now I am vegan for oneness and that there's no reason not to go vegan starting with animal liberation.

I wasn't happy with myself couldn't heal from alot of things

I experience my family members passing away from not eating healthy, in almost suffered the same way until I started eating to heal

In 2012 I saw the movie Forks over Knives as recommended by a coworker and became immediately intrigued by the idea. I went vegan right then and continued for several years. However, I let the use of vegan butters seep into my diet, which stopped all progress and enabled the weight to come back on. After I retired in 2019, I got a new smart TV and started watching videos. In 2021 August I rediscovered Dr. John McDougal‘s starch solution book and watched his videos where he reminded people that oil is disastrous to health and losing weight. Once I gave up the oil the weight flew off. I lost the 40 pounds I wanted to lose and have basically been able to maintain that loss. I will go up a few pounds generally when I eat the super tasty new meat alternatives they have now but then I get back on track and it easily falls away again. I am 6 feet tall and have been as heavy as 235 pounds. I now way between 166 (my favorite weight) and 171.
Although I started this way for health, I love the fact that I’m not eating and causing harm to animals not to mention I’m not hurting the environment as much.
It is a bit lonely but I stay strong and feel I will never go back as eating animal products seems outdated and unnecessary.

I began to have problems with headaches back in 2016 and I slowly began a little at a time changing my diets when I got a job as a Vegan Chef. I have been cooking and been a chef for almost 20 years I told myself well since I am cooking it everyday I might as well. Start eating it and as I slowly changed my diet my headaches went away.
It's a lot more details but that's the quick version.

I love being vegan.

I took voluntary redundancy in 2018 and reengaged with the animal activism of my youth which, back then, only consisted of cruelty free cosmetics and signing a few petitions. I then made the connection that ethical veganism is the ‘moral baseline’ as Francione said.

I never knew how hideous the dairy industry is and just thought it was the meat industry. When I discovered the unimaginable cruelty of both industries, I became an ethical vegan for the animals overnight. I will never go back.

I suffer from daily Weltschmerz when I think about the treatment of the animals but passionate and dedicated fellow ethical vegans keep me hopeful.

Vegan for the animals, always (because veganism is about animal rights)! I consider the countless other benefits to be positive side effects. I went vegetarian in 2004 immediately after seeing about 30 seconds of PETA’s “Meet Your Meat” video. It wasn’t until 2014 that I saw a video about the dairy and egg industries; I was heartbroken and horrified, and went vegan immediately. I’m passionate about: animal rights activism, WFPB high raw nutrition, foraging, holistic health, sustainability, yoga and mindfulness. I work at a farmed animal sanctuary, and my partner and I are working on building a micro sanctuary for farmed animals and a vegan homestead. Be the change you wish to see in the world! ☮️💚

Passionate about using art, writing, and outreach to inspire empathy for all living beings

I read the preface of 'How Not to Die' and that was it for me. Since that time, I've continued to expand my knowledge and passion for ecological restoration, which has only further solidified my belief in plant-based living.

I was vegetarian for about 25 years, then I learned about the milk and egg industry and decided to go vegan 🙂

Put your morals where your mouth is. Live vegan.

Became vegan in 1987 when I was 14. Nowadays veganism is much more there for everyone to realise what a horrific world this is for all animals. There’s no excuse to be ignorant and not care

As a child I’d always loved animals. Therefore, it seemed a logical to become vegetarian. I realised consuming animals did not align with my values. However, I then began to question the ethics of eating any animal products. I felt a deep sadness for the plight of dairy cows. Separating these loving mothers from their calves is unthinkably cruel. I didn’t want contribute to this animal suffering. But going vegan seemed like a big step. Especially for a teenager in the 1980’s. So I decided to try vegan for a month. It seem more achievable to have this goal.

This turned out to be pretty easy. So I’m still vegan over 37 years later. I often get asked if it was difficult back then. Without the variety of vegan products now available in supermarkets. Not to mention the plentiful options for eating out. It certainly wasn’t as convenient. It was also seen as unusual or frankly weird. I spent lots of time answering questions. Also defending my choice!

But, I see this as the best decision I have ever made. Now my eyes were open I had no desire to consume animal products. Having that motivation made it easy. As did finding a liked-minded community. This helped me to navigate a non vegan world, and to spread the message to others. I’ve been involved in vegan campaigning, animal activism and animal rescue work. My successful experience of trying vegan for a month led me to support others in this way. I organised the first vegan pledge in London. Participants tried vegan for a month. Significantly, many of them stayed vegan.

Though I began to think about animal sentience with my first rescue dog, it took me a good 10 years to face the reality of all the ways I was causing harm to our friends. Since then, I have never looked back and believe this is the most important issue of our time for animals, people and the environment.

I finally went vegan in 2018 after being vegetarian for many years. I'm so thankful I made the connection and will never go back. Every aspect of my life has fundamentally changed and I'm very lucky to have a partner who also went vegan with me. We have two dogs who are also plant based, and they are both healthy and thriving!

I knew eating animals was wrong after I watched the film 'Babe' as a child. My family wasn't vegetarian though, so I ate meat here and there until about high school when I watched a gruesome factory farming documentary in my social studies class. From that point on, I became full vegetarian. But as I did more and more research about the dairy industry, I realized being vegetarian wasn't enough for me so I finally decided to make the full commitment to veganism. It has been one of the best decisions of my life!

There was a number of events that pulled me into veganism. I stopped eating meat after a duck that someone brought to my home as a present got defrosted in my freezer during a black out. The freezer didnt turn on and so three weeks later, upon my return from holidays, I had to clean this disgusting scene. I said to myself “do I not need to be cleaning rotten cadavers from my fridge”. It clicked. But my change was not immediate. I went from not bringing meat my home fridge to eating meat only when dining out to not eating fish to vegetarian. Then I got tired of having meals covered up with white fluid everytime I ate out. People did not know how to cook without dairy and were not understanding when I wanted veg dish without any kind of maternal milk in it. Most dishes were covered in white. “If I cannot explain it I ll go vegan”, I thought. I did. It was then that I started slowly discovering what vegan means. Besides I was studying for my masters in environmental policy and it made no sense to say I am an environmentalist without being vegan as well. I was also participating in buddhist retreats. Spiritually it made no sense to consume animals and their suffering. Although one may decide on the spot, becoming/being vegan is a process “of awakening”.

I got tired of all the opposing info from doctors and health experts. I decided to begin my own research into food and what my body actually needed. After hundreds of hours researching medical journals and other literature I quickly learned a vegan diet was the best. This process took me from vegan for my health to vegan for the animals as I began to learn of their horrific treatment. Now I have over 30 rescued animals dogs cats chickens pigs goats horses and donkeys. I have been vegan 24 years and will never go back.

Around 1992, my journey toward a plant-based lifestyle began with a series of heartfelt decisions. It all started with my decision to abstain from consuming certain animals, a choice driven by personal connections and stories.

My first step was to bid farewell to sea animals and pigs. The moment of clarity that led me to eliminate pigs from my diet was when my mom explained what baby back ribs were. It was a revelation that struck me deeply; I couldn’t fathom the idea of eating baby pigs. These ribs had been one of my favorite treats at the annual Spokane Interstate Fair. Little did I know back then that my true love was for the delectable BBQ sauce that accompanied them, but at the time, I was blissfully unaware. So, one by one, I decided to give up consuming animals that held a personal connection.

In the summer of 1995, just before I entered the 7th grade, I made a seemingly random decision. As my mom and I indulged in our regular Whoppers at a drive-through, I matter-of-factly declared that this would be my last one, and it indeed was.

As my 7th-grade year began, we were assigned a research report, and I chose the topic of factory farming. Back then, information was not as readily available as it is today, with the internet still in its infancy. I scoured my school library and the Spokane public library to gather insights. What I discovered during my research was both painful and shocking. When I presented my findings to the class, I revealed that I had given up my final animal, chicken.

After 18 years of contentedly leading a vegetarian lifestyle, the universe bestowed upon me a partner who introduced me to a profound shift. It all began with her decision to watch the first 20 minutes of a documentary called Earthlings. As she sat in the other room, tears streaming down her face, I felt the intensity of her emotions, and it was almost too much to bear. Many years ago, I had played a role in helping her transition to a vegetarian diet, and now, she had led me on the path to becoming vegan.

I was vegetarian since age 25 (40 years ago). My youngest daughter embraced veganism and helped me see the environmental impact of the dairy and egg industries of which I was unaware and how companies use words like "humanely raised" and "free range" to deceive the consumer (me) into thinking those animal products were not causing harm or suffering. After seeing a documentary about animal
sanctuaries and reading Will Tuttle's, The World Peace Diet, I embraced veganism in 2019 and it is now part of my spiritual practice. I started an ethical vegan group at my Unity spiritual center called Compassionate Choices which meets monthly and I do a weekly Face Book and e-newsletter post for the spiritual center.

I have never went vegan, but I've been mostly mostly vegan for about 25 years (as of writing this in June 2024)

I don't claim to know for sure if we humans should not kill other animals for food, even though many other animals do it, BUT .... I am SURE that we should NOT be forcing animals to live a life of torture (which is how MOST MOST MOST animals raised for human consumption are raised).

Because of this realization sometime in the mid-90s, and even though I really enjoy eating meat which I grew up eating, I have been 95% (or more) vegetarian since then.

Even though I haven't had the strength and whatever wherewithal to go fully vegan myself, I SUPER appreciate everyone that does, I support vegan and vegetarian causes, and I seek to continue doing so, so I appreciate this website!

My diet has evolved over the years to reflect my efforts to regain my health and mobility as well as my concerns for animal welfare and the earth's ecological balance.

I went vegan in 2016 after learning about the horrors of factory farming.

2004 [my Age 17, Weight ~45 kg] – I studied Commercial Artist from a prestigious institution in South Bombay (children of wealthiest people all over the country come to study here). Hence, many organisations visited our college to sell their products (papers, paints, brushes etc.) My first hand learning about Veganism (being kind to animals – is what I like to call it now) was done by PETA in 2005, at college – when they told us the cruelty behind obtaining animal hair for paint brushes we used. We all (students & teachers) replaced our stationary to cruelty free alternatives. Apart from that organisations (like Beauty without Cruelty) also visited they showcased entire range of cruelty against animals. Looking at those visuals I made up my mind to become a vegan, stopped consuming milk and reduced eating sweets. My parents were proud of me, but due to my young age – my cravings for mithai, Ghee, not much say/control in the house (kitchen), some political and not so religious reasons, or be it the fear of loosing out (on not so great) friends [who were meat eaters even before their birth (their mothers consumed meat in pregnancy)] – whatever the reasons, I couldn’t continue being a Vegan, ultimately gave up on the thoughts of Veganism, to become a part of mainstream lifestyle [aka consumption of – Junk food, meat, alcohol & tobacco at casual/occasional/office parties, bad sleeping patterns – these are all very common and an integral part of mainstream lifestyle].

13 years later 2017 [my Age 30, Weight ~76 kg, about to become a father], my body started showing signs (pre-diabetic, high cholesterol, higher triglycerides). Me and my wife both looked pregnant. I always felt a burden of something inside my body, mind and soul. I was about to be bombarded by medicines by best doctors in town (who were prescribing me what the Pharma companies were asking them to sell, not what my body wanted). I bought the medicines, but never consumed any as I read about the side effects. At first, my wife suggested and we approached a family Vaidya (Ayurvedic Dr.) his medicines & churna (powder) helped me a lot, reduced 4 kgs without a single physical exercise. After about a year later again there were no signs of drastic improvement, how would there be?? ultimately medicines (which ever technology) have got their limitations.

2 years later 2019 [my Age 32, Weight ~ 71kg, about to become a father again :-)] My elder daughter – a bundle of joy; and I failed as I couldn’t carry her on my shoulders and climb a mountain in Bhutan! The most cleanest and cool country in the world and I was literally sweating there. There was something terrible within my body which no medicine was going to help me with. Eventually, I did a self reiki to seek answers deep within myself and realised that it was the greed (to Eat, to Earn, other bodily pleasures/desires and even Anger) which was holding me behind and killing me. That was a wake-up call. I decided to give up on things one after other, and listened to my heart.

2020 – I chose to became a Vegan, and since two years there is a complete reversal in my medical conditions. Lost over 6 Kgs of unhealthy weight in just first three months, my waist size reduced in inches. I can carry both the bundles [daughters] of joy and play with them without a drop of sweat. Although its a fact that I turned Vegan due to a selfish reason of my own health, but now after watching so many videos about cruelty of the dairy industry I’m convinced it was the cry of animals that gave me the courage to overcome my desires to eat.

My Learning & Findings
Although we have all been raised by our Parents to believe that using animals for food is very natural and also necessary, be it for nutrition, or even medicinal purposes. We have also been told several stories to justify how animals are being benefited by human intervention and how we decorate them on festivals and worship them during religious events, yet these are just to make us humans feel good instead of feeling guilty. I have discovered that there is a much happier and healthier way to live !

A short conversation with my daughter changed my heart.

I’m born Vegetarian, and genuinely hate the strong odour when people eat / cook fish. Yet, I had a fish tank at my house. When I turned Vegan, I put up all sort of restrictions on myself as well as my family in order to turn their minds towards becoming a Vegan; yet, I still had retained the fish tank.

My 3.5 year old daughter who was trying to understand the concept of Veganism asked me some questions which blew my mind.
We took care of the fishes – maintaining their oxygen pumps, decorating the tank with various colourful stones, feeding them twice a day, cleaning their tank at regular intervals and as per our busy schedules. We even had a medicine that relieves fish stress.

My daughter loved the gold fishes in the tank and spent most of her time looking at them, more than I ever did, but she didnt understand the purpose of fish tank at house. Long ago before I started my journey towards Veganism, I had got this fish tank because I read somewhere.. looking at the fishes movement, help in reducing our blood pressure, keeping them at a certain spot in our house brings us good luck and prosperity. My sister told me once that we should not throw away water from fish tank, instead use it in the garden as it improves fertility of soil and our plants grow healthy. So poop of the fish is also beneficial for us..

” .. but what does it give them?” my daughter asked me; I was speechless and yet happy. Speechless because my daughter had observe some of the things which I had failed to realise, and happy because I have been a better parent in teaching the true value of empathy to my child.

Every month me and my daughter had this routine activity of half an hour, transferring the fishes to a bucket, throughly cleaning the fish tank, cleaning the pump, watching the fishes expression after tank was cleaned. We cleaned the fish tank for one last time. Then carried the fishes to a clean pond nearby and let the fishes free. My daughter even wished them a happy journey ahead.

Think about this:
We humans are also animals and ALL animals want to live, and have a capacity to suffer. When I decided to opt out of the cruel practices of using animals without regard to their needs, my life actually became better! Let’s stop drinking Cow’s milk for “calcium and other nutritional sources” – it’s a LIE which dairy industry has been advertising to us.

I regret each day I lived as a non-vegan and wish to compensate for it! That’s when I thought “I should go beyond just being a Vegan”

Writing a separate post to share updates about my – Life beyond being Vegan

Only regret is not going vegan sooner.

Going vegan was the best decision I have ever made

I had been on the vegan "journey" subconciously all my life but went vegan maybe 16 years ago and have never looked back.
It was while on a train journey from London to Lancashire, I noticed the cows in the fields were all uniform sized and questioned it with my partner, which got us thinking about what truths are hidden about "farm" animals.

Later that day , we met my partner's family in a Beefeater for a meal and on checking out the menu this time, more consciously and aware than ever of what each meal actually was, I declared to the whole tribe loud and clear that I was now vegan and will happily eat a plate full of carrots to shut them up should they come with the "what are you going to eat-carrots?" question.

Now I'm a seasoned vegan and very pleased with myself for all such achievements.

Oh, since then, my partner and some of his family have gone vegan and we have a teen who was raised vegan.

And we are niw wwoofing on a veganic food forest, off grid, low till, no dig, no single use plastic farm.