"You cannot separate the issue of sustainability from the issue of justice from the issue of access to resources and from the issues of peace." -Vandana Shiva

Being vegan-
When I started eating vegan I hadn't fully thought through all of the reasons
I just thought it felt right.

My cousin is vegan.  My boyfriend is vegan.
I suddenly developed a guilt complex that made dairy and eggs less enjoyable.

Now its been  about 8 months and the reasons keep piling up.

How can you tell if a cow is happy anyways?  Is that something that you can taste or smell?
Do they whisper to you "thank you for killing me, I grew up on a happy farm and I was looking

forward to the day I died" or "thank you for killing me, I grew up on a factory farm sleeping
in my own shit just waiting for my day to die"

People may argue that its unhealthy.
I used to think about this a lot and think about a scenario where I find that it turns out that may actually be an "unhealthy" diet.  Would I grow old and regret not drinking my milk if my bones started turning to dust?
But now I think that this question is irrelevant.  This isn't about me.  This is about a system of injustice towards animals, people, and the environment.  It's all connected.

I think the way we enslave and abuse animals is also reflected in the way people and the environment are used and treated. Like slaves or commodities.  I think there is a correlation between feminists criticisms on women as being used as sexual objects to sell products and the use and exploitation of animals for human and monetary benefit.  I think this also plays into how we use our land, for fast and cheap things that are mostly irrelevant to the existence and survival of humans.  

We are BLOWING UP MOUNTAIN TOPS FOR MONEY and Energy.

I mean its nearly impossible to completely rid oneself to contributing to some amount of exploitative activity to animals, the environment, or people.  I mean I'm using a computer that is made of of parts from very countries that I don't know what the conditions were for the people who made this computer.  I know it probably took a lot of energy and resources to make contributing to strip mining somewhere and lots of waste.  Not to mention that I routinely plug this thing into a wall which takes energy from who knows where and what mode of extraction.  But veganism is one way a person can actively resist a culture of exploitation and abuse.

"Be the change you want to see in the world"