What Emily Saw---reasons for becoming vegan

[Catherine]

This is a very powerful video. Emily grew up on a farm. She decided to learn how farm animals are treated in factory farms.
It changed her whole outlook on life.
She no longer eats animal products.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hQDYT7R...r_embedded

I think the knowledge of factory farms is spreading. Meat consumption in North America is dropping.
Increasingly people are wanting to have no part of the suffering of farmed animals.

I think Emily puts it so simply and clearly. Reducing the intake of animal products reduces the number of animals that suffer.
I don't know what it will take to change the system, but for now at least we can opt out and live a different lifestyle.

Increasingly we want our food to be ethically sourced. I hope we are seeing the beginning of the end of factory farming.

[LPC]

Very good find, Catherine! A very good, clear video - spoken from the heart.

[Catherine]

Emily makes a good clear presentation. I think she will reach a lot of people.

I think the truth about factory farming is out there and people are eating less meat and less animal products.
In younger people the percentage is higher so we will see a shift as they become the bulk of the population.
Certainly vegan foods are becoming more available.

I got an early Christmas/late birthday gift from a special friend(Luna Bunny's mom). She gave me a vegan cookbook. It may take a while to learn a new style of cooking and I am having to restock my kitchen with a different set of basic foods, but I already make my own Hummus. Since this time last year I have almost dropped meat from my diet. Some of my meals are vegan. It is a step in the right direction. As I learn basic recipes I will do even better. I feel healthy and I have lots of energy.

[Tobi]

Blessings to Emily. What a powerful video.

I think a lot more people are becoming aware about where their food comes from nowadays. It wasn't like that when I was a child. No-one ever asked any questions, or thought about it! We have come a long way in 50 years and I think things are snowballing recently -thanks in part to the internet!

[Catherine]

Most of us know where our food comes from. I can't just eat the way I was brought up without knowing that animals suffered to produce that meat. 
We were so blissfully innocent and trusting. I thought happy chickens and happy cows gave me my milk and eggs. I never thought about the lives they were living. Now that I know I have to change. I think many people feel the same way.

I hope Emily's video reaches many more people. Change is possible.

[Ruth]

It would be nice if not eating animals prolonged other animal lives. I don't see it but then I don't know everything either.

[Catherine]

I guess the whole point of not eating meat is to not be part of the problem.  If I don't buy meat that was produced on factory farms then I am not supporting what goes on in those farms.  We can't always change things by our individual actions, but we can change ourselves. I don't like being part of something I don't respect.

So far I have reduced the amount of meat I eat and often do not eat meat at all. At least when I hear about the cruelty towards animals that are used for food I can be at peace that I am trying to not be a part of it.
Being vegan would be amazing. I would like to live without harming animals.

In the same way I am trying to live green. I plant trees when I can. It won't replace the vast forests that have been destroyed by logging, but it replaces one tree. I think there is hope for the future in the small actions that each of us can do.

[Tobi]

You said it well Catherine. Just one less Turkey killed at Christmas because one person has become suddenly vegetarian won't make a massive difference to the industry, or the way the birds are kept and slaughtered. Although it will make a difference to them, and the way they feel. But if five million people all decide to do the same, then it starts to make changes. It's the same with all things like that; the more people do it, the more trends are altered, and changes made.

I got laughed at today, because a neighbour stopped to wish me Happy Christmas. They asked me if I had a Turkey already....or was I having Goose? I told them gently that I don't eat meat, and they were quite horrified and shocked! I told them I am having nut roast, caramelised onion gravy, Brussels sprouts and crispy roast potatoes. I think many people don't change because they are not confident about cooking vegetarian food, have never found out about it, and are just falling back on traditional habits. Plus some people reckon they don't 'have the time' for all that.
Less thinking involved I guess.

Or some people may have a busy household, they may quite like the idea of being vegetarian, but because everybody else eats meat and would probably laugh at them, decide to eat meat too....or they can't bear the thought of cooking 2 separate dinners.

But when it becomes a way of life, and a habit in itself, cooking vegetarian or vegan balanced meals is very very easy!

[Catherine]

It is not just a change of lifestyle for individuals like you and me. It is a change of life style for out whole culture.
There are changes in our thinking.

Right now you get laughed at because you don't eat meat. Sooner than you think you will be in the majority.

Remember how everyone smoked any where they wanted. If you were a non smoker people thought you were odd.

Now it is illegal to smoke in most places. The number of smokers has dropped off so much that I feel shocked when I see someone smoke.  The world has changed and it will change even more.

Someday we will look back at factory farms and we will have trouble believing it was real.