In Celebration of Earth Day, I Went Vegan!

Roasted Portabella Mushroom Melt from Cafe Sunflower, Sandy Springs, GA.

I know, I know: it's been several weeks since Earth Day, right? Well, in keeping with tradition (last year, I bought a hybrid), I've made another major change in my life, to better serve the environment. I've purposely waited until now to post this because this evening marks one month since I began a vegan diet. For those of you who are unaware, a vegan diet comprises of eating no animal or animal by-products. I've largely been promoting a vegan lifestyle in all other manner of things, so it really seemed just a matter of time.

Even so, a great many of my friends and family were shocked to hear that I'd suddenly decided, during a privately emotional battle between me and a rare hunk of sirloin, to completely cut out meat and dairy, etc., from my diet--cold turkey, as the saying goes. Several of my vegan friends (it's really great to have some long-term, educated vegan friends to support me!) actually suggested I try out vegetarianism first. But after I'd filled my head with all the harsh, disgusting truth, I felt I needed to cease and desist altogether.

That being said, I am not doing this for dietary reasons--however, I already feel a lot healthier, incidentally. Instead, I've made the leap for ethical reasons. I can no longer support the unnecessary suffering and torture of animals that is so prevalent in the world today. No rational or misguided justification can change my view on this. Our brutal society has done absolutely nothing to safeguard the treatment of innocent creatures (sorry bub: your "organic" and "free-range" meat and eggs are still the product of tortured animals); therefore, the only solution is to cut it out completely.

And me, and my taste buds couldn't be happier. I feel better about myself; I'm much more energetic; and, most importantly, I can sleep at night. I've been pleasantly surprised at most of my family and friends' reactions and support in all this. My parents have expressed some serious interest in cutting down on meat (there have been talks of cutting red meat completely... Mom? Dad? Is that still something being contemplated?) and my dad really loved Spiral Diner, a vegan restaurant, co-owned by my friend and fellow filmmaker, James M. Johnston.

No matter what you're eating, I challenge you to analyze it. Are you really tasting your food? Or do you find yourself loading it with condiments? Dipping your vegetables in your gravy? Or perhaps all of your food is covered in grease and lined with fat? None of this applies to me. I'm truly tasting my food now and I hope to continually rebuild my taste buds in time. In addition, I'm no longer supporting the mutilation, torture and killing of innocent, sentient and feeling animals.