Hobart Winter Sunset

A beautiful, wintery sunset last night over Mt. Wellington.

Why Vegan?

My first tentative foray into veganism came about during late 2009/early 2010 as a response to my quest for a healthier lifestyle. To my surprise I found all the research pointing to a vegan diet as a diet that could not only increase health but actually reverse some diseases.  As a nurse I found this very exciting and decided to try it for 30 days. I remember I was quite apprehensive and unsure if I would be able to manage without eggs, dairy and “white “meat (I hadn’t eaten red meat for many years) and didn’t really expect to follow it through.  I was particularly worried about missing cappuccino and parmesan cheese. How funny that seems now.

At the time I was an “I only eat chicken and fish and can’t see what’s wrong with dairy” kind of person but my readings during this time awakened me to the true nature of the dairy industry. I had a naive notion that cows hung about meadows with their calves, grazing, and waiting to be milked by kind farmers with ruddy faced wives. I had no idea that calves were dragged away from their mothers at birth, girls, to become milkers and boys to become veal. It had never occurred to me that the industry wouldn’t allow any milk to be ‘wasted’ on calves when it could be sold to blasé consumers.  I also had no notion that the traumatised and inconsolable cows cry loudly as this happens and that this outward expression of sorrow (actually the sound of their hearts breaking) follows the calves as they disappear forever.  Once I was aware I couldn’t become unaware and found there would be no return for me to my unthinking days of dairy consumption.