So I am a vegan. Out of the blue… I felt like my body might benefit from the change so I gave it a go. My friend Natalia was increasingly glowing thanks to her vegan diet and i wanted to glow as well.
It has been a month now. No meat, fish or any animal products.
Fruit mostly, vegetables, sometime pulses. Simple home made food most of the time! It is incredible how much junk food you can eat as a vegan, if you choose ready meals or processed foods like biscuits, crackers, pates and so on, claiming to be free from everything…including taste.
I was asked yesterday if my decision was based on the moral issues surrounding the killing of animals. Morals…I don't want to be a vegetarian who easily crucify others for killing animals but have no awareness that in the same time is committing different kind of the crime on every day basis by for example ‘killing’ his own child’s free spirit and joy… I don't want to be also like some of those animal rights activists who choose anger and aggression as a way of expressing what they believe in.
What however makes sense to me is the fact that as vegetarians we need just an acre of land to produce plenty of food. As a vegan even less! This number however has to be multiplied by 5 if our diet is primarily based on meat. When you think about the pollution and the energy that has to be used in order to feed and kill many animals, it seems to make less and less sense.
Another good reason is that I am digesting much better because my food is lighter and passes through my stomach almost immediately which allows the nutrients to be release in its pure form, supplying me with energy and helping clear my skin.
But it would never have happened if somebody had tried to make me feel bad about eating meat. There are ideas that need to grow on us until we are ready to make a particular step. Sometimes we simply need more information to help us make up our minds. Like me in Namibia a few years ago, incidentally visiting one of the biggest dairy farms, suppling a quarter of Namibia with milk. Basically after that experience I never drank another drop of milk again and switched happily to almond and coconut milk.
Or when visiting a caviar farm. Before this I wouldn't miss an occasion to decadently enjoy some caviar with smoked salmon on blinis with a glass of bubbles. I guess this is inherited from my Russian ancestors on my father’s side, who - I am guessing- never get enough of it and always craved more, so decided to send me back on earth and use me as a channel for this highly sophisticated experience.
Last summer I went to Spain ( second biggest - after France, producer of caviar at the moment) and visited one of the most organic and ethical surgeon farms. And that was it! I just knew I would never eat caviar again. If this was ethical and organic farming what must happen in the other places?
So yes it is about awareness but also right timing.
Will I never eat meat again? I don’t know…If I am starving for months with no food and shelter, yes I would. But in the meantime I will enjoy my green smoothies and sweet potato curries.
PS At the time of publishing this blog i have introduced non farming fish back into my diet, as time passed my skin was missing the essential oils, it was getting very dry even with the extra supplements of Omega 3. Since then I feel fantastic, having no cravings for any meat, dairy or gluten
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