What are the personal and global benefits of living a vegan lifestyle? I chose this essential question because it is one of the main questions I am trying to answer with research and with personal experience. I became a vegetarian the summer of 2016 on a whim, and I haven’t turned back since. It started out as a taste preference, but as I started exploring more into the subject I realized that there were a plethora of reasons for me to continue on the vegetarian path. As I did even more research, I realized the reasons for not eating meat encompasses all of animal products, and so started my vegan quest. Disclaimer: I am not vegan, I have been told by my parents me being vegetarian is hard enough on them, so veganism is grounds for serious punishment. So, I have begun a quest to gather knowledge that will allow me to enlighten others of the vegan path of awesomeness and give a good basis of health for my vegan college years. Becoming knowledgeable about veganism is very important to me because I want to know what I preach. Veganism can benefit my life today by making me healthier and happier, as well as doing the same for those I spread the message with around me. I want to save lives, both human and nonhuman.
2) What I Know or Assume
One of the main things I know is that veganism is the optimal lifestyle, or at least in my mine and most other cases. Simply becoming vegetarian has made me eat better, physically feel better, and given me a sense of peace and accomplishment for harming and killing less animals by changing my choices. I know that i have many friends/acquaintances who have become vegetarian or vegan and swear that they feel physically and emotionally better than before the change. I also know the harsh realities of where or meat, dairy, and eggs come from due to curiosity research. When I became vegetarian on a whim I began researching to decide if it would make me feel better. I began watching videos and reading books. The horrors of the things we do to animals on a regular basis is enough to make any sane person stop and think twice. I know that we torture and murder animals for food, beauty products, accessories, etc. I know that a vegan lifestyle can support a person, without making them deficient in calcium or protein, contrary to popular belief. I know that becoming vegan lowers your risk of heart disease and cancer. I am also aware that the meat industry creates so many harmful gases that it could destroy our planet, if it hasn't already. I know that veganism is a way to live healthy and happy while not taking or harming the lives of other sentient beings.
3) The Story of My Hunt and Search for Information
When I began my research I began with already a general knowledge of what I was looking for. I already know reasons to be vegan, I just need sources and direct facts to organize my scattered thoughts into a cohesive research argument. I organized my research into three sections- health, morals, and environmental factors. I found conflicting information when it came to the health benefits of veganism. No sources said that veganism is outright unhealthy, while many vegans can be deficient, but it questioned the extent veganism has on the chance of heart disease and other diseases. I found many moral reasons why to be vegan, including photos, personal stories, videos, and disturbing facts and statistics. The environmental benefits include water usage, greenhouse gases, pollution, ocean depletion, etc. All of the information I found is on pages on my website. I tried to avoid bias by using different sources and avoiding sources know for bias, i.e. PETA, but there is clearly bias present in most information. Research sites I visited obviously served a goal of promoting veganism, yet they still had clear, not biased data and facts to back up their claims. I interviewed a classmate who has been vegan for a while to get another vegan’s point of view. I learned that my research question was general enough to allow me room to answer as little or as much as I pleased. I also learned that the question is not fully answerable, because reasons are constantly changing and popping up. Also, a reason to become vegan for one person might not be a viable reason for another person to become vegan. My essential question did its job, it allowed me room to defend the side of veganism to whatever extent I pleased.
4) What I Discovered in the End and a Reflection
What I thought I knew and what I learned were pretty much the same thing. Before doing this project, I had already done research about vegetarianism and veganism for my own personal curiosity. The other different is I took what I learned and put it into an organized and cohesive website. I make a conclusion that veganism is the most morally sound and environmentally friendly lifestyles possible, and is also one of the healthiest ways to eat. This will apply to my personal life because it adds more truth to my desire to be vegan. It also adds to my personal life because now when asked why I don’t eat meat, I can answer confidently with facts and sources, as well as a link to a website I made to explain.