Good morning, Davis. It’s hard to believe that this is day #4 already! We have covered so many important issues . Your candor and eagerness in exploring these issues in a deep and meaningful way inspires all of us. You have mentioned several other topics that you would like to delve into . One of your interests was talking about mentors and people who have influenced you along your journey.
Where would you like to start today?
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Hey all!
You know, there are so many angles to look at — but I started wondering about how other people got to the point they’re at. How long did it take? Who helped you along the way? This is a journey that can take a long time, so how did you cross it?
I have a few “mentors” in mind, either people I’ve known or just things I’ve seen and read that have influenced me. (Gotta mention my wife, but I’ll say a little more about that later!) How about the rest of you?
PS – I posted pictures of the pizza last night (not great shots, sorry!) It was excellent. I raved about the cheese a little bit.
The journey is so different for each of us, and I find it fascinating as well. That is one of the reasons I was so drawn to this project and the openness and inclusivity of it’s tone and approach. Donna and I both believe it’s important to welcome everyone from this perspective in their process, whether it’s shifting to a vegetarian diet, vegetarian to vegan, or going deeper in all aspects of veganism.
It helps to have a community of supporters or mentors who can hold people wherever they are, and I certainly experience this in the Ghosts community. I’m curious about your process and who has been helpful to you as well as others reading about your GFJ.
Growing up in the rural midwest, I don’t even know where I first got the idea of compassion for animals. I certainly wasn’t exposed to it by the culture around me. But it was intensely on my mind from an early age. I first tried to “go vegetarian” when I was in elementary school (which didn’t make me a lot of friends — and I’m sure I wasn’t doing a very good job of it, since I didn’t really understand what I was doing.)
Until I moved away to NYC, met my wife and a lot of other supportive people, I didn’t have a lot of inspiration in my daily life. I’m a pretty voracious reader, so when I was younger there were a lot of books that sort of steered me (subtly.) Books like “Charlotte’s Web” and “Watership Down” put the idea in my head that animals – real animals, not anthropomorphized animals in waistcoats – have their own personalities and value their own lives. (Someday when we have kids, they will definitely be reading those books.)
One of the most influential people to me was a friend I met when I briefly moved back to the Midwest, a few years ago, for grad school. She’d grown up on a cattle farm, and she’d gone vegan when she was a kid and never looked back. I’d been told by some farmers I’d spoken with that “vegetarians/vegans just don’t know the reality of it, they never actually spend any time around animals.” But this was someone who had, and was more passionate about veganism than almost anyone I’d met!
Good morning, Davis!
This is a very interesting topic to pursue and I hope that we will hear from others in the Ghosts community.
I am thinking back to when I started my own journey. It was around 24 years ago when I saw an anti-fur ad from friends of Animals on late night tv. Shortly after that I received a newsletter from Peta with a picture of a cow on the back and the wording –
Good intentions are not enough – stop eating meat. This really opened my eyes and I started to read everything I could get my hands on. I became completely vegan in around 8 months. I joined Trans Species Unlimited and I greatly admired the N.Y. director of the group – Steve Siegel. He was a dynamo. He was small in stature and huge in his passion for animal rights. I also admired Neal Barnard of PCRM – he spoke at one of the T.S.U. meetings and I remember being so thrilled that somebody from the medical establishment was so compassionate and was fighting so hard to end vivisection. I never really had a mentor.
These days, there are so many people that I admire that it would be impossible to name all of them. Many of them, I don’t even know – people who live in areas that are not at all veg friendly but live in accordance with their beliefs. I admire all of the people who have taken the 5-Day Ghost-Free Journey and I have learnd so much from every one of them.
As far as current day influences – I am in awe of the group Toronto Pig Save. They are truly heroes to me.
I am also completely in awe of Jo-Anne McArthur and her ability to bear witness to some of the most horrendous cruelties so that she can make others aware.
I’ve never heard of Trans Species United, but it sounds like a great group. Someone from a non-veg friendly area who still recognizes the issue tends to be someone I automatically respect and want to learn from!
Yes, Trans Species Unlimited was a fantastic group. Quite unfortunarely, the NYC branch dissolved – I think that any remaining branches of this organization now go by the name of Mobilization for Animals – but I’m not sure.
Davis, when you started your journey, you described your surroundings as not that veg-friendly and you are recognizing the issues and acting on that knowledge!! I think that is great!
Connecticut is an interesting mix… Having lived in both the rural Midwest and NYC, I feel like I’ve seen both ends of the spectrum and maybe Connecticut is right in the middle.
But none of these are places where people have the chance to strong personal relationships with animals… I would love to see a community like that! It’s too bad that rural areas, where people do have more access to animals, tend to not have the social exposure that helps lead people to more compassionate understanding of other species.
Davis,
I’m now madly craving pizza, and of course today is a day I have time to shop, and so I will. It’s Pizza night!!! 🙂
I think for me I had vegan friends, well I had vegan friend. We talked, I listened, and I didn’t like the idea of the complete shun of animal products. Then I stumbled onto a video of a factory farm and that began a complete life change. It was nearly a year into my diet change that I started finding these amazing people that helped to really shape who I am as an advocate today. In May 2009 I visited Farm Sanctuary. David Benzaquen, at the time, was the grassroots organizer. He lit a fire inside me that made me eager to get out and change the world for animals. Not just by what I eat, but actually using my voice to get out there and help people to see. That June I attended the Hoe Down that FS hosts each year, and my mind was blown. Melanie Joy and Rae Sikora completely changed the way I approach my advocacy, they’ve both been really amazing when I need guidance. I think along the journey I’ve met so many people I couldn’t name them all. Without the incredible support I would still do what I love, but I think my efforts would be misguided. I’m SO lucky to have met all the people I have.
But you know what? It’s not even the people that inspire me most. It’s my friends, like Gloria Goat, Fanny, Sonny, Bob Harper and Kim Gordon, Mr. Pickles, Timmy at Woodstock, along with Mike, Kayli, and Maybelle. These animals came from terribly bad situations, they remind me not only WHY I fight, but why it’s important to have guidance. For me, the fight is not mine alone, but theirs. If I fail and turn people away with my anger (believe me, I get VERY angry) I fail them. I let them down, and I let the animals not lucky enough to see rescue down. When I get upset, I see Gloria’s face, the way she smiles, her tail flicking with joy as we play. I see Bob drop his bottom and come running at me, his smile when he kerplunks for a belly rub. I see Mike and Kayli, the precious way Mike runs almost right to you, then stops to look you over. I see Fanny and Sonny safe, I’m reminded of the time she kissed my face and I cried, she is shy. It was a gift. It’s their smiles that keep mine bright when what I feel is darkness.
Wow, Danielle. That’s really powerful — I can’t wait to go to a farm sanctuary now. It really sounds life-changing — and it’s inspiring how it led you to identify so much with the animals. Once you can do that, I imagine it must be weird to look back and think of a time when everything about what they go through was so abstract. Your descriptions are so vivid, it makes me feel like I know them already.
Enjoy the pizza! Glad I could give you the suggestion… 😀
They’re amazing Davis. Let me see if I can upload a picture of Gloria and I!
It’s going to be a pizza Sunday, I can’t wait 🙂
It’s really strange to look back at who I was, what I did and the things I said to justify what I did. All it took was a moment with one of them. Lying on the ground and having Bob cover me in mud, just like a puppy would. Seeing that look in Gloria’s eyes when she recognizes me, and we play, just like my dog. The purr that Dino Rooster used to make when you found just the right spot under his beak, just like my cat does when I get the right spot on her chin. In each of those moments I reconnected with what I’d lost as a child, and what I refused to know as I grew.
Once those connections are made, you know what you have to do. You know that you wouldn’t give up the fight for your dog, and once you know them, once they see you, you can’t not fight. You can’t rip those connections out, you can’t say “I didn’t know” because they tell you. Each of their stories tell you who they were, “what” they were to the industry. Every single animal is a reason to fight.
[img]https://www.theghostsinourmachine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/OurHenHouseBiopic.jpg[/img]
Donna, Davis, and Danielle (D-3’s), your stories are powerful, interesting and inspiring! Whether is a human or non-human animal the common thread is that each of you were inspired by compassion. I am in the process of some reflection now, but I’ll share my story as well. Thank you all for sharing yours.
Hi everybody! Such interesting discussions.
I actually had a very long journey to veganism, which probably really started with the Hallmark slaughterhouse bust in 2008. That was my first real awareness of what was really going on with farmed animals.
I was one of those people who always had trouble eating meat — couldn’t eat it if there were bones involved. Couldn’t eat it if I thought about what (who!) I was eating! I went on that way for years. Like, more than 20 of them. Oy.
Then I came across a book called “The Compassionate Carnivore.” This sounds insane to me now, but I didn’t want to be vegetarian, I didn’t want to *change*, and I thought this book might be something that could help me continue to justify eating meat. (Yeah, this sounds *really* insane, I know!) Well, I wasn’t very far in before I realized the book was going to have the opposite effect. By the time I finished it, I was *really* having trouble eating meat. (Sometimes I think I should write the author and thank her!)
A few months later, I was about halfway through Gene Baur’s book “Farm Sanctuary” when I became vegetarian. Best decision I ever made. It was challenging at first, socially…I remember going to a BBQ at a friend’s place about a week after I went veg, and I hadn’t told anyone. I thought there’d be lots of other stuff to eat and lots of other people and no one would notice — being so new to it, I was very self-conscious. There were NOT a lot other people but there WAS a lot of meat, and everyone noticed I wasn’t eating it. I had to say “No thanks…I’m actually vegetarian now.” And then someone would say “Oh, how long have you been vegetarian?” “Um, five days.” Talk about a test!
A couple of months later I went to Farm Sanctuary and that weekend changed me — it changed my life. Unlike a lot of city people, I had had plenty of exposure to farm animals before, but my trip to FS was different, maybe because I knew so many of the animals’ stories; they were truly individuals to me.
Veganism would take another year, one dairy product at a time. I’m embarrassed I found getting off dairy so challenging, but that’s how it was for me. It was literally my favourite food group, so maybe that had something to do with it. I think on some level I wasn’t really allowing myself to make the connection between what I wanted to eat and animals suffering. It really took some time. But now, I don’t even want it — it’s not that I don’t remember it tasting good, I just couldn’t possibly enjoy it now. I can’t justify an animal suffering because I feel like indulging a particular taste.
As for mentors and heroes…I don’t want to talk about heroes, largely because they’re mostly just regular people doing extraordinary things, and that’s a big label to throw on someone! A hero can be someone well known, or the brave vegan with no support at home or in their social circle who stays vegan anyway — that ain’t easy. What IS easy is finding mentors: when you’re involved in this community, they’re all around you. 🙂
Really looking forward to other responses to this!
Good morning Davis and everyone else reading and participating!
I am posting this banner of Fanny, a former “spent” dairy cow who was rescued from Farm Sanctuary in upstate New York in the summer of 2011. Our cameras were there on her rescue day, and several times since. She is now a happy and friendly and healthy cow. We love her, like a pet! Free From Harm is using this powerful photo, taken by Jo-Anne McArthur for The Ghosts In Our Machine, to spread its message of compassion.
[img]https://www.theghostsinourmachine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Fanny-FreeFromHarm.jpg[/img]
Good morning Davis,
My jounrey was pretty quick, in one way and very long in others. I debated becoming a vegetarian for years but it happened for me very suddenly. You see, I grew up in a farming community and I spent a lot of time around animals that were used for food. I always knew that the beautiful cow that I was petting in the field would eventually become dinner, and didn’t really have a problem with it, as I saw that the animals were all well cared for and that was just how things we done. I have vivid memories of treating a goat for mastitis after she had her kid, and caring for her. (she mowed the lawns, was not food). So life was what I would consider to be pretty idyllic for the animals.
When I was first shown images and heard stories of factory farms, I turned away from it, because that’s not what happened where I was from, at least not what I had experienced.
Unfortunately, I see now that this is how it is, as even the small farmer has had to change in order to keep up with demands.
When I started to finally see the way things were, I was able to make the shift and be solid in it, because even free range animals eventually become food, that we don’t really need and I kind of resent being told the lie.
My mentors have been largely the people in this community, who have provided me with support and advice they have provided. I have also met a lot of really awesome vegans in the running community and I am inspired by Scott Jurek (vegan ultra marathoner).
Very well said Judy – and I will add, on a personal note, that I have known you since 1997 and you became vegan before I did, and I wondered why you decided to do so at the time, but now of course I understand fully.
Hi Judy,
It’s late and I’m just now getting to your comment, but wanted to let you know how much I appreciated your story. As I said, I’m particularly inspired by people who grew up in farming communities and are now so conscious!
Like Davis, I had a connection to animals and compassion that came very naturally. It goes so deep, that I can’t even find the words to describe the connection, and it brings me to intense emotion just writing this. However, like so many of us I was disconnected from this aspect of myself and repressed the meaning and intuition I had; going along with the powerful messages that our culture dictates. My tears flow, partly because of the grief I experience from my participation and disconnection. The disconnection was not only from myself, but also from non-human animals I professed to have “loved”.
Even with a young daughter, who was 9yrs old when she professed that she was vegetarian, I still ate meat while cooking her vegetarian meals. There were countless moments that I had the inclination to be vegetarian, but I never pursued until 10yrs after she became vegetarian. So, even though this was in my awareness on a daily basis, and even supporting her choice and preparing meals for her, I did not make the connection!
Fast forward, to Thanksgiving 2007, with hand in turkey, I looked up to see a photo of “Mello”, an adopted turkey that my daughter sponsored from Farm Sanctuary….finally, the light bulb turned on.
The next day, I was sitting in a hotel room in Chicago and as serendipity would have it, there was an undercover PETA video about a turkey farm on TV. While watching this video I had the most powerful physical reaction… that was another defining moment and turning point for me in my journey.
I won’t go into more of the many turning points for me, except to add that another major influence was Will Tuttle’s book, “The World Peace Diet”. This book resinated with me because I finally understood why it is important to align my life with living with compassion and honoring all life.
Lastly, The Ghosts In Our Machine, Jo-Anne McArthur’s work, and everyone I’ve met along the way, have a very special place in my heart and contribute to inspire me daily. Thank you all! <3
Reading everyone’s reflections is such a beautiful experience for me. It seems that we all felt love for animals at an early age – I always used to tell my mom that I was going to run away and live with my animal friends in the woods. I probably was eating macaroni with meatballs while I said this. Like Rosemary, I am often overwhelmed by feelings of sadness when I think of how I have participated in the system for so long.
The Ghosts In Our Machine has renewed my spirit of activism ad energized me. I have never before experienced the type of support system that revolves around this project.
Davis – I loved Charlotte’s Web. I didn’t read Watership Down until I was already a vegan – such a powerful book!
Thank you everyone for your heartfelt reflections.
Davis, we are wondering if you’d like to continue with this topic, or if you have any other topics, questions or issues to raise today?
Whether we switch gears or not, we welcome Davis or anyone to continue the discussion in this thread if you care to. It’s been wonderful to hear each of your stories and reflections.
Hi all! I’m back from teaching a class and I’m glad to talk more about this or other topics!
You mentioned eggs… This is something important to me as I’ve heard (and seen) about how horrible the conditions “broiler” hens are kept in. I’ve heard it said that it’s even worse for them than the ones hens raised for meat are kept in (not that both aren’t indefensible.)
At the same time, I’ve had friends who raise hens for eggs and tell me this is a good alternative. (That’s what I did for years, thinking it was a way around the factory farming system.) Did anyone else ever look into this, and what made you choose veganism over this? (I should say more and more I lean toward the idea that the whole system is incompatible with treating animals with respect, as aren’t male chicks often slaughtered no matter what?)
Tough question, and controversy on this topic. Here are some resources, including a perspective that think it’s ok. I’m not an expert about this, but I do know that male chicks are slaughtered, even in backyard situations. Also, what happens to the chicken when she’s done laying eggs?
https://gentleworld.org/whats-wrong-with-backyard-eggs/
https://www.compassionatespirit.com/Eating-Free-Range-Eggs.htm
https://veganismisnonviolence.com/category/backyard-eggs/
https://www.backyardchickens.com
That’s exactly what worries me too, Rosemary. These links are really informative. Thanks!
Davis, I don’t know how male chicks are handled on tiny family farms like your firneds have. Have you asked your friends about this issue? Are eggs something that you feel you would miss as a vegan?
I live in an area where numerous people keep chickens for their eggs. I know people who have hens but no roosters, so there isn’t any issue of what to do with the chicks. However, the chickens are not safely guarded and have fallen prey to dogs and coyotes. I am always appalled at how matter of factly people deal with this type of event.
I never considered eating eggs from small farms like you described. That wasn’t even something I thought about when I first became vegan – I lived in the city and didn’t know anybody with a farm. Now I am at the point where even if somebody offered me an egg that was produced by the most well loved chicken in the world, I wouldn’t want it. The whole idea of eating an egg is very strange to me. I think that the longer somebody is away from animals products, the easier it is to see them for what they are.
Donna, I have the same feeling about eggs. I simply no longer have any interest in them as nourishment. I don’t miss the taste either, and I’m quite grossed out by the thought of where they come from. It’s very interesting how that happens when I’ve eaten eggs for over 50 years! You are absolutely right about the longer I’m away from animal products, the more I can’t imagine taking part. I also think that the exposure from reading, watching videos, and being with animals fortifies the lack of interest (and sometimes repulsion).
Davis, you raise really interesting points about how we’re not only disconnected to the sentience of animals, but also disconnected from them because of geography and our lack of connection/appreciation with the outdoors. There is alot of life out there!
Thank you for posting such thought-provoking questions and issues. Can you tell us more about this experience for you?
I like the taste of eggs, but I don’t think I would miss them if I went without (I imagine it would be similar to meat – I have never really missed meat, and every time I smell it and think “oh, that smells good,” the realization of what it is immediately kills any appetite for me.)
I think rural and urban people experience two very different disconnects in two different ways — while urban people have the disconnect from the outdoors, there tends to be more exposure to a variety of ideas, and a subsequent broadening of world-view that is very healthy. This isn’t to say people who live in rural areas can’t access that, obviously! But I think the industrial agriculture system did a very efficient job of disconnecting people in rural areas from the sense of animals as other living beings and more toward looking at animals as property or commodity.
Hey Davis!
If ever you think you’d like the taste of egg, black salt will absolutely do the trick! I’ve used it with tofu to make an omelet, and I actually couldn’t eat it because it was too eggy. (triggered my gag reflex in fact!) Here’s an omelette without the black salt! AND it’s hilarious, so double win there!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGGCMY49eME
I’ve also tried “The Vegg” I could send you a packet if you’d like to try it! It’s all sealed and all so it’s totally safe 😀 The Vegg is egg-tastic AND doesn’t make me gag at all. Tofu scramble with The Vegg makes me drool, it’s that good!
https://www.thevegg.com/
I do love tofu scramble! That sounds great!
Davis, your comments about the two very different disconnects arevery insightful – and ring so true for me. When I lived in NYC, I was exposed to so many different philosophies and people who broadened my way of thinking. But the only animals that I ever saw were cats and dog.
Now I live in a rural area where I see cows and chickens and sheep. But for the most part, they are being raised to go to slaughter and the people who grew up around here mostly see this as the way that it is meant to be.
I think that you will be delighted when you take a trip to one of the animal sanctuaries. You will be surrounded by beautiful animals and amazing people who share your love for these animals.