For years and years I had wanted to go Veggie but I loved my Swiss sausages and clam chowder too much. Then one day in college I looked down at my fish sticks and realized that that was a dead animal. I cried and decided never again to eat another breathing thing! I couldn't be happier with my decision! Vegan is the next step!
I decided to go veg when I went to my friend's birthday party a few years ago... they were serving duck. Blergh. When I was told what meat it was I immediately thought; 'But ducks are adorable creatures, how can we eat ducks?!'. Then I realised that it's the same with all animals, they all feel pain and none of them want to die! It made me feel all gooey and weird inside to eat meat after that, so I decided to just cut it out all together and I've got to say.. I feel great! :D
wot inspired me to go veg?? hmm...
i suppose it was wen i logged onto peta2 one day and realised wot actually happens to the animals
so basically peta inspired me :D
what made me go vegan was when my class went on a field trip to a dairy farm for DECA to see how the whole opperation works and i got to see what they do to those cows. i was so sickened by how they treated them and i asked one of the employees why they need to inject them with hormones and mistreat the animals they they have feelings too and all he replied was that its just an animal they can't tell me what to do. that made em so sick i became an avid animal activist and gave me the push to go from vegetarian of four years to vegan and i'm so glad i did (:
In early May of 2005, my silly little brother and I decided that we were going to surprise our mom with 30 baby chicks for Mother's Day. We live on a farm, and have always had a chicken coop that remained unused. So, what better way to use it than by filling it with chickens?! Our plan was a complete success, and within a few days, these peeping bundles of fluff were our pets.
I learned to love these fuzzy little creatures, and realized they had complex relationships with one another. I could see how they communicated and interacted between themselves, and realized that after that, I could no longer, in good conscience, eat meat.
What began as a respect for my new feathered friends progressed into full-fledged vegetarianism. I have been a vegetarian since 2005, and am going strong. I've influenced two of my best friends to go veg, too! As far as I'm concerned, it's the only way to be.
I would LOVE the opportunity to receive this book and have a dinner party in an attempt to show my non-veg friends that being vegetarian is EASY! You just have to know what you're doing! Perhaps it would even be a secret... who says I have to tell them they're eating tofurkey? ;) Thanks again!
I went vegetarian when I was 12, a couple days before thanksgiving after I accidentally came across one of your videos. I felt so guilty that I decided to go vegetarian and told my mom in the middle of Costco, and she told me it was just a phase. It will be 6 years in November. As I got older, I became more involved and went vegan about a year and a half ago. It's the best thing ever, and I can never imagine going back to eating animals.=]
I went veg because I simply couldn't stomach (no pun intended) supporting animal cruelty. I would never eat my pets so it made no sense to eat any other kinds of animal. I love to cook for my family so it would be so amazing to win this book.
i had wanted to be veg for a VERY long time but i always thought it would be too hard. this summer i was at warped tour and saw the peta2 tent. i guess i just decided i would give it a try finally and i LOVE it! i even convinced my mom and brother(who was pretty much carnivore!) to become veg.
Actually, I was raised a vegetarian. No meat was ever prepared at my household. My mother is a strong holistic doctor, and encouraged me to try different things and always reminded me I didn't have to be a vegetarian and I could eat whatever pleased me. But around the age of 9 I chose to no longer partake in anything meat related. I have such a sympathetic soft spot for any animal; it is so much more than "being a vegetarian". For me, it's just having that compassion for another animal that is so strong you couldn't bear to see it in any pain. Animals cannot speak up for themselves, so it is up to us to protect them in any way we can. Personally, it's hard growing up and being the only weird kid that doesn't eat meat, and the only thing I've learned is that you just have to pick your crowd. You will sometimes be in a big crowd and everyone’s eating meat, and their comments are relentless, "Why are you a vegetarian?" "C’mon why can't you just try it?" "I don't trust vegetarians, its not natural" (true quote from my boss) It just makes me that much stronger, and feel so much better ,that I know what I am doing is for a good cause, and it is just SO much more than not eating meat. It is a way of looking at your fellow mortals.
For me, veganism built up. When I was in fourth grade, I cut red meat out of my diet. I had been involved in different horse slaughter campaigns and raised money for it by selling home-made t-shirts. I was googling it one night and came across a few pictures of cows and pigs being slaughtered. I thought, "If I'm sickened by horses being treated like this, why have I felt perfectly fine about EATING animals that were treated just as badly?" So I cut red meat out of my diet. Near the end of fifth grade, I watched "Meet Your Meat" all the way through and went vegetarian. A few weeks later, even sipping milk made me feel really bad and eating an omlet made me feel horrible. So, despite discouragement, I went full vegan. I've been some sort of veggie for four years, and vegan for two. I feel so much better, and I'm really greatful that I came across your videos and info, peta. A few of my friends even became vegan after they saw how much happier and healthier I was!
I went vegan because I LOVE animals, I felt so bad when I ate meat that my family cooked, I started making other meals (mac and cheese) I ate it every night for two months straight! so that I wouldn't have to eat any meat but didnt have any idea on what else I could eat and still stay healthy. I found recipes on the PETA website!!! and fter reading the skinny bitch book I am glad that I turned vegan I love to cook vegan meals for family and friends and they LOVE the meals that I make them.
I have yet become a vegetarian (Or a vegan for that matter), but i have been putting a lot of thought into doing so. My main reason for making this change in my life, is due to the book "Omnivore Dilemma". This book has made me think more about what I'm eating than ever before. I used to think "OH COOL! We're having steak for dinner! AWESOME!", but now it's "OH COOL! we're have processed corn and feces with extracts of hormones, bones, poisons and just a little pinch of grass.....G-R-E-A-T...." I think anyone who has read that book will soon realize they aren't eating beef, they're eating $#!% (i tried to make it look as close as possible). So, I no longer want to be eating things I would never dream about placing into my mouth, I no longer want to be that person who contributes to the abuse of these animals. AND I SURE AS HELL DON'T WANT TO BE EATING THAT $#!% THEY CALL BEEF ANYMORE!!!!
Thank you very much for your time-
Maximilian Charles Froelich
I've wanted to be a vegetarian for since I was like 8. I'd never had enough will power to do it. But just last year, I suddenly got confindence! I was just so fed up with how much people torture animals, that I couldn't bare to ba apart of it anymore. It breaks my heart and I can't believe it took me so long to do it. A couple months after I became a vegetarian, I discovered Peta2. I became apart of the street team, and watched the Meet Your Meat video. Then, I knew that I was fully committed to becoming a vegetatian. I'm doing more and more things to try to make the world a better vegetarian place! I would love this book to spread vegetarian love around my family, and bring new memebers to this vegetarian world! Thanks!
Originally i didn't go veg for animals. I went Veg. to better my marathon training. After being veg for a few years i slowly got sucked into animal right. Now i couldn't be happier. Animals thank me, my health thanks me, and my marathon time thanks me. :)
We always talked about despising cruelty to animals, then one day a friend said "you hate animal abuse but then you go home and eat them at night", finally the light bulb flashed on and the transition to vegetarian, and now vegan, began.
I went vegetarian because I am an animal lover and when I became educated about the horrible torture they undergo before they are killed, there was no way I could continue to eat them.It is also hypocritical to love animals so much, aspire to be a veterinarian and support their murder. It is the greatest decision I have ever made, I feel better physically and emotionally.
I chose to go Veg Freshman year, but my dad didn't understand so he made me eat fish and chicken once and a while. Then I researched more about animal cruelty in farms and it horrified me! I was finally able to go fully veg when my mom read skinny bitch and went veg too! We both lost weight and felt alot better about ourselves. And cooking vegan meals together has become a family trad ion for us :]
I've always been a total animal lover. I usually wouldn't eat meat, or much, because I didn't really like it. (This was a LONG time ago, before it was "fashionable" to go vegetarian.) Eventually, I realized that I DON'T have to try to "stomach" it - I can live withOUT eating innocent animals!!
I went veg because not only do I detest wearing fur, leather and any other animal skin that rightfully belongs on the animal humans killed it for but also eating their meat sickened me, these animals died in cruel and demeaning ways just be put on a plate for some mindless human to consume. Humans do not need animal meat to survive, soy products, fruits, veggies, legumes and nuts can provide us with all the nutrients to keeps us alive and running well. This book would help me expand my meals and help introduce my husband to new and delicious meals.
I went veg. when I found out all the senseless things that happen to animals. Pescetarianism wasn't enough, I never even liked fish. Owning a rabbit, 2 mice and 2 gerbils, well, I can honestly say that if I don't eat them, or anything else considered a 'pet', why eat anything else? Animals don't choose to be killed, they're forced. Being forced to be MURDERED and then ground up or cut up for whatever isn't right.
For the longest time I thought about going vegetarian, a few of my friends where but I never really did anything about it. Meet Your Meat really helped the whole thing, but what really did it for me was Rise Against's music video for Ready To Fall.
The summer between my 3rd and 4th grade year, my mom challenged our family to a burger-free June. When the month was over and the family gave in, I continued to steer clear of hamburgers. That August, I decided that on the first day of 4th grade, I would stop eating meat altogether. I was 8 years old, and although my family supported me, teachers and parents at my school thought it was unthinkable to let an 8 year old become a vegetarian. I have stayed strong through the discouragement from friends, and it has been 8 years. Since then, my younger sister has switched to vegetarianism as well; my mom has tried it on and off, as well as my brother. I start culinary school in July of this upcoming year, and I intend to stay strong in my vegetarian ways.
People say we were meant to eat meat, we were created to. We were not meant to be vegetarians. But were humans meant to swim faster then aquatic animals. We have. (Phelps) Was man mean to run after then a cheetah. We have. (Bolt) Dare to be different. Dare to be vegan.
I was inspired to go veg when I was young and realized animals think and feel and love through my kitties. I also was having problems with my digestion and weight and made the decision to live a guilt free diet. after animals didnt have to die for me to eat my tummy got way better
Well, I have been a Vegetarian for over 15 years of my life. I have always preferred not to eat meat. It just doesn't taste good at all, as simple as that. It wasn't until 5 years ago, I have started to look into the animal slaughterings, and the cruelty of animal testing on hair products and other human consumed goods. This made me angry, of how students, and companies, where treating animals to test their products. I thought to myself, how was this trend started... I know that there is thousands of ways to test products, that has nothing to do with animals, why should they suffer, so a company can make a little bit of money. Not to mention the cruelty that Chickens have to go through, there short life has no meaning to them. Peta2 is an amazing website, that converts many people on going into a Vegetarian, or a Vegan. I am amazed of the progress we have made so far, let's push it to the next level, and show people out there, that what meat eaters are eating was a in fact a living creature like us.. and the coats they are wearing was also once a living creature, as they are the ones who need to feel sorry for themselves and what they have involved into.. Killers.
I went veg in 3rd grade when I was doing a report on nutrition. When I was working on the 'meat paragraph' I accidentally found one of your videos. After I watched it I refused to even think about eating an animal, and needless to say the nutrition report was missing a piece. It's going on eight years now, and I have had no regrets whatsoever. Thanks Peta, for making me aware of what happens to the animals that so many people forget.
After watching a video on how cows are treated in India (they were rounded up and taken to neighbor countries to be slaughtered for their skin), I couldn't eat meat nor any animal products anymore.
I have been vegan for the last 14 years; I just turned 40 and never felt better!
I live in Guatemala and here the vegetarian/vegan concept is pretty unknown yet. It would be great to get this book so that I can cook to my Guatemalan friends and show them how good and delicious food can be without meat. :-)
well most of my life I never really cared so much about eating meat i just did because it was what was goiven to me. when I was 25 I saw the meet your meat video & was never the same again. I cried for 15 minutes straight & never ate meat again.
I am a vegetarian, and i think what it would take for me to become a vegan is too get something to cook. I have no recipes, ingredients or knowledge on what to cook or what i can eat. Most of the foods i eat have such strange i ingredient names i have no clue of it's even vegan, so i think this could be very helpful.
I want to go veg..peta inspired me to do so.and one of my friends.we are even goin to try to convince our principal to switch to veg food for the cafeteria.nd we are going to start an animal rights club(we r freshmen in high school) and i was inspired to do all of this because of peta
i would be honored to win this book so i can get ideas for our food sale fundraisers :)
I went veg after hearing the speaker at Poplar Springs Animal Sanctuary ,in Poolseville MD, talk about the puss from infected cows that is in most milk. I dont like eating puss, I dont like drinking puss, and I dont like drinking dead puss from pasteurized milk.
I'm actually celebrating a month of becoming vegan, I did it because I know I deserve better, that everything that goes into my body must be pure, clean, fresh so I could make the best of it.
I am not yet a vegetarian or vegan, however I am truly considering becoming one. My friend recently gave me some PETA information papers about mcdonalds, kfc, and other situations in which animals are mistreated for nothing more than human pleasure. Reading those papers and seeing the pictures of the poor abused animals really got me thinking and I don't feel it is fair for those animals to live in such cruel places and go through what they go through. Being a carnivore makes me feel like a bad person and I think that i need to change and help make a difference in the world. To carry out my ambitions I think that receiving the cookbook will allow me to start my new life and have a good idea of what alternative to meat meals could be.
--Cierra
I had wanted to for years but never had until a friend decided to change their diet, giving me a partner to try new foods with.. The dietary & lifestyle changes stuck, I've since raised my child veg, and I just all-around feel much better because of it :)
I was in sixth grade when I went vegetarian, after I came upon a PETA website, I realized how cruel the meat industry really is. It broke my heart and I knew that I had to do something to help these poor, defenseless creatures. Today, I am in tenth grade, and proud to call myself a strict vegan!
It also shocked me to see the extent of pain and cruelty that humans can inflict upon another kind. Perhaps, it's because they can't talk back or maybe it's just because some humans have yet to realize what barbaric murder they are committing. I hope that one day, maybe even far into the future if it has to be, that raising animals for food will seem as uncivilized and criminal as keeping slaves, or as revolting as cannibalism.
I'm Argentinean, so growing up in my family meant a big rare steak was a 5 day a week staple. I was 12 years old, and one day I just looked down at my blood-pooled plate with a big juicy steak tantalizing me, and realized that blood on my plate was once, very recently, running through the circulatory system of an adorable, innocent cow while she ate some grass and took in the sunshine. Ever since then I realized the association of the meat people find so delicious, and the animals people find so cute. I couldn't reconcile the two in my mind. The living animals were so much more important than the unnecessary waste of their lives for human consumption.
14 years later I am still a vegetarian, and happy to say my family eats very little meat anymore. I think an important part of my being a vegetarian is seriously but non-judgmentally informing people of what they are really supporting by eating meat. Most people don't understand or bother to make the association between a hamburger and the farm animals they took their children to visit. Its our job to make that association known.
sería maravilloso poder cocinar vegetariano a mi familia y que olviden la carne para siempre...y no me hagan recordar a mi, la tortura y el maltratato animal, casi a diario en la mesa...amo a los animales y por eso no como a los seres que amo...
I initially stopped eating meat because I have some kind of a stomach issue that it honestly does not break down properly in my body, and makes me very sick. After I started noticing such a difference in my health after no longer eating meat, I did some research to see all of the possible health advantages not eating meat could bring. Recently, I took the next step, and became vegan and have never felt better. It's still an adjustment to not consume anything from an animal, but my heart is in this now, too, not just for my health.
I wanted to go veg as a kid but my parents are meat-eating Texans that didn't respect an 6 year old's opinion. I worked as a butcher to help pay for college in a mom & pop shop where thankfully animals weren't abused. It didn't take long for me to commit to myself that once I was out of my parent's household, I would go veg *and* I did! Being married to a meat eater now is difficult but he realizes if he wants to eat a cow... he'll have to go out for it because he won't find it in the apartment. It's been a gradual process for me because of my loved ones are all very carnivorous. My plan is that by the time we're ready for kids, my home will be fully vegan! As barbaric as being a butcher was... my boss taught me to truly respect animals as blessed creatures of God, which sealed the deal for me. When people bother me about not eating meat, I tell them all the reasons I don't eat "carcass." And yes, I call it carcass... and instead of beef and pork, I call it what it is... cows and pigs.
Hi Peta2! The book Skinny Bitch is what inspired me to go vegan. After the animal cruelty and the dairy chapters, I went from meat-eater to vegan and haven't looked back. I've been vegan for almost 4 years now, and loving life!
I got stuck in traffic behind a semi hauling a trailer full of cages crammed with turkeys destined for slaughter. There was no cover from the elements, just stacks and stacks of cages, each packed beyond humane capacity. Some of the turkeys were already dead, their sad heads dangling out the sides of the overcrowded crates; others were clearly in pain and close to death. As I tried to imagine the heartless person who had forced the birds into such horrid conditions, I caught one barely alive turkey looking at me and in a flash I realized I was responsible for their suffering, too - they were being forced through this agony just to feed me. I gave up turkey right then, and all other meat shortly thereafter.
It's hard to remember exactly when I decided to take the leap of vegetarianism, since it's been so long since I've eaten an animal. Though when I think back on it, I think I was about 5 or 6.
I was in the car with my grandmother, and we were going to go out to my favorite small-town restaurant for the classic, good ol' hamburger and fries. I had been semi-obsessed with learning to bake at the time, so I naturally wanted to know how to make a hamburger. I remember thinking about exactly WHAT it is that they put in a hamburger.
Eggs? No..
Sugar? Noo..
Baking soda? I don't THINK so.. (Keep in mind, I was only 5 or so at the time- my mind hadn't expanded upon ingredients past those used for baking cookies).
It was then that I asked my grandmother, and she told me they were made from cows. I was COMPLETELY heartbroken, and told myself I'd never eat them again. So, a litte over 10 years later, I happily eat the Garden Burgers that my school provides for lunch.
I'm a vegetarian because I saw Paul McCartney on the cover on Peta's Vegetarian Guide my mom had ordered just for some recipes to help her health. After I saw his picture I HAD to pick it up and read the whole magazine. With-in 10 minutes, I knew I was going to stop eating meat and eggs for good. On October 23,2009 (my vegetarian one year anniversary) I plan on going Vegan because of the cruelty that happens to Dairy Cows. I don't want my name to support that kind or any kind of cruelty. SO you could say my inspiration for going Vegetarian is Paul McCartney, and my inspiration for going Vegan is Peta and Peta2 :) I love you guys :)
I did a report in school when I was 14 (this was 19 years ago) on how meat was made and how animals were treated. I became veggie as soon as I started the research and never looked back.
I've been a vegetarian for a little less than a year and I can honestly says it has changed my life. I picked up the book Animal Liberation By Peter Singer at a used bookstore on a whim and read it. After reading about all the suffering we cause animals just so we could enjoy a few moments of eating I realized in no way was this ethically right. Eventually I would like to become a vegan so it would be great to have this cookbook since I'm a college student and I cook for myself all the time!
I kept having extremely intrusive vivid visions of me eating my companion animals every time I ate meat. It was to the point that I would force feed myself meat while crying and apologizing to my pets whenever I ate, so one day I said, "Enough!" and have been meat free for over two years now!! :)
I went vegetarian over a year ago upon learning the truth about what goes into our animal-based diet. It was both disgusting and devastating. I haven't gone back since.
At the age of 18, I realized that pigs, cows, chickens and other farmed and exploited animals were every bit as alive - and had just as much right to live - as the dogs, cats, birds and rabbits I shared my home and love with. Eating meat was no longer an option for me.
Three years ago I became veg. For years I had a guilty conscience because even before I knew what abuse animals dealt with, I always felt it wasn't ethical or right to be consuming another living creature. I knew that the planet, and all life on earth would benefit if the world was compassionate about it's choices. So I started doing some research on becoming vegan and I came across some videos that included Meet Your Meat, and from then on I could never even look at meat the same. I just saw a helpless tortured animal that deserved better. And I never ate meat again, still vegan and going strong!
I went vegetarian almost 2 years ago December! I babysat this young boy for years, and he has always been a veg. I decided to go veg because I thought, if this little boy could do it, so could I! And I have persuaded many people since to become one, just like Shayne did for me. Best thing I ever did.
I'm in the process of becoming vegan. I gave up pork after (actually while) watching a Peta video of a sow being abused. I have cut back beef & dairy, given up eggs, & am switching to Soy milk.
My boyfriend is a "meat" person & it has been difficult to cook animal friendly meals that are able to keep him & our 2 teen boys happy (my 2 yr. old & I are happy meatless). So...this book would be a great help making our home animal friendly!
I decided to go vegetarian in the middle of my local Jewel Osco (where you can count on people who care) about five years ago.
Agreed, it might not sound like the most likely place for a revelation to hit, but at the time it seemed pretty logical.
I had just moved out on my own and was by no means adequately prepared to cook for myself. For the first 3 months or so my diet consisted of mainly mac n'cheese or ordering out for pizza. But one fateful night my mother called me up with her inevitable weekly checkup and I found myself unable to lie to her about my
"creative" diet.
My punishment was a deposit of $30 in my bank account to "go buy something edible."
So, to Jewel I went.
Having never been faced with the task of actually shopping for myself before, I found myself wandering from aisle to aisle, perusing various boxes and cans, all the while wondering what I could make in 3 minutes or less.
Finally I discovered the frozen foods aisle. Located in this pristine white jungle of everything so deliciously simplistic I located microwave lasagnas, five minute sausage pizzas and many more enticing entrees.
It was in this heavenly sanctuary to college cuisine that I also discovered the lobster tank, stuffed sloppily near the back corner bathrooms and bacon display.
I walked over to the lobster tank and peered in. I stood there, transfixed by the sight of those beautiful creatures, moving slowly through the water, their claws clutched "protectively" together in a confusingly colored neon strip.
I'm not sure how long I stood there staring in, watching them communicate, bicker, or snuggle up to one another. But the longer I stood, the more horrific it became.
I realized that for all their communing, and delicate movement throughout the tank, they weren't here for any visual pleasure. Their seamless gentle floating served no purpose, as they could only hope to travel from one side of the small tank, to the other, and back.
They were patiently amusing themselves while they waited, unknowing, to die.
I don't think I need to explain any of the horrific details that go into "cooking" a lobster, but I knew what lay ahead of all of them. I, of course, decided that I was going to buy them all and raise them in my bathtub to spare them a much worse fate. But, as $30 was now officially my weekly income, it wasn't the most practical idea.
I knew there was nothing I could do to help them, and I felt powerless, weak, and sick. Unable to look anymore, I waved a sort of goodbye and slunk back into the brightly lit frozen foods aisle.
The cheery music that piped in from above had no bearing on how I felt at that moment. I felt like a murderer. I realized that for every sausage patty in my cart an animal had lived penned up, secured, and calmy awaited death, all without any understanding of why.
The innocence in these animals, from air, land or sea, is all the same.
And I found myself thinking "you are what you eat."
I decided at that moment, as I walked out of the store empty handed, that I would not be an animal. I would not destroy what has been created for the same reason as I was. I would use my brain and my conscience to decide what was humane and worthy. I would "eat something edible" instead.
A year and a half ago I was exposed to the cruelty in factories from the "Meet your Meat" and "Think about It: Woof" videos. Being an animal lover I could no longer bring myself to contribute to this cruelty.
I became vegan simply because I love all animals and I don't want to eat them ! they feel pain,hunger,thirst and everything that we do! They don't want to die, they cry, they fear !!!
I love Peta! They have inspired me so much to tell others about the cruel meat industry!!!
I am not veg but I want to becaome one because all of my life I have loved animals and now is my chance to prove how much and I can save lots of animals. I think that the cook book will help me learn how to stop eating meat and maybe I can convince my family to do the same thing! :)
I was in Philly today for a college visit to Temple University. My mom and I were driving through Chinatown (we were lost) and I looked over and saw a huge truck opened and piles of dead baby pigs being thrown from one man to the next. it was the worst thing I think I have ever seen. I started crying and decided to go veg. My mom isn't completely supportive because she doesn't cook special meals and I can't do it healthy right now, so for now I'm only eating poultry, but as soon as I graduate I am going full on veg. I can't stop seeing those poor pigs. =[
I grew up around meat, since my father has worked in the meat industry for twenty five years as the president of a pork distributing facility and now owns his own company. I was ignorant at the issue of animal cruelty, and I honest to goodness thought animals were put on this earth for food-- until I went with my father one day to a slaughterhouse. Hearing the pigs actually scream when their throats were cut made me sick to my stomach and I actually threw up on the spot seeing those innocent animals suffer. The next meal, I decided to become vegetarian. That eventually led to my decision to become vegan, and I have never looked back (even though my dad badgers me every day of my life calling me a veggie idiot. He's as ignorant as I used to be).
I was told by a vegan friend how much my life would improve.
I was a vegetarian for 6 years with every intention of becoming Vegan...I just never took that last step.
Its a common misconception on how horribly thoes dairy cows are treated. Theres no little farmer under the cow with a bucket gently milking the cow, its horrible machines that suck the milk out of a heart broken mother cow who just had her baby taken away from her.
I wanted to 'do it for the animals' but I felt I needed more convincing. I decided to take then Vegan pledge and stay away from ALL animal products that month became 2 years and I never will go back. My only regret is not becoming a veagn sooner.
Not only have I had the satisfaction of knowing that none of my food contributed to an animals suffering, but my health has improved drastically
1) Loss of weight.
I have never been fat at or, or even "big" for that matter, but within a few weeks on me becoming vegan I noticed that my jeans were very loose. I lost so much weight by taking every animal product out of my diet
2) No More anxiety.
I used to suffer from panic attacks, they would somtimes be sever and I had pills that kindof helped- when I became a vegan- it all went away. No kidding, I havent taken a pill since, I dont need to. The dairy was literally giving me panic attacks
3) My face is clearer, breath is better, I have more energy and I never feel sluggish or tired
It all started in third grade when I learned about the potentially serious problems that came as a result of eating undercooked meat. I immediately gave up McDonalds. Within a year, I went vegetarian.
On and off since I was a little girl I have given up red meats. I have always had an overwhelming need to stop the hurt to animals. I became a full vegetarian at 17. I finish gave it all I got and ever since have decided my life to telling people why its great to be one.
I went Veg back in 2006, when I saw the Meet your Meat video. I guess it was sort of a leading up to it kind of thing though, as I really got scared of things like ribs when I visited my uncles Pig Farm (it's closed now, thank god!) where he showed me baby pigs from these little steel cylinder things. To this day I'm really not sure what they are, or why they were not with their mother, all I know is they seemed so scared and sad.
I'v loved animals dearly since I was a kid, I currently have five rescues, plus my pony. I guess it's hard to think that some people eat ponies like we eat cows, now who would want that !?!? It's probably more reasons that I'm a veg then I could list off here but I'll give a little bit more detail. I'm enimic, and was mildly overweight and always selfconsience, now I feel better and healthier then ever! I don't think I could ever go back :D
It would be a great experiance to get this fabulous book, as I bake great wholistic foods for farmers markets and I love new ideas! I have a collection of vegan cookbooks and this sound simply superb. Thanks xooxo
I've always been a picky eater, so I didn't eat much meat in the first place. Plus, I've always been an animal lover, and I can't stand to even joke about hurting animals. I tried to go veg a few times, but I finally officially gave up meat when I saw a video about animal cruelty. The idea of eating something that used to be alive just grosses me out. But I'm still a picky eater, so maybe I can finally find a yummy vegetarian cuisine in the cookbook!
We are a family of 8 all moving to vegetarianism, My partner has been suffering with an eating disorder for the past 21 years and has been challenged with the move to vegetarianism due to the nutritional complications and weight gain required for her recovery. I used to work in an abitoir for years before becoming enlightened enough to recognise what I am supporting. After recommencing study as a sociologist and watching Earthlings (passing it on to friends and family), I have become bent on doing the enlightened thing, which includes the move to vegetarianism. My children and partner are also determined to do the same, eventually moving to veganism when my partners health is under control and recovery is sustained. Resources such as books like this are priceless.
I went vegan because I absolutely love pigs and am one day going to adopt a couple of them from a farm sanctuary. I want to change a farm animal's life by caring for it where otherwise it would be neglected and tortured. Therefore, I am compassionate toward pigs and their friends, of the same species or not. This includes compassion toward cows by not supporting dairy companies because of how the cows are treated, the way that dairy makes so many people sick, and the apparent fact that it's just plain disgusting.
BTW, I hope other people feel the same way and want to adopt farm animals and care for them! :)
I went veg the day i found out meat was from animals! As silly as it sounds, i never knew until i turned 9 years old, and since that day ive never even thought about eating an animal.
I saw footage from a dairy farm on an MTV Truth commercial and was shocked that the cows weren't frolicking on a green field and were able to come back to the red barn at night with old farmer McDonald, who nicely milked them by hand.
Then, after reading Eric Marcus' Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating, I knew I could no longer eat dairy and eggs, as cows and laying hens were treated just as bad, if not worse than those raised for their flesh.
I went vegan because my brothers girlfriend Kristen told me about all the great health benefits. At first I was worried about what I would eat but after tasting the great food she made (I think it was the scrambled tofu that did it) I realized that going vegan wouldn't mean punishing my taste buds. Actually, I have been turned on to so many new kinds of foods now and I'm always trying to find new recipes.
I've been vegetarian for a little over a month now. I have always been a animal lover and I believe animals should have rights too. What inspired me to become a vegetarian is the suffering of the animals and peta2! I had signed up for the stickers and video that come to you in the mail. I put in the dvd, and could barely watch the suffering of the animals video. I even started crying ! From that moment on I was determined to be a vegetarian and stand up for the animals (:
During our philosophy course this year we explored our moral obligations towards animals under the moral philosophy module, looking at philosophers such as Peter Singer and so forth. We then had to right an essay which asked whether we're morally obligated to become vegetarians and I suddenly realised how immoral my diet actually was. I havn't seen meat the same way since and don't want it coming anywhere near my plate or my stomach.
i went veg in early in grade 7. i went to my best-friends birthday and we watched a horror movie,texas chainsaw massacre, ugghh.. it wasnt the people that got murdered that bugged me becuase i knew it was fake but in the beggining when it starts in the slaughter house..i just couldnt stomach it and was horrified and the movie had barely begun.. ive been veg since and now in grade 11.
i had been veg before but my parents wouldnt allow it so i put my foot down at that and REFUSED to eat it lots of nights i was stuck by the dinner table they finnally gave up!
GOING STRONG AND FEELING GREAT!\
FIGHT FOR IT FIGHT FOR THEM!
at my best friends birthday party we were watching a horror movie, texas chainsaw massacre,ugh.. i was so disturbed by it..not rele the fact about the people becase i knew it was fake, but the slaughter house....ugh.. i knew that was relistic..in a way..
rele u can compare how it was for the humans to die..it was the same way an animal would..its sick all that pain that is inflicted and one only has to put the peices together.
i had tried to be a veg before this but my parents would not allow it. but i couldnt stand it at this point so i REFUSED to eat it and after about a week of being stuck at the dinner table i won the fight and im still going strong! its been 5 years now and will keep going !
fight for what they cant!
i am currently a vegatarian, working on becomeing a vegan. i plan on going vegan november 1st as it is national vegan day.i never really ate meat products when i was growing up i would have the ocasional hotdog or chicken fingers but thats about it. but 3 years ago i mad the choice to become a vegatartian bc animals have beating heart and feelings and can experience pain like us human beings do, the only difference is that unlike animals we can express our feelings and pain. and i feel much better knowning that when i eat something i know that it was not killed,toutured, or had a face before.
I decided to be vegan a very short time ago. I realized exactly what it was I was eating and knew it was bad for me. I have wanted to change for 2 years but have loved meat and other products to much. But I finally decided to take the leap and am now happy I made this decision. My friend did this about a year ago and she feels better about herself and I am starting to feel better about me. I don't like animal cruelty and I don't understand why some people do, but that is their decision. I want to live linger and healthier, I also want animals to live longer and healthier.
I have to thank PETA for my decision to become a Vegan. For almost 20 years I never stopped to give a second thought about how my daily choices, like what I eat and wear, affected the lives of animals. I never looked at the food on my plate and thought that this steak was once a beautiful creature and it was needlessly slaughtered for me. Since I saw the video from PETA that detailed the horrible and miserable lives these animals are forced into, I've been a devout Vegan. It hasn't been the easiest choice that I have ever made, but doing the right thing is not always easy. In fact, it's usually harder. Thanks to the wonderful and passionately committed people at PETA I no longer promote or support the suffering of animals in ANY way. I try to live by the saying "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." And no where in that saying does it say "...except for animals." Everyt living being deserves to be happy. There is no reason that animals should be tortured so and used as a commodity. It's not ethical.
I have not only made the commitment to be a Vegan myself, but I am raising my 16 month old daughter with these values as well. I want the best for her and for her to be a good person and I feel this is the best possible way to keep her healthy and raise her to be a beautiful person who stands up for those who are without a voice.
I went Vegan about 3 months ago
I had tried to 3 years ago (I was 10) but I wasn't dedicated I knew eating animals was wrong but I didn't know anyone else who thought like me so sadly I was forced to give up my idea:(
Then I thought again
I REsearched (googled)and thats how I got into peta2 and I realized just how wrong eating animals was
I finally decided to quit no matter what my parents, friends thought and IT WAS SOO EASY!!
I couldn't be HAPPIER to leave my antiquated diet and try new and tastier food (& cruelty free products)
I've also turned 4 of my friends Vegetarian and and 1 Vegan!!& convincing a couple more(with peta help of course)!!YAY!!
The main reason i have for being vegetarian is that we are all eqauls on this planet , no where does it say its ok to treat an animal so badly. Im also a chef and through cooking school it made me see what really happens to animal products , i think if people could see the cow on a farm then see it hanging in a fridge the next day then directly on to there plate they might change there minds, if not then they are heartly human beings. I currently work for a catering compainy and im always looking for new tastey veggie ideas to share with my clients.
I think the biggest accomplishment was going Vegan. Understanding that drinking milk or eating cheese kills animals. You think, its a byproduct, noone had to die for that. What gets forgotten is every glass of milk or slice of cheese had a calf associated with it. Was is sent to be veal, live on a calf ranch to be sold later to a feed lot, or a slave to produce more milk?
I took 'stoner' biology(all but 3 kids in my hour were out of their minds on something)to get out of dissection(it didn't work, I have to take regular biology this year. Oh well, I'll just cause a scene =D it's what I'm good at).
The teacher in stoner biology loved me because, well, I wasn't stoned, so he always gave me fun projects to do so I didn't have to do the crappy stuff like outlines and stuff.
We were learning about skin and the teacher asked me to go to the library and make a powerpoint about how cows and such are broken down in the slaughterhouse. I went to the library and got on the computer. I typed 'butchering' into google and the first thing that came up was how to butcher a human being. I was so messed up after seeing that in my google search. Next I went to wikipedia and use that to get my info. Wikipedia went so much more in depth than anything else I had ever read, the pictures were worse than the ones peta and cok put out. After that I just couldn't do it anymore. So i started making dinner more often and realized I liked to cook and making vegan/vegetarian food is much more excited than normal cooking, I think that helped me stay with it.
Sorry a million and 1 times this is so long -.-;
Honestly, Peta, YOU are what made me make the switch to go veg. As a meat eater, i was unaware of the reality of the meat industry. After one day of logging on to Peta2.com, I honestly quit eating meat, cold turkey. (no pun intended :) ) I saw horrifying videos, and read horrible things about what happens to some animals just for me to eat a simple hamburger, or sandwich. After absorbing this information, it was absolutely painless to go veg, and it still is. Every time I even have the slightest urge to eat meat, I think back to the day that I saw those videos, and I remember how I felt. I don't think that anyone could live through those videos and go back to a normal meat-eating life. The first time I signed on to PEta2.com, I took the "pledge to go veg", and I've kept my word to this day. Thank you Peta ! :D
I went vegan because I got a pet chicken for Easter. Chicken was my fave meat but after watching how intelligent my little friend was and how unique her personality was compared to the one my sister got meat was no longer an option for me. My sis was vegan before that and she helped introduce me to Peta and give me lots of support during the transition. I don't understand why anyone would have ever decided to eat a chicken in the first place.
my name is mariahjane. And it was the look in a animals eye, there innocence. that made me and inspired me to go veg. Alot of people eat meat, but never face it before it dieds for them, and they do not know what that animal goes through whether it is a painfull death or torcher.And the fact that not eatting meat helps those animals out that is what inspired me to change :D
It was at Thanksgiving when I was six years old. I was confused by why what I was eating was called "turkey." I asked if we were eating an actual turkey. Fortunately, my parents didn't lie to me, and I've been a vegetarian ever since. My only regret is not realizing that meat came from animals sooner!
I became a vegetarian after reading the Vegetarian starter kit from Compassion Over Killing. All of the information was precise and well thought out. The didn't you scare tactics and really made be care. I started to do some research, especially on PETA2.com. It all made so much sense to me that I became a vegetarian.
I volunteer with COK and PETA to this day. :]
I was inspired to go veg at first to become healthier and cleanse my body of all of the toxic chemicals and growth hormones that animals are injected with. After discovering Peta2 from a facebook ad, however, my reason for deciding to remain a vegetarian changed. I watched many of the videos showing the horrific ways in which these animals are treated in the slaughter houses and breeding centers. I decided right then that eating meat is definitely not a necessary part of my diet. I have never been so sure of anything in my life. I have been a veg going strong for almost 2 years. I am so excited to be living in a healthy and cruelty-free way of life now. Hurray for Vegetarians!!!
What caused me to become vegan is seeing how the animals are treated in the process of becoming "food." The way they are treated is absolutely disturbing. I'm new to being vegan. It has been four days now since I decided to make the best decision of my life. I have never felt I have done anything of great importance until NOW!!!
i went veg be-cuz i saw meet your meat and just couldn't look at meat the same and if i win this
i know i can get my family to think twice about whats right
I went vegetarian as a young teenager after realizing that my food had a face. I was vegetarian for many years, but I have been vegan for over a year now and see that as being the most important thing I could have possibly done. Being vegan means that I live in a way that simply makes sense - I feel like veganism is the logical extension of everything else I do in an effort to be a healthy, kind, and thoughtful individual. I can't imagine it any other way!
I became a Vegetarian on Thanksgiving night when I was fourteen years old. I had attempted going vegetarian many times previously, but I never lasted more the a month.
My sisters, cousins and I have a Thanksgiving tradition that we see a movie in theaters, and that year was Happy Feet. In Happy Feet, humans stole the animals fish in large quantities and I was so upset, that right there I took my pledge.
That's right, I became a vegetarian because of a cartoon movie. (well it was finalized by the movie)
=D
I had been wanting to go veg for quite some time (about 4 years) before i actually did it, the reason being my parents wouldn't allow it. I've always loved animals and hate to see them suffer so, one summer, i went on a canoe trip with some friends one of which was vegetarian the other was trying it out, so i decided to try it too, seeing as there was a 3 year veg there and i could have some form of guidance. I didn't eat dead things for that whole week and decided right then and there that i was never, ever going to eat meat again. I've been vegetarian for 2.5 years now and it's the best thing i could have done, not only for myself, but for others as well. In university, I am following a strict vegetarian diet, slowly yet surely making my way to veganism!
I've been veggie for 29 years & very proud of that fact. I never really liked the taste of meat, but I had to eat what mom made. When I was about 6, I visited Grandma in Florida. She took me fishing...what an eye opener! I watched her put the worm on the hook, rip the fish off the hook, go to the basement to fillet the fish & then cook it. That stuck with me~ when I went home, I didn't want the chicken for dinner. My mom said 'Fine, I didn't have to eat it, but I only get what was on the table to eat'. She wasn't going to fix anything special. She was trying the reverse-psycology thing I think! I haven't eaten meat since! And no, I didn't eat the fish @ my grandma's either!!!
i went veg this summer (july 26th) and i had met some vegetarians at the fair and talked with them. i then decided to look more into vegetarian lifestyles. i got the peta2 disc that showed how the animals in the meat industry are treated and i cried for days. a few days later while at my grandparents in corydon, IN i saw a truck taking chickens to the tyson plant in corydon. the chickens were featherless and bleeding. it was so sad to see animals treated like that. i knew that i would never be able to eat meat after that. in september i got my mother to become a vegetartian also. it has really changed how look at my life and i'm happier now then i'll ever be.
Well to be honest, I am so tired of waiting for the right time to go veg. You see, I am a full time mom and college student. I always find myself not feeling like I could go veg because of money, and lack of ideas for what to cook. It seems like everything vegan in the store is down right expensive and my family feels as if they could never go a day with out a steak. If I were to win this cook book I know that while it will not solve my problems it will make going veg a little more simpler. I have already commited to going vegan for 30 days and am currently in the 19th day. I am running out of options and not only that, I suck in being creative when preparing food.
What inspire me to go vegan was the video "30 reasons why you should become a vegetarian". When you see the video they tell you 30 reasons, but if you really see the video you learn that they are billions of reasons, every animal life is a reason not to eat meat, every child with hunger in this world is a reason to not eat meat, every day the world gets hotter is a reasons to not eat meat, every day someone days from cancer, heart disease, obesity, that is a day to not eat meat. E
For every dissapointment couples anniversary is a day to stop eating meat.
It was clear that I had to go vegan.
I became a vegitarian around five months ago.
I actually have two reasons why I did become vegitarian.
The first, I came across 'Meet your Meat' on youtube. I started cying, it was so horrible.
I was so sickened by it.
And the second, I was at a friends house and her mom raised chickens. She was preparing the meal and when I saw her kill that chicken, I couldn't even stand looking at food.
I finally got my appetite back but I made a promise to myself not to eat meat.
I can't imagine eating it ever again.
And from my experiance so far, I have learned that everyone and everything has feelings and we as humans should respect that. I have convinced three people to become vegs.
This cookbook could help me to start eating healthier, because most of my diet is just processed food.
xP blehck.
So thanks for a chance to win it (:
i became a veg because my boyfriend wanted me too, so i did. when he quit i stuck to it and im never ever going back to eating meat again. ive been a veg for 10 months now and so happy i stuck with it! ive got involved in a lot of activites in my school and do as much as i can to help stop animal testing, animal abuse, etc. ive got many people to become veg. thanks peta for always gettin new ideas, you really opened my eyes to everything happening.
What inspired me to go veg was the Meet your Meat video. I cried for SO long after that and I was just scarred for life! So I stood my ground and told my parents that I was going veg. Also, I've read a few blogs and stories on goveg.com. So I went veg on Thanksgiving of 2006. (:
I wish that I could say that I became a vegan because I was horrified by the way that animals are treated (and I am), but the truth is that I just don't like the taste of meat or dairy.
I wanted to become a vegitarian when I was about 6 years old. My mom said I was too young, but a few years later, when i was about 10 or 11 years old me and my older brother made a bet that I couldn't last as a vegitarian. That was almost three years ago now and you can see who won the bet. But even thought it was just a bet, I really did want to be a vegitarian, and ever since then I've learned so much about being a vegitarian and the cruelty that is done to the animals. Luckily, my mom is very understanding and I have a few really good friends who are also vegitarians that understand what I'm talking about. I have also discovered lots of good foods that are very healthy for you and contain no meat at all. A few years ago I had no idea these foods even existed. The vegitarian life style is very different from my old life style, but I like it better and I honselty don't miss meat at all. It affected me even more when I saw pictures and heard descriptions of what people do to these poor animals. I cried when I found out what they really do that not many people know about. I want people to know about these things and I encourage my friends to go vegitarian also. This year is also the first year that we are going to be dissecting frogs in school. I WILL NOT be participating in this. I don't see how cutting up a poor frog will help us learn. We can learn the same thing from a picture on the internet or in our science books. Dissections are a pointless act of cruelty that should be cancelled in every school everywhere. Becoming a vegitarian has changed me for the better and has made me so happy. I love it when another friend of mine has decided to go vegitarian. I love being a vegitarian and I don't see myself eating meat for a really, really long time. This is the best life style choice I have ever made.
I have been wanting to be vegetarian for the longest time and just recently i started giving up different meats. I have been trying to find new recepies and I just made a vegetable lazignia and it was amazing. I think that getting a vegan cookbook will help me out a lot to become a vegetarian. There are so many tastes and spices that vegetarians have that can make any meal taste amazing. I have also wanted a vegan cookbook forever so it would really help me out if I had this cookbook.
I have been veg for about a month.. Its not as long as the others. It makes me sad I went so long living as nieve as I was. My brother has chickens in his back yard I asked him what was going to happen to them one day he said he had to "sell" them..It crushed me.. i guess i never really thought about it before.It wasnt on purpose. But how could someone treat another living thing like that? Its difficult especially persuading my dad thats it not a phase. But living were I am I need some kind of help or advice on how to go from here
I went vegan for multiple reasons. What made me aware to the lifestyle was my friend and, then, co-worker Amber. We worked at Starbucks, and I noticed that she only ever drank the iced teas and coffees. Then I seen she had the "certified vegan" symbol tattooed on her arm. We discussed animal cruelty quite a lot. That night, I went home and did research until 4 in the morning on animal cruelty. Like many people, I had always loved animals. I wanted a pet baby pig when I was 6, and was absolutely devastated when someone promised to give us one and never did. I'd never really thought of any animals being any better (I didn't think it was right for dogs and cats to be loved more.) but at the same time, I never thought about what I was putting in my mouth when I ate meat.
I went vegan just before Thanksgiving of 2008. I was raised in a family of carnivorous farmers who don't understand and are the exact opposite of supportive.
I transitioned for animal rights, but since have learned of all the other benefits that go along with a vegan diet. So far, going vegan has been the best decision I've ever made, and it will continue to be until I fully transition of raw-vegan and manage to live completely green and eco-friendly.
I've also talked my mom into letting me develop her a vegan meal-plan for a couple weeks. She's only doing it for health benefits, but at least it's still less support for the factory farm industry!
From when i was littel i new eating meat was wrong sumthin in me felt it .................... i had told my parents about how i felt about meat...but they said i was to young to make that desicion(i was 8)yet i felt old enough so i decided to make a stand i refussed to eat my dinner till they took me seriously ......now 10 years on my mam and dad dont think twice about tellin me not to be a veg cos it just leads to fights ...............MEAT IS MURDER .....
I became a vegetarian when I was only 8 or 9 years old and the predominant reason for this was because I really hated the taste of meat. I was only eating chicken before that. Of course, it was the compassion for animals that saved me in the end from a life of bad health and guilt. I quit eating meat after I realised that that chicken had once been a live and living a happy life. As the years went on I came to realise the full extent of this horror and now I am fully repulsed by the stuff - I walk past butchers' holding my breath it sickens me so much!! Now, at age 15 shortly to be 16 I am strongly considering becoming a vegan to save the rest of the animals that are so fouly treated. I guess it was finding out about how milk is produced that really put me off dairy. :)
I've always been curious how it would be like to be a vegatarian, but I never really tried it until I met someone who was. She suddenly then told me that she felt refreshed everyday and energized and clean, so I thought, "Oh, I should give it try after all". So I did, and honestly, I didn't go well at all. I had this urge then to really try it out because I was a bit sick of feeling heavy and dirty after i ate meat. One day, I was on Never Shout Never's myspace, maybe On Christopher Drew's (either one), and I scrolled down to see that there was a video. On the top, it had said, "Vegetarianism. Give it a try?" I clicked on the video, which was called "Meet Your Meat" or something very similiar to that title, and I started balling in about a minuted in the video. I stopped right it start going to the pigs so I told myself,"That's it, I am not going to any sort of meat". Ever since then, which was in Feb of this year, I had not eaten meat nor have even been tempted. I began to spread the word and dedicate my free time to find ways to save animals. My friend was right, being a vegatarian makes me feel refreshed, clean, happy, and I just feel so great. I don't want to be the person I was; a meat-eater.
In October of 2005, I saw lots of chickens and cows huddled up together looking all sad and lonely at the county fair and when i got home thats when I decided I didn't want to eat any kind of flesh anymore. Now that I look back at that year I also remember watching "Thats So Raven"(haha i was only ten or so back then) and Ravens friend Chelsea was a vegetarian. Who knew a Disney Channels show could influence me like that!
Last year I had chemisty in school. My chemisty teacher also taught a night class. In his night class they were incubating chicken eggs. Well one day I walked into class and one of them was hatching. My teacher came over and helped the chick get all the way out. As soon as I saw him I fell in love. He was gray and black. He had a gray afro. He was paralyzed from the tail feathers down. I knew that with his legs he wouldn't live long unless there was someone to take really good care of him. I ended up taking him home. I actually had to sneak him home because my mom said no. Once I got him home I decided to name him Jackie Moon. The reason I named him that was because of the movie Semi Pro. Will Ferrel plays Jackie Moon and Jackie has a big afro with a headband through it. The baby chick had a Gray afro with what looked like a black headband through it. That is how he got his name. Well a couple days after I got him I went to Huddle House and was going to get a chicken sandwich. When I looked at the menu and saw the chicken melt all I could think about was my little Jackie Moon sitting at home. I was thinking this could be his uncle or his dad. From that day on I vowed I would never eat another chicken. From then I decided to cut out the rest of the animals from my food groups. My mom eventually found Jackie Moon and told me I had to him back. We fought and long story short I got to keep him. That is the story of how I turned veg.
I have been veg for a year and a half and, honestly, it has been the best year and a half of my life. The main inspiration for me to become veg was the simple fact that God's creatures are suffering to make it to our plates. Whats wrong with this picture? I'll tell you. Animals are not ours to eat, wear or experiment on. And I'm extremely happy that I'm making a difference for them. I love my veg life and would never go back. Living the green life : )
I never realized the suffering animals went through in Factory farms until i watched a peta video of pigs being slammed into the ground, chickens getting their beaks cut off and cows getting their throats slit. I took the 30 day veg pledge and realized i would be selfish to eat meat again. Since then, i have convinced 3 people to go vegetarian! I used to think it was hard to make a difference in the world, now i know just changing my diet can make all the difference.
Eating animals never felt right. I always felt bad that I was taking life in order to live life. But I was sadly unable to stop it! At least I thought I was. Then I got sick from eating undercooked chicken, and I decided that was the chicken's way of telling me to stop eating him and his friends.
Btw, next month is my two year veggiversary, so winning this would be great. I am finally getting my family to eat less meat, so 75 recipes would be an excellent help.
It was very natural for me i think. At the age of ~15 I started to live by my own, and realised that I can eat what I want. And in fact - I liked veggy stuff more. So I started to eat what I like, discovering that I am vegetarian.
Lately I had a conversation with my mom, and she told me that she was not able to eat anything meaty while she was pregnant. And then we matched what she ate during pregnancy. Not a surprise - it is absolutely what I like now, and what I eat.
I got inspired to go first vegetarian and then vegan because of two bands and their ethical arguments. The first one was AFI and the second one was Anti-Flag. I would like to say I came to it on my own, but to tell the truth I owe it all to my favorite bands, at various times. But now I'm an ambassador for the animals, so it's all good!
I have been a vegetarian since October 1, 2009. I am half way to vegan and feel ready to take the full jump now. I was inspired to change because of the Land O' Lakes video on their treatment of cows. A Facebook friend had posted this video and I watched out of curiosity. I was so disgusted and outraged I went further and ended up on the Peta2 website. After reading thru the various information, I decided to make the change. It was surprisingly easy to do and I already feel lighter and healthier. I am proud to say I have become a happy vegetarian for life!
when i was only 8 years old we were at a restaurant out to eat (my family and I) and there was alot of animals all over, it was hunting theamed restaurant. The animal that was about my table was a chicken, and i told my dad it was really cute and he said "you know that's what your eatting right now, right?". i was so upset that i spit it out and haven't eatten meat since. I was a vegetarian till i was around 13, and have been vegan ever since, and i'm almost 18 now.
I went veg because my wonderful mother raised me right. She went veg after reading a PETA magazine 25 years ago and hasn't looked back. Going veg has changed hers and my life in so many ways. I thank my mother everyday for raising me as a vegetarian; it is the greatest gift for me, for the animals, and for the environment.
When I was 12, my friend told me her grandmother was visiting from China, and she had made turtle soup. I asked my dad later that day if turtle soup was really made out of turtles, and he said it was.
I had a pet turtle at the time. I never ate meat again.
Well..
My mom tells me that when I was younger (about 5 years old) my grandma would tell me what I was eating. Like if I was eating a bologna sandwich she would tell me what it actually was. So, I wouldn't eat whatever it was that she talked about, like bologna, hot dogs, and a few other foods. I still ate some meat becuase I didn't know what it was until middle school. I met another girl named Amanda:D..and she was a vegetarian. We were supposed to go on a field trip to some colleges and we were in a group together. We were at our last college and when we walk in they had these displays of dead animals everywhere! She started crying so I took her downstairs. They had more animals down there but they were alive. That is when I actually found out she was vegetarian and seeing all of the animals and the way she reacted made me feel bad. When we got back to school, she got on her laptop and showed me some peta videos. I felt so sick after watching it I started crying. She was crying too and I told her I was going to become vegetarian. That was 6 or 7 years ago and we are both still friends and both still vegetarian! I am also starting college next year to be a vet:D(I have always wanted to be a vet since I was little!!) My boyfriend of 3 years is also vegetarian.
I get picked on sometimes by family and friends but I just think of the things they are saying to me and laugh because none of what they are saying is true. Like my aunt told me that being vegetarian and vegan messes up your brain or something and later on in life you won't be as smart as you were before! I actually was focusing more in school and I got much better grades than i had before!:D
Thanx to Amanda and Peta!
I have always been a really picky eater and never really liked the taste of meat that much. When I was little my favorite animal was a pig. My aunt and uncle are farmers and used to own pigs. I always loved to go visit their cows and pigs. My cousin and I would name them but I soon found out these cows and pigs were now our pets but were our food. I think that is when I really decided not to eat these animals. This was when I was in fourth grade I believe. SO very quickly after that experience I was a pescatarian. I now no longer eat turkey or chicken either. I feel so much better about myself and about the earth because I do not eat animals. I have a hard time getting enough protein for my body because of this and my parents beg me to eat meat and I refuse so I think this cookbook would come in handy for me to give me more ideas of protein and it would help me show my parents that I am able to still eat alright while not eating animals.
I'm veg because I've always hated the way animals are treated in order to produce meat/dairy products.
I can't eat them without thinking about all the torture and suffering cows, chicken, pigs go through just to produce a burger sold for $3.00 - An animals life is far more important than a $3.00 profit.
If humans we're killed in the same way it'd be by far an inhumane act, We're all animals - Why is this still accepted in today's society?
I also love the health benefit of being a veg. Living without all the chemicals and additives they put in animals is great.
I love that you have the ability to explore new flavors, Try different meat alternatives, new ideas for meals are endless!
I'm always in the kitchen cooking for myself and my family/friends, Exploring different possibilities for meals and I think having this cook book would be a wonderful addition to help me along!
Becoming Vegan had a lot to do with the Earthlings Documentary , and this is by far the best quote.
We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals... We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far beneath ourselves. And therein we err, we greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complex than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth."
-Henry Beston (quote featured in Earthlings)
I have been vegetarian for almost three years now, and I love it! I went veg after watching "propaghandi, the goriest video ever" I was actually watching it right before a huge fiesta supper of chicken enchiladas. Right that moment I lost my appetite and started looking into veganism and vegetarianism. I was 13 and I haven't regretted a moment of it! I actually just started a SETA group in my school trying to spread the good word of saving animals from cruel, harsh deaths.
i have not gone veg yet, what its going to take is me seeing that it really is possible to eat delicious food and not feel deprived.. i've heard that its possible, but no one has ever been able to show me how its really feasible
i decided to go vegetarian against my families wishes becuase i went to my friends farm. While i was there we milked cows and brought in the chicken eggs, and i was okay with that, becuase they don't treat their animals unkindly. none of those horrible milk machines for them, it's all done by hand.
but, i got to help birth a baby cow...then they explained what veal was. i gagged, adn i couldn't eat the steak they placed on my plate. At first, i felt bad for refusing to eat food that someone had spent their time cooking for me, but when i explained myself, they assured me they understood. My family wasn't very thrilled, and they have sabotaged my on more than one occasion, cookin gmy favorite foods from before my epiphany, bu ti always wind up feeling guilty for the animal that died only to find it's place on my plate at supper time. Then i go back. I'm determined to stay vegetarian, and i even tried out veganism for a while. now i am a vegetarian who also doesn't drink milk. a semi-vegan, i you will:)
My sister became a vegetarian after going to college, and I always wanted to follow in her footsteps. Unfortunately, I'm still in High School, and trying to get my parents to accept my switch is going to be difficult. They didn't really accept my sisters choice at first, and she doesn't even live here anymore! They're very big meat eaters and have decided that ignorance is the best decision. I try every day to tell them a new way in which making the switch would improve their lives, and the lives of our family. I try to make vegan meals when I can, so they can taste just how amazing they really are.
Diet for a New America made me go vegetarian...quickly... But, then I realized not only was I not performing a senseless act anymore, but I looked and felt different...and better!!!
I have become a vegiterrian because why kill those innocent animals !?
I always see those commercials on TV that have to do with
animal abuse and it makes me cry. Every time I see them I rce to my dog and hold her. I think
to myself why would I eantto kill such a life? So then I started volunteering at a frm to help save animals - but the
animals still got sent
to slaughter house and I would always be afraid that I was eating
one of our cows because we named them an they all had stories so finally - on may 15, 2009 I decided to not kill animals anymore ! It's not my life to take. However my parents are carnivorious ! they eat steak evry night - I'm the only one who doesn't and it's hrs to fidn good recipiea but this would help a bunch. I have turned three friends veggie ! :) SAVE THE ANIMLS !
- Christian
* if my stuping is off it's bc I'm using
my iPhone and it's hard to type !
I started becoming a vegan when i went out with my grandfather hunting, after seeing him kill a deer i could not stand to eat anything that that lived and was free
I have been a vegetarian for 6 years now, and I would like to become vegan. The decision to become vegetarian for me was simple and the best decision I have ever made. Before I was a vegetarian I just ate what the rest of my family was eating, but when I became a vegetarian I proved to everyone that it is a simple lifestyle change that anyone can accomplish and I now cook for myself everyday and even encouraged other family members and friends to follow the path I was taking. To me, just thinking about the way animals are treated is very disturbing. I have a dog and he is one of the most important beings in my life, and thinking of anyone harming him would just be devastating. When you think about it that way, whether it be a family member, pet, or any living thing, it is just not right. Food is something to keep you healthy and alive, and eating anything with a face or heartbeat is not necessary. It goes in one place in your body and out again, so why take away a precious life for something so disposable? Over the years that I have been vegetarian, I have learned that there are many different options for food to keep you healthy and satisfied and I will be a vegetarian for as long as I live. I hope that people who haven't become a vegetarian or vegan will be inspired when they read these because animals are precious and everyone and thing in the world should be equal.
I didn't even know anything about the terrible things that they do to animals until senior year when I had to do my senior project. I look up a whole bunch of different topics and the one that caught my eye was animal cruelty. I learned so much. I got a great grade on my 10 page paper which made my teacher cry. She is now a vegetarian to this day. I am happy that I know a lot more about how terribly people can be.
I used to think that I could never go without eating meat. Then I went on a diet that took all the animal proteins out of my daily diet. I felt healthier, and by the time the diet was done I had gone 3 months without eating meat! Figured i would just keep going from there!
I'm choosing to go vegan because I'm making a conscientious decision to stand up for those who don't have a voice, and to adopt a healthier lifestyle by choosing what I eat. The recipes look mucho deliciouso too! :)
realizing that I have the ability to make a difference in this world by what I eat is so empowering. Learning about the daily routine of slaughterhouses made me sick, thinking of all the wrongdoing that goes on there. I love animals and I'm not a murderer!
Learning about the inhumane acts on animals and minority workers of slauterhouses brought awareness that supporting the killing of animals is NOT what is in the best of interest. I am smarter than that, and no living being deserves to die for the 'benefit' of others.
I think what made me go veg was PeTA. But the biggest factor in me going veg was the fact that everytime I use to have a burger or something, that I saw the animals face in the meat. I had to fight with my parents but they came around. So I've been veg for about four years now. And slowly going vegan. A little bit everyday.
We were on vacation and at a Perkins and I realized I did not want (or could eat) anything on the menu, and when I thought about it, I hadn't eaten meat in about 9 months, that's when I realized that I wanted to be a vegetarian. (I was 14)
For me, it would take a better income. I don't have a lot of control over what I eat right now. Of course I would love to eat organic, vegan meals everyday but right now I've just been accepting whatever food people give to me.
I went veg because I've always been compassionate toward animals, but the main thing was when I signed up for Peta & I found out about all of the horrifying things that they do to animals. Keeping them alive and torturing them for meat.. so repulsive. You guys did an amazing thing for the turkeys which really opened my eyes and that's what made me become a vegan. How butterball was keeping them alive, and slitting their throats while alive, kicking them, throwing them..doing horrible things & after I read about that on your website, I printed it out and showed everybody in my family & me, my sister and her fiance never ate meat again. I really do thank you all because you really did open my eyes & I'm SO much happier now that I'm a vegan & that i'm taking part in helping the animals!
Im 16. I went veg when i was 14 because I thought about the things i was eating, I thought not only is it unhealthy but it's unfair to these poor animals, and how they must have gotten treated to be on this plate in front of me. I always said I care for animals with everything i have since i could remember but i wasn't showing it. So I decided to do something about it. But I wasn't totally sure because i thought veggies only ate salads and fruits, until I found Peta2!!(: I learned all about vegetarians and vegans.
So thanks a lot for helping me peta2, I really appreciate it.
I was 13 when i wanted to become vegan and I'll turn 17 in two weeks. That's a 4 year difference. Point is that I FINALLY decided to go vegetarian and go all out! I watched the peta videos and i BAWLED!! I couldnt sleep, i would close my eyes and for that brief moment the images rushed my mind. I do NOT want to support meat anymore and even as i write, the pain in their eyes is unforgettable. I would like the cook book not only to become healthier, but to make a difference. The smallest bits count, that's what i believe and sticking to :D
Many things have ome together for me recently regarding my going vegetarian. All my life i've been a picky eater, mainly with meats. Pork always made me feel sick to my stomach, but overall I was constantly wondering what I was eating, and why. I never felt completely okay with the fact that I was potentially swallowing my friends on the farm down the street. I had been trying to push my way past my parents into being vegetarian, but being so young, my opinions raely stood out enough to make a difference in even menial things, such as dinner for the night. But this past summer, I went to Vans Warped Tour in Cincinatti Ohio, and stumbled across the Peta 2 tent. I was handed a disk, and asked for my email. I went home and watched the video. I got sick. I cried. I got sick again. And that was that. I was done with meat. & I can't explain how strongly I feel about this, even though my parents don't support it. They buy me meatless foods only because they have to(I won't eat if they don't). I feel so much better about what I eat now, and I continue to inform people about what goes into their mouths.
Honestly, I was dating a girl who was vegetarian and I didn't want to make her compromise her values. The vegetarianism lasted a little bit longer than the relationship though as I've since found some other reasons to maintain it.
i went veg in early in grade 7. i went to my best-friends birthday and we watched a horror movie,texas chainsaw massacre, ugghh.. it wasnt the people that got murdered that bugged me becuase i knew it was fake but in the beggining when it starts in the slaughter house..i just couldnt stomach it and was horrified and the movie had barely begun.. ive been veg since and now in grade 11.
i had been veg before but my parents wouldnt allow it so i put my foot down at that and REFUSED to eat it lots of nights i was stuck by the dinner table they finnally gave up!
GOING STRONG AND FEELING GREAT!\
FIGHT FOR IT FIGHT FOR THEM!
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2009 7:36 PM
at my best friends birthday party we were watching a horror movie, texas chainsaw massacre,ugh.. i was so disturbed by it..not rele the fact about the people becase i knew it was fake, but the slaughter house....ugh.. i knew that was relistic..in a way..
rele u can compare how it was for the humans to die..it was the same way an animal would..its sick all that pain that is inflicted and one only has to put the peices together.
i had tried to be a veg before this but my parents would not allow it. but i couldnt stand it at this point so i REFUSED to eat it and after about a week of being stuck at the dinner table i won the fight and im still going strong! its been 5 years now and will keep going !
fight for what they cant!
Posted by: ainsley albert | October 17, 2009 7:45 PM
i am currently a vegatarian, working on becomeing a vegan. i plan on going vegan november 1st as it is national vegan day.i never really ate meat products when i was growing up i would have the ocasional hotdog or chicken fingers but thats about it. but 3 years ago i mad the choice to become a vegatartian bc animals have beating heart and feelings and can experience pain like us human beings do, the only difference is that unlike animals we can express our feelings and pain. and i feel much better knowning that when i eat something i know that it was not killed,toutured, or had a face before.
annchen....didnt write it i did ainsley albert...
somehow must have got messed up this one is mine..
i went veg in early in grade 7. i went to my best-friends birthday and we watched a horror movie,texas chainsaw massacre, ugghh.. it wasnt the people that got murdered that bugged me becuase i knew it was fake but in the beggining when it starts in the slaughter house..i just couldnt stomach it and was horrified and the movie had barely begun.. ive been veg since and now in grade 11.
i had been veg before but my parents wouldnt allow it so i put my foot down at that and REFUSED to eat it lots of nights i was stuck by the dinner table they finnally gave up!
GOING STRONG AND FEELING GREAT!\
FIGHT FOR IT FIGHT FOR THEM!
When I was a teenager, the thought of eating meat made my stomach turn. I went Vegetarian. By the time I was 30 I had gone back and forth several times between Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian. After living in Hawaii for a few years and seeing the true beauty of the land (I'm originally from Los Angeles - concrete jungle itself) -- I wanted to do my part to help save the environment. In beautiful Kauai - there were places that looked like man had never even been to - but just a couple miles away are horrible land fills. I really started to learn more about how to save our planet. The more I learned, the more I found it was NOT just the land fills - it was the meat industry and all the main stream enormous corporations who's bottom line is revenue. I now go out of my way to purchase from companies that recycle and use organic/natural ingredients and products.
In addition to this - after having a baby, I want to lead by example -- showing her how to live a healthy lifestyle. One that promotes well being on all levels. I also feel the more natural foods one eats, will exude youthfulness, energy, health and happiness.
That is how I became Vegan.
-Jenna Harper
Venice, California
For years I have wanted to get a vegan or veg cook book...since i LOVe to cook food and experiment with it i go to a cookbood...but most cookbooks contain dishes with meat in it. I dont even enjoy looking at a recipe and thinking about tha poor piggy (or chiken or cow :( ) just makes me shiver and want to burn that cookbook. So i wish i caould win this and get a normal veg cookbook (I'm veg...but i always wanted to try vegan food too!!! :)
Many things inspired me to go veg*n but it took a promise to the Goddess to make me realise that it was definitely the right thing to do.
Posted by: Little_Lotte | October 16, 2009 10:52 AM
A friend sent me a link to watch Earthlings about 2 years ago. I went veg that day and haven't looked back!
Posted by: Jamie | October 16, 2009 10:54 AM
For years and years I had wanted to go Veggie but I loved my Swiss sausages and clam chowder too much. Then one day in college I looked down at my fish sticks and realized that that was a dead animal. I cried and decided never again to eat another breathing thing! I couldn't be happier with my decision! Vegan is the next step!
Posted by: Anonymous | October 16, 2009 11:24 AM
I'm a vegan because non-animal food just tastes better!
Posted by: Catherine | October 16, 2009 11:30 AM
I decided to go veg when I went to my friend's birthday party a few years ago... they were serving duck. Blergh. When I was told what meat it was I immediately thought; 'But ducks are adorable creatures, how can we eat ducks?!'. Then I realised that it's the same with all animals, they all feel pain and none of them want to die! It made me feel all gooey and weird inside to eat meat after that, so I decided to just cut it out all together and I've got to say.. I feel great! :D
Posted by: Sarah | October 16, 2009 11:32 AM
wot inspired me to go veg?? hmm...
i suppose it was wen i logged onto peta2 one day and realised wot actually happens to the animals
so basically peta inspired me :D
Posted by: char1ey | October 16, 2009 12:18 PM
I'd go veggie or vegan if I had enough recipes. Otherwise I can't cook anything!!!!
Posted by: Anonymous | October 16, 2009 12:21 PM
what made me go vegan was when my class went on a field trip to a dairy farm for DECA to see how the whole opperation works and i got to see what they do to those cows. i was so sickened by how they treated them and i asked one of the employees why they need to inject them with hormones and mistreat the animals they they have feelings too and all he replied was that its just an animal they can't tell me what to do. that made em so sick i became an avid animal activist and gave me the push to go from vegetarian of four years to vegan and i'm so glad i did (:
Posted by: Anonymous | October 16, 2009 12:28 PM
In early May of 2005, my silly little brother and I decided that we were going to surprise our mom with 30 baby chicks for Mother's Day. We live on a farm, and have always had a chicken coop that remained unused. So, what better way to use it than by filling it with chickens?! Our plan was a complete success, and within a few days, these peeping bundles of fluff were our pets.
I learned to love these fuzzy little creatures, and realized they had complex relationships with one another. I could see how they communicated and interacted between themselves, and realized that after that, I could no longer, in good conscience, eat meat.
What began as a respect for my new feathered friends progressed into full-fledged vegetarianism. I have been a vegetarian since 2005, and am going strong. I've influenced two of my best friends to go veg, too! As far as I'm concerned, it's the only way to be.
I would LOVE the opportunity to receive this book and have a dinner party in an attempt to show my non-veg friends that being vegetarian is EASY! You just have to know what you're doing! Perhaps it would even be a secret... who says I have to tell them they're eating tofurkey? ;) Thanks again!
Posted by: Anonymous | October 16, 2009 1:07 PM
I went vegetarian when I was 12, a couple days before thanksgiving after I accidentally came across one of your videos. I felt so guilty that I decided to go vegetarian and told my mom in the middle of Costco, and she told me it was just a phase. It will be 6 years in November. As I got older, I became more involved and went vegan about a year and a half ago. It's the best thing ever, and I can never imagine going back to eating animals.=]
Posted by: Anonymous | October 16, 2009 1:10 PM
I went veg because I simply couldn't stomach (no pun intended) supporting animal cruelty. I would never eat my pets so it made no sense to eat any other kinds of animal. I love to cook for my family so it would be so amazing to win this book.
Posted by: B | October 16, 2009 1:37 PM
I was three years old - so I honestly can't remember!
Posted by: amy | October 16, 2009 1:48 PM
i had wanted to be veg for a VERY long time but i always thought it would be too hard. this summer i was at warped tour and saw the peta2 tent. i guess i just decided i would give it a try finally and i LOVE it! i even convinced my mom and brother(who was pretty much carnivore!) to become veg.
Posted by: ellie | October 16, 2009 2:31 PM
Actually, I was raised a vegetarian. No meat was ever prepared at my household. My mother is a strong holistic doctor, and encouraged me to try different things and always reminded me I didn't have to be a vegetarian and I could eat whatever pleased me. But around the age of 9 I chose to no longer partake in anything meat related. I have such a sympathetic soft spot for any animal; it is so much more than "being a vegetarian". For me, it's just having that compassion for another animal that is so strong you couldn't bear to see it in any pain. Animals cannot speak up for themselves, so it is up to us to protect them in any way we can. Personally, it's hard growing up and being the only weird kid that doesn't eat meat, and the only thing I've learned is that you just have to pick your crowd. You will sometimes be in a big crowd and everyone’s eating meat, and their comments are relentless, "Why are you a vegetarian?" "C’mon why can't you just try it?" "I don't trust vegetarians, its not natural" (true quote from my boss) It just makes me that much stronger, and feel so much better ,that I know what I am doing is for a good cause, and it is just SO much more than not eating meat. It is a way of looking at your fellow mortals.
Posted by: Hanna Hazard | October 16, 2009 2:59 PM
i vistied the Auschwitz in Poldand, and realised what many people don't. Equality matters.
Posted by: emma | October 16, 2009 3:38 PM
For me, veganism built up. When I was in fourth grade, I cut red meat out of my diet. I had been involved in different horse slaughter campaigns and raised money for it by selling home-made t-shirts. I was googling it one night and came across a few pictures of cows and pigs being slaughtered. I thought, "If I'm sickened by horses being treated like this, why have I felt perfectly fine about EATING animals that were treated just as badly?" So I cut red meat out of my diet. Near the end of fifth grade, I watched "Meet Your Meat" all the way through and went vegetarian. A few weeks later, even sipping milk made me feel really bad and eating an omlet made me feel horrible. So, despite discouragement, I went full vegan. I've been some sort of veggie for four years, and vegan for two. I feel so much better, and I'm really greatful that I came across your videos and info, peta. A few of my friends even became vegan after they saw how much happier and healthier I was!
Posted by: Harley | October 16, 2009 3:57 PM
I went vegan because I LOVE animals, I felt so bad when I ate meat that my family cooked, I started making other meals (mac and cheese) I ate it every night for two months straight! so that I wouldn't have to eat any meat but didnt have any idea on what else I could eat and still stay healthy. I found recipes on the PETA website!!! and fter reading the skinny bitch book I am glad that I turned vegan I love to cook vegan meals for family and friends and they LOVE the meals that I make them.
Posted by: Hannah Beldyga | October 16, 2009 4:19 PM
i desided to go veg because i saw petas 30 reasons to become a vegetarian and it made me upset that they would do that so i stopped eatting meat :D
Posted by: Anonymous | October 16, 2009 5:10 PM
I have yet become a vegetarian (Or a vegan for that matter), but i have been putting a lot of thought into doing so. My main reason for making this change in my life, is due to the book "Omnivore Dilemma". This book has made me think more about what I'm eating than ever before. I used to think "OH COOL! We're having steak for dinner! AWESOME!", but now it's "OH COOL! we're have processed corn and feces with extracts of hormones, bones, poisons and just a little pinch of grass.....G-R-E-A-T...." I think anyone who has read that book will soon realize they aren't eating beef, they're eating $#!% (i tried to make it look as close as possible). So, I no longer want to be eating things I would never dream about placing into my mouth, I no longer want to be that person who contributes to the abuse of these animals. AND I SURE AS HELL DON'T WANT TO BE EATING THAT $#!% THEY CALL BEEF ANYMORE!!!!
Thank you very much for your time-
Maximilian Charles Froelich
Posted by: Maximilian Charles Froelich | October 16, 2009 5:31 PM
I've wanted to be a vegetarian for since I was like 8. I'd never had enough will power to do it. But just last year, I suddenly got confindence! I was just so fed up with how much people torture animals, that I couldn't bare to ba apart of it anymore. It breaks my heart and I can't believe it took me so long to do it. A couple months after I became a vegetarian, I discovered Peta2. I became apart of the street team, and watched the Meet Your Meat video. Then, I knew that I was fully committed to becoming a vegetatian. I'm doing more and more things to try to make the world a better vegetarian place! I would love this book to spread vegetarian love around my family, and bring new memebers to this vegetarian world! Thanks!
Posted by: Anonymous | October 16, 2009 5:36 PM
Originally i didn't go veg for animals. I went Veg. to better my marathon training. After being veg for a few years i slowly got sucked into animal right. Now i couldn't be happier. Animals thank me, my health thanks me, and my marathon time thanks me. :)
Posted by: Sean | October 16, 2009 5:42 PM
We always talked about despising cruelty to animals, then one day a friend said "you hate animal abuse but then you go home and eat them at night", finally the light bulb flashed on and the transition to vegetarian, and now vegan, began.
Posted by: TomOfMaine | October 16, 2009 5:43 PM
I went vegetarian because I am an animal lover and when I became educated about the horrible torture they undergo before they are killed, there was no way I could continue to eat them.It is also hypocritical to love animals so much, aspire to be a veterinarian and support their murder. It is the greatest decision I have ever made, I feel better physically and emotionally.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 16, 2009 5:44 PM
I chose to go Veg Freshman year, but my dad didn't understand so he made me eat fish and chicken once and a while. Then I researched more about animal cruelty in farms and it horrified me! I was finally able to go fully veg when my mom read skinny bitch and went veg too! We both lost weight and felt alot better about ourselves. And cooking vegan meals together has become a family trad ion for us :]
Posted by: Sarah | October 16, 2009 5:44 PM
I've always been a total animal lover. I usually wouldn't eat meat, or much, because I didn't really like it. (This was a LONG time ago, before it was "fashionable" to go vegetarian.) Eventually, I realized that I DON'T have to try to "stomach" it - I can live withOUT eating innocent animals!!
Posted by: Melissa B. | October 16, 2009 5:44 PM
I went veg because not only do I detest wearing fur, leather and any other animal skin that rightfully belongs on the animal humans killed it for but also eating their meat sickened me, these animals died in cruel and demeaning ways just be put on a plate for some mindless human to consume. Humans do not need animal meat to survive, soy products, fruits, veggies, legumes and nuts can provide us with all the nutrients to keeps us alive and running well. This book would help me expand my meals and help introduce my husband to new and delicious meals.
Posted by: Jenny | October 16, 2009 5:45 PM
I went veg. when I found out all the senseless things that happen to animals. Pescetarianism wasn't enough, I never even liked fish. Owning a rabbit, 2 mice and 2 gerbils, well, I can honestly say that if I don't eat them, or anything else considered a 'pet', why eat anything else? Animals don't choose to be killed, they're forced. Being forced to be MURDERED and then ground up or cut up for whatever isn't right.
Posted by: Frankz | October 16, 2009 5:46 PM
For the longest time I thought about going vegetarian, a few of my friends where but I never really did anything about it. Meet Your Meat really helped the whole thing, but what really did it for me was Rise Against's music video for Ready To Fall.
Posted by: Walker | October 16, 2009 5:48 PM
The summer between my 3rd and 4th grade year, my mom challenged our family to a burger-free June. When the month was over and the family gave in, I continued to steer clear of hamburgers. That August, I decided that on the first day of 4th grade, I would stop eating meat altogether. I was 8 years old, and although my family supported me, teachers and parents at my school thought it was unthinkable to let an 8 year old become a vegetarian. I have stayed strong through the discouragement from friends, and it has been 8 years. Since then, my younger sister has switched to vegetarianism as well; my mom has tried it on and off, as well as my brother. I start culinary school in July of this upcoming year, and I intend to stay strong in my vegetarian ways.
Posted by: Andrea | October 16, 2009 5:49 PM
I was sick and tired of eating the poor animals! They hadn't done anything to me, why should I end their life?!
Posted by: Savannah | October 16, 2009 5:50 PM
People say we were meant to eat meat, we were created to. We were not meant to be vegetarians. But were humans meant to swim faster then aquatic animals. We have. (Phelps) Was man mean to run after then a cheetah. We have. (Bolt) Dare to be different. Dare to be vegan.
Posted by: Francis Bates | October 16, 2009 5:52 PM
I was inspired to go veg when I was young and realized animals think and feel and love through my kitties. I also was having problems with my digestion and weight and made the decision to live a guilt free diet. after animals didnt have to die for me to eat my tummy got way better
Posted by: kassie woodruff | October 16, 2009 5:54 PM
Well, I have been a Vegetarian for over 15 years of my life. I have always preferred not to eat meat. It just doesn't taste good at all, as simple as that. It wasn't until 5 years ago, I have started to look into the animal slaughterings, and the cruelty of animal testing on hair products and other human consumed goods. This made me angry, of how students, and companies, where treating animals to test their products. I thought to myself, how was this trend started... I know that there is thousands of ways to test products, that has nothing to do with animals, why should they suffer, so a company can make a little bit of money. Not to mention the cruelty that Chickens have to go through, there short life has no meaning to them. Peta2 is an amazing website, that converts many people on going into a Vegetarian, or a Vegan. I am amazed of the progress we have made so far, let's push it to the next level, and show people out there, that what meat eaters are eating was a in fact a living creature like us.. and the coats they are wearing was also once a living creature, as they are the ones who need to feel sorry for themselves and what they have involved into.. Killers.
Posted by: Jim McKay | October 16, 2009 5:55 PM
I went veg in 3rd grade when I was doing a report on nutrition. When I was working on the 'meat paragraph' I accidentally found one of your videos. After I watched it I refused to even think about eating an animal, and needless to say the nutrition report was missing a piece. It's going on eight years now, and I have had no regrets whatsoever. Thanks Peta, for making me aware of what happens to the animals that so many people forget.
Posted by: Anna | October 16, 2009 5:57 PM
After watching a video on how cows are treated in India (they were rounded up and taken to neighbor countries to be slaughtered for their skin), I couldn't eat meat nor any animal products anymore.
I have been vegan for the last 14 years; I just turned 40 and never felt better!
I live in Guatemala and here the vegetarian/vegan concept is pretty unknown yet. It would be great to get this book so that I can cook to my Guatemalan friends and show them how good and delicious food can be without meat. :-)
Posted by: desiree | October 16, 2009 5:58 PM
well most of my life I never really cared so much about eating meat i just did because it was what was goiven to me. when I was 25 I saw the meet your meat video & was never the same again. I cried for 15 minutes straight & never ate meat again.
Posted by: paula mendez | October 16, 2009 6:00 PM
I am a vegetarian, and i think what it would take for me to become a vegan is too get something to cook. I have no recipes, ingredients or knowledge on what to cook or what i can eat. Most of the foods i eat have such strange i ingredient names i have no clue of it's even vegan, so i think this could be very helpful.
Good luck to everyone else who applied for this!
Posted by: cassandra | October 16, 2009 6:00 PM
I want to go veg..peta inspired me to do so.and one of my friends.we are even goin to try to convince our principal to switch to veg food for the cafeteria.nd we are going to start an animal rights club(we r freshmen in high school) and i was inspired to do all of this because of peta i would be honored to win this book so i can get ideas for our food sale fundraisers :)
Posted by: nim | October 16, 2009 6:04 PM
I went veg after hearing the speaker at Poplar Springs Animal Sanctuary ,in Poolseville MD, talk about the puss from infected cows that is in most milk. I dont like eating puss, I dont like drinking puss, and I dont like drinking dead puss from pasteurized milk.
Posted by: Dale Granzow | October 16, 2009 6:06 PM
I'm actually celebrating a month of becoming vegan, I did it because I know I deserve better, that everything that goes into my body must be pure, clean, fresh so I could make the best of it.
Posted by: Helena Arriaza | October 16, 2009 6:09 PM
I am not yet a vegetarian or vegan, however I am truly considering becoming one. My friend recently gave me some PETA information papers about mcdonalds, kfc, and other situations in which animals are mistreated for nothing more than human pleasure. Reading those papers and seeing the pictures of the poor abused animals really got me thinking and I don't feel it is fair for those animals to live in such cruel places and go through what they go through. Being a carnivore makes me feel like a bad person and I think that i need to change and help make a difference in the world. To carry out my ambitions I think that receiving the cookbook will allow me to start my new life and have a good idea of what alternative to meat meals could be.
--Cierra
Posted by: Cierra | October 16, 2009 6:14 PM
I had wanted to for years but never had until a friend decided to change their diet, giving me a partner to try new foods with.. The dietary & lifestyle changes stuck, I've since raised my child veg, and I just all-around feel much better because of it :)
Posted by: Ashley | October 16, 2009 6:15 PM
I was in sixth grade when I went vegetarian, after I came upon a PETA website, I realized how cruel the meat industry really is. It broke my heart and I knew that I had to do something to help these poor, defenseless creatures. Today, I am in tenth grade, and proud to call myself a strict vegan!
It also shocked me to see the extent of pain and cruelty that humans can inflict upon another kind. Perhaps, it's because they can't talk back or maybe it's just because some humans have yet to realize what barbaric murder they are committing. I hope that one day, maybe even far into the future if it has to be, that raising animals for food will seem as uncivilized and criminal as keeping slaves, or as revolting as cannibalism.
Posted by: Cara | October 16, 2009 6:21 PM
I love animals too much to eat them.
Posted by: Katherine | October 16, 2009 6:22 PM
I'm Argentinean, so growing up in my family meant a big rare steak was a 5 day a week staple. I was 12 years old, and one day I just looked down at my blood-pooled plate with a big juicy steak tantalizing me, and realized that blood on my plate was once, very recently, running through the circulatory system of an adorable, innocent cow while she ate some grass and took in the sunshine. Ever since then I realized the association of the meat people find so delicious, and the animals people find so cute. I couldn't reconcile the two in my mind. The living animals were so much more important than the unnecessary waste of their lives for human consumption.
14 years later I am still a vegetarian, and happy to say my family eats very little meat anymore. I think an important part of my being a vegetarian is seriously but non-judgmentally informing people of what they are really supporting by eating meat. Most people don't understand or bother to make the association between a hamburger and the farm animals they took their children to visit. Its our job to make that association known.
Posted by: Valerie | October 16, 2009 6:23 PM
this website made me go veg :]
Posted by: Anonymous | October 16, 2009 6:23 PM
sería maravilloso poder cocinar vegetariano a mi familia y que olviden la carne para siempre...y no me hagan recordar a mi, la tortura y el maltratato animal, casi a diario en la mesa...amo a los animales y por eso no como a los seres que amo...
Posted by: nieves | October 16, 2009 6:31 PM
I initially stopped eating meat because I have some kind of a stomach issue that it honestly does not break down properly in my body, and makes me very sick. After I started noticing such a difference in my health after no longer eating meat, I did some research to see all of the possible health advantages not eating meat could bring. Recently, I took the next step, and became vegan and have never felt better. It's still an adjustment to not consume anything from an animal, but my heart is in this now, too, not just for my health.
Posted by: Ashley D | October 16, 2009 6:34 PM
I wanted to go veg as a kid but my parents are meat-eating Texans that didn't respect an 6 year old's opinion. I worked as a butcher to help pay for college in a mom & pop shop where thankfully animals weren't abused. It didn't take long for me to commit to myself that once I was out of my parent's household, I would go veg *and* I did! Being married to a meat eater now is difficult but he realizes if he wants to eat a cow... he'll have to go out for it because he won't find it in the apartment. It's been a gradual process for me because of my loved ones are all very carnivorous. My plan is that by the time we're ready for kids, my home will be fully vegan! As barbaric as being a butcher was... my boss taught me to truly respect animals as blessed creatures of God, which sealed the deal for me. When people bother me about not eating meat, I tell them all the reasons I don't eat "carcass." And yes, I call it carcass... and instead of beef and pork, I call it what it is... cows and pigs.
Posted by: Elizabeth | October 16, 2009 6:37 PM
I saw an undercover video of KFC beating chickens then I saw people finger raping turkeys!!!! Good thing some had their revenge!!
Posted by: Anonymous | October 16, 2009 6:51 PM
Hi Peta2! The book Skinny Bitch is what inspired me to go vegan. After the animal cruelty and the dairy chapters, I went from meat-eater to vegan and haven't looked back. I've been vegan for almost 4 years now, and loving life!
Posted by: Kara | October 16, 2009 7:06 PM
I got stuck in traffic behind a semi hauling a trailer full of cages crammed with turkeys destined for slaughter. There was no cover from the elements, just stacks and stacks of cages, each packed beyond humane capacity. Some of the turkeys were already dead, their sad heads dangling out the sides of the overcrowded crates; others were clearly in pain and close to death. As I tried to imagine the heartless person who had forced the birds into such horrid conditions, I caught one barely alive turkey looking at me and in a flash I realized I was responsible for their suffering, too - they were being forced through this agony just to feed me. I gave up turkey right then, and all other meat shortly thereafter.
Posted by: JC | October 16, 2009 7:13 PM
It's hard to remember exactly when I decided to take the leap of vegetarianism, since it's been so long since I've eaten an animal. Though when I think back on it, I think I was about 5 or 6.
I was in the car with my grandmother, and we were going to go out to my favorite small-town restaurant for the classic, good ol' hamburger and fries. I had been semi-obsessed with learning to bake at the time, so I naturally wanted to know how to make a hamburger. I remember thinking about exactly WHAT it is that they put in a hamburger.
Eggs? No..
Sugar? Noo..
Baking soda? I don't THINK so.. (Keep in mind, I was only 5 or so at the time- my mind hadn't expanded upon ingredients past those used for baking cookies).
It was then that I asked my grandmother, and she told me they were made from cows. I was COMPLETELY heartbroken, and told myself I'd never eat them again. So, a litte over 10 years later, I happily eat the Garden Burgers that my school provides for lunch.
Posted by: Courtney | October 16, 2009 7:15 PM
I'm a vegetarian because I saw Paul McCartney on the cover on Peta's Vegetarian Guide my mom had ordered just for some recipes to help her health. After I saw his picture I HAD to pick it up and read the whole magazine. With-in 10 minutes, I knew I was going to stop eating meat and eggs for good. On October 23,2009 (my vegetarian one year anniversary) I plan on going Vegan because of the cruelty that happens to Dairy Cows. I don't want my name to support that kind or any kind of cruelty. SO you could say my inspiration for going Vegetarian is Paul McCartney, and my inspiration for going Vegan is Peta and Peta2 :) I love you guys :)
Posted by: Jennie | October 16, 2009 7:24 PM
I did a report in school when I was 14 (this was 19 years ago) on how meat was made and how animals were treated. I became veggie as soon as I started the research and never looked back.
Posted by: HannahV | October 16, 2009 7:30 PM
I've been a vegetarian for a little less than a year and I can honestly says it has changed my life. I picked up the book Animal Liberation By Peter Singer at a used bookstore on a whim and read it. After reading about all the suffering we cause animals just so we could enjoy a few moments of eating I realized in no way was this ethically right. Eventually I would like to become a vegan so it would be great to have this cookbook since I'm a college student and I cook for myself all the time!
Posted by: Caitlin | October 16, 2009 7:33 PM
Reading Diet For A New America by John Robbins convinced me to go veg 20 years ago. I've never looked back.
Posted by: Vicki | October 16, 2009 7:34 PM
For the animals of course :D
Posted by: Kiladra | October 16, 2009 7:47 PM
I kept having extremely intrusive vivid visions of me eating my companion animals every time I ate meat. It was to the point that I would force feed myself meat while crying and apologizing to my pets whenever I ate, so one day I said, "Enough!" and have been meat free for over two years now!! :)
Posted by: Kelly | October 16, 2009 7:52 PM
I went vegetarian over a year ago upon learning the truth about what goes into our animal-based diet. It was both disgusting and devastating. I haven't gone back since.
Posted by: Laura Regalado | October 16, 2009 8:12 PM
At the age of 18, I realized that pigs, cows, chickens and other farmed and exploited animals were every bit as alive - and had just as much right to live - as the dogs, cats, birds and rabbits I shared my home and love with. Eating meat was no longer an option for me.
Posted by: kelly g. | October 16, 2009 8:13 PM
Three years ago I became veg. For years I had a guilty conscience because even before I knew what abuse animals dealt with, I always felt it wasn't ethical or right to be consuming another living creature. I knew that the planet, and all life on earth would benefit if the world was compassionate about it's choices. So I started doing some research on becoming vegan and I came across some videos that included Meet Your Meat, and from then on I could never even look at meat the same. I just saw a helpless tortured animal that deserved better. And I never ate meat again, still vegan and going strong!
Posted by: audrey elise | October 16, 2009 8:18 PM
I went vegetarian almost 2 years ago December! I babysat this young boy for years, and he has always been a veg. I decided to go veg because I thought, if this little boy could do it, so could I! And I have persuaded many people since to become one, just like Shayne did for me. Best thing I ever did.
Thanks Shayne!
Posted by: Natalia | October 16, 2009 8:34 PM
I'm in the process of becoming vegan. I gave up pork after (actually while) watching a Peta video of a sow being abused. I have cut back beef & dairy, given up eggs, & am switching to Soy milk.
My boyfriend is a "meat" person & it has been difficult to cook animal friendly meals that are able to keep him & our 2 teen boys happy (my 2 yr. old & I are happy meatless). So...this book would be a great help making our home animal friendly!
Posted by: Erin | October 16, 2009 9:15 PM
I decided to go vegetarian in the middle of my local Jewel Osco (where you can count on people who care) about five years ago.
Agreed, it might not sound like the most likely place for a revelation to hit, but at the time it seemed pretty logical.
I had just moved out on my own and was by no means adequately prepared to cook for myself. For the first 3 months or so my diet consisted of mainly mac n'cheese or ordering out for pizza. But one fateful night my mother called me up with her inevitable weekly checkup and I found myself unable to lie to her about my
"creative" diet.
My punishment was a deposit of $30 in my bank account to "go buy something edible."
So, to Jewel I went.
Having never been faced with the task of actually shopping for myself before, I found myself wandering from aisle to aisle, perusing various boxes and cans, all the while wondering what I could make in 3 minutes or less.
Finally I discovered the frozen foods aisle. Located in this pristine white jungle of everything so deliciously simplistic I located microwave lasagnas, five minute sausage pizzas and many more enticing entrees.
It was in this heavenly sanctuary to college cuisine that I also discovered the lobster tank, stuffed sloppily near the back corner bathrooms and bacon display.
I walked over to the lobster tank and peered in. I stood there, transfixed by the sight of those beautiful creatures, moving slowly through the water, their claws clutched "protectively" together in a confusingly colored neon strip.
I'm not sure how long I stood there staring in, watching them communicate, bicker, or snuggle up to one another. But the longer I stood, the more horrific it became.
I realized that for all their communing, and delicate movement throughout the tank, they weren't here for any visual pleasure. Their seamless gentle floating served no purpose, as they could only hope to travel from one side of the small tank, to the other, and back.
They were patiently amusing themselves while they waited, unknowing, to die.
I don't think I need to explain any of the horrific details that go into "cooking" a lobster, but I knew what lay ahead of all of them. I, of course, decided that I was going to buy them all and raise them in my bathtub to spare them a much worse fate. But, as $30 was now officially my weekly income, it wasn't the most practical idea.
I knew there was nothing I could do to help them, and I felt powerless, weak, and sick. Unable to look anymore, I waved a sort of goodbye and slunk back into the brightly lit frozen foods aisle.
The cheery music that piped in from above had no bearing on how I felt at that moment. I felt like a murderer. I realized that for every sausage patty in my cart an animal had lived penned up, secured, and calmy awaited death, all without any understanding of why.
The innocence in these animals, from air, land or sea, is all the same.
And I found myself thinking "you are what you eat."
I decided at that moment, as I walked out of the store empty handed, that I would not be an animal. I would not destroy what has been created for the same reason as I was. I would use my brain and my conscience to decide what was humane and worthy. I would "eat something edible" instead.
Thanks mom :)
Posted by: brynn connelly | October 16, 2009 9:37 PM
A year and a half ago I was exposed to the cruelty in factories from the "Meet your Meat" and "Think about It: Woof" videos. Being an animal lover I could no longer bring myself to contribute to this cruelty.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 16, 2009 9:42 PM
I became vegan simply because I love all animals and I don't want to eat them ! they feel pain,hunger,thirst and everything that we do! They don't want to die, they cry, they fear !!!
I love Peta! They have inspired me so much to tell others about the cruel meat industry!!!
Posted by: Lezi | October 16, 2009 9:57 PM
I am not veg but I want to becaome one because all of my life I have loved animals and now is my chance to prove how much and I can save lots of animals. I think that the cook book will help me learn how to stop eating meat and maybe I can convince my family to do the same thing! :)
Posted by: Anonymous | October 16, 2009 10:02 PM
I was in Philly today for a college visit to Temple University. My mom and I were driving through Chinatown (we were lost) and I looked over and saw a huge truck opened and piles of dead baby pigs being thrown from one man to the next. it was the worst thing I think I have ever seen. I started crying and decided to go veg. My mom isn't completely supportive because she doesn't cook special meals and I can't do it healthy right now, so for now I'm only eating poultry, but as soon as I graduate I am going full on veg. I can't stop seeing those poor pigs. =[
Posted by: Samey Lee | October 16, 2009 10:12 PM
I grew up around meat, since my father has worked in the meat industry for twenty five years as the president of a pork distributing facility and now owns his own company. I was ignorant at the issue of animal cruelty, and I honest to goodness thought animals were put on this earth for food-- until I went with my father one day to a slaughterhouse. Hearing the pigs actually scream when their throats were cut made me sick to my stomach and I actually threw up on the spot seeing those innocent animals suffer. The next meal, I decided to become vegetarian. That eventually led to my decision to become vegan, and I have never looked back (even though my dad badgers me every day of my life calling me a veggie idiot. He's as ignorant as I used to be).
Posted by: Jill Schnable | October 16, 2009 10:12 PM
I was told by a vegan friend how much my life would improve.
I was a vegetarian for 6 years with every intention of becoming Vegan...I just never took that last step.
Its a common misconception on how horribly thoes dairy cows are treated. Theres no little farmer under the cow with a bucket gently milking the cow, its horrible machines that suck the milk out of a heart broken mother cow who just had her baby taken away from her.
I wanted to 'do it for the animals' but I felt I needed more convincing. I decided to take then Vegan pledge and stay away from ALL animal products that month became 2 years and I never will go back. My only regret is not becoming a veagn sooner.
Not only have I had the satisfaction of knowing that none of my food contributed to an animals suffering, but my health has improved drastically
1) Loss of weight.
I have never been fat at or, or even "big" for that matter, but within a few weeks on me becoming vegan I noticed that my jeans were very loose. I lost so much weight by taking every animal product out of my diet
2) No More anxiety.
I used to suffer from panic attacks, they would somtimes be sever and I had pills that kindof helped- when I became a vegan- it all went away. No kidding, I havent taken a pill since, I dont need to. The dairy was literally giving me panic attacks
3) My face is clearer, breath is better, I have more energy and I never feel sluggish or tired
Posted by: Olivia | October 16, 2009 11:15 PM
It all started in third grade when I learned about the potentially serious problems that came as a result of eating undercooked meat. I immediately gave up McDonalds. Within a year, I went vegetarian.
Posted by: Sneha | October 16, 2009 11:50 PM
On and off since I was a little girl I have given up red meats. I have always had an overwhelming need to stop the hurt to animals. I became a full vegetarian at 17. I finish gave it all I got and ever since have decided my life to telling people why its great to be one.
Posted by: Joleen | October 16, 2009 11:54 PM
I went Veg back in 2006, when I saw the Meet your Meat video. I guess it was sort of a leading up to it kind of thing though, as I really got scared of things like ribs when I visited my uncles Pig Farm (it's closed now, thank god!) where he showed me baby pigs from these little steel cylinder things. To this day I'm really not sure what they are, or why they were not with their mother, all I know is they seemed so scared and sad.
I'v loved animals dearly since I was a kid, I currently have five rescues, plus my pony. I guess it's hard to think that some people eat ponies like we eat cows, now who would want that !?!? It's probably more reasons that I'm a veg then I could list off here but I'll give a little bit more detail. I'm enimic, and was mildly overweight and always selfconsience, now I feel better and healthier then ever! I don't think I could ever go back :D
It would be a great experiance to get this fabulous book, as I bake great wholistic foods for farmers markets and I love new ideas! I have a collection of vegan cookbooks and this sound simply superb. Thanks xooxo
Posted by: Rachh | October 16, 2009 11:55 PM
I've always been a picky eater, so I didn't eat much meat in the first place. Plus, I've always been an animal lover, and I can't stand to even joke about hurting animals. I tried to go veg a few times, but I finally officially gave up meat when I saw a video about animal cruelty. The idea of eating something that used to be alive just grosses me out. But I'm still a picky eater, so maybe I can finally find a yummy vegetarian cuisine in the cookbook!
Posted by: Hannah Catron | October 17, 2009 12:13 AM
We are a family of 8 all moving to vegetarianism, My partner has been suffering with an eating disorder for the past 21 years and has been challenged with the move to vegetarianism due to the nutritional complications and weight gain required for her recovery. I used to work in an abitoir for years before becoming enlightened enough to recognise what I am supporting. After recommencing study as a sociologist and watching Earthlings (passing it on to friends and family), I have become bent on doing the enlightened thing, which includes the move to vegetarianism. My children and partner are also determined to do the same, eventually moving to veganism when my partners health is under control and recovery is sustained. Resources such as books like this are priceless.
Posted by: Shawn | October 17, 2009 1:30 AM
I simply do not have enough ideas to become vegan especially because of my tetraplegy I do need proteins and recepies that goes with !!
Posted by: POULLET Vincent | October 17, 2009 8:31 AM
I haven't gone vegan or vegetarian completely yet, but that is mainly because of the lack of decent options at most grocery stores and restaurants.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2009 9:41 AM
I am one with every animal, human or not, so why should I eat my pairs?
Posted by: Roxana | October 17, 2009 9:53 AM
The videos did it in for me, but I'm still walking that fine line before fulling crossing over it to be veg.
Posted by: marion webb | October 17, 2009 10:08 AM
I went vegan because I absolutely love pigs and am one day going to adopt a couple of them from a farm sanctuary. I want to change a farm animal's life by caring for it where otherwise it would be neglected and tortured. Therefore, I am compassionate toward pigs and their friends, of the same species or not. This includes compassion toward cows by not supporting dairy companies because of how the cows are treated, the way that dairy makes so many people sick, and the apparent fact that it's just plain disgusting.
BTW, I hope other people feel the same way and want to adopt farm animals and care for them! :)
Posted by: Sandra | October 17, 2009 10:39 AM
I am an animal lover for one thing so I started eating more organically and locally to protest the big corporations animal abuse.
However, recently switched to straight up vegan as I have high LDL cholesterol.
Having a difficult time eating a healthy diverse diet and don't want to give up my new way of life. Snacks are easy, but meals are difficult.
Posted by: Kacy | October 17, 2009 11:32 AM
Saving the planet and taking care of our environment inspired me to go veg!
Posted by: Amber G | October 17, 2009 11:53 AM
Reading Slaughterhouse by Gail Eisnitz was an eye opener (and stomach turner) of the meat industry.
smchester at gmail dot com
Posted by: Susan C | October 17, 2009 12:47 PM
Well, I wanted to try it out and then saw and felt all the benefits it had for my body and couldn't go back!
Posted by: Jaclyn Reynolds | October 17, 2009 1:04 PM
I went veg the day i found out meat was from animals! As silly as it sounds, i never knew until i turned 9 years old, and since that day ive never even thought about eating an animal.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2009 2:30 PM
I saw footage from a dairy farm on an MTV Truth commercial and was shocked that the cows weren't frolicking on a green field and were able to come back to the red barn at night with old farmer McDonald, who nicely milked them by hand.
Then, after reading Eric Marcus' Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating, I knew I could no longer eat dairy and eggs, as cows and laying hens were treated just as bad, if not worse than those raised for their flesh.
Posted by: Beau | October 17, 2009 3:25 PM
^.^ I've been a vegetarian for at least 3 years now and I intend to stay that way, and I'm only 13 haha.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2009 3:49 PM
I went vegan because my brothers girlfriend Kristen told me about all the great health benefits. At first I was worried about what I would eat but after tasting the great food she made (I think it was the scrambled tofu that did it) I realized that going vegan wouldn't mean punishing my taste buds. Actually, I have been turned on to so many new kinds of foods now and I'm always trying to find new recipes.
Posted by: Emily | October 17, 2009 4:21 PM
I've been vegetarian for a little over a month now. I have always been a animal lover and I believe animals should have rights too. What inspired me to become a vegetarian is the suffering of the animals and peta2! I had signed up for the stickers and video that come to you in the mail. I put in the dvd, and could barely watch the suffering of the animals video. I even started crying ! From that moment on I was determined to be a vegetarian and stand up for the animals (:
Posted by: Christie T. | October 17, 2009 5:01 PM
I would need more recipes that I could make.
Posted by: Shannon Baas | October 17, 2009 5:23 PM
Saw a Peta Times when I was a teenager and realized the hidden violence and went vegan that day.
Posted by: Cynthia | October 17, 2009 6:17 PM
During our philosophy course this year we explored our moral obligations towards animals under the moral philosophy module, looking at philosophers such as Peter Singer and so forth. We then had to right an essay which asked whether we're morally obligated to become vegetarians and I suddenly realised how immoral my diet actually was. I havn't seen meat the same way since and don't want it coming anywhere near my plate or my stomach.
Posted by: Annchen | October 17, 2009 7:27 PM
i went veg in early in grade 7. i went to my best-friends birthday and we watched a horror movie,texas chainsaw massacre, ugghh.. it wasnt the people that got murdered that bugged me becuase i knew it was fake but in the beggining when it starts in the slaughter house..i just couldnt stomach it and was horrified and the movie had barely begun.. ive been veg since and now in grade 11.
i had been veg before but my parents wouldnt allow it so i put my foot down at that and REFUSED to eat it lots of nights i was stuck by the dinner table they finnally gave up!
GOING STRONG AND FEELING GREAT!\
FIGHT FOR IT FIGHT FOR THEM!
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2009 7:36 PM
at my best friends birthday party we were watching a horror movie, texas chainsaw massacre,ugh.. i was so disturbed by it..not rele the fact about the people becase i knew it was fake, but the slaughter house....ugh.. i knew that was relistic..in a way..
rele u can compare how it was for the humans to die..it was the same way an animal would..its sick all that pain that is inflicted and one only has to put the peices together.
i had tried to be a veg before this but my parents would not allow it. but i couldnt stand it at this point so i REFUSED to eat it and after about a week of being stuck at the dinner table i won the fight and im still going strong! its been 5 years now and will keep going !
fight for what they cant!
Posted by: ainsley albert | October 17, 2009 7:45 PM
i am currently a vegatarian, working on becomeing a vegan. i plan on going vegan november 1st as it is national vegan day.i never really ate meat products when i was growing up i would have the ocasional hotdog or chicken fingers but thats about it. but 3 years ago i mad the choice to become a vegatartian bc animals have beating heart and feelings and can experience pain like us human beings do, the only difference is that unlike animals we can express our feelings and pain. and i feel much better knowning that when i eat something i know that it was not killed,toutured, or had a face before.
Posted by: karly beaulieu | October 17, 2009 8:19 PM
I decided to be vegan a very short time ago. I realized exactly what it was I was eating and knew it was bad for me. I have wanted to change for 2 years but have loved meat and other products to much. But I finally decided to take the leap and am now happy I made this decision. My friend did this about a year ago and she feels better about herself and I am starting to feel better about me. I don't like animal cruelty and I don't understand why some people do, but that is their decision. I want to live linger and healthier, I also want animals to live longer and healthier.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2009 8:32 PM
I have to thank PETA for my decision to become a Vegan. For almost 20 years I never stopped to give a second thought about how my daily choices, like what I eat and wear, affected the lives of animals. I never looked at the food on my plate and thought that this steak was once a beautiful creature and it was needlessly slaughtered for me. Since I saw the video from PETA that detailed the horrible and miserable lives these animals are forced into, I've been a devout Vegan. It hasn't been the easiest choice that I have ever made, but doing the right thing is not always easy. In fact, it's usually harder. Thanks to the wonderful and passionately committed people at PETA I no longer promote or support the suffering of animals in ANY way. I try to live by the saying "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." And no where in that saying does it say "...except for animals." Everyt living being deserves to be happy. There is no reason that animals should be tortured so and used as a commodity. It's not ethical.
I have not only made the commitment to be a Vegan myself, but I am raising my 16 month old daughter with these values as well. I want the best for her and for her to be a good person and I feel this is the best possible way to keep her healthy and raise her to be a beautiful person who stands up for those who are without a voice.
Posted by: Jessica Hale | October 17, 2009 10:42 PM
I went Vegan about 3 months ago
I had tried to 3 years ago (I was 10) but I wasn't dedicated I knew eating animals was wrong but I didn't know anyone else who thought like me so sadly I was forced to give up my idea:(
Then I thought again
I REsearched (googled)and thats how I got into peta2 and I realized just how wrong eating animals was
I finally decided to quit no matter what my parents, friends thought and IT WAS SOO EASY!!
I couldn't be HAPPIER to leave my antiquated diet and try new and tastier food (& cruelty free products)
I've also turned 4 of my friends Vegetarian and and 1 Vegan!!& convincing a couple more(with peta help of course)!!YAY!!
Posted by: Jocelyne | October 17, 2009 11:13 PM
The main reason i have for being vegetarian is that we are all eqauls on this planet , no where does it say its ok to treat an animal so badly. Im also a chef and through cooking school it made me see what really happens to animal products , i think if people could see the cow on a farm then see it hanging in a fridge the next day then directly on to there plate they might change there minds, if not then they are heartly human beings. I currently work for a catering compainy and im always looking for new tastey veggie ideas to share with my clients.
Posted by: maxine | October 18, 2009 9:45 AM
Havn't made the change but thinking about it...having a book like this would sure help.
Posted by: Jennifer Barr | October 18, 2009 11:25 AM
I think the biggest accomplishment was going Vegan. Understanding that drinking milk or eating cheese kills animals. You think, its a byproduct, noone had to die for that. What gets forgotten is every glass of milk or slice of cheese had a calf associated with it. Was is sent to be veal, live on a calf ranch to be sold later to a feed lot, or a slave to produce more milk?
Posted by: Melissa | October 18, 2009 12:46 PM
I took 'stoner' biology(all but 3 kids in my hour were out of their minds on something)to get out of dissection(it didn't work, I have to take regular biology this year. Oh well, I'll just cause a scene =D it's what I'm good at).
The teacher in stoner biology loved me because, well, I wasn't stoned, so he always gave me fun projects to do so I didn't have to do the crappy stuff like outlines and stuff.
We were learning about skin and the teacher asked me to go to the library and make a powerpoint about how cows and such are broken down in the slaughterhouse. I went to the library and got on the computer. I typed 'butchering' into google and the first thing that came up was how to butcher a human being. I was so messed up after seeing that in my google search. Next I went to wikipedia and use that to get my info. Wikipedia went so much more in depth than anything else I had ever read, the pictures were worse than the ones peta and cok put out. After that I just couldn't do it anymore. So i started making dinner more often and realized I liked to cook and making vegan/vegetarian food is much more excited than normal cooking, I think that helped me stay with it.
Sorry a million and 1 times this is so long -.-;
Posted by: selby | October 18, 2009 12:56 PM
Honestly, Peta, YOU are what made me make the switch to go veg. As a meat eater, i was unaware of the reality of the meat industry. After one day of logging on to Peta2.com, I honestly quit eating meat, cold turkey. (no pun intended :) ) I saw horrifying videos, and read horrible things about what happens to some animals just for me to eat a simple hamburger, or sandwich. After absorbing this information, it was absolutely painless to go veg, and it still is. Every time I even have the slightest urge to eat meat, I think back to the day that I saw those videos, and I remember how I felt. I don't think that anyone could live through those videos and go back to a normal meat-eating life. The first time I signed on to PEta2.com, I took the "pledge to go veg", and I've kept my word to this day. Thank you Peta ! :D
Posted by: Bridget Branning | October 18, 2009 2:01 PM
I went vegan because I got a pet chicken for Easter. Chicken was my fave meat but after watching how intelligent my little friend was and how unique her personality was compared to the one my sister got meat was no longer an option for me. My sis was vegan before that and she helped introduce me to Peta and give me lots of support during the transition. I don't understand why anyone would have ever decided to eat a chicken in the first place.
Posted by: Emily Daniels | October 18, 2009 3:04 PM
my name is mariahjane. And it was the look in a animals eye, there innocence. that made me and inspired me to go veg. Alot of people eat meat, but never face it before it dieds for them, and they do not know what that animal goes through whether it is a painfull death or torcher.And the fact that not eatting meat helps those animals out that is what inspired me to change :D
Posted by: Anonymous | October 18, 2009 3:07 PM
It was at Thanksgiving when I was six years old. I was confused by why what I was eating was called "turkey." I asked if we were eating an actual turkey. Fortunately, my parents didn't lie to me, and I've been a vegetarian ever since. My only regret is not realizing that meat came from animals sooner!
Posted by: Kenna | October 18, 2009 3:09 PM
I became a vegetarian after reading the Vegetarian starter kit from Compassion Over Killing. All of the information was precise and well thought out. The didn't you scare tactics and really made be care. I started to do some research, especially on PETA2.com. It all made so much sense to me that I became a vegetarian.
I volunteer with COK and PETA to this day. :]
Posted by: Rachel | October 18, 2009 6:20 PM
I was inspired to go veg at first to become healthier and cleanse my body of all of the toxic chemicals and growth hormones that animals are injected with. After discovering Peta2 from a facebook ad, however, my reason for deciding to remain a vegetarian changed. I watched many of the videos showing the horrific ways in which these animals are treated in the slaughter houses and breeding centers. I decided right then that eating meat is definitely not a necessary part of my diet. I have never been so sure of anything in my life. I have been a veg going strong for almost 2 years. I am so excited to be living in a healthy and cruelty-free way of life now. Hurray for Vegetarians!!!
Posted by: Rachel Marie | October 18, 2009 7:28 PM
What caused me to become vegan is seeing how the animals are treated in the process of becoming "food." The way they are treated is absolutely disturbing. I'm new to being vegan. It has been four days now since I decided to make the best decision of my life. I have never felt I have done anything of great importance until NOW!!!
Posted by: Marcy M | October 18, 2009 11:07 PM
if i had enough good recipes the family would like, we'd all go vegan
Posted by: christopher h | October 19, 2009 1:15 AM
i went veg be-cuz i saw meet your meat and just couldn't look at meat the same and if i win this
i know i can get my family to think twice about whats right
Posted by: deanna medina | October 19, 2009 4:36 AM
I went vegetarian as a young teenager after realizing that my food had a face. I was vegetarian for many years, but I have been vegan for over a year now and see that as being the most important thing I could have possibly done. Being vegan means that I live in a way that simply makes sense - I feel like veganism is the logical extension of everything else I do in an effort to be a healthy, kind, and thoughtful individual. I can't imagine it any other way!
Posted by: Eve | October 19, 2009 8:31 AM
I became a Vegetarian on Thanksgiving night when I was fourteen years old. I had attempted going vegetarian many times previously, but I never lasted more the a month.
My sisters, cousins and I have a Thanksgiving tradition that we see a movie in theaters, and that year was Happy Feet. In Happy Feet, humans stole the animals fish in large quantities and I was so upset, that right there I took my pledge.
That's right, I became a vegetarian because of a cartoon movie. (well it was finalized by the movie)
=D
Posted by: Nicki Loder | October 19, 2009 10:15 AM
I had been wanting to go veg for quite some time (about 4 years) before i actually did it, the reason being my parents wouldn't allow it. I've always loved animals and hate to see them suffer so, one summer, i went on a canoe trip with some friends one of which was vegetarian the other was trying it out, so i decided to try it too, seeing as there was a 3 year veg there and i could have some form of guidance. I didn't eat dead things for that whole week and decided right then and there that i was never, ever going to eat meat again. I've been vegetarian for 2.5 years now and it's the best thing i could have done, not only for myself, but for others as well. In university, I am following a strict vegetarian diet, slowly yet surely making my way to veganism!
Posted by: Kim Henning | October 19, 2009 10:24 AM
I've been veggie for 29 years & very proud of that fact. I never really liked the taste of meat, but I had to eat what mom made. When I was about 6, I visited Grandma in Florida. She took me fishing...what an eye opener! I watched her put the worm on the hook, rip the fish off the hook, go to the basement to fillet the fish & then cook it. That stuck with me~ when I went home, I didn't want the chicken for dinner. My mom said 'Fine, I didn't have to eat it, but I only get what was on the table to eat'. She wasn't going to fix anything special. She was trying the reverse-psycology thing I think! I haven't eaten meat since! And no, I didn't eat the fish @ my grandma's either!!!
Posted by: Kelly Braun | October 19, 2009 1:13 PM
i went veg this summer (july 26th) and i had met some vegetarians at the fair and talked with them. i then decided to look more into vegetarian lifestyles. i got the peta2 disc that showed how the animals in the meat industry are treated and i cried for days. a few days later while at my grandparents in corydon, IN i saw a truck taking chickens to the tyson plant in corydon. the chickens were featherless and bleeding. it was so sad to see animals treated like that. i knew that i would never be able to eat meat after that. in september i got my mother to become a vegetartian also. it has really changed how look at my life and i'm happier now then i'll ever be.
Posted by: noelle-christine | October 19, 2009 1:22 PM
Well to be honest, I am so tired of waiting for the right time to go veg. You see, I am a full time mom and college student. I always find myself not feeling like I could go veg because of money, and lack of ideas for what to cook. It seems like everything vegan in the store is down right expensive and my family feels as if they could never go a day with out a steak. If I were to win this cook book I know that while it will not solve my problems it will make going veg a little more simpler. I have already commited to going vegan for 30 days and am currently in the 19th day. I am running out of options and not only that, I suck in being creative when preparing food.
Posted by: Melissa Sanders | October 19, 2009 2:24 PM
What inspire me to go vegan was the video "30 reasons why you should become a vegetarian". When you see the video they tell you 30 reasons, but if you really see the video you learn that they are billions of reasons, every animal life is a reason not to eat meat, every child with hunger in this world is a reason to not eat meat, every day the world gets hotter is a reasons to not eat meat, every day someone days from cancer, heart disease, obesity, that is a day to not eat meat. E
For every dissapointment couples anniversary is a day to stop eating meat.
It was clear that I had to go vegan.
Posted by: Annie | October 19, 2009 2:44 PM
I became a vegitarian around five months ago.
I actually have two reasons why I did become vegitarian.
The first, I came across 'Meet your Meat' on youtube. I started cying, it was so horrible.
I was so sickened by it.
And the second, I was at a friends house and her mom raised chickens. She was preparing the meal and when I saw her kill that chicken, I couldn't even stand looking at food.
I finally got my appetite back but I made a promise to myself not to eat meat.
I can't imagine eating it ever again.
And from my experiance so far, I have learned that everyone and everything has feelings and we as humans should respect that. I have convinced three people to become vegs.
This cookbook could help me to start eating healthier, because most of my diet is just processed food.
xP blehck.
So thanks for a chance to win it (:
Posted by: Anonymous | October 19, 2009 3:32 PM
i became a veg because my boyfriend wanted me too, so i did. when he quit i stuck to it and im never ever going back to eating meat again. ive been a veg for 10 months now and so happy i stuck with it! ive got involved in a lot of activites in my school and do as much as i can to help stop animal testing, animal abuse, etc. ive got many people to become veg. thanks peta for always gettin new ideas, you really opened my eyes to everything happening.
Posted by: Rachelle Howard | October 19, 2009 5:01 PM
What inspired me to go veg was the Meet your Meat video. I cried for SO long after that and I was just scarred for life! So I stood my ground and told my parents that I was going veg. Also, I've read a few blogs and stories on goveg.com. So I went veg on Thanksgiving of 2006. (:
Posted by: Abby | October 19, 2009 5:07 PM
I wish that I could say that I became a vegan because I was horrified by the way that animals are treated (and I am), but the truth is that I just don't like the taste of meat or dairy.
Posted by: Alicia Webster | October 19, 2009 7:02 PM
I wanted to become a vegitarian when I was about 6 years old. My mom said I was too young, but a few years later, when i was about 10 or 11 years old me and my older brother made a bet that I couldn't last as a vegitarian. That was almost three years ago now and you can see who won the bet. But even thought it was just a bet, I really did want to be a vegitarian, and ever since then I've learned so much about being a vegitarian and the cruelty that is done to the animals. Luckily, my mom is very understanding and I have a few really good friends who are also vegitarians that understand what I'm talking about. I have also discovered lots of good foods that are very healthy for you and contain no meat at all. A few years ago I had no idea these foods even existed. The vegitarian life style is very different from my old life style, but I like it better and I honselty don't miss meat at all. It affected me even more when I saw pictures and heard descriptions of what people do to these poor animals. I cried when I found out what they really do that not many people know about. I want people to know about these things and I encourage my friends to go vegitarian also. This year is also the first year that we are going to be dissecting frogs in school. I WILL NOT be participating in this. I don't see how cutting up a poor frog will help us learn. We can learn the same thing from a picture on the internet or in our science books. Dissections are a pointless act of cruelty that should be cancelled in every school everywhere. Becoming a vegitarian has changed me for the better and has made me so happy. I love it when another friend of mine has decided to go vegitarian. I love being a vegitarian and I don't see myself eating meat for a really, really long time. This is the best life style choice I have ever made.
Posted by: Makenna | October 19, 2009 9:13 PM
I have been wanting to be vegetarian for the longest time and just recently i started giving up different meats. I have been trying to find new recepies and I just made a vegetable lazignia and it was amazing. I think that getting a vegan cookbook will help me out a lot to become a vegetarian. There are so many tastes and spices that vegetarians have that can make any meal taste amazing. I have also wanted a vegan cookbook forever so it would really help me out if I had this cookbook.
Posted by: brenna | October 19, 2009 10:12 PM
I have been veg for about a month.. Its not as long as the others. It makes me sad I went so long living as nieve as I was. My brother has chickens in his back yard I asked him what was going to happen to them one day he said he had to "sell" them..It crushed me.. i guess i never really thought about it before.It wasnt on purpose. But how could someone treat another living thing like that? Its difficult especially persuading my dad thats it not a phase. But living were I am I need some kind of help or advice on how to go from here
Posted by: Anonymous | October 19, 2009 11:43 PM
I went vegan for multiple reasons. What made me aware to the lifestyle was my friend and, then, co-worker Amber. We worked at Starbucks, and I noticed that she only ever drank the iced teas and coffees. Then I seen she had the "certified vegan" symbol tattooed on her arm. We discussed animal cruelty quite a lot. That night, I went home and did research until 4 in the morning on animal cruelty. Like many people, I had always loved animals. I wanted a pet baby pig when I was 6, and was absolutely devastated when someone promised to give us one and never did. I'd never really thought of any animals being any better (I didn't think it was right for dogs and cats to be loved more.) but at the same time, I never thought about what I was putting in my mouth when I ate meat.
I went vegan just before Thanksgiving of 2008. I was raised in a family of carnivorous farmers who don't understand and are the exact opposite of supportive.
I transitioned for animal rights, but since have learned of all the other benefits that go along with a vegan diet. So far, going vegan has been the best decision I've ever made, and it will continue to be until I fully transition of raw-vegan and manage to live completely green and eco-friendly.
I've also talked my mom into letting me develop her a vegan meal-plan for a couple weeks. She's only doing it for health benefits, but at least it's still less support for the factory farm industry!
Posted by: Anonymous | October 20, 2009 12:33 AM
From when i was littel i new eating meat was wrong sumthin in me felt it .................... i had told my parents about how i felt about meat...but they said i was to young to make that desicion(i was 8)yet i felt old enough so i decided to make a stand i refussed to eat my dinner till they took me seriously ......now 10 years on my mam and dad dont think twice about tellin me not to be a veg cos it just leads to fights ...............MEAT IS MURDER .....
Posted by: Anonymous | October 20, 2009 10:18 AM
I became a vegetarian when I was only 8 or 9 years old and the predominant reason for this was because I really hated the taste of meat. I was only eating chicken before that. Of course, it was the compassion for animals that saved me in the end from a life of bad health and guilt. I quit eating meat after I realised that that chicken had once been a live and living a happy life. As the years went on I came to realise the full extent of this horror and now I am fully repulsed by the stuff - I walk past butchers' holding my breath it sickens me so much!! Now, at age 15 shortly to be 16 I am strongly considering becoming a vegan to save the rest of the animals that are so fouly treated. I guess it was finding out about how milk is produced that really put me off dairy. :)
Posted by: Anonymous | October 20, 2009 1:09 PM
I've always been curious how it would be like to be a vegatarian, but I never really tried it until I met someone who was. She suddenly then told me that she felt refreshed everyday and energized and clean, so I thought, "Oh, I should give it try after all". So I did, and honestly, I didn't go well at all. I had this urge then to really try it out because I was a bit sick of feeling heavy and dirty after i ate meat. One day, I was on Never Shout Never's myspace, maybe On Christopher Drew's (either one), and I scrolled down to see that there was a video. On the top, it had said, "Vegetarianism. Give it a try?" I clicked on the video, which was called "Meet Your Meat" or something very similiar to that title, and I started balling in about a minuted in the video. I stopped right it start going to the pigs so I told myself,"That's it, I am not going to any sort of meat". Ever since then, which was in Feb of this year, I had not eaten meat nor have even been tempted. I began to spread the word and dedicate my free time to find ways to save animals. My friend was right, being a vegatarian makes me feel refreshed, clean, happy, and I just feel so great. I don't want to be the person I was; a meat-eater.
Posted by: Lanna | October 20, 2009 3:10 PM
In October of 2005, I saw lots of chickens and cows huddled up together looking all sad and lonely at the county fair and when i got home thats when I decided I didn't want to eat any kind of flesh anymore. Now that I look back at that year I also remember watching "Thats So Raven"(haha i was only ten or so back then) and Ravens friend Chelsea was a vegetarian. Who knew a Disney Channels show could influence me like that!
Posted by: olivia | October 20, 2009 7:40 PM
Last year I had chemisty in school. My chemisty teacher also taught a night class. In his night class they were incubating chicken eggs. Well one day I walked into class and one of them was hatching. My teacher came over and helped the chick get all the way out. As soon as I saw him I fell in love. He was gray and black. He had a gray afro. He was paralyzed from the tail feathers down. I knew that with his legs he wouldn't live long unless there was someone to take really good care of him. I ended up taking him home. I actually had to sneak him home because my mom said no. Once I got him home I decided to name him Jackie Moon. The reason I named him that was because of the movie Semi Pro. Will Ferrel plays Jackie Moon and Jackie has a big afro with a headband through it. The baby chick had a Gray afro with what looked like a black headband through it. That is how he got his name. Well a couple days after I got him I went to Huddle House and was going to get a chicken sandwich. When I looked at the menu and saw the chicken melt all I could think about was my little Jackie Moon sitting at home. I was thinking this could be his uncle or his dad. From that day on I vowed I would never eat another chicken. From then I decided to cut out the rest of the animals from my food groups. My mom eventually found Jackie Moon and told me I had to him back. We fought and long story short I got to keep him. That is the story of how I turned veg.
Posted by: Asheley | October 20, 2009 8:36 PM
I have been veg for a year and a half and, honestly, it has been the best year and a half of my life. The main inspiration for me to become veg was the simple fact that God's creatures are suffering to make it to our plates. Whats wrong with this picture? I'll tell you. Animals are not ours to eat, wear or experiment on. And I'm extremely happy that I'm making a difference for them. I love my veg life and would never go back. Living the green life : )
Posted by: Anonymous | October 20, 2009 11:27 PM
I never realized the suffering animals went through in Factory farms until i watched a peta video of pigs being slammed into the ground, chickens getting their beaks cut off and cows getting their throats slit. I took the 30 day veg pledge and realized i would be selfish to eat meat again. Since then, i have convinced 3 people to go vegetarian! I used to think it was hard to make a difference in the world, now i know just changing my diet can make all the difference.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 21, 2009 12:35 AM
Eating animals never felt right. I always felt bad that I was taking life in order to live life. But I was sadly unable to stop it! At least I thought I was. Then I got sick from eating undercooked chicken, and I decided that was the chicken's way of telling me to stop eating him and his friends.
Btw, next month is my two year veggiversary, so winning this would be great. I am finally getting my family to eat less meat, so 75 recipes would be an excellent help.
Posted by: Josh | October 21, 2009 12:42 AM
It was very natural for me i think. At the age of ~15 I started to live by my own, and realised that I can eat what I want. And in fact - I liked veggy stuff more. So I started to eat what I like, discovering that I am vegetarian.
Lately I had a conversation with my mom, and she told me that she was not able to eat anything meaty while she was pregnant. And then we matched what she ate during pregnancy. Not a surprise - it is absolutely what I like now, and what I eat.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 21, 2009 3:17 AM
I got inspired to go first vegetarian and then vegan because of two bands and their ethical arguments. The first one was AFI and the second one was Anti-Flag. I would like to say I came to it on my own, but to tell the truth I owe it all to my favorite bands, at various times. But now I'm an ambassador for the animals, so it's all good!
Posted by: Amanda | October 21, 2009 4:14 PM
I have been a vegetarian since October 1, 2009. I am half way to vegan and feel ready to take the full jump now. I was inspired to change because of the Land O' Lakes video on their treatment of cows. A Facebook friend had posted this video and I watched out of curiosity. I was so disgusted and outraged I went further and ended up on the Peta2 website. After reading thru the various information, I decided to make the change. It was surprisingly easy to do and I already feel lighter and healthier. I am proud to say I have become a happy vegetarian for life!
Posted by: Crystal Reyes | October 21, 2009 4:48 PM
when i was only 8 years old we were at a restaurant out to eat (my family and I) and there was alot of animals all over, it was hunting theamed restaurant. The animal that was about my table was a chicken, and i told my dad it was really cute and he said "you know that's what your eatting right now, right?". i was so upset that i spit it out and haven't eatten meat since. I was a vegetarian till i was around 13, and have been vegan ever since, and i'm almost 18 now.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 21, 2009 8:04 PM
I went veg because my wonderful mother raised me right. She went veg after reading a PETA magazine 25 years ago and hasn't looked back. Going veg has changed hers and my life in so many ways. I thank my mother everyday for raising me as a vegetarian; it is the greatest gift for me, for the animals, and for the environment.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 21, 2009 9:29 PM
When I was 12, my friend told me her grandmother was visiting from China, and she had made turtle soup. I asked my dad later that day if turtle soup was really made out of turtles, and he said it was.
I had a pet turtle at the time. I never ate meat again.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 22, 2009 12:16 AM
Well..
My mom tells me that when I was younger (about 5 years old) my grandma would tell me what I was eating. Like if I was eating a bologna sandwich she would tell me what it actually was. So, I wouldn't eat whatever it was that she talked about, like bologna, hot dogs, and a few other foods. I still ate some meat becuase I didn't know what it was until middle school. I met another girl named Amanda:D..and she was a vegetarian. We were supposed to go on a field trip to some colleges and we were in a group together. We were at our last college and when we walk in they had these displays of dead animals everywhere! She started crying so I took her downstairs. They had more animals down there but they were alive. That is when I actually found out she was vegetarian and seeing all of the animals and the way she reacted made me feel bad. When we got back to school, she got on her laptop and showed me some peta videos. I felt so sick after watching it I started crying. She was crying too and I told her I was going to become vegetarian. That was 6 or 7 years ago and we are both still friends and both still vegetarian! I am also starting college next year to be a vet:D(I have always wanted to be a vet since I was little!!) My boyfriend of 3 years is also vegetarian.
I get picked on sometimes by family and friends but I just think of the things they are saying to me and laugh because none of what they are saying is true. Like my aunt told me that being vegetarian and vegan messes up your brain or something and later on in life you won't be as smart as you were before! I actually was focusing more in school and I got much better grades than i had before!:D
Thanx to Amanda and Peta!
Posted by: Amanda | October 22, 2009 12:23 AM
I have always been a really picky eater and never really liked the taste of meat that much. When I was little my favorite animal was a pig. My aunt and uncle are farmers and used to own pigs. I always loved to go visit their cows and pigs. My cousin and I would name them but I soon found out these cows and pigs were now our pets but were our food. I think that is when I really decided not to eat these animals. This was when I was in fourth grade I believe. SO very quickly after that experience I was a pescatarian. I now no longer eat turkey or chicken either. I feel so much better about myself and about the earth because I do not eat animals. I have a hard time getting enough protein for my body because of this and my parents beg me to eat meat and I refuse so I think this cookbook would come in handy for me to give me more ideas of protein and it would help me show my parents that I am able to still eat alright while not eating animals.
Posted by: Megan | October 22, 2009 2:29 AM
I'm veg because I've always hated the way animals are treated in order to produce meat/dairy products.
I can't eat them without thinking about all the torture and suffering cows, chicken, pigs go through just to produce a burger sold for $3.00 - An animals life is far more important than a $3.00 profit.
If humans we're killed in the same way it'd be by far an inhumane act, We're all animals - Why is this still accepted in today's society?
I also love the health benefit of being a veg. Living without all the chemicals and additives they put in animals is great.
I love that you have the ability to explore new flavors, Try different meat alternatives, new ideas for meals are endless!
I'm always in the kitchen cooking for myself and my family/friends, Exploring different possibilities for meals and I think having this cook book would be a wonderful addition to help me along!
Posted by: Amy Jones | October 22, 2009 4:43 AM
Becoming Vegan had a lot to do with the Earthlings Documentary , and this is by far the best quote.
We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals... We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far beneath ourselves. And therein we err, we greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complex than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth."
-Henry Beston (quote featured in Earthlings)
Posted by: Megan Coull | October 22, 2009 9:15 AM
I have been vegetarian for almost three years now, and I love it! I went veg after watching "propaghandi, the goriest video ever" I was actually watching it right before a huge fiesta supper of chicken enchiladas. Right that moment I lost my appetite and started looking into veganism and vegetarianism. I was 13 and I haven't regretted a moment of it! I actually just started a SETA group in my school trying to spread the good word of saving animals from cruel, harsh deaths.
Megan Williamson
Posted by: Anonymous | October 22, 2009 11:34 AM
i have not gone veg yet, what its going to take is me seeing that it really is possible to eat delicious food and not feel deprived.. i've heard that its possible, but no one has ever been able to show me how its really feasible
Posted by: Ashley | October 22, 2009 12:07 PM
i decided to go vegetarian against my families wishes becuase i went to my friends farm. While i was there we milked cows and brought in the chicken eggs, and i was okay with that, becuase they don't treat their animals unkindly. none of those horrible milk machines for them, it's all done by hand.
but, i got to help birth a baby cow...then they explained what veal was. i gagged, adn i couldn't eat the steak they placed on my plate. At first, i felt bad for refusing to eat food that someone had spent their time cooking for me, but when i explained myself, they assured me they understood. My family wasn't very thrilled, and they have sabotaged my on more than one occasion, cookin gmy favorite foods from before my epiphany, bu ti always wind up feeling guilty for the animal that died only to find it's place on my plate at supper time. Then i go back. I'm determined to stay vegetarian, and i even tried out veganism for a while. now i am a vegetarian who also doesn't drink milk. a semi-vegan, i you will:)
Posted by: Angelique Gorniak | October 22, 2009 2:10 PM
Myrna said that she does not eat anything with a face!
Posted by: Ed Nemmers | October 22, 2009 6:52 PM
My sister became a vegetarian after going to college, and I always wanted to follow in her footsteps. Unfortunately, I'm still in High School, and trying to get my parents to accept my switch is going to be difficult. They didn't really accept my sisters choice at first, and she doesn't even live here anymore! They're very big meat eaters and have decided that ignorance is the best decision. I try every day to tell them a new way in which making the switch would improve their lives, and the lives of our family. I try to make vegan meals when I can, so they can taste just how amazing they really are.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 22, 2009 7:00 PM
Diet for a New America made me go vegetarian...quickly... But, then I realized not only was I not performing a senseless act anymore, but I looked and felt different...and better!!!
Posted by: Anonymous | October 22, 2009 7:12 PM
I have become a vegiterrian because why kill those innocent animals !?
I always see those commercials on TV that have to do with
animal abuse and it makes me cry. Every time I see them I rce to my dog and hold her. I think
to myself why would I eantto kill such a life? So then I started volunteering at a frm to help save animals - but the
animals still got sent
to slaughter house and I would always be afraid that I was eating
one of our cows because we named them an they all had stories so finally - on may 15, 2009 I decided to not kill animals anymore ! It's not my life to take. However my parents are carnivorious ! they eat steak evry night - I'm the only one who doesn't and it's hrs to fidn good recipiea but this would help a bunch. I have turned three friends veggie ! :) SAVE THE ANIMLS !
- Christian
* if my stuping is off it's bc I'm using
my iPhone and it's hard to type !
Posted by: Anonymous | October 22, 2009 10:06 PM
I started becoming a vegan when i went out with my grandfather hunting, after seeing him kill a deer i could not stand to eat anything that that lived and was free
Posted by: Daniel Bates | October 23, 2009 12:56 AM
I have been a vegetarian for 6 years now, and I would like to become vegan. The decision to become vegetarian for me was simple and the best decision I have ever made. Before I was a vegetarian I just ate what the rest of my family was eating, but when I became a vegetarian I proved to everyone that it is a simple lifestyle change that anyone can accomplish and I now cook for myself everyday and even encouraged other family members and friends to follow the path I was taking. To me, just thinking about the way animals are treated is very disturbing. I have a dog and he is one of the most important beings in my life, and thinking of anyone harming him would just be devastating. When you think about it that way, whether it be a family member, pet, or any living thing, it is just not right. Food is something to keep you healthy and alive, and eating anything with a face or heartbeat is not necessary. It goes in one place in your body and out again, so why take away a precious life for something so disposable? Over the years that I have been vegetarian, I have learned that there are many different options for food to keep you healthy and satisfied and I will be a vegetarian for as long as I live. I hope that people who haven't become a vegetarian or vegan will be inspired when they read these because animals are precious and everyone and thing in the world should be equal.
Posted by: Kristin Gardner | October 23, 2009 1:07 AM
I didn't even know anything about the terrible things that they do to animals until senior year when I had to do my senior project. I look up a whole bunch of different topics and the one that caught my eye was animal cruelty. I learned so much. I got a great grade on my 10 page paper which made my teacher cry. She is now a vegetarian to this day. I am happy that I know a lot more about how terribly people can be.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 23, 2009 1:19 AM
I used to think that I could never go without eating meat. Then I went on a diet that took all the animal proteins out of my daily diet. I felt healthier, and by the time the diet was done I had gone 3 months without eating meat! Figured i would just keep going from there!
Posted by: Kimberly Murat | October 23, 2009 2:30 AM
I'm choosing to go vegan because I'm making a conscientious decision to stand up for those who don't have a voice, and to adopt a healthier lifestyle by choosing what I eat. The recipes look mucho deliciouso too! :)
Posted by: Lily H | October 23, 2009 2:50 AM
I'm a vegetarian, but I want to go vegan because I don't believe in causing any conscious and unnecessary harm to any being, human or non-human.
Posted by: Anne Cathrine Dalgaard | October 23, 2009 3:51 AM
realizing that I have the ability to make a difference in this world by what I eat is so empowering. Learning about the daily routine of slaughterhouses made me sick, thinking of all the wrongdoing that goes on there. I love animals and I'm not a murderer!
Posted by: adrienne g | October 23, 2009 8:18 AM
Learning about the inhumane acts on animals and minority workers of slauterhouses brought awareness that supporting the killing of animals is NOT what is in the best of interest. I am smarter than that, and no living being deserves to die for the 'benefit' of others.
Posted by: adrienne G | October 23, 2009 8:21 AM
I saw this book and cook on oprah yesterday and it sounds like a healthy option:)
Posted by: Janet | October 23, 2009 8:57 AM
i went veg to lose weight
Posted by: susan smoaks | October 23, 2009 9:09 AM
I think what made me go veg was PeTA. But the biggest factor in me going veg was the fact that everytime I use to have a burger or something, that I saw the animals face in the meat. I had to fight with my parents but they came around. So I've been veg for about four years now. And slowly going vegan. A little bit everyday.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 23, 2009 9:42 AM
What inspired me to go vegan is my doctor. He said changing my diet would drastically improve my health
Posted by: R Hicks | October 23, 2009 11:00 AM
We were on vacation and at a Perkins and I realized I did not want (or could eat) anything on the menu, and when I thought about it, I hadn't eaten meat in about 9 months, that's when I realized that I wanted to be a vegetarian. (I was 14)
Posted by: Angela Winesburg | October 23, 2009 2:58 PM
For me, it would take a better income. I don't have a lot of control over what I eat right now. Of course I would love to eat organic, vegan meals everyday but right now I've just been accepting whatever food people give to me.
Posted by: WENDY HORN | October 23, 2009 3:18 PM
I went veg because I've always been compassionate toward animals, but the main thing was when I signed up for Peta & I found out about all of the horrifying things that they do to animals. Keeping them alive and torturing them for meat.. so repulsive. You guys did an amazing thing for the turkeys which really opened my eyes and that's what made me become a vegan. How butterball was keeping them alive, and slitting their throats while alive, kicking them, throwing them..doing horrible things & after I read about that on your website, I printed it out and showed everybody in my family & me, my sister and her fiance never ate meat again. I really do thank you all because you really did open my eyes & I'm SO much happier now that I'm a vegan & that i'm taking part in helping the animals!
Posted by: Anonymous | October 23, 2009 5:20 PM
Im 16. I went veg when i was 14 because I thought about the things i was eating, I thought not only is it unhealthy but it's unfair to these poor animals, and how they must have gotten treated to be on this plate in front of me. I always said I care for animals with everything i have since i could remember but i wasn't showing it. So I decided to do something about it. But I wasn't totally sure because i thought veggies only ate salads and fruits, until I found Peta2!!(: I learned all about vegetarians and vegans.
So thanks a lot for helping me peta2, I really appreciate it.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 23, 2009 9:27 PM
For me it's going to take more availability to non-animal protein substitutes.
Posted by: Sand | October 23, 2009 9:44 PM
I was 13 when i wanted to become vegan and I'll turn 17 in two weeks. That's a 4 year difference. Point is that I FINALLY decided to go vegetarian and go all out! I watched the peta videos and i BAWLED!! I couldnt sleep, i would close my eyes and for that brief moment the images rushed my mind. I do NOT want to support meat anymore and even as i write, the pain in their eyes is unforgettable. I would like the cook book not only to become healthier, but to make a difference. The smallest bits count, that's what i believe and sticking to :D
Posted by: Anonymous | October 24, 2009 1:51 AM
I am considering it. I don't eat alot of meat.
Posted by: Donna K | October 24, 2009 2:54 AM
Many things have ome together for me recently regarding my going vegetarian. All my life i've been a picky eater, mainly with meats. Pork always made me feel sick to my stomach, but overall I was constantly wondering what I was eating, and why. I never felt completely okay with the fact that I was potentially swallowing my friends on the farm down the street. I had been trying to push my way past my parents into being vegetarian, but being so young, my opinions raely stood out enough to make a difference in even menial things, such as dinner for the night. But this past summer, I went to Vans Warped Tour in Cincinatti Ohio, and stumbled across the Peta 2 tent. I was handed a disk, and asked for my email. I went home and watched the video. I got sick. I cried. I got sick again. And that was that. I was done with meat. & I can't explain how strongly I feel about this, even though my parents don't support it. They buy me meatless foods only because they have to(I won't eat if they don't). I feel so much better about what I eat now, and I continue to inform people about what goes into their mouths.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 25, 2009 5:02 PM
Honestly, I was dating a girl who was vegetarian and I didn't want to make her compromise her values. The vegetarianism lasted a little bit longer than the relationship though as I've since found some other reasons to maintain it.
Posted by: Keegan Allen | October 27, 2009 3:19 PM
Posted by: Annchen | October 17, 2009 7:27 PM
i went veg in early in grade 7. i went to my best-friends birthday and we watched a horror movie,texas chainsaw massacre, ugghh.. it wasnt the people that got murdered that bugged me becuase i knew it was fake but in the beggining when it starts in the slaughter house..i just couldnt stomach it and was horrified and the movie had barely begun.. ive been veg since and now in grade 11.
i had been veg before but my parents wouldnt allow it so i put my foot down at that and REFUSED to eat it lots of nights i was stuck by the dinner table they finnally gave up!
GOING STRONG AND FEELING GREAT!\
FIGHT FOR IT FIGHT FOR THEM!
Posted by: Anonymous | October 17, 2009 7:36 PM
at my best friends birthday party we were watching a horror movie, texas chainsaw massacre,ugh.. i was so disturbed by it..not rele the fact about the people becase i knew it was fake, but the slaughter house....ugh.. i knew that was relistic..in a way..
rele u can compare how it was for the humans to die..it was the same way an animal would..its sick all that pain that is inflicted and one only has to put the peices together.
i had tried to be a veg before this but my parents would not allow it. but i couldnt stand it at this point so i REFUSED to eat it and after about a week of being stuck at the dinner table i won the fight and im still going strong! its been 5 years now and will keep going !
fight for what they cant!
Posted by: ainsley albert | October 17, 2009 7:45 PM
i am currently a vegatarian, working on becomeing a vegan. i plan on going vegan november 1st as it is national vegan day.i never really ate meat products when i was growing up i would have the ocasional hotdog or chicken fingers but thats about it. but 3 years ago i mad the choice to become a vegatartian bc animals have beating heart and feelings and can experience pain like us human beings do, the only difference is that unlike animals we can express our feelings and pain. and i feel much better knowning that when i eat something i know that it was not killed,toutured, or had a face before.
annchen....didnt write it i did ainsley albert...
somehow must have got messed up this one is mine..
i went veg in early in grade 7. i went to my best-friends birthday and we watched a horror movie,texas chainsaw massacre, ugghh.. it wasnt the people that got murdered that bugged me becuase i knew it was fake but in the beggining when it starts in the slaughter house..i just couldnt stomach it and was horrified and the movie had barely begun.. ive been veg since and now in grade 11.
i had been veg before but my parents wouldnt allow it so i put my foot down at that and REFUSED to eat it lots of nights i was stuck by the dinner table they finnally gave up!
GOING STRONG AND FEELING GREAT!\
FIGHT FOR IT FIGHT FOR THEM!
Posted by: Anonymous | October 27, 2009 7:46 PM
When I was a teenager, the thought of eating meat made my stomach turn. I went Vegetarian. By the time I was 30 I had gone back and forth several times between Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian. After living in Hawaii for a few years and seeing the true beauty of the land (I'm originally from Los Angeles - concrete jungle itself) -- I wanted to do my part to help save the environment. In beautiful Kauai - there were places that looked like man had never even been to - but just a couple miles away are horrible land fills. I really started to learn more about how to save our planet. The more I learned, the more I found it was NOT just the land fills - it was the meat industry and all the main stream enormous corporations who's bottom line is revenue. I now go out of my way to purchase from companies that recycle and use organic/natural ingredients and products.
In addition to this - after having a baby, I want to lead by example -- showing her how to live a healthy lifestyle. One that promotes well being on all levels. I also feel the more natural foods one eats, will exude youthfulness, energy, health and happiness.
That is how I became Vegan.
-Jenna Harper
Venice, California
Posted by: Anonymous | October 29, 2009 4:37 PM
For years I have wanted to get a vegan or veg cook book...since i LOVe to cook food and experiment with it i go to a cookbood...but most cookbooks contain dishes with meat in it. I dont even enjoy looking at a recipe and thinking about tha poor piggy (or chiken or cow :( ) just makes me shiver and want to burn that cookbook. So i wish i caould win this and get a normal veg cookbook (I'm veg...but i always wanted to try vegan food too!!! :)
Posted by: Diana Voronina | November 9, 2009 7:29 PM
I want to be a Veg,but desperately need someone to show me how. I'm hoping this cookbook can do it!
Posted by: Jessica | November 11, 2009 2:14 PM