Veganism Saves Human Lives.

Have you heard mention of going how going vegan not only saves the lives of ythe animals that you chose not to eat (and you!) but those of starving children in developing countries as well? Are you intrigued by the idea, but don't really understand how it works?

Somebody asked me to explain this to them the other night, and I realized that there are probably more people out there who don't quite understand how exactly this plays out, so I wanted to share a simple version of the process, as I understand it, today.

See, the thing is, 150 tons of cereal grains and edible legumes fit for human consumption, fed to livestock results in less than 30 tons of meat. Obviously, we would be able to feed far more people if we fed the grains straight to people,rather than having them go through livestock.

In addition, many big companies exploit undeveloped countries such as Africa and Central American countries, by utilizing arable land there, to grow grain for livestock, which is then fed to Americans/developed countries. This, thereby, obviously creates a food deficit in Africa and the other less developed countries, as the grains that they could be eating are being used to feed cattle in America instead.

Thereby, eating meat supports the exploition and starvation caused by the meat industry in third world countries.

The Wolves & The Deer..

As hunting season draws near, I am subjected to enduring the regular discussions of all the rednecks I share my high school with, as they all eagerly anticipate the return of their favorite activity....being all manly, sitting in a tree, shooting deer with big antlers to hang on their wall.

One of these such individuals favorite reasons to give for why they hunt, is because they need to control the deer population, otherwise the deer would starve in the winter. And this is true. But I wonder whether any of them ever actually bothered to stop and wonder why we have to control the deer population? Doesn't it seem odd that every other species has a perfect natural system of checks and balances, but the deer don't?

Well, if you think about it, it's not hard to know why. It's because we've hunted the natural predator of the deer - wolves - to near extinction. And it's still legal to hunt wolves, with a permit. Why?!

It can't be because wolves logically pose a threat to human lives - significantly more people are attacked by dogs than by wolves each year. So the only possible excuse for killing wolves, must be that they kill and/or eat farmers' livestock.

So, I realized that I had just come upon yet another problem that a global switch to veganism would solve! We would finally be able to stop killing wolves, and in turn, we would no longer have to kill deer either! The ecosystem would finally be able to return to its own natural balance!

There are just so many reasons to give up meat. So. Many. Reasons. Come on already, jump on the wagon, join the vegan party and save lives, the environment, the ecosystem, the rainforest, and your health!

Peace!

Healthy Appetite Again!

So I have a story to share, I haven't talked about this much before.

Like most girls of my generation, I once upon a time had an eating disorder. I actually don't know when it started for me. I faintly remember worrying that I was too fat before I was even in school. I think maybe it stemmed from the fact that Daddy spoke badly of fat people on occasion... People would always tell me I was skinny/tiny, even when I was little, but for whatever reason, I didn't believe them. Anyhow, psychoanalyzing that is a job for someone like Sigmund Freud, not a 16 year old who's been in her first psychology class for about 20 days. 'Cause I'm just guessin'. Aha.

Anyhow, I remember being like 10 years old, and I would eat more than I needed. I wouldn't really be hungry - I just loved the taste of bagels and Ritz crackers!

In 5th grade, I visited France on foreign exchange; I was there for about 3 weeks, and spent  the last half frightened that I had gained weight eating all of this rich, probably unhealthy, french food. And I didn't have a scale to make sure I hadn't gotten fat! Not kidding. 5th grade.

In 6th, I went on my first diet.

In 7th was when the eating disorder started, officially, I think. I started eating like 200calories per day, pro-ana sites, the works.

In 8th grade, I started going through binge-starve phases. At times I would decide I wanted to get better, but at the time I didn't really know how to do it, and I was still super afraid of gaining weight... So even though I tried not to care and just "listen to my body", it had me eating crazy amounts of food (to make up for starving at other times), I puffed up to my highest weight of 114. (It doesn't sound that bad...for whatever reason, I'm lucky enough my weight actually has never fluctuated horribly.)

Around 9th grade, bulimia started as well.

Throughout all this, I was slowly working my way through veganism, gourmet raw veganism, and fruitarianism.

Recently, I came to a place where I really feel like I understand food and what I'm eating. I understand what my body needs, and no longer feel like its a fight.

I've been raw for almost two years now, and I finally feel like my appetite has returned to normal. Like, normal normal healthy healthy. I eat when I'm hungry, and I don't eat when I'm not. The food I'm eating feels good in my body, and I don't regret what I'm eating.

I feel like I've reached equilibrium. I think a lot of this long-sought-after peace is thanks to my raw vegan fruitarian diet, and I feel so lucky that I found the diet and had the strength and resolve to stick with it this long.

I can't explain exactly what the diet has done for me, I don't think someone who hasn't experienced it could understand. But I feel more confident, I feel more mature, I feel more empathetic, I feel more in tune with my body, I am able to feel emotions more purely and strongly, I feel capable of truly loving, I feel more positive, I feel more at peace, I feel stronger, I feel more independent, I feel better.

And I can't imagine why anybody wouldn't want to live this way. And lucky you, now that you've heard about LFRV, you have the opportunity to make it yours, too.

Annoying, Negative Vegans!?

We don't want to scare people into veganism, and we don't want people to become vegan out of guilt!

There are so many wonderful, positive reasons to go vegan - do it because something amazing will happen when you do; not because something bad will happen if you don't.

Reasons

Recently I've been wishing my friends and family could experience this reality, being fruitarian.. And I've been thinking about the reasons I became fruitarian.. So I thought I'd eternalize them here.

• I never get sick.
• Don't have to worry about getting fat from the food I am eating
• Its freely given. No negative karma. It doesn't subconsciously weigh down on my conscience
• It's easy - no complicated recipes. (:
• It's delicious.
• My parents never make me eat things that I don't want to anymore, just because 'it's what we're having tonight'
• Don't have to worry about food addiction or anything
• Don't have to worry about what's in it.
• Feel light and energized after eating, rather than weighed down and tired.
• I just couldn't live with myself, knowing I was killing things to nourish myself..
• It makes me feel more empathetic, I think - more in tune with other living things around me.
• It's controversial. It's fun to discuss with people, because it's something a lot have barely heard of or considered before.
• Fruits are naturally detoxifying - don't have to worry about having loads toxins and stuff in my body
• I..feel..just amazing. No negative adrenaline and fear hormones from meat, no heavy vegetables like carrots or tubers weighing me down.. I can't describe it to someone who's never tried it.
• No guilt after eating
• It is our ideal diet. We are all genetically frugivores. Therefore, we are at our best on fruit.

I'm sure there is more, but these are the things that come to mind right now. The biggest reason, is of course the ethical reason, that fruit is freely given, I don't have to kill to eat. The rest are really just extra perks... But there are so many of them, there's no end to reasons to eat fruit.