How I did it: As I've grown as a vegan and become more aware of and active in the vegan community, I've completely done a 180. When I first went vegan, it was because of factory farm conditions, so I thought that when I returned to my home in Sweden, I'd be eating the meat my grandfather hunted, et cetera. I've come to equate a non-human animal with a human animal. I believe firmly that their lives are equal. Animals do not exist to benefit humans. They are not our slaves. This is speciesism, and this is terrible, and this must end. I now understand that I truly love animals, unlike before, and I am proud to call myself an abolitionist.

I didn't even realize there was a health factor until after I went vegan. As I was reading about veganism, I kept stumbling across all of these articles and statistics about how fucking terrible meat is for you. I mean, everyone knows that too much red meat is bad for you, but this shit causes cancer? And worse? I had no idea. And milk is basically fatty and pussy (as in filled with pus) and gross and also terrible for you. And eggs? Fucking cholesterol everywhere.

I last learned about the environmental factor. Get this: the animal agriculture industry produces more greenhouse gases than all of the automobiles and trucks in the world. I mean, that's insane! Unbelievable amounts of pollution are coming out of this corrupt shitty business.

Lessons & tips: Bottom line: people are assholes. That's the worst part, dealing with people. Join a vegan online or local community for support, and if you ever feel your convictions wavering, turn to them for help! Or, do as I do: watch "Earthlings" or "Meet Your Meat" to graphically remind yourself of what you're preventing.

Resources: BLOGS/COMMUNITIES
http://www.almostvegan.com/
http://www.vegblog.org/
http://thislittlepiggyhadtofu.blogspot.com/
http://veganfaq.blogspot.com/ (this is one of my favourites)
http://veganfashionblog.com/
http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/
http://blog.veganfreak.com/ (they have an awesome podcast)
http://veganbits.com/
http://tastebetter.com/
http://vegpeople.com/cgi-bin/gossamer/gforum.cgi(my favourite forum--my name there is shortforcecilia)

RECIPES
http://www.cok.net/lit/recipes/
http://www.fatfreevegan.com/
http://www.simple-vegetarian-recipes.com/index.html
http://theppk.com/ (I adore PPK)
http://www.vegancupcakerecipes.com/
http://www.vegcooking.com/
http://www.veggiemealplans.com/

OTHER
http://www.cok.net/ (fuck PETA, I love COK)
http://www.futurefood.org/tofu/index_en.php
http://www.goveg.com/ (although this is sponsored by PETA, it is THE best online resource for incoming veg*ns)
http://www.isitvegan.info/
http://peacefulprairie.org/index.html
http://www.tryveg.com/cfi/toc/ (the COK version of PETA\'s GoVeg campaign--it\'s much more graphic, and much better at converting omnis)

MUST-READS
"Vegan With A Vengeance" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (I have this!)
"Becoming Vegan" by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina (I have this, too!)
"Skinny Bitch" by Kim Barnouin and Rory Freedman (I have this, too!)

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Jul 03, 2009, 01:15PM PDT | 1 comment | 2 cheers