Human, animal co-dependence inspires editor to change diet

Graphic by Alex Miles • Special to The JohnsonianI stopped being a vegan.

The decision was not easy. I once argued in favor of veganism for quite some time.

My switch to the vegetarian lifestyle started after the realization that the human race has domesticated farm animals to the point of mutual dependency.

They need us, and we definitely need them.

Sheep need us to shave their wool, or else it continues to grow to a point where the animals are simply rolling balls of screaming fluff. We couldn’t release them into the wild. Sheep are just one example.

I realized after a trip to a goat farm that taking care of beautiful animals, drinking their milk or eating their cheese is no more of a crime than nursing from one’s mother during infancy.
There were tears in my eyes at the end of that day.

Baby formula be damned!

I still cannot see myself able to justify killing animals for food in our current industrial infrastructure. Not only are hundreds of acres of forest cut down to allow them to graze, but raising them in the condition in which commercial beef is kept can only be described as evil.

I believe in the late philosopher Jeremy Bentham, who said animal suffering is just as evil as human suffering.

Don’t eat meat.

I don’t condemn “hardcore” vegans now. I still think veganism is a perfectly healthy and normal dietary choice; it just isn’t for me.

Cheese wasn’t so hard to give up; it was chocolate that did me in.

I’m still playing it safe and making sure I’m not eating too many milk-based products, particularly pizza, which I haven’t eaten in more than a year.

I’m also steering clear of things such as ice cream. The soy-milk-based ice cream is much more light in favor, and I have become so used to it the normal brands seem to offend my taste buds. They’re too heavy.

I urge everyone to live life as they see fit and not deny themselves too much, but not revel in excess either.