Is it time to go vegan?

“To go vegan or not go vegan?” That is the question (with apologies to my guy William Shakespeare for that slight adjustment to his famous line).

The answer to that particular quandary, for me, is that I might be getting close to making the transition and going to the big edible switchover.

It’s been a slow but steady transition.

In my younger years, I had always been the standard meat-eating American food consumer. No problem. Not much thought toit. (This held true even in my college days, when you were not quite sure what that piece of meat they were serving really was.)

But lately, I am starting to swerve dangerously close to the vegetarian/vegan lane.

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Due to a mid-life battle with high cholesterol a few decades ago, I’ve mostly stayed away from red meat the past couple of decades, with the occasional steak or hamburger still being consumed with equal parts deranged enjoyment and spineless guilt. But chicken? And fish? Oh, yeah, plenty of it. And don’t even get me started with the barbecued pulled pork sandwich—one of my great weaknesses, and one with which I have had a long-standing one-way romance.

I cannot tell you how depressed I was when my doctor told me that pork really isn’t the “other white meat” when it comes to affecting cholesterol level. (Damn!) 

Recently, though, I had some discussions with people who are vegans. Yes, vegans are people, too. And although I have not yet entered the secret and sordid world of the Veganese, I have at least ordered their tourism brochure and am starting to read through it, shall we say. 

Basically, as I understand it (I am sure vegan vets will tell me I don’t), vegans stay away from any products that come from animals—primarily because of the mistreatment of animals in the development and creation of the food. 

The mistreatment doesn’t just include killing them. No, I am finding out it is far worse than that, such as caging them in areas so tight they can barely move, feeding them so much they almost explode, chopping off certain body parts before actually killing the whole animal, and a variety of other depressing-to-find-out techniques.

This is one of these “the-less-you-know-the-better” scenarios. 

But we should know, and we do know—if we took the time to find out. The problem is,  once you start hearing about this mistreatment or, worse yet, seeing it, your perspective can change dramatically. The visuals of the specifics of how these animals are treated can no doubt have a stunning and lasting effect.

Bottom line is, if you really think about what those precious animals have to go through (note the use of the word precious to increase meat-eating reader guilt factor), it can, indeed, give you pause about what you are about to eat.

Fair warning: I am not there yet, but I am getting close. Vegans out there, I am starting to see the light. I am starting to lean to the V, shall we say?  I may soon cross over and hope I will be accepted with open arms—if not closed lips. You may have a new team member in the not-too-distant future.

Note:  I was out of town for the always popular “Vegandale Celebration” in Chicago held at Grant Park in June.  But never fear—there is a Veggie Fest coming to Lisle, IL, Aug. 9-10.