Why I Chose to Be Vegan

The Kicker

The day  before Thanksgiving I had my annual well-woman check up. This is a new doctor. I was not particularly fond of her as each time I went in to her she was pretty clear that if I wanted to have another child the only way was IVF or clomid.  So for this visit I braced myself. 

I did have some concerns though. While I have not been pregnant for three and half years (we lost that child to miscarriage), I have been feeling better about being the mom of an only child. If God wants us to have another one, he will make it so. But my biggest concern was that I had been trying vigorously to lose weight - 3 months of counting calories to loose 2 pounds. I was not getting the results so I was down to 1000 calories a day. My question for her was -I know women with PCOS have difficulty losing weight - please help me. I want to lose and be healthy. 

When she walked into the room I hardly recognized her. She was very thin. She obviously had lost a lot of weight. I voiced my concerns. She said, I have just the thing for you and she pulled out this study by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. The best way for women with PCOS to both conceive and lose weight is a plant based diet. She also recommended watching the movie - Forks over Knives. She had gone Vegan 6 months before and lost 30 pounds. 

I had been thinking about this for over a year through various conversations and just kept storing it away. I felt like this time it was a big flag waving in my face.  Ok! Ok! I get it!

So the day before Thanksgiving I made the decision to be vegan again. The weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas I lost 3 pounds - more than I had lost in 3 months counting calories. Christmas came and went and I gained it back. Now three weeks after being back on track, those three pounds are gone. 

Reinforcement

Last week, I felt myself slipping into doubt over this whole Vegan thing (despite obvious results - go figure) I knew it was time for some reinforcement so I searched out the movie Dr. Kim recommended. The movie is based on the The China Study  which I had actually read a few years ago when I was vegan before. I wish that I had the option of the movie before! It was so much more accessible and easy to understand rather than reading the results of a major, comprehensive scientific study. 

There are a few fascinating finds in this movie, but for me it's the fact that in China there are communities where for centuries they have been eating the same diet due to location and isolation - some villages with primarily fish and sea vegetables, or others with beef and dairy, others with primarily vegetarian, etc. There are medical records available for these communities. Once the data was analyzed the results were astounding.  I totally recommend this movie to everyone - even if you have no intention of ever being vegan. It is information that every American should have. 

Think Globally

Every once in a while, I am in the car when World View with Jerome McDonnell is on the radio. This particular day I caught a few minutes of a segment on the international farming community and how Monsanto and genetically modified crops are affecting third world nations. McDonnell had Dr. Vandana Shiva as a guest. Link to the Conversation

Dr. Shiva was passionately discussing how these seed companies through their GMOs have completely ravaged our farming practices. She noted how there are no documented studies of the effects of GMOs on health, however, if you look at the general health of the U.S. as a case study you will see that we are quite sick as a nation. We are also the nation with no regulation what so ever regarding GMOs, therefore we have the most GMO products mainstreamed into our diet.

The other interesting fact that she discussed is that the primary genetic mutation that Monsanto sells and is so proud of is the round-up ready variety. This makes it possible for farmers to spray as much Round-up, a weed killer, as necessary to that they have pristine weedless fields. This has worked for a while.. but now the weeds are resistant to Round-up. They only thing that kills the weeds now - AgentOrange. So, in order to have weedless fields, farmers must use this highly toxic chemical. No only is this toxin getting into our food but the farmers and workers come into close contact with the chemical daily. Where is the dignity in that?

Healthy Diet, Healthy Planet

I have now come full circle. The world is sick and only getting sicker. We pollute our water sources with pesticides, herbicides and animal waste - all from unsavory farming and industrial practices. Our animals - that we raise for food are terribly sick, we pump them with antibiotics and then we eat them and wonder why we are sick.

I have spent loads of money at Whole Foods on organic no-GMO food and it is not sustainable. Why is the most healthy diet the most unattainable for the average person? Where is the dignity in this? I find this deeply disturbing. 

When we first started telling people our vision for Nativity House it was easy for them to understand the house of hospitality for unwed mothers. But why they would ask the farm?   

This is why! We need to get back to practices where we care for the Earth from which we get our food. We need to grow healthy food for those who need it most, the poor and marginalized. We can teach how to farm and care for their families to the best of their ability. They don't have the luxury of healthy food options. We can help them with that. 

I am on a journey.  This is where I have ended up. Again.