My Story – Natalie

 My name is Natalie and I became vegan in May 2011. 
I was vegetarian for 12 years before becoming vegan.  I had no idea what factory farming was, in fact I had never heard of it before 2011. I became vegetarian because I never particularly liked the taste or texture of flesh and I thought it was creepy as animals were made of flesh just like humans. I once asked my mother why we didn’t eat humans since we were also made of flesh.  Needless to say I did not get an explanation, just a blank stare.
 I started my journey to veganism soon after reading a few books, the first one being Food Inc. Things started unfolding before my eyes soon and I was so completely horrified at what I was discovering.  I watched Farm to Fridge and Earthlings through a stream of tears. 
Since becoming vegan I look at the world in a completely different way. Being vegan is a bittersweet. I am happy I know the truth so I can live compassionately but I am also sad because every day I see death all around me. The use of animals is so engrained in our society. It makes me utterly sad.
I now look at my dogs and I see a calf, a piglet, a lamb, a chicken, a rabbit, I see all the animals in our world. They are all worthy of respect and freedom and I will fight for them until my demise.
Being vegan is the BEST thing I have EVER done!