Written by Laura, published on August, 12th 2024
I’m Laura, 29 years old, and I lived as a vegetarian for five years before deciding to adopt a vegan lifestyle about two years ago. Since 2023, I’ve been an activist at “Für alle Tiere” – this stands for “for all animals”. Here, I’d like to share my journey to veganism with you.
Even before becoming a vegetarian, I often had conflicting feelings, especially when I ate or saw meat. I lacked a connection to what was really on my plate. Once, at a party, I saw a suckling pig whose dead body was still recognizable, and I realized what was in front of me—something I definitely did not want to eat. Similarly, if scenes from a slaughterhouse or butcher shop appeared on TV during lunch at home, I couldn’t bear to watch. I felt particularly uncomfortable with half a chicken; I couldn’t bring myself to cut it, and when I did eat it, I couldn’t stop thinking about the dead animal on my plate, which made me feel nauseous. All of this reflected that I knew something wasn’t right for me. I was acting against my own values and convictions—this is known as cognitive dissonance.
A first decision
So one day, I decided to live as a vegetarian because that feeling grew stronger, and I no longer enjoyed the taste of meat.
When I was still living with my parents, there were no vegans in my environment. Initially, my family and friends dismissed my vegetarian lifestyle as a phase, but they eventually accepted it. So, I lived as a vegetarian for several years without truly realizing that I was still causing animal suffering and contributing to their pain. Milk, eggs, etc.—calves are taken away from cows, and they too have to endure a terrible fate. Male calves are used for veal or leather while they are still babies. Female cows must go through the same ordeal as their mothers: a forced pregnancy every year, just so they can produce milk. They are treated like machines until they eventually collapse from weakness and live under unbearable conditions. The same applies to eggs. The animals are bred to such extremes that they are used like machines, suffering from many diseases and pain in the process.
I didn’t realize that a vegetarian lifestyle only prolongs the suffering of animals—they have to endure years of exploitation before they are eventually killed.
Only a vegan lifestyle withdraws support from the suffering and exploitation inflicted on animals. I wasn’t aware of this until then, as this information is naturally covered up by the industry, and advertising deceives you into believing that animals everywhere are happy. About 3 ½ years ago, I met my current partner, who was already living a vegan lifestyle at the time. As we got to know each other better and became a couple, we cooked together all the time. That’s when I realized how easy it is to cook vegan. However, it still took a while before I decided to live vegan. I started to engage more deeply with the subject. The videos I watched and the conversations we had made it clear to me that I no longer wanted to be part of this exploitation. If I am against violence, I can no longer support animal products in any way.
The Beginning Is Not Always Easy
At first, I tried various vegan foods, like plant-based milk, etc. It was initially a bit of an adjustment. If you expect an exact match in taste, you should know that this isn’t always possible. The beginning is not always easy—you’re going against the norm and trying out a new path. It was somewhat challenging, but also interesting and fun to try new things. Once I put myself in the animals’ position, the path became clear. When you understand your “why,” you can stick to it even when it gets tough.
I don’t regret my decision to live vegan, except that I didn’t do it sooner.
I’ve veganized my favorite dishes and found alternatives. There are many helpful videos and interesting profiles on Instagram with recipes that have also helped me. Check out accounts like veganewunder, vegankevin, veganistungesund and others. And above all: don’t stop looking. I know it’s incredibly painful to face the harsh reality of animal suffering. Going vegan is not just associated with positive feelings. It’s a bit like waking up to realize that Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy doesn’t exist—except that in this case, there are real victims and waking up is much more painful. You’ve been told a fairy tale about so-called “farm animals” who don’t feel and are less valuable. The awakening was very painful for me—seeing that family members and friends can’t or won’t see this and continue to participate in the cruelty. That I myself participated for years.
Walking the Path Together
That’s why it helped me a lot that I wasn’t alone; my partner and I supported each other and went down this path together. It can be very helpful to make this decision together with your partner or with family or friends and to go down this path together. You can exchange ideas, motivate each other, cook together or try out vegan restaurants and be there for each other when things get difficult. That way you realise that you’re not alone. Or you can look for a vegan community in your city. Making mistakes is human. When you go down a new path, you’re likely to make mistakes, and that’s totally okay. It’s just important to keep going down the path and really understand that every animal product is linked to animal suffering.
With time everything becomes much easier.
I found it particularly difficult to let go of cheese. But even there, I found more and more products that I liked and knew exactly where to get them. I first had to learn to open myself up to new tastes and textures. You have to give everything a chance and, above all, unlearn a lot of things, because we live in a system that has shaped us for many years and wants to make us believe that some animals are less valuable than others. More on this in future blog posts.
I have long been a person who cares about standing up for justice – someone who really cares about compassion. That’s why I’m so grateful today that I was able to look behind all of that and open my heart to all animals. Now I can really live in harmony with my values and promote peace. Yoga has helped me with that too.
Living non-violently according to the yoga teachings – Ahimsa
Ahimsa means non-violence and emphasizes the principle of not harming other living beings. It includes consideration, compassion and respectful behavior. Ahimsa is a central principle in yoga.
To strengthen my “why”, I continued to research and watch videos (e.g. at ARIWA & ANINOVA). All of this was part of the process, and compared to what the animals suffer, it is definitely doable and important to look for others who have no voice in this society. This is what brought me to activism, as I am convinced that most people do not want animals to experience so much pain and suffering and live in a contradiction, as I did for many years of my life.
When did you consciously decide for or against consuming animal products? Did you allow your true feelings and values towards animals to be present in this context? For me, living vegan was also a step towards freedom – not just for others, but also for myself. To choose freely according to my values and not unconsciously follow the norm.
Decide today to go vegan and just start where it is easiest for you. Keep going. You can make a difference and you are not alone in facing the challenges – we are growing in number. If you need help on this way or have any questions, please contact us.