Tag: factory farm

Supportive Stars

kmgieron1

If you read my previous blog post, you know that I have had anxieties about being vocal about my vegetarianism. After thinking about it for a while, I realized that many celebrities have decided to follow a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle and are vocal about it. And they must believe it in strongly if they’re willing to discuss/encourage it, especially since their audience is obviously a lot larger than mine would be. So, I decided to do some research and find out which celebrities currently abstain from meat (or meat and dairy), and here are some of the ones that stood out to me:

Ellen DeGeneres & Portia de Rossi

Both Ellen and her wife Portia are strict vegans and have been since 2008. She had attempted going vegan much earlier, but it didn’t stick. “I’ve always called myself an animal lover, and yet I ate them,” she said. But then when someone said to her, “If you knew what chicken looked like or you knew how chicken was made, you’d never eat it again.” That did it for her, and she never looked back. In fact, Ellen and Portia are opening up a new vegan restaurant in LA!

Ellen Page

Another awesome Ellen has used her celebrity status on her social media accounts to speak out against factory farming. One such tweet: “Why are vegans made fun of while the inhumane factory farming process regards animals and the natural world merely as commodities to be exploited for profit?”

Kate Winslet

Kate is a vegetarian and her husband recently turned vegan. She says that using plant-based cooking is a form of self-care for them. She is also set to narrate a vegan film entitled “Eating Our Way to Extinction,” which will present veganism as a solution to issues such as “environmental destruction, the western diet health epidemic, and the twisted economics within the meat and dairy industries.”

Woody Harrelson

The owner of the world’s first organic vegan beer garden, Woody has been vegan for a long time and credits his diet to his good health. In the beginning, he turned vegan in order to keep his energy up; now, it seems like he is also supporting veganism for ethical reasons. He appeared in a video with another celebrity vegan, Sir Paul McCartney, encouraging viewers to reduce their meat intake due to the ethical and environmental complications surrounding animal agriculture.

Miley Cyrus & Liam Hemsworth

The power couple recently celebrated their wedding and made it a fully vegan ceremony. Miley even used the hashtag #HotNonViolentAnimalLovingHusbandsAreHottest. Miley also has the Vegan Society’s sunflower logo tattooed on her, and she is constantly making posts on social media that make veganism look…well, cool. For instance: “There is nothing more beautiful than eating a meat-free, gluten-free, dairy-free cheeseburger in the sunset.” Miley’s husband, Liam, was actually inspired by Hunger Games co-star Woody Harrelson (above) to go vegan.

Evanna Lynch

Evanna became “fully vegan” in 2015 after years of being a vegetarian. She has said, “To hurt animals is to disconnect me from that most caring, compassionate voice.” She believes that humans should not use our power to suppress or put an end to animals, but instead we should be their caretakers. It seems like the same philosophy her character Luna Lovegood would probably have!

Natalie Portman

Natalie had been a vegetarian since she was nine years old and then made the switch to vegan in 2009. Talk about dedication! Last year, she premiered her “Eating Animals” film, which brings light to the animal abuse and environmental trauma that occurs due to factory farming industries. Her helpful hint? Trick your taste buds into not knowing the different between real and faux meat and dairy.

All of these celebrities, and the countless others that support vegetarianism and veganism, have inspired me to not be afraid to be open with others about my lifestyle choice. I’m doing this for the animals, I’m doing this for the environment, I’m doing this for myself. And I’m not alone.

Owning My Decision

kmgieron1

Sometimes I feel really awkward when I have to tell a new person (like a friend or a date) that I don’t eat meat. I never want them to feel like I’m going to try to push my “agenda” on them, or that they can’t ever eat meat around me, or that I’m a picky person. And this isn’t just in my head—this is a worry because it really has happened to me before. I feel awkward because I don’t want them to feel awkward. But at the same time, I do want to share why I think everyone should abstain from meat. I choose to be a vegetarian because of moral reasons, because I can’t justify the needless suffering and killing of animals. So if I believe so strongly in this for myself, why shouldn’t I stand up for animals in front of other people?

I became vegetarian on my own accord when, in an environmental science class in high school, I had to watch a disturbing video on factory farming. But I was the only student who was affected by it enough that I decided to change my eating habits. Even the teacher was (no joke!) eating a hamburger as he showed us the video. (He was a disgusting human on many, many levels, but let’s not go into that now…) So yeah, maybe my decision wasn’t made because someone else convinced me. But that doesn’t mean that other people wouldn’t at least consider a humane eating lifestyle if I had an open conversation with them about it. After all, doesn’t that work in other scenarios? I’m not a big news-watcher, but if someone informs me that an actor was just charged with abusing a woman, I’m going to boycott his films. If someone tells me that one of the makeup brands I use tests on animals, I’m going to promptly stop being their customer and go research cruelty-free companies. So, maybe, if I can educate my friends or family on the dark realities of factory farming, they’ll take a minute to question whether or not they can continue to consume meat with good conscience. In doing so, I may risk turning people off. I may risk annoying people who probably are just fine ignoring the pain of animals so that they don’t have to feel bad or change their ways. I may risk making them feel uncomfortable. But is their temporary discomfort a fair price to pay for standing up for animal rights? I’m going to say yes.