The sounds of silence

Silence is not always a good thing. (public domain photo)

Like most vegans, I've been told many times that I should simply live my beliefs and shut-up about it. Some people tell me that non-vegans are sick to death of hearing about veganism. To which I reply that they're sick to death, for sure, but veganism is not the cause of their issues. It's their diet that's killing them (not to mention the planet and everything on it). Being silent under those circumstances would be nothing short of criminal as far as I'm concerned.I love my friends too much to do that to them!

The sounds of silence are echoing all around us if we care enough to give them a listen.

Farm life involves using and abusing animals, no matter how you slice it. Can you hear them crying for help or do you turn a deaf ear to the fact that they suffer, feel pain and care for each other just as we do? That includes dairy cows and those “humanely raised” animals too, by the way. Look it up.

Little children all over the world are crying themselves to sleep. They are dying daily from starvation and lack of clean water. Food and water they could have consumed is being foolishly sold and recycled through animals for consumption, instead of being eaten directly so everyone could be fed rather than just the fortunate few that a meat and dairy based diet caters to. (Resources go much further when directly consumed. Not to mention that the nutritional value is much higher.)

The planet is screaming for relief! Streams that were once teaming with life are dead due to algae overgrowth from nitrogen rich farm run-off. (Once again, dairy farms and humane animal farms are no better.) The earth was simply not meant to support the amount of animal life that is occurring as we over-breed other animals due to the demand for meat and dairy.)

People are dying due to diseases caused by poor diet, food additives and genetically altered crops, never realizing that all they had to do was make the right choice as to what should go on their fork and into their mouths.

Produce farmers who have sustained us happily for many years are crying too. They're losing their family farms because they refuse to use GMO seeds. They're being squeezed out. There are very few left that do not cater to Monsanto and big business. The ones that do are often sued and lose everything they have when GMO's migrate (on the wind) to their fields.

It's time for all of us, vegan or otherwise to connect with the fact that when we are silent, we pay for all of this. So, no, I will not be silent. Being silent is like signing a death warrant for everyone on this planet. I'm just not that kind of girl. I won't do it.

And yes, you do have a choice and here it is. You can change the way you do things or you can suffer the natural consequences of your actions. (Bad health, starvation, lack of water and a filthy planet that will not sustain any of us.)

And yes, what you eat IS my business. Because by choosing a meat and dairy based diet, you are not just killing yourself. You're killing all of us. You're giving my grand-kids less of a chance for survival in the future. You're telling them that their lives are not as important as your taste buds. Not only that, you're telling them they should repeat the process. And if you don't think I consider that my business, you don't know me very well.

So please, connect with the fact that silence kills. Go vegan. Go viral. Go verbal. All our lives depend on it.