There’s nothing quite like helplessly watching a family member go through a by-pass or valve replacement to wake you up to your own mortality. The year was 1997 and the advice at the time was, to avoid the fate of our fathers we should adopt a vegetarian lifestyle.
With little thought or research we did just that. For the first 21 years we were lacto-ovo vegetarians, and since then we have maintained a vegan diet. While we are still too young to know if the switch will mean fewer trips to the heart institute, I can say that we have no regrets about living the vegetarian/vegan lifestyle.
In the meantime we have become increasingly aware that our activities are adversely affecting the planet. Science is telling us that one thing that everyone can do to make a real difference in the future of our families and our descendants is to cut back on animal products. It turns out that as much as 18% of the world’s carbon emissions come from animal agriculture, not to mention zoonotic diseases like Covid 19, antibiotic resistance and of course unimaginable cruelty. Damn says I, this is an opportunity to make a difference in the world. This is an opportunity to help people make positive changes that will benefit themselves and the world we live in.