Why My Home is a Vegan Zone
I've been thinking about this a lot in the last couple of weeks and really wanted to share my thoughts on it with all of you. The other day Jason was recording tracks for a friend of ours in our home studio. Our friend and those who were singing on the tracks got hungry and decided they wanted to order a pizza. They offered to order one to share with cheese, and to order a separate vegan one for Jason. He reluctantly agreed. When I got home and he told me about it I expressed that if I had been there I would have said no, point blank. He agreed with me saying that it made him very uncomfortable and he wished he'd said no. Why would we feel the need to keep our home a 100% vegan zone? Let me count the ways.
ONE Animal products have a strong smell that doesn't go away quickly. Not only do I find this smell middle nauseating, but it is also a constant reminder of the pain and suffering of countless millions of animals. Not really something I want to be thinking about every minute of the day, especially not in my own home.
TWO My house, my rules. Some people don't allow smoking. Some people don't allow drinking. I don't allow murder, of any species. Plain and simple. If you want to do it I won't stop you. But try to bring it into my home? That's a no go.
THREE I don't want to eat off of plates that have had dead animals on them, even if they've been scrubbed with bleach.
FOUR I'm not going to support the exploitation of animals, even second hand. If I don't allow animal products in my home friends and family may choose to eat vegan foods while they're here rather than going hungry, and every single vegan meal makes a big difference to the animals and our planet!
FIVE My home is my safe place. Animal products don't make me feel safe.
SIX I try not to say anything to people who eat animal products in front of me (They're living their lives according to them. I have no right to judge them for where they are currently in their journey. I ate animals at one point, too!) but it does make me very uncomfortable. Once you recognize meat for what it really is, the flesh of a slaughtered animal, and dairy, the products made from milk stolen from the babies who it was intended for (and who were brought into the world against the mother's wishes, then taken from her), it's not a pleasant experience to see them being consumed without a second thought. When you live your life surrounded by these countless actions of secondhand cruelty, having once place that is free from them can be the difference between being constantly stressed and agitated, and being able to find a semblance of balance in your life.
Living in my home with my fiance is the first time since I went vegan that I haven't lived with a non-vegan. Being able to say as a couple that our home is a 100% vegan zone feels good. And that won't change any time soon.
Until next time,
Did any of these points surprise you? Are there things you don't allow in your home? Tell me about them in the comments below!
