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| Our Voices |
| P.O. Box 126 * Negaunee, MI 49866 * (906) 236-1279 * info@northernvegans.com |
| This page is designed to showcase the personal journeys of Northern Vegans members as they made the transition to a plant-based diet. |
Ken
The transition from omnivore to herbivore came to me in small increments
over a number of years - I was quite stubborn.
I was raised in a family which was firmly planted in the traditions of hunting
and fishing. As a youngster, my father, grandfather, and uncles took me
afield and as I grew older these traditions became everything to me.
In addition to this, our family diet was heavily base upon domestic meat,
dairy and eggs. I am one of nine children and each year my parents would
buy a cow from the local butcher to put in the freezer. I also grew up working
on my best friend’s dairy farm just a few miles out of town. They didn’t pay
much, but they provided all the milk, ice cream, cheese, eggs and bacon a
farm hand could eat. As I grew older and left the family nest for a small farm
of my own, I immediately immersed myself in the raising of rabbits,
chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys.
Throughout my youth, and into my adulthood, I was sometimes referred to
as a “softy”. This was given to me as a derogatory label within my hunting
and fishing circles. But as time went on, voices deep within kept telling me it
was not in my best interest to kill animals. For many years I resisted and
ignored these voices - after all, nobody writing in my small livestock, and
hunting journals had any concerns or incite on this - it all seemed perfectly
fine to them.
Eventually though, some friends of ours subtly questioned my “might
makes right” lifestyle. This set off a succession of realizations within me
that eventually lead to my quitting hunting, fishing, and animal farming.
As years went on though, I continued to eat occasional eggs, dairy and fish.
Sometimes my hunting and fishing buddies would give me game and fish
that they killed - they either had so much of this meat they couldn’t eat it, or
they enjoyed killing it, but couldn’t bring themselves to eat it. I always
accepted - reasoning that it was kind of like road kill - it was already dead
and my not eating it wasn’t going to bring it back to life.
A couple years later, I befriended a woman who was well educated in the
realm of “new age” spirituality. I took a profound interest in this field of study
and read a book by the title of The Hundredth Monkey, by Ken Keyes, Jr. and
also read about Maharishi Mahesh (a Yogi practitioner) and his astonishing
results concerning Transcendental Meditation. I began to understand the
principals of mass consciousness and realized that my violence - whether
active or passive - was fueling more violence in the world. I also came to
realize that my accepting and eating meat from friends, was no different
than an alcoholic or drug addict accepting substances from friends due to
peer pressure. Additional research taught me about the harm animal foods
(if we can label them “foods” at all) do to my health. It becomes obvious -
eating animals isn’t good for us - and it’s no coincidence.
Now I see the vegan lifestyle as a vehicle to help move human society from
the dysfunctional “might makes right” paradigm to one based on
compassion, altruism, and oneness. The only challenging aspect of being
vegan for me is not judging those who reject this compassionate, functional
way of life. But then I look back on my lengthy transition and understand that
ultimately, if we intend to live sustainably and peaceably on planet earth, we
will all be vegan. We are all in transition - it’s simply taking some longer
than others.
A few years ago, the realizations which I have outlined above brought forth a
great need to inform the world about such issues. As you probably know,
there are many aspects concerning the vegan lifestyle. To the non-vegan, it
is a huge topic with much to consider. I would often find myself frustrated
while trying to explain these aspects via verbal or electronic conversation.
Often I would get cut off by some interruption or be misunderstood
somehow. This lack of concise communication sparked and idea which
lead to my writing a book about my transition to veganism. In August of
2006, I, along with Wingspan Press, published, A Northwoodsman’s Guide
To Everyday Compassion. For more information on this book, visit any large
retail book outlet. It is also available for purchase at the Marquette Food
Co-op and at Northern Vegan events.
See recipes and more from Ken here.
Click Here To Go Back to "Our Voices"
The transition from omnivore to herbivore came to me in small increments
over a number of years - I was quite stubborn.
I was raised in a family which was firmly planted in the traditions of hunting
and fishing. As a youngster, my father, grandfather, and uncles took me
afield and as I grew older these traditions became everything to me.
In addition to this, our family diet was heavily base upon domestic meat,
dairy and eggs. I am one of nine children and each year my parents would
buy a cow from the local butcher to put in the freezer. I also grew up working
on my best friend’s dairy farm just a few miles out of town. They didn’t pay
much, but they provided all the milk, ice cream, cheese, eggs and bacon a
farm hand could eat. As I grew older and left the family nest for a small farm
of my own, I immediately immersed myself in the raising of rabbits,
chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys.
Throughout my youth, and into my adulthood, I was sometimes referred to
as a “softy”. This was given to me as a derogatory label within my hunting
and fishing circles. But as time went on, voices deep within kept telling me it
was not in my best interest to kill animals. For many years I resisted and
ignored these voices - after all, nobody writing in my small livestock, and
hunting journals had any concerns or incite on this - it all seemed perfectly
fine to them.
Eventually though, some friends of ours subtly questioned my “might
makes right” lifestyle. This set off a succession of realizations within me
that eventually lead to my quitting hunting, fishing, and animal farming.
As years went on though, I continued to eat occasional eggs, dairy and fish.
Sometimes my hunting and fishing buddies would give me game and fish
that they killed - they either had so much of this meat they couldn’t eat it, or
they enjoyed killing it, but couldn’t bring themselves to eat it. I always
accepted - reasoning that it was kind of like road kill - it was already dead
and my not eating it wasn’t going to bring it back to life.
A couple years later, I befriended a woman who was well educated in the
realm of “new age” spirituality. I took a profound interest in this field of study
and read a book by the title of The Hundredth Monkey, by Ken Keyes, Jr. and
also read about Maharishi Mahesh (a Yogi practitioner) and his astonishing
results concerning Transcendental Meditation. I began to understand the
principals of mass consciousness and realized that my violence - whether
active or passive - was fueling more violence in the world. I also came to
realize that my accepting and eating meat from friends, was no different
than an alcoholic or drug addict accepting substances from friends due to
peer pressure. Additional research taught me about the harm animal foods
(if we can label them “foods” at all) do to my health. It becomes obvious -
eating animals isn’t good for us - and it’s no coincidence.
Now I see the vegan lifestyle as a vehicle to help move human society from
the dysfunctional “might makes right” paradigm to one based on
compassion, altruism, and oneness. The only challenging aspect of being
vegan for me is not judging those who reject this compassionate, functional
way of life. But then I look back on my lengthy transition and understand that
ultimately, if we intend to live sustainably and peaceably on planet earth, we
will all be vegan. We are all in transition - it’s simply taking some longer
than others.
A few years ago, the realizations which I have outlined above brought forth a
great need to inform the world about such issues. As you probably know,
there are many aspects concerning the vegan lifestyle. To the non-vegan, it
is a huge topic with much to consider. I would often find myself frustrated
while trying to explain these aspects via verbal or electronic conversation.
Often I would get cut off by some interruption or be misunderstood
somehow. This lack of concise communication sparked and idea which
lead to my writing a book about my transition to veganism. In August of
2006, I, along with Wingspan Press, published, A Northwoodsman’s Guide
To Everyday Compassion. For more information on this book, visit any large
retail book outlet. It is also available for purchase at the Marquette Food
Co-op and at Northern Vegan events.
See recipes and more from Ken here.
Click Here To Go Back to "Our Voices"