“The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that's the essence of inhumanity.” - George Bernand Shaw, 1897

history

I had no problem devouring scrambled eggs, hot dogs, and ice cream sundaes growing up. These foods are eaten by the majority of people in the United States without a second thought. I grew up innocently in this environment of eating to one's heart's content. I was aware that veganism existed as I consumed my normal diet, but I viewed those people as holding nothing more than an eccentric worldview.

In 2023, I enrolled in a university class on the global climate crisis. I learned about the substantial greenhouse gas emissions released by raising and slaughtering millions of cows per year. Confronting these facts about the beef industry, I realized that eating beef made no sense. If I said I cared about the environment, my actions should align with that, right? I almost entirely cut beef out of my diet from that point forward, but still consumed chicken, eggs, and dairy on a regular basis. Those didn't release so much CO2 and seemed acceptable to me.

Next year, I lived in an apartment and began cooking for myself. When I went grocery shopping, I began to choose the "happy" alternatives of animal products like free-range eggs. I was trying to be more ethical in my consumption but my effort was aimless. I ignored the gnawing intuition that these products weren't actually happy at all for the animals. I wasn't aware then that the purpose of a happy label is to ease the conscience of the consumer, not the suffering of the animal.

From another college course and from discovering ideas of the effective altruist movement, I became steadily more interested in how to live ethically in the modern world. Veganism appeared in both of these contexts. I learned about the Fred's Puppies analogous moral argument, and even wrote a final paper that demonstrated I understood its logic. Yet my cognitive dissonance remained between what I agreed with theoretically and how I consumed food on a daily basis.

Then, in the summer of 2025, I discovered a book that changed me: "Eat Like You Care" by Gary Francione and Anna Charlton. The authors lay out a simple ethical argument based on two assertions. 1) Animals have less moral value than humans. 2) We must not impose unnecessary suffering on animals for pleasure or convenience. If you have no objections to both of these principles, then you already agree with a vegan lifestyle. At this juncture, non-vegans may be keen to offer a myriad of excuses why veganism is not necessary to be in line with these two points. "We must consume animal products to be healthy! Humans have consumed animals for centuries! Eating plants causes harm as well! Dairy products don't cause harm to the animal!" Unfortunately, the book counters all of these, revealing the unsettling truth that none of these justifications work.

I wish it were true that regular animal products could be produced without suffering. But every step of the way, sentient creatures are brought pain and torture for the flavors on our plates. The scale of this suffering is beyond imagination. Billions of animals per year that feel emotions and don't want to die are mercilessly slaughtered for human consumption. On top of that, the global industry is massively unsustainable to the planet. Livestock accounts for 80% of agricultural land use, despite being only 17% of the global calorie supply and 38% of the global protein supply. Water and energy are necessary inputs to maintain the death machine of factory farms across the planet, and the greenhouse gas emissions of the industry are devastating.

There are three choices you can make. One is to be indifferent to the global pain and suffering of millions of sentient beings, the waste of our limited resources, or the destruction of Earth. The second is to care about these things, yet maintain behavior inconsistent with that belief by still consuming animal products. And the third is to choose to adopt a vegan lifestyle.

The book made me realize that I was in the second camp, and I remember being extremely unsettled. Now that I was no longer ignorant to my complicity, I could never eat food the way I always had. In September of 2025, I made the decision to become vegan. I learned how to cook vegan meals for myself, eat out at restaurants, and adopt the lifestyle completely. Now I can't imagine living any other way.


in the public eye

Veganism has an awful public image. Who do you picture when you think of the stereotypical vegan? Perhaps a belligerent, female social justice warrior who verbally assaults every non-vegan in sight. Animal rights advocates and organizations like PETA are consistently subject to ridicule. Isn't it just ridiculous to think that animals have rights like the freedoms granted in the Constitution? There are so many worse things happening in the world anyways, so why focus on animals in the first place?

Allow me to respond: I am hopeful that this stereotypical image of vegans is changing. The gruesome facts of factory farming are becoming more well-known to the general population through documentaries and journalism. Despite the lobbying that subsidizes the meat and dairy industries and the advertisements forcefed to consumers, the truth is difficult to ignore. Because of this I believe the vegan philosophy is becoming more well understood, and vegans now span across every race, gender, class, and social status.

I think the term "animal rights" is a bit misleading. The right that activists are fighting for is for animals' lives to be respected, just as we culturally respect the lives of cats and dogs. It is true that other terrible atrocities are occurring in the world, but we cannot disregard the murder of billions of animals per year. The current system is unfathomably cruel, unsustainable, and must be uprooted.

Masculinity and conservative values in the United States are tied deeply to the tradition of consuming animal products. For men, protein is hailed as the most important element of nutrition, and there is no better place to get it than meat and dairy. To become physically strong and uphold your masculinity, it seems necessary to consume meat regularly. Plant-based diets? Those are for women and weak, effeminate men. There is no way to get enough protein on a plant-based diet, right? Especially not as a man. Eating too much soy ruins your testosterone too.

As a man, I want to shatter this cultural belief that animal product consumption is a necessary component of masculinity. Globally, millions of men are vegan without being less masculine for their choice. I would argue that a core component of being a good man in society is to care for others, and the lives of animals are included in that. Furthermore, who I have found truly inspiring are the few vegan bodybuilders who prove that a diet of animal products isn't necessary to build an incredible physique. Just look up Nimai Delgado, Torre Washington, Bianca Taylor, or Vanessa Espinoza. Major dietary organizations across the world agree that a properly constructed vegan diet is healthy for everybody.


individual commitment

Since becoming vegan, my behaviors around eating have shifted quite dramatically. Checking labels of every product I buy has become an ingrained habit. Eating out at restaurants, I have grown accustomed to a reduced amount of plant-based choices on menus, which is a relief more than anything. A huge benefit of choosing this lifestyle is that I avoid eating junk food like cookies or candy because of their ingredients. My diet is a lot more balanced, I feel healthy, and I am mindful of what I put into my body.

When I tell others I am vegan, the question I am most frequently asked is "Don't you find it difficult to be vegan?" I am priviliged to live in an area and have the wealth that enables me to choose vegan options. For people in poverty or with few food choices, I fully understand not being vegan. But the reality is that much of the developed world has the opportunity to choose what they eat. Our food choices are a product of our beliefs and our cultures. With my position and understanding, it is easy for me to be vegan: I am choosing what I know is right for myself, the wellbeing of animals, and our shared home of the Earth.

What is empowering about being vegan is that it is a conscious lifestyle choice based on ethics. It is similar to making a commitment to recycling or voting. Our daily choices add up to what we care about in this fleeting life.

In these past months I have accidentally eaten non-vegan kimchi, butter on a pretzel, and gelatin inside peanuts and candy. But a vegan lifestyle isn't about being perfect. It's about the consistent effort to be more aligned with your deepest values. This ethos is directly inspired by Kathryn Kellogg, the founder of the sustainability website Going Zero Waste.

I wish for a future in which millions of individuals across Earth make the powerful, conscious decision to go vegan. I envision the day when flesh isn't displayed for sale in supermarkets and the last slaughterhouse stops its operations. A more compassionate world awaits us.


resources

I fear that in one blog post I am not able to convey all of my thoughts on the subject. Luckily, there are so many great vegan resources out there to learn more. Here are some of my favorites.