Integritus Prime

I became vegan in 2011, compelled by my research on climate change and diet. I also became an animal rights activist. I learned pretty quickly that the best way to ostracize myself is to be an angry vegan. These days, I don’t even talk about the fact that I’m vegan (it’s been 10 years this August) but I do my best to lead with compassion, eco-friendliness and mindful reason in all my work. My main avenue for promoting veganism these days is through my plant-based and gluten-free recipes – we are currently working on our fifth and sixth cookbooks, slated for twin release by the end of this year.

It’s always been interesting to me that vegans get such a bad reputation. I know many vegans are angry about animal rights and climate change (I went through that phase too), but at the end of the day, vegans are helping themselves, animals, and the climate. And, in my opinion, it’s much more extreme to eat dead, rotting animal flesh pumped with chemicals and flavors to make it palatable, than to eat fresh fruits and veggies. Just sayin…

At the end of the day, vegans are people. An upcoming documentary is based on this very idea. My good friend and Alchemus Prime advisory board member, Kamal Prasad, who is a budding film maker that contributed to the documentary Cowspiracy, is making this film.

The documentary is inspired by Ridley Scott’s Life in a Day, which I enjoyed tremendously. I’m planning to participate in this film, and share a little about my own journey as a vegan human being. I am excited about how this film might change perspectives.

In my view, there are three ways that vegans always win; it’s because they are mindful of the realities we live in, and they take actions to improve those realities:

1. We tend to be healthier than meat eaters because we are mindful of how animal foods damage our bodies;
2. We have the lowest food-based climate footprint, because we understand the connections between animal agriculture and climate change;
3. We help save animals from abuse and death, because we are mindful of the atrocities they face in factory farms.

There are, of course, other ways that vegans quietly make their mark. Eating plant-based foods and not using animals for clothing or other purposes helps save biodiversity, water, and up to 75% of precious farmland that can then be used for more sustainable purposes, like growing plant-based foods to feed more people, or for reforestation. We decrease the demand for animal products and increase awareness of the torture that animals go through each and every day.

To me, most vegans are mindful people who care about life. That’s pretty wonderful in my book.

Share with me your thoughts on this topic. Oh, and check out Kamal’s documentary – it may change the way you think about…well, everything.