Why live without animal products?

Ethics

We believe that we should live our lives without harming animals in any way by eating plant-based whole-foods instead of meat and dairy and also to not wear clothes made of animals, use products tested on animals, and not exploit animals in any way at all. If you’re interested in learning more, please watch the movie Dominion.

Health

The major causes of illness and death are linked to eating meat and dairy including heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, etc. Plant-based whole-foods can prevent and even reverse illnesses caused by eating meat and dairy. If you’re interested in learning more, please watch the movie What the Health.

Environment

The meat and dairy industry causes massive destruction of rain forest, uses huge amounts of water, causes air pollution, and is a major contributor to climate change. Plant-based whole-foods vastly reduce the negative impact on the environment. If you’re interested in learning more, please watch the movie Cowspiracy.  

Awesome taste!

In addition to ethics, health, and the environment, we’re also living at a time when more and more awesome tasting plant-based food is available. The above pics are of some of our favorites. When we went veg initially decades ago, iceberg lettuce salad was virtually all that was available but there are now amazing vegan restaurants and vegan options at non-vegan restaurants. It’s now not unusual for a non-vegan to go to a vegan restaurant and be so blown away by the taste that they continue to eat vegan for the taste and later appreciate the other benefits of veganism. Of course, you don’t have to only get amazing vegan meals at restaurants, you can also make them at home yourself given the wide range of recipes and cookbooks available.

Prevent pandemics!

Animal to human transmission of diseases is called zoonotic transmission. Three out of every four infectious diseases are zoonotic. Ebola came from fruit bats, swine flu from pigs, bird flu from chickens, mad cow disease obviously from cows, SARS from bats, MERS from dromedary camels, and the Spanish flu is thought to have avian origins and due to chickens. COVID-19 originated in bats and then went through what’s called an intermediary host which was the pangolin in a live animal or ‘wet’ market in Wuhan, China. It’s clear that COVID-19 was transmitted from animals to humans.

If the whole world had been vegan in the Fall of 2019, the world wouldn’t have needed to go into lockdown, wearing masks, washing hands incessantly, physical distancing, and we wouldn’t have heard news reports of the daily horrendous infection and death count. And, we wouldn’t have had to shut down much of the world’s economies. Given the rather startling statistical probability that the next pandemic will also be zoonotic, the best way to prevent the next one is by going vegan.

Famous vegans

Many of the athletes who are at the very best in their sport are vegan.

Many other celebrities who are the top of their profession in entertainment are vegan.

You can find more of the great recipes that our family has tried and recommend on a Pinterest board called What Vegans Eat.

Blog

Where would I get my protein from?

Black beans, tofu, nuts, tempeh, garbanzo beans, broccoli, quinoa, lentils, potatoes, and mushrooms provide a ton of protein. 

Won't I be missing key nutrients and vitamins?

If you eat well-balanced plant-based whole-foods meals, you'll get all the nutrients you need and you only need to take Vitamin B12. 

But how will I live without bacon?

There are products that taste just like bacon that don't involve a pig losing his or her life.

But how can I give up hamburgers?

You don’t have to. There are plant-based hamburgers now that taste just like the meat version.

Oh, but what about the cheese I so love?

There are plant-based cheeses that taste great and can even melt like the animal versions do.

So you’re telling me I shouldn’t drink milk anymore?

Actually no. You should stop drinking the milk that was intended for baby calves but you should drink nut-based milk.

But don’t you need meat to be strong and fast?

No you don’t. In fact, many of the strongest and fastest athletes in the world are vegan.

Will I find vegan options at restaurants?

Most restaurants have vegan options or will create them. There are also full vegan restaurants.

And, I shouldn’t wear leather belts, shoes, or coats? 

Not the kind that come from animal skins but synthetic leather is a great alternative and looks great.

But, isn’t being vegan more expensive?

No, plant-based protein is less expensive than meat even though meat is subsidized an insane amount by governments.

Isn’t it hard being vegan when traveling?

Members of our family travel all the time and always find vegan options or fully vegan restaurants.

What’s the hardest part of being vegan?

Non-vegans asking questions but realize that they simply don’t know what you know and may be feeling somewhat threatened.

Do I have to do this all alone?

Even if you’re the only vegan among family and friends, connect with other vegans online on Instagram (e.g., accounts like @karelveganburg, @itdoesnttastelikechicken, @livekindlyco, @plantbasednews, @vegancommunity, @veganfacts and hashtags #vegan, #vegans, #veganrecipes, #veganfood, etc.) and Facebook (join groups like New Vegan Support, Everything Vegan, and humorous ones like Vegan Humor, Bad Vegan and local ones for your area like Toronto Vegans, Austin Vegans). You can also go to vegan events like a local VegFest. There are lots of ways of connecting digitally and in person with other awesome vegans!

The most important thing about becoming vegan is simply getting started and there are a few different ways of doing that. Most people who are already convinced that they want to go vegan for ethical reasons and can’t stand to hurt another animal (after watching a movie like Dominion or seeing pictures of the inside of a slaughterhouse) will typically switch completely whereas those initially motivated by health (after watching a movie like What the Health) often ease into veganism. After getting started, most people appreciate all four reasons for going vegan, ethics, health, environment, and taste.

There are several ways of approaching the transition to veganism. Here are three simple steps that have worked for many people we know, though Steps 1 and 2 can be reversed.

We post all of the great recipes that our family has tried and recommend on a Pinterest board called What Vegans Eat.

Here are our recommended Vegan cookbooks:

Our family is our team. The matriarch of the family, Erin O’Brien, was vegetarian decades ago and when she met Karel Vredenburg, he became vegetarian too. Their four children, Elliot, Emma, Rowan, and Noah grew up vegetarian and the whole family went vegan at the suggestion of son Rowan during a family vacation in Los Angeles in 2014. Partners and friends also tend to go vegan. Our family is vegan for ethical reasons but also appreciates the benefits that veganism provides to our health, the health of the planet’s environment, and preventing the next pandemic. We are passionate about veganism and positive approaches to encourage others to adopt veganism as well.

*Please note that we’ve used the term “Plant-Based” instead of “Vegan” to not scare you away before you had a chance to check out the information on the site. The two terms aren’t synonymous however with the former typically being used to describe a diet whereas the latter is truly an all-encompassing life-style of not inflicting harm of any form to animals.