Hi. My name is Susan Cassidy-Ray. I hope my website offers valuable information for both those contemplating becoming vegan and those who already are. It can be a very tough journey for some, but one that is extremely rewarding. It is one of the best decisions I'VE made in my life : )

I have always been a huge animal/nature lover, and at 10 years old, (after reading the book"CHARLOTTES WEB"...and going on a farm tour with my family where they described the slaughtering of animals), I began to consciously think about what I was eating....where my so called "food" came from. I realized it was not just a hamburger, a pork chop, a steak. It had been a living, breathing animal. One that did not want to die. If it bothered me so much, I wondered why eating meat didn't bother anyone else I knew. Didn't anyone else think about what they were REALLY eating? Didn't anyone else realize that that "hamburger" had been alive and suffered terribly to become their dinner? Why didn't anyone else understand that all animals have feelings just as each of us?? These thoughts overwhelmed my brain every day. I expressed my opinion to my family and to my friends and got a snicker or a look like I was insane. Back then I hadn't heard about veganism/vegetarianism. I just knew that there was something morally wrong with what I was doing when I was sitting down to a meal with meat or eggs or other animal products.

We had no computers for me to research, nowhere for me to get information or support on the subject. I looked in our local library and could not even find a book about veganism/vegetarianism. I also had another conflict stiring inside and that was with my Christian faith. I went to Catholic school, was brought up in a Christian home, we were taught right from wrong, taught the commandments, one of which stated that killing is wrong. I didn't know how to approach my parents about my moral dilema and my desire to be vegan. I started sitting down to dinner with my family, refusing to eat what was put in front of me. Many meal times turned into arguments with my parents, ending with me crying.

My parents began to think I had an eating disorder and took me to the doctors for that. Of course the doctor was no help. He only supported my parents. I must say that my Christian belief's really did have a huge bearing on my vegan/vegetarian desires. Right vs. Wrong. "Thou Shalt Not Kill".....that commandment does not distinguish between humans and non-humans....it explicitly says, killing is wrong. Honestly though, even if I were not a Christian, is it really that hard for anyone to figure out that confining, torturing and slaughtering animals is wrong??? I didn't need Christianity to tell me that, however I thought I was being a hypocrite not being vegan. Being pro-life, I would wonder 'why didn't pro-life include animals?' Animals have a significant place on planet earth, but no matter how seemingly insignificant a life may seem, I believe every living creature was put here by God for a reason, even if we cannot understand why. That being such a core belief in my heart meant that eating meat could never be justified.

I decided I would give up meat for Lent (in 6th grade) and hopefully my parents wouldn't have a problem with that decision, and then I would never resume eating it. (I could easily have stopped eating all animal products, but the issue was how to get my parents approval.) So, I gave up meat,poultry, fish, eggs, milk and cheese. My parents were very questionable of my decision and I heard about it daily. When the time came that I could resume eating animal products again (Easter) I didn't. My parents were quite upset. You have to understand that back then, meat was the center of every meal for most people. We were conditioned to believe that a meal absent of meat, could never sustain us, and was not a "real" meal. My parents thought I would get very sick or even die not eating meat!

Unfortunately for me, I didn't know where to go for support or advice. I had no one to talk to about being a vegan/vegetarian. I pretty much figured it out on my own as I went along. I remember eating a LOT of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at first : ) I gave up wearing leather, fur, wool, down. I was not educated at that time on the horrors of factory farming, animal abuses in entertainment, animal testing, hidden animal products in other foods and everyday life, but it wouldn't be long before I would be. When I got into high school I found myself in a Sociology class with a Vegan teacher! YEA!I was in Heaven! I finally found someone who thought like me and he and I had many conversations about being vegan. He taught me so much about animal rights and animal exploitation and was truly one of the most inspirational people in my life. Thank You Mr. Jacobs : )

I now eat ONLY wholefoods, lots of nuts, seeds, vegetables, fruit and beans, soybeans, etc. I know that many vegans enjoy meat substitutes, soy cheese, soy yogurt, etc., but my personal choice has been not to eat anything that imitates meat or tries to taste like meat or animal products. That doesn't make any sense to me.

Going vegan has been a challenging and spritual journey for me. I think my family and friends finally see that this is what defines me. Veganism is NOT a diet as many people like to trivialize it as. It is a philosophy, a way of looking at the world, understanding that it takes every walk of life to make the world go 'round and learning to appreciate that, it's about empathy and compassion on one hand and justice on the other. Animals do NOT deserve to suffer and die for our needs! God did not give us dominion over the earth to abuse, torture, brutalize and slaughter billions of his creatures every year for our greed. We as caretakers of the earth need to respect all life and treat other beings as we would want to be treated ourselves.***

If we truly love animals, being vegan is the absolute least we can do for them! Animals desire to live in freedom and be loved/cared for, the same as the rest of us do. I can only hope that more and more people will become enlightened to the plight of not only farm animals raised for meat,but all animals that are treated as nothing more than a commodity, a product...that would include animals used in entertainment, in vivisection, those used for fur products, for wool, those raised for eggs, dairy, etc.....and not just domesticated animals, but also those in the wild that are hunted and slaughtered for various reasons. We all need to open our eyes and change our lives. (unfortunately, hidden animal products are everywhere - Click Here for a List)

Thanks so much and I hope to hear from you!

Susan

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