Written by PETA
It was a gesture that was definitely more long-lasting and meaningful than a bouquet of flowers: Fran Healy of the band Travis thought of the perfect way to thank Sir Paul McCartney for contributing bass lines to a track on Healy's just-released solo debut album, Wreckorder. He—and his family—went vegetarian.
Healy recalls, "I thought, Paul's a big veggie, my son's already vegetarian, it'd be nice to maybe have the whole family do it, so I asked my wife and she said, 'That's a great idea, and what a way to say thank you.'" Talk about the gift that keeps on giving!
There are billions of reasons to go vegan—now PETA wants to know why you stopped eating animals. What was your incredible inspiration?
The person whose story moves us the most will win the grand prize, which includes Wreckorder CDs (both the wide-release and limited editions) and the vinyl version of the album—signed by Fran Healy—as well as a collectible T-shirt and tote bag. One runner-up will win an autographed copy of Wreckorder. The contest ends on October 8, 2010, and the winner will be chosen the same day. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting.
Thank you—and good luck!
Written by Karin Bennett
"Meet Your Meat." I wish this video was mandatory for each and every person to watch. I had absolutely no clue that most farming practices were inhumane until I watched it. And even for the humane acts, seeing the looks on those poor animals' faces, and realizing they do think and feel and have emotions, made me see that I do not deserve to receive pleasure (consumption) from something that either causes them pain or ends their lives.
I became vegetarian after I adopted my guinea pig, Maggie, from a shelter (which is a story in and of itself...thank you Oprah for running that story on why we should adopt animals!)
I just couldn't make the connection anymore between spending lots of time and money on this one little guinea pig to make sure she had a happy life, while turning around and eating cows, pigs and chickens that had been raised in horrendous factory-farm conditions. It just didn't make sense to me anymore.
Maggie and I were veggie buddies - I would eat the tops of the broccoli, she would eat the bottoms!
Little Maggie was only in my life for about a year before she passed away, but she taught me such an important lesson. I think that her short life has saved the lives of many other animals, as I stopped eating them once she came into my life.
I've been a vegetarian for 5 months now and this is why...
My entire life I had been a big meat eater. I come from a very small, rural town where being a vegetarian is not only unheard of, but not so kindly accepted. I never took to the common ways to pass time in my small town, like hunting, and it always upset me that people killed the adorable animals, the same ones that would come up to my Grandmothers house and we could feed them apples out of the palms of our hands.
I have also suffered from health problems my entire life, and about 2 years ago, I began getting severe migraines. Within the last year I hit a point where I had migraines every single day. Some days they were so bad I was unable to leave my room. I tried everything, I had CT Scan, MRI's, and saw a neurologist 8 times in the course of 3 months. After countless medications (about 25) nothing seemed to be working. I was told I could no longer have caffeine, no chocolate, no cheese, no processed meats. That's how it started.
After I gave up processed meats I realized how much better I felt already. Then I began to become disgusted by meat, "We are eating an animals flesh" is the thought that kept running through my mind. So I made the decision to stop eating meat and see how that made me feel. Within a week of giving up meat, my migraines stopped. I have only had about 5 migraines in the last 5 months, and going from having one everyday for over a year, that's pretty incredible.
I started to spread the word to everyone I knew, including my neurologist who just couldn't believe that becoming vegetarian would help my migraines.
I now strongly believe 2 things:
1.) that eating meat is incredibly bad for our bodies health wise. We are not meant to digest other living creatures. We are not meant to be full of hormones and flesh, it is hard on our system and bad for our health
and...
2.) Eating animals is WRONG. They are living creatures who deserve a full, fun, FREE life without being slaughtered because they "taste good". We can live completely healthy and normal lives living off plant proteins and in the long run it can do wonderful things for your health.
I will never go back to eating meat, and I am proud to say that to all of the small minded people that I AM A VEGETARIAN.
Funny, I actually became a vegetarian in 1992 after attending a Paul McCartney concert! He had some videos and information that he showed before his show that really helped confirm it was what I wanted to do. I never ate a lot of meat before, so it was a fairly easy transition.
Go Fran!!
I was about 12 years old, and was helping my Dad make dinner. He gave me the job of making meatballs for our spaghetti. I was pulling off clumps of meat, and suddenly I realized I was putting my hand into a dead cow. I never ate meat again, and most of my family eventually followed. Today, 25 years later, my Mother, two sisters, brother, and 10-year-old daughter are all happy vegetarians.
A cow. A single, lonely cow. I was 13 and she was standing by the fence besides my tennis club. I love animals, couldnt resist patching her. She twisted her tong around my hand, she rested her head in my shoulder and rubbed her neck at my belly. For me, that lonely animal wasnt food animore. Unfortunately, she was for someone else. I became vegetarian as soon i realized that. At my 15's birthday, an important age for many people, i decided the present would go for animals: i became vegan. And here am I, strong, live, fighting for cows like that lonely one. My worst nightmare is going back that day and felling i could have done something, but didnt. I promissed her, in my toughts, never to let it hapen again.
I went veg because of Paul McCartney too! I saw an interview with him and his wife Linda and they were talking about how they had a sheep famr (for pets not fodo) and were looking out over their property one day while eating lamb! They there and then decided to give it up. I found that so inspiring, I did the same
I was not raised a vegetarian. But from a young age I felt it was mean to eat animals. I remember saying, "mommy daddy why do we call this meat chicken." And when they told thats because it is a dead, cooked chicken. I could understand why someone would kill it and then eat it. I remember before dinner one night, before Iwas of school age. I was hunger and asking dada when will dinner be done? He gave me a piece of sandwish ham. He said, "eat this and dinner will be ready in a few minutes." As I started to eat it,I looked over at my pet hampster. My first thought mabey shes hungery too. So I tried to give her a piece of the ham.She wouldn`t eat it. I then thought about the chicken conversation.My todler mind thought HAM HAMPSTER and I put it in the trash. I also remember my parents buying lopsters and watching the wiggle the whole way home. And watching them try and wiggle their way away,as dad through them in the boiling pot.I also remember watching Charletes web and little wilber the pig. And the movie Babe. And that also had a big impact on me as a child. I remember at times I use to throw away or hide my meat in a napkin and throw it away.When ever I thought about what it was. Then by age 11 ish I gradually stopped eating all meat.By my teen years I was a full strict vegetarian. That inclues avoidance of certian clothing,bath products geletian in foods, and ect.
this was about 45 years ago in zurich where i met the geiser sisters - daughters of the owner of the famous geiser slaughterhouses. they went both vegetarian because of the horror they lived in their youth. isabella geiser was the secretary of hans ruesch at that time and she introduced me to him and animal protection and it's lasting a lifelong!
I wanted to go vegetarian for a while, but I never had the courage to say to my mom that i didn't want to eat meat anymore. I was always against eating any animal that was the product of "hunting". I was at my dad's one day and he made sloppy joe's. I asked him if it was hamburger and not moose, since I knew that he just got back from a hunting trip. He assured me that it was indeed dead cow. So, I went on happily eating it. After I we were finished he confessed that it really was moose meat. I was so mad that I gave up meat right then and there. I told my friends and word got out at school. Everyone thought I was the weird hippie chick and none of them believed that I would be able to keep this up. Their disapproval only made me want to do it more. I had to prove to everyone that I could do it. Two years later and I am now vegan!
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