I grew up in Cleveland, OH, among other regular meat-eating folk. For the first 40 years of my life, I enjoyed meat, pork, chicken or ham with almost every dinner, most lunches and weekend brunches. I loved a good steak, a perfect cheeseburger, or a stack of crisp bacon. But after I adopted my dog in late 2009, something started to change for me, and my perspective of and relationship with animals began to shift. The belief that “real men eat meat” didn’t make as much sense to me anymore, for a variety of reasons that involved health, ethics and the environment. Since then, I have undergone (and continue to undergo) a personal evolution of sorts, which I talk about in this episode of the podcast.
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When I was 40, I took a photography course and needed something to take pictures of. At the local park I found that ducks made good subjects. Over time I spent more and more time outdoors, at the local pond minutes from my Toronto home, meeting with ducks. I became besotted with a family of ducks and I followed them from 2006 to this year, when the last of that duck family passed on. One day, in an instant, after visiting with my duck family, I had a sudden change of heart and mind. I could no longer participate in any cruelty against animals. I became a vegan in a second. My sister appreciated the gift of dozens of leather bags. They say it’s hard to go vegan, but I literally became vegan in a flash. That changed my life. When I look back, I feel as though I was sleepwalking through life. I love being vegan. I love the look of shock when I tell people I’m vegan. I love that I finally woke up to who I really am.
GREAT story! Thank you.
Hi George,
I really enjoyed your recent podcast.
Please share some of your diet/meal suggestions.
Regards,
Stu
Thanks, Stu! I love quinoa, beans, almond milk (unsweetened), soups, tofu, kale… And I confess a weakness for that sofritas burrito at Chipotle. I’ll share more detailed recipes down the line.
Btw
Those shell cordovan boots are a great choice. Bought a pair several yrs back.
Wear it in good health
Would love to hear some of your diet suggestions!
George, really enjoyed this podcast. One of the best things since Tim Gunn calling out the fashion industry to seriously consider the materials it uses.
I would love to hear an interview with you and Joshua Katcher – ‘The Discerning Brute’ – and man behind ‘The Brave Gentleman’ line of wares. I’ve been a fairly hardline vegan for about a decade now, but it’s particularly challenging in mens’ dress attire, and have relaxed certain standards (I have a wool suit) as I’ve started to dress like a grown up. While technology can’t yet match some things (like wool) other materials seem to really just be a matter of tradition holding over technical reasons. With time, we’ll get better choices. But it can be troubling; as eating animals really equates to killing them for fun, wearing their skins equates to killing them for vanity.
… explicitly… I manage to avoid leather, belts are no big deal, shoes can be tough to find something really beautiful. I avoid silk (I have cotton ties), and usually manage to find non-woollen sweaters (can be pretty challenging). …(from australia where we treat sheep pretty shitty)