In Kansas City, barbecue is everything — the spices, the rubs, the sauces, the perfectly timed and temperature measured brisket. You can’t travel far in this neck of the woods without seeing another BBQ restaurant. A daily water cooler discussion is which KC BBQ is the best; Joes, Jack Stack, Arthur Bryants, Gates, or any other nationally recognized BBQ joint. Like everyone else, I would participate quite passionately in these discussions.

When it comes to home grilling, I’m no slouch. Among the toys I own; a quality electric thermometer (perfect temp is critical), a smoker, a Traeger (pellet grill), and all the accessories a BBQ aficionado would need. Growing up, I remember on the weekends my dad would grill the most amazing succulent steaks, burgers, ribs, brats, etc. BBQ has been a part of my life. Meat, the center piece of every meal.

My health has been good, I work out regularly and get my annual physicals. I do my part to be responsible to my neighbors, my family, our pets, and others I happen to interact with. I don’t think anyone would have ever labeled me an environmentalist, an animal lover, or an activist. I take care of and love my kids, pay my bills, and mind my own business.

Then something happened that nobody could have expected (or even dreamed). The last thing anybody close to me would have guessed. On July 12th, 2016, I went vegan.

What’s in a Word?

Before that fateful day in July 2016, I had never heard the word “vegan”, let alone met a real life vegan. I want to re-iterate, I had honestly never heard the word “vegan” uttered, in my entire LIFE. How that happens is beyond me. Perhaps I ignored it or mistakenly thought of vegetarians.

I worked with a vegetarian or two occasionally and I believed they were insane, not for any rational reasons but my preconceived notions. I was less than kind with how I perceived and interacted with them. I thought they were freaks of nature; unhealthy people with a risky diet sure to lead to their early deaths. Why would anyone force themselves (against their better judgement) to not eat the best part of every meal? At the time, I did not desire to change anything with my life much less my diet (which is what many people mistake vegan-ism as).

One Ultra Podcast

Before I turned vegan, I had started listening to an inspiring ultra runner and author, Rich Roll. Rich (along with Jason Lester) was the first to ever finish an EPIC5; 5 Ironman’s in 5 days. Over 700 miles of biking, running, and swimming, in 5 days! Needless to say his actions alone are incredibly inspiring. I found him entertaining and informative, really enjoyed his style, and loved his variety of famous and not-so-famous guests. My weekend runs would often extend past the planned miles because I felt a part of a conversation I didn’t want to end.

About my 10th podcast in, Rich had a musical guest on, Moby. Moby spoke about a wild life of partying and excess beyond anything I had ever experienced. Yet it was something I could relate to, having a bit of a wild past of my own. Then Moby said something about animal agriculture that made me rewind the podcast and listen again:

It’s the magic bullet that fixes everything. If animals weren’t used for agriculture.. … famine would disappear … rainforest deforestation decreases by 90%, ocean acidification decreases by 25%, water use decreases by 40% … cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, etc., all are reduced by at least 60% … zoonotic disease disappears

My World Turned Upside Down

World hunger ending? The environment? Deadly disease? All from a DIET choice? If that were true, why hadn’t I heard of it before and why wouldn’t everyone be doing it? Nonsense. My first reaction was the same as many. It would have been easy for me to turn off the podcast, ignore the message, and live the rest of my life never knowing any better. That would be the normal thing to do. But the message was so crazy, how could I simply dismiss it? Why would anyone think up something so insane? I was skeptical.

I dug into the Rich Roll archives and listened to many of his vegan guests. From Dr. Gregor to Dr. Barnard, from John Lewis (@BadAssVegan) to Dr. Joy, from Steve-O (Jackass) to Russell Simons (Hip Hop Legend). The list goes on. Sprinkled in Rich’s guest list were people living and thriving on a vegan diet. But once you have an agenda, it’s easy to find people with matching agendas, right?

So I looked up videos on youtube, researched medical reports on health, watched documentaries such as Cowspiracy, Forks over Knives, and Earthlings. I read dozens of blogs, both promoting vegan-ism, as well as those against it. I began noticing a common thread, the pro-vegan movement was consistently backed by science. From everything on how dairy is linked to cancer, meat linked to heart disease, to how our environment is drastically impacted by animal agriculture. It seemed quite a radical message and one that required me to set aside my ingrained beliefs. But I couldn’t let my past beliefs cloud my judgement.

We Have ALL Been Duped

Not because of malicious intent, or a desire to do harm, but because of greed. The meat, dairy, and egg industries all have a product to sell. If they sell their product, they make money. If they don’t, people lose jobs. Through clever marketing, they made us believe we need animal products in our diet (what about protein?). The simple truth is that the optimal amount of animal products we need in our diet is exactly zero.

These industries found their way into our schools and minds of children decades ago. They became donors to regulatory and trusted entities such as the American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, and the USDA. I don’t believe it was ever an evil plan to make everyone sick. It was simple economics. Businesses promote their goods while protecting their interests for self-preservation and profit. Good business, right? The new documentary, What the Health, really gets to the bottom of these motives.

Being Vegan is Hard, Right?

So after doing the research, I decided to give it a go. This BBQ loving Midwesterner without any desire to change decided that if vegan-ism could do so much, I owe it to my fellow citizens of earth to give it a shot. On July 12th, 2016, I cut out all animal products. Or so I tried.

I made all the mistakes early vegans make. I still bought bread containing milk or honey without knowing any better. I had an occasional candy with gelatin, or some “lactose free” product containing whey. I found out that not all vegan (or non-vegan) products are clearly marked. But once I learned, I quit buying them.

I bought EVERYTHING in the health food part of the store, and our monthly grocery bill sky-rocketed. I nearly gave up due to this alone, but I knew it was too important to give up so soon.

Then I found a large community of vegans online. There are tons of vegan you-tubers, Facebook groups, Instagram, and Twitter accounts to follow. I learned you don’t have to buy expensive organic or meat alternatives to buy vegan. Simply buy things that don’t need a label. Vegetables, fruit, rice, beans, potatoes, pasta. I found out that vegan foods are accessible to everybody and at a cheaper price tag. Yet it requires a bit of learning and patience to change your grocery shopping patterns and replace all the recipes you know by heart.

What I’ve learned is that there is just as much a variety of delicious, amazing food made without animal products as there is with. I’m not removing from my food experience, but adding to it. Vegan food isn’t about restriction, it’s about exploration, and it’s incredible.

As it turns out, being vegan IS easy. Changing habits developed over a lifetime is hard.

Going vegan aligns with your values

My personal journey on becoming vegan didn’t have a thing to do with compassion for animals. I’m ashamed to admit I didn’t care. I saw animals as products for us to use as the superior race. It’s all part of natures design right? However, the longer I’ve been vegan, the more I’ve felt my compassion grow for these innocent, harmless beings. That may seem crazy at first, yet I can say without a doubt that something changes inside your soul when you’re not participating in an activity that leads to the unnecessary death of innocent animals.

If you’re an animal lover.. it is against your nature to contribute to something that destroys them. If you care about humans.. it is against your nature to contribute to something that destroys the earth we live on and directly impacts the quality of life for people in and around animal agriculture. If you care about yourself and/or family.. it is against your nature to do something that is destroying your body and taking you away from them earlier. If you’re spiritual/religious.. it is (hopefully) against your beliefs to do good for some yet harm for others. Do good for all.

Everything about vegan-ism coincides with our nature as humans. Everything about carnism goes against our nature as humans.

One trait we all share — WE ARE ALL HUMAN.

I’ve found that by not fighting against my human nature, I experience more peace, happiness, and joy. I find myself often smiling lately for no reason at all. Though I now know the evils of the world I live in, and have also felt despair, the feeling of good I get so often continues to pull me up and give me hope.

The World is Changing

The science is sound and the writing on the wall. Animal agriculture of today is the tobacco of yesterday (but with far greater consequences). There are too many smart, rational, caring people touting the benefits (and dire necessity) of vegan-ism to ignore it. I’m not asking everyone to go vegan today. I’m asking everyone to think rationally and do your own research. Enjoy the journey and don’t be scared off by what you see. Your allies are growing.

Vegan-ism is no longer a fringe movement for a small percentage of hippies, do-gooders, or extremists. It’s rapidly becoming mainstream, and for good reason. If I can be convinced then anyone can.

As for my grill, I can’t wait to fire it up this summer and grill all sorts of veggies, fruit & cruelty free grilling recipes! If we all become as passionate about vegan-ism as I was about which BBQ sauce is best, the world may just become a better place for everyone.