My Thoughts: The Parallels Between Factory Farming and Sweatshop Consumerism.

I'm gonna open this blog post with a simple truth: there is an overwhelming amount of bad in this world.

I have yet to find a way of living that completely dodges causing some form of bad or another.

The decision to stop eating meat, for me, was easy. I felt like I was saving innocent animals from unnecessary cruelty and slaughter, which in my mind, is stopping one form of 'bad.'

But I can't help but cringe when I think about the exploitative sweatshops across seas that produced my yoga pants that I have on, or the exploited workers who built my laptop that I am typing on right now.

Here's what I want to touch on: consuming animal products from animals in slaughterhouses and factory farms and buying products that were constructed in sweatshops are not too different at all. Both involve humans abusing their power.

Okay, right off the bat, someone might argue that eating meat requires the unnecessary death of a living creature, and a sweatshop doesn't directly kill people or its workers. On purpose, anyhow.

But, hear me out here for a moment. Besides the aforementioned quite obvious and fundamental difference, I believe that factory farming and sweatshops are quite similar, in premise.

One of vegetarianism and veganism's strongest selling points is the notion of acting and making decisions on behalf of the voiceless and powerless animals. "Being a voice for the voiceless."

An innocent chicken can't do squat about its ill-fated life in a factory farm and later slaughterhouse. Does it want to live in cramped, unclean living quarters? No, but it's not as if it can simply walk or fly away from the place. Fun fact: many modern day factory-harvested chickens can barely even walk because their breasts are genetically designed by humans to be so unnaturally large that their legs cannot support the weight. Moving onto the slaughterhouse, does it want to undergo death through electrocution by being submersed in a body of water that has a running electric current? Does it want its throat slit, assembly line style? Definitely not. There simply is no way to ethically kill something that does not want to die. But the chicken doesn't have the means to escape the terrible system or the power to save its own life. It clearly can not fight back against the big worker with the bloody knife. Its only glimmer of hope is mercy from humans.

I believe that by killing animals, we are abusing our power as humans. I mean, really: how exactly can we justify killing so many other living creatures? It surely cannot be that we need their flesh to survive. It's beyond obvious that one can live, THRIVE, off of a vegetarian diet. I've tried and tried and have failed repeatedly to come up with a justification for the killing other than the fact that we are humans and we are more powerful than the animals, so maybe in some twisted logical reasoning that means we can do whatever we please to them. If they can't fight back, what's to stop us?

What if nature were reversed, and humans were the ones who were sent through death factories in a mechanical, methodical manner, by big and powerful animals? My proposition is that we would try and fight for our lives by disputing that just because the animals were bigger and more powerful than us does not justify taking our lives away from us.

Now to discuss sweatshops. In places like Bangladesh, sweatshops violate basic human rights on a daily basis. Workers are shackled by dangerous conditions, unspeakable hours, and minimal pay and protection. But, because there are no other work opportunities, impoverished people have no choice but to work at these horrible places. And then child labor happens because families need more money and therefore the children need to earn more money for the family just to stay afloat financially. So, goodbye to education and a future to these children, if these things were even available in the first place.

Large corporations have recognized the unbelievable lack of opportunity in places like Bangladesh and Taiwan and therefore exploit their power and take advantage of the lack of opportunity by outsourcing. Hello, cheaper production of revenue-building product!!

When we buy our yoga pants and our laptops, we are abusing our power as the privileged, are we not? By purchasing products that are produced in sweatshops, we are perpetuating the unjust, inhumane cycle. Just like chickens in the slaughterhouse, sweatshop workers do not have the capability or means to escape the unjust sweatshop work system.

What if the economic statuses of countries were reversed, and we were the sweatshop workers and people across seas were the ones with all the money and wealth of the world. Wouldn't we hope that they would speak up for us and find a better way to produce their posh possessions so that we could enjoy a real life and have the opportunity to pursue a future of hope and not a future fixed in dusty, grimy buildings and long, exhausting hours?

As a vegetarian and partial vegan, I am really wrestling with the thought that I am being the voice for the animals but not for the exploited workers in sweatshops. It's as if, through my actions and lifestyle choices, I am embodying moral hypocrisy. Gracing animals with innocence by not eating them but not providing mercy for sweatshop workers because I like my yoga pants and I like my computer. And it's not just my yoga pants and MacBook, obviously. Let's be real, virtually every possession I own was produced overseas.

What's the solution? At this point, is it even possible for us privileged people to stop doing so much 'bad' in the world? Our lifestyles seemingly cannot go on without taking advantage of sweatshop labor. We can't sew all of our own clothes and we can't go naked. Most of us as individuals don't have the expertise to build our own technological devices nor can we simply abandon technology altogether because it is so powerfully woven into the ways of our society.

I do not know how to become completely independent of the sweatshop system. That is what scares me. I can't stop being a part of the bad of the world, no matter how hard I try. And that does not sit right with me.

Don't Hide Your Passions + School Newspaper Interview!

This morning, something exciting happened--someone from my school newspaper committee emailed me and asked if they could interview me to write an article on my Instagram account! I was super excited and immediately concurred. I'll include the questions and my answers in this post, but first there's something I want to address. 

Had I been asked to be interviewed about my account for the newspaper last school year, I would've freaked out inside and said no. When I first made my account, I wanted it to be a secret. I'm not really sure why, but the idea of having anyone from my school following made me uncomfortable. Maybe I thought I'd be judged, and to avoid that possibility, I hid my passion from everyone who knew me. 

I also kept my account and passion hidden from most of my extended family. My dad's side of the family is huge (we're talking about 100 cousins total), and whenever we would go to a Swanson family gathering, my dad would always bring up the Instagram app on his phone and show my relatives my account. This led to them asking me about it! Again, I don't know why, but I hated this. HATED it. I felt, almost, ashamed for my passion? It was to the point that I even asked my dad to never tell anyone about my account again. 

But then, one of my relatives said something that changed my mind... he told me that what I was doing was really cool, and that I should "Never hide something I'm passionate about." (*hear the mic drop in the background*)

Dang.

He was right. What he said truly resonated with me. For so long, the thing that changed my life, the thing that made me a healthier, happier, more confident, more fit, less stressed, and less anxious person, was kept a complete secret. For the stupidest, stupidest, stupidest of reasons.

Eventually I opened up to everyone about my account. I made a post on my personal Instagram talking about it, and explained briefly the reasons why I made the account and made the choice to follow a plant-based diet. All my built-up fears of publicizing this melted away as I received lots of positive feedback. And maybe they judged me, I don't know. Actually, they probably did. But who cares?

The point that I really would like to drive home here is that the possibility of judgment or fear of being viewed as different should never stop anyone from following their passion and sharing it with the world. I mean, imagine a world where no one chased after what they cared about. It's pretty safe to say that that would be a very miserable and boring place. There would be significantly less art, music, food, literature, self-expression. Seriously though, try to envision your school without the band kids, no theater kids, no student council kids, no math team kids, no sports kids, etc. I can't speak for anyone else, but to me, a homogenized community like that in which passions are hushed and everyone follows the same mundane routine would be bland and horrible and boring and unbearable. No thanks to that world.

Whatever your passion is, follow it. And share it with your family, with your friends, with your classmates, with everyone. There's just something refreshing about seeing someone pursue things they care about. Not to mention the joy that you uncover when you discover a passion of yours. But please never, ever hide that passion. Don't hide it from your classmates, and don't get mad at your dad when he tells everyone about what his little girl is doing. (He's doing this because he's proud.) You never know how you might inspire or change someone else's life by doing sharing about what you care about. And maybe they'll think it's weird, but odds are they'll think it's pretty cool.  

Also, consider this: Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind. 

Yay for the wonderful aspects of individuality and passion. 

{Here's a random senior picture of me cheesily smiling at the ground to fill up some white space in the middle of this post}

Now, for that school newspaper interview I was talking about! 

1. Why did you decide to go vegan?

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been interested in eating healthy. Alongside this, there are a couple specific reasons that led me to transitioning into eating plant-based.

In October of 2012, my sophomore year, my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer, and to prolong her life and maintain her health, her oncologists and other doctors put her on a raw vegan diet. (Raw vegan meant she only ate raw, organic fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds.) It sounds intense, but that helped save her life! After that, I became very interested in learning about how what we eat affects our health, and I later began to research the effects of consuming plant-based protein vs. animal protein. And, my dad once said, “Why should it take a life threatening disease to make us eat right?” That question really resonated with me, but I didn’t make any dietary changes for another 16 months.

During those 16 months, I dealt with a few mental and physical health problems that brought me down on a daily basis. My doctor told me that cutting back on meat and dairy could improve these types of problems, and so this sparked my interest as it went along with what I learned from my grandma’s experience. So, one night, I decided to change everything, and finally live the healthy lifestyle that I had dreamed of and kick those health issues to the curb. The next morning, February 25^th, 2014, (it’s an important day to me!) I woke up and announced to my parents that I had given up meat, dairy, all animal products, and gluten. Initially I intended for it to be a 21 day detox, but I felt so great at the end of the 21 days that I continued!

2. Was the transition hard?

Not at first. Luckily, my parents were incredibly supportive of me, and were willing to spend more on groceries each month to buy higher volumes of fresh fruits and vegetables, which made everything possible! Also, documenting what I ate on my Instagram account kept me accountable in a way, and it was fun for me to watch my account grow. I met some awesome people who share the same passion as me, and having that constant source encouragement and support in the Instagram community was helpful! Surprisingly, avoiding the unhealthy foods that I used to love really wasn’t a problem at all. There are alternatives for almost anything—coconut milk ice cream, dairy free yogurt, butter, milk, chocolate, etc; even vegan pizza—you name it.

After a few months it got more difficult to stay completely plant-based, and I eventually lightened up and reintroduced gluten and started to eat small amounts of dairy here and there. To this day, I’d say I’m about 80-90% plant-based. But I’ve learned that the better I eat, the better I feel, so I live by this rather than striving to eat perfect all the time.

3. How has it impacted your life?

Healthy eating changed my life more than I ever anticipated or could have wished. It improved my health in every way. For a start, I stopped getting frequent headaches and stomach aches like I had before. I noticed that I felt increasingly more energetic, happy, positive, and less stressed and anxious, all the time, which was amazing! And making the change to eat healthier led to the implementation of other healthy habits in my life, such as improving my sleep and exercise habits. I got more fit and felt great overall!  

For everyone, but young adults especially, a positive body image and self confidence can be difficult to have, due to constant exposure to unrealistic standards in the media and also the common tendency to be hypercritical of ourselves. But I learned that once you put in the effort to live healthier, you become so much more appreciative and grateful for your health and your body, and you spend less time critiquing your imperfections and trying to reach some stupid standard. It was wonderful.

4. How did you come up with the idea to make an Instagram account?

A couple months before I made the change, I found some health Instagram accounts, including @marensdelights and @sweetpeppah, who belong to people who promote healthy and active lifestyles. It all seemed so perfect to me—pretty smoothies, healthy meals, overall healthy and positive outlooks on life. I wanted to do the same thing that they were doing, so I did!

The Instagram community has to proven to be quite amazing; and it’s a great place to find motivation and support. Now I’m friends with Mären of @marensdelights and Gracie of @sweetpeppah, as well as other people who are food nerds and health nuts like me. I love it, and I am so thankful for the positivity that my Instagram account has brought to my life.

5. Would you recommend being vegan to others?

Absolutely. It's a big change and it requires a lot of time and motivation, and it can be expensive depending on how you shop for groceries, but the benefits outweigh the cons by a long shot. I strongly believe that it is one of the best things that one can do for their health, for the sake of ethics, and for the environment.

However, I do recognize that making such a drastic change probably isn’t possible for everyone. But as aforementioned, you don’t need to eat perfectly all the time to be healthy, and you don’t necessarily need to cut out such a large portion of the food triangle either. Simply incorporating more fruits and vegetables into your meals and snacks, and mindfully cutting back on processed and refined foods, can have profound positive effects on your health and life! When people ask about how I eat/ask for advice, I tell them my motto: Strive for improvement, not perfection. One can be reached, and the other cannot.