Perhaps The Best Reason...

There are lots of reasons for living a vegan lifestyle (SEE NOTE 1). Among them:

• Compassion for farm animals. This one is pretty obvious. Farm animals suffer not just because they are killed for food, but because of the horrible conditions in factory farms and the genetic manipulation of these animals to make them more efficient meat producers. "Old McDonald's Farm" is a lie that we hold up to make the torture of farm animals seem less real, or even somehow happy.
  

• Compassion for wild animals. Huge amounts of land are needed to house and grow food for farm animals, decreasing habitat for wild species. Wild species are often hunted near grazing lands because of their prey instincts.
  
  
• Environmentalism. Animal agriculture is inherently inefficient. It requires large amounts of land, water, and energy. It also creates huge amounts of air, water and soil pollution.
  
  
• Labor issues. Factory farming hurts the American worker. Factory farms replace people with automation. Poultry processing is one of the most dangerous jobs in America (without the increase in wage that you might expect to go along with a dangerous job).
  
  
• Human health. The negative effects of a meat-based diet are well known (and, like the benefits of vaccinations, generally denied by extremist nut-jobs).
  
  
• Patriotism. Animal agriculture speeds the use of our natural resources, increases our dependence on foreign oil, increases our indebtedness to foreigners, increases our taxes, stresses our health care system, and decreases our quality of life.
  

So there are lots of ethical and rational reasons for adopting a vegan lifestyle. But there is an even better one: It pisses off Sarah Palin.

One way of gauging if something is good is to see if it bothers bad people. Veganism meets this criterion. Although you can be damn sure that Sarah Palin will not get a cent of my money (and it pains me to give her any mental- or word-processing time), I heard this week that among the many things she complains about in "her" book (I don't know who actually wrote it) is vegans.

That was good enough for me to desist my consumption of animal products on the spot. When Diane got home from work, I informed her of the matter. I believe she understood.

I was a vegan in my 20s for about five years, so I know I have the strength and discipline to do it (SEE NOTE 2). If I had kept that approach, I would almost certainly not have a stent in my anterior descending coronary artery as I write this.

All I need to do to stay on track when I see a tempting steak or smell bacon cooking is picture Sarah Palin in the Oval Office. If that doesn't scare me straight, nothing will.

XXX

NOTE 1: Veganism is, essentially, a way of living that eschews the use of animal products. It is primarily dietary in nature (no animal flesh, by products, or excretions), but tends to also include the avoidance of purchasing leather garments and such. The impetus tends to be ethical (it reduces the suffering in the world), although veganism for health reasons is fairly common, too. When researching it, one finds that there are many reasons for veganism and extremely few reasons not to do it.

NOTE 2: It can be difficult to live outside the "norm." I lost my way due largely to the hectic life that I adopted over time. Eliminating animal products from your diet is not easy as a blue-collar American with a busy life. That's no excuse for the suffering I have caused, but it is a fact of life.