An 18-year vegan

At 47, it's difficult to believe that it's been 18 years since that amazing day when I was 29 and decided to no longer participate in all of the cruelty that was happening in order for me to eat meat. I became a vegan.

I have never really looked backed.

No, it hasn't been difficult.

Difficult is being tortured, living in fear, being constantly abused and beaten and then eventually slaughtered just so someone can eat.

In the last 18 years veganism hasn't changed at all. It still is the simple notion that I can be healthy and live an amazing life without having to consume meat or animal by-products. If you are just learning about veganism, it means no meat and also no dairy, eggs, honey, etc. For me it also means that I do not wear animals, products like leather or even silk.

It is super easy.

My annual physical with my doc has  become a testament to what veganism, and paying attention to putting good things into my body, means to my health. Uber-low bad cholesterol. Great numbers when looking at protein, B12 and other things that tend to be a concern for people who are not vegan. My doc even tells me now that there is a huge difference between blood tests of someone who eats meat and someone who doesn't. As in those who do not eat meat get better results.

Kale? Yep. I love it. I also love dates, blueberries, Swiss chard, collard greens and dark cherries.

Miss cheese? No way. To me dairy cheese means cruelty. It means veal calves and inhumane actions that I just can't support.

Last year I did my first half-marathon. I'm not saying that if I ate meat I couldn't do it, I'm simply saying that as a 47 year old vegan I did it.

Vegan athletes are everywhere. The strongest dude in the world is vegan.

And so are elephants. Yep. And rhinos.

Thinking about veganism? Go for it. There are a ton of helpful links right here on our blog page to help you out. And we would help you too.

Thanks for reading!

Cruelty-Free World

In the spring of 2006 Mike and I had become fed up with always having to buy cool vegan items and accessories online. It had become a joke ordering a vegan belt and having to return one that didn't fit. Also, we knew that there were so many companies out there creating amazing vegan purses, belts, wallets, bags, etc. that if people could just see them in person they would realize that one could buy gorgeous accessories without harming animals.

Cruelty-Free World was born.

We knew we didn't want a brick and mortar shop, rather we would sell at markets and festivals. Our first step was to introduce our product line to our friends and see what they thought.  About 75 friends joined us and let us know what they thought about all of the products we were going to sell. We got wonderful feedback about price and which products people would be interested in buying.

One month later we introduced CFW to the world at the 2006 Boulder Creek Festival. Since then we made a decision to donate 100% of our profit to animal rights and human rights groups. We get to meet great people, have lots (literally thousands over the years) of conversations about veganism and support groups making the world a better place for all living beings.This has meant thousands of dollars to big, national groups as well as small, local groups and animal shelters. All by having fun selling the best vegan products.

We are totally grateful to the companies that supply us with the best vegan products: Splaff, Queen Bee Creations and Hempy's.  In the last year we have really increased our sales in vegan cookbooks, and always try to offer our favorites which now include raw and gluten-free vegan cookbooks (more about the cookbooks we sell in another post). What an incredible feeling it is when a non-veg family leaves our booth with a vegan cookbook or two! And it's even better when they email us all excited by how their meals are turning out!

This year we created knew banners that have the CFW logo but also "home of The Gay Vegans blog". I'm curious to see how that will affect foot traffic. Well to be honest, I am curious AND excited.

The 2012 Boulder Creek Festival is Memorial Day weekend in Boulder, CO. If you're in the area we would LOVE to see you! We are booth 802!

Thanks for reading! Thanks to all those who have supported Cruelty-Free World! And if you might be able to come and say hi in Boulder let us know: vegandude@msn.com