Discovering What I Always Knew | Mae Conte

“I was always an animal lover.” So many stories of coming to veganism begin this way. I guess I’m a cliché in that way; and yet this very same sentiment pushed me away from the norm – challenged me to think freely instead of following blindly and conveniently – which is anything but cliché.

Most kids look at chicken nuggets and never think about the beautiful barnyard birds that say “cluck” while they’re eating them. Many kids don’t even realize that the food “chicken” is the same as the animal “chicken.” Not me.

Most kids drink milk at least once a day. They don’t think deeply about the fact that it came from the inside of an animal, a bodily secretion. Not me.

Most Americans grew up eating hamburgers in their family’s regular rotation of meals. They behave as though summer holidays were made for hotdogs and hamburgers, not relating these “foods” as the mashed up concoctions of another being’s body parts that they are. Not me.

Most Americans blindly buy into the bacon craze, considering a life without bacon to be “worthless” and “miserable,” believing that it is manly or cool to be so gluttonous, without even the slightest recognition of the fact that these ideas were sold into their minds with billions of marketing dollars to convince you that your favorite food is a burnt, fried, heavily salted and cholesterol-ridden slice of fat off of a pig’s body. Not me.

NOT ME. While I did not grow up vegan, as a child I never disassociated meat from the animals that they were, and because of this, I didn’t eat much of it. I was 18 years old when I had my first taste of bacon, 22 when I had my first beef burger. When my mom put milk in my cereal, I would gently tip the spoon to pour the milk off before taking a bite. In an area of the country that seemed slow to pick up on progressive vegan ideas (southern New England) I somehow knew at a very young age the difference between vegan and vegetarian. “Not me,” I thought. “Vegetarians don’t eat meat, and vegans don’t eat anything that comes from an animal at all.” It seemed like a good idea, but (despite not eating a lot of meat anyway) not for me. What would I eat when my dad brought me to McDonald’s? What would I put on spaghetti without butter and Parmesan?

My first encounter with the horrors of factory farming happened when I was a teenager at a rock concert. The singer from one of my favorite bands was autographing Vegan Outreach pamphlets and handing them out. On one of the pages there was an image of a cow whose neck was broken so severely that her chin rested on her spine as she faced the back end of her body. The explanation below the picture stated that workers broke her neck when she fought to protect her baby who was ripped away from her to be made into veal. She was still alive when the photo was taken. “Who would support this? Not me!” I thought. “I don’t eat veal or beef!” At the time, I didn’t know that veal is a byproduct of the dairy industry.

The image of the cow with the broken neck never left my mind. I thought about veganism for a long time, but believed that I just couldn’t make time for it. As the years went by, I thought more and more about the horrors of factory farming – the horrific conditions that the animals live in, the torture they endure, and the inevitable terrifying death they all face, like something out of the most grotesque horror film. Who would want to live this way? Not me… Who would want to support this horrific industry? Who can sit around and actually be okay with putting their money towards this? Who would rather turn a blind eye and continue to be a part of this sick, sick way of life that corrupted big businesses have set up for us? Not me.

By the age of 25, I finally said NOT ME. I no longer wish to support an industry that exploits living beings so horrifically. I will no longer disregard the lives of those who were needlessly born and killed simply to please our palates. I will no longer turn a blind eye. Not me.

I went vegan in January of 2013 and never looked back. Soon after, my mission in life became very clear to me. From that moment on, I began working on building a farm animal sanctuary and community that fully incorporates the well-being of humans and the environment along with animal welfare into its mission. I volunteer with rescued farm animals and feel a deep sense of connection unlike any other animal I have ever worked with. My relationship with food has completely changed. I have become one of the best cooks I know. I went from eating pasta and bagels almost everyday (in my pre-vegan days) to making something new from scratch everyday, hardly making the same meal twice. I am the healthiest I have ever been. I live by my morals, and make decisions that I can go to bed with at night. I do not have to turn a blind eye for fear of change or the disturbing reality of my choices. I am vegan, and I live freely, ethically, beautifully, richly, and compassionately.