Why do you do what you do?

I often get asked questions about veganism, such as 'why do you do it?', or 'what made you become a vegan?'. There are loads of reasons for both of these (hence my talks), and recently I had to created a bio for Vegfest Bristol, so it feels apt to use it here.
  

In 2008 a stranger sold me a book ‘A Higher Taste: a guide to gourmet vegetarian cuisine and a karma-free diet’ for around £2. This book highlighted the unnecessary cruelty inflicted on animals, the carcinogens in meat, the diseases in animals, the man made chemicals pumped into animals before we eat them, and also the fact that the majority of animals are fattened up with large amounts of feed which could go to other humans who instead starve to death. Eating animals no longer made sense to me, so the logical step was to go vegetarian, and this gradually led to veganism.

I started looking into a vegan lifestyle by reading, watching documentaries about food and animal cruelty, and listening to speakers. Then one day a friend suggested doing a talk myself. I saw this as an opportunity to become like the stranger who first woke me up.

Realizing that humans do not need to eat animals at all is, for me, a ‘waking up process’. I have now created a Youtube channel which has a collection of documentaries, talks and videos about this process. This channel is called wakingupprocess (https://www.youtube.com/user/wakingupprocess/playlists). Following on from this channel I have started to make my own videos that come under the title ‘VTV – Vegan Tele Vision’, the latest project being about inspirational Vegan athletes, which include several world record holders: watch it here –   Inspirational Vegan Athletes – 2014 (Link here or watch below -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZOu3CQsABQ)

I now use some of my spare time volunteering with animal charities like Viva!, Teen VGN and at a monthly vegan buffet; connecting with vegan athletes; and promoting veganism via my talks, leafleting and displaying banners.

Along the way I have met many amazing people, some of whom have cured or alleviated symptoms of health problems through vegan diets, such as eczema, asthma, depression, cancer and symptoms of primary progressive MS (multiple sclerosis). All these examples, combined with my own positive health benefits, inspire me to share what I know with everyone.




(Photographic images are © Berty Justice 2014 - Some images on video are seperate)