Why am I vegan? Everybody knows it is wrong to kill. One day, I came to the realization that there is no difference between the family dog, cat, parrot, fish or other pet and the cow, chicken, fish and other animals I used to eat. It is illegal to do to animals kept as pets what is commonplace in animal farming.

Two simple rules to being vegan:

Cruelty free.
Not eating anything that came from an animal. Animal abuse in the name of agriculture is the norm. As Paul McCartney said: "If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian."
If it's not food, don't eat it.
Not eating preservatives, or artificial colors and flavors. It's common sense. Our bodies are constantly making new cells to replace dead cells. Where do the materials come from to make these new cells?

Artificial colors and flavors: A long time ago, everything we ate was all natural. Somewhere along the line, companies found that they could replace some ingredients with cheaper chemicals. As long as it tastes the same, who cares? Read the ingredients on the label of a Hershey chocolate bar. When Hershey started making candy bars, the ingredients were all natural. At some point in time, they decided that they would replace some of the ingredients with chemicals that taste almost the same, but cost less, increasing their profit without regard for their customers' health.

Preservatives: Researchers found that food spoils because of bacteria, fungus and mold. Many foods now contain Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate or other poisons to kill the bacteria, fungus and mold. These foods still contain the dead bacteria, fungus and mold, as well as the poison. Does that sound like something you want to eat?

Humans started eating animals because it was necessary for survival. They learned how to raise crops. Eating animals was no longer necessary for survival. Why do we still eat animals? Would you still eat animals if you had to catch them, kill them, skin and butcher them yourself? Is it any less cruel because it happens in a faraway slaughterhouse? When you buy meat, you pay somebody to be cruel to animals. Would you eat your family dog? You know your dog feels pain. Cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, fish and other animals feel the same pain. I don't want to participate in causing pain and suffering and death.

The animal agriculture industry doesn't want you to know that we don't need to eat animals to survive. They also don't want you to know that animal agriculture is the leading cause of pollution of the air, water and land.

I could cite numerous references to studies that show the adverse health affects of eating animals, artificial colors and flavors, and preservatives, but they are easy enough for you to find on your own. Instead, I'll share a few quotes made by some very intelligent people.

Albert Einstein: "Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."

Thomas Edison: "Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages."

Leonardo da Vinci: "Truely man is the king of beasts, for his brutality exceeds theirs. We live by the death of others: we are burial places! I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look on the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men."

Pythagoras: "For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love."

George Bernard Shaw: "If a group of beings from another planet were to land on Earth -- beings who considered themselves as superior to you as you feel yourself to be to other animals -- would you concede them the rights over you that you assume over other animals?"

Abraham Lincoln: "I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being."