A Return To Tradition
Disclaimer: I am not writing this post to sway you any which way. I am simply sharing my experience and my findings after much research.
This is a sensitive topic so please know I am doing my best to speak with grace. I have a lot of people that follow me because I was plant-based, and a lot of my followers have gone plant-based because of me. Because of this, I am sensitive to the fact that there will be some upset at my newfound way of eating. I know that when those that influenced me to go vegan started eating meat again, I was immensely hurt. I felt duped. I felt lied to! And I hate that I could possibly be that stumbling block for someone else. But the least I can do now is be honest about where I was wrong.
I have already heard it all—”you were never truly vegan, you were just plant-based”…or “you obviously didn’t eat the right things or supplement all the right vitamins”. If these are your thoughts—and I say this with compassion, because I used to think the same way you do— it’s not your place. If you don’t know me in real life, you don’t know my heart, my history, or my health, so you can’t speak to any of those things. I spent a good year having nightmares from the factory farm footage I had watched, experiencing very real secondary trauma because of the suffering of animals. I ate a very balanced, vibrant, and organic diet. Local foods, homemade meals, very little processed foods. I abhorred fake meats, have never even touched a piece of tofu, avoided unfermented soy like the plague and STILL ended up malnourished and unsatisfied.
While animals are sentient beings— they live and breath and feel pain, sadness, stress, and joy…humanizing them crosses a dangerous line. When I was vegan, it was not because I aligned with the secular climate crisis ideology or anything of the sort, but because I had genuine compassion for the animals that were suffering and I felt wholeheartedly that as a follower of Christ I couldn’t contribute to that. We are called to good stewardship, even in a culture where we are so far disconnected from the source of our food that it almost seems like it doesn’t matter. We will be held accountable for the way we steward our bodies and God’s creation during our time here on earth. Where I went wrong, however, was equating veganism with Christianity. I genuinely thought I had some “special knowledge” and the majority of the church for 2000 years had gotten it wrong. This is one of Satan’s favorite lies that we see right from the get go in Genesis with Eve. God does not give special knowledge or special revelations to select followers of Christ. His word is the only arbiter of truth and authority. Sola scriptura. The devil however, is king of taking a lie and adding juuuust enough truth to make it sound good.
The reason why veganism appeals to so many people these days is because there is a lot of truth to be found in the movement. The way the animal industry treats livestock is extremely horrifically cruel and wrong. We do need to source our food differently. We do need to abhor factory farms and the mass production of GMO grain fed livestock. Poorly raised animal products do pose health issues.
All of this is undeniably true. However, veganism is barely a solution to these problems. Instead it avoids the problem by creating more.
On top of taking Bible verses out of context and idolizing the god of food, I failed to do any research that would challenge my beliefs. It turns out, all of the vegan-favorites like Cowspiracy, Forks over Knives, What the Health, etc are full of good sounding propaganda and various slogans but never any well-researched facts. Armed with a better understanding of theology and a more biblical worldview, all of my arguments for veganism started to fall apart.
Is veganism low-impact?
Now maybe veganism can be healthful and sustainable depending on the area you live. Like Hawaii for example, where fresh fruits and veggies as well as adequate vitamin D is available all year round. I don’t know. But for me, living in the midwest, to eat a truly bioavailable nutritious and low-impact diet, it’s going to require local animal products. If we want to talk sustainability, then we have to be honest about what that looks like. Simply swapping out animal products for highly processed imported goods is not the solution. A truly sustainable and low-impact life looks like a diet made up of mostly local and organic meat, dairy, eggs, and vegetables, and an avoidance of imported monocrops like nuts, grains, soy, avocados, etc. In fact, if you want to make a difference—in the environment and in your health—the biggest thing you can do right now is cut PUFAs from your diet and your life and eat grass-fed animal products instead of grain-fed. Like I mentioned in this post, the reason why we are seeing negative effects in our environment is not because we are eating meat or driving a car to work but because we have abandoned local community living for a reliance on convenience and mass-production to survive.
Is veganism cruelty free?
Despite what I had thought, and promoted on my platforms, veganism is not the most compassionate way to be a good steward of God’s creation. Take the avocado industry for example—avocados seem to be all the rage these days, especially in plant-based circles, but the sheer abuse, greed, and corruption behind the avocado industry is horrendous. If we claim to care about animal lives and the environment, then we must be consistent in our beliefs in all areas, especially when human lives are involved. Animal life can never be more important than human life. According to God’s word, animals matter because He created them and we are commanded to steward our dominion over them well. But humans are the only creature made in the image of God, and therefore, our lives are immensely more important than animal lives. That doesn’t mean factory farms are okay, but it does mean that abortion is a more pressing issue than getting our friends and family to eat less meat. There is a fine line between good stewardship and worship of the creation rather than the Creator (Romans 1).
There are also the rodents killed in grain production, field workers that are barely paid a living wage, and pesticides that kill bugs and birds to consider in our “cruelty-free” lifestyles. Relying on large corporations, monocrops, and cheap food to feed us will never be a cruelty-free option because the companies that produce them care about one thing— profit. There is however, the option of supporting small farmers that care for their livestock and their land in a God-glorifying way that minimizes mass-production, the cruelty in factory farming, and middlemen in distribution.
Is veganism healthy?
Humans need meat to survive. Now, don’t come at me and tell me to watch What the Health. I’ve seen it. In this fallen world, in order for there to be life, there must be death. Study after study has shown that the vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients necessary for a healthy life are only bioavailable in animal foods. Especially now a days since most of our soil is depleted of nutrients and full of carcinogenic toxins. Consider the lifelong research of Dr. Weston A Price as well as Diana Rodgers’ and Robb Wolf’s compiled research in their new book Sacred Cow.
After the flood, God permitted Noah and his family to eat animals when necessary. I used to think that since I had access to what I needed to survive on a plant based diet, I had no excuse for eating animals, that it wasn’t necessary for me. I was wrong. Could I have survived on a plant based diet? Maybe, but I certainly wasn’t thriving. In my experience, and in the experience of most vegans, the reason I felt really great at first was because I didn’t go from eating a whole-foods organic diet to veganism. I went from a trash standard american diet of fast food and flavor-blasted goldfish to a diet rich in organic fruits and veggies. Of course I felt great! I was no longer eating high levels of PUFAs, hybridized wheat, GMOs, and grain-fed conventional animal products. After 2 years of of veganism, I was slowly declining and my body knew something was missing. I began having intense cravings for eggs, so I found a local organic pastured source and added them back into my diet. Again, I felt better, but it eventually was not enough. Then around my third year, I prayerfully decided to add local pastured meat back in my diet, and then raw dairy soon after that. Since then my health issues have improved greatly in a way I didn’t think I would ever experience. While all my hormonal issues are not cured, I have noticed a big difference in my overall health, as well as my physical appearance, and I am continuing to work on healing and finding nourishment in a traditional diet. I am not the only one who has experienced this version of the story, which is probably why studies show over 80% of vegans and vegetarians go back to meat— we just aren’t meant to live without it.
Why I’ve embraced traditional eating
So where am I at now? I’ve embraced what is called “traditional eating”. It’s not restriction surrounded by guilt or shame. It’s not calorie-counting or perfectionism. On the flipside it’s also not binging on frankenfood like the SAD (Standard American Diet). Traditional eating is instead, a nourishing return to real foods. That means butter, bacon, bread, and sometimes even sugar are GOOD FOODS TO EAT when raised, grown, and processed the correct way. Hallelujah, am I right?!
Even though I’m no longer vegan, I still value compassion and stewardship immensely. Factory farms are horrific. Conventional animals raised in confinement, fed grain, and given hormones and antibiotics are dangerous to our health. But the answer is not fake meat made of soy, or milk made from grains, but instead an effort to support our local and organic farmers that value real food the way our ancestors did. Because of the corruption in the food system, real food is more expensive. This means choosing real food may have to come at the cost of our Netflix subscription or our Starbucks habit. This is a sacrifice I am willing to make. I believe true nourishment is worth investing in.
Traditional eating is rich in saturated fats, raw dairy, pastured meat, fermented foods, sourdough, and properly prepared grains. And…even desserts! Traditional eating values true sustainability, regenerative agriculture, and properly processed foods. In my traditional eating journey, I’ve been influenced by a number of books, websites, and research. If this interests you but you have no idea where to dive in, I lay out the 12 main areas of traditional eating in an engaging, easy to read ebook. I also share my masterlist of resources at the end that will equip you to do your own research and find real food in your area.
I don’t know why God’s design includes eating animals. Or why he gave them the ability to feel pain. Maybe that will be one of the questions I’ll ask Him when I meet Him face to face. What I do know is I am not God, so I don’t get to choose how this world works or how my body works or the kind of nutrients it needs. That has been designed and predestined from the beginning of time. What I do know is I can do my best to make choices and support farms that use God-glorifying practices to raise their animals, milk their cows, keep their chickens, harvest honey from bees, and grow fruits and vegetables on their land.
I cannot tell you what to eat or how to eat. It is up to each one of us individually to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12) and to be fully persuaded in our own mind (Romans 14:5-6) and to not be a stumbling block to our brothers (Romans 14:13-14). When I was vegan, I was not pursuing any of those virtues. I was on my high horse living off a lie from satan that I had it right and every other Christian in the church had it wrong. Should we seek to glorify God in every area of our life, even the seemingly “mundane” like our food and our clothes? Absolutely. But does it save? Absolutely not.
I’m grateful for those of you who over the years, continued to encourage me to think critically about famers and the ethics of animal products, and for those of you who have allowed me to grow and change, even though it is quite difficult to do so more publicly than most. I pray that even if we are on different sides of the fence here, we can set our differences aside and offer grace. Whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, our goal here is to do all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31)!
In love,
Kaetlyn