A very short explanation of why I am a vegan, written again for the chaplaincy at HMP Highpoint North. Hopefully, it will make people think a little before eating animal produce. The latest figures on the environmental effects of breeding animals for food consumption are shocking. Strangely enough, being a vegan is not as difficult in prison as it might seem, once the system is understood. Having said that, any vegan in a B Cat prison will need some money to survive and the treatment varies widely from prison to prison. If anyone wants to know the details, just make a comment.
On Being a Vegan
Let no animal die that I may live
Let no being suffer that they might give
My mind or body some passing pleasure
Leave them their lives, their peace, their leisure
By our existence, the human race
Confines into a smaller space
All other species on this earth
That they expire while we give birth
Let no-one think these words a plea
To those that with me disagree
That they should all their habits change
I merely ask they should think it strange
That I eat no meat yet am not ill
While they are told to eat their fill
Of other beings’ body parts
Ribs and rumps, heads and hearts
That I drink no milk and am still quite sane
Without this causing the slightest pain
To living creatures, great and small
Whose world we share for the joy of all
I ask, however, that when they eat
They sometimes accept to not choose meat
And some days if they simply could
Consume less animal-origin food
That they think upon their community’s health
And consider what comprises wealth
It can’t be just the things we’ve earned
It at least includes the things we’ve learned
Problems caused by food production
Far outweigh our taste’s seduction
The science has arrived at last
That can release us from our torturing past