Why I'm A Vegan By Russell Simmons

I was raised eating meat just like most other Americans. I believed that finishing my dinner and gulping down my milk would make me grow up to be big and strong. I was given a familiar message that kids (and parents!) are still being spoon-fed today. Never once did I consider exactly what I was eating or what happened to the animal before it reached my plate. Of course, I did have my vegan friends around me, such as my assistant, Simone Reyes, and good friend Glen E. Friedman always pounding me with reasons to join their team, but it wasn't until about fifteen years ago when I began taking yoga classes at Jivamukti Yoga Center in NYC that I became vegetarian.

I credit the teachings at that school with many of the life-altering changes in my life. The teachings of my gurus, Sharon and David Life, are responsible for me not only having a newfound respect for my body, but for changing my eating habits and quieting my mind through meditation. Up until this time, a hamburger was something stuck between two buns -- not a cow, a wing was something you dipped in BBQ sauce -- not a chicken, and milk was something you drank as a human, never realizing it was only meant for a calf.