Another Happy Ending

Recently Joy and I attended a volunteer day at Ziggy's Refuge Farm Sanctuary in Providence, NC.  This was our second visit to the refuge -- our first to their new location -- and we were eager to see some of the animals who had been rescued in recent months and check up on two very special piglets, Cruz and his sister Coral, who is recovering from a very complicated surgery.

Chris and Dee Dee at Ziggy's Refuge

Every animal at Ziggy's Refuge has a story.  Take Chris, for instance.  This precious baby jumped from a truck which was headed to a slaughter house.  He knew his only chance at survival was to jump from that truck, even if it resulted in his injury or death.  Luckily for him, refuge owners Kristin and Jay were quick to come to his rescue and give him the happily ever after he deserves.

Chris is just one of many success stories​ at the refuge.  Like the other farm animals living there Chris has a distinct personality and exhibits understanding and intelligence.  His affection is is irresistible and endearing.

Getting to know Chris, Ziggy, Sweetheart, Toby, Mr. Jingles, Elvis the cow, Max the donkey, and all the other residents of Ziggy's Refuge has given me all the reason I need to never again eat meat.  I am blessed to have made the connection.  Their happy endings have become my happy beginning...of a life filled with purpose, better health, and peace.  It is my prayer that others will make the connection and realize that animals are not mere commodities but rather sentient beings who just want to live and be loved.

Joy and Sweetheart

Dee Dee and Ziggy

Toby

Copyright 2017 by Dee Dee Wike and Joy Wike. All rights reserved. www.feelingveggiegood.com

One Year Vegananniversary!

On May 18th, 2016, I began a 30-Day Vegan Challenge and haven't looked back. I cannot even begin to describe what finding veganism has meant to me.

For the short period of time I have lived, I now no longer feel unaware of what's going on in the world. The blinders that society, and greedy corporations and people, had placed on me are now forever gone. It's so liberating and I feel FREE! I can only improve from here.

In a year, I haven't lost a ton of weight, my skin isn't 100% clear, I haven't made a lot of smoothies like I intended to do, and I don't eat a super clean whole food plant-based diet 100% of the time (I do eat plant-based 100% of the time, however.).  But at the end of the day, I feel more aware and in charge of my health. I feel healthier, and probably look a little lighter too. My conscience feels more clear and I'm happier.

I was unaware of the devastating impacts animal agriculture has on our planet, but I know now that I have the power to help eliminate some of that impact every time I sit down to eat. I was unaware of how horribly animals are treated in the meat and dairy industries, but now I am proud to say that I love animals and I don't want to eat them. I was unaware of the severe implications animals and their products have on our health, but now I choose to ignore the false advertising of industries who only care about money, and not the well being and health of people in our society.

One year later, I see the World through different eyes. While I may not do a lot, I think a lot more nowadays. I've told my mom before, it scares me to think of how I would be living and thinking if I didn't know what I know now. That sounds like an exaggeration but it's not. We live in a society full of greedy people and corporations who only care about money. And because they have a lot of money, they're able to sell you lies.

I don't miss meat or dairy anymore. Everything that I used to eat, I can get in a plant-based form. I know a plant-based diet and vegan lifestyle are best for me, the planet, and the animals. As far as I'm concerned, I will never turn back.

For everything,

                -Joy



























Copyright 2016-2017 by Dee Dee Wike and Joy Wike. All rights reserved. www.feelingveggiegood.com

The Holocaust for Animals

Nothing can ever compare to the horrors Jews and others faced during the Holocaust. Most of us can't begin to fathom the suffering and fear our fellow humans endured at the hands of evil men. Yet similar practices are being committed against animals today that were inflicted on  humans during one of the darkest times in our history.

On a recent drive through the picturesque farmland of Virginia,  I noticed several people standing around a chute in a livestock pen on one of these farms. It only took me seconds to realize that it was a branding chute. My heart just sank.  Now, I'm not aware that the Nazis branded any Jews during the Holocaust, but they did tattoo a large majority of them. The same is done to factory farmed animals today. I have actually met a pig that was supposed to be slaughtered, but was saved, and I saw up close that she had numbers tattooed on the back of one of her ears.

Most of us cannot imagine the horrors of the gas chambers. The fear those Jews and others felt as they were herded into a room, about to be overcome by toxic, suffocating fumes -- and the realization that humans could do such a thing to another being -- is incomprehensible.  Yet, the same practice still happens today on factory farms. Farm workers gas animals, usually baby chicks and other birds, stuffing these birds into a confined area until they suffocate. And it is not only birds who are gassed. As I saw in the documentary Earthlings, people have actually gassed dogs too.

There was something that I thought about on that drive through the Virginia countryside. I saw a lot of cows, many grazing on lush, grassy fields. However, as nice as roaming those grassy fields must have been for these sweet cows, I knew that the ones I saw would eventually be slaughtered.

The Jews lived pleasant, peaceful lives before the Nazis came storming in. They didn't expect to be ripped from their homes and loved ones. Yet they were, and then they were loaded on to cramped train cars for days. The places they arrived at were nothing similar to their homes. They saw different faces than they had ever seen before, but they were all there for one reason--to be exterminated.

Similarly, these cows will one day be forcefully loaded on transport trucks bound for slaughter. They will be taken from their homes and families, never to return. They don't know where they're going, or the horrors they will endure. Fear and sadness will surely overwhelm these animals, just as fear and sadness overwhelmed the Jews.

At the end of the day, animals are different from people. But not so different that they don't feel pain, suffering, sadness, etc. The Jews and factory farmed animals share some characteristics. Although innocent of any wrongdoing, Jews were then -- and animals are now -- persecuted, abused, and killed.

Most of us will never know all the pain and suffering Jews, gypsies, and others experienced during the Holocaust. However, we can get a small glimpse of some of the horrors they endured if we look into how factory farmed animals are raised today, and the suffering they endure to become our food, clothing, and other products.

"All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing." - Edmund Burke

We must never forget the atrocities our species inflicted on Jews, and others, during the Holocaust. And we must not turn a blind eye to the atrocities our species is committing today on other innocent beings.

           - Joy





Copyright 2017 by Dee Dee Wike and Joy Wike. All rights reserved. www.feelingveggiegood.com

Seeing Things Differently

It has been nearly a year since Joy and I made the decision to go vegan and she would agree that it is one of the best decisions we have ever made.  Nothing gives us greater joy than sitting down to a healthy meal knowing that no animals were harmed to nourish our bodies and satisfy our appetites.

Before going vegan we really didn't give much thought to how our choices affected animals. Besides the obvious consumption of animal products at mealtime, I often wore their leather on my feet or enjoyed the comfort of their fur and wool on a cold winter's day.  I lived for zoo outings and circuses because of my love for and curiosity with animals, never considering the abuse they might suffer behind the scenes.  I just didn't know.  Neither of us did.

Walking through the pet department at Walmart recently I happened to glance at the fish tanks on the back wall and noticed the beautiful colors of the tropical fish in them. Before going vegan I wouldn't have given them a second thought, yet I found myself sad and thinking that they belong in the ocean, not in a sterile, man-made habitat with no vegetation or natural environmental stimulation. The odds that these fish will eventually find their way to an aquarium are slim. Most will die in their confinement or be disposed of because no one chose to take them home. How is that fair, humane, or right?

I remember the very first trip Joy and I made to Virginia. On her spring break we made the long drive from Tennessee to visit Steve, who had moved here a few months before the end of the school year. We stopped at a rest area that backed up to a beautiful cow pasture where several adult cows and their babies were grazing. Joy wanted to go pet the cows that were near the fence. Recently, on our way home from Tennessee we stopped at a similar rest area, only this time we saw the cows a little differently than before. Though they looked peaceful and happy we knew from their ear tags that they are being raised as commodities to be sold at auction and eventually be slaughtered. The wonder we had felt on that first trip to Virginia was replaced with sorrow that their lives don't really matter -- they were born to die and will eventually suffer the same horrific fate as any factory-farmed livestock.

For us, being vegan is not just about eating a whole food plant-based diet in order to maximize our health, though that certainly is a great benefit. It is about so much more.  It is about preserving our environment and fighting for the rights of animals by not consuming them or spending our money in support of activities that result in their harm.  It is about doing all we can to educate others and encourage a more compassionate lifestyle for the good of all -- our fellow humans, our planet, and the animals who inhabit it with us.

Most people think they could never make the switch to a plant-based diet, giving up cheese, eggs, and the meats they have eaten their entire lives.  I totally get that. After all, I was raised on the standard American diet (SAD) myself, living a lifetime on hamburgers, grilled meat, turkey at Thanksgiving, and ham at Easter -- oh, and bacon with everything!  Then I met some four-legged friends and some two-legged humans who became my heroes and inspiration.  Pictured below are just a few of them.

Sweetheart and Joy

Ziggy Hartness and Dee Dee

All the animals at Ziggy's Refuge and founders Kristin Hartness and Jay Yontz

Joy and I are doing what we can, in our own small way, to raise awareness and to encourage others to think and choose differently when it comes to the foods we eat, the products we consume, and the clothes we wear.  If we can encourage you or help you in any way, please let us know.

Peace and compassion for all,

Dee Dee





Copyright 2016-2017 by Dee Dee Wike and Joy Wike. All rights reserved. www.feelingveggiegood.com

An Easter Reflection

“He was oppressed and afflicted . . . led like a lamb to the slaughter” (Isaiah 53:7).

While reading my devotions this morning this verse jumped off the page as never before.  I've always known that Christ suffered horrific abuse and an even worse death when He was crucified for our sins. I've always heard Him identified as the Lamb of God.  But until this Easter, my first as a vegan, I've never quite caught the analogy of Him being "led like a lamb to the slaughter."

It has always been difficult for me to imagine how it must have felt, humanly-speaking, to be scourged, whipped, and beaten as Christ was. But having seen the abuse and atrocities that are heaped upon factory farmed animals before and during their slaughter to satisfy our fleshly cravings, it is not quite so hard to imagine the intense suffering of my Savior to pay the price for my sins.

No animal deserves to suffer and die for any man, yet the Son of God willingly went to the Cross, as a lamb to slaughter, to redeem all mankind from our sins.  This Easter I pray that we all will take into account the suffering and passion of our Savior and endeavor to live with compassion toward all His creatures, both human and non-human. I pray that those who have never received Christ's offer of salvation will open their hearts and enter into the most satisfying personal relationship they will ever know.

#helives #easter #beholdthelamb #compassionateliving #vegan

Copyright 2017 by Dee Dee Wike and Joy Wike. All rights reserved. www.feelingveggiegood.com

What a Difference a Year Makes!

Joy and I just took our first vegan vacation. Thought I'd reflect on a few of the differences between this year's vacation and our similar vacation last year.

In 2016 Joy and I traveled to the Memphis area and then to Arkansas to visit family and friends and eat our fill of all our favorite foods from back home -- Corky's barbecue, southern-fried catfish, and our favorite Chinese and Mexican cuisine.  At the time we traveled we were omnivores and I was twenty pounds heavier than I am today.  During that vacation we discussed coming home and making every effort to "eat clean" by eliminating processed foods and meat from our diet -- AFTER we ate all our favorite foods!  During the ten days we traveled I gained four pounds.  On April 6, the day after we returned, we became vegetarians and six weeks later adopted a fully vegan lifestyle.

Fast forward to our vacation to the same destinations this year, from which we have just returned. Slimmer and determined to stay true to our convictions, we packed our own breakfast knowing that the hotels in which we stayed would have little to offer us from their complimentary breakfast menus. We still ate in restaurants and grabbed fast food along the way -- mostly vegan Subway and Taco Bell options -- but we grocery shopped upon our arrival in Arkansas and cooked three easy vegan dinner meals for my sister and mother, neither of whom are vegan.  Despite ten days of having little or no exercise, I managed to come back weighing the same as the day we left, simply because we ate whole and minimally processed plant-based foods.  Instead of dining in the same restaurants we did last year, we sought out restaurants that catered to vegetarian and vegan diners and were delightfully surprised by the quality and variety of food available to us.  Who knew that a portabello mushroom burger could be so satisfying, or that the vegan-friendly options at Olive Garden include their famously delicious breadsticks?

As plant-eaters we found that the long days of travel, though tiring, were not nearly as taxing because we ate light and had more energy.  We consumed less caffeine and rested better at night -- except for the one night we were booked into a hotel with a bunch of noisy rodeo participants -- and we drank lots of water along the way.  Did we feel deprived?  Not really.  Did we miss our traditional barbecue meal?  Nope.  We enjoyed a vegan version of a barbecue sandwich that more than adequately satisfied or craving for Memphis barbecue!

I can't think of a better way to celebrate our first year of healthy living than by road testing our lifestyle and showing others that being vegan is not as difficult as they might think. While my family may never fully adopt a plant-based lifestyle, at least they were able to sample some of what we eat routinely and see for themselves that as vegans Joy and I really haven't changed  We still enjoy delicious food.  We're still the same kooky, fun-loving gals we've always been.  We're just a little thinner and a whole lot healthier and happier!

For better health,

Dee Dee




Copyright 2016-2017 by Dee Dee Wike and Joy Wike. All rights reserved. www.feelingveggiegood.com

The Attachment to Food

My mother and I are going home in just under a week, which I think is part of the reason why I’ve been feeling homesick. I’ve started to think about things I did in my hometown that I haven’t really thought of since moving to Virginia. Some of the memories involve food, so I can somewhat understand the relationship the human species has to food. 

When my dad moved to Virginia a few months before my mother and I, I remember how my mother and I would go to this frozen yogurt place, get some self-serve frozen yogurt, and then drive to a park that was nearby. Oftentimes, it would be sunset when we would go, and it was always so enjoyable. The park had a path that you could walk on, and my mother and I would often take a walk after we finished our frozen yogurt.

Across from the house I used to live in, there was a sweet Asian man that moved in. Whenever I would go outside he would always wave to me. He had a girlfriend who worked at local donut shop in town. I can’t even count how many times they would bring over boxes of leftover donuts. Blueberry, frosted, cake, fruit filled. You name it, my family and I ate it! There was one specific time when he brought over this HUGE bag filled to the brim with donut holes. He eventually moved before my family and I did, which was disappointing because he was such a good neighbor. 

My family and I would get crazy bread from Little Caesars many, many times to go with dinner. My dad would bring a bag home when he got off work, to go with spaghetti or another entrée. We ate a lot of their pizzas too. I would ride with one of my parents to pick up a pizza, and I remember the doorbell that used to chime when you went into the store. 

Every Saturday morning my dad used to get donuts. When there was a Schnuck’s in our town, he always used to get me a cinnamon twist donut; they were the best.

There was a Chinese buffet in Memphis that my family and I often visited. I remember the glasses for the drinks were huge. My mom and I would have lunch with my Dad who worked nearby, or we would, on occasion, have lunch with some relatives that came over from Arkansas. I used to always get banana and chocolate pudding for dessert. I knew the faces of the waiters that worked there, and there was one man in particular who freaked me out (when I was younger) who I called “Spikey Man.” 

I could share more memories like the donut place my mom, brother, and I used to go to after we went to the dentist. Or the cupcake place that we started going to instead. I could talk about how many times my family and I would go to CiCi’s Pizza Buffet and all the fun times we had, or the Mexican restaurant that my family always ate at, El Mezcal.

Clearly, for me at least, food is a big part of my life, as I’m sure it is for a lot of people. Our culture ties food in with a lot of things, and for me it’s tied in with some of my favorite memories. Today this same food isn't appealing because I know where it comes from, and how it affects my health, the planet, and the animals. But that doesn’t change the fact that at one time I did think the food was great and that I have very fond memories surrounding the food and the memories that go along with it. Trust me, I totally understand your attachment to food. However, if I can change, so can you. I don’t miss the foods I used to enjoy, but I do miss the events that I associate with them -- the places, the people, and the good times.

Yes, I am vegan, but at one time I was an omnivore just like you. Some of my greatest childhood memories involve food, which I think is normal for a lot of us. I just happen to think about food differently now.  For instance, when I was growing up I had no problem eating a Corky's BBQ sandwich. Now, about once a month, I stand on a corner with other activists in Smithfield, VA holding signs to raise awareness about what these pigs go through to become the BBQ sandwich I used to enjoy. 

At the end of the day I'm really no different than you. But I have learned that I can enjoy social gatherings and celebrations without taking the lives of innocent beings. 

                                                         Joy
 



Copyright 2016-2017 by Dee Dee Wike and Joy Wike. All rights reserved. www.feelingveggiegood.com