What Ian’s Saying…

Hi Colleen and greetings from Down Under,

My name is Ian Munn and I am a school teacher, fitness instructor and musician from Dubbo, Australia. I have recently turned vegan and I am absolutely thrilled to have discovered your podcast. I have been a meat eater most of my life but for the last ten years I have been really into fitness and a healthy lifestyle. This has made me look at vegetarian options and the benefits of being a vegetarian from a purely nutritional standpoint. Recently, a vegan friend asked me why, if I believed “compasssion” was so important, “did i eat innocent animals?” Something clicked. Just a few days earlier one of our dogs, Gidget, passed away. Gidget’s death, followed by my friend’s question, somehow awakened my mind. Now I had both health and ethics to consider. That night I googled “vegetarian” and “compassionate vegetarian” and found your podcast. I watched Meet Your Meat after looking at the PETA site also. Like I have heard you say, I woke up.

I do not handle blood and gore very well but I forced myself to watch the whole video. I had, and still have, that horrible feeling I think all vegans can identify with, where you just see the enormity of the problem. The media and the food lobbyists have brainwashed the general population. I felt helpless but absolutely compelled to act.

Then I listened to your podcasts. I teach English so I am a tough critic. Your articulate and well researched podcasts have given me hope. You have given me help in answering the questions people have started to ask me. More importantly, you made me realise how the female reproductive system is exploited. Within 2 to 3 podcasts I knew I had to be vegan. How could I not? The problem was telling my wife.

She grew up with her family breeding “stud cattle.” About six months ago I told her i wanted to go vegetarian and was met with firm protests as to how restrictive it would be. I did not follow through with it as a result, but this time I told her I was going vegetarian and that I was going to try and not have dairy. I then broke it to her the next day that I was adopting a vegan lifestyle.The facts I was able to tell her from your podcasts have interested her, and the joy and motivation I have derived from listening to you has made her accepting of my decision. While she is still eating meat, I have you to thank for the extreme happiness I now experience living everyday according to my ethics.

Thanks to you, I feel I am in a unique position to empower others to live healthier lives. The joy I now feel as a vegan is just amazing. It is easily the best decision I have ever made and you are truly a shining light. Please don’t underestimate the work you do in changing people’s lives. I intend to pass that on in my own way.

Your podcasts have changed my life. Your compassion is infectious and I thank you for sharing your thoughts so readily and with such conviction. It seems kind of strange to say I feel like we are friends but I feel so thankful for all you have done.

With thanks,
Ian Munn