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America was founded on the radical notion that everyone has a right to personal freedom.  As individuals, localities, states, and as a whole we can assert our desires and pursue them to the very limit of the rights of your neighbor.  The founding fathers, in their wisdom, allowed us the freedom to learn, change our opinion, and alter the very law of the land to conform to new desires.

This holiday weekend was a time for all Americans to consider the blessing of their freedoms, to count them and hold them up for adoration.  As a vegan, I have a particular appreciation of freedom.

I am free to stop the unnecessary killing of animals.  I am free of the worry of having to worry about promoting the spread of novel disease like swine and avian flu, tuberculosis, and mad cow disease.

I am free to stand up and declare what I will or will not choose to eat.  I am free to eat the way I want, and eat as I believe.

I a free to avoid heart disease by eliminating meat from my diet.  I am free to fend off cancer, diabetes, strokes, and the thundering advance of premature aging.

I am free to reverse my asthma, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, and obesity.   I am given the blessed gift of energy and lightness and a busy life.

I am free from the weight of causing the death of harmless creatures.  I am free from the guilt of taking grain from my brother's mouth to feed it to a salmon, chicken, pig, or cow.  

I am free to sow compassion about me, mindful all the time of the awesome power of love.  With power comes responsibility, and I thank God most for the freedom to spread the word preaching non-violence.

The principle of disengagement is a simple strategy for eliminating animal exploitation.  Disengagement withdraws excess resources from animal enterprise.  Where there is a choice, choose the option that does not involve domesticated animals.  If there is no ready choice, seek one out and encourage its development.

There are more animal products in the food chain than ever before.  Humanity has never eaten like this before.  There is also no compelling reason to choose this diet.

Today, we have an uprecedented number of food choices.  Used to be, you ate what you had.  Growing up, you ate what your mother gave you, and it was whatever your parents could raise or barter for.  In this, an unprecedented time of global prosperity, options multiply with the ebb and flow of commerce.   In the supermarkets there are over 49 000 products, designed more for the profit of the retailer than the convenience of the consumer.  With choice comes the ethical burden of choosing responsibly, backing up your ethics and beliefs with the power fo commerce.  To leave this decision to those who choose suffering and death simply to make more money is an essential surrender. I choose not to surrender.