Story-telling

Share your story

By sharing the story of what helped us to make the connection and go vegan, we can inspire and empower others to make compassionate choices too.

Below, Erin Wing, Animal Outlook’s Deputy Director of Investigations, shares the powerful story of what motivated her to go vegan.

Erin’s story

"Before I ever became such a devoted advocate for animal rights, before I became an undercover investigator of animal cruelty on farms across the United States, I was just an underprivileged girl growing up in inner city New York. Throughout the first 23 years of my life, I had never met someone who was vegan. I wasn’t even aware of the existence of veganism.

For a majority of my upbringing, I rarely saw fresh fruits or vegetables in my home. Being raised by a single mother in low-income housing in the inner city, my diet mainly consisted of animal products from the fast food restaurants that were more prevalent and accessible than grocery stores in my community, advertising so-called “cheap” meals for struggling families.

Little did I know, even before I learned of the harmful effects of animal agriculture, the farms that supplied these fast food restaurants and profited from those contracts had an impact on my quality of life. It wasn’t until I became old enough to expand my horizons beyond the only life that I had ever known that I realized the animal agriculture industry had influenced me to believe that consuming animal products is the only dietary option. Now I know the truth. No one should be denied the power to choose a nutritious, wholesome diet and no being should be made to suffer for the sake of profits for large corporations capitalizing on the exploitation of others.

Once I learned the truth about the animal agriculture industry, I dropped all animal products from my diet and never looked back. I was only able to do that with the help of animal advocacy organizations like Animal Outlook, which shares undercover investigations and resources for adopting a healthy vegan lifestyle, and makes that information accessible for everyone. I started out life with the odds stacked against me, but I was able to thrive and live happier and healthier on a vegan diet that helps animals instead of harming them and does not support the exploitative system of animal agriculture. If I can do it, you can too.”