How to STAY vegan (in 5 simple-ish steps)
So we covered five simple steps to going vegan, but what about staying that way? It’s not so easy and there’s definitely a process to keeping that resolve once you’ve found it.
WRITTEN BY
Andrew Gough is Media & Education Coordinator at Surge.
In our latest video - HOW TO GO VEGAN (in 5 simple steps) - we talked through the basics of how to switch to a plant-based lifestyle free from a diet of animal products, such as watching documentaries, finding recipes and getting ready for all those annoying questions from your friends and family.
All very positive stuff, but what happens after all that, in those quiet times when cravings are loudest and no one’s watching? None of us is perfect, and really all the above steps are just part the starting phase that new vegans deal with in the first month or so. With time and a great deal of resolve, they all become second nature. However, there’s a period in between when our willpower can falter, and when we question or simply forget about our reasons for ditching flesh, dairy and eggs.
Here are five not-so-simple steps to getting through the rocky times.
1. Make the ethical connection
Straight in there with the big one.
People go vegan for many different reasons. Perhaps it’s to do with health, or concerns about the devastating impact of animal agriculture on the environment. But there are problems with both of those as motivators.
Fitness influencers and high profile proponents of fad diets have done a lot to promote the animal-free diet as a healthy lifestyle, but people following their example are at risk of receiving duff advice or becoming disillusioned when the influencer decides it wasn’t for them and switches to something else. We’ve seen this a lot with former raw vegans who just didn’t do it right, didn’t listen to health professionals, and when things started falling apart, blamed veganism.
As for environmental plant-based people, really their major concern is dealing with the main culprits of ecological devastation - industrial farming and associated large-scale polluters. Logically then they would only reject things like cow flesh (beef), especially from animals raised on former rainforest land or fed on soy grown in those areas. Environmental veganism leaves room for ethical loopholes, where terms like locally produced, organic, grass-fed and backyard can wreak havoc on good intentions.
Arguably, the strongest argument against animal use is the purely ethical one. It is fundamental, most normal people believe in it already, and once you make the connection, there’s no way back without accepting that you’re not a good person by your own set of moral values. It is much harder to find an ex-ethical vegan than an ex-environmental or ex-health one. This is why many ethical vegans say the ex-eco/health people were never truly vegan in the first place, only plant-based.
2. Support and visit sanctuaries… regularly
The path to the ethical connection lies in remembering that non-human animals have as much right to live as any human animal. However, it’s one thing to think and talk about this, even lecture friends and family, but it’s another to actually be around the individuals whose rights you’re concerned about.
Nothing quite reminds one of why we refuse to support the exploitation and needless killing of non-human animals than seeing them live in freedom and safety. Not only are they wonderful to be around, but it’s always a reminder of where they could have been had things turned out differently. Cows, sheep, pigs, chicken, goats and so on - they all have stories of where they came from, and none have happy beginnings. And for all the joyous endings in regards to rescued and liberated animals, there are millions more tragedies happening every day.
Also, consider donating to a sanctuary on a regular basis with a monthly Paypal donation or whichever platform they use. For some people it may help solidify the more abstract philosophical decision i.e. why support animal freedom financially, only to fund animal use through non-vegan activities.
3. Get active and make connections
One sure-fire way to stay vegan is to actively advocate or campaign for the rights of non-human animals.
There are many different ways you can do this, including street outreach and direct action. Probably the easiest way into activism is tabling, where groups of activists gather in busy areas with printed materials and other things to help get the message across - in pre-COVID times, it was very common to see vegan outreach tables adorned with food samples and leaflets addressing every issue in great detail.
Finding a form of activism that suits you is a journey, but it can start fairly easily. Go on social media, contact people you follow or join online groups and events. Be a bit brave, go and meet new people, and you’ll make some the greatest friends you’ll ever know - other humans who truly care.
Socialise with other activists if possible, because this will help to normalise true vegan culture. We are social creatures, and the influence of our peers on our behaviour cannot be understated.
Surge has a Volunteers page where you can write in and let us know that you want to get involved.
4. Aim for progress, not perfection… but aim high
We’ve all had little wobbles like not checking the ingredients properly, but it’s better to aim high and falter than go for half measures like vegetarianism. In our previous blog post, we talked about the myth of the vegetarian-vegan transition and why it was a fallacy - do read that, but in a nutshell, vegetarianism is little better (possibly even worse) than the average omnivorous lifestyle and has little justification in today’s world of increased accessibility to information and all kinds of food.
For those who can switch to veganism, there’s no excuse not to. But there are interpretations of veganism, and worrying about how far to go with it can sew seeds of doubt. Start with the basics first - reject animal flesh, eggs and other secretions such as their breast milk as foods. Once you’re there and you feel good about where you are, the next step is to learn about other things like your clothing, cruelty-free cosmetics, toiletries and household products (hint: check the back for vegan-friendly and cruelty-free labelling).
5. Find the antidote to powerful social and cultural conditioning
At the end of the day, ethical veganism is an intellectual pursuit that is vulnerable to our human weaknesses. We know that it’s right, but that societal conditioning is wickedly strong.
Animal use is part of our culture, it factors so strongly in our way of life. We have positive memories of family gatherings, Christmas turkeys, dinner with friends. You’re going to have to find a way to strengthen your willpower to such an extent that you can withstand very strong cultural influences. Navigating social roadblocks will be uncomfortable - no one wants to be ‘that difficult vegan’, but thankfully it’s a lot more normal today than ever.
A lot of ethical vegans go through some pretty tumultuous times with their families, and it’s not uncommon to lose friends who can’t deal with how your veganism makes them feel about their own behaviour. You don’t have to take the liberation pledge - that is declaring that you will not sit with anyone who eats animals - and you can choose to be as quiet about your veganism as you want. But however you express your veganism, do it with resolve and always with the intent of being the best human animal you can be.
