Veggie Tales: Veganism a Continual Process

This is the second in a four-part series called "Veggie Tales." In their own words people write about their decision to become veg*an.

My mother tells me that one day in 1982 I came home from school and announced that I didn't want to eat my friends anymore. I was 6 years old. Lucky for me, my mother decided vegetarianism was a good idea and so my family -- my mother, my younger sister and I -- began our transition to vegetarianism beginning that day. It took us a couple of years to finally stop eating all animals, including chickens and fishes, and in 1984 I took my last willful bite of an animal's flesh. But it took me until 2007 to stop ingesting animal secretions and go vegan.

I believe people are most likely to go vegan when they merge belief with experience. At least, that's how it was for me. I had very strong pro-animal beliefs since childhood, but those beliefs never successfully convinced me to go vegan. Truthfully, veganism can be tough sometimes, and those tough experiences clashed with my beliefs and ultimately kept me from going vegan for decades. Even though I
knew plenty of excellent reasons for veganism -- animal rights, environmental, health -- I never successfully stayed vegan. I was an ethical vegetarian for years. I never ate meat, I never wore fur or silk, and very, very rarely wore wool or leather (feeling guilty whenever I did).

In late 2006 my husband and I went "vegan at home." We ate as vegans when preparing our own food and even when ordering out. But we ate as lacto-ovo vegetarians when we went to restaurants. We weren't truly vegan until we went to Farm Sanctuary for a weekend.

The experience that turned me (and my husband) vegan isn't what you think. It wasn't meeting the animals or the people at Farm Sanctuary that helped "convert" me. It wasn't the educational materials in the "People Barn." It wasn't the books and other resources in the shop. It was the mere request that I go vegan that helped turn me vegan.

The sanctuary guest materials requested that we keep only vegan foods on the sanctuary premises during our visit. Easy enough since the cottages don't have kitchens. But we thought about it and decided, out of respect for the sanctuary, to be vegan for the entire weekend whether on sanctuary grounds or not. We figured they'd tell us where we could find vegan meals at restaurants. And if not, we said, "We're smart, resourceful people who can figure this out."

Indeed, the sanctuary provided me with my first tasty vegan muffin, which I ate in awe. I was amazed at how much had changed since I was a child. In fact, I couldn't believe the muffin was vegan, and I even told my husband I thought they must have some different definition of vegan than the one I knew because even the "cream cheese" was too much like the real thing not to contain some element of dairy. After a year of eating vegan, I say with certainty the excellent muffins at Farm Sanctuary are a good representation of vegan food.

We were right -- the sanctuary had plenty of restaurant recommendations. Despite the minor impediments of our companion travelers, my nephew and our dog, we found vegan food for the entire weekend. Though it was a bit inconvenient at first, we managed. Visiting the farm, meeting the animals, learning and finding more resources helped my commitment to animals grow.

My nephew, then not much older than I was in 1982, made a similar commitment to animals as I had at his age. On the drive home we were three converts: my husband and I from vegetarianism to veganism and my nephew from omnivorism to vegetarianism.

The critics of veganism who argue that it's too inconvenient have a point. Veganism is not super simple. But it gets easier every day. The new vegan learns more and more every day. And new, tasty products or restaurant meals are born all the time. Life for a vegan gets easier all the time. Veganism is like a good relationship: The commitment and comfort grow and grow.

Though it only took me eight years to go vegetarian, it took me 25 years to go vegan. I think it probably just took that long for my body to catch up with my mind.

Elaine Vigneault
Las Vegas
Visit Elaine's blog, "Read My Mind."

(Photo of Floyd and Elaine courtesy of "Read My Mind.")