Going Vegan with Baby Steps

I know from experience that going vegan – let alone raw vegan – is not always the easiest road. Whatever our motivation, we are often up against a lifetime of mind and body conditioning that certainly hampers the path. And it’s never made easier by the fact that many of our friends… and even, in some cases, our families  put up obstacles to our forward movement just by being so incredulous. “When are you going to start eating real food again?”, they’re asking us. We thought we were. This is obviously some gaslighting technique to convince us we’re insane.

And don’t you just love those folks who magically spew all this nutritional knowledge when confronted with a vegan – even an aspiring one – to prove that their own path is the logical one? Where it comes from, I don’t know. But all of a sudden they’re pushing high protein, high fat options as if they know something. I keep waiting for them to say, “I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV”.

Ultimately, the way I see it, anyone who has never been able to identify any reason why veganism might be a good thing, is fooling themselves. Because, like climate change, it seems pretty obvious.

At some point I learned that beating people over the head with your ideas about animal rights and environmental benefits, can be like beating your own head against a wall. And if you add in all the scientific data about how much better a vegan diet high in whole foods is for your health? Nine times out of ten someone is going to argue with you. And it’s going to be a crazy argument, no doubt.

It doesn’t matter how clearly right and how substantially supported your ideas might be. Because nobody likes people telling them what to do. And nobody likes people telling them that what they’re doing is wrong. Unfortunately, shame is never a quick motivator because the first thing anyone wants to accomplish when they feel ashamed, is to remove themselves from the situation that’s making them feel that way. After that it takes time to come back.

So I’ve always found that ‘setting an example’ does more to ‘raise the bar’ than anything else. When I was in school, I took every effort to bring in vegan and raw dishes for other people to try. I made it clear I was a vegan and even about the things that had inspired me to become one. But I never actually got preachy about it.  And they would usually end up asking me questions, all by themselves. They started thinking about it. A seed was planted.

There are a lot of supercharged vegans out there who think that everyone should become a vegan NOW. No negotiation. Well, honestly, wouldn’t that be great in the big picture? You can’t deny it. Better air. Better water. Less greenhouse gases would help halt global warming. No more factory farms would mean more land to revive and use for sustainable farming and forests. And the animals are all saved. It verges on Utopian.

But most change doesn’t happen overnight. Change takes time and effort and sincerity. First steps can be small but turn into a sprint.

Yet, there have to be first steps.

Someone stated an unpopular opinion: “Let’s tear down the perfectionist stigma associated with veganism. We don’t need a few perfect vegans. We need millions of people, actively reducing their consumption of animal products.” Many responded to this with comparisons of meat eaters to racists, pedophiles, homophobes and child traffickers. This is extreme in the sense that these things have been socially unacceptable for a long time already whereas eating animals and raising them for their meat has been the status quo for thousands of years. This matters. Absolutists and fundamentalists often statistically lead to less change. It’s not ‘All or Nothing’. Or maybe it is. Because for a lot of people the demand for ‘All’ results in ‘Nothing’. It’s just too hard to even start. And we need people to start. We need even the smallest of baby steps. From everybody.

If we really want to make a difference to people and the planet, let’s work on reducing consumption, with an eye on the eventual goal of transitioning to plant based diets. Support those who are trying to make a positive change, encourage them to keep going. Don’t beat them over the head for what they’re not doing. Focus on what they are doing. Once upon a time they used to use a switch in schools. When kids acted up they felt it! Right across their butts or the backs of their hands. But they don’t do that anymore. Why? Because we’ve learned that positive reinforcement works better than negative reinforcement. Encourage – don’t discourage.

Small, consistent change can have big, positive impact. 

Finally, it is up to every health and ethically conscious person to choose their motivator and to be mindful that a small step in the right direction, is a step, nonetheless. Above all, the steps we take are our own; no one can take them for us and we can’t take them for anyone else either. What we can do is inspire through setting a good example,  educate without aggression and encourage without prejudice.

And just keep taking those steps. Because when your goal is going vegan, every step is a lifesaver.