”I hold that the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man.”
Mahatma Gandhi
Tips to Veganism, A Stress-Free Transition
I wasn’t always vegan. However, to be fair, throughout my life I was on and off vegetarianism, and as life demanded I ate meat, and sometimes I didn’t. Situations like pregnancy cravings made me give into an exceptional amount of meat and dairy consumption. Nevertheless, here I am going to explain certain steps that you could take in order for you and your family to slowly stir towards being vegan.
Step 1 Reasoning
This is the most important step for anyone who is even considering or exploring veganism. One needs to be extremely sure why you would want to take on such a journey. There are many reasons people choose to be vegans. Some might do it for health reasons while others do it to curb environmental impacts. But a growing number of people are becoming vegans to show their support against animal cruelty. Personally, I became vegan to reduce my impact on climatic change and animal cruelty.
Step 2: Do Your Research
When you start to think about veganism and the reasons why you might want to become one, do your research. This doesn’t mean you have to spend hours reading and attending seminars and groups. Simply watching few accredited documentaries and reading blogs will do for starters.
When you have a clear idea of how your choice of food impacts the world and you are more or less sure of what you want to achieve, investigate more into those reasons. At this point, I started to follow PBN ( plant-based news) and investigated The China Study. PBN gives you up-to date news and information on plastic impact, climatic changes, major breakthroughs in research and also explains the nitty grits of any food and marketing related news. The China Study is the largest and longest study done by Dr. Campbell in connection with animal product consumption and chronic heart diseases. This is a brilliant and extensive study that is available for us readers.
Step 3: Gradual or Sudden?
This is the easiest part; it’s where you have to decide whether you want to phase out meat and dairy products gradually or take the tough road and quit cold turkey. I chose to go cold turkey; honestly, it wasn’t difficult at all. However, I do think that it was very difficult and challenging for my family and friends. My decision to become a vegan came as an aftershock of watching the documentary ‘H.O.P.E’. The documentary made me realize the sad truth of animal factory farms and that these poor beings are being hurt for the pleasures of my taste buds. This disturbed me very much.
As humans we are wired to have affection and empathy towards other living creatures. That’s the emotion that makes us love dogs, cats and other kinds of pets. However, we are also seasoned to not think about the chicken in the fried chicken or the fish in the fish n’ chips as animals being murdered. They are tasty and they lived happily in an old McDonald farm. that’s all we need to know. Unfortunately, or fortunately (for the animals) when you do your research, you come to know that this is preposterous! This was the catalyst for my resolve and I decided that not another animal will die for me.
On the other hand, if you are a person who really likes and can’t live without animal products, then you should opt to slowly phase out. Choose one kind of animal product (lamb, beef, chicken, fish, milk, yoghurt, egg, cheese and other dairy items) and avoid that ingredient at any cost. And when you have mastered that, phase out the next one and so on. Take it at a pace that’s comfortable for you. I have known people who have slowly and steadily converted to veganism in a span of about 2 years. This method is particularly suitable for hardcore non- vegetarians or carnivores.
Step 4: Be prepared for questioning
Food choices are very personal to many people, just as much as religion. Be prepared to be questioned like you have committed a sin when you inform people about your dietary needs. Stay calm and approach them with confidence and one day, hopefully more people will follow you!