OPINION - Why There's No Such Thing as the Perfect Vegan

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Before I dive into this article and give my thoughts on it, I would like to start by reminding you guys that I've spoken out about this issue in the past. In my opinion, there are the vegans and vegetarians out there who are choosing their lifestyle because they sincerely care for animals and want to make their contributions individually and then there are the vegans that feel the need to tear everyone else down for not doing enough, the self righteous ones. It's an extremely damaging attitude to have and frankly, doesn't sit in line with the message of compassion. With that out of the way, I want to dive into this article which I absolutely loved!

The article is written by Aine Carlin for the Guardian and breaks down why she believes there is no such thing as a perfect vegan and why she's o.k with being imperfect. In the article, she points out recent stories that pointed out the need for bees and pollinating to yield avocado, broccoli, and even almonds and how non vegans are always ready to pick you apart for not being as vegan as you think you are. She mentions in the story as well that often times, rodents and other animals are killed during harvesting of vegetables, soil used to grow crops is often tainted with the remnants of animal decay and so on. So the argument is, can anyone truly be 100% vegan? 

She also makes note of the fact that she was part of vegan groups where she found that there was intense competition among vegans to be the very best and most veganest vegan of all. She points out that she'd regularly see vegans tear each other down for their choices or mistakes they've made while also reminding everyone how amazingly vegan they were. She left the group obviously as she realized that the competitive nature of the group was disheartening and kind of went against what she believed to be the compassionate message we are supposed to be spreading.

In the end, she speaks about being wholly content as an imperfect vegan, someone who consciously avoids animal products but will never beat herself up for making a mistake. I fell in love with this article and wanted to chat about my own experiences and opinions regarding this issue.

First of all, I believe that the message of veganism is to be compassionate to all living creatures which is why it always strikes me as odd when vegans will attack one another for their choices. I want to use the A&W Beyond Burger experience specifically in Canada. Once A&W started carrying the vegan burger and offered it as a plant based option (the sauces were not vegan), there were equal amounts of joy and immediate outrage because the company wasn't doing enough. People were upset that A&W wasn't providing brand new grills specific to the beyond burger or offering vegan cheese and condiments. There weren't enough people celebrating the fact that a major fast food company was making a conscious effort to cater to a growing market. Constant chatter in the groups about petitions to demand they use a separate grill or offer vegan cheese etc., it was alarming to me. It is NOT a vegan restaurant, it's a fast food chain that is making an attempt to please a large group of people and being met with extensive criticism. 

Another example would be a group I WAS apart of that I've recently left. It was a group for Vegetarians and Vegans to come together and celebrate their dedication to animals, or so I thought. It's constant propaganda calling out the dairy industry which I'll admit, is not a good industry whatsoever, but it's a group for both Vegetarians and Vegans to come together. All I witnessed in this group was celebration of veganism and that was it, no such celebration of the contribution that vegetarians make. This to me was the self righteous veganism I was discussing at the beginning of this article. Shaming people for not doing as much as you or not contributing to the overall cause as significantly as they are, it's abhorrent.

Even my Instagram has been targeted by self righteous vegans who start by complementing me  but follow up with facts about the dairy industry and why I need to go fully vegan if I care about animals, facts that I'm already aware of and eat away at me every time I consume a piece of cheese. What's unfortunate I think is that they don't realize how condescending that is and why it's not actually helping their cause which I would understand is to help animals. I've even heard things like, "Vegetarians should just eat meat because they're still contributing to animal suffering and don't care about animals." What the actual fuck?

OPINION

First of all, as a proud vegetarian of almost 17 years, I find it wholly offensive and completely inaccurate to suggest that a vegetarian doesn't care about animals or should go back to eating meat. Saying this to someone shows a complete lack of actual empathy for animals because who in their right mind would tell someone to eat animals because they don't do enough for them? Doesn't that kind of work against the actual goal of convincing people to be vegan and save animals? Also, I've been operating this blog for almost 4 years now, that's 4 years of my time that I've dedicated to recipes, product reviews, fruit and veg facts, and most importantly, animal activism. I spend MY FREE TIME almost daily researching and speaking out through my blog and social media about the atrocities of industries like factory farming for meat, circuses using wild animals, horse drawn carriages, and more. For someone to suggest that I don't do enough or should go back to eating meat is completely ridiculous and sends a clear message of self righteousness that I liken to extremism.

I think it is SO IMPORTANT to share a message in the most positive way possible without trying to be self righteous, offensive, or using shock tactics to alarm or frighten people into thinking the way you do. We need to spend more time trying to celebrate those who want to cut meat out of their diets 3 or 4 days a week, more time celebrating the vegetarians of the world, more time celebrating the companies that are attempting to cater to our lifestyle but have no obligation to do so because at the end of the day, every little bit counts. Every person who adopts a meatless Monday is one person who is not eating animals for one day a week. Every vegetarian is someone who is saving in upwards of 100 animals a year from slaughter. Why can't we celebrate this without reminding everyone how much better we are?

What I took from this article was her positivity and the reminder that we all just have to be the best versions of our self we can be without being too stressed or worrying that we're not the perfect vegans. If your lifestyle causes you to stress everyday that you're not making the right choice or that someone is going to drag you through the mud for making a mistake, it's not worth it. 

We all have one common goal and that's to help animals. Our approach is recognizably different, but the message should always be the same. We all care about animals, we all want to see animals treated better and live a life without cruelty, and we all should be able to be the best versions of ourselves without negativity from people who are supposedly our peers. Listen, if you became a vegan or a vegetarian just so you can parade around telling everyone why they're disgusting and you're shit doesn't stink, you aren't in it for the right reasons.

I Implore you guys to check out the original article at the top of the page and leave your comments here or on twitter, facebook, or insta. 

Remember, being vegetarian is great, being vegan is great, being a fucking meat eater who cuts meat out two or 3 days a week is fucking fabulous, that's what we need to remember.

HAPPY VEG