I eat animal products a couple times a week, mostly dairy, occasionally meat, and I am no longer under the strain of veganism. I truly do respect vegans and if you like the vegan lifestyle, then more power to you. And I know that many vegans are very relaxed and don’t care if you’re a vegan, an omnivore, or a damn cannibal. Well, maybe a cannibal, but you know what I mean. I am now happy, healthy, and not a vegan. I look back on my previous diet with mostly humor, a bit of embarrassment, and a touch of cringe, but hey, at least I never had the bravery to try Tofurkey. Thank god for that. To the ones online or in the street that still hassle me to go vegan, thank you for auditioning, but it’s gonna be a no for me.
1. The ethical dilemma of eating meat
Why I Went Vegan: I was 16 when I stumbled across an article on animal cruelty in the meat industry, and a few hours later, I became a vegan. The next few months after consisted of hours of research per day on how inhumane slaughterhouses are, intense indignation at the “meat-eaters”, and the viewing of virtually every animal cruelty video known to man. The perceived cruelty really pulled at my heartstrings and made it impossible to say no to veganism.
Why I Went Back: Veganism thrives on the notion of equality between man and animals. But the truth of the matter is, aside from complex creatures like chimps and dolphins, animals are completely instinctual creatures. Vegans get extremely caught up in something called projection. It’s the same thing with your pet dog. Owners like to believe that there’s a complex relationship and a special bond between them and their pets, but really, Fido just wants some food and a belly rub. Once I realized this, the pull of veganism started to lose its weight and the passion began to wear off.
2. It took over my life
Why I Went Vegan: Veganism isn’t just a “chic” diet like some people think it is. It’s a lifestyle. And its a family. I felt like I was making a difference and I found people who were passionate and cared about the future of this world. I dedicated a lot of time to this lifestyle and it gave me passion and purpose.
Why I Went Back: The first few months I was vegan, it practically took over my life. I felt like my whole world had just turned upside down. I felt like society had lied to me. I felt frustrated and angry, self-righteous, and extremely sad for those poor animals. I would memorize statistics, force myself to watch any gruesome slaughterhouse video I came across, stalk the r/vegan thread on reddit, read hundreds of articles, have multiple arguments per day in my head with a pretend meat-eater, and cry over the unfairness of it all. It was quite a roller-coaster. This obsession made me constantly anxious, sad, and stressed. And maybe a lot of other vegans don’t fall so hard into this world, but there’s just something about the movement that makes you want to slap “meat is murder” stickers on hot dog stands and name your dog Kale.
3. My health changed
Why I Went Vegan: Eating a vegan diet helped me lose weight and lower my blood pressure. The lack of dairy also cleared up my face instantly and made my hair and skin look healthier. Veganism also served as a gateway to the discovery of eating healthier and being aware of chemicals in food and tap water. I learned quite a lot about being health conscious while also reaping the benefits of a clean diet.
Why I Went Back: As soon as I became a vegan, I began to get significantly more tired than before, even though I was taking all of the extra supplements and trying my best to eat enough protein. But this wasn’t enough to make me question my change in diet at the time. I was too invested and too stubborn. A couple of years later, when the passion wore off, I went back to being an omnivore and felt much better.
4. I wanted to help the environment
Why I Went Vegan: Excluding animal products from my diet cut back on my carbon footprint immensely. It felt good to know that I was part of a movement that didn’t contribute to the release of greenhouse gases from slaughterhouses, water contamination from farm runoff, and deforestation/overgrazing.
Why I Went Back: I realized that I didn’t have to eat a strict vegan diet to lessen the blow on the environment. I decided to eat dairy a couple times a week and meat every once in a while which allowed me to feel much healthier/ less tired, and also help the environment.
5. The vegan movement is a force to be reckoned with
Why I Went Vegan: Veganism is a lifestyle that thousands of people all over the world have adopted. Numerous celebrities, from pop stars to past presidents, had taken up the diet and vouched for its wonderful benefits. I had also read many articles and studies that praised veganism as one of the healthiest diets someone can have. I felt safe and confident in going vegan because of all of the support it had.
Why I Went Back: I had started noticing a lot of vegans both online and in person shaming people who weren’t vegan, or were not purist vegans and indulged in animal products once in a while. I began to get negative reactions when people found out I was a vegan and I became very insecure about it. PETA and its vegan followers started to feel like a bully and its mindless followers. If PETA took the approach of encouraging people to lessen and gradually decrease their consumption of animal products for health and environmental purposes, they would attract more people and make a much bigger difference instead of using that weak ethics argument and scaring people off with extremism. I realized I didn’t need to be boxed in by a specific and extremest diet: I could eat animal products in moderation and avoid all of the drama tied to the vegan movement.
Photo: Helen Alfvegren/Creative Commons
Very good editorial. It does seem as though veganism is directed by anonymous policy makers, only partly aware of the relative impacts of their food choices, and mindlessly obeyed by those who advocate for the life style. While eating low on the food chain certainly does help to reduce or eliminate animal exploitation and environmental impact, it is a mistake to assume that a simple line drawn between the meat and vegetable is sufficient to distinguish between “good” foods and “bad.”
Such a line ignores the fact that many plant foods are, themselves, unnecessarily destructive of life and habitat. Cashews and almonds, for examples, require more water to produce than does chicken. Agriculture diverts trillions of gallons of fresh water from sensitive aquatic systems with enormous loss of animal life. It makes sense to avoid such unnecessarily, destructive foods for the same reasons we choose to avoid meat.
The transportation of bananas, papayas and mangoes (and most other fruits when available out-of-season) across the globe to local markets consumes petroleum and emits greenhouse gases. Agriculture is the single greatest source of greenhouse gas emission on earth. Certainly, much of these gases are related to meat production and transportation, but where similar damage may be avoided by rejecting unnecessarily destructive plant food items, then should we overlook the inconsistencies inherent in the “meat is bad,” “vegetables are good” mantra?
Finally, veganism takes a very simplistic approach in its criticism of wild fish and game consumption. As meat, the standard mantra requires that we reject either, but this ignores the far greater damage that results from agriculture in growing our food alternatives. To clarify, a fish taken from the sea or an elk taken from the field is immediately replaced by another that would otherwise have died for lack of resources. Nature always breeds more animals than habitat can support, and the rest perish of starvation or disease. To consume the excess in a sustainable manner has no impact on animal populations or on the habitat required to support future generations. The same cannot be said for agriculture, which necessarily destroys every individual, of every single species, on the land converted to that purpose.
Wild fish and game are absolutely our least destructive options when it comes to food acquisition. Of course, there is not enough of either to meet the dietary need of the entire human population, but in places where wild lands remain intact and protected from the ravages of development and agriculture, they do meet a significant portion of our need and should remain among our first options in feeding ourselves–before resulting to agriculture.
Exactly. Finally, someone who gets it.
DISCLAIMER: I am not vegan.
I won’t comment on 2-5. There is room for debate on dietary, environmental, and social issues surrounding veganism.
But number one is a partially formed and somewhat disturbing thought. It seems that what you are saying is, “I realized that it is unethical to torture animals, but I later realized that animals are incapable of suffering. So, even though they seem to be howling in pain, they are just machines more or less.”
I speculate that this is wishful thinking. By the logic you have set out here, I suppose you would not have a problem with your pet dog being put in a tiny cage for a couple of years in extremely close quarters with others, and eventually killed for meat? Apart from the loss of companionship?
Unfortunately, there is no scientific evidence that supports your idea that animals don’t suffer. Mammals in particular, are overwhelmingly similar to us in a physiological sense. I won’t link anything here. All you have to do is google “animals feel pain study” or whatever, and I think you’ll find plenty of evidence. There is some baseless speculation that because animals are not “aware” of their “consciousness” they are (by some strange leap of logic) unable to suffer. I always think, “is this person ok with infanticide? Surely a fully grown animal and a human infant are somewhat comparable in capacity for consciousness?”
Now, if it is comforting to you to employ some 17th century logic (see Descartes’ view of animals) in order to avoid feelings of guilt, by all means go ahead. But it does not hold water by today’s scientific and philosophical standards. Often, I find that people fall back on a religious explanation. More or less, humans have some magical force in their bodies (or somewhere) that makes them inherently superior to other creatures in a way that is kind of hard to pin down. Hmm, sounds a lot like how the nazi’s rationalized genocide.
I respect you choice to not be vegan (I’m not either). It is inconvenient that animals are capable of suffering, but I believe it is something we need to be honest with ourselves about.
I don’t think the author is okay with unethical slaughterhouses and torture. That’s kind of far fetched. They’re probably just talking about animals that were raised humanely and with plenty of space. But yeah, they should have been more clear about it.
I just saw a picture last week of a vegan protester wrapped up in ceran wrap and posing like a chicken in an attempt to equate the life of poultry with human beings. It’s just ridiculous. That’s probably what the author was talking about.