The idea of reducing my impact on the world rather than going completely cold turkey absolutely changed my life, Ive started to teach myself more vegetarian dishes, making one or two plastic free changes a month, ordering more veg food when I'm at a restaurant - it's not insanely speedy progress but I'm starting to have more days not eating meat than I do having meat meals! It's crazy that taking it slow or one do-able step at a time isnt more commonly accepted truth
Same! I've tried to go cold turkey in the past with bad results (I actually felt physically unwell at the end of that period, I'm sure mostly through my own incompetence at getting the right nutrients). But over time I just keep trying to reduce, and my impact is gradually declining. This just feels way more attainable for me and keeps me from giving up.
Yes! Even massive businesses that can roll out a company wide standard + update all their systems + retrain all their staff still need adjustment time to implement something as massive and complex as zero-waste or going fully vegan etc, let alone a single person who’s having to do all the research, setup, and implementation of the new system themselves, while trying to work their full time job + live their life/do chores/care for family and friends/full time school etc. If businesses can say “we’ll be fully zero waste/carbon neutral by 2025” why can’t we say “I’m going vegetarian, and I’m hoping to be vegan within the next 2-3 years”
Another tip I heard recently and that I'm trying to put in practice myself is to start with one vegan meal per day, breakfast being the most obvious choice for myself...
If there were dogs having their throats slit would you take baby steps? I know that sounds harsh but please consider things from the victim's perspective. Veganism is not about saving the planet (even though it's the single biggest thing we can do to fight climate change, source: Joseph Poore Oxford University), it's a justice movement against unnecessary violence. Watch the documentary Dominion Movement free on youtube.
I would also add that the research shows that people who have more than one reason for adopting a plant-based diet are far more successful in sticking to it long-term. And if you have all three reasons it's even better. So to have the ethical, environmental, and health reasons is really important. Leena has the environmental and ethical reasons down, and I would really suggest for her and anyone else to really make an effort to look into the health aspect because it's probably by far the most motivating. A good jumping off point is to watch the documentary Forks Over Knives on Netflix.
But salt is good for you. Sugar is not. They give you a saline drip in hospital to clean you out, feed/hydrate you. So much and what’s it made of salt and water. It’s a miracle formula. Only the big corps would have you believe salt is bad. Bacon is bad because of al the fake shit they put in it.
@@nellas1653 salt is also bad because it damages the endothelial cells, which are the cells that line your arteries. When they get damaged they make the artery walls stiff and inflexible, which affects your health significantly in a variety of ways. We are not supposed to have over 1500 mg of salt a day, which is way less than people eat. There are many tribes of people that lived without ever eating salt, so it is not an essential nutrient.
‘Learn meals not rules’ and ‘perfect is the enemy of the good’ are a perfect way to describe maintaining empathy for yourself while also trying to make changes.
LOVE that quote. I think the ‘all or nothing’ approach to which so many people feel shackled comes exclusively from the perceived need to PRESENT an image to society. What I eat is not my personality or identity.
For sure, although it's important that the designated veggie/vegan of the day/week doesn't BUY meat or dairy products. I don't think it really matters when you eat what you eat, as long as the overall demand for meat and animal products goes down
@@velmavlogs7693 not if the vegan is vegan for the animal's, most vegans wouldnt want an animal to be killed for them. If a person choses to have an animal killed for them that's their choice...im thinking thats why she said it never happened. Its still a life being taken for pleasure. It only makes sence if only care about the planet "to even out the scale".
I’m sooo glad you brought up the fact that killing animals is awful for the people that do it! As well as the communities surrounding it!! We like to think about meat as something you can just grab from the store like a box of cereal or fruit, ignoring the fact that I’m order to get it to that store A LOT of suffering took place from killing the animal, taking it away from their mother, being pumped with antibiotics to keep it alive in a DISGUSTINGLY unsanitary environment, the workers are so desensitized to this process that in a lot of cases they become overly cruel to the animals in order to downplay the fact that it’s actually so inhuman to treat animals the way they do. The workers get paid minimum wage and often little to no benefits, for such an awful job, and literally, like leena said they become so used to the violence that it reeks havoc on their mental health. IM NOT BLAMING the workers i blaming the practices, and the EXCESSIVE meat consumption and our government that is constantly giving subsidies to these meat companies. if we collectively ate muchhhh less meat this wouldn’t be a conversation overall.
I feel this HARD! I've been some form of vegetarian/pescitarian since I was a teen, and have dabbled in veganism on and off over the years, and I find it challenging to stick to without getting into toxic food cycles. Its taken a few years, but I instead just describe my diet as MOSTLY plant-based, where I cook vegan at home 95%, but still have wiggle room to make differing choices that work for me depending on my spoons, health, budget, mood, dietary needs, access to food when travelling etc etc. Basically, I don't eat the red or white meats, milk, or meat byproducts - but will occasionally have some forms of cheese, fish or eggs. I've found especially that since becoming disabled in the last 2 years, the joys I can access are fewer and fewer, so yes I will occasionally have some locally sourced seafood (seaside town resider whoop), or some milk chocolate or pizza. The "Most of the time I'm eating plant-based" is far easier to maintain than the black & white VEGAN vs CARNIVORE, and I love seeing the rise in this.
I try to have at least one vegan meal a day. Due to GI stuff, that is all my body can tolerate. This is the nuance of diets, it is not binary, and some ppl in my life have said that doesnt make me a true vegan….I am not looking for the label yall, I am out here trying my best.
This is awesome! It’s not about being ‘100% perfect vegan’, but about reducing consumption as much as practicable for you. And if you think about it, consuming palm oil, while vegan, is extremely destructive to the planet and wildlife, so I don’t think this black white thinking of vegan and not vegan is helpful at all. Doing what you can is the way to go and it sounds like you’ve got something you’re comfortable with, which means it is easier to keep up and will have a bigger impact in the end ❤️💪🏻
Same here except without the fish, I've been vegetarian for most of my life and don't consume too much milk these days due to it not always agreeing with me, but for a while my only joy was going out to get a pastry every few days and it's things like that that I just can't let go of - and I'm fine with that honestly. I describe myself as a vegetarian with vegan tendencies, haha
I’ve been vegan for eight years and I’m happy to see that it’s more normalized now. I fucking love not being asked questions. 😂 I’m tired. So proud of anyone who at least reduces their meat consumption! Being vegan is a lot to ask of some people but I’m so grateful I made the change. ✨ (ps. vegan cheese is not that bad y’all are haters! Lmao)
Vegan cheese has come SO far. Been vegan for 6 years here and remember when Daiya was the only option and it was ass. Nowadays it's gotten so uncanny that I've had to call a restaurant to make sure that yes, this is vegan cheese.
I was a vegetarian for 16 years and have been a vegan for over 2 years now and things have definitely changed! It used to be so difficult to be a vegetarian, I remember ordering starters from most restaurant menus as they didn't have any vegetarian mains.
5:32 My favourite resource on the intersection between masculinity and meat eating is The Sexual Politics of Meat by Carol J. Adams (also see the Pornography of Meat by the same author). It changed the way I see meat advertisements now, so much weird overlap between women's bodies and eating meat (emphasis on chicken breasts, thighs, legs etc.). Well worth a read if you're interested in these topics! It's also very telling that my boyfriend was made fun of for going vegan, and his friends assumed I had forced him to give up meat/dairy (despite him going vegan a year before we met). Great video Leena!
I think another good thing to remember in the conversation about food consumption is that just because you gave up meat doesn't mean everything you eat is automatically ethical. The rights of farm workers and the people who package fruits and veggies to us are also important. Polish workers in the UK, Central and South American workers in the US face high rates of human trafficking. The horniculture of certain plants is horrible for the environment for example: palm oil, quinoa, and agave. I.could go into a rant about why people should buy local honey instead of alternatives because it's better for the planet, but who reads yt comments anyways.
Definitely agree. And many vegans do care about these issues as well. They are also dependent on products where you live too. But people shouldn’t use that as an excuse not to be vegan either.
I’m vegan and I went vegan for the animals, the environmental benefit was an added bonus. I will never agree with or condone the exploitation of other animals when you have alternatives. However, I don’t believe that makes all non-vegans terrible people. We all engage in systems and behaviours that are harmful in some way and all we can do is try to mitigate that harm in ways that we see fit; ultimately we will come to different conclusions as to what the best path is. Bearing all this in mind, I will always try to be supportive of people who simply want to reduce the amount of animal products that they consume. Criticising people for not being perfect or not meeting your standards will only drive people away and does nothing for the cause. No one will want to engage with you, ask questions or have nuanced conversations, all vital things when wanting people to question the status quo. The meat and masculinity connection really is fascinating. I also find the connection between animal product consumption and the exploitation of the female body intriguing and insidious. Most, if not all, animal agriculture benefits from the exploitation of the female body and it’s reproductive system - meat, dairy, eggs, fur, animal experimentation etc. all rely on the female body. Whether it be through pregnancy and creating more bodies to exploit, the byproducts of reproduction (eggs, milk, fetal bovine serum) or through the use of women’s bodies in advertising. It all makes me deeply uncomfortable as a woman.
when I became a mother and was breastfeeding my child I had such a strong moment of empathy with cows (and other animals in the dairy industry ) and how they are not allowed to nurture their young properly and how their bodies are used and exploited that I could not unsee it anymore.
I was raised in a community of dairy & angus farmers, as well as fishermen. I really never considered veganism as an option in my part of the world (rural eastern Canada). But your emphasis on impact vs identity really struck a chord. If I am to purchase eggs, cheese, or seafood, I have local farmers and fishers who I know personally to purchase from. I can take local, impact conscious steps towards plant-first eating without having to declare myself this, that, or the other. Thank you for your perspective!
I'm living in Alberta. Parents-in-law cattle ranchers who worked in the tarsands. KD Lang pilloried in her home town for militant vegetarianism. Environments matter- but indeed, you can be quietly impactful and avoid fuss, for a part-time easier life of doing as I (sometimes) say
I know this has nothing to dowith this, but as a person that got her wisdom teeth removed 3 days ago, and haven't been able to eat solid food, watching Leena jingle jangle that burger around really awoke something primal within me that I don't know how to explain.
@@s.mproductions5687 I was going to say chipmunk, though though pufferfish perhaps more universal. Hahaha I had 7 teeth out and was barely noticable. My face just kinda looked frozen puffy all over. So worth it in the end...just focus on the positive end outcome and it'll be over in no time. 💙
I find certain cuisines also fit the vegan or vegetarian lifestyle with much less hassle. I really like cooking 'accidentally vegan' recipes like lentil dal or lots of other Indian recipes. I've been vegetarian for a few years and agree having a bank of recipes ready really helps and stops you feeling as if you are missing out on certain foods.
Definitely - I think once you don't take meat as your starting point for a meal the world opens up a bit. My old meals were always Chicken and X, Beef and X.
My mum hates cooking meat + we were pretty poor when I was a kid, so we ate vegetarian by default. I committed to being vegetarian when I was 11, and stuck with it for 10ish years. Now I prefer not to restrictively label how I eat, but what I cook and eat is 95% vegetarian, because that is just what I know and enjoy. Having that bank of recipes and learning how vegetarian/vegan food works is so important.
Can anyone recommend any starting point recipes? Or even just your favourite dish. I bought a book on veggie meals and have only liked a couple of the ones I've tried.
Same here. I'm not a fan of the mass produced, lab made & chemically vegan foodstuffs and find incorporating the more veg-centric (beans, pulses, etc) cuisines of the world much more appealing & doable.
With the ideas about the old vegan community being a bit hippy dippy and anti establishment and ‘weird’ so to speak was because back in the day it was so radical to be a vegan in the UK that you had to be ok with being partially shunned by society. When something is different and seen as weird a community grows up around it. I went vegan overnight in 2014, the only vegan I knew where the influencers I watched online and it took me a long time to come to a natural path for me rather that trying to force myself to be part of that community that was really focused eating tonnes of fruit and being raw and travelling to Thailand all the time. I like hearty meals and so love cooked food so I struggled for a few years to be like the others because I didn’t know any other veganism existed. Now I’m happy being vegan on my own terms and I’m not really part of a vegan community but am so happy with how I eat.
I was raised vegetarian and then became vegan two years ago and haven't looked back since. Its funny how much I relate to your experience going veggy, I used to know I liked oat milk but wouldn't get oat milk in my coffee if I was in a cafe because I was nervous about being an inconvenience? Or being 'that' guy with a complicated coffee order- as if a batista has never heard of an oat caramel latte before 🤦♀️ I roll my eyes at myself now, but I was so scared of other people rolling their eyes at me then!! I also completely agree with what you said about aligning to your reality, that's exactly the reason I became vegan. I saw the reports that came out of leading university research stating that adopting a more plant-based diet is the most impactful thing people can do on an individual level. It reminded me of when I was a kid and watched a documentary about Darwin and his theory of evolution, hearing how so many people refused to (and still refuse) to believe him and thinking they were sooooo silly when the evidence for evolution was right there. And now I'm an adult and the evidence for why I should be a vegan is staring right at me, no amount of cheese was going to make me not feel like I was letting little me down. What I found was easiest in the transition to plant-based was 1) focus on what you can eat, not what you can't 2) understand that it's an alternative, not a replica. It's not a less good burger because it doesn't taste exactly like a meat burger- how could it? Just enjoy it for what it is without comparing it to meat, otherwise its like you're comparing apples to oranges and then when you eat an apple saying "it's nice, but you can tell its not an orange" 3) Get excited about it all!! Yes there's a stereotype that vegans will tell you they're vegan, but you never understand the excitement food has when you can eat any of it at any time. Once a brand of biscuits you used to love takes out the one stupid ingredient it never needed in the first place (like jammmy dodgers) you will love jammy dodgers more than you ever knew you could. It's okay to get hyped about that!! You genuinely can make or find any meals you want, it just does take more effort and time and money. But if you know you have that spare (doesn't have to be all the time) plant-based cooking can be such an exciting thing to explore
I swear vegans have to be better and more creative cooks on average because it can be so hard to avoid animal products without having been the cook of the dish you’re eating, especially like 10+ years ago when vegan was an uncommon preference.
I just wanted to emphasize, as a former barista, that adding oat milk or any "alternative" milk we had wasn't difficult for us. We stored them right alongside the other milk, and it was simple to click them from our order menu. If anyone does want to make the extra effort not to be "that person" with the complicated order, avoid the more complicated made-to-order sandwiches! Pandemic or not, you'll probably be safer from diseases that way too.
I agree! Most vegans I know are better cooks than meat eaters because they know more foods and put more effort into flavour. I really like chickpea ‘tuna’ mayo, it doesn’t taste the same but it works the same in a sandwich and is nice in its own way!
When I first became a vegetarian I told people, "I'm not eating meat right now" instead of "I'm vegetarian" because I was trying to avoid the, "so why are you a vegetarian? How long have you been a vegetarian?" Etc. Until I felt more comfortable in it and had been doing it for several months
As a recovered anorexic, my first soirée into a meat-free diet was another way to heavily restrict what I was eating masked by a pseudo concern for the environment. So I understand, years later, why my decision to eat far less meat (I never liked it anyway!) is alarming for the people around me even though then and now couldn’t be more polar opposite situations. In that way, I know I don’t have a ‘duty’ as such to explain my eating habits to my family, friends etc but I do so to put their minds at ease. I know that, for myself, veganism would be a step too far - at least for now. I often eat vegan meals for fun and by chance but I couldn’t actively pursue that lifestyle knowing what I know about my relationship with food. I also have early onset osteoporosis (I am 20 years old) and so rely at the minute on dairy products to strengthen my bones, but am looking into some less cow-y alternatives to keep the ol’ skeleton strong :)) All this being said, i couldn’t have more respect and admiration for those that are vegans or make vegan choices in their lives because it truly makes a difference and I’m sure it’s come with not a few obstacles along the way. We all do what we can to help the environment and that is the best thing - I love that quote ‘it’s impact not identity’. That will stay with me for a long time x
In my mind, part of aiming for the majority of people to go vegan is to allow for people who can't go vegan to not have to. If my being vegan reduces the impact of say, you being able to eat meat & stay healthy, then I'm totally down for that. If we all do everything we *can* then there is room to do the things we can't and still save the world.
Veganism is a philosophy about reducing as much harm done to other sentient beings as possible and to not see love-capable individuals as commodities. Veganism is not about the environment whatsoever, although living plantbased has huge environmental benefits.
I liked this video a lot; nuanced and honest, well done. Booktip: "Sistah Vegan" is a collection of written works (essays, articles, poems, letters) about being vegan as a black woman, against a cultural backdrop of soul food and having a lot of curves = being atractive. The original edition was published over 10 years ago, and a lot of the people who contributed were vegan before they knew there was a word for it. They made it work without network, without social media and without fancy cheese replacements. Very inspiring!
"We don't need a small group of people doing veganism perfectly, we need a large group of people doing veganism imperfectly" - I don't know who said this, but it's something I hear a lot more from vegans now than I used to. I love this video so much. I used to put a lot of pressure on myself to always get it right, but I'm much more relaxed with veganism now that I'm about 5 years into being a vegan and about 13 years into being vegetarian. If something ends up having a bit of milk solids or egg in it or something, I don't stress or feel bad and I don't think it's good for anyone to be held to a standard of being perfect 100% of the time. If accidentally forget to ask for soy milk, I just drink it anyway because it's a waste otherwise. Eventually it just becomes second nature that you know what things to buy and what to ask for. But you have to listen to your body and what it needs, and what works for you. Even being a vegetarian makes a huge impact, even reducing meat makes an impact. In the end, doing something is better than doing nothing, and I think that's an outlook that can be adapted to a lot of things.
Thank you so much for this! As a vegan who is deeply uncomfortable with the militant, "clean," strait edge, and angry side of the vegan community, I love anyone who approaches any level of vegetarianism or veganism with realism, grace, and humor. Sharing your journey makes it seem more approachable to others, which, if we're in the business of making an impact, is so much more effective than just scolding your audience for their ways of eating and living. Slow, realistic, and small changes changes that everyone can try are key, so THANK YOU! ❤
Coming back here to this episode just to say I watched this mid 2023; this episode was the catalyst to me doing my own research and soul searching. In Jan 2024 I went plant based. Still going strong, 💪😊 thanks Lena for putting words in my head that I couldn't un-hear! 🙏 ❤
Really interesting video, I agree with a lot of it. I'm currently not vegan or vegetarian but I have cut down my meat intake and only buy high quality meat which means we eat less meat overall. I do want to become vegetarian one day but I feel like doing it gradually by cutting down on meals of meat we eat each week works for us and although its not the best it better that we eat less meat rather than try and eat no meat and give up and go back to meat with every meal.
I feel lucky because going vegetarian then subsequently vegan was so simple for me. One day I bit into a chicken wing, realized I was disgusted with the idea of eating animals, and never ate meat again. Then a year and a half later I had a dish with cheese on it, felt horrified imagining the life of the cow it came from, and basically went vegan the next day. It was an incredibly personal revelation and it sorta just happened. I wish I could wave a magic wand and have the same thing happen to everyone else, but it's just not that simple.
I could had similar realisation with quitting meat I just suddenly stopped reciting meat as eatable. And if you think about it - eating someone flesh it’s such a crazy idea. Wish it was so simple with quitting cheese and mostly shopped egg/milk-based bakes thou. But I’m still on my way.
@@axolotlismybeautystandard I believe that you'll get there. Quitting meat was MUCH easier for me than cutting out dairy & eggs. Ultimately I think I just reached a point where consuming the product caused me more pain than any pleasure I got from eating it. It's a process to work through, and it really is like breaking an addiction. I respect you for doing what you can.
same! I watched seaspiracy when it came out, which led to me watching several other documentaries, took a month to do my research and now I’ve been vegan for nearly 6 months :)) it’s crazy bcos I used to eat chicken daily but I don’t miss any of it at all
@@acelya414 yeah Seaspiracy affected me a lot. I already wasn't eating meat at that point but it definitely caused me to think more and actually dedicate to going vegan.
@@TM-dq5lr yeah it really was great. I tried vegetarianism a few times before but just didn’t commit to it but ever since watching seaspiracy and then dominion etc there’s no way I’d go back
I'm still very much in the reducing impact headspace. I have a looooong history of disordered eating, so telling myself that this whole category of food is off-limits is incredibly triggering. Instead, I have made a habit of evaluating how I'm feeling on a meal-by-meal basis and giving myself the freedom to decide if I actually want the chicken curry or if the chickpea will hit the spot just as much. Most of the time, I end up going with the vegetarian option. Maybe two or three times a month, I pick the meat. Milk is the one area that I have had significant trouble finding an alternative; I just don't like the plant options and a few varieties trigger migraines. So, I have tried to just reduce the amount I consume rather than trying to force myself to drink things I dislike. Probably my biggest hangup about going fully plant-based is that all or nothing mentality that's just not reasonable for most people, and I hope more people can keep moving the conversation toward reduction of impact rather than this moral binary that the discourse has centered around for so long.
This was a great video, Lena! This January will be my 10-year anniversary of veganism, which I hope brings some encouragement (?)... All I have ever wanted is for people to try their best; turns out the "all or nothing" mentality of early veganism is not helpful when you want to actually change the world. Start slow, start small. There are so many delicious plants in this world to eat!
I find that I struggle with how the vegan/vegetarian diets are always framed as not eating something, because I am way to good at not eating something and terrible at replacing it, so I need to like try to eat more vegetables or vegetarian or vegan meals rather, but it’s difficult when the resources to do that so often frame it in a way that’s unhealthy for me
For me I changed my mindset from "not eating meat and dairy" to "every meal/every day I should eat enough carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and protein". And these come in so many many different forms of food. It really helped me. Also I notice I eat a lot more various foods and use more spices than when I wasn't vegetarian. Seeing it more as an exploration into other types of food might help you too. 🤷♀️
I totally hear that, definitely knowing how to replace what you love to eat.. that’s the best. Whenever someone is interested in veganism that is close to me, I always ask them what is your favorite meal currently? And then I give them recommendations for how to veganize that meal. You have to make connections between what you currently eat as far as what flavors you love and dishes and know how to veganize that. I found that super empowering in my own journey personally.
Thank you for this! I was vegetarian for 7 and vegan for 2 years while present with other vegans, but when my life changed and I started dating a bbq loving amazing cook of a fella, I let go of all of my harsh rules. While he excitedly helped me cook all kinds of vegan dishes, I helped him cook some of his favorite classic dishes and started to try out the meat. I'm still no longer strictly vegetarian or vegan, but I happily choose vegan or vegetarian options every chance I get, and always cook myself plant based meals. And I feel much better in my social life and my personal diet. I was judged for both being vegan AND switching to occasional meat. Plant based diets store not be about harsh rules and labeling your identity! It should totally be about impact and a balance and moderation. I'd say I'm vegetarian 6 days out of the week and vegan 4 days out of the week. And I'm proud of myself for it!
As a long time vegan and lover of your channel I was a bit anxious about clicking on this video, but as always, you’ve spoken so beautifully about this topic. I’m also a teacher, and had a very interesting discussion with my Year 8 class the other day who’d found out I was vegan (from another student in the school). I teach at a school with a LOT of farmers, and they had several questions - and a lot of disbelief! We all approach this issue from different angles, and it’s easy to get emotional about it. One student asked me if I ‘hate farmers’ and I said of course not because farmers also provide my food too! We had a very enlightening discussion about it, and I have promised to bring them in my vegan brownies so they can give me their verdict. One thing did stick with me though. A girl asked why I didn’t eat milk and I said it was because of what happened to the male cows. She said they still get to live for ten-eleven months, so what was the problem? That, for me, sums up why I am vegan. No glass of milk or bowl of ice-cream is worth shooting a baby in the head after eleven months because they are no longer ‘useful’. Also, from an environmental standpoint, the resources it takes to rear that animal are insane when it’s just going to end up on someone’s plate at the end of the day. If anyone here is thinking of going vegan, then I honestly think it was the best thing I ever did - but take the pressure off yourself. You don’t have to be perfect. Thank you Leena for your thoughtful words, as always.
I think the meat eating = masculine thing is starting to go away thankfully. My sister's fiancé is a typical blokey-bloke, loves the footie down at the pub with the lads, is a white-van man etc. But even he has no problem being vegan now, and certainly doesn't see himself as being any less masculine because of it. For Americans I should imagine it's a different story, but I'm thankful that veganism is catching on so fast here in the UK
America's a pretty big place, it really depends where you are regionally. In the more health-conscious states (think Colorado, California, Oregon, Washington) there's a pretty strong mental connection between veganism and bodily health, even if those two things don't necessarily correlate. Because of that I think some regions actually have an association with athletic performance, masculinity, and veganism. We have a lot of really popular male professional athletes that are vegan/vegetarian (Alex Honnold, DeAndre Jordan, and Kendrick Farris come to mind) that dudebros really idolize. Even Mike Tyson was plant-based for a while. Much like veganism itself, there's nuance! Edit: lol spellcheck changed that last word to "nuisance" 🤣
I have a lot of weird food/texture sensitivities due to autism that limit my diet somewhat, but watching this has motivated me to try to reduce my meat intake. I’ve been coming around on foods all the time. I can at least make one more meal a day vegetarian. Thank you for your videos; they’re always well researched, empowering, and fun.
As a life-long veggie who dabbles in veganism, the thing you said about attitudes changing is so true. Growing up I had to put up with so many stupid, antagonistic questions, well as I've noticed in the last few years no one seems to care or question it anymore. I love this, because I hated justifying my food choices to people
Wow, you're video actually persuade me to write my first youtube comment ever. I've been eating mostly plant-based for 2 months now, and I really love it. I don't find it hard to cook vegan meals, but sometimes, I do have cravings. Not even for meat though, just cheese or some really specific dishes. When I do feel that craving, I choose the foods that I really love. And I consume them consciously, rather than just gobbling it down because you need to eat. Eating plant based for like 90% of the time makes me respect myself and my meals so much more and allows me to have a healthy diet without falling for any diet culture pitfalls.
It's also important to give yourself permission to treat going vegan/vegetarian/any kind of big change as an experiment. I went vegetarian for a year, felt hungry and tired all the time, gave it up after needing my appendix removed and the meat/protein cravings became too strong. Later I found out I have a reaction to legumes. Husband was vegan for a month, felt like crap and was a grouch all the time. We've been down this road, and at this point we both eat meat, but I try to supplement with eggs and sustainable fish, my husband eats a fair amount of legumes. We try to do our part in other ways by avoiding plastic, rarely eating out and not supporting big companies like Amazon. Being more ecologically responsible is a personal journey and each person is going to do it differently.
yeah, i'm all in on not flying because i cannot commit to giving up meat completely. it's easier to not fly a few times a year vs changing how i eat three times a day every single day. gluten free vegetarianism is.. a lot, especially when travelling.
This is very interesting. I land on quite the opposite side of this argument but for many of the same reasons! I believe very strongly that our current systems of agriculture are unethical and terrible for the planet. I completely agree that people should eat less meat and more vegetables. I am strongly against factory farming and mono-culture farming too. However, I am also quite convinced about the necessity of certain types of animal farming for the health of our soils and ecosystems, as well as meat farming being a long-standing indigenous way of existing in many places. The Sacred Cow documentary talks about this a lot. Fascinating the way similar information and beliefs can lead to very different practices!
Pretty sure indigenous peoples would appreciate being able to even stay on their land instead of being displaced or killed by climate change (or slash-and-burn for animal feed) and would be able to deal with not having cows.
It's lovely to see amazing respectful open conversations in the comments. I am vegetarian and this video spoke to me on a deep level. I don't think I'd ever take the jump into full fledged vegansim but I am not against eating vegan meals at all, infact I enjoy eating out at vegan places. The relationship I have with food now isn't about the need for meat, it's about flavour and texture - which you can get from many meat free dishes.
Being a vegan is just something that I can do every day of my life to reduce my environmental impact and reduce the needless suffering of animals. Being a vegan your carbon foot print will be about a quarter of the of a meat eater. It's a tangible effort being made every day to create change in the world rather than just engaging conceptually with these topics without action.
I’ve personally avoided going fully vegan just because of my disabilities... there are some vitamins that come directly from animal proteins that stabilise hormones that affect one of said disabilities... in fact it was a vegan friend who encouraged me to be veg heavy with my meals rather than cut meat out entirely.
Having been vegetarian since infancy (my parents didnt try to raise me that way I was just always grossed out by meat and wasnt forced to eat it) I am so incredibly happy that it has become a completely normal lifestyle. The amount of people trying to coerce me into eating things I was deeply disgusted by growing up is just insane and it really raised my life quality to now just be accepted by my surroundings anf actually finding things on the menu when going to the restaurant and such
Thank you for the nuanced and honest representation of this! Finding what feels right and works for you is more important than fitting yourself into a box that other people can easily identify.
I have been vegan for almost 10 years and it’s so true I have so many thoughts that can’t fit into a 30 second window in conversation. To your point of people not caring that you’re vegetarian. I now have two couples that I’m friends with that are omnivores but are really excited to try vegan food, whether that’s food I’ve made or a new vegan restaurant here in town. I was talking with one yesterday and percolating on the thought all day. How cool is that? It wasn’t that way when I became vegetarian or vegan. Also my other reflection from this video is that I really firmly believe that a slow transition to vegetarianism (and if you want veganism) is the way to go. I’ve read the order of cutting out beef, then pork, then poultry, then fish, then eggs, then daily to be helpful in talking to people who are thinking about eating less meat. And a slow transition helps you learn those replacement meals and different restaurants or options that are available in a reasonable time. And to that end I’m not forcing any sort of timeline on my partner and just listening when they want to talk about their feelings/opinions about food, processed food and the meat industry.
i love LOVE your perspective on this so much. i finally became vegan at the beginning of summer after 6 years attempting to but struggling with inconveniences and a lack of cooking skills. and while i totally understand the more activist vegans that people find extremist and annoying, i also think it’s important to consider the privilege of being vegan. in the end what really matters is the intention and, as you said, it is not about identity but about trying your best while aknowledging your limits (health, economy, family, etc).
I went from vegetarian to omnivorous a couple years ago and I think that was the right choice for myself at the time. I struggle with germaphobia and had gotten quite scared and upset about the dangers of raw meat and eggs - I shared a kitchen with non-vegetarians and I didn’t want to be scared. Also, I just didn’t know how to cook meat. I didn’t know how hard it was, or how to make it safe. So I was living in this state of ignorance and fear and moving back to eating meat has really helped me do a sort of exposure therapy there. I still don’t eat meat a lot. Maybe a couple times a week? But sometimes I’ll go multiple months without any meat. I expect I’ll go back to vegetarianism at some point, but I wanted to offer an example of someone who couldn’t stay vegetarian for mental health reasons
I love the attitude of “impact no identity” I find labels oddly pressuring, like I could suddenly fall off a pedestal and be deemed a fraud. So feeling like I can just consciously try to have a better world impact without declaring myself under any name is very freeing to me, loved this video x
I was an intense, strict ethical vegan for a decade and other than being served a hot dog that wasn't vegan once, I managed to avoid all meat, dairy and eggs. Unfortunately, it came to a point where I had to realize my ethics and my own life were not in alignment and I was actively worsening my physical and mental health through my beliefs and lifestyle. Now I am plant-based and have come to terms with the fact that animals will die for me to live. I also think the pressure to change shouldn't be on individuals as much as it should be on massive structural and systemic changes required to halt pollution and actively address climate change. We will never buy ourselves or contort ourselves enough into addressing climate change when we have such massive failures in government, corporations, regulations, etc.
Moving toward more sustainable food production is so important, and involves a lot of significant changes which include veganism but can't be reduced to veganism alone! Certain climates and geographies are well-suited for grazing animals and others are well-suited for raising crops. There are sustainable hunting practices in other cultures. And industrial farming of plant crops can be devastating for workers, local wildlife, and the environment, too (learning about the history of industrial corn in the US blew my mind.) Of course, that doesn't change the fact that the meat (and dairy) industry is too big, too cruel, and harming humans, animals, and the environment, and that many other areas of industrial crop production serve these industries! But you're absolutely right that it's a nuanced conversation, and that it's important to keep in mind scale of impact when discussing these issues--it's not about what makes you a good, clean, pure, moral person, it's about the work we can do together to protect our planet and each other. Great video!
The idea of "impact not identity" is such a perfect way of explaining my relationship to my own veganism, particularly here in Aotearoa New Zealand where agriculture is both the backbone of the economy, and the largest contributor to our carbon emissions. For me, sustainability is the most important thing! I also think that focusing on sustainability also helps us avoid the anti-Indigenous sentiment that I often see getting thrown around in vegan/general environmental circles. Traditional whaling by Indigenous communities in Alaska is not comparable to commercial whaling, just like traditional leather-making is not comparable to mass-produced leather (and is also significantly better for the planet than pleather).
As a deeply passionate vegan & a realistic I am so happy you have made this video. Thank you for showing people that progress is better than perfection 💚
i eat mostly plant-based and agree w a lot of this. but i have to say that it is a very western and city-based perspective to equate all meat-eating with lack of respect or care for animals. there are lots of communities of ppl that historically and to this day eat meat and animal products in a way that is more sustainable, mindful of animals, and embodies a respect and lack of hierarchy in their relationships w animals. a lot of indigenous people and people in hunting-based rural communities are like this. however, as somebody who lives in a big city without the ability to do this myself, i know that eating plant-based and locally produced food as much as possible is the best thing i can do right now.
This is super interesting! I am one of those people you mentioned that can't be vegan for health reasons and I thought it was really interesting how I've had a very mirrored experience to you. I used to be vegetarian as all my health issues were developing and felt a huge sense of relief when I started to eat meat again as the improvement in my overall health was dramatic. However, being vegetarian and almost vegan for a long time also has had such a huge impact on my health as it taught me to make more healthy and balanced meals and not to rely on meat and animal products for a tasty dish. I now cook mostly vegan or vegetarian and occasionally add some meat to meals to support my digestion, and then I eat mostly vegan while I'm out so it's easy to avoid allergens. Eating in this way has actually made me much more connected to my food and has encouraged me to seek out other ways to lower my carbon footprint through eating seasonally, growing my own food, trying to be more energy efficient etc. Which is also a good thing! There is more than one way to make an impact :)
i quit eating meat & fish when i was 12-13 - pretty much cold turkey - and i knew that veganism was a logical consequence of vegetarianism for me but when the time came for me to be able to pursue it (=when i moved out of my meat-eating parents' house) i purposefully took my time with it and slowly phased out non-vegans things in my diet (mostly by finding replacements i liked). and i've also never been perfect about it! vegetarianism was about the animals for me, but veganism came about mostly because of the climate crisis, so "impact > identity" applies to me. i'm more or less freegan (=i don't really buy any animal products, but if there's stuff around and i've got a choice between eating it and throwing it away, i'm not wasting food) and i've also decided that allowing myself to purchase/eat a thing i'm really craving, especially in the early stages, made it so much easier to quit. sometimes i walked past a particular sweet i knew wasn't vegan and really beat myself up about it, really built up the desired food item in my mind, and then i finally caved - and usually my reaction to actually eating the non-vegan thing was like, "oh, that wasn't entirely worth the hype. probably won't be buying it again anytime soon." and that's been working pretty well! not striving for complete perfection, but rather progress and impact, has made the whole thing so much more sustainable for me.
CW: eating disorders. My mum is really paranoid about me being vegetarian constantly asking what protein I ate today (I’m 27) and when I asked about it she said that she was vegetarian for a while in her 20s and it “made her ill” and she felt “tired all the time”. On further examination she was also suffering from bulemia at the time and hugely restricting her diet… which could explain the tiredness?!?!?!!!
I was vegetarian for ten years before health issues caught up with me and I had to change my habits. Something my partner pointed out to me is that a big issue with the meat industry is that humans see themselves as removed from nature, and therefore eating meat is a moral choice to take another being's life. But we aren't removed from nature. We are omnivores. We wouldn't take meat from a dog, so why do we take it from ourselves? Granted we have the intelligence to see those other beings empathetically, so I understand and respect people's decisions to not eat meat, while feeling that it is not the only solution. Another solution to that rather than to just stop eating meat is to be more better about sourcing locally and ethically and being very deliberate and in tune with what we put in our bodies. Yes, I do think it is better that animals have good lives before we kill and eat them, because I am an omnivore. My body was designed for this process. Many creatures were designed for this process. The earth relies on this process existing to continue functioning. If predators stopped existing there would be too much prey and our ecosystem falls out of balance. The important part is that I treat that relationship with respect and honor. The meat industry inherently doesn't do that, but the farmer 20 miles from my house absolutely does. The fact that it cost more that way is the price I pay to honor that life.
I love this! I've been vegan for six years and I'm now doing my PhD in meat reduction and veganism and am currently looking at data around vegan prototypes and if they influence people's intention to reduce meat (I'm broadly in health psychology), and I absolutely think your first point is a lot of people's thinking based on the adjectives I have stuck on my wall for analysis. We don't know anyone who eats less meat/is vegan and the one's we do know are potentially 'annoying', time will tell if this actually is the case when my final study is done. The perfect vegan is a thing that has come up a lot too; most people (vegans included surprisingly) are much more for intention and whenever you can rather than perfection (the UK Vegan society definition actually has "as far as possible and practicable" in it). It's an interesting conversation for sure, thank you for having it, I think a lot of us still are recovering from the vegan influencer space of 2015/16 and trying to undo stereotypes that exist from it.
My main issue is that I don't have enough vegan recipes on hand. So if anyone would like to name/link any good recipes I will love them till the end of days!!!
I went vegetarian at 12 (2006) in a small Iowa town, so you can imagine how hard that was to keep up. I tried vegan a couple times in high school, but the meatless options that I had access to at school or local restaurants were all cheese based and I couldn't fully control my meals at home because I was still eating with my family, so I just decided to stick with a vegetarian diet. Now, at 27, I've reached the point where I've stopped buying animal food products (aside from honey) to have at home, but I am still occasionally eating dairy in social situations where it's not possible to have a vegan option. Your gradual cutting out of animal products sounds a lot like how I am currently eating.
@@Kristy463 Good luck! You should still be able to access vegan grocery items, but it might be difficult to find options eating out. A lot of the small diners and restaurants only have meat entrees or have some kind of grilled cheese/pizza/cheesy pasta as the only meatless option.
@@Kristy463 Great! You should have some good options for weekends out if that's something you enjoy. Check out Dirt Burger for a fully vegan restaurant. Zombie Burger has a good vegan burger (though they might have switched to Impossible Burgers recently). I hope you find enough options that you enjoy!
I love the way that you approach this topic. Like, I'm mentally/financially not at a place where I can go vegan... but I love the idea of taking steps TOWARD veggie/vegan. Thinking about, "what's one thing I can do to step towards that?" and then going from there.
Leena, you did not touch on this in your video, but can we also talk about how "vegan" is not automatically virtuous? Lots of popular vegan alternatives are grown in developing countries and the demand for those products from US and European vegans drives the prices up so high that local people harvesting them cannot actually afford them! Quinoa is a good example of this. And there's also humanitarian issues with the way some foods are harvested. And there's issues with the greenhouse gases emitted via the transportation of vegan foods from faraway places. Etc., etc., etc. The more research I do, the more I feel like eating locally is more important to sustainability than 100% cutting out meat--though weirdly (at least in the United States) local food is often more expensive than stuff shipped from South America? (This is where the systemic changes need to come in). But I've also done the research on how animals are treated and can fully understand people who choose vegetarian/veganism for those reasons. However, I do not understand why animal welfare (seems to) get more sympathy than human welfare when it comes to food ethics.
Loved your video Leena! I’ve been vegan for six years, and I can definitely tell you that the first maybe two years I was in some online communities, but after that I stopped because people go on and on about it. And I was just more concerned about living in a way that doesn’t include animal products. So I totally agree about focusing in on your relationship to your own food choices. i’ve found it quite effortless especially after six years, I can’t even believe it’s been that long, but yeah anything that I want to do vegan I can do. Recently I’ve just been buying the essentials. I do believe that veganism can be cheaper than eating meat, but again it definitely depends on if you’re buying tons of fancy vegan cheeses and meats. Focusing on Rice, beans and general Whole Foods is definitely the route I have taken. I always tell people, only if they ask, that you really have to be in veganism for the right reasons / come to it on your own, ultimately For it to really stick. And also to know, that it’s important to have substitutions in my opinion in the beginning because we live in a meat and dairy centric society so many of us are just used to eating everything with either meat or dairy in it. Anyways I could go on and on, Always love to hear your thoughts!
Ive been a vegetarian for 8 years now and 90-95% of my diet is strictly plant-based. Yet, I dont define myself as vegan to avoid feeling bad for the occasional egg or pizza, or getting the odd snarky comment if I do it in public. Besides, strict veganism in itself is quite unattainable. So,in most cases i find that calling yourself a vegan can be a inconvenience more than anything else
i mean yeah, i would say if you eat anything with animal products in on purpose, you arent vegan. things other than food, clothes and toiletries/cosmetics etc which are quite easy to make sure are vegan, is where you would get the complexity and the leeway and that's where you have to just do the best you can
@Ellen Lane it would depend on where you live. I live in a town in the uk with access to mainstream supermarkets so it's not inconvenient for me at all. it probably would inconvenient if you lived very rural or abroad in certain countries
@@sola_a If my occasional cheese pizza makes It feasible for me to continue being 90-95% vegan in the long run, so be it. Why would other vegan - i presume- attack my diet that is *almost* vegan for the slip here and there? Aren't we supposed to be on the same boat? Imo, by policing other vegans and vegetarians' diet you're doing the cause a great disservice.
I grew up on a ranch my dad raised cattle not so much to sell to the market but to sell to local neighbors and such. One cow can feed 2,300 people 3 oz of meat one half of a cow can feed a family of 4 for a year. That one cow needs 1.5 to 2 acres to raise it on. The mistake that I feel most people use when counting destruction of earth with raising cattle is one, most folks live in a city and have no clue how food is raised and get's to them, how many acres it takes to grow vegetable how much water it takes how many chemicals are used to make sure there are no deformities and bugs and what happens if the weather is not perfect? too much rain, early frost hail all of these things effect growing our food. Truly as you said eating meat is a personal descision but the idea that one is far more moral than the other makes in less of a nuanced idea and more of a black and white this is good this is bad idea. By all means if it makes you feel better to not eat meat for health or personal reasons than that is fine. But there is more at play than just I stop eating meat it all get's better. The part people seem to be ignoring is the agribussiness and not family farms and ranches are the problem. if you want to eat meat then do not go to your supermarket go to and support small farms. We are painting everyone in the bussiness with this broad brush of they are bad and cruel to their animals but i know first hand the midnight watch on a cow because they managed to hurt themselves. The people who raise them care about them, and are huge defenders of animals not being abused and being fed well and taken care of. I cannot stress enough that people need to eat and believe what they want to as John Lennon sang Whatever get's you through the night is alright. But just as the information a meat eater will get the information a vegan gets is rather skewed.
I am not a vegan, but I am lactose intolerant and my breakfast and dinner are almost always 'accidentally' vegan. The main reason I won't give upmeat, is because I really do need more protein. I had deficiencies during my teenage years and now I am careful to not miss out on any nutrients. I understand that you can get protein from vegan food, but I am a broke ass student and this is my prefer that for now. I think reducing meat is a much better initiative that is more accessible to most people.
I became a vegetarian when I was 8 years old (quit meat from one day to the next) because I was horrified at the idea of eating animals. Never struggled emotionally with the concept of milk or eggs, and still don't. I know objectively that the dairy industry is not good for the environment, but really, dairies are one of my main sources of pleasure in my day to day life. Like... cheese, yogurt and ice cream are the best. Cake too. And while there are vegan options there's often only one flavour of vegan ice cream and two flavors of vegan yogurt. And frankly, I'm too depressed to remove this joy from my life.
I wonder where you live? In the UK there are soooo many options for vegan yoghurt and ice cream now! I wish there was this much choice for everyone everywhere as dairy is so bad for human bodies and the vegan options here are sooo tasty!
yes i love eating eggs! and yogurt, when i move out i just want to buy from farmers or places where i know they’re treating the animals well, rather than larger companies :)
I don't understand why it is said that going vegetarian and vegan is expensive....how so...what really actually makes it expensive? When I bought meat before going vegetarian, the meat part of meals was always the most expensive produce. Are people referring to when eating out?...because I also have not found it to be more expensive. Unless one sees it as more expensive for paying the same amount for a meat dish as a veg/vegan dish, because to buy and make the dish, it would be more expensive to for the meat than veg. Are restaurants then playing the monopoly and making bank in this way...especailly when they offer very few options? Then again...chips on a menu are truly and literally a life saver. Thank you once again Leena for another awesome video! 💙
Well said, the difference between 'need' and 'want' is crucial. As for 'need,' I like to look to the dietetics statements around the world which unanimously confirm we do not need to eat or use our fellow animals during any stage of our lives.
ive been vegan for almost 2 years now and i honestly think it saved me from my eating disorder. it helped me to feel more under control in terms of my diet, so i no longer restrict calories or skip meals and so now i have a much better relationship with food. it has also improved my skin/acne so much. some people dont realise that its not just about the animals or the environment, it can be so much more.
Not strictly connected to veganism, but watching your video made me realize that I have a very insistent "teenage voice" that makes sticking to a diet very hard. Whenever I am on a diet I will get these intense internal monologues where I'm asking myself "Is this really worth the hassle, the mental energy to figure out what to cook, the extra cost of finding the right ingredients, missing out on dinners with friends, saying no to trying out the food culture of a particular city..." I've never considered thinking about impact over rules. I always thought that you are either IN or OUT. I wonder if I can try to adopt your approach moving forward. Thanks again, leena.
Thank you for acknowledging that some people have medical reasons why they can't go vegan. The internet can make it seem like such a sinple easy decision. I have tons of G.I. issues, tons of allergies, and a bunch of chronic health conditions that make it extremely difficult to make a shift like this. I'm already so limited on the foods I can safely eat that limiting it more to go vegan would not be successful for me.
You mean they can't go plantbased. Everyone can be vegan as its a philosophy about reducing as much harm to other sentient beings as you possibly can. Also to not see others as commodities.
I appreciate you bringing up the nuances of how your own relationship with your body and diet influences whether or not you can commit to vegetarianism or veganism. I am mostly vegetarian, and only eat meat when I am out. Your idea of making rules for yourself like 'if there is a vegan option you should get it (unless its terrible)' is really helpful for me to frame how I could have less meat. I am the kind of person is fairly picky about food, so having too many restrictions is stressful to me. It's like my current situation with plant-based milks. I use dairy based milk at home because I have weetbix for breakfast. Its this whole chain of 'soy milk will make weetbix taste bad' -> i wont eat weetbix -> I wont eat breakfast at all. Hopefully one day I'll get to a stage where my breakfast isn't dependent on dairy, but I guess that's my reality right now. Something else I think of a lot is how much resources go into making these foods. If I get bonsoy that comes from Japan, vs the dairy milk from the farm 100km away, how does the transport impact the climate? Or then I think of how many farm workers in general are exploited. The whole system is so messed up. I find all I can do is try and shop local where I can and take it a day at a time.
Update: I got a 1lt of dairy milk and 1lt of soy milk today, rather than 2lt of dairy. I realised from this vid that I was thinking too much in absolutes. Can use dairy for weetbix, and soy for other things. It's a start.
I’d highly recommend trying oat milk if you haven’t already! It’s pretty widely agreed to be the nicest plant milk and it’s also the most environmentally friendly. (Not trying to be pushy, just a suggestion that worked for me!)
When lockdown hit, I went from struggling to have two meat-free days a week to going only the weekend eating meat but felt like a major step. But it’s amazing the impact life can have - once I got pregnant, I couldn’t stand most veggies or the kind of meat free meals I relied on and now I’m temporarily living with parents who eat meat everyday with a lot of in life up in air, it’s hard not to fall back on what you’re used to and what’s easy. Eating meat and animal based products is sadly the easy option. Hopefully it’s becoming less so.
I've actually had veggie preferences since a young age (having your mam give out to you for eating all the broccoli so there's none left for dinner is a funny one I like telling people!) I actually am not a huge fan of meat, and will eat it on occasion but it's normally chicken or a VERY small amount of red meat. Eating veggies is just more interesting and diverse? Like if you miss the "umami" flavour, just east some fried mushrooms lads! My main obstacle to going full vegan is my cup of tea (yes, the Bristish milky black shite, though I'm Irish) - I need regular milk in that because none of the plant based ones I try taste even remotely okay in black tea! But yeah, I think the big obstacle for most people is expense and also peer pressure (the stigma around veganism is still big where I am at least, in a country that exports an absolute TONNE of red meat). Vegetarianism is something I think we could all easily attain without a huge negative impact on people with health issues associated with cutting meat out (I get anemic very easily, hence the occasional meat escapade). Also veg are just more interesting to eat dammit - meat is all bland as hell unless you coat it in salt, spices, herbs, sauces, anything! Also seeing my sister visibly sweating trying to eat a whole rack of ribs, a steak AND a meat pie on her 30th birthday kinda put things into perspective for me -_-'
This is me. I never knew how to explain this but this is how I feel! Thanks for putting it to words. I have "veggie preferences" haha love it. AND I also lean towards anemia and if I have access to meat for that need I choose the meat, otherwise my health suffers.
I LOVED THIS VIDEO!!! I was a strict vegan for 3 years and got very ill (unrelated) and then gave myself some slack and I've been vegetarian for three last 3 years. I used to be so strict that if there weren't vegan options I wouldn't eat and I would feel miserable. It's really strange to be in that place of eating consciously but choosing to sometimes have cheese or eggs when I understand why I don't want to. I suddenly felt caught between the strict vegans and meat eaters and that can be a cruel place to be, and I still find myself defending my own actions? But this video makes me feel so validated and explains it so much better than my puny little words do 😅 Thanks Leena for another awesome, well spoken and researched yet down to earth talk on this topic 🥰
One of the things I found helpful was give myself a hall pass on Christmas & my birthday. The first few yrs, those "days off" of veganism made the rest of the days easier. I also called myself vegan-ish rather than vegan I don't need those as often as I used to so your welcome to borrow them
Ooh the gaslighting yourself thing resonated with me, that was the thing that tipped me over the edge into veganism from vegetarianism, because every time I ate cheese or eggs I was having to actively turn the cognitive dissonance back on to do so.
I medically cannot be vegan because of several things- metabolic issues, a boat load of allergies, early signs of osteoporosis, and chronic digestive issues. I support and uplift those who choose it and are conscious in how they do it, and agree it's good for some people, but I've also seen it woefully misused. I've also faced the threat of doxxing and medical documentation leaking by a small fringe minority who refused to believe that I might be in this position. (This is not a request for people to give me unsolicited advice. I have consulted professionals, including some very good vegan nutritionalists and dieticians, and the answer remains the same for me. I'm allergic to, among other things, soy, gluten, some tree nuts, arrow root, most tropical fruit, raspberries, seaweed, and have lactose intolerance. And those are just my food allergies.) My issue is that a lot of people will engage with Veganism without doing the relevant research and thus end up causing equal environmental harm. My diet is largely local in nature when I can afford it, and most of the animal product I do have is as small on the carbon scale, as it can be. A lot of pop vegan foods have long transit times, monocultures and can harm the people native to where the plant is farmed (quinoa, almonds, pineapple are all good examples of this). Of course, the problem there is more capitalism commodifying it, versus the diet itself. I recently got to attend a fantastic lecture about just policies and the gentrification of green living- the focus was on city planning and urban development but it can be applied to wider concepts.
I would also like to note, for no particular reason, that I watched this whilst eating a bomb salad which consists of chickpea, tomato, beet, cucumber, olive oil, and balsamic.
I love that you're bringing this topic up, the definition of vegan is to avoid harm "as far as is practicable and possible" so if slip ups happen, that doesn't mean someone's no longer "vegan". But I fully get people trying to avoid the label because of some vocal people being really awful ( I mean heck i did a video about the toxicity in the vegan community and I've been vegan for 5 years) but it really is just a lifestyle choice. I tend to keep out of the communities honestly, but that's because 1. I don't have the time 2. I only keep up with stuff to know the great new mock meats or products on the market lol. Everyone reducing is the thing to make a huge difference, same as with the way we shop too (and you know, pressure on govts to do better and clamp down on businesses so actual positive environmental action happens)
Love all of these ideas! I struggle with the labels as well. I've been on/off vegan/vegetarian for years and after 6 years finally feel comfortable with my cooking, what I choose to share with others about my diet, body, and keeping an impact-focused mindset. Definitely feel the bratty teenager vibes that come with full-on veganism! I found that an all or nothing approach was entirely ineffective.
I've been mostly vegan since 2011 after watching a TH-camr who talked about it and looked actually cool to me and not like the stereotype that I had in my head haha. I say "mostly" because I don't mind wearing wool or leather if it's second-hand as they are better for the environment anyway, and if there's nothing vegan available or too difficult to access, I don't mind consuming something that's only vegetarian or contains traces of meat and fish. It's something I mainly do because I feel empathy for animals and wouldn't want to hurt them in any way but at the same time I don't want to self-sacrifice my own comfort at all costs just to be "100% ethical" if that's even possible.
I'm a pescetarian bisexual, so I basically don't exist... In all seriousness though, I have tried to be vegetarian or vegan quite a few times, but because of various health issues and disordered eating it wasn't great for me, so with help from a nutritionist we landed on "basically vegetarian 95% of the time, fish once a month or so so your hair stops falling out." I tend to drink plant based milk and like you're doing I'll pretty much always order vegan non-pizza takeout (seriously, why is it so sticky??). The coop and tesco both have really nice choc chip cookies in their bakery, so I tend to buy those as a treat instead of the regular ones and honestly can't tell the difference. But like, the lst time I ate beef or pork was over 13 years ago, chicken like a decade, and that's gotta be better than nothing. I totally understand why even this level of ristriction wouldn't work for some people, but I really appreciate that I don't get sent the "you don't make friends with salad" gif apropos of nothing anymore 😂 like it's as normal as having a food allergy or just really hating sweet potatoes or whatever now.
I have never used that label, but I too am a pescatarian bisexual. We absolutely exist, and your efforts count for reducing your impact. Grateful to know you exist out there and are doing your best.
I too am a pescetarian bisexual. we are out here. we exist! I eat fish and sometimes shellfish. I drink mostly plant based milk because of lactose intolerance, but I eat butter and every so often yogourt... because I like those things... yeah
Something I want to emphasize is that people tend to track the increase in veganism/vegetarianism by the number of people who ID as full on vegan/vegetarian. But vegan/vegetarian dishes are becoming more and more popular with omnivores as well. Even people who aren't 100% plant-based are very intrigued and curious about vegan foods and are willing to try them. It is a new way of thinking about food and I know that a lot of people are on board with it! Change is gradual but it's still there.
Excellent video. I've been vegetarian (and now vegan) for about five years, and my partner went vegetarian last year. I have a lot of complicated thoughts about the matter that aren't usually reflected in online vegan communities, particularly as someone who lives in a rural place with a cow-dependent economy. Congrats on the progress you've made, and I'll be interested to see how you approach this topic as time goes on!
‘Impact not identity’ is such a concise and helpful phrase to keep at the fore of my mind when it comes to this!! Thank you. I’ve been veggie for 6 years and was a strict vegan for 1 year, but in the end i had to loosen the rules à little because I was getting too in my head about it and falling into old negative food issues from the restriction. Now i eat plant based most of the time (I never buy dairy and haven’t touched meat in years) but I’m a bit more relaxed about by products like a biscuit that has milk powder in or non-vegan mayonnaise etc when I’m out, I also eat milk chocolate sometimes. I’ve always felt that it’s better to do what’s manageable for you rather than force yourself into strict véganism and end up back pedalling, and the impact over identity thing really articulates that feeling for me! Also outside of the food side of things, I only use cruelty free, don’t buy leather, etc. Veganism is about more than food so if some people find the food side of things overwhelming, it can be helpful to look at other elements while taking it slow on the dietary front! 💛🌻
The whole 'I'd only eat something I'd kill with my bare hands' thing I relate to SO HARD. I'm now a vegetarian but it was something I used to say as a teen and I cringe v hard when thinking about it now... Definitely some 'I'm not like other girls' feelings going on that I think most people (hopefully) grow out of
What a fantastic video! I'm not vegan cause I consume some animal products on some occasions but I do eat mostly plant-based. My issue wasn't omitting animal products but the guilt that I felt when I did eat them despite my effort to cut them out completely. It affected my relationship with food negatively which was never an issue I've had before. So, I do drink plant-based milk, I rarely eat eggs and I love the meat alternatives, but I don't wanna label myself vegan/plant-based because I'm so done with guilt-tripping myself for occasionally eating cheese or eggs or whatever. You're right that it's about impact. I think it's more important for everyone to embrace alternatives and reduce their animal consumption than people being frightened to give it up all completely.
A phrase I prefer to ‘you need to be vegan’ is ‘make more vegan choices’ it is a much more inclusive way to talk about veganism and is something almost every person can do. If that means swapping out a meat lasagna with a vegetable one or only drinking almond milk in your tea small changes over time will make a big impact
My personal reason for also focusing on identity Veganism rather than just impact is because of how I find it affects people around me differently. I think I’ve had a lot interesting conversations with many people about the ethics of eating animal products because I call myself a vegan without any qualifiers. I know it’s definitely not an approach for everyone (because it’s so focussed on how other people respond to me rather than how I relate to myself) but I think it has shifted the way that people around me everyday think about meat - and a bunch of them have since become veggies/ Pesci! It’s a very consequentialist view (and one that I know many other vegans don’t hold) but that’s my reason why I think Vegan is a really useful identity marker.
it really stuck with me when you mentioned “impact over identity” in a previous vid, and has made making vegan/vegetarian choices seem a LOT less intimidating in my head. likewise what you mentioned about just slowly learning a new v/v dish and then making that part of your repertoire rather than going in at the deep end. anyway this video was a really great continuation of those thoughts 🧡
On my 7th year of veganisim I don't even think about it anymore, and I have no speech prepped whenever someone asks me why I'm plant based. Heck it's like forgetting you have a tattoo, "wait I'm vegan? Who was gonna tell me?" I really liked this video, more people need to adapt to such a mature and relaxed opinion on alternative eating styles.
I've never met a vegan who was mad at me for "only" reducing my meat and dairy intake in steps. Usually most were supportive. Oddly I've met a lot of resistance from meat eaters for doing so. Curious.
I went vegan 10 months ago (after 6ish years vegeterian) and i really had no problem with it because i had the time and energy to do most of my meals by myself at home (the only good thing that came out of c0v1d for me tbh). And even before that, i realised i would just forget to buy eggs for weeks, and cheese was too expensive to be one of my staples. But now that we are sorta going back to "normal" i realise how stressful it can be. I now have to meet with people(friends and family) who are not educated on the topic, and i really dont want to spend my time arguing. I often dont even say i'm vegan unless i'm asked/we are going to a restaurant and as soon as i say it most people get on the defense, even though i'm not judging, i'm literally just asking if there's a vegan option where we're going. Luckily younger millenials/zoomer are way less judgy of other people's eating habits/choices and i feel there is a shift to a more plat based diet overall!
I really appreciate this video!! I’ve been a vegetarian my whole life and I’ve heard all these reasons before and it’s always been so frustrating because none of them are good enough reasons to kill an innocent animal. So great to hear how your thoughts have changed!
I also think it's better to focus on the meals rather than the rules. Story explanation: Over the past year I got more into cooking for myself, and I've learned to think "what goes good with this vedgetable?" rather than "what goes good with this meat?". My answer usually didn't involve meat, so I didn't buy it. When I didn't buy it I didn't cook it. Fast forward 1 week ago when someone asked me if I ate meat. My immediate response was yes, but then I thought about the last time I ate meat and that was more than half a year ago. It suprised me so much! Something I thought so crucial to me was apparently not so important to me. I learned how to cook those vedgetables so well that I didn't feel the lack of meat, and I think that's hella awesome :)
System change, yo. That's where the real magic happens 😜 In all seriousness, it's super interesting hearing folks' stories heading towards veganism because I've kinda gone the opposite way. I'm not 100% vegan, but I've lived predominantly plant based my whole life. Nothing I cook at home involves meet or dairy (except the occasional eggs from friends gardens) and I wouldn't know where to start if I did include those things. So... On the rare occasion I'm at a restaurant or fast food place, I sometimes choose meat, because it feels like such a special treat since I don't know how, and don't ever intend to cook it at home. I think this "special treat" mindset is what could make a real difference since more people can get on board with that. Consumer demand would decrease MASSIVELY and the majority of folks still can enjoy a burger now and then.
I do that too! I used to be vegan but when I met my boyfriend, we kinda met half way because we loved cooking together. He and I have both come to a consensus that meat is a "special occasion" thing. And maybe to him that means any time we go out to a nice restaurant or have a summer grill out with friends, and to me that means fish at nice restaurants and making nice quality steaks once a year for our anniversary. It's all about moderation and prioritizing the impact, not the strict rules and identity!!
My partner has kind of taken on this approach too, he very rarely buys meat for household consumption but if we are eating out or at a friend's place where meat is an option he will eat it at those times.
I don't mean to offend too much but to be completely honest, regarding the causing of another sentient beings suffering and death as a "special treat" seems just... disturbing. Gaining sensory pleasure does not justify harm done to a victim. Supply and demand is still a thing.
@@radiocorrective mmm I appreciate this perspective, thank you. Maybe "special treat" is the wrong language to use, I use it because knowing something is "special" results in feeling deeper gratitude and respect, and creates an understanding that it isn't something to be taken lightly or taken for granted. One of the five thoughts I recite before I eat (that I learned growing up with a Buddhist father) is "I accept this food with an understanding of the ways and means by which it has reached me", which I guess is a more ceremonious way of saying "this shit is special, I respect and am grateful for every being that has been part of the process of bringing this food to my plate, and I'm not turning a blind eye to the sacrifices that have been made. because of that, I have no desire to eat meat or factory processed food on the regular". I guess "special treat" is the shorthand version of that, but you're right, it sounds pretty gross when you put it that way. On the flip side, it's practical because it's a relatable concept many people can grasp and use to reduce their meat consumption, in the same way they already use it to reduce other unhealthy habits. Perhaps there's a better way to achieve this, better language to use that still helps to lessen impact 🤔
@@AmyNaylorMusic I think the point she was trying to make is that no sacrifices have been made: an animal was killed and slaughtered against its will. It's not a gift you can accept because it was not given, it was taken by force.
I’ve been veggie for about 6 years and even in that time the products available have increased and improved immensely. I do really believe it’s the right thing to do if you can, obviously some people can’t but realistically most people could at least cut down on meat. Learning to cook and discovering new foods makes it much easier! It’s mostly the idea of committing to calling myself a vegan forever that’s stopping me, and feeling awkward out for meals or at other people’s houses. Most of my friends are veggie but family and colleagues don’t understand it really. For now I’m happy to do it as much as I can/is convenient. Buying a mostly vegan weekly shop feels easy now and if there’s a vegan option I like when I’m out I’ll go for that. Logically, being 100% vegan has very little extra impact than being 90% so I feel okay with it for now!
I'm in kinda the same place. Also, having given up meat for several years and knowing that I never liked it much, it has occured to me recently that even on the few occasions I did enjoy the meat I ate, it was all down to seasoning and sauces, all of which can be very easily enjoyed without the meat component.
I really liked your point about the affordability of veganism. Where I come from, veganism is the norm for large communities, for religious reasons (which is weirdly what pushed me to try eating meat). It's extremely affordable for people of all social classes to live on an entirely plant-based diet. When I first came to the UK, I was so perplexed at why people make such a big deal of it; until I saw the vegetarian and vegan food products available. Although I sometimes eat chicken, I still find it extremely hard to a) get the same variety of fruits, vegetables and pulses I'm used to incorporating into my diet and; b) find food items that aren't too boring, tasteless and/or expensive.
The idea of reducing my impact on the world rather than going completely cold turkey absolutely changed my life, Ive started to teach myself more vegetarian dishes, making one or two plastic free changes a month, ordering more veg food when I'm at a restaurant - it's not insanely speedy progress but I'm starting to have more days not eating meat than I do having meat meals! It's crazy that taking it slow or one do-able step at a time isnt more commonly accepted truth
Same! I've tried to go cold turkey in the past with bad results (I actually felt physically unwell at the end of that period, I'm sure mostly through my own incompetence at getting the right nutrients). But over time I just keep trying to reduce, and my impact is gradually declining. This just feels way more attainable for me and keeps me from giving up.
Yes! Even massive businesses that can roll out a company wide standard + update all their systems + retrain all their staff still need adjustment time to implement something as massive and complex as zero-waste or going fully vegan etc, let alone a single person who’s having to do all the research, setup, and implementation of the new system themselves, while trying to work their full time job + live their life/do chores/care for family and friends/full time school etc.
If businesses can say “we’ll be fully zero waste/carbon neutral by 2025” why can’t we say “I’m going vegetarian, and I’m hoping to be vegan within the next 2-3 years”
Another tip I heard recently and that I'm trying to put in practice myself is to start with one vegan meal per day, breakfast being the most obvious choice for myself...
This is exactly what I was gonna comment. We're doing alright!
If there were dogs having their throats slit would you take baby steps? I know that sounds harsh but please consider things from the victim's perspective. Veganism is not about saving the planet (even though it's the single biggest thing we can do to fight climate change, source: Joseph Poore Oxford University), it's a justice movement against unnecessary violence. Watch the documentary Dominion Movement free on youtube.
'did i ever like meat or did i just like salt?' THIS THIS ABSOLUTELY THIS IS SO ACCURATE.
I feel like did I ever like meat or did I just like umami is also a thing. I think I just liked savoury food yknow.
I would also add that the research shows that people who have more than one reason for adopting a plant-based diet are far more successful in sticking to it long-term. And if you have all three reasons it's even better. So to have the ethical, environmental, and health reasons is really important. Leena has the environmental and ethical reasons down, and I would really suggest for her and anyone else to really make an effort to look into the health aspect because it's probably by far the most motivating. A good jumping off point is to watch the documentary Forks Over Knives on Netflix.
But salt is good for you. Sugar is not. They give you a saline drip in hospital to clean you out, feed/hydrate you. So much and what’s it made of salt and water. It’s a miracle formula. Only the big corps would have you believe salt is bad. Bacon is bad because of al the fake shit they put in it.
@@nellas1653 salt is also bad because it damages the endothelial cells, which are the cells that line your arteries. When they get damaged they make the artery walls stiff and inflexible, which affects your health significantly in a variety of ways. We are not supposed to have over 1500 mg of salt a day, which is way less than people eat. There are many tribes of people that lived without ever eating salt, so it is not an essential nutrient.
I found I just want the sauce and the salt. I want the fried bread layer and the orange chicken sauce not the chicken.
‘Learn meals not rules’ and ‘perfect is the enemy of the good’ are a perfect way to describe maintaining empathy for yourself while also trying to make changes.
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I love the buddy-diet idea. "Impact, not identity" is one of the most useful perspectives in the context of these conversations.
LOVE that quote. I think the ‘all or nothing’ approach to which so many people feel shackled comes exclusively from the perceived need to PRESENT an image to society. What I eat is not my personality or identity.
For sure, although it's important that the designated veggie/vegan of the day/week doesn't BUY meat or dairy products. I don't think it really matters when you eat what you eat, as long as the overall demand for meat and animal products goes down
@@velmavlogs7693 not if the vegan is vegan for the animal's, most vegans wouldnt want an animal to be killed for them. If a person choses to have an animal killed for them that's their choice...im thinking thats why she said it never happened. Its still a life being taken for pleasure. It only makes sence if only care about the planet "to even out the scale".
kind reminded me of that scene in friends when Joey agrees to forego meat for Phoebe
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I’m sooo glad you brought up the fact that killing animals is awful for the people that do it! As well as the communities surrounding it!! We like to think about meat as something you can just grab from the store like a box of cereal or fruit, ignoring the fact that I’m order to get it to that store A LOT of suffering took place from killing the animal, taking it away from their mother, being pumped with antibiotics to keep it alive in a DISGUSTINGLY unsanitary environment, the workers are so desensitized to this process that in a lot of cases they become overly cruel to the animals in order to downplay the fact that it’s actually so inhuman to treat animals the way they do. The workers get paid minimum wage and often little to no benefits, for such an awful job, and literally, like leena said they become so used to the violence that it reeks havoc on their mental health. IM NOT BLAMING the workers i blaming the practices, and the EXCESSIVE meat consumption and our government that is constantly giving subsidies to these meat companies. if we collectively ate muchhhh less meat this wouldn’t be a conversation overall.
Yes absolutely this !
factory farm workers often get paid less than minimum wage because they are disproportionately undocumented immigrants and are paid under the table
A plea for the animals by matthieu ricard is a great book that covers this topic
I feel this HARD! I've been some form of vegetarian/pescitarian since I was a teen, and have dabbled in veganism on and off over the years, and I find it challenging to stick to without getting into toxic food cycles. Its taken a few years, but I instead just describe my diet as MOSTLY plant-based, where I cook vegan at home 95%, but still have wiggle room to make differing choices that work for me depending on my spoons, health, budget, mood, dietary needs, access to food when travelling etc etc.
Basically, I don't eat the red or white meats, milk, or meat byproducts - but will occasionally have some forms of cheese, fish or eggs.
I've found especially that since becoming disabled in the last 2 years, the joys I can access are fewer and fewer, so yes I will occasionally have some locally sourced seafood (seaside town resider whoop), or some milk chocolate or pizza. The "Most of the time I'm eating plant-based" is far easier to maintain than the black & white VEGAN vs CARNIVORE, and I love seeing the rise in this.
Totally feel this. I call myself 90% vegan because I know that’s the only way for me to do it sustainably for the rest of my life
I am very happy to see that more people eat similar to me. I hope it's working out well for you!
I try to have at least one vegan meal a day. Due to GI stuff, that is all my body can tolerate. This is the nuance of diets, it is not binary, and some ppl in my life have said that doesnt make me a true vegan….I am not looking for the label yall, I am out here trying my best.
This is awesome! It’s not about being ‘100% perfect vegan’, but about reducing consumption as much as practicable for you. And if you think about it, consuming palm oil, while vegan, is extremely destructive to the planet and wildlife, so I don’t think this black white thinking of vegan and not vegan is helpful at all. Doing what you can is the way to go and it sounds like you’ve got something you’re comfortable with, which means it is easier to keep up and will have a bigger impact in the end ❤️💪🏻
Same here except without the fish, I've been vegetarian for most of my life and don't consume too much milk these days due to it not always agreeing with me, but for a while my only joy was going out to get a pastry every few days and it's things like that that I just can't let go of - and I'm fine with that honestly. I describe myself as a vegetarian with vegan tendencies, haha
I’ve been vegan for eight years and I’m happy to see that it’s more normalized now. I fucking love not being asked questions. 😂 I’m tired. So proud of anyone who at least reduces their meat consumption! Being vegan is a lot to ask of some people but I’m so grateful I made the change. ✨ (ps. vegan cheese is not that bad y’all are haters! Lmao)
Vegan cheese has come SO far. Been vegan for 6 years here and remember when Daiya was the only option and it was ass. Nowadays it's gotten so uncanny that I've had to call a restaurant to make sure that yes, this is vegan cheese.
@@CS-nw9si Daiya was so tragic 🤢 do not miss her at all
I was a vegetarian for 16 years and have been a vegan for over 2 years now and things have definitely changed! It used to be so difficult to be a vegetarian, I remember ordering starters from most restaurant menus as they didn't have any vegetarian mains.
Vegan cheese is DELICIOUS. Melty cashew creaminess has completely changed my life.
5:32 My favourite resource on the intersection between masculinity and meat eating is The Sexual Politics of Meat by Carol J. Adams (also see the Pornography of Meat by the same author). It changed the way I see meat advertisements now, so much weird overlap between women's bodies and eating meat (emphasis on chicken breasts, thighs, legs etc.). Well worth a read if you're interested in these topics!
It's also very telling that my boyfriend was made fun of for going vegan, and his friends assumed I had forced him to give up meat/dairy (despite him going vegan a year before we met). Great video Leena!
Yes!!! I studied this years ago and to this day find myself attempting to explain it and failing. Carol says it better.
Thanks for the recommendation!
I think another good thing to remember in the conversation about food consumption is that just because you gave up meat doesn't mean everything you eat is automatically ethical. The rights of farm workers and the people who package fruits and veggies to us are also important. Polish workers in the UK, Central and South American workers in the US face high rates of human trafficking. The horniculture of certain plants is horrible for the environment for example: palm oil, quinoa, and agave. I.could go into a rant about why people should buy local honey instead of alternatives because it's better for the planet, but who reads yt comments anyways.
Definitely agree. And many vegans do care about these issues as well. They are also dependent on products where you live too. But people shouldn’t use that as an excuse not to be vegan either.
@@rachaelrobinson3358 oh yeah most definitely, my point was that isn’t a veganism isn’t a cure all
I’m vegan and I went vegan for the animals, the environmental benefit was an added bonus. I will never agree with or condone the exploitation of other animals when you have alternatives. However, I don’t believe that makes all non-vegans terrible people. We all engage in systems and behaviours that are harmful in some way and all we can do is try to mitigate that harm in ways that we see fit; ultimately we will come to different conclusions as to what the best path is. Bearing all this in mind, I will always try to be supportive of people who simply want to reduce the amount of animal products that they consume. Criticising people for not being perfect or not meeting your standards will only drive people away and does nothing for the cause. No one will want to engage with you, ask questions or have nuanced conversations, all vital things when wanting people to question the status quo.
The meat and masculinity connection really is fascinating. I also find the connection between animal product consumption and the exploitation of the female body intriguing and insidious. Most, if not all, animal agriculture benefits from the exploitation of the female body and it’s reproductive system - meat, dairy, eggs, fur, animal experimentation etc. all rely on the female body. Whether it be through pregnancy and creating more bodies to exploit, the byproducts of reproduction (eggs, milk, fetal bovine serum) or through the use of women’s bodies in advertising. It all makes me deeply uncomfortable as a woman.
That's some disturbing things going through your head. I understand completely why you're vegan.
Yes to all of this! So much is kept secret through ag-gag laws
Sorry, the environmental argument is bullshit. We need ruminants to save the world. Check out the work of Peter Ballerstedt and Allan Savory.
when I became a mother and was breastfeeding my child I had such a strong moment of empathy with cows (and other animals in the dairy industry ) and how they are not allowed to nurture their young properly and how their bodies are used and exploited that I could not unsee it anymore.
The idea to "tag-team" veganism with a friend, and make one whole vegan diet is SO BRILLIANT. I think you just solved my diet/conscience
I was raised in a community of dairy & angus farmers, as well as fishermen. I really never considered veganism as an option in my part of the world (rural eastern Canada). But your emphasis on impact vs identity really struck a chord. If I am to purchase eggs, cheese, or seafood, I have local farmers and fishers who I know personally to purchase from. I can take local, impact conscious steps towards plant-first eating without having to declare myself this, that, or the other. Thank you for your perspective!
Love the phrase “plant-first eating”
I'm living in Alberta. Parents-in-law cattle ranchers who worked in the tarsands. KD Lang pilloried in her home town for militant vegetarianism. Environments matter- but indeed, you can be quietly impactful and avoid fuss, for a part-time easier life of doing as I (sometimes) say
I know this has nothing to dowith this, but as a person that got her wisdom teeth removed 3 days ago, and haven't been able to eat solid food, watching Leena jingle jangle that burger around really awoke something primal within me that I don't know how to explain.
This made me laugh
🤣🤣🤣 Has your face also blown up like a pufferfish? Hope you get on the mend soon!
@@KB-bx9ui oh yes, although I feel more like a chipmunk rather than a pufferfish at the moment 😂😂
@@s.mproductions5687 I was going to say chipmunk, though though pufferfish perhaps more universal. Hahaha I had 7 teeth out and was barely noticable. My face just kinda looked frozen puffy all over. So worth it in the end...just focus on the positive end outcome and it'll be over in no time. 💙
Literally same though! I just got mine out and the soft food diet is slowly murdering me. I just want a fucking veggie burger, it's all I want in life
I find certain cuisines also fit the vegan or vegetarian lifestyle with much less hassle. I really like cooking 'accidentally vegan' recipes like lentil dal or lots of other Indian recipes. I've been vegetarian for a few years and agree having a bank of recipes ready really helps and stops you feeling as if you are missing out on certain foods.
Definitely - I think once you don't take meat as your starting point for a meal the world opens up a bit. My old meals were always Chicken and X, Beef and X.
My mum hates cooking meat + we were pretty poor when I was a kid, so we ate vegetarian by default. I committed to being vegetarian when I was 11, and stuck with it for 10ish years. Now I prefer not to restrictively label how I eat, but what I cook and eat is 95% vegetarian, because that is just what I know and enjoy. Having that bank of recipes and learning how vegetarian/vegan food works is so important.
Can anyone recommend any starting point recipes? Or even just your favourite dish. I bought a book on veggie meals and have only liked a couple of the ones I've tried.
Same here. I'm not a fan of the mass produced, lab made & chemically vegan foodstuffs and find incorporating the more veg-centric (beans, pulses, etc) cuisines of the world much more appealing & doable.
@@pippylunalove Looks for Mollie Katzen's recipe books. Highly doable veg centric. Also check out Vegan Richa blog and Rainbow Plant Life.
With the ideas about the old vegan community being a bit hippy dippy and anti establishment and ‘weird’ so to speak was because back in the day it was so radical to be a vegan in the UK that you had to be ok with being partially shunned by society. When something is different and seen as weird a community grows up around it.
I went vegan overnight in 2014, the only vegan I knew where the influencers I watched online and it took me a long time to come to a natural path for me rather that trying to force myself to be part of that community that was really focused eating tonnes of fruit and being raw and travelling to Thailand all the time.
I like hearty meals and so love cooked food so I struggled for a few years to be like the others because I didn’t know any other veganism existed. Now I’m happy being vegan on my own terms and I’m not really part of a vegan community but am so happy with how I eat.
I was raised vegetarian and then became vegan two years ago and haven't looked back since. Its funny how much I relate to your experience going veggy, I used to know I liked oat milk but wouldn't get oat milk in my coffee if I was in a cafe because I was nervous about being an inconvenience? Or being 'that' guy with a complicated coffee order- as if a batista has never heard of an oat caramel latte before 🤦♀️ I roll my eyes at myself now, but I was so scared of other people rolling their eyes at me then!!
I also completely agree with what you said about aligning to your reality, that's exactly the reason I became vegan. I saw the reports that came out of leading university research stating that adopting a more plant-based diet is the most impactful thing people can do on an individual level. It reminded me of when I was a kid and watched a documentary about Darwin and his theory of evolution, hearing how so many people refused to (and still refuse) to believe him and thinking they were sooooo silly when the evidence for evolution was right there. And now I'm an adult and the evidence for why I should be a vegan is staring right at me, no amount of cheese was going to make me not feel like I was letting little me down.
What I found was easiest in the transition to plant-based was 1) focus on what you can eat, not what you can't 2) understand that it's an alternative, not a replica. It's not a less good burger because it doesn't taste exactly like a meat burger- how could it? Just enjoy it for what it is without comparing it to meat, otherwise its like you're comparing apples to oranges and then when you eat an apple saying "it's nice, but you can tell its not an orange" 3) Get excited about it all!! Yes there's a stereotype that vegans will tell you they're vegan, but you never understand the excitement food has when you can eat any of it at any time. Once a brand of biscuits you used to love takes out the one stupid ingredient it never needed in the first place (like jammmy dodgers) you will love jammy dodgers more than you ever knew you could. It's okay to get hyped about that!! You genuinely can make or find any meals you want, it just does take more effort and time and money. But if you know you have that spare (doesn't have to be all the time) plant-based cooking can be such an exciting thing to explore
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I swear vegans have to be better and more creative cooks on average because it can be so hard to avoid animal products without having been the cook of the dish you’re eating, especially like 10+ years ago when vegan was an uncommon preference.
I just wanted to emphasize, as a former barista, that adding oat milk or any "alternative" milk we had wasn't difficult for us. We stored them right alongside the other milk, and it was simple to click them from our order menu.
If anyone does want to make the extra effort not to be "that person" with the complicated order, avoid the more complicated made-to-order sandwiches! Pandemic or not, you'll probably be safer from diseases that way too.
I agree! Most vegans I know are better cooks than meat eaters because they know more foods and put more effort into flavour. I really like chickpea ‘tuna’ mayo, it doesn’t taste the same but it works the same in a sandwich and is nice in its own way!
When I first became a vegetarian I told people, "I'm not eating meat right now" instead of "I'm vegetarian" because I was trying to avoid the, "so why are you a vegetarian? How long have you been a vegetarian?" Etc. Until I felt more comfortable in it and had been doing it for several months
I do the same thing! x
As a recovered anorexic, my first soirée into a meat-free diet was another way to heavily restrict what I was eating masked by a pseudo concern for the environment. So I understand, years later, why my decision to eat far less meat (I never liked it anyway!) is alarming for the people around me even though then and now couldn’t be more polar opposite situations. In that way, I know I don’t have a ‘duty’ as such to explain my eating habits to my family, friends etc but I do so to put their minds at ease. I know that, for myself, veganism would be a step too far - at least for now. I often eat vegan meals for fun and by chance but I couldn’t actively pursue that lifestyle knowing what I know about my relationship with food. I also have early onset osteoporosis (I am 20 years old) and so rely at the minute on dairy products to strengthen my bones, but am looking into some less cow-y alternatives to keep the ol’ skeleton strong :))
All this being said, i couldn’t have more respect and admiration for those that are vegans or make vegan choices in their lives because it truly makes a difference and I’m sure it’s come with not a few obstacles along the way. We all do what we can to help the environment and that is the best thing - I love that quote ‘it’s impact not identity’. That will stay with me for a long time x
In my mind, part of aiming for the majority of people to go vegan is to allow for people who can't go vegan to not have to.
If my being vegan reduces the impact of say, you being able to eat meat & stay healthy, then I'm totally down for that.
If we all do everything we *can* then there is room to do the things we can't and still save the world.
Veganism is a philosophy about reducing as much harm done to other sentient beings as possible and to not see love-capable individuals as commodities. Veganism is not about the environment whatsoever, although living plantbased has huge environmental benefits.
I liked this video a lot; nuanced and honest, well done. Booktip: "Sistah Vegan" is a collection of written works (essays, articles, poems, letters) about being vegan as a black woman, against a cultural backdrop of soul food and having a lot of curves = being atractive. The original edition was published over 10 years ago, and a lot of the people who contributed were vegan before they knew there was a word for it. They made it work without network, without social media and without fancy cheese replacements. Very inspiring!
"We don't need a small group of people doing veganism perfectly, we need a large group of people doing veganism imperfectly" - I don't know who said this, but it's something I hear a lot more from vegans now than I used to.
I love this video so much. I used to put a lot of pressure on myself to always get it right, but I'm much more relaxed with veganism now that I'm about 5 years into being a vegan and about 13 years into being vegetarian. If something ends up having a bit of milk solids or egg in it or something, I don't stress or feel bad and I don't think it's good for anyone to be held to a standard of being perfect 100% of the time. If accidentally forget to ask for soy milk, I just drink it anyway because it's a waste otherwise. Eventually it just becomes second nature that you know what things to buy and what to ask for. But you have to listen to your body and what it needs, and what works for you. Even being a vegetarian makes a huge impact, even reducing meat makes an impact.
In the end, doing something is better than doing nothing, and I think that's an outlook that can be adapted to a lot of things.
'why don't you eat meat?'
'because I believe it's wrong'
'so you believe what I'm doing is wrong?'
'no but yes but no!!!'
I relate to this so hard
Thank you so much for this! As a vegan who is deeply uncomfortable with the militant, "clean," strait edge, and angry side of the vegan community, I love anyone who approaches any level of vegetarianism or veganism with realism, grace, and humor. Sharing your journey makes it seem more approachable to others, which, if we're in the business of making an impact, is so much more effective than just scolding your audience for their ways of eating and living. Slow, realistic, and small changes changes that everyone can try are key, so THANK YOU! ❤
Coming back here to this episode just to say I watched this mid 2023; this episode was the catalyst to me doing my own research and soul searching. In Jan 2024 I went plant based. Still going strong, 💪😊 thanks Lena for putting words in my head that I couldn't un-hear! 🙏 ❤
Really interesting video, I agree with a lot of it. I'm currently not vegan or vegetarian but I have cut down my meat intake and only buy high quality meat which means we eat less meat overall. I do want to become vegetarian one day but I feel like doing it gradually by cutting down on meals of meat we eat each week works for us and although its not the best it better that we eat less meat rather than try and eat no meat and give up and go back to meat with every meal.
Nooooo! Wish there was a longer pause for the spoiler on that Kazuo Ishiguro book! D: Fantastic video though!!
I feel lucky because going vegetarian then subsequently vegan was so simple for me. One day I bit into a chicken wing, realized I was disgusted with the idea of eating animals, and never ate meat again. Then a year and a half later I had a dish with cheese on it, felt horrified imagining the life of the cow it came from, and basically went vegan the next day. It was an incredibly personal revelation and it sorta just happened. I wish I could wave a magic wand and have the same thing happen to everyone else, but it's just not that simple.
I could had similar realisation with quitting meat I just suddenly stopped reciting meat as eatable. And if you think about it - eating someone flesh it’s such a crazy idea.
Wish it was so simple with quitting cheese and mostly shopped egg/milk-based bakes thou. But I’m still on my way.
@@axolotlismybeautystandard I believe that you'll get there. Quitting meat was MUCH easier for me than cutting out dairy & eggs. Ultimately I think I just reached a point where consuming the product caused me more pain than any pleasure I got from eating it. It's a process to work through, and it really is like breaking an addiction. I respect you for doing what you can.
same! I watched seaspiracy when it came out, which led to me watching several other documentaries, took a month to do my research and now I’ve been vegan for nearly 6 months :)) it’s crazy bcos I used to eat chicken daily but I don’t miss any of it at all
@@acelya414 yeah Seaspiracy affected me a lot. I already wasn't eating meat at that point but it definitely caused me to think more and actually dedicate to going vegan.
@@TM-dq5lr yeah it really was great. I tried vegetarianism a few times before but just didn’t commit to it but ever since watching seaspiracy and then dominion etc there’s no way I’d go back
I'm still very much in the reducing impact headspace. I have a looooong history of disordered eating, so telling myself that this whole category of food is off-limits is incredibly triggering. Instead, I have made a habit of evaluating how I'm feeling on a meal-by-meal basis and giving myself the freedom to decide if I actually want the chicken curry or if the chickpea will hit the spot just as much. Most of the time, I end up going with the vegetarian option. Maybe two or three times a month, I pick the meat. Milk is the one area that I have had significant trouble finding an alternative; I just don't like the plant options and a few varieties trigger migraines. So, I have tried to just reduce the amount I consume rather than trying to force myself to drink things I dislike.
Probably my biggest hangup about going fully plant-based is that all or nothing mentality that's just not reasonable for most people, and I hope more people can keep moving the conversation toward reduction of impact rather than this moral binary that the discourse has centered around for so long.
Your health and well-being is the priority! Anything you can do that’s manageable is amazing!
This was a great video, Lena! This January will be my 10-year anniversary of veganism, which I hope brings some encouragement (?)... All I have ever wanted is for people to try their best; turns out the "all or nothing" mentality of early veganism is not helpful when you want to actually change the world. Start slow, start small. There are so many delicious plants in this world to eat!
I find that I struggle with how the vegan/vegetarian diets are always framed as not eating something, because I am way to good at not eating something and terrible at replacing it, so I need to like try to eat more vegetables or vegetarian or vegan meals rather, but it’s difficult when the resources to do that so often frame it in a way that’s unhealthy for me
yes to this!!!
For me I changed my mindset from "not eating meat and dairy" to "every meal/every day I should eat enough carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and protein". And these come in so many many different forms of food. It really helped me. Also I notice I eat a lot more various foods and use more spices than when I wasn't vegetarian. Seeing it more as an exploration into other types of food might help you too. 🤷♀️
I totally hear that, definitely knowing how to replace what you love to eat.. that’s the best. Whenever someone is interested in veganism that is close to me, I always ask them what is your favorite meal currently? And then I give them recommendations for how to veganize that meal. You have to make connections between what you currently eat as far as what flavors you love and dishes and know how to veganize that. I found that super empowering in my own journey personally.
Thank you for this! I was vegetarian for 7 and vegan for 2 years while present with other vegans, but when my life changed and I started dating a bbq loving amazing cook of a fella, I let go of all of my harsh rules. While he excitedly helped me cook all kinds of vegan dishes, I helped him cook some of his favorite classic dishes and started to try out the meat. I'm still no longer strictly vegetarian or vegan, but I happily choose vegan or vegetarian options every chance I get, and always cook myself plant based meals. And I feel much better in my social life and my personal diet. I was judged for both being vegan AND switching to occasional meat. Plant based diets store not be about harsh rules and labeling your identity! It should totally be about impact and a balance and moderation. I'd say I'm vegetarian 6 days out of the week and vegan 4 days out of the week. And I'm proud of myself for it!
As a long time vegan and lover of your channel I was a bit anxious about clicking on this video, but as always, you’ve spoken so beautifully about this topic. I’m also a teacher, and had a very interesting discussion with my Year 8 class the other day who’d found out I was vegan (from another student in the school). I teach at a school with a LOT of farmers, and they had several questions - and a lot of disbelief! We all approach this issue from different angles, and it’s easy to get emotional about it. One student asked me if I ‘hate farmers’ and I said of course not because farmers also provide my food too! We had a very enlightening discussion about it, and I have promised to bring them in my vegan brownies so they can give me their verdict.
One thing did stick with me though. A girl asked why I didn’t eat milk and I said it was because of what happened to the male cows. She said they still get to live for ten-eleven months, so what was the problem? That, for me, sums up why I am vegan. No glass of milk or bowl of ice-cream is worth shooting a baby in the head after eleven months because they are no longer ‘useful’. Also, from an environmental standpoint, the resources it takes to rear that animal are insane when it’s just going to end up on someone’s plate at the end of the day.
If anyone here is thinking of going vegan, then I honestly think it was the best thing I ever did - but take the pressure off yourself. You don’t have to be perfect. Thank you Leena for your thoughtful words, as always.
I think the meat eating = masculine thing is starting to go away thankfully. My sister's fiancé is a typical blokey-bloke, loves the footie down at the pub with the lads, is a white-van man etc. But even he has no problem being vegan now, and certainly doesn't see himself as being any less masculine because of it. For Americans I should imagine it's a different story, but I'm thankful that veganism is catching on so fast here in the UK
America's a pretty big place, it really depends where you are regionally. In the more health-conscious states (think Colorado, California, Oregon, Washington) there's a pretty strong mental connection between veganism and bodily health, even if those two things don't necessarily correlate. Because of that I think some regions actually have an association with athletic performance, masculinity, and veganism. We have a lot of really popular male professional athletes that are vegan/vegetarian (Alex Honnold, DeAndre Jordan, and Kendrick Farris come to mind) that dudebros really idolize. Even Mike Tyson was plant-based for a while. Much like veganism itself, there's nuance! Edit: lol spellcheck changed that last word to "nuisance" 🤣
I have a lot of weird food/texture sensitivities due to autism that limit my diet somewhat, but watching this has motivated me to try to reduce my meat intake. I’ve been coming around on foods all the time. I can at least make one more meal a day vegetarian. Thank you for your videos; they’re always well researched, empowering, and fun.
As a life-long veggie who dabbles in veganism, the thing you said about attitudes changing is so true. Growing up I had to put up with so many stupid, antagonistic questions, well as I've noticed in the last few years no one seems to care or question it anymore. I love this, because I hated justifying my food choices to people
Wow, you're video actually persuade me to write my first youtube comment ever. I've been eating mostly plant-based for 2 months now, and I really love it. I don't find it hard to cook vegan meals, but sometimes, I do have cravings. Not even for meat though, just cheese or some really specific dishes. When I do feel that craving, I choose the foods that I really love. And I consume them consciously, rather than just gobbling it down because you need to eat. Eating plant based for like 90% of the time makes me respect myself and my meals so much more and allows me to have a healthy diet without falling for any diet culture pitfalls.
It's also important to give yourself permission to treat going vegan/vegetarian/any kind of big change as an experiment. I went vegetarian for a year, felt hungry and tired all the time, gave it up after needing my appendix removed and the meat/protein cravings became too strong. Later I found out I have a reaction to legumes. Husband was vegan for a month, felt like crap and was a grouch all the time. We've been down this road, and at this point we both eat meat, but I try to supplement with eggs and sustainable fish, my husband eats a fair amount of legumes. We try to do our part in other ways by avoiding plastic, rarely eating out and not supporting big companies like Amazon. Being more ecologically responsible is a personal journey and each person is going to do it differently.
yeah, i'm all in on not flying because i cannot commit to giving up meat completely. it's easier to not fly a few times a year vs changing how i eat three times a day every single day. gluten free vegetarianism is.. a lot, especially when travelling.
This is very interesting. I land on quite the opposite side of this argument but for many of the same reasons! I believe very strongly that our current systems of agriculture are unethical and terrible for the planet. I completely agree that people should eat less meat and more vegetables. I am strongly against factory farming and mono-culture farming too. However, I am also quite convinced about the necessity of certain types of animal farming for the health of our soils and ecosystems, as well as meat farming being a long-standing indigenous way of existing in many places. The Sacred Cow documentary talks about this a lot. Fascinating the way similar information and beliefs can lead to very different practices!
Pretty sure indigenous peoples would appreciate being able to even stay on their land instead of being displaced or killed by climate change (or slash-and-burn for animal feed) and would be able to deal with not having cows.
It's lovely to see amazing respectful open conversations in the comments. I am vegetarian and this video spoke to me on a deep level. I don't think I'd ever take the jump into full fledged vegansim but I am not against eating vegan meals at all, infact I enjoy eating out at vegan places. The relationship I have with food now isn't about the need for meat, it's about flavour and texture - which you can get from many meat free dishes.
Being a vegan is just something that I can do every day of my life to reduce my environmental impact and reduce the needless suffering of animals. Being a vegan your carbon foot print will be about a quarter of the of a meat eater. It's a tangible effort being made every day to create change in the world rather than just engaging conceptually with these topics without action.
I’ve personally avoided going fully vegan just because of my disabilities... there are some vitamins that come directly from animal proteins that stabilise hormones that affect one of said disabilities... in fact it was a vegan friend who encouraged me to be veg heavy with my meals rather than cut meat out entirely.
Having been vegetarian since infancy (my parents didnt try to raise me that way I was just always grossed out by meat and wasnt forced to eat it) I am so incredibly happy that it has become a completely normal lifestyle. The amount of people trying to coerce me into eating things I was deeply disgusted by growing up is just insane and it really raised my life quality to now just be accepted by my surroundings anf actually finding things on the menu when going to the restaurant and such
Thank you for the nuanced and honest representation of this! Finding what feels right and works for you is more important than fitting yourself into a box that other people can easily identify.
I have been vegan for almost 10 years and it’s so true I have so many thoughts that can’t fit into a 30 second window in conversation. To your point of people not caring that you’re vegetarian. I now have two couples that I’m friends with that are omnivores but are really excited to try vegan food, whether that’s food I’ve made or a new vegan restaurant here in town. I was talking with one yesterday and percolating on the thought all day. How cool is that? It wasn’t that way when I became vegetarian or vegan.
Also my other reflection from this video is that I really firmly believe that a slow transition to vegetarianism (and if you want veganism) is the way to go. I’ve read the order of cutting out beef, then pork, then poultry, then fish, then eggs, then daily to be helpful in talking to people who are thinking about eating less meat. And a slow transition helps you learn those replacement meals and different restaurants or options that are available in a reasonable time. And to that end I’m not forcing any sort of timeline on my partner and just listening when they want to talk about their feelings/opinions about food, processed food and the meat industry.
i love LOVE your perspective on this so much. i finally became vegan at the beginning of summer after 6 years attempting to but struggling with inconveniences and a lack of cooking skills. and while i totally understand the more activist vegans that people find extremist and annoying, i also think it’s important to consider the privilege of being vegan. in the end what really matters is the intention and, as you said, it is not about identity but about trying your best while aknowledging your limits (health, economy, family, etc).
I went from vegetarian to omnivorous a couple years ago and I think that was the right choice for myself at the time. I struggle with germaphobia and had gotten quite scared and upset about the dangers of raw meat and eggs - I shared a kitchen with non-vegetarians and I didn’t want to be scared. Also, I just didn’t know how to cook meat. I didn’t know how hard it was, or how to make it safe. So I was living in this state of ignorance and fear and moving back to eating meat has really helped me do a sort of exposure therapy there. I still don’t eat meat a lot. Maybe a couple times a week? But sometimes I’ll go multiple months without any meat.
I expect I’ll go back to vegetarianism at some point, but I wanted to offer an example of someone who couldn’t stay vegetarian for mental health reasons
I love the attitude of “impact no identity” I find labels oddly pressuring, like I could suddenly fall off a pedestal and be deemed a fraud. So feeling like I can just consciously try to have a better world impact without declaring myself under any name is very freeing to me, loved this video x
I was an intense, strict ethical vegan for a decade and other than being served a hot dog that wasn't vegan once, I managed to avoid all meat, dairy and eggs. Unfortunately, it came to a point where I had to realize my ethics and my own life were not in alignment and I was actively worsening my physical and mental health through my beliefs and lifestyle. Now I am plant-based and have come to terms with the fact that animals will die for me to live. I also think the pressure to change shouldn't be on individuals as much as it should be on massive structural and systemic changes required to halt pollution and actively address climate change. We will never buy ourselves or contort ourselves enough into addressing climate change when we have such massive failures in government, corporations, regulations, etc.
What about being an ethical vegan wasn't working for you?
@@squattycoati931 they already said, it was worsening both their physical and mental health. Self care is important!
@@red_velvetcake1759 I think they meant how since it's a very broad statement.
Moving toward more sustainable food production is so important, and involves a lot of significant changes which include veganism but can't be reduced to veganism alone! Certain climates and geographies are well-suited for grazing animals and others are well-suited for raising crops. There are sustainable hunting practices in other cultures. And industrial farming of plant crops can be devastating for workers, local wildlife, and the environment, too (learning about the history of industrial corn in the US blew my mind.) Of course, that doesn't change the fact that the meat (and dairy) industry is too big, too cruel, and harming humans, animals, and the environment, and that many other areas of industrial crop production serve these industries! But you're absolutely right that it's a nuanced conversation, and that it's important to keep in mind scale of impact when discussing these issues--it's not about what makes you a good, clean, pure, moral person, it's about the work we can do together to protect our planet and each other. Great video!
The idea of "impact not identity" is such a perfect way of explaining my relationship to my own veganism, particularly here in Aotearoa New Zealand where agriculture is both the backbone of the economy, and the largest contributor to our carbon emissions.
For me, sustainability is the most important thing! I also think that focusing on sustainability also helps us avoid the anti-Indigenous sentiment that I often see getting thrown around in vegan/general environmental circles. Traditional whaling by Indigenous communities in Alaska is not comparable to commercial whaling, just like traditional leather-making is not comparable to mass-produced leather (and is also significantly better for the planet than pleather).
As a deeply passionate vegan & a realistic I am so happy you have made this video. Thank you for showing people that progress is better than perfection 💚
“learn meals not rules”
i eat mostly plant-based and agree w a lot of this. but i have to say that it is a very western and city-based perspective to equate all meat-eating with lack of respect or care for animals. there are lots of communities of ppl that historically and to this day eat meat and animal products in a way that is more sustainable, mindful of animals, and embodies a respect and lack of hierarchy in their relationships w animals. a lot of indigenous people and people in hunting-based rural communities are like this. however, as somebody who lives in a big city without the ability to do this myself, i know that eating plant-based and locally produced food as much as possible is the best thing i can do right now.
This is super interesting! I am one of those people you mentioned that can't be vegan for health reasons and I thought it was really interesting how I've had a very mirrored experience to you. I used to be vegetarian as all my health issues were developing and felt a huge sense of relief when I started to eat meat again as the improvement in my overall health was dramatic. However, being vegetarian and almost vegan for a long time also has had such a huge impact on my health as it taught me to make more healthy and balanced meals and not to rely on meat and animal products for a tasty dish. I now cook mostly vegan or vegetarian and occasionally add some meat to meals to support my digestion, and then I eat mostly vegan while I'm out so it's easy to avoid allergens. Eating in this way has actually made me much more connected to my food and has encouraged me to seek out other ways to lower my carbon footprint through eating seasonally, growing my own food, trying to be more energy efficient etc. Which is also a good thing! There is more than one way to make an impact :)
Wow pretty much the exact same thing happened to me!
i quit eating meat & fish when i was 12-13 - pretty much cold turkey - and i knew that veganism was a logical consequence of vegetarianism for me but when the time came for me to be able to pursue it (=when i moved out of my meat-eating parents' house) i purposefully took my time with it and slowly phased out non-vegans things in my diet (mostly by finding replacements i liked). and i've also never been perfect about it! vegetarianism was about the animals for me, but veganism came about mostly because of the climate crisis, so "impact > identity" applies to me. i'm more or less freegan (=i don't really buy any animal products, but if there's stuff around and i've got a choice between eating it and throwing it away, i'm not wasting food) and i've also decided that allowing myself to purchase/eat a thing i'm really craving, especially in the early stages, made it so much easier to quit. sometimes i walked past a particular sweet i knew wasn't vegan and really beat myself up about it, really built up the desired food item in my mind, and then i finally caved - and usually my reaction to actually eating the non-vegan thing was like, "oh, that wasn't entirely worth the hype. probably won't be buying it again anytime soon." and that's been working pretty well! not striving for complete perfection, but rather progress and impact, has made the whole thing so much more sustainable for me.
CW: eating disorders. My mum is really paranoid about me being vegetarian constantly asking what protein I ate today (I’m 27) and when I asked about it she said that she was vegetarian for a while in her 20s and it “made her ill” and she felt “tired all the time”. On further examination she was also suffering from bulemia at the time and hugely restricting her diet… which could explain the tiredness?!?!?!!!
I was vegetarian for ten years before health issues caught up with me and I had to change my habits. Something my partner pointed out to me is that a big issue with the meat industry is that humans see themselves as removed from nature, and therefore eating meat is a moral choice to take another being's life. But we aren't removed from nature. We are omnivores. We wouldn't take meat from a dog, so why do we take it from ourselves? Granted we have the intelligence to see those other beings empathetically, so I understand and respect people's decisions to not eat meat, while feeling that it is not the only solution. Another solution to that rather than to just stop eating meat is to be more better about sourcing locally and ethically and being very deliberate and in tune with what we put in our bodies. Yes, I do think it is better that animals have good lives before we kill and eat them, because I am an omnivore. My body was designed for this process. Many creatures were designed for this process. The earth relies on this process existing to continue functioning. If predators stopped existing there would be too much prey and our ecosystem falls out of balance. The important part is that I treat that relationship with respect and honor. The meat industry inherently doesn't do that, but the farmer 20 miles from my house absolutely does. The fact that it cost more that way is the price I pay to honor that life.
I love this! I've been vegan for six years and I'm now doing my PhD in meat reduction and veganism and am currently looking at data around vegan prototypes and if they influence people's intention to reduce meat (I'm broadly in health psychology), and I absolutely think your first point is a lot of people's thinking based on the adjectives I have stuck on my wall for analysis. We don't know anyone who eats less meat/is vegan and the one's we do know are potentially 'annoying', time will tell if this actually is the case when my final study is done. The perfect vegan is a thing that has come up a lot too; most people (vegans included surprisingly) are much more for intention and whenever you can rather than perfection (the UK Vegan society definition actually has "as far as possible and practicable" in it). It's an interesting conversation for sure, thank you for having it, I think a lot of us still are recovering from the vegan influencer space of 2015/16 and trying to undo stereotypes that exist from it.
My main issue is that I don't have enough vegan recipes on hand. So if anyone would like to name/link any good recipes I will love them till the end of days!!!
I went vegetarian at 12 (2006) in a small Iowa town, so you can imagine how hard that was to keep up. I tried vegan a couple times in high school, but the meatless options that I had access to at school or local restaurants were all cheese based and I couldn't fully control my meals at home because I was still eating with my family, so I just decided to stick with a vegetarian diet. Now, at 27, I've reached the point where I've stopped buying animal food products (aside from honey) to have at home, but I am still occasionally eating dairy in social situations where it's not possible to have a vegan option. Your gradual cutting out of animal products sounds a lot like how I am currently eating.
I am vegan and moving to a small Iowa town next week, and I’m so nervous about it!
@@Kristy463 Good luck! You should still be able to access vegan grocery items, but it might be difficult to find options eating out. A lot of the small diners and restaurants only have meat entrees or have some kind of grilled cheese/pizza/cheesy pasta as the only meatless option.
@@DramaGeek1225 thank you! Luckily I will only be about an hour from Des Moines.
@@Kristy463 Great! You should have some good options for weekends out if that's something you enjoy. Check out Dirt Burger for a fully vegan restaurant. Zombie Burger has a good vegan burger (though they might have switched to Impossible Burgers recently). I hope you find enough options that you enjoy!
I love the way that you approach this topic. Like, I'm mentally/financially not at a place where I can go vegan... but I love the idea of taking steps TOWARD veggie/vegan. Thinking about, "what's one thing I can do to step towards that?" and then going from there.
Leena, you did not touch on this in your video, but can we also talk about how "vegan" is not automatically virtuous? Lots of popular vegan alternatives are grown in developing countries and the demand for those products from US and European vegans drives the prices up so high that local people harvesting them cannot actually afford them! Quinoa is a good example of this. And there's also humanitarian issues with the way some foods are harvested. And there's issues with the greenhouse gases emitted via the transportation of vegan foods from faraway places. Etc., etc., etc.
The more research I do, the more I feel like eating locally is more important to sustainability than 100% cutting out meat--though weirdly (at least in the United States) local food is often more expensive than stuff shipped from South America? (This is where the systemic changes need to come in). But I've also done the research on how animals are treated and can fully understand people who choose vegetarian/veganism for those reasons. However, I do not understand why animal welfare (seems to) get more sympathy than human welfare when it comes to food ethics.
Loved your video Leena! I’ve been vegan for six years, and I can definitely tell you that the first maybe two years I was in some online communities, but after that I stopped because people go on and on about it. And I was just more concerned about living in a way that doesn’t include animal products. So I totally agree about focusing in on your relationship to your own food choices. i’ve found it quite effortless especially after six years, I can’t even believe it’s been that long, but yeah anything that I want to do vegan I can do. Recently I’ve just been buying the essentials. I do believe that veganism can be cheaper than eating meat, but again it definitely depends on if you’re buying tons of fancy vegan cheeses and meats. Focusing on Rice, beans and general Whole Foods is definitely the route I have taken. I always tell people, only if they ask, that you really have to be in veganism for the right reasons / come to it on your own, ultimately For it to really stick. And also to know, that it’s important to have substitutions in my opinion in the beginning because we live in a meat and dairy centric society so many of us are just used to eating everything with either meat or dairy in it. Anyways I could go on and on, Always love to hear your thoughts!
Ive been a vegetarian for 8 years now and 90-95% of my diet is strictly plant-based. Yet, I dont define myself as vegan to avoid feeling bad for the occasional egg or pizza, or getting the odd snarky comment if I do it in public. Besides, strict veganism in itself is quite unattainable. So,in most cases i find that calling yourself a vegan can be a inconvenience more than anything else
i mean yeah, i would say if you eat anything with animal products in on purpose, you arent vegan. things other than food, clothes and toiletries/cosmetics etc which are quite easy to make sure are vegan, is where you would get the complexity and the leeway and that's where you have to just do the best you can
@Ellen Lane it would depend on where you live. I live in a town in the uk with access to mainstream supermarkets so it's not inconvenient for me at all. it probably would inconvenient if you lived very rural or abroad in certain countries
I'm sure the animal that dies for your "occasional" Pizza feels worse than you
@@sola_a If my occasional cheese pizza makes It feasible for me to continue being 90-95% vegan in the long run, so be it. Why would other vegan - i presume- attack my diet that is *almost* vegan for the slip here and there? Aren't we supposed to be on the same boat? Imo, by policing other vegans and vegetarians' diet you're doing the cause a great disservice.
same! but I started 6 years ago
I grew up on a ranch my dad raised cattle not so much to sell to the market but to sell to local neighbors and such. One cow can feed 2,300 people 3 oz of meat one half of a cow can feed a family of 4 for a year. That one cow needs 1.5 to 2 acres to raise it on. The mistake that I feel most people use when counting destruction of earth with raising cattle is one, most folks live in a city and have no clue how food is raised and get's to them, how many acres it takes to grow vegetable how much water it takes how many chemicals are used to make sure there are no deformities and bugs and what happens if the weather is not perfect? too much rain, early frost hail all of these things effect growing our food. Truly as you said eating meat is a personal descision but the idea that one is far more moral than the other makes in less of a nuanced idea and more of a black and white this is good this is bad idea. By all means if it makes you feel better to not eat meat for health or personal reasons than that is fine. But there is more at play than just I stop eating meat it all get's better. The part people seem to be ignoring is the agribussiness and not family farms and ranches are the problem. if you want to eat meat then do not go to your supermarket go to and support small farms. We are painting everyone in the bussiness with this broad brush of they are bad and cruel to their animals but i know first hand the midnight watch on a cow because they managed to hurt themselves. The people who raise them care about them, and are huge defenders of animals not being abused and being fed well and taken care of. I cannot stress enough that people need to eat and believe what they want to as John Lennon sang Whatever get's you through the night is alright. But just as the information a meat eater will get the information a vegan gets is rather skewed.
I am not a vegan, but I am lactose intolerant and my breakfast and dinner are almost always 'accidentally' vegan. The main reason I won't give upmeat, is because I really do need more protein. I had deficiencies during my teenage years and now I am careful to not miss out on any nutrients. I understand that you can get protein from vegan food, but I am a broke ass student and this is my prefer that for now. I think reducing meat is a much better initiative that is more accessible to most people.
I became a vegetarian when I was 8 years old (quit meat from one day to the next) because I was horrified at the idea of eating animals. Never struggled emotionally with the concept of milk or eggs, and still don't. I know objectively that the dairy industry is not good for the environment, but really, dairies are one of my main sources of pleasure in my day to day life. Like... cheese, yogurt and ice cream are the best. Cake too. And while there are vegan options there's often only one flavour of vegan ice cream and two flavors of vegan yogurt. And frankly, I'm too depressed to remove this joy from my life.
I wonder where you live? In the UK there are soooo many options for vegan yoghurt and ice cream now! I wish there was this much choice for everyone everywhere as dairy is so bad for human bodies and the vegan options here are sooo tasty!
yes i love eating eggs! and yogurt, when i move out i just want to buy from farmers or places where i know they’re treating the animals well, rather than larger companies :)
I don't understand why it is said that going vegetarian and vegan is expensive....how so...what really actually makes it expensive? When I bought meat before going vegetarian, the meat part of meals was always the most expensive produce. Are people referring to when eating out?...because I also have not found it to be more expensive. Unless one sees it as more expensive for paying the same amount for a meat dish as a veg/vegan dish, because to buy and make the dish, it would be more expensive to for the meat than veg. Are restaurants then playing the monopoly and making bank in this way...especailly when they offer very few options? Then again...chips on a menu are truly and literally a life saver.
Thank you once again Leena for another awesome video! 💙
Well said, the difference between 'need' and 'want' is crucial. As for 'need,' I like to look to the dietetics statements around the world which unanimously confirm we do not need to eat or use our fellow animals during any stage of our lives.
Hypocrite
ive been vegan for almost 2 years now and i honestly think it saved me from my eating disorder. it helped me to feel more under control in terms of my diet, so i no longer restrict calories or skip meals and so now i have a much better relationship with food. it has also improved my skin/acne so much. some people dont realise that its not just about the animals or the environment, it can be so much more.
Not strictly connected to veganism, but watching your video made me realize that I have a very insistent "teenage voice" that makes sticking to a diet very hard. Whenever I am on a diet I will get these intense internal monologues where I'm asking myself "Is this really worth the hassle, the mental energy to figure out what to cook, the extra cost of finding the right ingredients, missing out on dinners with friends, saying no to trying out the food culture of a particular city..."
I've never considered thinking about impact over rules. I always thought that you are either IN or OUT. I wonder if I can try to adopt your approach moving forward. Thanks again, leena.
Thank you for acknowledging that some people have medical reasons why they can't go vegan. The internet can make it seem like such a sinple easy decision. I have tons of G.I. issues, tons of allergies, and a bunch of chronic health conditions that make it extremely difficult to make a shift like this. I'm already so limited on the foods I can safely eat that limiting it more to go vegan would not be successful for me.
You mean they can't go plantbased. Everyone can be vegan as its a philosophy about reducing as much harm to other sentient beings as you possibly can. Also to not see others as commodities.
Great vid!
Especially the "veganism is not properly explainable in 30-40 seconds" was a revelation for me.
Definitely will remember that.
I appreciate you bringing up the nuances of how your own relationship with your body and diet influences whether or not you can commit to vegetarianism or veganism.
I am mostly vegetarian, and only eat meat when I am out. Your idea of making rules for yourself like 'if there is a vegan option you should get it (unless its terrible)' is really helpful for me to frame how I could have less meat. I am the kind of person is fairly picky about food, so having too many restrictions is stressful to me.
It's like my current situation with plant-based milks. I use dairy based milk at home because I have weetbix for breakfast. Its this whole chain of 'soy milk will make weetbix taste bad' -> i wont eat weetbix -> I wont eat breakfast at all. Hopefully one day I'll get to a stage where my breakfast isn't dependent on dairy, but I guess that's my reality right now.
Something else I think of a lot is how much resources go into making these foods. If I get bonsoy that comes from Japan, vs the dairy milk from the farm 100km away, how does the transport impact the climate? Or then I think of how many farm workers in general are exploited. The whole system is so messed up. I find all I can do is try and shop local where I can and take it a day at a time.
Update: I got a 1lt of dairy milk and 1lt of soy milk today, rather than 2lt of dairy. I realised from this vid that I was thinking too much in absolutes. Can use dairy for weetbix, and soy for other things. It's a start.
@mycurrantjournal Ooh I'll try it out.
I was going to suggest oat or rice milk, they have both a soft taste and go perfect with Weetabix
I’d highly recommend trying oat milk if you haven’t already! It’s pretty widely agreed to be the nicest plant milk and it’s also the most environmentally friendly. (Not trying to be pushy, just a suggestion that worked for me!)
When lockdown hit, I went from struggling to have two meat-free days a week to going only the weekend eating meat but felt like a major step.
But it’s amazing the impact life can have - once I got pregnant, I couldn’t stand most veggies or the kind of meat free meals I relied on and now I’m temporarily living with parents who eat meat everyday with a lot of in life up in air, it’s hard not to fall back on what you’re used to and what’s easy. Eating meat and animal based products is sadly the easy option. Hopefully it’s becoming less so.
I've actually had veggie preferences since a young age (having your mam give out to you for eating all the broccoli so there's none left for dinner is a funny one I like telling people!) I actually am not a huge fan of meat, and will eat it on occasion but it's normally chicken or a VERY small amount of red meat. Eating veggies is just more interesting and diverse? Like if you miss the "umami" flavour, just east some fried mushrooms lads!
My main obstacle to going full vegan is my cup of tea (yes, the Bristish milky black shite, though I'm Irish) - I need regular milk in that because none of the plant based ones I try taste even remotely okay in black tea!
But yeah, I think the big obstacle for most people is expense and also peer pressure (the stigma around veganism is still big where I am at least, in a country that exports an absolute TONNE of red meat). Vegetarianism is something I think we could all easily attain without a huge negative impact on people with health issues associated with cutting meat out (I get anemic very easily, hence the occasional meat escapade). Also veg are just more interesting to eat dammit - meat is all bland as hell unless you coat it in salt, spices, herbs, sauces, anything! Also seeing my sister visibly sweating trying to eat a whole rack of ribs, a steak AND a meat pie on her 30th birthday kinda put things into perspective for me -_-'
This is me. I never knew how to explain this but this is how I feel! Thanks for putting it to words.
I have "veggie preferences" haha love it. AND I also lean towards anemia and if I have access to meat for that need I choose the meat, otherwise my health suffers.
Almond breeze or oatly barista work so well in tea! 😍
I LOVED THIS VIDEO!!! I was a strict vegan for 3 years and got very ill (unrelated) and then gave myself some slack and I've been vegetarian for three last 3 years. I used to be so strict that if there weren't vegan options I wouldn't eat and I would feel miserable.
It's really strange to be in that place of eating consciously but choosing to sometimes have cheese or eggs when I understand why I don't want to. I suddenly felt caught between the strict vegans and meat eaters and that can be a cruel place to be, and I still find myself defending my own actions? But this video makes me feel so validated and explains it so much better than my puny little words do 😅
Thanks Leena for another awesome, well spoken and researched yet down to earth talk on this topic 🥰
One of the things I found helpful was give myself a hall pass on Christmas & my birthday. The first few yrs, those "days off" of veganism made the rest of the days easier. I also called myself vegan-ish rather than vegan
I don't need those as often as I used to so your welcome to borrow them
Ooh the gaslighting yourself thing resonated with me, that was the thing that tipped me over the edge into veganism from vegetarianism, because every time I ate cheese or eggs I was having to actively turn the cognitive dissonance back on to do so.
I medically cannot be vegan because of several things- metabolic issues, a boat load of allergies, early signs of osteoporosis, and chronic digestive issues. I support and uplift those who choose it and are conscious in how they do it, and agree it's good for some people, but I've also seen it woefully misused. I've also faced the threat of doxxing and medical documentation leaking by a small fringe minority who refused to believe that I might be in this position. (This is not a request for people to give me unsolicited advice. I have consulted professionals, including some very good vegan nutritionalists and dieticians, and the answer remains the same for me. I'm allergic to, among other things, soy, gluten, some tree nuts, arrow root, most tropical fruit, raspberries, seaweed, and have lactose intolerance. And those are just my food allergies.)
My issue is that a lot of people will engage with Veganism without doing the relevant research and thus end up causing equal environmental harm.
My diet is largely local in nature when I can afford it, and most of the animal product I do have is as small on the carbon scale, as it can be. A lot of pop vegan foods have long transit times, monocultures and can harm the people native to where the plant is farmed (quinoa, almonds, pineapple are all good examples of this). Of course, the problem there is more capitalism commodifying it, versus the diet itself.
I recently got to attend a fantastic lecture about just policies and the gentrification of green living- the focus was on city planning and urban development but it can be applied to wider concepts.
I would also like to note, for no particular reason, that I watched this whilst eating a bomb salad which consists of chickpea, tomato, beet, cucumber, olive oil, and balsamic.
I love that you're bringing this topic up, the definition of vegan is to avoid harm "as far as is practicable and possible" so if slip ups happen, that doesn't mean someone's no longer "vegan". But I fully get people trying to avoid the label because of some vocal people being really awful ( I mean heck i did a video about the toxicity in the vegan community and I've been vegan for 5 years) but it really is just a lifestyle choice. I tend to keep out of the communities honestly, but that's because 1. I don't have the time 2. I only keep up with stuff to know the great new mock meats or products on the market lol.
Everyone reducing is the thing to make a huge difference, same as with the way we shop too (and you know, pressure on govts to do better and clamp down on businesses so actual positive environmental action happens)
Love all of these ideas! I struggle with the labels as well. I've been on/off vegan/vegetarian for years and after 6 years finally feel comfortable with my cooking, what I choose to share with others about my diet, body, and keeping an impact-focused mindset.
Definitely feel the bratty teenager vibes that come with full-on veganism! I found that an all or nothing approach was entirely ineffective.
I've been mostly vegan since 2011 after watching a TH-camr who talked about it and looked actually cool to me and not like the stereotype that I had in my head haha. I say "mostly" because I don't mind wearing wool or leather if it's second-hand as they are better for the environment anyway, and if there's nothing vegan available or too difficult to access, I don't mind consuming something that's only vegetarian or contains traces of meat and fish. It's something I mainly do because I feel empathy for animals and wouldn't want to hurt them in any way but at the same time I don't want to self-sacrifice my own comfort at all costs just to be "100% ethical" if that's even possible.
Which you tuber?
I'm a pescetarian bisexual, so I basically don't exist... In all seriousness though, I have tried to be vegetarian or vegan quite a few times, but because of various health issues and disordered eating it wasn't great for me, so with help from a nutritionist we landed on "basically vegetarian 95% of the time, fish once a month or so so your hair stops falling out." I tend to drink plant based milk and like you're doing I'll pretty much always order vegan non-pizza takeout (seriously, why is it so sticky??). The coop and tesco both have really nice choc chip cookies in their bakery, so I tend to buy those as a treat instead of the regular ones and honestly can't tell the difference. But like, the lst time I ate beef or pork was over 13 years ago, chicken like a decade, and that's gotta be better than nothing. I totally understand why even this level of ristriction wouldn't work for some people, but I really appreciate that I don't get sent the "you don't make friends with salad" gif apropos of nothing anymore 😂 like it's as normal as having a food allergy or just really hating sweet potatoes or whatever now.
I have never used that label, but I too am a pescatarian bisexual. We absolutely exist, and your efforts count for reducing your impact. Grateful to know you exist out there and are doing your best.
I too am a pescetarian bisexual. we are out here. we exist! I eat fish and sometimes shellfish. I drink mostly plant based milk because of lactose intolerance, but I eat butter and every so often yogourt... because I like those things... yeah
Isn‘t there a „pescatarian bisexual book week“ sign in Season 2 of You?
@@kumepsy Lol I don't remember that but I'm going to rewatch for this specific reason now. 😂
@@nikki5095 It was just a sign at Anavirin, not some plot point just to be clear.
Something I want to emphasize is that people tend to track the increase in veganism/vegetarianism by the number of people who ID as full on vegan/vegetarian. But vegan/vegetarian dishes are becoming more and more popular with omnivores as well. Even people who aren't 100% plant-based are very intrigued and curious about vegan foods and are willing to try them. It is a new way of thinking about food and I know that a lot of people are on board with it! Change is gradual but it's still there.
Excellent video. I've been vegetarian (and now vegan) for about five years, and my partner went vegetarian last year. I have a lot of complicated thoughts about the matter that aren't usually reflected in online vegan communities, particularly as someone who lives in a rural place with a cow-dependent economy.
Congrats on the progress you've made, and I'll be interested to see how you approach this topic as time goes on!
‘Impact not identity’ is such a concise and helpful phrase to keep at the fore of my mind when it comes to this!! Thank you. I’ve been veggie for 6 years and was a strict vegan for 1 year, but in the end i had to loosen the rules à little because I was getting too in my head about it and falling into old negative food issues from the restriction. Now i eat plant based most of the time (I never buy dairy and haven’t touched meat in years) but I’m a bit more relaxed about by products like a biscuit that has milk powder in or non-vegan mayonnaise etc when I’m out, I also eat milk chocolate sometimes. I’ve always felt that it’s better to do what’s manageable for you rather than force yourself into strict véganism and end up back pedalling, and the impact over identity thing really articulates that feeling for me! Also outside of the food side of things, I only use cruelty free, don’t buy leather, etc. Veganism is about more than food so if some people find the food side of things overwhelming, it can be helpful to look at other elements while taking it slow on the dietary front! 💛🌻
The whole 'I'd only eat something I'd kill with my bare hands' thing I relate to SO HARD. I'm now a vegetarian but it was something I used to say as a teen and I cringe v hard when thinking about it now... Definitely some 'I'm not like other girls' feelings going on that I think most people (hopefully) grow out of
What a fantastic video! I'm not vegan cause I consume some animal products on some occasions but I do eat mostly plant-based. My issue wasn't omitting animal products but the guilt that I felt when I did eat them despite my effort to cut them out completely. It affected my relationship with food negatively which was never an issue I've had before. So, I do drink plant-based milk, I rarely eat eggs and I love the meat alternatives, but I don't wanna label myself vegan/plant-based because I'm so done with guilt-tripping myself for occasionally eating cheese or eggs or whatever. You're right that it's about impact. I think it's more important for everyone to embrace alternatives and reduce their animal consumption than people being frightened to give it up all completely.
A phrase I prefer to ‘you need to be vegan’ is ‘make more vegan choices’ it is a much more inclusive way to talk about veganism and is something almost every person can do. If that means swapping out a meat lasagna with a vegetable one or only drinking almond milk in your tea small changes over time will make a big impact
My personal reason for also focusing on identity Veganism rather than just impact is because of how I find it affects people around me differently.
I think I’ve had a lot interesting conversations with many people about the ethics of eating animal products because I call myself a vegan without any qualifiers. I know it’s definitely not an approach for everyone (because it’s so focussed on how other people respond to me rather than how I relate to myself) but I think it has shifted the way that people around me everyday think about meat - and a bunch of them have since become veggies/ Pesci!
It’s a very consequentialist view (and one that I know many other vegans don’t hold) but that’s my reason why I think Vegan is a really useful identity marker.
it really stuck with me when you mentioned “impact
over identity” in a previous vid, and has made making vegan/vegetarian choices seem a LOT less intimidating in my head. likewise what you mentioned about just slowly learning a new v/v dish and then making that part of your repertoire rather than going in at the deep end. anyway this video was a really great continuation of those thoughts 🧡
On my 7th year of veganisim I don't even think about it anymore, and I have no speech prepped whenever someone asks me why I'm plant based. Heck it's like forgetting you have a tattoo, "wait I'm vegan? Who was gonna tell me?"
I really liked this video, more people need to adapt to such a mature and relaxed opinion on alternative eating styles.
I've never met a vegan who was mad at me for "only" reducing my meat and dairy intake in steps. Usually most were supportive. Oddly I've met a lot of resistance from meat eaters for doing so. Curious.
I went vegan 10 months ago (after 6ish years vegeterian) and i really had no problem with it because i had the time and energy to do most of my meals by myself at home (the only good thing that came out of c0v1d for me tbh).
And even before that, i realised i would just forget to buy eggs for weeks, and cheese was too expensive to be one of my staples.
But now that we are sorta going back to "normal" i realise how stressful it can be.
I now have to meet with people(friends and family) who are not educated on the topic, and i really dont want to spend my time arguing.
I often dont even say i'm vegan unless i'm asked/we are going to a restaurant and as soon as i say it most people get on the defense, even though i'm not judging, i'm literally just asking if there's a vegan option where we're going.
Luckily younger millenials/zoomer are way less judgy of other people's eating habits/choices and i feel there is a shift to a more plat based diet overall!
I find it helps to look at the menu online or call the restaurant beforehand: it’s a lot less stressful for me.
I really appreciate this video!! I’ve been a vegetarian my whole life and I’ve heard all these reasons before and it’s always been so frustrating because none of them are good enough reasons to kill an innocent animal. So great to hear how your thoughts have changed!
I also think it's better to focus on the meals rather than the rules.
Story explanation:
Over the past year I got more into cooking for myself, and I've learned to think "what goes good with this vedgetable?" rather than "what goes good with this meat?". My answer usually didn't involve meat, so I didn't buy it. When I didn't buy it I didn't cook it.
Fast forward 1 week ago when someone asked me if I ate meat. My immediate response was yes, but then I thought about the last time I ate meat and that was more than half a year ago.
It suprised me so much! Something I thought so crucial to me was apparently not so important to me. I learned how to cook those vedgetables so well that I didn't feel the lack of meat, and I think that's hella awesome :)
System change, yo. That's where the real magic happens 😜
In all seriousness, it's super interesting hearing folks' stories heading towards veganism because I've kinda gone the opposite way. I'm not 100% vegan, but I've lived predominantly plant based my whole life. Nothing I cook at home involves meet or dairy (except the occasional eggs from friends gardens) and I wouldn't know where to start if I did include those things. So... On the rare occasion I'm at a restaurant or fast food place, I sometimes choose meat, because it feels like such a special treat since I don't know how, and don't ever intend to cook it at home.
I think this "special treat" mindset is what could make a real difference since more people can get on board with that. Consumer demand would decrease MASSIVELY and the majority of folks still can enjoy a burger now and then.
I do that too! I used to be vegan but when I met my boyfriend, we kinda met half way because we loved cooking together. He and I have both come to a consensus that meat is a "special occasion" thing. And maybe to him that means any time we go out to a nice restaurant or have a summer grill out with friends, and to me that means fish at nice restaurants and making nice quality steaks once a year for our anniversary. It's all about moderation and prioritizing the impact, not the strict rules and identity!!
My partner has kind of taken on this approach too, he very rarely buys meat for household consumption but if we are eating out or at a friend's place where meat is an option he will eat it at those times.
I don't mean to offend too much but to be completely honest, regarding the causing of another sentient beings suffering and death as a "special treat" seems just... disturbing. Gaining sensory pleasure does not justify harm done to a victim. Supply and demand is still a thing.
@@radiocorrective mmm I appreciate this perspective, thank you. Maybe "special treat" is the wrong language to use, I use it because knowing something is "special" results in feeling deeper gratitude and respect, and creates an understanding that it isn't something to be taken lightly or taken for granted. One of the five thoughts I recite before I eat (that I learned growing up with a Buddhist father) is "I accept this food with an understanding of the ways and means by which it has reached me", which I guess is a more ceremonious way of saying "this shit is special, I respect and am grateful for every being that has been part of the process of bringing this food to my plate, and I'm not turning a blind eye to the sacrifices that have been made. because of that, I have no desire to eat meat or factory processed food on the regular". I guess "special treat" is the shorthand version of that, but you're right, it sounds pretty gross when you put it that way. On the flip side, it's practical because it's a relatable concept many people can grasp and use to reduce their meat consumption, in the same way they already use it to reduce other unhealthy habits. Perhaps there's a better way to achieve this, better language to use that still helps to lessen impact 🤔
@@AmyNaylorMusic I think the point she was trying to make is that no sacrifices have been made: an animal was killed and slaughtered against its will. It's not a gift you can accept because it was not given, it was taken by force.
I’ve been veggie for about 6 years and even in that time the products available have increased and improved immensely.
I do really believe it’s the right thing to do if you can, obviously some people can’t but realistically most people could at least cut down on meat. Learning to cook and discovering new foods makes it much easier!
It’s mostly the idea of committing to calling myself a vegan forever that’s stopping me, and feeling awkward out for meals or at other people’s houses. Most of my friends are veggie but family and colleagues don’t understand it really.
For now I’m happy to do it as much as I can/is convenient. Buying a mostly vegan weekly shop feels easy now and if there’s a vegan option I like when I’m out I’ll go for that. Logically, being 100% vegan has very little extra impact than being 90% so I feel okay with it for now!
I'm in kinda the same place. Also, having given up meat for several years and knowing that I never liked it much, it has occured to me recently that even on the few occasions I did enjoy the meat I ate, it was all down to seasoning and sauces, all of which can be very easily enjoyed without the meat component.
I really liked your point about the affordability of veganism. Where I come from, veganism is the norm for large communities, for religious reasons (which is weirdly what pushed me to try eating meat). It's extremely affordable for people of all social classes to live on an entirely plant-based diet. When I first came to the UK, I was so perplexed at why people make such a big deal of it; until I saw the vegetarian and vegan food products available.
Although I sometimes eat chicken, I still find it extremely hard to a) get the same variety of fruits, vegetables and pulses I'm used to incorporating into my diet and; b) find food items that aren't too boring, tasteless and/or expensive.