Every day, more and more people realize that the meat and dairy industry is cruel to animals, harmful to the environment, and unhealthy for humans. Every day, people read articles, books, and Instagram posts, or watch documentaries like "Cowspiracy," "Vegucated," and "Food, Inc.," and decide to make a change to help animals. The simplest and most effective way to save animals and the environment from the meat and dairy industry is to stop eating animal products. Duh.
By avoiding animal products in the supermarket, individuals reduce the demand that meat and dairy processing companies have to supply for. In other words, fewer people buying animal products equals fewer animals being mistreated and killed on factory farms. It’s that simple. It may be simple, but it's definitely not easy to commit to vegetarianism or veganism, which involve a commitment to avoid just meat or all animal products, respectively. Many people who are motivated to help animals are reluctant to transition to veganism or vegetarianism, since a major diet change involves time, effort, and sacrifice.
Something that people need to realize is that you don’t need to wear the vegan or vegetarian label to eat vegan/vegetarian food. It seems obvious, but I’m always shocked by people deciding not to make an effort to eat less meat just because they don’t want to “go vegan.” I get it, wearing the vegan mantle is intimidating: it’s a huge lifestyle change, it comes with a bit of a stigma, and it involves giving up pizza and ice cream. If you tell people you’re vegan, you might encounter a lot of questions, assumptions, and even accusations. People expect you to be aggressive and opinionated, and they definitely expect you to never slip up.
The reality, however, is that nobody has everything figured out, even devoted vegan gurus. And nobody can maintain a strict diet all the time, especially when they’re just starting out. So if you want to do your part to save animals and the earth from the harm that the meat and dairy industry causes, and you're ready for a big change, doing your best to stay vegan is a very rewarding and worth-while challenge. But if you're a bit afraid of commitment, and not down to give up your favorite foods, you shouldn’t feel pressured to go vegan.
The moment you watch that first documentary, or have that eye-opening aha moment (mine involved petting/falling in love with a rescued dairy cow) and decide to make a change, you embark on a journey that will make a positive impact on both yourself and the world around you. That journey is yours and yours alone, so you can go as slow as you want, you can give up and start again, you can customize your diet to fit your needs, and so on. You don’t need to label yourself or make any big commitments to lessen the amount of animal products you consume.
Some people are passionate about animal rights, and eat vegan most of the time, but still eat some meat and dairy when they’re able to responsibly source it from cruelty-free farms. Some people are equally passionate but only eat vegan one day a week, or until 4pm every day. The point is that trying to commit to veganism can cause unnecessary stress and strain, especially when you start cancelling plans with friends to avoid pizza; avoid the commitment instead, and personalize your diet so that you can help animals while still enjoying life.
According to PETA, the “total number of land animals killed and eaten by Americans decreased by 300 million between 2008 and 2009.” That’s, like, the entire human population of the United States. Whoa. That number is increasing every year as people become more concerned with where their food comes from, and I’m guessing that this positive trend isn’t caused by people “going vegan” completely, but rather by individuals choosing meat-free options more and more. If this trend continues, the stigma on vegan food might go away so that people will see buying vegan food as normal instead of extreme, and so that restaurants will serve vegan options without having to label themselves "vegan restaurants" and lose business.
You don’t have to make a massive change in your lifestyle to make a difference in the environment, your health, and the lives of innocent animals. If we all realized that avoiding meat and dairy isn’t just something that crazy vegans do, but rather is a small, easy choice that everyone can make now and again, we could prevent a lot of suffering.
