Comments on: Vegan Compromise?

By: addyb

addyb — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 14:49:00 +0000

Hi everyone – thanks so much for all the fantastic comments and support! I think each of you touched upon what’s important here – that we are all doing our best, and we have the goal of leading as compassionate a life as we can. Each step towards that goal is something to be proud of, and we should focus on that instead of what we can’t do, or “mistakes” we make. It IS a process and a journey, and things always change. Something we don’t do now, we may do in the future, and vice versa. But we should all give ourselves a pat on the back for making our best efforts!

I celebrated my one year vegan-niversary last week by getting a small “v” tattoo on my foot, so I’m proudly committed to being vegan, as defined by me! Of course, I forgot to check if the ink was vegan…but I’m assured that it’s usually only the black ink that is not, and I should be safe with my green ink 🙂 It’s a learning process!

By: Pamela D

Pamela D — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 20:16:00 +0000

I compromise on food for our dogs. My husband is not vegan (but he’s made many changes toward a vegan diet and I appreciate what he’s done in the interest of a harmonious relationship with me!) and he does not seem to understand the idea of vegan dog food. I consider our dogs’ food a joint decision. A few months ago I started buying vegan canned food, which we use to supplement their kibble. I don’t know if my husband realizes it’s vegan. Someday I will start an earnest conversation about vegan dog food…and it may take days or weeks to complete. In the meantime when I feed my dogs I apologize to the animals who gave their lives for our dogs’ kibble. I have been ethically vegan (or at least leaning that way) for a few years now and loving my all-vegan diet and mostly-vegan lifestly knowing that I have a lighter, more compassionate footprint on the earth. Step by step I’ll continue to lighten my load. 🙂

By: Sarah

Sarah — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 23:23:00 +0000

Great post! It brings up a lot of things that I constantly fight with. Having been vegan for 5 years now, I still struggle with figuring out where the line should be drawn. I’m coming to realize that we can never be fully vegan. Instead we are all making conscious decisions to help end animal suffering and better ourselves and our planet. That’s what being vegan is about! Not nitpicking your every move. Don’t sell yourself short, you’re as vegan as I!

By: Marissa D'Aleo

Marissa D'Aleo — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 21:10:00 +0000

This is a great piece. I agree with other posters- you ARE vegan. Veganism is not about purity and perfection, but about intention. You clearly intend to be as cruelty free as possible, and eliminating meat and dairy from your diet, opting for products not tested on animals, and not buying wool/leather etc. are the steps to take. Yes, there are snags (i.e. honey in the bread at church), what we feed our pets (my dogs are not vegan, and I struggle with that decision), and taking prescription medication (I have medical issues and rely on prescriptions as well, and don’t like knowing that I support medical testing, but they control serious illnesses and I cannot just eliminate them). Like you, I have my own personal ‘compromises’, but at the end of the day, we do the best we can to be voices for veganism and to represent this lifestyle in a positive way.

By: AmyB

AmyB — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 03:00:00 +0000

In reply to AddyB.

Agreed. Cats cannot be turned into veggies…grains are def bad for them and some veges ok, but they need the meat. Otherwise the usual problems will arise with kidneys, bladder, etc and then cancer.
I do however mostly save and toss the roaches, that is unless one of my cats who like to hunt them finds them first.

By: Vui Bova

Vui Bova — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 01:12:00 +0000

as a work in progress vegan….my partner often reminds me when I am stressing about my vegan lifestyle ‘it’s about progress not perfection’.

By: jody

jody — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 23:45:00 +0000

Thank you! Thank you! In our goal to be kinder to animals, we should not be rude or disrespectufl to humans. If a friend goes out of her way to make a vegetarian dinner for me, that might have a little milk or eggs in it. Guess what? I am going to eat it. I am not going to torture the waitress at a restaurant with 100 questions about an entree. I’ll do my best to order a meat-free meal and ask that they don’t put cheese on it.

By: Sascha

Sascha — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 22:02:00 +0000

I found a great word somewhere the other day: vegan-in-training. I think that’s what I am! Just like you, my goal is to BE 100% VEGAN!

By: Julie Michelle

Julie Michelle — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 18:42:00 +0000

I compromise on prescription medication, only because there is no vegan alternative. I try to look for vegan, holistic alternatives to medication when possible, but I have some medications that I do take. I also have one makeup item (concealer) that contains beeswax. When I’ve used it up I will look for a vegan alternative, but at the time it was the best option I could find. I am allergic to citrus and zinc oxide and I’m extremely pale, so finding an all natural, vegan concealer that works for me is has been a very difficult endeavor.

By: Lauren Ann Read Koslow

Lauren Ann Read Koslow — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 18:17:00 +0000

It is impossible to be 100% vegan; we make the best, least violent choices we can. Based on what you described, I think you indeed should go around proclaiming your veganism. Don’t compromise on your positive, influential label! Go ahead and where a shirt that says, “Ask me why I’m vegan.” Own it. And make change (however subtly you want to). That said, I do think it’s good for those who (regularly) eat honey to refer to themselves in mixed crowds as “mostly vegan.” Otherwise, the definition of the term becomes obscured. I want to live in a future where I say simply “vegan” in a restaurant and am understood, without a long descriptive schpeal of my own.

As a church-going vegan myself, I cross my arms over my chest when there is baked bread in unfamiliar territory (i.e. visiting a church), and otherwise (church where I attend regularly), I ask for the traditional wafer (just wheat & water), which most any church likely carries, if for no occasion other than Lent. Maybe. Overall, (if I may give advice), I say go ahead and ask, in all situations. Ask nicely. Ask joyfully.