Veganism
This page describes how I went vegan, followed by resources like how to go vegan guides, documentaries, podcasts, news sites, and more.
Vegan 2.0
I've been vegan twice in my life. First, in high school which I failed at because I didn't know any recipes and reverted back.
In late 2021 I went vegan again but it was after several years of gradually reducing my meat consumption to the point where I was eating meat roughly only once a month for 1-2 years. This is called the crowding out method.
The Crowding Out Method
This method is where you reduce your reliance on animal-based foods by learning more plant based recipes to replace them.
Watch Dominion (Is a Meme)
Only after a month of eating a fully plant based diet did I watch the documentaries Cowspiracy and Dominion.
I started with Cowspiracy to get my toes wet, it was mainly about climate change and was educational but not confronting, though I did find the ag-gag laws disturbing.
Dominion features brutal footage of animals being killed on factory farms. When I was vegan in high school I never looked up documentaries of industrial farming and I knew it would be confronting to watch and would upset me, but I didn't want to be ignorant this time. I do not regret watching it for a second.
What's more, the footage in Dominion is from Australia and New Zealand so all the issues they brought up were directly relevant to me. It reinforced my decision to go vegan, and I don't regret watching it. After this, the vegan label stuck a bit better.
Summary
My first attempt at veganism was a failure but I learned my lesson and knew I had to take it slow. I was mainly motivated to reduce my meat consumption for health reasons, though the ethics of veganism always appealed to me and I really admired vegans for being true to their values and living with an optimistic perspective of the future. That dream is that animals are not exploited by humans, we live in harmony with them and the environment.
Try New Recipes
I try new recipes all the time but I don't go back to all of them. I've curated a list of Vegan Recipes that I do go back to. If you're thinking of reducing meat or animal protein for any reason, consider trying some new recipes like I did.
Tip for Beginners: Swap Protein Every Week
When I went vegan, one piece of advice I followed closely is to change protein source each week. This simplifies the process of getting groceries and looking up recipes. It also means if you get bored of red lentils you can try green lentils and your brain might accept it as sufficiently different.
I had never cooked with borlotti beans before I went vegan, but now I know multiple recipes for them. So do not be afraid to try something new.
Some resources for veganism
Guides
- How to Go Vegan by The Vegan Society
- The Vegan Society is my favorite vegan non-profit because it has a very friendly and comfortable attitude (in my opinion), I relied on their site and recipes more than a few times in the beginning. This page covers the crowding out method and ways of swapping meals while maintaining a nutritious diet.
- Aussie bloke's intro to veganism by Lazy Cat Kitchen
- As this is from a recipe site it does feature links to other parts of the site for recipe ideas but overall I like the down to earth approach and this could help give some ideas for meal swaps if you have relatively healthy diet. Honestly I kind of like this post mainly for the image of the man staring listlessly at a broccoli.
Documentaries
- Cowspiracy.
- A documentary about why climate change organisations and charities do not talk about the animal agriculture impact on carbon emissions.
- Dominion.
- Hidden drones and cameras reveal what the animal agriculture industry does not want you to see. WARNING: Extremely graphic depictions of animal mistreatment, neglect, injury, death, and human cruelty.
Podcasts
- The Chickpeeps Podcast.
- Evanna Lynch (yes, who played Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter) is a big inspiration for me. She hosts a vegan podcast and lives what she preaches. This podcast is the only podcast where I listened to the entire catalogue.
- The Animal Law Podcast.
- I've only listened to a few episodes but they were educational in that they highlight the legal issues associated with farming, including how the animal agriculture lobby will try to "screw the rules" and find loopholes in the law to, for example, reduce their responsibilities to monitor environmental harm caused by their industries. I wouldn't recommend this to everyone but if you are interested in legal issues and love details this may be for you.
Online Stores
News
- Plant Based News.
- A neutral-toned news site. This site is the biggest vegan news platform out there. I love reading about the new technologies being developed like precision fermentation and new kinds of plant-based leather or food.
- Vegan Australia.
- Most useful is the Events tab where you can see vegan events for your state.
- Vegan Food and Living.
- If you get addicted to news sites like me then you can add this to your list. Warning: this website sometimes freezes on Firefox, if that happens to you just refresh and scroll which usually fixes it for me.
- Vegconomist.
- A vegan business newsite. Has articles not featured on other sites, sometimes interviews with business owners about why they run a vegan business and some of the opportunities and challenges associated with that.
Tools
- Barnivore.
- Vegan wine, beer, and liquor guide - check if alcohol is vegan or if it might contain undeclared allergens like milk, fish, or egg.