Considering veganism

There’s this joke: “How do you know if someone is vegan? They’ll tell you.”

I don’t think I could be vegan. I don’t see a problem with honey. At the moment, I don’t have an issue with eating the eggs of our own chickens. I am, however, actively reducing my dairy intake. I buy oat, soy or rice milk instead of dairy milk. I eat vegan yogurt. I bake vegan cakes.

I’m getting closer to giving up dairy. I love cheese but I know the dairy industry is terrible. I need to do more research and see if any truly ethical and humane dairy companies actually exist. They probably don’t.

I worry that if I give up cheese for a while, I will develop lactose intolerance. I know of some people who used to be vegan and had to switch to a vegetarian diet because of health problems. I don’t want that to happen to me and then find out I can no longer consume dairy products.

Vegans probably judge me the way I judge meat eaters. That I’m not doing enough and am putting my taste buds above the welfare of animals.

I judge meat eaters because I consider myself late to the game. I think I am always slow on the uptake. So if I managed to stop eating meat, why are others still doing it?

It’s been two and a half years since I became vegetarian. (Apart from buying a dishwasher), it was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. It was a process – at first I still needed to eat fish every now and then to get enough iron, but now I can survive on tofu and beans. I feel happier and healthier. I’ve actually found that my tastes have changed. I used to hate tofu but now I actually really like it. This is what I need to remind myself. That giving up cheese should be achievable because I can train myself to enjoy eating other things.