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VEGANISM
The Hardest Thing About Being Vegan
Being vegan is so easy, apart from this one problem
I went vegan in 1986. Back then there wasn’t a fraction of the choice we all have nowadays. In some respects, things have come on a long way since then.
Walk into any mainstream supermarket today and you’ll see an almost bewildering choice of vegan plant milks, vegan cheese, mock-meats, desserts and more.
It’s never been easier to be vegan.
Nevertheless, people still ask what is the hardest part of being vegan. I usually tell them that being vegan is easy, especially when you imagine yourself in the animals’ place.
But if I’m pressed, I would have to say that the hardest thing about being vegan is the realisation that most people just don’t care.
I don’t mean they don’t care that I’m vegan. That’s not an issue.
There is a popular joke I’m sure you’ve heard: “How do you know if someone’s vegan? Don’t worry — they’ll tell you.” The implication being that vegans are only interested in virtue-signalling and talking about themselves.
On the contrary, I don’t very often tell people I’m vegan in real life. Nobody at work even knows I’m vegan.