show respect - name things correctly
I occasionally come across people who call themselves “almost vegan” “practically vegan” “99% vegan” and similar descriptions.
The reasons for that are usually casual in nature: They still want to enjoy grandma’s great cake, they don’t wanna cause a ruckus at the company barbecue, and when it’s pizza night, they can’t say no to a good cheese. But other than that - plantbased. And they quickly want to convey that to someone.
I still want to urge others to be precise with language.
We have words for “almost vegan”. They’re “vegetarian”, or, depending how you mean it, “flexitarian”.
When you say you are vegetarian, people will understand that you refuse to consume certain animal products, but still eat some. When you label yourself a flexitarian, it suggests to others that you made the decision to reduce the animal products you consume, but you still consume them.
Meanwhile, “vegan” is more restrictive. It is supposed to tell the listener that the person avoids consuming animal products as far as is possible and practicable. People like to forget the latter part, but this is the exception needed for emergencies, medicine and similar pressing matters. And this also applies to non-food items, something I don’t see many vegetarians practicing.
When you are saying you are “basically vegan, but still eat xyz”, you are making things complicated for others, and reduce the lifestyle choice to merely food intake.
I’ve been vegan since 2019. Education about different ways to eat/live is still lacking, and I’ll still encounter people who have trouble keeping vegan and vegetarian apart. “You eat no animal products? What about eggs? And fish? Wow, no fish! And what about milk?” and I think, unfortunately, one puzzle piece of it is that what vegetarians do seems willfully inconsistent to most omnivorous people, and makes it hard for them to remember who eats what. They wonder: “If meat is so unethical, why not milk and eggs too, coming from similar conditions? Why still choose to eat fish, when that is also an animal carcass, and technically meat?”
And then you come on top, saying you’re vegan but still eat this or that animal product, adding to the confusion. You’re then becoming the person people bring up to me like “But so-and-so is vegan and still eats cheese!”.
Please don’t further add to confusion. Make it easy for people to understand your boundaries and lifestyle, make it easy for them to cook and bake for you if they want to do that.
I’ve been wondering: What makes the vegan label so attractive to people who are not vegan?
After all, vegans are not very popular. Some people will know none personally, yet have a passionate (hateful) opinion about them. Others invent weird strawmen of the hypocritical vegan who preaches to others and yet flies 200 days a year while gorging themselves on avocados and almonds. Allegedly, the vegan will harass anyone at the table, brings the mood down and makes everyone uncomfortable. They’re extremists and privileged, some say veganism is classist and racist. So what is there to gain?
I hypothesize that deep down, surprisingly many people actually have no problem with veganism and think it is good, and that they’d also live that way if it was easier for them - maybe cheaper products, better recipes, better replacement products, better and bigger selection of vegan products everywhere, normalized in society, their caregivers agree to enable it, possible with their illness or allergies, and so on. So they do what they can (for example, becoming vegetarian), but reach their current limit.
It hurts though, to be aware of an ideal you have and falling short of it. You know what you think is right, yet you feel hindered from acting like it. This dissonance is unbearable at times, especially when you see others living the life you want to live, or feel like you have to justify yourself in front of others whenever this topic comes up (vegans can tell you all about this awful stage before they finally made the jump!).
It usually goes as follows: Person makes an impassioned speech about how eating animals is wrong, and to not seem like a total hypocrite, they follow it up with “I am basically vegan”. It’s supposed to convey: I am almost there, this is just an embarrassing temporary situation, I totally know what’s right, and these exceptions shouldn’t count much! They’re practically non-existent!
But I don’t think this is serving you well. In the moment, it saves you some embarrassment and makes you feel better about falling short of your ideal, but further on, it just minimizes your actions and doesn’t hold you to the standards you want to fulfill. It protects you from facing the fact that, yes, no matter how strongly you have reduced anything, you are still by definition a vegetarian (or flexitarian), which means you eating cheese once a week falls under the same umbrella term as vegetarian Aunt Emma who still eats eggs and milk daily and fish on Fridays. It feels unfair, but that is how it is.
I also understand that it feels better for some people to claim the harsher, more extreme, more difficult label (in anything, really) because there is some clout in it. You might want the image of being someone who is doing something that is uncommon and regarded as difficult, someone that is going against the grain to do something good; you want the valor, and maybe you wanna come off as morally superior.
But you cannot get the valor without doing the work. Your friends still see you eating that kebab while drunk, no matter what you say otherwise. You’re losing credibility, and people might come to the conclusion that you don’t practice what you preach. Plus, you are not going to build rapport with vegans when you do this, no matter if you might do this to impress them.
It comes down to respect for me. If you want to acknowledge that veganism is worth doing, but it is difficult and you cannot do it right now, then leave the label to those who can, and acknowledge where you fall short. This isn’t about punishing people who do what they can - even little counts - but about using language correctly, and making it easy for people to understand your habits and lifestyle.
You would also not seriously say any of the following:
- “I don’t drink liquor, just beer and wine. I’m almost sober.”
- “I jog twice a week. I’m basically an athlete.”
- “I can order tapas in Spanish. I’m kinda bilingual.”
- “I have a few houseplants. I’m practically a botanist.”
(Though I have to say, saying them as a joke is funny.)
So continue to be precise in this aspect as well.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with saying “I’m vegetarian.” or “I avoid animal products except cheese.” or “I prefer to eat vegan options, but not all the time.”
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