Extremism

"Don't do nothing because you can't do everything. Do something. Anything!"

   - Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

For generally good reasons, most people are very wary of extremism. Extreme political or religious views have resulted in some of the world's worst tragedies. Unfortunately, a vegan diet is viewed by many as extreme. If you forget about cultural conventions, and really think about it objectively, choosing not to eat animal flesh, milk or their eggs isn't all that extreme. Even influential avid meat-eating food critics like Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (The Guardian, UK) and Mark Bittman (New York Times) are espousing the importance of markedly decreasing our meat consumption

I think many people who might agree with the logical reasons for eating plants - health, ethics or environment - but just can't bring themselves to change, are scared off by the finality of it all. "What, never taste meat/cheese/eggs again??" And so they do nothing. The biggest benefits to health, animal welfare and the environment, I believe, are going to come from fully adopting a whole-foods plant-based diet, but this is just too hard for many people to do, let alone all-at-once.

Well, it doesn't have to be binary - black or white; vegan or carnivore. There are so many other ways to approach this, and change doesn't have to be instantaneous. I think the important thing is to set yourself some rules or guidelines, because the "gonna cut down a bit" approach doesn't work, as most weight-loss dieters would know. Here are some possibilities:

1) Trial period
Try going 100% whole-foods vegan for a pre-defined trial period, say 1 month. You probably want to have a lead up period to explore new recipes, etc first. Many people who suffer chronic health and/or weight problems take this approach and find their health improves so dramatically and they feel so good that they don't go back to their old ways. This is the approach advocated in the very popular Engine 2 Diet book, which points out that even those who go back to eating meat, etc. find it easier to scale right back on these foods compared to previously. The advantages of going cold turkey (literally) are that: (i) you are more likely to see health benefits, (ii) the boundaries are clear-cut and easy to remember, (iii) tastes adapt. The last one is very significant, because by going cold turkey, you give your body a chance to respond. It is known that fat receptors get down-regulated over a period of weeks, salt sensitivity very quickly adapts to reduced salt intake, cravings for sugar decline, etc.

2) One meal at a time
What about moving to a vegan breakfast? My favourite is porridge with fruit and soy milk, but there are so many other possibilities. If you're a cereal and milk kind of person, most cereals are already vegan. Try every non-dairy milk available at the local store - most have soy, rice, oat and almond. Chances are you can find one that is at least bearable, maybe even palatable. Now, try using that one for a week,.. two weeks. It is surprising how quickly tastes adapt. Once breakfast is sorted, try veganising lunch - there are lots of vegan sandwich fillers. Salads are a great vegan lunch that's healthy. You can quickly add chickpeas from a can to make it more filling and give extra texture, without taking much effort. For dinner, you might have some current dishes that are already vegan and some that can be veganised with little effort. There are also vegan versions of just about every recipe you can think of - try googling "vegan" + your dish's name. Best of all though, check out some vegan food and cooking websites and try some wholly new dishes. There are so many good vegan recipes online.

3) Weekday vegetarian
One approach that has become popular is the "weekday vegetarian." There's a TED Talk (free) and even a Kindle book ($2.99) on the topic (I haven't read it). For people who remain to be convinced of the ethical issues surrounding animal products or just cannot bare to change, but are aware of the health and environmental issues, and want to do something about it, I think this is a very powerful approach.

4) Meatless Monday
A small, but positive step in the right direction is gaining popularity, particularly in the USA - Meatless Monday.

Whatever the approach, doing something is always going to be better than doing nothing.

What's more, it is never too late! I will end with a link to an example of this. In 2009, Former High Court Judge, Michael Kirby, at age 70, was confronted with the facts about modern animal agriculture and decided to change his eating habits. Read about his experience in this 1 October 2011 article from The Australian.