That being said, I think there is a whole crazy vegan culture out there that must be navigated, and explored, before you actually make the decision to go vegan. There are small decisions to be made such as...
Am I going to eat vegan or "live" vegan?
Obviously, a animal product free lifestyle is a wonderful and very respectable way to live, but, it can also be challenging, frustrating, and intimidating. Cooking vegan is a very fun and exciting thing for me, because, I love cooking, and trying new ingredients anyway, but, I am not sure exactly how far I am prepared to go. I use mostly natural beauty products, but, am I prepared to give up all my stand-by items to live this way? Also, clothing. It's not like I wear fur coats and leather chaps, but, I do have a leather bag (that I adore) and some suede shoes, and wool sweaters. Am I ready to give these up?
How far do I need to venture into the world of ingredients?
On my very first day of being vegan, I decided to scope out my snack options. I work an 11-13 hour day on average, and, it is important for me to have something to munch on every now and then, so that I do not slit someones throat. First stop, granola bars. Should be fairly easy, right? Wrong! Every one had some type of whey, eggs, milk, lard, something. But, then there are the ones that don't contain these ingredients, and just state that they are "made in the same facility" as products that contain them. Am I ok with this, or, am I against that thought that some egg powder or milk residue may have snuck into my granola bar?
THE TRUE VEGAN?
This is the most intimidating of the bunch. You can settle in with your vegan cupcake, and glass of almond milk one day , being perfectly content to look up some information online, and get blindsided with the world of, what I like to call the Shi'ite Vegans. Case in point, while looking for a recipe for homemade vegan cheese the other day, I stumbled across an article about pre-packaged vegan cheeses, and how many of them listed vegetable oil as an ingredient. Well, vegetable oil is normally palm oil (apparently), and palm oil is primarily harvested from cutting down jungle and rain forest trees, leaving thousands of animals homeless and dying everyday,therefore, if you eat things containing palm(vegetable) oil, you are a "bad vegan." There are also articles about how farming, even vegetables, is ruining the world, so the only way to be truly vegan is to harvest your food yourself. You can really work yourself into a self-loathing frenzy over this stuff!
Joe(my boyfriend) was a long time, peta- loving vegan for years, back when he was a teenager, and talks about how this mentality is one of the things that ruined it for him. The whole, "I'm more vegan than you" attitude can really spin out of control, to the point where he came to the conclusion(direct quote)-"The only way to be a truly perfect vegan is to kill yourself. Not only kill yourself, but, make sure you somehow set your self on fire, humanely, and extinguish the match before you die, so that it doesn't harm any plants or animals in the process." Now, this is a little extreme, but, you get the point.
My overall opinion is, all I can do is try my best. I may not want to switch shampoos, and, I may accidentally eat some cheese one day, but, if I wake up every morning, and make a conscious effort to eat natural, organic, humanely derived, and whole foods, as part of a primarily vegan diet, then, I will know, in some small way, I am making a difference, even if it's only to myself. And hey, it beats cruising over to the wal-mart parking lot at 3am, and seeing how long it will take for my wool sweater and suede shoes to burn!
