“Should I tell people I’m a vegan?”
I began my veganism without a public announcement. Only my roommate and girlfriend knew about this new part of me. I had a few reasons for this:
- It’s my business what I eat.
- Explaining to others my new diet seemed complicated.
- Doing it for ethical reasons, it felt wrong to seek praise for it.
- Being vegan is a lifestyle, it wouldn’t happen overnight.
Another major reason for not going immediately public was the way in which I was going to become a vegan. Being a thrifty consumer, it seemed wrong to toss out all my animal products. Instead, I stopped purchasing animal products but finished using the ones I already had. It took me about 3 weeks to go through all of the animal products in my house. This included canned foods and condiments.
Slowly, but surely, people noticed that I always ordered vegetarian options without dairy at restaurants. Others noticed that none of my meals included meat. About 4 weeks into my veganism, I told my coworkers and friends that I changed my lifestyle and had become vegan.
I had never hid my veganism from anyone, but it was a good feeling to publicly let people know about this aspect of my life. It was relieving because most people stopped offering me non-vegan food, and many actively considered my lifestyle when picking restaurants & recipes.
I get mocked by a few people from time to time, but I think they do it because they rather tell themselves, “being vegan is wrong” than admit, “I am willingly causing harm to millions of animals”.