The myth of the vegetarian journey to veganism
‘Baby steps’ and ‘personal journey’ are phrases we hear a lot when we talk about vegetarianism not being enough. But is it really a good first step towards veganism? Is there a fallacy at the root of the vegetarian transition?
WRITTEN BY
Andrew Gough is Media & Education Coordinator for Surge.
Our latest video - Is there a case for ethical vegetarianism over veganism? - was always going to ruffle a few feathers. On the one side, we have hardcore vegans who forget that they probably weren’t born abstaining from animal products, but for whom vegetarians are the worst; and on the other side, we have vegetarians who believe their ethics are better than most of the world’s population… relatively speaking.
In the middle, we have another group: vegans who are forgiving of vegetarians. For them, vegetarianism is a viable first ‘baby step’ towards full veganism, probably because that’s what they did.
So should we as ethical, abolitionist vegans be forgiving of vegetarians? Possibly, if it really is just a transition and they fully intend to reject eggs and dairy products within a fixed timeframe. Also, we should give consideration to socio-economic and cultural factors that could make a complete switch difficult or inaccessible. But how can we really be sure it is only a transitionary thing, and not just a more ethically comfortable safe zone?
Vegetarianism provides a lovely kind of trap for the guilty who know that eating animals is wrong but can’t quite shake it entirely. Once you’re there, the danger is thinking that it’s enough. Cows aren’t being slaughtered for vegetarian food, and chickens aren’t killed for eggs, right? Except they are, just less directly as our video discusses. It’s no wonder that the reaction from vegetarians to this information can often be hostile when their self-assured ethics are questioned.
We hear anecdotal accounts from transitioned vegans - we’ll use that term for fully plant-based people who stopped off at vegetarianism on the way - that they simply replaced their animal flesh intake with more cheese and eggs. There was no reduction. If anything there was an increase in the impact on animals. Vegetarians provide a huge market for dairy and egg producers - just look in any vegetarian recipe book and you’ll see that every dish involves one or both.
Further, the balance between vegetarianism and veganism seems to be generational. There are a great many older vegetarians, who rejected flesh in their younger years when that was difficult enough, let alone veganism which even though it came to be in the 1950s, has seen its greatest surge in popularity in the 21st century and chiefly among millennials. Those lifelong vegetarians have stayed with it, admirably, but now is not then. Now we have intensive factory farming and egg production on a staggering scale, access to information via the internet and to a greater variety of foods than ever. Older vegetarians may be stuck in old habits, but what’s the excuse for the younger generations?
As for the argument that striving for perfect veganism is unrealistic and can put people off from even trying - yes, that does have merit, but ‘progress, not perfection’ as a mantra is not the same as go ‘vegetarian first and stay there for however long you feel comfortable’. Nothing about this ethical quandary is comfortable. We can never be perfect vegans in this world, it’s impossible, and we have to always accept a certain degree of hypocrisy. But that’s not an argument for settling on a middle ground - it just means we must always try to be the very best version of ourselves.
Every argument for vegetarianism really boils down to another form of reducetarianism, yet masquerading as ethically pure. There is no difference between someone who does meat-free Monday, and a vegetarian who supports male chicks being macerated at birth. At least the flesh-eater doesn’t pretend to be morally superior.
For a lot of people reading this, those who have access to information and the right foods within their societal and financial constraints, vegetarianism is not your best self. You know what happens to dairy mothers. You know what happens to male chicks. And you know that you don’t need cheese and your morning omelette. For you, vegetarianism is a cop-out when going vegan is so easy. By that we mean rejecting the eating of flesh, dairy and eggs as a protest against the exploitative systems we exist within today. Rejecting leather, down, cosmetics, toiletries - that is arguably more difficult, yet that is the progress we mean when we say ‘progress not perfection’.
