I knew this day would come.
Activist Beginnings
My feelings about eating meat? Not a fan, aye. I told my mum I wanted to stop eating meat when I was eight years old. Understandably, she didn’t take me seriously initially, but after many meals of pushing my fish fingers to the side, picking out the mince, and avoiding chicken, she took me at my word, and started to accommodate my dietary choice. When she asked me why, I simply said something like “I don’t like the idea of animals being killed.” I think my child brain had ultimately made the connection between farm animals and their eventual fate, served crispy and hot at my dinner table. I think the fact that other people seemed utterly unbothered by this probably distressed me somewhat, but I figured I could opt out, and that was enough for me.
Having heard other people recount similar stories about their childhood and adolescence, I am forever grateful that my mum honoured my young autonomy and let me choose not to eat meat. So many people do not get to have that kind of control of their bodies until they move out of home, or at least until they can cook for themselves.
The V Word
I think initially my family thought I might grow out of it, but ten years later, I transitioned to veganism after learning more about how damaging the dairy industry is to our environment and how much as a sector its emissions contribute to climate change.
Now, please don’t be deterred by the mention of this word! No one is out here with a vegan agenda, trying to convert you, making you watch Cowspiracy or screaming at you that meat is murder. We know you like bacon, we know you could never give up cheese, and we know that veganism can at best seem daunting, and at worst, elitist.
If that’s you, can I just wave a hypothetical white flag of surrender here? Let’s have a civil kōrero about health, values, environmentalism, and remind ourselves that it’s not about who’s right or wrong, or who’s more moral etc. What we put into our bodies is deeply personal, but I know that many of us perhaps haven’t considered where our food actually comes from, or stopped to unpack the environmental ethics involved in our consumption.
For me, what it’s actually about is living my values, acting in accordance with the climate change movement, and responding to current environmental issues in a way that is scientifically backed as being one of the best ways to combat climate change at an individual level, particularly in New Zealand. Here, 53.2% of our greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture.
As a bonus, it is generally better for your health to consume more plant-based foods and less animal products. That’s not to say you can’t be unhealthy as a vegan (you absolutely can), or healthy as an omnivore, but everybody knows that vegetables are good for you! Vegans typically eat a lot of pulses (lentils, beans, chickpeas etc) and greens, just like our mums always wanted us too ❤
My love for brassicas obviously runs deep because when I was eleven I absolutely dressed up as Broccoli Girl for my friend’s Halloween birthday party.
If you have made it this far, you are super duper. It feels like it goes without saying, but know that this is not a black and white concept! It is possible to reduce your consumption of meat and dairy without cutting these food groups out entirely. If it is something you think you might be interested in doing, the internet can be your bestie. Oh, and Chelsea Winter’s Supergood is a bloody great recipe book if you like to cook.
Spread hummus, not hate.
bohemianhumanist.com 