I’ve heard it said over and over again in the vegan community, “veganism is an ethical stance, if you’re an ex vegan, you never were really vegan at all”. And I couldn’t disagree more. 

   So I wanted to break this down real quick for you, because I think it’s become such a catchphrase that people don’t even think about what they’re saying anymore when they say it. 

An ethical stance

   Veganism is an ethical stance, let’s start there. I agree with this, as it literally is what the term vegan officially refers to. Veganism is the avoidance of animal products and services where possible and practicable, due to an ethical stance against animal agriculture and animal use, to paraphrase perspective of the vegan society (https://www.vegansociety.com/go-vegan/definition-veganism).

 While I think there are a moderate amount of people who use the term vegan to describe themselves that are more interested in plant based dieting, I do feel the word is still grounded enough in its definition linguistically speaking for it to hold water.

“If you’re an ex vegan”

   So then we get to the next part, and I have to ask, what is an ex vegan? Not for argument’s sake. I mean, what are we actually referring to here? Is it someone who was vegan and isn’t anymore? Is it someone who was vegan and is now against the idea of veganism? 

   If we take the definition of veganism to mean that you have a certain perspective and are taking specific actions to live your life in such a way that you are not a hypocrite, you’ll find that there may be many different kinds of ex vegans. Ones who truly believed in the philosophy but were convinced otherwise after the fact. Ones who believed in it but felt that they couldn’t make it work for themselves, or were told by a doctor not to do so (not even talking about the validity of the doctor’s perspective on the situation). And sure, there are probably also those who didn’t really believe in the vegan philosophy too strongly but decided to give it a try anyway. 

Never vegan at all

   I’ve got to be honest. After 12 years being a vegan who is also online, I’ve seen a lot of the vegan police for people who are trying their best to go or be vegan. I think we have always had this divisiveness within the community, or rather, the vegan collective. With so may people already trying to tell people they’re not really vegan, it’s no surprise to me that people try to go back and rewrite history, even if you weren’t sneaking bits of cheese here and there behind closed doors. How would they know anyway?

   But I want to say this. Nowhere in the definition of veganism does it delineate how strongly you have to buy into the philosophy. It just says that you’re against the use and abuse of animals so you avoid it at all costs. For some that may mean it would have to be their sole guiding force in life. But others may be able to make that commitment without having to be steeped in it with every fiber of their being. Everyone’s different. 

Why do vegans say this?

   I think in order to go vegan you need to accept on some level that things are not as you were taught in a big way. Every doctor and lunch lady that pushed you to get your three a day, nearly every person around you who thought you needed animal protein to survive and thrive, they were missing part of the equation. Heck, some euphemisms for animal bits and pieces were practically lies that we tell our children to pass off certain foods that they wouldn’t want to eat otherwise. 

   After going through this paradigm shift, it’s easy to be skeptical, and at times on the defensive. Maybe you’re even a little like me and you don’t care what celebrity you hear of going vegan because what’s the likelihood that they’re going to stick to it anyway? When it comes down to the animals and their welfare, veganism is not a trend, it’s one less person preying on their very life. But of course, for those who don’t see it that way, there’s nothing to keep them from trying it on for size, seeing if they like it, if it makes them feel giddy or healthy or better than others, or whatever they’re looking to get out of it, and discard the identity if it doesn’t. 

   But I’m not interested in keeping people out. The more people that try “veganism”, even if it’s for selfish reasons, is more chances that an animal won’t die for someone’s palate, both in the short term and in the long term. We tend to forget about the domino effect of things. Maybe their brother sees what they’re doing and makes a connection, becomes vegan for real. Maybe their friend looks forward to meatless mondays along with them. I’m not saying that we should just endorse anything we see moving in the direction of veganism wholeheartedly, but I am saying that you shouldn’t stomp on a seedling because it’s not a mature plant. 

The ethics of it all

   I think the other thing that people are missing out on when they say that being ex vegan means you were never vegan at all is that people change their perspective on the world every day they’re alive. That doesn’t always lead to a change in morals or ethics, but sometimes it does. 

   Most people, when going vegan, experience what I’ll call an eye-opening moment. They realize that they’ve cared about animals this whole time and that since they feel that way, “how about we not kill them, use or abuse them, or pay others to do so for us?” Completely valid. But just like how your mind changed about what was appropriate behavior then, it works in the other direction too. A famous moment like Benjamin Franklin looking at fish eating each other and thinking “if you all eat each other, why would it be wrong for me to eat you too?” And yes, that was his thought, go ahead and read his autobiography for the more in depth story about it. 

   That doesn’t make your reasoning inherently sound just because you have a change of mind about something ethical. And of course, I think it’s fair to push back against ideas that are brought to us if they don’t hold water. For instance, in the case of Ben Franklin’s pescatarian revelation, there are lots of people who do awful things to others as well, but that doesn’t make it right to treat them badly. Perhaps understandable, when you account for human nature. Perhaps permissible, when you’re thinking about self-defense. But someone doing something to others doesn’t make it okay to do that thing to them. So what makes fish exempt from that ethical understanding that you otherwise have towards people? 

   But you see, engaging with the ideas is a lot more effort than just writing someone off as never having been vegan in the first place. And as much as I hate to plant seeds of contention in the vegan community, it’s intellectually lazy to slap that assumption on someone and move about your day. You don’t have to engage with every anti vegan debate that you see or hear, in fact you don’t have to engage with any of them if you don’t want. But you don’t have to make silly statements that are wrong in order to avoid doing so. Just…avoid them. 

Conclusion 

   Ex vegans exist. Some for better reasons than others. You don’t have to invalidate someone’s vegan past in order to validate your own experience with veganism in the present, nor does it actually benefit anyone to do so (not you, them or any onlookers). It’s okay to let this phrase go and accept nuance and the grief that can sometimes come when an important figure in your life (or some silly celebrity) disappoints you. But remember this. 

    The truth, when examined, becomes stronger. If you truly believe that veganism can and does stand on its own two feet, you don’t need to defend it so rashly with a no-true-Scotsman fallacy. You can just stand. Learn about some of the pitfalls that you see people getting caught in, and advocate for the awareness of them. Thank you for reading my thoughts, and I hope you have a great day!