Vegan lifestyle articles that discuss ways of living in peace with humans, animals, and the environment.
Ginnie Messina, The
Vegan R.D.
June 2015
We also run the risk of losing vegans (and vegetarians) when we skip over discussions about ethics. While health may motivate many people to go vegan or vegetarian, ethics seems to be more “sticky.”
The ethics of veganism? Once you embrace them, there is no alternative way of living and eating. This seems to be especially true for those who embrace an animal rights ethic. If you agree that animals are not here for us to use under any circumstances, veganism is really your only option.
Helping people go vegan is great. But it’s meaningless if we can’t help
them stay vegan. Last week, I wrote about how overhyping the benefits of a
vegan diet can result in ex-vegans [see
Will Going Vegan Make You Look Like Christie Brinkley?]. One of the
reasons people abandon vegan diets is that they lose faith in its benefits.
That’s more likely to happen if the claims are far-fetched.
We also run the risk of losing vegans (and vegetarians) when we skip over
discussions about ethics. While health may motivate many people to go vegan
or vegetarian, ethics seems to be more “sticky.”
As I’ve been delving into this issue of preventing recidivism, I’ve looked
at quite a bit of data including:
The findings are relatively consistent regarding the power of ethics in helping people stay vegan or vegetarian.
For example, the Faunalytics Survey found that health was the only
motivation for going vegetarian cited by a majority of ex-vegetarians. A
study from Winthrop University in South Carolina also found that vegetarians
who are motivated by ethics “demonstrated stronger feelings of conviction.”
They ate fewer animal products, and were less likely to lapse (1).
So why is it that people who go vegan or vegetarian for the animals are more
likely to stick with it? I can think of three possible reasons.
1. A vegan ethic is unique
The Toronto Vegetarian Society survey found that many ex-vegetarians
believed that they could achieve the same benefits from a diet that included
meat. And they are probably right
We can (and should) tell people that a vegan diet is a good choice for
healthful eating; we just can’t tell them that it’s the only choice.
Plant-based diets that include small amounts of animal foods are likely to
be as good.
But the ethics of veganism? Once you embrace them, there is no alternative
way of living and eating. This seems to be especially true for those who
embrace an animal rights ethic (3). If you agree that animals are not here
for us to use under any circumstances, veganism is really your only option.
2. Health motivated vegans may consume more restrictive/less optimal diets
Ethically-motivated vegans might enjoy a more relaxed approach to food choices that makes a vegan diet easier and makes it easier to meet nutrient needs. (4,5). Health-motivated vegans may also be less likely to take appropriate supplements (5). One group of researchers said that “It is possible that health vegans, in pursuit of better health from food sources may have eschewed supplement intake, believing that plant foods were a better source of essential nutrients.” If that’s true, it places health-motivated vegans at higher risk for nutrient deficiencies.
3. Ethics is a part of who we are
In a study titled “Moralization and Becoming a Vegetarian,” researchers
noted that “Moral values are often referred to as internalized, that is, as
a part of the self (6).”
That’s important because many ex-vegetarians say that they didn’t feel like
their diet was a part of their “identity.” Maybe if they made the moral
connection—the connection to their “internalized values” –more people would
see that veganism is much more a part of their identity than they realize.
One theory is that those who go vegan for health will eventually embrace the
ethical considerations, hopefully moving on to adopting other lifestyle
changes that reflect a vegan ethic. Maybe. But—possibly because ethical
reasons for vegetarianism become so deeply internalized—it seems that
ethical vegetarians are the ones more likely to find new reasons to stay
vegetarian (6).
Vegan Advocacy: Put Ethics First
The problem of ex-vegans and ex-vegetarians is a serious one. When people
say “I used to be vegan, but…” it perpetuates the idea that vegan diets are
difficult or unhealthy. Also, it’s possible that ex-vegetarians consume more
chickens than people who were never vegetarian—which isn’t surprising if
ex-vegetarians were motivated by health (7). This is something that can
clearly cause more animal suffering.
I promote vegan diets for ethical reasons only because I have no choice.
It’s not possible to make the case that all animal foods are dangerous
without resorting to cherry-picked data. And I can’t do that and then
promote myself as “evidence-based.” Fortunately, it appears that ethics is a
more powerful long-term motivator for vegan and vegetarian diets, anyway.
With limited resources, it seems better to focus on efforts that are more
likely to create vegans who actually stay vegan. And so however you approach
your own activism, consider including the ethics of animal use as at least
part of your message.
References
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