It’s My Veganniversary: Reflections from my Infant Year.
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I intended to write a brief post on January 6th to acknowledge and commemorate my one-year vegan anniversary but I got a bit sidetracked with the white supremacist insurrection of the capitol. In any case, better late than never.
One year ago I decided to do a Daniel Fast as a sort of cleanse to start off the new year (and in hindsight, God knows/knew that 2020 needed all of the damn cleansing). The Daniel Fast is a diet restricted to only fruit and vegetable products ( I personally allow fruit and veggie derivatives as long as the other ingredients are all-natural). The fast is named for the prophet Daniel who said:
“In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.” Daniel 10:12–13
Typically the fast is accompanied by prayer for renewed strength and spiritual clarity and goes for 21 days. I really had no intention to keep the fast going beyond that time period, but as it came and went, I decided that I would introduce additional elements after the 21 days. I kept it plant-based. Fast-forward 365 days and here we are.
Overall, it has been a wonderful decision, one that I intend to continue but I wanted to share a few brief reflections from my one-year journey in the event others might be interested in doing the same. So here are my 5 top reflections from year one.
1. Baby Steps
Doing a Daniel fast and going vegan are both incredibly difficult. I would argue that this is especially true for Black folks, people of color, and working-class /generationally poor folks for a number of reasons I won’t get into at the moment. However, I didn’t go from never having tried plant-based periods to fully vegan. In fact, for years (off and on) I practiced Meatless Mondays, periods of Lacto-Ovo vegetarian life, and in general, used to identify as a “flexitarian”. All of these prepared me to make the big jump to a plant-based diet and it made it easier to sustain. So if going full-throttle seems impossible start small and work your way toward it.
2. Vegan ≠ White
Going vegan you will find a plethora of resources available, shopping tips, recipes, and overall guides on how to do it. However many of them are largely white-centric and to follow them may leave you dissatisfied and discouraged from continuing. However, the good news is there are so many Black and POC vegans who are sharing great info also, find them! As a Black American soul food has long been part of my diet so occasionally I knew I would want that, and through some research, trial, and error I have perfected (vegan) collard greens, mac and cheese, cornbread, black-eyed peas, and so many other staples! I am even learning how to make a vegan roast for those special holiday meals. The biggest change to my kitchen cabinets since going vegan has been how much I have invested in seasonings. My food is better seasoned now than it has ever been! (It kind of has to be for it to be so delicious that you want to keep going.) Tabitha Brown is BY FAR my favorite vegan content creator but there are many others, too!
3. In Defense of Fat Vegans
I have been going equity and justice work long enough to know that there is no such thing as a perfect community, though still, I expected a bit more from what can be the (at times) righteous indignation of the vegan community. People come to veganism for all sorts of reasons but a large majority are mostly focused on respecting all life and being cruelty-free. I am so onboard with this though I’d be lying if I said that was my main motivation to start. Now that I have been doing it for a year, I certainly love that I haven't had to consume another living thing but I also don’t judge others who still eat meat. We are all on our own journey and path. However, the vegan community is quite fatphobic and it has been a bit concerning. Vegan ≠ healthy (or skinny). And that is a message for vegans and non-vegans alike. I can’t tell you how many times I have shared that I eat a plant-based diet and the first question is “How much weight did you lose/have you lost?” It doesn't bother me but it is definitely interesting. I also got into a fiery email exchange with some staff at the UK based plantbasednews organization because they published a fatphobic op-ed that was really disconcerting. Part of my pushback (because yes it’s me of course I pushed back) read:
You can be healthy at many sizes, the piece does not name that and only tangentially raises issues of beauty and desire. I get it, we want folks plant-based. An unnamed assumption is that to go plant-based means you might lose weight and become more “healthy”. What about all of the fat vegans, the unhealthy vegans, those who want to commit to cruelty free and that’s it? I think we should think about those folks, also. All vegans aren’t white, or thin, or healthy, or trying to be. That matters, too.
So if you decide to go vegan weight loss can absolutely be part of your motivation, it’s your life. But that’s rooted in fatphobia and pursuing a plant-based diet does not have to be in the service of weight-loss. But you can’t claim to be cruelty-free and ascribe to a cruel logic such as fatphobia. I write and exist in defense of fat vegans. The ones who are glad we can be cruelty-free and still gon inhale some Oreos, vegan doughnuts, or fried cauliflower. Ase.
4. Vegans Better Have My Money
Every time it is time to go shopping I hear Rihanna’s cash anthem. I am here to tell you that a plant-based diet can be very expensive but not for the reasons (or products) you may think. Yes, greens, beans, potatoes, tomatoes are all relatively affordable. But you know what gets costly? Things like seasonings (oh my GOD), random additives such as liquid aminos, or plant-based versions of items you need to build interesting meals like cashew yogurt. So while I get the rhetoric that vegan folk want to defend the myth that it’s expensive, it’s not altogether untrue depending on what you like to eat. Yes if you’re eating boiled vegetables around the clock then it will be very inexpensive. However, if you want an occasional vegan alfredo or something more decadent and lavish it will cost you and for some (especially working-class folks and/or folks with large families) may be cost-prohibitive. So perhaps baby steps (see number 1) will be where you stay for a while and that is ok! There are definitely ways to save and there are some awesome guides out there to help but we gotta first admit that for some items and meals, it can get costly.
5. Have Grace For Yourself
I have a confession, if I had to estimate how much time I have strictly been vegan it would probably look closer to 4–6 months. What do I mean? Well, being a new vegan occasionally means learning about animal products in seemingly non-animal food items. Foods that contain honey for example, or fruit snacks that have gelatin, the fact that McDonald’s fries include a beef flavoring that is technically not vegan, and that veggie burgers/some impossible meat contain eggs. It will not be a perfect journey, you are not a bad person or badvegan for not knowing or making a mistake. Each time this happened to me, I discarded the item dusted myself off, and kept marching forward. As Maya Angelou says, when you know better, you do better.
Overall I am happy with my decision and most of all that I came to it on my own. I was not bullied or badgered and I have never been nor will I ever be the insufferable type of vegan that tries to browbeat everyone to plant-based diets. Do it on your own terms and in your own time. Or don’t I will love you anyway and still invite you over for an occasional vegan dinner. Here’s to year-two and many more.
