Vegan Practically

I’ve been flailing around quite a bit with respect to the blog this year. A number of things have contributed to the wildly inconsistent post schedule (if you can even call it a schedule these days). Sometimes when I’m faltering with something I care about I find it helpful to remind myself why I care about it in the first place. And so today I want to reconnect with the blog’s purpose, with the intention of (1) motivating myself to pick the regular schedule up again and (2) reminding anyone (else) who may have forgotten or anyone who never knew what I’m trying to do here.

My “About” page says that “Here you will find philosophical, practical, and strategic reflections on veganism as an ethical practice.” It also frames my project as “an invitation” offered “to all who are curious, considering, or already committed to a vegan lifestyle for ethical reasons.” I have also downplayed the need to be perfect in vegan practice (and not only because it’s impossible).

The project is also strategic, in the sense that I’m consciously engaged in a balancing act. On the one had, it’s ethically motivated and I can’t and don’t shy away from the realities of animal suffering and planetary destruction wrought by factory farming. People need the facts. On the other hand, the ethical urgency (because it is urgent) also means I (and we vegans more generally), don’t accomplish much if I/we alienate people by making them defensive (this happens: see my discussion of “meat-eaters’ fragility”). In the particular case of this blog, my invitation isn’t particularly inviting if I make my guests feel accused and defensive.

My solution, if you can call it that, has been to divide my posts into two sorts. The initial promise was that on Tuesdays I would post content that engages with the reasons in favour of being vegan or, sometimes, applauds various efforts and initiatives, or explores vegan-related themes that might be trending in media and social media. On Tuesdays, in other words, someone reading the blog might be challenged to reflect a bit on their own practices and attitudes around the use of animals and animal products.

Fridays were meant to be a whole different thing. I call them “Fun Fridays” because they’re all about food and recipes and products and events. Friday posts suggest ways of taking up veganism as a practice (or dipping your toe into it from time to time). I like this approach to Fridays because sometimes the main obstacle people who are already ethically motivated experience is not knowing where to start or what to do.

So many of us have been immersed from childhood in the ideology of human supremacy and our entitlement to eat and in other ways use non-human animals for our own benefit. That makes it tough to chart an alternative course. Maybe we don’t know what vegan options are available in good quality shoes. And maybe we have no idea that Oreos are vegan. Or that vegan cheese has come a long, long way (indeed, it’s come even further since I first wrote about it). If you’re among the curious but uncertain, look no further than Fridays.

I managed to maintain this twice-a-week routine for about 18 months, more or less. And I liked it even though anyone who has blogged will know it’s a fairly demanding schedule. In my case, it is extra-demanding because I am committed to using only my own photography on the blog so I need to make sure each post has an accompanying image that makes at least a bit of sense, even if in the most abstract of ways (I don’t take or post photos of animal suffering).

The blog has also provided me an opportunity to get feedback and suggestions from others. It’s not a one-way street and I have learned a lot from others along the way.

I am pledging now to return to the blog’s roots and purpose with reflective posts of various kinds on Tuesdays (or Wednesdays!) and fun posts on Fridays. I hope to rekindle people’s interest and perhaps gain some new readers too. Thank you to all who continue to support veganpractically.com by reading it, commenting, and sharing my posts.