others without judging or criticising
them,” she says. “[I help to] lay out the
facts that veganism is overwhelmingly
preferable in terms of one’s health,
consciousness, the environment and
wellbeing. People make all sorts of
excuses why they can’t become vegan,
this has more to do with tradition,
habits, resistance to change of tastebuds,
the latter of which is the easiest to
overcome. I do have many vegan clients
who are criticised, ridiculed and resisted
when they only want to open people’s
eyes to the enormous benefits of the
vegan lifestyle.”
Embracing the lifestyle
The militant vegan crusader is not as
common as the stereotype would have
you believe. Sure, they’re out there – it’s
a pretty convincing cause after all – but
it’s only one type of vegan.“As with any sub-culture, there
are subsubcultures,” explains Zoe
Eisenberg, co-author of The Lusty
Ve g a n ($21.95, amazon.com). “There
are ethical vegans, environmental
vegans, veganish vegans (this is Oprah’sdoing), pop vegans (read: millennials)
and health-obsessed vegans, possibly
also raw, gluten-free, grain-free and
soy-free vegans.”
Then there are paleo vegans, green
vegans, and seagans (who are not vegans
at all). You get the picture.
An increasing number of people –
like 18-month vegan Dean Maher – are
attracted to the inner-city vegan lifestyle.
Yes, it’s definitely a thing, and it’s catching.
“Since I turned vegan, four of my
friends have followed suit,” says Maher.
“My local Coles has doubled its shelf
space for the tofu/mock meat section.
Menus in restaurants now have vegan
options where they only had vegetarian
options before. It seems that thanks to
the internet, all of the myths surrounding“The main difficulty in
being a vegan is other
people’s reactions,
especially when they
go on the defensive
and insult you.”naturalhealthmag.com.au AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HEALTH | 51