From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2000--

Level of Abstinence

There are two ways to present veganism. One is by implying that a
vegan must seek out and avoid all traces of animal products.
The second way is to present veganism by saying that vegans do not
have to put pressure on themselves to avoid all byproducts.
Our conversations used to go somewhat like this:

Potential Vegan (PV): Oh, so you're a vegan. I know someone else who is
vegan. You know, I really think it's terrible how they treat the animals,
but I could never do it.

Vegan: Really, why is that?

PV: Because you have to avoid everything. Animal products are in
everything, aren't they?

Vegan: They are in a lot of things. But you figure out what you can and
can't eat and then it becomes easier.

PV: It just takes too much discipline for me.

Vegan: I could give you a list of the names of all the different animal
ingredients. There's less than 1,000 of them! And I can give you a list of
500 companies and whether they test on animals ...Hey, where are you going?

Now our conversations are more like this:

PV: Oh, so you're a vegan. I know someone else who is vegan. I really
think it's terrible how they treat the animals, but I could never do it.

Vegan: Really, why is that?

PV: Because you have to avoid everything. Animal products are in
everything, aren't they?

Vegan: You don't have to avoid everything, just obvious animal products.
Some vegans avoid all they can, but to withdraw from the major support of
animal suffering and consider yourself vegan, you don't have to worry about
miniscule amounts of animal products. They'll fade away as the meat, dairy,
and egg industries fade.

Sometimes a potential vegan will say, "I could never give up ice
cream (or cheese, etc.)."

Some vegans are now replying, "Then give up everything but ice
cream." This will often surprise potential vegans and make them realize
that veganism is about doing what you can to stop causing suffering, not
about making yourself pure.

--Excerpted from
Tips for Spreading Veganism,
Vegan Outreach
211 Indian Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15238
412-968-0268
<vegan@veganoutreach.org> <www.veganoutreach.org>