Learning how to talk about veganism is an important part of becoming vegan and something that you’ll feel more comfortable about as time goes on. Even if you’re the shy and retiring type, you will probably find yourself having to articulate why you don’t eat animal products at some stage.

Speaking up about your choices in a clear, concise and no-nonsense way is an important skill to have and one that will give you confidence and ensure your choice is respected by others. 

The great cultural disconnect

With our food being so far removed from its origins these days, many people have a hard time connecting the polystyrene clad meat on the supermarket shelves with actual physical, breathing beings. Everything is very sanitised and separate for most people, which allows those who couldn’t ever bring themselves to kill an animal first hand to feel quite comfortable about paying others to do it for them. So deep is this disconnect that meat and living animals are often quite different things in our collective psyche. 

We are not encouraged to make these connections and think about the individual that our meat came from. Nor are we encouraged to wonder what happens to male chicks and calves for example.

In fact most people have thought so little about these issues that they are not even sure how milk is made or what a cow has to endure to make her an efficient milk producing machine. Instead our collective image of the farm is idealised with colourful advertisements of happy, smiling cows who would do anything to have us drink their milk and pigs who are begging to be chopped up, fried and eaten. 

Ignorance is bliss?

Being vegan can be hard in the sense that more often than not people don’t want to know about the processes by which their food ends up on their plates for fear of no longer being able to enjoy meat and dairy. But in reality ignorance is seldom bliss.

Even though people may joke about ‘not wanting to know’ it is important to be able to speak up about your reasons for going plant-based without having to censor yourself. You don’t need to be brutally gory and descriptive for the sake of it, but if animal ethics are what prompted your decision to go veg don’t be scared to say so and elaborate.

There is nothing wrong with knowing about the horrors of the meat and dairy industries and being human enough to be moved by such mass and inhumane suffering. So do those who you’re trying to help a favour and speak out. They don’t deserve to be ignored. 

Speaking out

When you’re in a situation where you need to talk about your reasons for being vegan - do so with confidence. Whether your veg for health reasons, the environment or for the animals, make sure to say so in as clear and concise manner as possible. You might be able to plant a few questions in someone’s mind or even learn something new yourself from the resulting discussion. Either way, we can all benefit from having discussions about veganism so don’t be afraid to bring the subject up!

More about speaking out:

• Speaking Your Truth podcast and transcript from Compassionate Cooks