I’ve been vegan for thirty years and vegetarian for much longer. In terms of my lifestyle, I’ve always assumed two things – that vegans avoid animal products as best as they can, and that it’s virtually impossible to be a vegan.

Avoiding animal products requires a lot of label reading and some understanding of where products like glycerine, lanolin, casein, shellac come from. It’s not too difficult to avoid non-vegan additives in food, but many people will be surprised to know that quite of lot of beer, wine, bread, chocolate, coffee syrups, fake meat, French fries, fruit juices and chewing gum aren’t vegan. The same can be said for money, tattoos, paintballs, Botox, some facial masks and toothpaste. In terms of modern medicine, vaccinations, medications in gelatine capsules, and many other medical treatments include animal products are tested on animals.

It’s not easy at all to live in this world and entirely avoid causing animals to suffer. Everyone makes choices that in some way harm animals. Even your carnivorous pet cat needs food! Every form of travel can kill living creatures. If you walk on grass, you’re going to crush some insects.

For me, veganism is about minimizing harm to other sentient creatures and avoiding animal products as much as possible. I became a vegan first and foremost because I didn’t want to eat meat. But there are different kinds of vegans.

Ethical vegans abstain from eating animal products and won’t use goods produced through animal exploitation, such as leather, wool, silk, feathers and cosmetics that have been tested on animals. They avoid supporting businesses that contribute to animal suffering, such as some forms of horse riding, elephant tours, or dolphin shows.

Environmental, eco-vegans or sustainable vegans try to minimise the negative impact of their lifestyle on the environment by avoiding foods that require a lot of resources to produce, such as meat and dairy, and by growing their own vegetables. They try to protect the planet through a low impact lifestyle, by cycling or walking instead of driving, not flying.

A dietary vegan tries not to eat animal products, including meat, dairy, and eggs. However, they don’t necessarily avoid using other animal-derived products, such as leather or wool. Often, motivation is health-related, and their diet is plant-based: vegetables, fruits, grains, and other plant foods while eliminating animal products. Lewis Hamilton, Novak Djokovic and Venus Williams belong to this group. Arnold Schwarzenegger is in this category too.

There are people who become vegan for religious reasons, such as followers of Jainism. Jains believe that all living beings have a soul and that we must respect all life. Some vegans eat only raw food, believing that this is the best way to get all the nutrients your body needs. They also believe that cooking food destroys nutrient value and makes food more difficult to digest.

I recall a time when many vegans were hard-line, judging those who ate meat harshly, becoming frustrated by fellow vegans who fall off the tofu train. Nowadays, I think veganism is, for most people, an extension of compassion and empathy. People who care for animals want to do their best, and every meat-free meal counts for something. There is now another group of people who eat vegan food sometimes but not always, for all the reasons above. I have friends who say ‘I couldn’t be vegan – I love chocolate/ milk/ bacon too much…’ but they do their best to eat meat-free meals as often as possible and avoid non-vegan items such as leather and animal fur. These people are called flexitarians, apparently.

A flexitarian follows a plant-based diet with the occasional meat item on the menu. They are practical, caring people who purposely reduce their reliance on animal exploitation as far as is reasonably practical, given their lifestyle. They are interested in the effects of veganism on health and the environment, and they are moving forward.

When I first became vegan, very few people knew what it fully entailed. There were few products in shops for vegans, no meals in restaurants. I can’t count the number of plates of lettuce and tomato I’ve been given. It’s much better now, but it’s not always great – there are still many cafés and restaurants with one poor vegan choice which is tasteless and not balanced, (often pasta in tomato sauce!) or none at all. There’s still the suggestion that we should be grateful for anything we get, even if it is poor quality. Veganism is still often considered a little bit extreme by some.

But ultimately, veganism is an ideal we can aspire to; it isn’t everyone’s static identity or way of living. I think we should aim to do the best we can to avoid being complicit in animal cruelty without shaming people who deviate from time to time.

True veganism is very hard to achieve; nobody is perfect in any dimension.

(Picture: home made cauliflower wings.)