So, you have decided that you want to learn how to go vegan in 2022. That’s a good call, and one that will change your life and the lives of animals in a positive way. This life-enhancing decision will make you healthier. And you will contribute to world peace by doing no harm to animals or the environment. Welcome to the tribe!
Transitioning away from meat and dairy is a process. Thankfully, starter kits can simplify the process and help you learn how to go vegan with ease. A number of organizations and nonprofits have designed pledges, challenges, and starter kits to help people make the transition to a plant-based diet and lifestyle.
Follow a starter kit to learn how to go vegan
Each vegan starter kit offers something different, so find one that best suits your needs. All of them are easy-to-follow guides. If you choose one that doesn’t motivate or inspire you, then find another one. All it takes to begin forming your new vegan habit is the simple step of completing a vegan starter kit.
I particularly like the Plant-Based Treaty Starter Kit for beginners who are learning how to be vegan because it includes infographics and visuals from diverse sources that let you know at a glance what needs to be considered when transitioning to veganism.
It covers important bases like what foods to eat every day and which supplements to take. It also includes a helpful list of documentaries to watch and books to read. I also like that the starter kit connects new vegans to activism and activist movements. For me, it’s important to grow the vegan movement through activism.
The Plant-Based Treaty Starter Kit also helps new vegans avoid critical pitfalls by listing foods that are rich in protein, calcium, iron, and vitamins. This is really important stuff for people who are learning how to go vegan.
When I transitioned from meat and dairy – decades before vegetarianism and veganism became mainstream, and when starter kits didn’t exist — I ended up with a dangerous Vitamin B-12 deficiency that required medical intervention. Starter kits can help beginner vegans avoid having a similar experience.
This is the kind of valuable information beginner vegans will find in the Plant-Based Treaty Starter Kit.
Learn how to go vegan by taking pledges and challenges
January is a perfect time to learn how to go vegan because January is Veganuary month. As the portmanteau implies, Veganuary promotes going vegan for the full month of January.
The initiative supports people in moving to a plant-based diet as a way of protecting the environment, preventing animal suffering, and improving the health of millions of people.
If 31 days sounds overwhelming, don’t feel daunted by Veganuary’s emphasis on a month-long transition period. You can start with a one-week starter kit to learn how to go vegan. VegWeek has a 20-page starter kit.
Love Veg has a one-week meal plan for new vegans. Other starter kits focus on shorter spans of time, as well. For instance, there are 21-day and 22-day vegan challenges.
Vegan Outreach offers a free 10 Weeks to Vegan challenge for those people who want to go for the gusto and make a strong stand about their decision to go vegan. There are also ethnic vegan pledges, vegan boot camps, and other resources to help you learn how to go vegan.
Read my blog Beginner vegans learn how to go vegan by taking pledges and challenges to get links to the many resources that are available to help you transition to your new lifestyle.
Other resources to help you learn how to go vegan
While not a starter kit, the book Naturally DIETSTYLE is an important How-To primer for anyone wanting to learn how to go vegan with health and holistic nutrition leading the way.
The book, by Ruha Thevi and Enrico Falgiani, delivers more than 30 years of holistic nutrition research and practice.
They have written the book in simple, fun, and easy-to-understand language. I gave a copy of the book to my brother who is using it to learn about vitamin requirements. My friend Ciara uses the book as a guidepost for her daily power-building fitness routine. DIETSTYLE is keeping me on track in balancing the five pillars of daily health:
- holistic vegan nutrition
- sleep
- water
- exercise
- reduced stress
Beginner's video guide to veganiam
Another good starting point for vegan beginners is Sadia’s beautiful and well organized popular YouTube channel, Pick Up Limes. Her Beginner’s Guide to Veganism: How to go vegan covers the top 12 tips for people who are starting on their vegan journey.
Sadia also has a free Jumpstart Guide for beginner vegans, which includes grocery shopping lists and cooking conversion charts to help you launch into veganism.
Something worth mentioning to people who are learning how to go vegan is the terminology surrounding veganism. All vegans adhere to a plant-based diet, but, by some vegans’ standards, this does not mean that someone who follows a plant-based diet is necessarily a vegan.
Many vegans distinguish between a plant-based diet and a vegan lifestyle. As a beginner vegan entering the vegan world, you will hear and read about this distinction time and again.
Don’t be discouraged or put off by it. Understand as you begin your journey into veganism that the word vegan means different things to different people. Only you can decide what veganism means to you.
Veganism means different things to different people
Vegan Society app
The Vegan Society defines veganism as “a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals.”
According to the Vegan Society, those who only follow the diet aspect of veganism are known as ‘dietary vegans’ (or simply ‘plant-based’). When they choose a vegan diet for health reasons alone, they are known as ‘health vegans.’
Moreover, says the Vegan Society, those who encompass lifestyle alternatives (such as clothes, entertainment, household products, cosmetics, hobbies, etc.)—not primarily for their health, but for the animals, the environment or social justice—are known as ‘ethical vegans’.
There is only one reason to go vegan in the mind of many ethical vegans, and that is “for the animals.” Ethical vegans avoid exploiting animals for any purpose, with compassion being a key reason, if not the only reason, to choose a vegan lifestyle.
Many ethical vegans are also animal rights activists and are a part of the farm sanctuary and animal liberation movements.
Learning, reading, and talking about veganism are the ways to learn how to go vegan
Jordi Casamitjana is a case in point. Casamitjana is a zoologist, ethical vegan, undercover animal rights investigator, and whistleblower.
Casamitjana was fired by an animal welfare charity after blowing the whistle that it invested in companies involved in animal testing. He took legal action against the organization, which ended in an out-of-court settlement in his favor.
The landmark case confirmed that ethical veganism is protected under the Equality Act of 2010 in the United Kingdom as a philosophical belief.
His book Ethical Vegan explores the foundations of ethical veganism from a biological, philosophical, and historical perspective.
Casamitjana believes that “For vegans of any kind, learning about the foundations of veganism by reading books, talking to experienced vegans or discussing veganism with expert scholars, will reinforce your beliefs and not only help you to stay vegan for longer but will also make you feel proud to be part of such a crucial international movement.”
If this is the day you have decided to learn how to go vegan, then you have chosen a good day to do it. There is no time like the present to embrace change.
Go in search of your vegan starter kit now and enjoy your life-enhancing journey!
Quotes about being vegan inspire us to think about our lifestyle choices and what it really means at our deepest core to have compassion for animals. Quotes can open minds to new perspectives about our lifestyles and enlighten our world view. They can impart wisdom and remind us that life is bigger than the small private world we magnify in our minds.
Read next a collection of vegan quotes to provoke thought and encourage introspection.
