Accidentally eating non vegan food from a vegan's perspective
I'm sure we've all done it before. I'm not talking about using animal ingredients to give into cravings on purpose. That's where Gardein and Daiya come in if you're craving animal products when you first transition to a plant based diet. I'm talking about when you act in good faith to make sure your food is vegan but an animal ingredient slips through the cracks and you don't realize it until after you ingest it.
I've done that a couple times and I can't say that I'm necessarily proud of it but I don't beat myself up about it either. Here's why:
According to the Vegan Society, veganism is "a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose."
The key phrase here is "as far as is possible and practicable". It is very possible to not eat meat, dairy, etc and I make that choice on a daily basis. When people go out to eat, they are in a way relinquishing some of the control they have at home over what's in their food but if you communicate with the restaurant about your needs, they will most likely have no problem accommodating you. It doesn't happen often but on the rare occasion that I feel a restaurant just isn't working with me, I don't eat there!
You will also have those times when you have been regularly going to the same restaurant without a problem and have a fluke occurrence. That happened to me today.
My family and I like to get dinner from Moe's every Monday. It's the same concept as Chipotle, where you get to make your own bowl or burrito with your choice of meat (or meat substitute) and any number of veggies and maybe some cheese. It's very easy for me to eat at either location as a gluten free vegan and my whole family likes it too. This time, we ordered via the mobile app and sometimes, the app adds something to (or takes away something from) our order and we don't get exactly what we ordered because it goes through the system incorrectly. That happened today. My otherwise vegan meal had cheese on it that I did not order and I didn't notice it until I got to my table (they put the veggies on top of the cheese so it wasn't obvious until I took a bite). I went back up to where they take in-person orders and explained that my order had cheese on it and that I am dairy free, and asked that they please remake it for me. They said they would but also told me that it says on the receipt that we did order cheese on mine. My copy of the receipt showed that we did not. They did still remake it for me though.
Even though I did unintentionally take a bite of the cheese, I was not giving into a cheese craving. Accidents happen. Since going vegan, I have learned about the terrible things that happen in the animal agriculture industry and that makes me really not want to support it. Though well meaning, it is not possible and practicable to never have an accident happen. I'm only human. All of us are, vegan or not! I don't feel like I did something wrong just because I accidentally took a bite of the cheese. I instead see it as the fluke occurrence that it is. I did the best I could and the cheese slipped through the cracks but I stopped eating it and addressed the issue as soon as I noticed one.
To any of you vegans who may have done the same thing: You are NOT a failure for accidentally eating animal products. You did NOT make animals suffer. You did absolutely nothing wrong. Accidents happen to everyone because you are only human but your effort is commendable. Most importantly, you are not alone. Ask any other vegan and they will probably have a story that will sound very familiar. There is nothing to feel guilty or embarrassed about.
I hope that some of you are able to relate to the story I shared here and if you have any such stories, please feel free to share them in the comments.
I've done that a couple times and I can't say that I'm necessarily proud of it but I don't beat myself up about it either. Here's why:
According to the Vegan Society, veganism is "a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose."
The key phrase here is "as far as is possible and practicable". It is very possible to not eat meat, dairy, etc and I make that choice on a daily basis. When people go out to eat, they are in a way relinquishing some of the control they have at home over what's in their food but if you communicate with the restaurant about your needs, they will most likely have no problem accommodating you. It doesn't happen often but on the rare occasion that I feel a restaurant just isn't working with me, I don't eat there!
You will also have those times when you have been regularly going to the same restaurant without a problem and have a fluke occurrence. That happened to me today.
My family and I like to get dinner from Moe's every Monday. It's the same concept as Chipotle, where you get to make your own bowl or burrito with your choice of meat (or meat substitute) and any number of veggies and maybe some cheese. It's very easy for me to eat at either location as a gluten free vegan and my whole family likes it too. This time, we ordered via the mobile app and sometimes, the app adds something to (or takes away something from) our order and we don't get exactly what we ordered because it goes through the system incorrectly. That happened today. My otherwise vegan meal had cheese on it that I did not order and I didn't notice it until I got to my table (they put the veggies on top of the cheese so it wasn't obvious until I took a bite). I went back up to where they take in-person orders and explained that my order had cheese on it and that I am dairy free, and asked that they please remake it for me. They said they would but also told me that it says on the receipt that we did order cheese on mine. My copy of the receipt showed that we did not. They did still remake it for me though.
Even though I did unintentionally take a bite of the cheese, I was not giving into a cheese craving. Accidents happen. Since going vegan, I have learned about the terrible things that happen in the animal agriculture industry and that makes me really not want to support it. Though well meaning, it is not possible and practicable to never have an accident happen. I'm only human. All of us are, vegan or not! I don't feel like I did something wrong just because I accidentally took a bite of the cheese. I instead see it as the fluke occurrence that it is. I did the best I could and the cheese slipped through the cracks but I stopped eating it and addressed the issue as soon as I noticed one.
To any of you vegans who may have done the same thing: You are NOT a failure for accidentally eating animal products. You did NOT make animals suffer. You did absolutely nothing wrong. Accidents happen to everyone because you are only human but your effort is commendable. Most importantly, you are not alone. Ask any other vegan and they will probably have a story that will sound very familiar. There is nothing to feel guilty or embarrassed about.
I hope that some of you are able to relate to the story I shared here and if you have any such stories, please feel free to share them in the comments.