The Three Pillars of Veganism
As a long-term vegan I have seen quite a few people try to follow a vegan lifestyle only to bounce back to eating meat a few weeks or months down the line. Why is it that they find it so hard to stick to this lifestyle when others seem to find it easy to follow?
They start off so well, trying out new recipes and making lots of social media posts about all of this new delightful vegan food. Why, then, can it sometimes all seem to unravel just as quickly as it began? To the point that before you know it those pics of veggie enchiladas are being replaced by images of roast chicken breast for Sunday lunch once more. Are they weak-willed? Stupid? No, of course not! And if you are reading this and have tried to make the change to veganism and failed in the past, then don’t despair. This post will help you figure out what went wrong.
As an educator with a degree in Psychology, I find the answer to this conundrum to be very simple. In order to make the huge change in your lifestyle that becoming vegan involves, it often isn’t enough to just want to be vegan. Our society is set up to support the core opposite of veganism, and in order to successfully step out of current societal norms people need to have a strong mental conviction around why they are doing so. This strength of mind is what is going to see them through the transition process until veganism becomes their new norm.
Without this mental attitude shift it is all too easy to slip back to the easy life of doing what everyone else seems to be doing and eating animal products, despite possibly having numerous pieces of information about how unhealthy or unethical that may be. To the long-term vegan such flip flopping behaviour can seem like weakness, especially if the person concerned has stated that they are aware of the treatment of animals farmed for food. However, it isn’t a weak will that means that people revert back to being omnivores, it is because the person trying to be vegan, and failing, hasn’t educated themselves fully about all of the supporting reasons for veganism. This is what I have termed Understanding the Three Pillars of Veganism.
Everyone I know who has taken time to learn about these Three Pillars of Veganism finds being vegan really easy, straightforward, and as simple as breathing in and out. They no longer yearn or miss specific foods, like the Friday cake table at work laden with doughnuts, that once were so appealing. They don’t mind doing a little research about places to eat good vegan food while on vacation or day tripping. They find it simple to negotiate family meals, birthdays, and special occasions. In other words, they are comfortable with their lifestyle and will ultimately remain vegan for the rest of their life.
People who try to become vegan without this education can find everything too difficult, too tough, they might put barriers up as to why being vegan in their particular situation is harder than it is for other people. So why make your life difficult? If you are reading this and you want to be vegan for the long term, but have tried and failed before, or if you know someone in this situation, then please listen up. It really is this simple:
The Three Pillars of Veganism are as follows:
The First Pillar is the Pillar for Your Health
A plant based whole foods vegan diet is scientifically proven to prevent and reverse heart disease and to reduce your risk of nearly all of the top Western killer diseases. It will also mean that you will live longer, and be healthier for longer – as opposed to the artificially lengthened and painful and restrictive old age full of illness we see in Western societies.
The Second Pillar is the Pillar for The Environment
Following a vegan diet is the most impactful and easiest thing that you can do in terms of reversing climate change and stopping the destruction of our natural environment. You can switch out all your lightbulbs for energy saving ones, you can drive an electric car, you can take shorter showers – all of these are great things, but they are just a drop in the ocean compared to what you can achieve by not eating animal products. Raising animals for food, eggs, and dairy creates more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire transportation sector combined.
The Third Pillar is the Pillar for The Animals
70 billion land animals are raised and slaughtered in horrific circumstances every single year. The pain and suffering that we inflict on these animals in the name of palate pleasure is unimaginable in its scale and in its inhumanity. Becoming vegan means that you no longer participate in this act of torture upon animals. You will also reduce demand for these products meaning that you will be directly responsible for fewer animals being raised in these conditions.
So that is it…You’re vegan for life now you know these things!? Well no, not quite. Crucially, you cannot be told the Three Pillars of Veganism by someone else lecture style. This categorically does not work. If it did, then the whole world would be pretty much vegan now, as vegans everywhere would simply be telling people all about it whether they wanted to hear it or not.
So how do the Three Pillars work? You as an individual have to actively participate with materials and evidence surrounding each of the Pillars. Not just the basic information presented here, but really taking a fascinating journey around each Pillar. It might sound like a lot of work. For starters, where do you find the information and, with so much fake news about, how do you know what sources to trust? That is where Vegan Online Academy comes in.
That is exactly why I set up Vegan Online Academy’s Vegan 101 course. As a successful long-term vegan with a Master’s in Education degree and a Psychology degree to boot, I have written and created a course that contains all of the information that you need to really understand everything you need to know about the Health, Environmental, and Ethical benefits of becoming vegan for life. With a variety of ways to learn, including reading, listening, and watching, you will soon make that mental switch necessary in order to become the happy, healthy, and caring person that you want to be.
Everyone who follows my Vegan 101 course and learns about the Three Pillars finds veganism to be a synch. Before you know it you too will have a lifetime’s passion of photographing your food in order to post delicious vegan food pics to Instagram!
Carrie Harrison is an educator, with an M.Ed and a BSc. Psych, who has worked with children and adults for almost 20 years. A vegetarian since her early teenage years, she discovered veganism in her 30s along with the many physical and emotional benefits of following a plant-based lifestyle. She now coaches others to transition to this positive way of living through her school, Vegan Online Academy. Details about the various courses that Carrie runs can be found at https://veganonlineacademy.com
