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Vegan vs Whole Food Plant Based

Some people talk about Beyond Burgers or Impossible Burger being terrible for you. It's junk food and oils. And there are vegan alternatives to animal-based products that a certain sub-sector of the whole food plant-based community really bag on.

The thing to remember here in terms of what is right or wrong is - what is your motivation to do this fundamentally? Have you come to veganism because you care about animal welfare, the environment, and the idea of reducing suffering and not eating sentient beings because you don't want to contribute to that type of suffering? 

If you can live in a world where you can avoid that and still be healthy at the same time, then maybe you'll have your Beyond Burgers from time to time. 

Maybe you went vegan for less about health and more about animal rights. Then those vegan burgers and vegan ice cream may be something that you might want to do. 

Now, we're not here advocating that you do that all the time. We'd rather you be an advocate for the animals and be healthy. We can be both. But we're not going to judge you for that. And nor should anyone else. 

On the other end of the spectrum, some people have come into this ecosystem for health reasons to start with. And maybe they don't know about animal rights yet or the environment. You can't judge them for that yet. You have to give them a chance to learn about these things. 

And maybe that’s not going to be something that vibes with them at all. That's just the path that they're walking. You can share knowledge to help them bridge that gap. But if they don't, it's just what it is. 

We put information out there as a way to bridge the gap for people. We're vegan for all these reasons. We're vegan for ethical, environmental, and health reasons. We're like, hey, if we can attach every motivation to why do this, why not? Why not learn about them all and find meaning within them. 

What is your motivation to do this? Because when someone says, Oh, I don't even know why that food is out there. It's not healthy. Well, it's not meant to be for you. It's meant to be for someone who maybe has an ethical motivation. Someone who wants to reduce their environmental impact. You've got to understand that. 

Also, it can serve as a bridging tool. Maybe they've come from a place where they've been eating steaks and bacon and burgers every day. And they need something that resembles that old food to get them over the hurdles. It becomes a transition tool for some people. 

Some people will leave it in the long term, but other people will be like, look, I just need these things to help me with this transitional process. It's a ladder of progress for some people. 

So can you see why things can be so confusing and contradictory? Because people fundamentally do not take into account context. Each experience is so nuanced. 

The beauty of this is that there's no right or wrong way to do this. That you walk the path and you walk your journey and you figure these things out based on what means something to you and how you feel. That's the beauty of this. 

Just start your process. Or continue your process. Recognize that through trial and error, you will figure things out. There is no right or wrong way to do things. 

It's all based on context and where you are at. 

So go out there today and learn through that trial and error.

 

If you want to learn more about this topic, check out Episode 41 of the VegUp Podcast here:

 

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