It's great to have another public figure vegan!
Many people have seemed to come to terms with vegetarianism in the last twenty years or so, although I am always surprised at the number of "vegetarians" who eat chicken/fish.

But vegan remains something that seems too radical, too extreme for many people.
Being vegan is not totally easy - I haven't achieved it yet.

Although I am vegan at home, I still eat dairy and eggs in restaurants or at other's homes, if there is no alternative.

Most restaurants have a minimal amount of vegetarian options, but it is more rare to find true vegan alternatives.

But when many of us saw vegetarianism as the solution to animal suffering, we were wrong.
It is perhaps the first step, and to be applauded as such.

The next logical step is veganism, or as close as one can get to it.

I am surprised when I try to discuss veganism on Internet forums, and find myself accused of hypocrisy, and also of trying to deny other people their right to eat whatever they want.
A segment of people not only insist on their right to eat whatever they want (which is their right), but also to insist that their dietary habits do not cause suffering to animals and degradation to the planet.

Like bird rescue organizations that offer chicken at fund-raisers, and all sorts of other "rescue groups" who offer meat, with a "vegetarian option" as though the animals they are "rescuing" are infinitely more important than the deceased ones on the platter.
My true hope is that in the future, we all eat less and less of any animal product, or by-product.

Lyn MacDonald
Vancouver Island, BC