I Lost Friends When I Became a Vegan — Now I’m a Lot Happier

It wasn’t just my diet that changed when I became a vegan

The journey as a vegan was solitary at first. Photo: Jira via Rawpixel

The first sign that there was something wrong between me and George* was when we went grocery shopping.

Ever since becoming vegan a year and a half ago, supermarkets had taken on a whole new dimension: I could wipe out whole aisles entirely, while other pockets of the store that some might only glaze their eyes over had instantly become a lifeline.

But this spring afternoon when the Jacaranda trees were in bloom, purpling an overcast day, all I saw was the tray of prosciutto that George shoved in my face.

It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten any type of meat, and I was certainly never fond of prosciutto. But what made it all the more revolting was that someone I thought was my friend — a close and true friend — would do something so crass and offensive.

For a million reasons, I stayed silent when perhaps I should have screamed. I suppose my mind was spinning too much. From that afternoon, I started to realize: We had been intensely close, reimagining the world to how we wanted it to be, yet George never really knew me.

This was confirmed when, another night, he insisted we go to a Hungarian café for dessert. “It’s only cheesecake,” he pointed out. “You can eat that.”

I could have written a whole book about George. Knowing him tipped my world off-centre: His friendship saved me at a time when I was very alone, and then he left me writhing in agony.

As an atheist, I never laughed or criticized him for his unwavering belief in God. When he went to church to pray after having a nervous breakdown, I was glad he had found the help he needed.

But when I made my veganism explicit (or, rather, even more explicit than it already was) he replied that I would get fat from that sort of diet. “And it’s impossible to lose the weight,” he warned. “Even if you eat dairy again.”

Sure, it’s easy to write George off as an exception, a nutcase, but in truth he isn’t alone. Another friend of many years, who prided themselves on being very liberal and progressive, constantly pointing out their anger at any form of…