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When I first went vegan, I was naive enough to imagine that I was performing an act of heroism whenever I ate a veggie burger. By eating a patty made of beans instead of flesh, I believed I was rescuing animals, stopping climate change, and tackling a vast array of humanitarian issues. I, like many vegans, saw going vegan as a good deed.
Surprisingly, non-vegans often participate in this same fantasy. When a vegan outs themselves — as we are wont to do — nearby omnivores will often praise them for their willpower, or brag to them that they only eat meat a few times a week. Reducitarians feel virtuous for their participation in Meatless Monday, and even normal omnivores feel a bit of pride when they choose the vegan option. In picking the vegan item off the menu, an educated omnivore is likely to feel the same faint glow that might come with giving money to a homeless person or volunteering at a soup kitchen.
This self-flattery is, unfortunately, unjustified. In truth, veganism is not a good thing to do — it is merely not a bad thing to do. Though it’s tempting to conflate “good” and “not bad,” the differences between these concepts have profound consequences for our behavior and our attitudes.
Vegans are correct that consuming animal products is bad — most of us, if only in some rarely visited corner of…
