If becoming a vegan ever sounded to you like a joy-less task — like you’d have to give up too much, that you’d miss meat too much, that you’d have to transform into an entirely different person — Matt Halteman has some advice. 

As he writes in his book, Hungry Beautiful Animals: The Joyful Case for Going Vegan:

"The destination of this journey is an inviting, empowering, and inclusive understanding of everyday vegan living that abandons the demoralizing goal of arriving once and for all at a perfected individual identity in favor of inspired but practical striving toward a global aspiration—to do what one enthusiastically can, within one's limits and always imperfectly—to live toward a truer, more beautiful, better vegan world. Instead of framing our individual efforts to go vegan unrealistically, in terms of the achievement of a one size fits all state of being, a so called cruelty free identity, we'll envision going vegan as a liberating journey of becoming that unfolds uniquely for every person based on what their individual and communal situations inspire and enable them to contribute."

What You’re Eating is produced by Nathan Dalton and FoodPrint.org, which is a project of the GRACE Communications Foundation. You can find us at www.FoodPrint.org where we have this podcast as well as articles, reports, a Food Label Guide and more.

Follow @foodprintorg on Instagram, Facebook, Threads and Bluesky

Stay Informed. Get the latest food news, from FoodPrint.

And if you’re enjoying the podcast, consider leaving us a positive review.