Perhaps the assumption that, for vegans, there is something “wrong” with eating meat leads to an unnecessary polarity?

Personally, I find nothing wrong with choosing to eat animals, but rather the choice to do so does not align with my commitment to live a healthy & happy life while causing the least suffering possible. Enjoying a nutrient-rich, fiber-dense plant-based diet is the practice that produces the results in which I am interested.

I find it humbling to realize that I can not draw a breath without disrupting the life of some being and that despite having enjoyed a vegan lifestyle for many years, it is impossible for me to claim that I do not negatively impact others. That humility leaves no space for considering the choice to eat animals as wrong.

As an alternative to the perspective of right/wrong, there may be value in examining the choice to enjoy a vegan diet from the paradigm of “does it align with my commitments”.

• Is my commitment to be as healthy as I possibly can be?
• Is my commitment to be as kind as I possibly can be?
• Is my commitment to cause as little suffering as I possibly can?
• Is my commitment to limit, to the greatest degree possible, my participation in those activities and processes that exploit my fellow beings?

Regardless of the nature of the commitment, ask the simple question of “is how I am choosing to eat align well with and optimize my ability to live, my commitment?”