Nguyen-Michimoto 1

Caleb Nguyen-Michimoto

Mr. Lay

English 11

May 2023

Vegan Outreach Project Essay

Introduction

Have you heard of the infamous Vegan Teacher before? This is a project that will try to

reverse the stigmas that she has put vegans. Since I have been vegan for 6 years myself, this is an

important topic to me. For years there have been negative connotations to the word vegan, and I

would like to personally change that in any way I can. Although certain organizations have been

using vegan/vegetarian teaching programs, there are still many stigmas, bias, and discrimination

in America that makes veganism unpopular; therefore, to further popularize veganism we can

have staple vegan food, having vegan menus at all restaurants, and trying to make a change in

the world to bring some attention to us.

The Problem

The first and biggest reason why veganism is so unpopular in America are the stigmas.

Near the beginning of a journal called “‘If I Became a Vegan, My Family and Friends Would

Hate Me:’ Anticipating Vegan Stigma as a Barrier to Plant-Based Diets” written by Kelly

Markowski, Markowski explains that “As noted by Bresnahan et al. (2016), the views and

treatment described above corresponds to vegan stigma. Stigma involves the negative

perceptions and biased treatment of those with devalued statuses or characteristics (Goffman,
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1963; Link & Phelan, 2001)” (Markowski 3). The author argues that vegans are usually seen in

negative ways and are stigmatized for many reasons. Markowski explains that vegans are

stigmatized due to meat being a big part of American culture and plant-based diets being seen as

animal rights activists that are bigoted and hypocritical. In the negative reception and treatment

of vegan’s section of the journal, Markowski states that “Potts and Parry (2010) examined

discourse published in online articles, personal blogs, and chatroom comments, and they found

that vegans are viewed as oversensitive as well as physically and mentally weak” (Markowski,

2). There is evidence and explanations that there are a lot of stigmas on plant-based diets. For

example, the journal sourced some of their information from a study done in 2015. The study

included interviewing five focus groups individually that were made up of one vegan, two

vegetarian, and two omnivore groups that consisted of undergraduate university students at a

large Midwestern institution in each group. They found that the vegan group was the only one

that responded with positive descriptors when explaining how they viewed vegans and veganism.

Most of the descriptors from vegetarians and omnivores were negative. They found that the

omnivores thought that vegans were opinionated, aggressive, controlling, and obsessive. One

omnivore even shared that they went through an experience that proved that vegans are vocally

intolerant and controlling. Markowski explains that one of the factors toward these negative

views “stems from the finding that some plant-based groups not only personally disrupt but also

actively attempt to subvert social convention” (Markowski, 2). In America, these views seem

normal due to so many vegans being like this. There are many famous vegans that act like this

and say they represent all vegans, such as the famous Vegan Teacher. These types of vegans that

just want everyone to be like them shouldn’t be what people see as veganism, but due to the

stigmas that these vegans set, many people see veganism in a negative way. Another big reason
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for people who don’t become vegan is because of the cost of veganism itself. According to a

research paper called “You can’t buy your way out of veganism,” written by Bob Fischer,

“According to the US Department of Labor, the average American spends 12.6% of her income

on food” (Fischer 199). In the quote, it explains that because of the high prices apart of the vegan

food, most people can’t buy it and takes up 12.6% of their income. The paper also gives

arguments against this claim as well. “Someone might make sacrifices elsewhere—perhaps

taking public transportation the rest of the time, or heating to a much lower temperature during

the winter, or whatever. Likewise, not every non-wealthy person will have to eat mostly vegan”

(Fischer 203). Instead of spending additional money, you could make sacrifices to buy vegan

food, or you don’t have to eat mostly vegan. The point is that people don’t have to go all vegan

to make a change in animal cruelty and help those animals in bad environments. This also means

that all those that complain about not being able to pay for the food are making excuses so that

they don’t have to sacrifice anything, which makes sense due to a human’s habit of not wanting

change. The last point I have of why veganism is unpopular in America is bias. “Vegans are often

treated worse than others simply for being vegan. In some cases, their worse treatment is

intended, due to a bias against them (Cole and Morgan 2011a; MacInnis and Hodson 2015). This

bias has been referred to as vegaphobia (Cole and Morgan 2011b; Wright 2015, ch. 4). Examples

of vegaphobia include when people make jokes or nasty remarks about veganism, eat meat in

front of vegans just to offend or ridicule them, or harass them in other ways” (Horta 3). The bias

people have for vegans just because they are vegan, the quote explains, defines the term

vegaphobia. Vegans need to deal with others’ bias and discrimination just because they are

different, which is a natural thing for humans to do. However, most people have a greater bias

towards vegans due to social media and biased media we grew up with. “It seems relatively
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uncontroversial that treating someone worse than others out of a mere bias is wrong. This applies

equally both in cases of first- and second-order discrimination. Moreover, many people would

agree that we should not be biased towards anyone for unjustified reasons. If this is correct, then

vegaphobia must consequently be considered wrong, not only when it is expressed as a tangible

behavior or behavioral pattern biased against vegans, but also as a mere psychological attitude

against them” (Horta 10). This quote explains how wrong vegaphobia is and how unjustified it is

to express a tangible behavior or behavioral pattern biased against vegans. People mostly agree

that discriminating against people just because of how they are is wrong, but then discriminate

against certain groups even after knowing it is wrong. This is the same for veganism in where

they are discriminated against without getting a chance due to certain media biases that are

ingrained in people. “Consider another case in which vegans are forced to either use animal

products or suffer a significant burden on their wellbeing: some medicines are produced by only

one or a few companies and are only produced by using some animal product as an excipient,

even if a nonanimal product could be used for that purpose too. These companies are thus forcing

those vegans who need to take the medicine to use animal products which they would otherwise

avoid” (Horta 10). Vegans are unintentionally forced to do certain things that their ideology

might not align with, like in this quote. For most vegans, they may reject certain treatments due

to the non-vegan materials used in these treatments. However, for vegans like me, if it concerns

health, they don’t care if they cheat their diet/ideology.

Previous Efforts

To make veganism more known, certain companies have been setting up vegan programs

to teach to a younger age. For example, the Vegan Resource Group (VRG) posted a lesson that

teachers could use to teach at a younger age. As a part of this lesson they said, “Presentation on
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how eating vegetarian and vegan impacts animals. Discuss the mistreatment of animals to obtain

animal products. Show the class a video on animal rights or have a presenter from a local animal

rights organization come speak (if possible/practical)” (Blomquist). Although it is important to

teach the actual stigmatisms on veganism, it is also important to teach the impact that vegans and

vegetarians have on animals. The VRG also gave resources for easy vegan recipes that starting

out vegans can use. Something that is challenging for many people starting out their diets is that

they don’t know how to cook anything with the restrictions set for vegans or vegetarians. Along

with the vegan lessons, VRG gives these recipes to further improve the number of

vegans/vegetarians and make it easier for them to adapt. The VRG also gives classes based on

certain age ranges, “Tailor the lesson plan to the age of the kids… Assess content and

appropriateness level to ensure that the content is suitable for the class. If possible, have a narrow

age range of kids in your class for example: 7-9 year olds, 10-13 year olds or 14- 17 year olds”

(Blomquist). The lesson plan given can be changed to match the age range of the kids. This is

important to me because I was shown things from animal slaughterhouses and farms when I was

younger than I should’ve been to watch this. Censoring some stuff based on the age group helps

to not scar these children and make it so that they become vegan because they want to rather than

scaring them into it. Another organization that’s doing the same thing as VRG is the Vegan

Society. However, instead of a whole lesson plan they gave a step-by-step walkthrough, “You

may already have embarked upon the first step: going vegan. Through this action, you already

act as an example to others” (The Vegan Society). Going vegan yourself can bring others to

follow you. Going vegan can also show others how you’re doing as a vegan. For example, if

you’re doing well as a vegan and you’re healthier than ever, then it could encourage others to

follow your example. Another step that the Vegan Society shared was to “Encourage discussion
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with those around you. Do you live on a budget and can´t afford to donate, or just don’t have the

time to volunteer? Then you can start promoting veganism among your own family and friends,

proceeding to conversations with strangers as soon as you are confident enough” (The Vegan

Society). Having a talk with friends and family about veganism could spark something in them to

turn vegan as well. Although most people think that all vegans always want to talk about

becoming vegan, they aren’t completely wrong. Some vegans only want to spread what they

have become to others, however not all vegans are like that. Some people only talk about

veganism only when others start the conversation on that topic. However, you never know, just

talking to someone about veganism could entice them to become one as well.

What Can Be Done

Now after becoming a vegan, you should, but don’t have to, spread the popularity and

knowledge of what veganism is about. According to an article called “12 Ways to Practice Vegan

Activism and Make a Difference,” written by by Michael Ofei, something that can be done is to

“Start a vegan business Being a business nerd myself, I love the idea of using commerce to shift

the demand for ethical products in the world. A hesitation for people to become vegan is the lack

of vegan products. Of course, there has been exceptional progress in the last decade, but we still

have lots of work to do” (Ofei). Starting a vegan business is something that can be hard but can

help in spreading the awareness of veganism. My dad has started his own vegan plate lunch

business and was very popular. He hesitated for a while but became successful in a short time.

Another way according to Ofei is to “Interview inspiring vegans on a podcast show As a society,

we’re addicted to inspirational stories. We love hearing about how an underdog completely

turned their life around. There are countless examples of vegans who have incredible stories,

whether its transformations, business, athletics, medical, education, and more” (Ofei).
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Interviewing inspiring vegans on a podcast show can help spread people’s stories and their

aspiring projects. I did this for my own solutionary project when I interviewed Audri for my

Noblesse Oblige podcast. It was very interesting to hear about her story. Ofei also said a good

way to spread veganism is to “Write articles on a blog Starting a blog is yet another way to do

vegan activism in an approachable way. Writing content about cruelty-free fashion, food, beauty

or travel are all examples of how you can show easy alternatives to animal products” (Ofei).

Writing articles on a blog can be good way to spread the vegan lifestyle with people who don’t

know what it’s like. A requirement for my solutionary project was to write a blog on my project

and I think that this can help others that want to start a project that spread awareness for

veganism like my project. I believe that something as small as creating a list of local vegan

restaurants on Oahu would go a long way to help new vegans out in a foreign area that they don’t

fully understand. According to an article called “A Summary Of Faunalytics’ Study Of Current

And Former Vegetarians And Vegans,” by Faunalytics, “84% of vegetarians/vegans abandon

their diet. About a third (34%) of lapsed vegetarians/vegans maintained the diet for three months

or less. Slightly more than half (53%) adhered to the diet for less than one year” (Faunalytics).

As found in the data 84% of vegetarians/vegans abandon their diet and I think that my app could

help some of those that quit early due to difficulty of finding places they can eat. To help new

vegans to figure out their situation faster would be stopping the 34% that quit after three months

or less and 53% that only one year or less last.

Conclusion

In conclusion, although certain organizations have been using vegan/vegetarian teaching

programs, there are still many stigmas, bias, and discrimination in America that makes veganism
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unpopular; therefore, to further popularize veganism we can have staple vegan food, having

vegan menus at all restaurants, and trying to make a change in the world to bring some attention

to us. People are currently creating lessons on veganism and vegetarianism and are sharing vegan

recipes for the starting out vegans, but as research has shown, there are still 84% of vegans that

quit shortly after they become vegan. To combat this, people propose different solutions online

and currently share their insights on veganism, including me. My belief is that anyone can make

a difference no matter how little.

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Works Cited

“A Summary of Faunalytics’ Study of Current and Former Vegetarians and Vegans.”

Faunalytics, 22 Feb. 2023, [Link]/a-summary-of-faunalytics-study-of-current-and-
former-vegetarians-and-vegans/#:~:text=84%25%20of%20vegetarians%2Fvegans
%20abandon,for%20less%20than%20one%20year.

Blomquist, Whitney. “Teaching Youth about Veganism -- The Vegetarian Resource Group.”
Return to [Link], 2023, [Link]

Fischer, Bob (2016) "You Can’t Buy Your Way Out of Veganism," Between the Species: Vol. 19:
Iss. 1, Article 8. Available at: [Link]

“Five Ways to Maximise Your Outreach to Non-Vegans.” The Vegan Society, The Vegan
Society, 7 May 1970, [Link]
outreach-non-vegans.

Horta, Oscar. “Discrimination against Vegans.” Res Publica, vol. 24, no. 3, 1 June 2017, pp.
359–373., [Link]

Markowski, Kelly L., and Susan Roxburgh. “‘If I Became a Vegan, My Family and Friends
Would Hate Me:’ Anticipating Vegan Stigma as a Barrier to Plant-Based Diets.” Appetite,
vol. 135, 2019, pp. 1–9., [Link]

Ofei, Michael. “12 Ways to Practice Vegan Activism and Make a Difference.” The Minimalist
Vegan, 30 Jan. 2023, [Link]
%20articles%20on%20a%20blog,easy%20alternatives%20to%20animal%20products.