Encouraging Your Partner To
Go Vegan
by Katy Malkin
Living in a mixeddiet household can be tricky to navigate. Indeed, we have what I like to call a ‘tridiet’ in our household – with an omnivorous husband, vegetarian daughter, and a vegan (myself). I’m now an expert at cooking multiple dishes at once and writing strategic shopping lists. We make it work, but it’s not ideal. I dislike the smell of meat in the house, meals take longer to make and our 3yearold asks a lot of awkward questions about why Daddy eats fish. Something that has made things a lot easier recently is my husband taking part in Veganuary. Not having any meat in the house for the last three weeks has been a blessing. What was it like? He said, “I thought going vegan for a month would be really difficult. There have been times when I’ve had to be more conscious of my decisions, such as buying beer or picking meals when eating out. But I’ve also been lucky that I don’t have to do the majority of the cooking and have great meals provided. What I’ve found is
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that I haven’t missed eating meat. The ‘conscious’ decisions have started to become more natural as the month has progressed. I’ve had to deal with some peer pressure and ‘the questions’ around veganism, but I feel better in my body and healthier. I’m not sure yet if I would convert to veganism, but who knows!” So how can you encourage your partner to take a step in the right direction? Here are six top tips that worked for us!
Don’t be a nag Does nagging really work for anybody in the long term? You might get your significant other to give the vegan lifestyle a try, but they will be doing it halfheartedly and for the wrong reasons, and more than likely give up. Launching into a speech about animal cruelty whilst they are biting into a chicken burger only inspires guilt and conflict, not change. Instead, try educating and informing. Ask if they’ll watch a vegan documentary with you (we’re
