Keep The Cheese: Why Harm Reduction Matters More Than Perfection
“I would go vegan, but I could never give up…”
Variations on this sentence are a familiar refrain for any vegan; in fact it is often offered up completely unprompted as soon as someone finds out we are vegan. The assumption is that your only options are to either eat 100% plant-based or continue consuming animal products at your current rate. The third option, which is adopting a mostly plant-based diet while excluding that one item you feel you can’t live without, rarely seems to occur to anyone.
If this phrase has ever crossed your lips, you are certainly not alone. Most people have that one food they feel they could never live without, and quite often, it’s an animal product. There are good reasons for that. Animal products are ubiquitous; they tend to be highly palatable and high in fat, salt, and protein – all the things our bodies crave.
But if you think this wasn’t also true for every vegan you’ve ever met, you’d be mistaken. I remember thinking this exact same thing about cheese and eggs (I used to eat an egg english muffin for breakfast every day!) and I was convinced I couldn’t live without them. I went from thinking I couldn’t live without them to wondering how I managed to incorporate cheese into so many meals where it didn’t belong. I was surprised how quickly I stopped even seeing animal products as food, nevermind as something I needed to be happy.
That said, if you feel you would struggle to give up a specific food, either just because you love it or because you already have a very restrictive diet, my advice is to avoid restriction altogether at the start. Instead, focus on crowding out animal products by adding new things in:
Add, Don’t Subtract: You can start by just adding vegan recipes to your weekly rotation. Don’t worry about cutting anything out until you have found 3–5 solid, plant-based meals that you actually enjoy and feel confident cooking.
One Thing at a Time: Once you’re comfortable, try eliminating one specific product at a time (e.g., cow’s milk) and finding a replacement you like. Move on to the next only when the first change feels comfortable and routine.
Transition by Meal: Alternatively, you could focus on making one meal of the day 100% plant-based. Start with breakfast for a week, then expand to lunch, then dinner. Eventually, all your meals and snacks will be plant-based, excluding that item you are not ready to give up.
95% Plant-based: Build your entire plate with plant-based ingredients, but keep that one specific “non-negotiable” item as a small component, a garnish or a side.
The goal is to build momentum. By the time you are eating 95% plant-based, you might find that the “indispensable” food no longer holds the same power over you. But even if you never get there, 95% is a hell of a lot better than 0%.
At the heart of all of this is the fact that a plant-based diet is the single biggest dietary change you can make to reduce your environmental impact and spare animals from slaughter. By reducing your consumption as much as you are able, you reduce the water, land, and emissions your diet requires. This matters for our planet, it matters for animals and it matters for your health, too. There is no such thing as a lifestyle that causes zero harm, but we all have a moral responsibility to walk gently and do as little harm as possible.
For vegans, this is a philosophy, not a diet to “cheat” on. This is why vegans often frame the issue in black-and-white terms; it doesn’t feel logical to believe animals have rights except when we want cheese. But if you aren’t ready to go fully vegan, maybe it is time to think about harm reduction instead.
Who knows? Once you’re eating 95% plant-based, you may feel differently about that last animal product. I know I did. Don’t let the fact that you can’t give up everything stop you from giving up something.
