image by graur codrin
Over the years, I have run into dozens of people who, when learning about my lifestyle, tell me they are “too lazy” to be vegan. “Oh, I could never do that, I am way too lazy.” I am always a bit surprised when I hear this, because it’s coming from the mouths of people who are not lazy! These are people working 70-hour weeks, starting their own businesses, or going to med school. I would never use the words “lazy” to describe them. And yet here they are, calling themselves lazy. So why is it that someone who doesn’t bat an eyelash at taking care of two kids while working two part time jobs and going to school considers herself “too lazy” to adopt a vegan diet? If I slothed around my apartment for two weeks eating kale chips and watching daytime TV would I not be considered lazy because, uhm, hello! I’m vegan!
America has been raised on convenience. The way we communicate with one another—texting, Facebook—is convenient. The way we eat—grabbing whatever is fast and scarfing it in the car or at our desks—is convenient. And sometimes, let’s be honest, veganism isn’t convenient. It is often awkward at social gatherings to explain to your host or peers that you don’t eat what they have prepared. You have to have the same conversations—“No, I won’t eat it even if it has only been cooked with the meat”—over and over.
And often you have to be organized. You have to make sure you’re getting all of your vital nutrients, and eating on the fly is hard unless, again, you’re organized. However, after a while these changes become second nature. I probably spend 10 minutes per day more than the average omnivorous culinary enthusiast on food prep. That’s less than what you spend on personal hygiene, and you don’t hear (most) people saying “I’m too lazy to brush my teeth.”
So when I hear people saying they are too lazy to be vegan, I tell them hey—I can be lazy sometimes, too. It’s what I am choosing to be lazy about that differs. While it may be easier to grab a burger on my lunch break because it’s convenient, I know how it will make my body feel. I know how it was prepared, I know about the lives that were lost to make that convenience available and I know all about the industry I am supporting by choosing it. So if that somehow makes me more productive, and “less lazy,” then sure, I’ll take that. Like anything you are really passionate about, it feels less like work and more like what you should be doing, naturally. And even the laziest of lazies can handle that.
