Top 8 Reasons I’m a Once-a-week Vegan

Why vegan? Why once per week? And why does vegan cheese taste like dirty socks?

Hello, Medium world! It’s my debut post as Once a Week Vegan, so allow me to introduce myself before jumping into the good stuff (by which I mean the food, of course). Perhaps you’re bursting with questions: Why vegan? Why only once per week? What’s the best vegan butter*? Can you recommend a good vegan cheese**? So without further ado, I present my top 8 reasons why I’m a once-a-week vegan — because 1) I love lists and 2) eight is my favorite number.

Reason 1: I like dairy and eggs (but they don’t like me).

I’m a GenX woman who’s recently discovered new food sensitivities (hey thanks, perimenopause). With dairy, eggs, and gluten now off the table (literally), I’ve found myself defaulting to meat too frequently.

While it’s challenging to eat vegan without including gluten, I figure it can’t be that hard. Since I’m already avoiding eggs and dairy, going one more step to no meat just seems like a no-brainer.

Reason 2: I want to make an impact.

The benefits of a vegan diet to health and environment are well documented (seriously, google that shit). On a personal level, vegan diets are associated with lowered risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, yadda yadda. And on a planetary level, the impact of meat on our planet is massive; you’ve probably read this article, which quotes Jack Monroe as saying: “One person eating vegan just one day per week saves approximately 40lbs of grain (which could feed hungry populations around the world), 1100 gallons of water, 30 square feet of forest, and one animal.”

All that just by omitting meat just one meal per week? It seems rude not to.

Reason 3: Why not go all-in vegan? Because I’ll fail.

So yeah… I’m not vegan. I’ve spent decades as a not vegan. It’s a deeply ingrained habit. I want to make change and also, want to make space for change that feels manageable.

I’m taking this on once per week — and committing to it for a year — because I think I can succeed.

Anything more and I just won’t take it on. My life is full-to-overflowing and change comes with a big cognitive load. Which brings me to my next reason…

Reason 4: I believe in incrementality.

Oh, how I could go off on this topic (and likely will in future posts). If I had to make a top 8 list for how GenX differs from later generational cohorts, the notion of incremental growth versus sweeping, immediate change would most def make that list. Perhaps this makes me a dietary centrist? (She ponders, whilst scribbling a note to self that this would make a great future article topic…)

Simply stated, I believe that in nearly all things, change takes time and momentum. The longer-standing the habit/lifestyle/political entropy, the more likely it is that incremental change will make an impact, versus an attempt at absolute policy reversal.

The beauty of incremental change is that once the habit is established, the impact grows. That one vegan meal I cook becomes multiple vegan leftover lunches during the week (yum).

I’m also cooking meals for my two children (14 and 12), so that’s a 200% lift on impact for today, with the added bonus that my kids develop more of a palate for vegan meals to carry into their futures.

Reason 5: I need you all to hold me accountable.

If a tree falls in the woods, maybe no one hears it. If a once-a-week vegan fails in the kitchen, she needs a readership to see it — and call her out.

Reason 6: I love cooking and learning new recipes.

I also love lentils and vegetables and chickpeas (oh my!) and I’m excited to experiment with gluten-free grains and alternate meats/dairy-based sauces to replicate meals I love but can no longer have.

(But not cheese, because vegan cheese**.) Life gets full. Once my belly is empty (and my brain is fried) around dinnertime, I tend to gravitate to the same meal standbys. I hope that Once a Week Vegan will force me to try new recipes.

Culinary ruts, be gone!

Reason 7: I love to write.

I’m a self-professed word nerd and I use language in my dayjob work every day. But it’s been a hot minute since I’ve written in my own voice for the sheer joy of storytelling. I can feel the rusty gears creaking as my fingertips tap this keyboard, begging “Oil Can” as they attempt to revive old creative muscle memories and move.

It feels amazing. Ideas are begetting words, generating more ideas that need more words, and I’m so excited to write them all down.

Reason 8: Righting an internet recipe wrong.

And finally, the most important reason why I’ve launched Once a Week Vegan is… to be the change I wish to see in the online recipe space.

That is, I HATE HOW ALL ONLINE RECIPES LEAD WITH A MINIMUM OF SIX BAZILLION WORDS DESCRIBING A BUNGALOW IN TUSCANY OR A FLIT THROUGH THE FRENCH COUNTRYSIDE SO IT TAKES A MICRO-ETERNITY OF SCROLLING TO GET TO THE DAMN RECIPE, WHYYYYYY??

I mean, I know why. I’m a writer on the Internet; I understand how SEO works. Food bloggers gotta pay the bills by loading their articles with keywords and whatnot. I get it.

But also, I loathe it. We all do.

So I start this project with a solemn commitment to all of you: with my recipes, you’re going to see AN ACTUAL RECIPE at the top of the article. Front and center, ingredients and steps.

I’ll save my hot takes for under the recipe, if you care to read on.

(If you don’t, you won’t hurt my feelings, promise.)

And with that said and done — onward, to cooking!

* Miyoko’s 100%.

** No. Vegan cheese is terrible and tastes like dirty socks. Fight me.