Becoming a Vegan

So I recently decided to become a vegan - partially because I am dating a vegan, but also because I have been veggie-curious for several years now. Not because of ethical reasons, simply because I am getting older and I need to be eating healthier. (According to my research most vegans become vegans because of ethical reasons and that it is a tiny percentage of vegans who do so purely because of health reasons.)

I mean, yes, I like cats. I am very much a cat person, but I really could not care less about chickens, pigs or cows. Does that make me a hypocrite? Maybe. I think I am just practical, and my current decision is based on my health - not the welfare of chickens.

However the problem I am encountering is there isn't a lot of vegan friendly restaurants where I live or near where I work. More than a bit annoying. I had clue that it was so hard to find vegan restaurants in Toronto.

So I tried finding a list of vegan restaurants in Toronto and one of the sites I found was one about real estate, called Vegan Friendly Neighbourhoods in Toronto, which talks about the Vegan Village in Roncesvalles / High Park North.

Vegan Options in the Vegan Village

It is called the Vegan Village because of the sheer number of vegan restaurants, or even raw vegan restaurants like Rawlicious, and also because of the number of vegan / vegetarian grocery stores in the area like The Sweet Potato and others.

So maybe when it comes to finding restaurants I just need to visit the Vegan Village more often.

I have been to Rawlicious before and they have the best smoothies I have ever had at a restaurant. Better even the ones I make at home.

However none of this helps my goal of being able to find vegan food near where I work. I admit there are "a few" places downtown walking distance from where I work, but they are all 10 to 15 minutes away. Which means if I go there then I am spending 20 to 30 minutes walking, and really only have 30-40 minutes to eat and relax. Not much of a lunch break.

There is a cafeteria in my building but they only sell prepackaged salads and apples. That is it.

Vegan Options near the Downtown Core of Toronto

I have heard the sob stories of former vegans and vegetarians who decide to go back to being omnivores just because it is more convenient and practical for them to eat out, eat socially, etc. It apparently has given rise to "Social Omnivores / At Home Vegans", who only eat meat when they're with friends/family/work colleagues, and eat like vegans or vegetarians when they are at home.

Lets call them SOAHVs for short. There might be a more commonly used term for such people, but lets use SOAHVs for now.

I think the issue for SOAHVs is that they tried to go purely vegan or vegetarian, but they couldn't do it properly because there aren't enough restaurants that have vegan/vegetarian options - and not enough purely vegan restaurants for those people who refuse to eat at a place where meat might accidentally touch their food (as if somehow the broccoli becomes just as bad as pork if it just briefly touches the pork). After realizing they are losing an uphill battle against a society that prefers to be omnivores, they give up and decide to go back to being an omnivore whenever they are at any social event, eating out, etc simply because of the convenience.

Although the guy in the comic strip below ordering a porterhouse steak rare seems to have abandoned all hope entirely.