I found this blog post by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau at Green Options about vegan survival tips. Colleen offers many great tips for vegans in her blog, podcast, VegNews articles and elsewhere.

She lists ten techniques for getting by as a vegan in a nonvegan world.

Here they are, a shortened list with my explanations:

1. Be Specific. Colleen says sometimes you’ll have to explain what vegan means or ask for specific information, like “Is there chicken stock in this soup?” or “Can you please make the dal without ghee?” The mistakes nonvegans often make are numerous, too many to list here, but some common misunderstandings are these:
   a) many people still assume fish and poultry is vegetarian, remind them it’s not,
   b) lots of people don’t understand what “dairy” really means and they think butter or yogurt (especially if it’s fatfree) is vegan, remind them that dairy means milk and all milk products,
   c) many people forget about broth, oil/lard, and those other little details, if you think something might contain those items, ask.
2. Be Positive. This is very hard for me, but she’s right. Try to be as positive as you can. Try not to let them see you sweat or let them see you cry. Try to make your veganism easy on others, not by denying yourself, but by adopting a somewhat Southern politeness about it.
3. Be Confident. Remind yourself of your goals and act confidently when working towards them.
4. Be Generous. Give when and where you can. It feels good. And it spreads.
5. Be Assertive. Just because vegans are in the minority doesn’t mean we deserve to be treated like dirt. Our needs are just as important as everyone else’s. So stand up for your needs and be assertive when asking for vegan food.
6. Be Attentive. Colleen says, “be respectful, be attentive, and be sensitive.”
7. Be Prepared. Carry an emergency meal with you. It will make life easier. You can bring a small bag of nuts, an energy bar, or a piece of fruit. Having something to eat will put everyone at ease in the most vegan-unfriendly situations.
8. Be Equipped. I can’t agree more! The more you know the better you’re prepared for all kinds of situations. There are more and more vegan resources available everyday. There are new books, websites, restaurants, meet-up groups, and all kinds of other resources. Use them!
9. Be Humorous. It can be hard to find humor in such a tragic world, but it exists. Find it and use it.
10. Be Vocal. The animals don’t have a voice in our system. The vegan voice is the animals’ voice. Use it.

Check out her article for more detail on each tip!

Sections: Vegan Resources
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