Part 1: Two Vegans, Two Mindsets

At first glance, the goal to be in harmony with nature seems far-stretched, so much that we aren’t able to pin-point one single solution to the imbalance between man and nature. Although there are many great tools that can assist us to respect the nature that we have remaining, and a great first step is acknowledging our individual consumption habits.

This idea that what we eat can really impact the way our brain experiences the world? Through this curiosity, I stumbled upon the idea of doing a survey about how people in my life feel about their relationship with nature. I came up with questions to form a survey to give to a people who I thought would be interested.

For context, I chose to ask 50% of people who participated that are vegan, and the other 50% are not. From the submissions I received, I chose to highlight a few viewpoints that came up among the responses. The primary focus of my publication, “Let Our Fuel Be Kind to Nature” is to explore the various ways that we are able to be in harmony with our natural world.

With mindfulness around our daily actions, we are able to notice how consumption revolves around much more than what we eat.

The survey I conducted was meant to make people think about their personal relationship with nature, and what that might mean to them. Below, I have provided the introduction and survey that I wrote:

“Connections Between Nature and What We Consume”

“When we think of consumption, our minds tend to wander towards food and drink as an initial thought. We know our minds consume a lot too, so working to strike a balance with our overall consumption can be complex. This survey works to combine the two thought processes of choosing what we eat in alignment with what we allow ourselves to experience.”

· On average, how much time do you spend in nature per week?

· What parts of your lifestyle connect you most to nature?

· What kinds of imbalances do you see in humanity that affect nature?

· Do you believe what you consume can have a large effect on nature?

· Yes, No, I’ve never thought about it. Please give a brief description.

· Please state your own definition of what it means to be in harmony with nature. What does this mean to you?

There were two differing opinions stated, both of which people are vegans. We look at the question, “Do you believe what you consume can have a large impact on nature?”

One person says, “Personally, I don’t think my personal choices and actions will make any substantive impact on the world. That’s why I believe in activism: to sway minds with the power of our arguments, so that we can be a united front and have power in numbers.”

The other person answers, “The consumption habits of humans have a huge effect on nature.

Pollution and global warming, oil spills, urban sprawl, hunting and the clearing of forests to create land that will raise crops are just a few of the ways human overconsumption can affect nature.”

The first person has taken a more collective approach with regards to the effects they may have on the Earth. Rather than viewing themselves as part of the primary problem, we see the responsibility is mainly pushed onto the corporations that have done major damage.

On the other hand, the following response answers to all of the damage that we as individuals contribute every day. We do take responsibility of our consumption habits whether we realize it or not. While there are definitely measures beyond our individual reach, we have an ethical obligation to acknowledge our ecological footprints.

In part two of this blog post, we will explore direct comparisons between the answers of those who do consume animal products versus those who don’t.