Ten years. 10 years. Dix année.
10.
Years.
Ten years vegan.
I wanted to make a post this year for my 10 year veganversary, because ten years is a crazy milestone to reach – for anything, not just veganism – but, ironically, I’m having trouble finding the words.
Not only does ten years vegan sound crazy because I’m proud of how long it’s been, but mentally, it’s also crazy to think that something I chose basically on a whim when I was 20, was long enough ago to be ten years old.
Time marching forward is nuts, and all that.
My actual anniversary isn’t until Friday (Feb. 6th) so I won’t actually be celebrating until then, but even looking back to write this article has got me in my feels.
Ten years…
I remember sitting here – yes, on the same laptop, even! – typing out my first year veganversary post. It simultaneously feels not that long ago, and almost a lifetime ago. There was so much back then I didn’t know, and obviously, I still don’t know everything, but the amount I’ve learned since then is almost comical.
I also remember, being so excited to finally reach the day when I could say I’d been vegan for ten years, and now that it’s here…
It’s a very surreal feeling, to put it mildly.
I know I mentioned this in my 5 Year Veganversary post, but being vegan is just part of who I am now. I don’t even really think about it as being a ‘thing’ anymore. Checking ingredients, reaching out to companies to answer ingredient questions I couldn’t find answers to on their website, pre-researching a restaurant’s menu before going out – it’s all just become second nature at this point.
The concept of any of that being ‘weird’ or foreign is so long gone, it’s actually funny to think of it as something I used to have to remember to do.
It’s also crazy to see how big the movement’s gotten now. Back when I first went vegan, everyone was talking about how great and accessible it was – that there were tons of options and mainstream stores carried so many vegan products.
Now?
It’s not even a contest.
I’ve watched this movement bloom exponentially since I started on this path, and it truly blows my mind to see all the options in stores nowadays. Even big meat places like KFC have vegan options!
Veganism has become so mainstream, it’s crazy!
It truly feels like we’re living in that dystopian vegan paradise we used to dream about.
Obviously, I know, this is not indeed the case. Unfortunately, animal exploitation is still alive and well, and happening all over the world.
But there have been a ton of wins, too. (I’m not going to list them all here, because that would take forever, but if you want to jump through and take a look at some of the biggest food wins from 2016, check out this VegNews article)
I couldn’t find exact yearly stats – because, of course I couldn’t – but I was able to find that apparently, in 2015, there were 700,000 Canadians who followed a vegan diet, and that number’s jumped up to 850,000 in 2025.
That’s 150,000 new vegans in the span of ten years!
And that stat is not counting vegetarians, and other non-meat eating people. That is strictly the veganism stat.
That’s crazy!
I know I’ve said that like, six times already, but it is!
This milestone… I truly don’t have the words to express how beyond ecstatic I am to finally be able to say I’ve reached ten years.
Veganism, contrary to popular belief, has opened up my food world so much more than I ever thought would be possible. And, I think, it’s also opened my heart.
I liked to say I was compassionate and empathetic before I found veganism, but wow. There is no doubt in my mind that I would be even half as empathetic as I am today if I hadn’t stumbled across Earthlings all those years ago.
It’s crazy to think that an idea I picked out of the blue changed my life, and who I am, so radically.
I think back to that New Years Eve a lot. How I was sitting in the chair, staring at the ceiling, racking my brain just trying to pick anything for a resolution. How ‘no meat’ just hit me out of nowhere, almost like a bolt of lightening.
Sometimes I wonder if that ‘choice’ was truly as random as I first thought?
Interested in the lifestyle? Check out my Vegan section!