For me, vegetarianism was predominantly about ethics. From that side of the fence, it seemed like I was doing 90% of the good I could and veganism was high-hanging fruit with the other 10%. More importantly, the line – and the industries – seemed rigidly distinct. A couple animal products formed cracks in that wall.

Gelatin was the first. I liked gelatin dessert, and I took vitamins in gelatin capsules. Then, on a whim, learned how it’s made – that not only was it an animal product but that I had no room to call it vegetarian. Yet cutting it out, I considered, probably reduced much less harm than my decision to eat other animal products caused. I stopped eating it, but something felt wrong.

Parmesan cheese was the other one. It and mozzarella were the only two cheeses I liked growing up, and they were both foods I really wanted to keep around. When I learned about rennet, this changed. I started cutting out Parmesan. My understanding is that “non-Parmesan” (if you want to be snooty and purist) like Kraft uses plant-based enzymes to make the cheese, so it doesn’t rub against that vegetarian grey area any more than any other dairy product. But the idea that I couldn’t know made me too uncomfortable to eat it.

Did anyone else have something similar where cracks started to form?