It's time for a new chapter after almost 10 years as a vegan on social media.

Reflecting on the past, present and future.

In January 2016, I uploaded my first video to YouTube. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. In the video, titled Welcome to my Channel, I anxiously described what I would be talking about on my YouTube while my palms proceeded to get increasingly sweatier and my arms flailed as if controlled by a manic puppeteer. Needless to say, it was not a particularly good video - and I soon deleted it.

If I’m being completely honest, filming videos has never been the most comfortable process for me and, even though my palms might not get quite as sweaty, to this day I can still find myself struggling to feel relaxed and comfortable when sitting staring down the barrel of a camera lens. That being said, I am extremely happy that I persevered beyond that first awkward video back in 2016 and I look back a lot more fondly on the videos I have uploaded since.

However, when I reflect back on my early videos, the one thing that stands out the most is not the videos themselves, but how different things felt then compared to now. The world has changed in many ways, and, putting it mildly, things have happened that weren’t expected. In the case of veganism, while the road ahead was never going to be a simple straight line of progress akin to a traffic-free Autobahn, there have been some substantial challenges that have arisen.

These challenges haven’t necessarily altered my belief that huge changes are going to happen - I still remain positive about the overall direction that we are heading - but I’d be lying if I didn’t also acknowledge that there is much that worries me, although the majority of those concerns are not necessarily directly related to veganism.

From the vegan perspective, I have really come to believe that one of the most important things we can do right now is retain a strong sense of togetherness and community. Food, farming and plant-based diets have been dragged into the culture wars, becoming intertwined with conspiracy theories and weaponised to push harmful and often extreme political agendas.

On social media, plant-based diets have become the target of vociferous pro-meat and carnivore advocates who spread misinformation and pseudoscience, all with the aim of obfuscating the truth and sowing doubt about the merits of plant-based diets and veganism. But it’s not just online: lobby groups, PR companies, bought scientists, political antagonists, and those with vested interests in animal exploitation are working to influence policy changes, water down any proposed reforms and mobilise farming communities to take their tractors into cities and protest.

It is a tricky moment in time, which is why I believe that empathy and understanding towards ourselves, both individually and collectively as a movement, are so important. Being vegan isn’t always easy. It can be disheartening, frustrating and isolating to exist in this world. Small tasks like going to a supermarket can be demoralising; fun activities like hanging out with friends can lead to us seeing them eating animal products, quickly morphing what was supposed to be a source of enjoyment into a reminder of how deeply embedded and normalised animal violence really is.

This brings me to my Substack.

When approaching my work, I have always tried not to put all of my tofu in one basket. In other words, rather than just uploading content to social media, I have also tried to diversify the work that I do - such as giving talks and presentations, and writing books. I’ve viewed this as important for two reasons: first, because it allows me to reach different people in different ways, hopefully making my work more impactful; and second, because it allows me to somewhat mitigate the volatility of social media.

Writing books has so far been one of the most rewarding aspects of the work that I’ve done. This is partly because of the enjoyment and personal growth that I have felt through writing, although it can definitely be stressful working to tight deadlines and anxiety-inducing worrying about whether what I’m writing is even good. The rewarding nature of writing that I’ve felt is also massively due to the incredibly kind and thoughtful feedback I’ve received from many of you. The reviews, in-person comments, and the general support that I’ve received for the books have been just wonderful, and they’ve further affirmed to me how grateful I am to all of you and how fortunate I am to be a part of such a wonderful community.

Starting a Substack allows me to further explore many of the things I have just mentioned. It is a further diversification of my work and allows me to broaden how I advocate for veganism, while also creating an online space on a different platform to the ones I already use. It also gives me the opportunity to write more, something which I really enjoy, and means I can consistently keep tapping into that area of my work. However, beyond those reasons, the intention behind the Substack is to also provide a sense of space for us as vegans.

Last year, I uploaded a video called My struggles with veganism. The video seemed to really resonate with a lot of you, and it was hugely cathartic for me. Upon seeing the response to the video, and tapping into how it made me feel to record, edit and upload it, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to create more content that touches upon the themes and ideas that I spoke about in that video.

This is why much of what I’ll be writing about here on my Substack will be the experience of being vegan in a non-vegan world. I’ll be speaking more personally, discussing what I’m feeling, thinking and the experiences that I’ve had - all with the hope that I can make sense of these things for myself personally, and that by sharing these aspects of my vegan experience, you too will also find a sense of validation for the experiences that you have as a vegan.

I will be uploading free content to my Substack, including the Good News Roundup, which is a regular article where I discuss the positive news stories in the world of animal rights and veganism. There will also be content exclusively for paid members, which will include weekly articles, many of which will be exploring the more personal themes that I previously mentioned.

If you do decide to also become a paid member of my Substack, then thank you so much. My work is made possible by the kind contributions and support that I receive, and I wouldn’t be able to do the work that I do if it wasn’t for those who support me.

Alongside starting my Substack, I have also relaunched my podcast, which I am really excited about. The Disclosure Podcast can be found on all major podcast platforms, and I will also be filming each episode and uploading the filmed versions to my YouTube channel. The podcast will consist of a mixture of solo episodes and interviews with guests. So far I have filmed a number of guest interviews and I am so excited for you to be able to listen to them in the coming months.

I will also be continuing to post content on Instagram and uploading debates and other content on YouTube too, and I’m currently working on a couple of other really exciting projects, which I’ll be able to tell you more about later this year.

While my first video back at the start of 2016 is no more, I feel proud of the work that I have done throughout this past decade, and I’m excited for what is to come in the next one. So, I hope that you’ll join me on this journey here on Substack, as together we attempt to make sense of this crazy world that we live in and further develop the necessary understanding and compassion that we need for ourselves in order to function as vegans within it.