Guest blogger Rebecca Brooks with her column, Plants Are Sexy

You’ve met someone great. You click. Sparks fly. Things are fantastic.

You’re vegan.

They’re not.

“But you know what?”, you both ask each other. “It’s really no big deal. We can totally still see each other despite this slight disagreement around the morality of eating meat. Love is not logical and matters of the heart can’t be contained”, you say in a tone that is perhaps trying a little too hard to convince each other that this will be a non-issue.

I’m sure many vegetarians/vegans out there have dated omnivores. And I bet despite your politest protests declaring it doesn’t really bother you that (enter your flame’s name here) eats meat, you’d secretly LOVE it if they become vegetarian.

You’d text your fellow vegan friends a victory message that you had exorcised the meat eating demons from your otherwise perfect mate. You’d have a weird sense of pride about having changed them. Or at the very least, you’d feel good about yourself that your boo is going to be healthier than before.

However, your beau may be completely unwilling to switch teams. Or just unsure and wants to take this whole vegan thing slow. Or gets weird when you bring it up (which is a total mood killer).

So, what is a vegan to do?

1. Soul Search

I think like when you’re making big choices like whether you want to be with someone who wants kids or how important religion is in your life, you have to ask yourself if you’re fundamentally okay ending up with a non-vegan.

Will the resentment grow as you see them gnaw on flesh at dinner? No? Great! You’ve just made 99.5% of the rest of the human pool available to you.

If not, you’re also in luck. Vegans love everything vegan (and that includes fellow vegans).

But either way, look within for that answer.

2. Strike a Right Balance

So, you’re kind of okay with them being non-vegan. You guys.

But are you okay with this person eating non-vegetarian with you on a Saturday night dinner date? No? Then are you okay with it on a random impromptu Tuesday sleepover?

Know what you expect and lay it out there. Find out what works for you.

3. Look at them as a Potential Convert

If vegans only dated vegans, then the appeal of our inherent plant-based sexiness would go wasted.

Perhaps PETA’s next campaign should be sending out the hottest vegans in the USA to seduce college co-eds and suddenly we’d see an uptick in vegan millennials? I think it could work (or at least give more people a better stereotype of what a vegan is).

But even if it doesn’t, I’m still going to guess that Pam Anderson probably got Kid Rock thinking twice before ordering steak when they were married.

4. Opening Eyes is Fun

At the very least, you get to watch Forks Over Knives with someone who never realized any of this information. You can open eyes by dating a non-vegetarian.

They may not change their behavior because of it, but at least you get to preach to a non-choir member. Be like Oprah and spread some “aha” moments.

5. Own It

Even if it doesn’t work out with you and Mr. McEater, don’t question your beliefs. And never apologize for them when on dates.

If (s)he bitches about it or makes you feel bad, then you can probably take that as an early sign that (s)he’s a cry baby and would have been not sensitive to who you are as a person anyway.

You are worth fighting for. So, you’re definitely at least worth eating vegan for. And if your mate thinks otherwise, kick them to the curb and then walk yourself to the nearest restaurant that makes kick-ass seitan.