There’s a long standing stereotype about vegans and those with a plant based diet are pushy and over-opinionated (we’ve all seen the meme) and whilst here is nothing more annoying than someone shoving their opinions down your throat, food related or otherwise, there are so many worse things about the vegan community other than the fact that a few of them can get a bit mouthy.
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What other people wear or eat is completely none of your business, this goes for whether you think your comments are helpful or not. Getting told off for being an inhumane monster after scoffing a packet of Malteasers is enough to piss anyone off, nobody wants to be told that what they’re doing is wrong even if they know it’s true. Whilst many of us know that going vegetarian is good for the enviroment and obviously a lot less cruel, applying these practices into actuality can often be a lot more difficult than people realise. The aggressive way some militant vegans can carry out their activism is enough to put anyone off the cause at hand but there are so many more reasons why militant veegs need to chill the fuck out.
1. Videos Of Animal Torture Is Really Upsetting
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Obviously showing this footage is important to show the world what happens to their chicken dinners and pork chops before they make their way to our tables but the scenes shown are incredibly gory (imagine piglets getting crushed on top of each other, chickens in tiny cages, cows with swollen udders, fish exploding from the pressure of all the others around them – you can find these quite easily for yourself thanks to Google) and are enough to make anyone feel upset.
A lot of meat eaters are already aware what happens to the animals and nobody wants to be reminded of this on a daily basis from their Facebook feeds. It’s good for people to understand where their food comes from but nobody needs a constant guilt trip when everyone is just trying to do their best.
2. Some People Literally Can’t Afford To Be Vegan
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When you can’t afford to top up your gas after paying rent, it’s very difficult to stick to a vegan diet that usually consists of creating a lot of meals from scratch yourself. Chips are always an easy option but unless you want to come down with a bad case of anaemia or scurvy, it’s probably not a good idea to eat these for every meal, every day.
3. Eating Honey Can Sometimes Help The Bees
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In recent years there has been a lot of talk about how bee populations are being wiped out due to the number of pesticides used in crop farming and at the moment bees need all the help they can get. The Guardian posted a piece on ethical living that questioned whether buying honey is morally correct and the resounding answer is yes. Keeping bees around for honey will ensure that populations are maintained, meaning that crops will be naturally pollinated and the world will continue to have a steady supply of veg and that.
Apparently this only works if you buy from reputable sources because according to PETA, many large brand honey producers keep their bees in inhumane conditions to reach production quotas. Grim.
4. Expecting New Vegans To Throw Out Their Leather Goods Is Pointless And Wasteful
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Stop calling out people that have recently transitioned to veganism yet still wear their old leather goods. Throwing out all your leathers just to replace them with veggie knock offs is a waste of time and money, obviously if the original jacket or shoes have fallen apart and need replacing then that’s a different story.
The USA currently throw out 15.1 million tonnes of waste clothing and textiles with more than 81% of those ending up in landfills, when these disintegrate they let off greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide and methane that seriously harm the environment and we really don’t need to add to that. These are some great stats to pull up next time your friends accuse you of being a tight arse for buying second hand clothes.
5. Comparing Industrial Farming To The Holocaust Is Beyond Ridiculous
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If you don’t understand why comparing meat production to the holocaust or slavery is offensive then read this article on The Independent immediately.
TL;DR: Comparing human suffering to animal suffering is going to rub people the wrong way. If someone’s great grandparents were black slaves then they aren’t going to react well to being told that their ancestors being held against their will and abused by their own species are on a par with a cute little pig getting killed for bacon. Yeah, they’re both horrific but just use your brain.
6. You’re Just Putting People Off
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A lot of militant vegans appear to be on some sort of power trip over feeling superior to the weakling meat eaters and other veggies that aren’t “doing it properly”. But so what if they aren’t? Surely if somebody is making at least a tiny bit of effort to make a difference – whether it be trying out Meat Free Monday every now and then or dabbling with milk alternatives in their tea a few times – then you should be applauding them and not putting them off from the cause at hand. One big reason that some ex-vegans switch back to an omnivorous lifestyle is that they don’t want to be associated with the stereotype of pushy plant eaters that unfortunately so many people are.
7. All This Aggro Is Going To Give You A Heart Attack
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We all know that stress is bad for us, causing a whole menagerie of awful ailments like high blood pressure and heart attacks, so being constantly ready to lash out at anyone who’s just minding their own business whilst eating cheese or whatever is surely going to negatively impact your health. Next time you feel the need to get all aggro towards someone else’s lifestyle choices, you should take a deep breath and count to ten or something. Chill. The. Fuck. Out
If you’re going to be vegan, at least do it right like our boy JME.
