Vegan: noun. A person who vows to never eat animal products, including but not limited to: milk, cheese, eggs, honey, beef, pork, and chicken. Usually highly criticized for their choices.
Veganism has become more popular than ever these days and for good reason. Animal production is the leading cause of climate change. Yeah, you read it right. Animal production not fossil fuels are leading cause of climate change. Animals produce methane and because we raise so many and on grain which their stomachs aren’t evolved to eat, they produce an obscene amount of methane which gets trapped in the atmosphere. I am a vegan because I care about the environment and care about the fate of living things which includes humans and animals. I’ve only been vegan for a couple months, but there are just some things that I hear way too often. All vegans and maybe some vegetarians are all too familiar with these quotes or really anyone who does something unconventional with their lives.
1. “But how do you not eat ice cream/cheese/milk/insert other animal products here?”
I just don’t. Give it up for two weeks and you’ll see that it isn’t actually that hard. You don’t need cheese to survive. I know that seems like a foreign concept for some, but trust me you don’t.
2. “Ugh but you have to read all the labels?”
We’re living in the 21st century, people. If you’re not reading labels by now, then you should start. You should know what you’re putting in your body. If not to avoid animal products, then to know what weird chemicals you’re subjecting yourself to.
3. “Don’t you like steak too much?”
This is an easy question for me because I don’t personally like the taste of meat all that much. It was more of something I always felt like I had to eat and not something I wanted to eat. This is also an easy question for all vegans because NO. If someone is a vegan they probably don’t like the taste of dead flesh in their mouths.
4. “Animals are here for us to use! We’re meant to eat them!”
If you know where your animal products are coming from, especially meat, then I say go for it. You can eat that steak if you know it was raised 50 miles away on the farm you buy meat from. I think you should be responsible for what you put into your body. Is eating an animal that was pumped with antibiotics, never saw sunlight, and can’t even walk properly using the animal? Or is it abusing the animal?
5. “I bet you’re not getting enough protein!”
People really like to act that meat is the sole source of protein and if you don’t eat it then you’re just screwed. There are a ton of vegan protein sources that we utilize.
6. “I like animals, just not that much.”
You can’t really claim to “like” animals if you can’t give up eating them for pleasure. You like your friends and you don’t eat them because you respect them.
7. “It sucks you can’t eat this.”
Vegans are probably not that upset when they can’t eat something because if they truly wanted to eat it they would.
8. “I see those videos on Facebook and they upset me sometimes.”
That’s called having a soul, but also not being brave enough to change something about the horrors you see. If you know something is wrong, don’t partake in it.
9. “Vegans are just so crazy. Not you, but like other ones.”
I’ve personally never met the stereotypical crazy vegan that hasn’t showered in a week and chains themselves to a cow. Do they exist? Maybe, but in my experience vegans are just as sane as everybody else.
10. “Yeah I try not to think about where my food comes from.”
That’s kind of… illogical. You should care about what type of food goes in your body, and if thinking about where your food comes from makes you not want to eat it then maybe you should think about it a little harder and not eat the food.
11. “I could never do it.”
Not with that attitude! Being a vegan is super easy if you have an ounce of confidence in yourself and a smidge of willpower. Don’t eat the food, guys. Just don’t eat the food.
12. “It’s so annoying that you’re a vegan.”
This one is my favorite. I really don’t think that what I eat effects anyone all that much except for me and, fingers crossed, hopefully the planet just slightly. I’m sorry I inconvenience you by not eating animal products, but, alas, there are bigger things at play here than where we can go out to eat.
Before you comment on someone’s veganism, please just keep in mind they’ve probably already heard it. Use animal products if you want or don’t use animal products if you want (although I think you shouldn’t use animal products) just try to understand others and educate yourself about a topic before you comment on it.
