When you think of veganism, you might think of some lame meme floating around on the internet, and I mean lame in all love and kindness, or maybe you think of a hog-wild (oh, the irony) vegan who shoves their plant-based ideals down your throat. Overall, vegans have a bad reputation these days. Some people may never befriend a vegan in their lives; I have the privilege of knowing two prospective vegans and one vegan, and they are a few of my best friends. A few days ago, one of them sent a video on veganism asked us what our opinions were, and I am going to write my response here:

To begin, let's travel back to prehistoric times. One of my friends argued that the food pyramid is a societal structure that humans made up. Though it's popularized as such now, think of the time before humans were around, there was a still a food pyramid without society. The MVPs were at the top because they could use their potential of survival to a better degree or had the intelligence to gain more potential than all other animals below them. I believe all species of our planet are on an equal playing field of "survival of the fittest", but just because humans are able to use their intelligence and resources around them to a more advanced level doesn't give us the right to the abuse of animals for our own profit.

Americans who are raised under the societal norm of eating meat don't usually think twice about where our food comes from. Factory farms are abusive to their animals to keep up with the supply and demand of American diets. As of right now, I eat meat from big companies, even though I don't agree with them ethically. To avoid further funding of those companies, I have decided that in the future I will buy meat, dairy, and eggs from local farmers. Why? They are ethical butchers. They raise their animals as if they were their own pets, and kill them in the most humane way possible. Also, it is a great idea to support farmers in your state. The private farm industry has been taken over by big companies like Monsanto who creates monopolies that put farmers out of work solely because it's cheaper and easier to obtain products, which is a gold-standard in America. Animals living on farms get to live long, happy, and healthy lives like every animal should.

As a fond lover of meat, dairy, and eggs, I have stated to my friends the only way I will ever become vegan is if someone pays me, which I have been threatened with before. It's just not something I am willing to put in the effort to do, and yes, it requires a lot of effort and dedication. Vegans have to be very well-versed in the food industry to know exactly what they can and cannot eat, what they can use as substitutes, making sure they are getting all the nutrients they need, what companies to buy from, and so on. Veganism is a compassion-based lifestyle. When they talk about being vegan, usually it's not to brag about it or knock others down for eating animal products, it's usually just to inform others on the health benefits or why they chose the lifestyle they did, and most choose it to avoid contributing to the harm being done to animals.

Education on the food industry is minimal; people don't know all of what goes on in factories they get their food from. If more people were educated, then better health/lifestyle choices could be made, and there could be more initiative to work towards bettering the quality of animals' lives. Though both meat-eaters and vegans/vegetarians can be close-minded to each others' ideals causing arguments and a general dislike for all people who choose to eat certain foods, communication and listening to others can bring a mutual respect to everyone. That doesn't necessarily mean you have to agree with what they are saying, but respect is all anyone asks for.

All in all, I say do what makes you most happy. No one is forcing you to live a certain way, and don't accuse others of being pushy if they are simply telling why they choose to eat the foods they do. Food tends to make people happy, like really happy. If veganism makes someone happy, great! If eating meat makes another person happy, cool! If someone feeds off of the sun because they don't want to eat any living thing (which clearly includes plants), make sure they live somewhere sunny or they'll die!