Why Some People Don’t Like Vegans
Why Some People Don't Like Vegans?
Many experts believe that one of the fewest ways for humanity to get rid of many problems it is facing now is to encourage people to become vegan. These experts think it is only a matter of time when we look around us and see that there is no natural resource left and the current food industry will collapse very quickly.
So, we have to adapt to the solution as soon as possible. It is not only beneficial for the environment. In fact, veganism, as it has been shown by many researchers, comes with a variety of health benefits for people who are practicing it. Another important aspect of veganism is the fact that not eating animals and their products is kind of a moral choice since they have the right to live just like ours.
We must not kill them to get fed! That's cruel to millions of animals out there. So, as you can see, there are environmental, health-related, and moral arguments that force people to change their food habits and become vegan. However, the picture that I depicted might be much simpler than what is happening in the real world.
Otherwise, you should have expected all the people in the world to become vegan. So, what is the problem? Why are there still billions of people who don’t like to be vegan? Isn't veganism one of the rarest options that we have before it is too late? Well, it is really hard to answer that question.
However, in this article, we are going to take a look at this question from different aspects. Before we get deep into this question, we have to ask, who exactly is a vegan individual?
What Is Veganism?
As I stated earlier, there are three sources of motivation for people who decide to become vegan. First of all, they believe that veganism will help them to have a healthier lifestyle. And, to a large extent, their statement is true. Many studies are showing that eating plant-based food is usually associated with lowering the risk of dangerous diseases such as heart disease, certain types of cancers, and even diabetes.
So, the first goal is to live longer and happier. The second goal is to protect our planet from destruction. You might not see a clear-cut connection between eating meat and animal-related products and the destruction of the planet earth. However, there is indeed is very deep connection down there.
Let me explain how. People who are not vegan eat meat and all animal-related products such as eggs, milk, dairy products, etc. Well, it might not sound very bad but listen to this. In order to feed billions of hungry humans, we have to raise millions of cows, chickens, pigs, camels, goats, etc. So, all these animals need to be fed and watered.
Therefore, we have to destroy all the jungles and forests in the world in order to clear lands for growing their food. Also, every day, these animals should drink millions of tons of water which is basically responsible for many of our drought events.
So, as you can see, two of the most important natural resources including water and lands should be exploited just for the sake of feeding those animals. Currently, it is completely clear to us that this food industry cannot continue like this. Being vegan is a very practical solution to this dilemma. Third of all, animals will suffer a lot in the slaughterhouses just because of us! humans!
They are kept in very bad situations with the least access to sunlight. When they get birth to a new one, the babies are immediately stolen from their mother in order to stop them from drinking her milk. In one sentence, all these things are just immoral and excruciating for animals.
So, vegans are people who don’t eat meat or any other animal-related products because of health-related, environmental, and finally moral reasons. So, now, we get back to our main question again. Why do many people hate becoming vegan? Is there a problem with veganism?
Why Do People Hate Vegans And Veganism?
Well, with all those positive impacts which will be brought by a vegan lifestyle, why are some people so angry about it? What problems do they have with it? Well, it is very hard to answer these questions. Perhaps, we can count several independent or sometimes interdependent reasons for that. So, if you are one of those people who cannot stand vegans, you might want to continue reading until the end because it might be very helpful to stop the origin of your anger.
People Are Uncomfortable With The Truth
One simple reason for non-vegans to hate vegans is this: vegans have become vegans because they have decided not to be immoral humans. So, logically, even if vegans don’t say this, but it means non-vegans are not moral humans. That's why they become upset. In fact, they think that they are always being judged by other people, especially vegans.
Non-Vegans Have The Wrong Ideas About Veganism
Some people consider vegans as individuals who don't understand the necessities of living in the 21st century. Vegans, to their eyes, are just a bunch of vandals or criminals who want to destroy the current social order and get what they want out of it. Also, non-vegans sometimes think of vegans as hippies who couldn’t reach anywhere.
Additionally, non-vegans often think that vegan foods are awful and don’t let your body adsorb its need. Finally, perhaps, some non-vegans have tried before to become a vegan but turned down the idea very quickly because they didn’t like the taste of the food or simply because the food they have eaten as a vegan food hasn’t been healthy at all.
Misinterpreting Passion For Pushiness
This is another interesting reason against vegans. Vegans are most of the time considered as demanding and pushy people. So, sometimes, people don’t like to be vegan not because of the veganism itself but because of the personality of vegans! However, this is nothing but a misunderstanding.
Here is the deal. Usually, the media don’t support vegans. And, political parties are not very supportive of their movement too. As a result, vegans have no choice but to try to make a fuss out of their arguments just because they wanted to be heard and listened to.
In fact, powerful non-vegans on TV, radio, political parties have ignored vegans and their arguments for so many years which left them no choice but to confront them. That's why we sometimes feel vegans are self-righteous, pushy, and selfish a bit. However, they are not! We, non-vegans, have forced them to act like that because of our stupidity and not being willing to be part of the conversation.
Determined To Hold On To Traditions
For many people, meat and other animal-related products are not just simple food! In fact, depending on where you live, meat is something representative of other things as well. For example, in many cultures in the world, eating meat is an indicator of being wealthy. If you don’t eat meat, it naturally means you are a poor individual.
These kinds of interpretations make people hesitant about stopping eating meat. Another wrong idea that most people have is that veganism is trying to get all people's traditions away from them. For example, for centuries people get together sometimes to barbeque and enjoy the company of each other.
For non-vegans, veganism means you should forget about all these nice gatherings. However, with a rapid expansion of vegan foods and vegan restaurants, people can still enjoy each other while eating delicious vegan food. Another reasoning for not becoming vegan is probably happening inside every one of us unintentionally.
From the dawn of humanity, we humans, have been hunting to survive, right? We have got used to getting up in the morning, chasing around elephants and giraffes in the plain of Africa, hunting them down, and finally enjoying our day with a tasty bite of fresh meat. These behaviours have been cooked in our biology and that's why it is sometimes hard for us to think and act otherwise.
Non-Vegans Might Think Vegans Are Annoying
This is another common thought about vegans. Vegans are usually active on social media. So, when there is a vegan-related topic, if you go to the comment section, you can see there are many of them trying to label non-vegans with words like murderers or flesh-eating monsters, etc. Accordingly, non-vegans consider them judgmental and aggressive sometimes. It might be true that because vegans are still in minority, they like to be heard or listened to.
Also, sometimes they indeed consider themselves better human beings. However, I am not sure whether it is possible to generalize such a trend. Of course, there are stupid vegans and non-vegans! So, non-vegans should not draw a conclusion based on one of two encounters with vegans. And, another thing that might help is that non-vegans should not single out veganism.
Some Vegans Talk Too Much!
Non-vegans often complain that vegans talk too much about veganism. Of course, it might be rude to talk about veganism or other related topics when people are not interested. However, perhaps, there is a reason why they do this. In fact, I think, sometimes, it is wired for non-vegans to observe how passionate vegans are because they think veganism is just a choice of food! But, it is not. Veganism for vegans is something beyond that and that's why sometimes they are considered chatty about it.
Some Vegans Are Angry And Even Worse, Dangerous
Some vegans can get out of control because of the cruelty of our modern world toward animals. Of course, ordinary people are not cutting animals' throats, farmers do. However, if those ordinary people stop buying, farmers have to stop this madness.
However, people simply don’t care and that's something that pisses vegans off. Also, in extreme cases, vegans could damage your properties or call animal rights activists who can cause a lot of problems for you. Of course, these are extreme cases. However, you might stumble upon one of them sooner or later.
Who Dislikes Vegans?
Well, who do you think hates vegans the most? Of course, some of them are just ordinary people who decide to hate them bases on their experiences. However, if we look more accurately, we might be able to categorize vegan haters into five classes including the self-publicist, the pointless troll, the long-term vegetarian, concerned family members, and hypocrisy seekers. Let's briefly talk about each class.
The Self-Publicist
Currently, online visibility is one of the most important aspects of all the businesses in the world. If you want to sell better, people need to know you. If you are a writer and want people to read your book, you have to be known on social media. If you are an English teacher who is looking for his/her business, you have to exhibit yourself online. So, it would be very hard to become famous by talking about non-controversial topics.
That's why many people who are looking for fame focus on vegans and veganism because it is a hot topic and the audience will pay attention to it. Even better, when you take it aside, you make it more interesting, right? So, some people just don’t like vegans because of their publicity. They want to be in the center of debate to get something out of fame.
The Pointless Troll
Weirdly, sometimes, people don’t like vegans because they enjoy them. They enjoy searching in the comment section and finding some supportive comments about veganism and then start attacking those guys who are sending them. Of course, these people will not last too long on social media as people realize that their main intention is not arguing, it is ridiculing others.
The Long-Term Vegetarian
Vegetarians usually find vegans as a threat to their existence. Vegans always blame vegetarians because they haven’t been caring as much as vegans. Vegans also find themselves better than vegetarians because of their stricter lifestyle. So, vegetarians don’t like to be around vegans or even talk to them about these issues.
Concerned Family Members
There is another misconception about veganism. It basically says if you are a vegan, you are not healthy because the foods you are eating don’t supply your body with enough nutrients, minerals, vitamins, etc. And, there is at least one individual in families who thinks like that, usually moms. However, this is not true. Vegan foods, if chosen correctly, are full of all requirements that our body needs to receive.
Hypocrisy Seekers
Hypocrisy seekers are everywhere and attacking everyone. So, it is not just about vegans. If I want to talk about them in a very simplified way, I have to say that they don’t like to be changed at all and they are sad why others are doing so. They might start asking you too many questions which makes you confused. And, then, they misuse this confusion to justify their position. For example, they might embarrass you with irrelevant questions and come up with a stupid and irrelevant conclusion. The best thing to do is to ignore them.
What Is The Solution?
When we have to see what we can do about the dilemma we are facing right now. everyone, including normal individuals, the government, and finally businesses should play their roles if we want people to stop hating vegans and veganism. I am going to give you an example from the businesses. What business has the most contact with vegans and veganism? Definitely, restaurants! I am going to talk about the fact that how important restaurants are in removing all the misunderstandings:
The Traditional Approach Is To Add New Vegan Items
This method has always worked very well in recruiting more vegans and trying to make the distance between vegans and non-vegans shorter. Right now, with billions of non-vegans, it is good to see restaurants that serve both vegan and non-vegan food.
This means that the food industry has accepted vegans and their choices and is trying to respect them by offering what they like. By the simple act of putting vegan food in their menus, restaurants will play their part in letting vegans get socialized.
Another important aspect that will help is the fact that the restaurants that offer vegan foods might not be a 100% fans of them. However, they support vegans by serving what they want. This is one of the oldest approaches which usually leads to having vegans and non-vegans at the same table at the same time.
Everything On The Menu Can Be Vegan
Sometimes, people hate vegans and veganism because they think vegan foods are all awful and tasteless and raw. However, this is not the case anymore. Vegan foods can be as delicious and diverse as normal foods. Restaurants can greatly help society understand vegan foods are not just tasteless foods.
Now, most restaurants have vegan food for every normal type of food they offer with the same name! That's amazing. For example, people usually think that vegans don’t eat burgers and sandwiches, etc. However, this is not true!
They can have the same burgers but with different ingredients. For example, there is both normal and vegan version of grilled fish & chips at restaurants. The vegan version of this food tastes the same as the normal one. However, the ingredients are different.
Veganism Doesn’t Always Mean Eating Plant-Based Foods
Sometimes, veganism is just simply more than food! In a way, it becomes a lifestyle. If people realize that adopting a vegan lifestyle might lead to a better, happier, more satisfying life, they will probably give it a try. However, they often don’t think that way. So, there are some restaurants and coffee which can change your mind.
As a vegan, in addition, to stop eating meat and animal-related products, you are obligated to minimize the amount of waste you are producing every day. Or, when you produce lots of it, you have to at least try to make the best out of it. This is veganism as much as eating plant-based materials.
First of all, food containers are usually a big source of pollution as we throw them away after eating the food. As a vegan, you are willing to spend a bit more and buy food in a sugarcane plant pulp rather than plastic because it will not pollute the environment anymore.
Or, fruit pulp which is a kind of waste from juice-making machines can be saved and reused in making delicious cakes. That's the dedication a vegan business show to get the best out of everything. So, as you can see here, veganism makes your life smarter, more useful, and productive. When people see these aspects of vegans' lifestyle, they might stop hating and even better join them.
Securing High Variations And A Diversity Of Vegan Foods
Another misunderstanding about vegans is that people think they have to deal with a very limited variety of food. Practically, they have no choice but four or five options every day of their lives. Also, people believe that in the best-case scenario, a vegan will eat the vegan version of current food nothing more.
Although this might be the case several decades ago, it is not currently the case anymore. Not only you can get vegan food for every type of normal food that you have, but you can also experience completely new dishes made from only plants. In a way, vegans' choices of food are much more extensive than many people think.
Conclusion
The number of people who are becoming vegan is getting higher gradually. As a result, they might want to speak louder in public so that other notice and hopefully join them quickly. However, this might cause some social issues. Some people might start hating them because of vegans' attitude toward non-vegans.
In this article, we discussed reasons which lead to hatred. Also, we talked about the solution that we have ahead of us to make the situation better than before. My advice is just not to try to generalize anything. You might have seen a very annoying vegan, but it doesn’t mean all of them are the same.
I trust you enjoyed reading the article about Why Some People Don't Like Vegans? Please stay tuned. There are more blog posts to come very shortly.
JeannetteZ
Your Opinion Is Important To Me
Ideas? Thoughts? Questions? I would love to hear from you. Would you please leave me your questions, experience, and remarks about Why Some People Don't Like Vegans in the comments section below? You can also reach me by email at Jeannette@LivingTheVeganLifestyle.org.
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