Can't we just all get along? A little about vegans, vegetarians and meat eaters living in harmony.

There can often be a lot of hostility and disagreement between people on different diets but I don’t think it has to be this way.

I would often wonder why when simply saying that I was vegetarian or vegan people would often make fun, get angry or search for leather shoes or some other kind of moral inconsistency in my lifestyle.  Then I think about how I feel sometimes when someone says that they abstain from something that I eat/drink/do.

Often when I meet somebody who says they don’t drink alcohol I automatically assume they think I’m a disgrace and think that if they disapprove strongly of something I really enjoy, we have nothing in common, I feel judged and it creates a barrier.  On my course there are a lot of students and lecturers who are on gluten free diets and it makes me feel incredibly guilty that I still eat gluten, even though it doesn’t cause me any symptoms.  But when I stop and ask myself whether anyone has actually said anything judgemental about me drinking alcohol or eating gluten, the answer is no.  The feeling of judgement has come from my imagination.

For this reason, I think it’s important for vegetarians and vegans to be mindful of this when mentioning one’s dietary choice to people.  There are many people (like me!) who tend to take things personally and might automatically feel judged before you’ve even opened your mouth.

Me & my very good friend Nana who I 

really admire. She eats meat but does

amazing paid and voluntary work 

for people with mental health issues.

Obviously I do think there is something wrong with factory farming and there is a reason why I am vegan, but that does not mean that I think meat eaters are malicious people. The way I see it is there are people who might eat meat but do positive things for the world that I could never do, for example, carers, doctors, surgeons & nurses, mental health workers, social workers, adoptive parents, police, fire fighters, disaster relief workers etc. I certainly don’t think simply being vegan makes me superior to them.  Most people grow up surrounded by animal produce and I do understand that moving to an entirely plant based diet would be a very dramatic step for many. It took me several years despite not even liking the taste of many animal products.

My vegan strawberry daiquiri birthday cake lovingly made by
Maria who features in the photo at the beginning of this blog.
  She's my super-close friend of  nearly 26 years and a non-bitter ex-vegan.
She's not teetotal, just not quite the cocktail connoisseur that I am & we
don't judge each other.

If you are a vegan who feels really passionately about animal rights (which I can understand), try as hard as you can to put your judgement aside when talking to meat eaters, lacto vegetarians or ‘pseudo’ vegans.  Judging people is likely to lead to alienation and will not win you any converts. 

The important thing is to promote your diet in a positive way.  Learn to cook a few delicious vegan meals, snacks or desserts to help dispel the idea that you have to choose between tasty food and ethics.

Meat eaters do remember you’re not necessarily being judged!  If you’ve had bad experiences with self-righteous vegetarians or vegans before, don’t take it out on all of us! 

And for those few who like to tease vegetarians and vegans, those ‘carrot killer’ jokes are old, unfunny, infantile and moronic (and any such comments on my blog will not be dignified with a response!)

Me & Louisa, friends for 25 years.
Me with mushroom fajitas, her with
a steak

What me & Louisa don't have in common: I'm vegan, she'll eat pretty much anything that moves

What we do have in common: We like a lot of the same old films and TV: (Labyrinth! (how could you not love David Bowie in tights!),The Dark Crystal, The Princess Bride (we all love a bit of Westley!), Clash of the Titans (old version!), The BFG, Edward Scissorhands, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Red Dwarf, Peep show, Ally McBeal, Simpsons)…The list goes on! 

In general: fondness for alcohol, going to old fashioned pubs, chips! (We are real potato appreciators!) frugality & being sensible with money (she is better at this than me though!), rebellion from our parents and authority in general (when we were younger!), not wearing make-up everyday, interest in different cultures & diversity, similar political views, having intelligent conversations, liking a lot of old music from the 60s & 70s more than modern music! 

The vast majority of my close friends and family are meat eaters (but who are open to trying my recipes!) which I think proves that vegans, vegetarians and meat eaters can live in harmony. 

me and my beloved meat eating siblings

I also think it's ridiculous that in the health professions there’s a lot of advice that pretty much all will agree with (everything in moderation, more fresh vegetables, less sugar and processed food) but yet people waste time having heated debates about whether a vegan or omnivorous diet is best! Not productive at all! Does not have to be this way people!

PEACE :)