Why is there so much hatred towards vegans?

[keysonthehighshelf]

I'm veggie, and slowly cutting down on certain things with the aim of being fully vegan by the end of the year. I'm not perfect, and I in no way dislike those who eat meat. I know some vegans are really aggressive but the vast majority are quietly vegan for their own reasons. I am raising my son vegetarian simply because I have never prepared meat before. I've seen a nutritionist and they've confirmed it's absolutely fine to raise a baby vegetarian and has given me meal plans and advice re supplements (which aren't actually needed). I still have had at least 4 people imply that I'm damaging him, and have had people aggressively tell me that 'vegans are hypocrites for wanting their food to look and taste like meat' - it doesn't really bother me but my sister who is vegan finds it upsetting. AIBU to think it's odd that people have such annoyance towards vegans? Or is it in my head?

I would like to know what percentage of vegans are actually making a sacrifice, I mean is it the case that they enjoy meat but they don't eat it because of their principles or do most of them find it totally unpalatable?
I speak as a vegetarian who finds meat and fish mostly unpalatable, I could eat it if I had to but I choose not to and I don't like the idea of eating it, however I really enjoy cheese and yogurt, those are the two reasons that I'm not vegan

Some vegans are a bit stupid though and those individuals aren't Ambassadors for veganism. They don't singlehandedly prove veganism is wrong. They're just stupid vegans. You're going to have people who aren't overburdened with intelligence in any group.

I went on a date with a vegan, and I ordered something vegan too. He was annoyed by that. I said why? His (flawed imo) argument was that non vegans ordering vegan food made restaurant staff casual about preparing strictly vegan dishes. I countered with ''no, I'm creating demand for vegan options. I'm doing you a favour''. He said I was missing the point. What if the dish came back with parmesan! I said ''I don't have to give the wait staff my life story. I'm just asking for this dish''. He disagreed. So I do get it. He saw clearly saw veganism as a part of his identity that lost meaning if I could sit next to him an order a vegan dish as well.

But there are people every where with a fragile sense of themself clinging to something to give them identity. Veganism is a positive thing to cling to at the end of the day.

Tangent. I saw two punks shopping in Tesco yesterday. 63 ish I'd say. Cute couple. In the freezer section. I thought, wow, they did not give up on it.

Grasspigeons
I think most people are fairly respectful of people's personal and ethical choices as long as they're not pushy onto others.
If someone says they're vegetarian or vegan when I'm catering then I think nothing of it. There's lots of lovely vegetarian and vegan food. If I asked for dietary requirements for an event and they said "I'm vegan because I can't stand... And.... And ... " Then I'd roll my eyes because I didn't ask for a lecture.

I've experienced what you say about alcohol, but usually with drunk people or people I don't know well. Thankfully low drinking and no drinking is fairly common in my friendship groups.

@RhinoskinhaveI good point.

For me, if I went vegan, the sacrifice would be the convenience. Or do I mean inconvenience? The actual food, well-prepared, I love it. The only part of my Christmas lunch that I left was the ham and the turkey. I passed on to my son's plate. No sacrifice there.

Out of 4 vegans I know only 1 is truly vegan- the whole lifestyle, clothes etc.

But why does anyone even know, some days I eat meat, others I don't, sometimes I have a veggie meal when I'm out sometimes I don't. But I don't tell anyone.

People get sick and tired of people needing to publicise the fact that they are vegan, tell everyone else about their reasons for doing so and why meat eaters are wrong/cruel/unsustainable etc etc.

Just don't discuss it, post it on insta, try and control where a group of people can eat, preach to your friends, quote stupid Netflix documentaries, manipulate up facts to suit your 'cause' without consideration on the wider environment, eat cake that you know full well contains eggs and butter then continue to be sanctimonious or make comment on other peoples meals and you'll be fine!

Goddess what an idiot! How in the name of blue fuck would the restaurant know who was vegan and who wasn't?!

Have you not noticed that we have to cater to Vegans e.g. special food, untouched by meat in any way if they come to eat at your house, but they never cater to us meat eaters? This isn't true of all vegans, but it is for the majority.

I'm not a vegetarian but I do have a lot of non-meat days, often on holiday. I have been lectured on occasions that 'I should eat the local food' as they chow into a steak or fish (I rarely eat fish either). Last time I looked, salad or fruit was local to lots of Mediterranean countries . What do they think people ate before meat was cheap enough to be readily available in most countries (another ethical issue)?! The vegetarians thst I actually know as friends wouldn't dream of lecturing anyone like that. They'll talk about their choice of food if you ask but otherwise, each to their own!

I don’t actually think there’s a straightforward answer. Some people are very militant, whether they be meat eaters or vegans, and have little tolerance for others. Some have just converted and are a bit evangelical, which can be irritating. Some meat eaters feel guilty about it, and therefore get irritated by it. Some vegans are thoughtful, some are preachy. There’s a very broad range of answers depending on the people involved.

For me personally, despite the username,I eat mostly vegan food, with a bit of vegetarian if I feel the need for eggs or if I am eating out, but I don’t force it on others. I also cook fish or meat for others sometimes, which I try to buy on as ethical a basis as possible. However, a lot of this is due to taste rather than strict principle. I may feel differently and talk about it a lot more otherwise!

its guilt.

its the same phenomenon that makes closest homosexuals who are ashamed of their sexuality into the most poisonous and vitriolic homophobes.

they know they don't have the strength to be vegan but secretly wish they did, and they deal with the cognitive dissonance by doing everything they can to ridicule and shame the state that they desire but feel unable to reach.

I would like to know what percentage of vegans are actually making a sacrifice, I mean is it the case that they enjoy meat but they don't eat it because of their principles or do most of them find it totally unpalatable?

Purely anecdotally in my experience a) most of them and b) hardly any stick it out.

I do know a couple of people like you who just don't like meat, one of my aunts, and a friend who does like fish, but they just quietly get on with choosing vegetable dishes so unless you are close to them you would never know neither has eaten meat in decades.

Most of the vegetarians I've known in my time (and the much smaller number of vegans) have been 'ethical' veggies though, and a fair few of them didn't even seem to like vegetables much and subsisted on chips, noodles and cheese toasties.

But @Jaxhog, that’s because they don’t believe in eating meat on principle! You’d be expecting them to breach their principles to prepare meat, when there are alternatives their guests can eat happily. That’s not really reasonable.

I have a couple of VEGAN fundamentalists. They’re so evangelical about it & you can’t help but want to eat a live Mooing cow in front of them (note I don’t actually eat meat). I also have some vegan friends who just quietly get on with life respecting that others eat a different diet and don’t mind using animal products.

The first lot are insufferable bores and are the ones society can’t stand and mock. the latter imo are more likely to be successful with conversion, as for them it’s the benefit of veganism rather than pushing guilt at not being.

@Jaxhog that's because vegan food is suitable for everyone while meat is suitable for omnis only.

Also @RhinoskinhaveI I love the taste of meat and I adore cheese. So yes, it's a sacrifice.

I've been pescatarian for decades and I have NEVER preached about it, in fact sometimes it feels like having a dirty secret lol!

It's easy to see why people get defensive about non-meat eaters and feel the need to criticise or throw around stupid statements about us being unhealthy due to lack of protein/B12 etc. People feel defensive and judged by others who have rejected something (meat, alcohol, smoking etc) that they enjoy. The fact that someone actively avoids something is an implicit judgement that meat, alcohol, smoking can be unhealthy and people don't want to be confronted with that.

I used to work in an office with a heavy drinking and smoking culture, I didn't smoke and I only like a glass of red wine which didn't go down well with my 'lager in one hand, fag in the other' colleagues. It's the same thing.

I think also there might be a class and political element to it as well. Veganism is sometimes viewed as a liberal elitist thing. In the last few years in the USA, some right-wing conservatives have started using their love of meat as a way to "own the 'Libs" in response to the increasing popularity of vegan burgers in fast food restaurants.

I completely respect the choice to be vegan, or vegetarian. Most of my friends who are vegan and vegetarian, are neither evangelical or militant about it, they eat theirs and I eat mine, respectful of each others' choices.

The one who was most evangelical and militant about it was the one who was caught eating a mince pie down the dairy one day, poor lass, she never heard the end of that mince pie!

I feel absolutely no guilt about eating meat and fish as part of my diet, sorry. Never have, quite likely never will. This is why I don't hate or even dislike, vegetarians, and vegans. I do object, however, to loud, aggressive, in your face demonstrators seeking to intimidate those going about their perfectly legitimate business, albeit in a way that they profoundly disagree with. Some of the people that indulge in this sort of behaviour are militant vegans. It doesn't endear their message to me at all. I kind of wonder why they think it would.

I’m a vegetarian, I have never in my life eaten meat, fish or dairy. I do eat egg once a week and use local honey.

I personally don’t know any vegans who are preachy, but none of my friends are the sort of people who would be preachy. I have seen several preachy vegans on instagram who will essentially verbally abuse someone for eating meat, then cry hate crime if someone retaliates.

I genuinely don’t care what other people eat or drink, I do find it a bit odd when people care about what someone else is eating.

I do occasionally have colleagues making unkind comments, but unpleasant people aren’t really worth my time so I just ignore them. I did have the odd person at uni who would try to ‘accidentally’ feed me meat, which is not only stupid but shows that they are a complete arse.

I did get a lecture from someone recently who informed me that my son and I are most definitely malnourished due to our diets. She and both of her children are significantly over weight, so that did tickle me.

*Surely the question is how can anyone have a problem with someone's fundamental beliefs that they don't know anything about because that someone is just quietly getting on with their own life and not bothering others about it?

If you are just quietly being vegan the rest of us won't know you are vegan, it won't be an issue.*

Why do they have to be quiet? It's a minority group who need to make noise to be heard and by the growing popularity of veganism or of people making choices to eat less meat in general it's made a difference.
It annoys me sometimes and some of the militant ones I find rude and preachy but...they actually have a point that cannot be argued with. It's made a difference to me.

Because the few vegans I know are pushy, vocal, and intent on telling me (without any evidence) how their diet will solve all my health problems. It drives me insane. I don't tell people how to eat regardless of their dietary choices and I'm not sure when this became an okay thing to do.

I dont have a problem with people choosing not to eat dairy, animal products, wheat, gluten, sugar, carbohydrate etc etc. I have a problem with being lectured and talked at.

I know logically not all vegans are the same but the ones I've met are, so it always attracts an eye roll internally or externally as I wait for the inevitable advice or judgement, neither of which I asked for. It's unfortunate for the normal people amongst the vegan crowd that crack on with life and eat what they want when they want and let others do the same, but it's human nature to judge on experience.

I do you know a couple of people just like you who don't eat meat
My vegetarianism is born of fussy eating but I am now quite fanatical about healthy food, when I say fanatical I mean that it's very important to me and I stick to it very closely but I never ever talk about it to other people or try to impose my choices on them, like your aunt and your friend I just quietly get on with doing what I like doing

@AutumnRose1 No second date! I think he was confusing being a vegan meal with having a medical condition.

@maryberryslayers I agree up to a point but having watched cowspiracy, it does open one's eyes to how consumers stick our heads in the sand about a lot of things. I suggested the documentary to a few people cos if you like documentaries, it is interesting.

There's a line. I am not going on about the documentary years after seeing it, but to mock anybody for having felt it made an impression on them would be like colluding with the silence imo.

Because deep down the vast majority of people have a total disconnect with the natural world. That's it. We watch lovely David Attenborough documentaries with their anthropomorphic stories and are taken in by them.
I've never met a vegan but would be perfectly respectful of their choice if I did.

@ElluesPichulobu

You feeling ok? Because that’s a pretty odd, uneducated, naive and incorrect statement to make.

My DH has become vegan for about a year and has told no one. His Mum only found out when we went for a meal. He is so much healthier than before.