Why do so many people criticise vegans?

[trunch]

I'm a meat eater!

However, I don't understand why people criticise vegans so much.

They aren't hurting me and are trying to save animals and the environment.

What's wrong with that?

Surely people should be more critical of me because animals are killed for me to eat?

...presumably so they know what it's meant to taste like? Just because someone doesn't morally wish to harm animals, doesn't necessarily mean they suddenly don't like the taste of meat. It's perfectly sensible.

I'm sure most ethical vegans would, yes.

they arent just making a choice for themselves

This statement is correct, we aren't just making a choice for ourselves, we are trying to stand up for animals who do not get the privilege of being given a choice.

I think people indulge vegans (e.g cooking extra specific dishes at dinner parties, etc) out of some misguided idea of kindness, without releasing that this would absolutely not be reciprocated if the shoe were on the other foot

I think that lots of people are happy to cater for vegans, and realise that it is something they can also eat themselves. You are right though, I personally wouldn't buy or cook meat for anybody that was coming to my house, in fact, at my funeral the whole catering will be vegan. I'm going to be the only dead body at that ceremony.

It be interested to see you watch the 'cowspiracy' and 'lands of hope and glory' shows posters have linked on here. Just to see how you feel about things afterwards. Not saying they'll make you magically change into a vegan 😆 but I think they'd maybe be quite eye opening.

Also...you do know anyone can drink oatmilk right? It's not vegan exclusive...xD at least I hope it isn't or I'm in trouble.

@BeDeepKoala if you invite a vegan to a dinner party, then you (more than likely) know in advance and it is a choice on your behalf, understanding their beliefs and choices and diet, to offer to cook for them. Don't like it - don't invite them.

Would you go to a Hindu or Jain dinner party and expect them to make you a burger? If not why is this any different?

Half of Los Angeles is literally on fire because of climate change right now ...

This is the kind of silly hyperbole which does your cause no favours at all, @00psInamechangedagain

Eight minutes ago on AP it was saying the fires currently involve about 43 square miles in total, and California has over 155 thousand of them

Yes they're a problem and yes they can and do spread, but that's hardly "half of California"

"Because most vegans are inherently intolerant"

I would say any meat eater saying this gives no shits about the impact of their choices on animals, and is happy to tolerate, or ignorant about, animal suffering.

One of my best friends teens had a nut allergy. She eats out and checks everything, as my friend, her mum has taught her. If someone sees her as a pain in the arse, tough shit. She wants to lead as normal a life as possible.

Shall I send you my address?

https://www.vegansociety.com/resources/nutrition-and-health/nutrients/vitamin-b12/what-every-vegan-should-know-about-vitamin-b12#:~:text=The%20only%20reliable%20vegan%20sources,%2C%20comes%20from%20micro%2Dorganisms.

from the vegan society.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_B12

Basic wiki

Pretty sure that's a marketing strategy not vegans writing to the companies asking for it 😂

So you are saying that because of their beliefs, vegans shouldn't eat out at regular cafes, and similarly people with nut allergies or strict religious adherence should avoid them too? And if they do dare to ask they are fussy "pains in the backside"?

Nice attitude.

I have nothing against vegans (I used to be one), but I don't like ones who are militant about it and try to push it on others, or use shock/guilt tactics. That applies to anything someone has views on though, and not just veganism.

Genuine question; what do vegans think would happen to all the farm animals if suddenly everyone stopped eating meat? Do you think the farmers would just keep them as pets...? Who would feed them, house them and who would pay for all of this?

@trunch it's mainly because of these vegans ⬆

@Puzzledandpissedoff you have to agree though, going on the headlines and news, it is really horribly serious. If the PP used the language they did, it wasn't to be literal but to convey the awfulness of the situation. I don't think anyone who has seen the headlines (most) would take that literally.

@theeyeofdoe my point still stands though, animals don't naturally have b12 in them they get it from the soil when they graze which is why animals that can't graze don't have any b12 and need supplements added to their diet.

Another classic of vegan bingo.

@Puzzledandpissedoff Are you unaware that Los Angeles and California are separate things? The former is a city, so therefore much smaller than the state in which it is situated?

Genuine question here but that list doesn't include things such as quinoa, avocados and other produce we don't grow in the U.K. Once you look at air miles and the industries they are grown in versus beef from the farmer down the road I wonder if that is still accurate?

Same goes for fish they don't naturally have omega 3 in them, they get it from the algae and plankton they eat so technically we don't need to eat fish to get omega 3 we can just eat the algae in supplement form. Obviously this is a first world luxury as in days previous we couldn't do that. Same as many parts of the world still don't have access to the range of supplements that we do in the uk

All farm animals have their date of death pretty much marked from the day they are born & it is a fraction of their natural lifespan. Those born today will not be here in a few years or less (some only days / months)

I think vegans want to stop the unnecessary breeding of new animals into existence for the purpose of eating, wearing, using etc.

Because Hindus arent trying to make beef illegal in the UK (beef is also not illegal in India, and can be bought in many places). Similarly, pork is widely available in most Muslim countries, even if Muslims dont eat it themselves.

Most vegans however would make meat consumption illegal, given the choice. As such, it is an inherently intolerant and authoritarian ideology. A rise in veganism would be a serious problem for society, since vegans want to enforce their dietary preferences on others, in a way that Hindus/Muslims dont. As such, it is stupid for non-vegans to indulge or cater to vegans. Like I said, most people do it out of a misguided sense of kindness, maybe without realising that vegans would be 100% pro banning everyone from eating any meat, if they got a critical mass of political power.

For me, and again, not vegan but, until I really started looking into the industries, I had no idea.
I mean I knew, of course I did, as we all do, that animals have to die for us to eat them.

The trouble is, although we say 'it's such a shame' and recognise its sad - we don't feel it. We've been disconnected from feeling anything by years of social conditioning. That and of course, its out of sight, out of mind.

But I realise now, after seeing... that should have been a red flag. The fact that I felt...sympathy I guess, in some ways, but no real empathy or emotion about what was going on.

I see how much was hidden from me too.
People like to use the word 'propaganda' when talking about vegans. But, the real propaganda is something we've been exposed to our whole lives by the meat and dairy industry, via advertising and through the spread of false information (eg: you need milk for calcium). Once you see the scale of things, the scale of the lies... it's genuinely heartbreaking. And I felt such a sense of shame. And thats a hard emotion to sit with.

And I think we all fear shame too. So it can be difficult to even want to look. It's not 'judgement' that scares us from vegans. It's that we might have to self reflect...to look behind the curtains and judge ourselves. And we might not like what we see. Not just with what we are actually paying for, but also, with whats going on within ourselves.

I hope future generations will be kinder from the get go. I've changed my diet considerably but I'm weak to certain things... and I recognise that weakness for what it is. Sometimes we have to be able to say 'I don't like this about myself' and 'other people can do things better than I can' and 'are better people in certain regards'.

But I'll never be blinded to things again. And I'm so thankful to vegans for giving me back part of myself that I didn't know I had lost. No, not lost...but that had been taken from me.

It’s a huge, complicated topic. Have a google as there are lots of thoughts on this by environmentalists and conservationists around preserving species, keeping soil quality etc.

As a celiac I find it very frustrating as in many restaurants they have only 1 option that is for special diets so I end up eating vegan. Sometimes this is fine but for desserts it's particularly sad as it's hard enough to make nice gf cake but taking the egg and dairy out makes it almost impossible.

Also the selection of food available in supermarkets for vegans is often far greater than gluten free as veganism is trendy. I'm not making a lifestyle choice to be gf, it's a medical condition and it's not the vegans fault but it's very upsetting. Try and get a gf safe lunch (salad or sandwich etc) in a high street shop/supermarket/service station and you'll be lucky to find anything but you'll be fine if you're vegan. I have frequently had to just skip lunch if we need to pick up something when we're out and about.

I don't know op! It is socially very acceptable to shoot down veganism. Oat milk is called 'funny milk' or 'weird milk' and vegan cheese is ripped to pieces as disgusting and I just silently have to absorb it all without ever complaining. I would never dream of criticising meat eaters but if I did it would be like the world is ending. The double standard is quite upsetting and it's not fair.