Real Talk | The Veggie Stigma

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When I was a freshman in high school, I became a vegetarian and since then (the last seven years (holy sh*t that’s a long time!)) I have been on and off varying forms of vegetarianism.  For the last year or so, I have eaten meat, but haven’t touched dairy. And just recently, for about the last few weeks, I stopped eating meat for ethical reasons. There are some people in my life, a lot actually, who give me a stank face when I say things like, “I don’t eat dairy products,” or when I first declared my vegetarianism seven years ago. The only reason I ever quit vegetarianism in the first place was because I felt so pressured by people all the time. I was always made to feel like I was a burden to feed even though why I was doing what I was doing felt right.

Frankly, I don’t understand it at all. I’ve encountered people personally offended by my choice of diet. My best guess is that it is their form of defense mechanism somewhere very internally protecting them from having to be around me. The stereotype about vegans/vegetarians is that we will preach to you about your wrong-doing to the world. Sometimes that is true. As I have done research whether it be scholarly or videos from YouTube, I often come across people who blatantly attack other people and spew venomous facts at them. Personally I think that it is the worst method of getting the message out about veganism. No one wants to be verbally assaulted.

With anything, really, you’ll find extremists and I personally will never be one. That’s why I get really angry when someone looks at me like I have insulted them when I say I’m vegan. That’s why I haven’t out right told anyone yet. I’m just sort of phasing into it discreetly, but still I get, “Why aren’t you getting the chicken on your chipotle?” with a caustic tone. For some reason, it really annoys people when I won’t eat meat. Again, it might be a subconscious reaction to try to shut me down to avoid any sort of Vegan Propaganda speeches. To anyone reading this that eats meals with me, the only time I will tell you information is if you A) ask me specifically to know more, or B) tell me I am stupid for my choices.

I will make it clear that I don’t think meat eating is wrong, I just have a problem with the way meat is mass produced and how it affects the animals’ lives. If you’re a Katniss-type and hunt wild turkeys and deer, that’s awesome. You’re living like a natural human. I wouldn’t turn down venison. This might seem pretty weird, but that’s just my choice. I encourage anyone to seek some information about factory farming, but I won’t go so far as some whacked out people I saw in a forum the other day. They said they won’t attend a holiday gathering where animal products are served. I think we can all agree that that sucks for everyone. And I promise not all of us are like that.

So I will leave you with the hopes that if you ever encounter a non-meat eater type human, you won’t make them feel weird about it if they haven’t tried to make you weird first; also to encourage you to not plug your ears if they do try to preach. They do it with good intentions.