Editorial by Brindy Francis
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| Photo from Tumblr |
It’s Friday night. You decided to have all your friends over to watch the season finale of Stranger Things on Netflix. On your way home from work, you stop by Trader Joe’s to pick up some chips and dips and such. You remembered that Haley is vegan, so you pick up only vegan things so that everyone can eat and enjoy themselves! But wait, Johnny the meat eater doesn’t want any “rabbit food.” Crap. Now Haley the vegan is trying to throw environmental facts down meat-eater Johnny’s throat. It is now a riot.
Okay, but here’s the thing. Nobody cares what you eat. Nobody cares that you think vegans are stupid. Nobody cares that you think meat eaters are stupid. Nobody cares if you only eat fish, egg whites, or only the stem of broccoli. I’m not saying I’m going to support you for eating meat necessarily (I, myself, am a vegetarian), but I will defend your right to eat whatever you want.
Don’t get me wrong, I love hearing facts about how veganism can help us environmentally and health-wise and how it is saving our rainforests. I like hearing your stance on everything, but not everyone is going to. Just like the party situation, it can turn into a riot. I’m sure everyone could be interested in a nice conversation about it, but becoming defensive will not help your case. You’re here to have a good time! Let’s simmer down.
I’ve gotten comments my whole life being an off and on vegetarian. Every family event, I am questioned why I eat the way I do. I just inform them that it is my choice. Now, with veganism growing month after month, meat-eaters are looked down upon in youth. It does not have to be that way. People are not understanding that someone’s lifestyle is not going to affect them.
Whether you eat meat and dairy or not has been the big topic of discussion in the past year or so. The documentary Cowspiracy, directed and produced by Kip Andersen in 2014, really got people going. Animal cruelty was recognized, which is fantastic, but now everyone is expected to take that information and do something intense with it, such as change your diet and/or products completely. Something not understood is that it’s not as easy as everyone thinks it is, especially when someone is under harsh living conditions. Some people just flat out do not care about the movement at all. Does that mean they need to be shunned?
Having views is an absolutely wonderful thing, but you need to question whether it is really something worth feuding about. In no way do I want to advise you to not fight for what you believe in. If someone is being unreasonable about it, by all means, put them in their place. The point of this read is to bring peace to the situation. Yes, you have the right to speak whatever comes to mind, but you don’t have to be an asshole about it.
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