Yes, to be clear, I don’t doubt that some vegans may be jerks about it. There are jerks in all circles.
Just trying to shoot down the stereotype (which I am not sure anyone in this thread has really invoked, but maybe alluded to) of vegans usually or always been preachy. They just aren’t IME.
I wonder though if it is one of those memes that made sense at one time. I remember first hearing about the concept of veganism in probably the 90s. It was unfathomable. How could they survive!?
If you were a vegan back then, I can bet it was a big part of your identity, and also you might have felt the need to explain to people what is it, and why you do it.
I suspect where you’re most seeing this behavior is online, where everybody is obnoxious about their beliefs. I absolutely was, which is one reason I left social media. I didn’t like being that person.
But this isn’t really specific to veganism. The Internet makes people ranty and self-righteous.
I’m glad you clarified. Otherwise, I might have thought you meant that they were apologists for veganism (“someone who speaks or writes in defense of someone or something that is typically controversial, unpopular, or subject to criticism”).
I suspect you’re right. Like so many others in this thread, in my IRL experience, the ratio of vocally judgmental vegans and vegetarians to vegans and vegetarians in general (even counting just the ones I know of) is extremely small.
But I also wonder whether there’s a pop culture source for the stereotype of the vocally judgmental vegan (or vegetarian). Has there been a prominent movie or TV character, or character type, like this?
If I had to guess, it came from young radical college students who like to try on new identities like they’re trying on hats. In fact I think I tried to be vegan at least once when I was in college, because it was kind of trending. When you’re that young, you tend to broadcast your identity, especially if it’s new. I don’t think today’s college students would be as obnoxious because it’s way more common to be vegan than it was when I was in college.
And I was at a very large (50,000 students) public university but I was part of this smaller learning community that was notorious for being like the commie hippie school. I was in an environment where any kind of radicalism was more common.
This person I’m no longer familiar with aside from FB posts. That said, they’re under their real name and their account isn’t private, but I doubt they are as vocal irl.
I wouldn’t doubt them them being somewhat vocal to people though, because of the things they post. Sometimes it pisses me off because they weren’t always this way, and they act as if they were.
Well, if I’m a test case, I used to rant on Facebook all the time about Trump, but the last time I was with my husband’s family and they were talking about what a great role model he was for their grandson (seriously) I just pretended it wasn’t happening. “This is really good steak!” I said.
People tend to be more chill offline.
In fact I’m really easy to talk to about contentious issues but I think some people didn’t know that because of my Facebook rage.
I’ve known a fair number of vegans and, with one exception, they’ve all been reasonable people. The most obnoxious judgy people I’ve run into are people who complain about vegans, as though someone else’s dietary choices had any affect on their lives.
If you want to eat meat, eat meat. No one can stop you. The meat industry in the US isn’t going away soon.
Also, Facebook isn’t life. The less time spent having Mark Zuckerberg’s algorithm affect you, the better.
I’m not trying to be a dick, and you’re right that FB isn’t real life, but that doesn’t mean they’re being dishonest about their feelings about meat eaters. I know most vegans aren’t that way, but it seems to me like people are making excuses for this person. I may be wrong though.
Japanese (and anyone)can eat anything they like. I dare you to get a 3yo to eat more than one edamame bean or tofu willingly. If it won’t be eaten by a greater number it’s not a good food source. Soy is a great product for many reasons. But not served in a regular everyday American family. Ok. Yes we need to eat better.
It’s not gonna happen.
We can’t get people to quit sucking down soda pop with sugary cereal for breakfast. Take a survey of your friends
and family’s cupboards and refrigerators. You’ll find soy, processed into other products. Raw or dried soybeans will rarely be found. Like you said,
Cool beans. But peas are
a better source of protein.
I realize livestock production is mostly horrible. And needs a great big overhaul to more humane methods.
But it gonna be reflective in the price of a hamburger.
I know a cow is cute but face it people they are a food. Happy cows make a better food product, meat, milk and cheeses.
Don’t be fooled into thinking locally sourced meat, chickens, eggs are from gardens of Edens. Small home farmers have just as much mud, poop, and flies as a big outfit. Maybe they have a better stall and more room. Their water trough has just as much algae growing in it.
With the poor families in America trying to feed children. How much veggie varieties do you think they can buy? Can they match the protein value of meat with what they can get at the local Piggly Wiggly? Especially if they live in a food desert and there’s no other way to shop?
Have you priced Kale lately?
It’s pie-in-the-sky to think that’s gonna happen.
Of course it would be better if they could afford to provide a vast offering of several veg and grain and B-12 supplement to make everyone healthy, at every meal. Ain’t happening. In these desperate families.
Maybe I’m wrong about a bunch of things. In reality vegan diets are not sustainable for most families.
Grocery prices are not going down. Best we can hope for is for them not to go too much higher.
(We won’t go into “grow your own”. Very expensive hobby)
I actually have recently. I’m probably wrong in my assessment, but it seems people are trying to convince me that people like them just don’t exist, and if they do exist, well, it’s only online and I should touch grass.
I’m probably wrong ,though. Like I said, I think I find being a (none preachy) vegan morally altruistic. I’m probably wrong and should not post for a while. I need some time to adjust to my mood, because I’ve have a very volatile few days, and it’s possible my frustrations are effecting my judgment and reading comprehension.
That’s what I say, and only if asked (which is rare). I personally think factory farming is an abomination, an industry of enormous suffering and cruelty. But I actually say out loud something like, “Well, I just think factory farming is wrong.”
But I don’t judge others. I ate meat for 53 years.
I guess I run in meat eating circles. My sister is vegetarian but not vegan. Partially for ethical reasons but mostly for dietary/health reasons. Her son/my nephew is an ethical vegan as was his father. His father died quite young from cancer so it didn’t help him healthwise. My nephew is about as easy going as you can get when it comes to food. When he will be at a family function we go out of our way to make sure there is something he can eat and enjoy. If we are somewhere that he can’t find something he wants then he quietly eats before or after. He’s teaveled around the world for work and is an expert at finding what he needs wherever he goes. I don’t know if he’s judgy in his heart but outwardly he doesn’t bring it up.
There are two annoying, hardcore vegans who always get on my case. The encounters often go like this:
Vegan 1: “It’s unethical to eat animals. Do the right thing and go vegan.”
Me: “I try, I really do. I like animals very much.”
Vegan 2: “You’ve got a piece of pork in your teeth. Try harder, Dad.”
Yes, the annoying vegans in my life are my daughters. I’m stuck with them. They are vegan for ethical reasons and they are very well-educated on the subject. They’ve been vegan for years and they don’t cheat. For that, I’m proud of them.
They’ve converted me into a partial vegan—let’s say about 50%. It’s healthy, and I do feel better about not contributing to the slaughter of animals on my vegan days. And, I must admit, many vegan dishes are quite tasty. But, dammit, the taste of crispy bacon, sizzling steak, and beer-battered fish is just too darn tempting. In my defense, I’m old and set in my ways.
Sometimes I wish I had carnivorous sons to balance things out.
I’m having a really hard time figuring out what is going on. I don’t know what your connection to this person is or how important they are to you. Are they confronting you in person? Don’t let people live in your head, don’t worry about what they post, and for the love of everything holy, don’t get in arguments on Facebook. It’s really bad for your mental health. Just walk away.
Why?
Three year olds won’t eat beans they know unless you add all kinds of crap to make them tasty. Usually, around here it’s parts of a pig.
Edamame? Nope. Not gonna happen.
I’m talking about America. Not Japan. The OP never mentioned other countries. So I assumed where I live. That’s all I can speak of.
Other than that, not sure what your Wow is about.
ETA, if you lived in my county, I defy you to find edamame.