What do you hate about vegans/vegetarians?

As a vegan, I’ve had to deal with many, many people who aren’t accepting of my decision to better myself and the environment and to protect animals and not take advantage of them. Wow. Long sentence.

I’m wondering what exactly it is that some people hate about vegans and vegetarians. Or if anybody really does at all. Maybe they’re just jealous. :wink:

That they appear pale, thin, and generally sickly, while deluding themselves into thinking that they are healthier than the rest of us.

I don’t hate vegetarians generally, but I detest the kind of specious bullshit that is sometimes spouted in defence or support of vegetarianism - the notion that our digestive system is not adapted to, or capable of, properly handling animal protein, for example.

Not that vegetarians by any means have a monopoly on specious bullshit arguments, of course.

Vegans aren’t so bad. Alpha Centaurians though, man those guys are assholes…

But seriously I don’t dislike vegetarians, unless there is something to dislike about them.
Some can be a bit pretentious or self righteous or act like they are more enlightened. A simple “I don’t eat meat” is fine, the occasional sermon gets annoying.

Generally speaking, what’s to hate or dislike about vegetarians or vegans? Whenever I throw a get together I am always sure to ask about dietary restrictions and if someone told me they couldn’t eat meat I’d do what I could to feed them. I don’t care for the folks who say that eating meat is unnatural, though I will concede that we eat too much meat here in the United States, and I’m not fond of the animal rights folks, but other then that they don’t really bug me very much.

Marc

Vegetarians/vegans who get all affronted when they’re invited somewhere where there are some things they can’t eat get on my nerves to some extent. “Did we have to come here? Over half the menu entries have meat in them!” “Oh, why did you have to make that with eggs? Now I can’t have any!”

Look, you self-absorbed twit, like it or not, we still live in a largely omnivorous culture, where vegetarianism/veganism is still a minority practice. As long as your hosts have ensured that there’s a reasonable selection of stuff you can eat, you should eat it and spare us your whining about how the non-vegetarians have more options than you do. And I made it with eggs because the recipe called for them, you dumb cluck.

Vegetarians/vegans who scold other people at the table about how terrible it is for them to eat meat or animal products make me look favorably not just on carnivorism but on cannibalism. I would stew such people and eat them just to shut them up, dammit.

They’re almost as bad as the non-vegetarians who scold inoffensive vegetarians/vegans about how terrible it is not to eat meat or animal products. Or try to “tempt” them (or gross them out) with gloating descriptions or demonstrations of how much they themselves love to eat meat. Shut the fuck up, you mannerless boor, or I’ll stew you too.

Fortunately, I seldom encounter offenders in any of these categories. Unfortunately, when I do, they always seem to be inflicting their behavior on polite people. Why can’t the insufferable rude vegetarians/vegans and the insufferable rude carnivores just pick on each other and leave the rest of us to enjoy our food of whatever description in peace and sociability?

Apparently a number of folks here hate that we vegetarians consider ham to be meat. I forgot to check at the restaurant last night and the “vegetable only” salad did, in fact, have ham in it. This was an American-owned international chain restaurant too!

There are ranting types on both sides: the vegetarian and non-vegetarian side. Just a couple of months ago, I had to tell a friend to stifle himself until after he checked with the ADA on the issue. He was firmly convinced vegetarians are killing themselves. And, of course, there are the fanatics on the veggie side who are firmly convinced eating meat is the ultimate evil.

Can’t both sides just chill, you know, like cucumbers? :smiley:

There tends to be very little meat on them - I think the best you could hope for would be some sort of clear soup.

I dont hate vegans or vegetarians. It does bug me, however, that many of them try to force their diet on others. I used to be on a highly restricted diet and when presented with something I couldn’t eat, simply said that I’d enjoy it vicariously and had some fruit or whatever instead.

The excessively preachy vegetarians get on my nerves, but that’s not a vegetarian thing, it’s an excessively preachy thing – that’s an annoying trait no matter what the cause.

Still, I have to give even them some slack. We don’t know just how sentient animals are, or in what fashion they experience pain and fear. I realize that it’s entirely possible that, 1000 years hence, people will look at meat eating the same way we look at slavery. Likewise, I’m sure that in 1800, there were plenty of Americans who thought it was fine to be an abolitionist, but not fine to be a strident one (whereas today, only the strident ones are considered heroic).

Humans are the only animal that eats for abstract socio-political reasons. Eat what you like, but don’t do it to help change the world or even the neighborhood, because it honestly is not going to have any effect. Also, remember your baby needs milk that’s not just soy.

Finally, I knew food co-op type veggies in college, and most of 'em smoked like fiends. They clearly suffered from an irony-deficient diet.

A minor peeve is the way that many veggies refer to people who eat meat as ‘carnivores’. They are not. They are omnivores in the same way that vegitarians are omnivores. One group chooses to eat meat while the other group chooses to abstain. This choice does not change our basic physiology from omnivore to herbivore/carnivore.

I don’t begrudge anyone their dietary preference. Prosletyzing vegetarians are as annoying as their religious counterparts (I used to live in a town with a huge Seventh Day Adventist population, so I got both barrels from that bunch). Evangelistic fervor is unattractive, though mostly to people on the receiving end of it.

Is it me or do most V/V complain about the temperature indoors?
It’s always too cold.
My girlfriend (who’s been reduced to a part-time vegetarian because she can’t resist my lemon-garlic salmon) has always been this way, and others I have met are this way also.

>don’t do it to help change the world or even the neighborhood, because it honestly is not going to have any effect

That’s not true. Animals suffer when we slaughter them, and depending on how we raise them they may suffer a great deal more. I drive by a vealing operation on my commute and the thought of it gets me every time. I haven’t bought or ordered veal in many years.

But many animals are made of food, or at least seem to be.

And those domesticated animals that we get practically all our meat from wouldn’t have been born at all if it weren’t for the meat industry. Were their lives worth living? How can you ask them and get an answer? I think if you tried to catch one in the field to kill it, it would run from you - is that an answer? I’m honestly puzzled by the moral dilemma this poses.

I think I should become vegetarian to reduce suffering elsewhere and feel a little guilty about not having done so yet, and that does give me a little discomfort around vegetarians, but I don’t think I’ve ever been hostile about it.

But aren’t cucumbers considered meat over there? :smiley:

Unlike the two theism/atheism threads on which this thread is patterened that are in GD primarily because anything that discusses religious belief runs the risk of inviting witnessing, I am pretty sure that this thread will be able to cruise along as an exchange of personal opinions for quite a while.

Off to IMHO.

[ /Moderating ]

I’ve dealt with lots of vegetarians and a few vegans - plus all sorts of other dietary restrictions. I don’t hate any of the people, but there are a few behaviors I dislike:

I dislike anyone making their food choices my problem - with an attitude. I can cook vegan, please tell me before you walk into the door. And I’d appreciate it if you informed me with an “I’m vegan, can you make a salad or something or should I just bring my own food/eat before I get there.” That’s way better than sitting down to table and annoucing “I can’t eat ANYTHING here, I’m vegan.”

I dislike anyone believing their food choices trump my own and my other guests. Yes, I’ve cooked a tofu/bean and veggie pasta salad as a secondary main dish for you, if meat on the table for everyone else offends you, please don’t bother to come - we are not a vegetarian household.

I dislike anyone making comments about what goes into my (or anyone elses) mouth during dinner - I’m equally offended by “that poor cow, don’t you know how much worse meat is for the environment” as I am by “your vegetarian! You sickly pale thing, cows are meant to eat - here have a steak!”

I dislike anyone making comments about how superior their food choices (or lifestyle) is - its judgemental and inappropriate. Few of us lead a perfect life - there is almost always someone leaving less of a footprint than you are (or I am), and there are a lot of variables that impact how you are going to choose to live your life. Do animals suffer by becoming my food? - sure - but there is a hell of a lot of human suffering going on, some I am indirectly participating in just as I participate in the butchering of a chicken. And its almost always hypocritical - I know vegetarians who go on endlessly about the healthiness of their diet and smoke (what is with that anyway) and the vegans (we don’t want to hurt the cute animals and we want to protect the environment) who drove the his and hers matching SUVs (but we need them for the sixty mile commute to get to our jobs from the mountains!)

Now, as I said, I’ve known lots of people with food restrictions - what I do like:

“Just in case you forgot we are vegan, we brought our own veggie burgers.” Then they unobtrusively without mentioning why put down a layer of foil over the grill to cook on - or quietly ask whoever is cooking to do so.

“Thanks for the dinner invite, but I’m a pain in the backend to cook for - I have celiac so I can’t have gluten.” (Responded to with “oh, that isn’t a problem - I can cook around that.”)

“Would you mind if I chose the restaurant? - I’m vegan and there are a few restaurants that are much better for me.”

“I’m going to turn down the dinner invite - we keep kosher - right down to the kitchen - and don’t eat out. But if you don’t mind, we’d love to stop by after dinner to visit.”

(I spent some time this Spring on a business trip - and three of us went out to dinner - I’m gluten intolerant, one guy is Muslim and keeps those dietary restrictions (Halal?), the third was vegetarian - we end up eating in the worst possible greasy spoon diner for each of us - and while we laughed about it, we made due and none of us complained.)

As others have said, I don’t dislike vegans/vegetarians in general - just the whiney or preachy ones. Or the hypocrites. Don’t sneer at my hamburger and talk about how eating meat is cruel when you are wearing leather sandals, you twit. Or do you think that cow shed its skin?

I hate when vegetarians/vegans use a lot of garlic in their cooking and stink me out. But then again, omnivores do that too. It does seem very common among vegans/vegetarians though.