Let us know your story in the comment! Have you ever been shamed for your diet choices?
Veganism has become more than just a trend today: it is a lifestyle. In 2021/2022, it is estimated that more than 79 millions of people are vegan with an increase every year during January with Veganuary. Most of the celebrities like Beyonce adopted it, supermarkets like Tesco or Sainsbury added to their store vegan milk and vegan meat, even some restaurants are only offering vegan food.
Some facts about Vegans:
- The participation in Veganuary increased by 25% in 2021;
- The vegan market will be worth $24.3 billions by 2026.
Vegans are a community always increasing and more attractive than ever with its latest studies on health and wellness. We all can safely say that climate change is an issue and that there is an overconsumption of meat around the world which veganism would help slow down. But as statistic shows, veganism is not attractive to everyone. Since the growth of this community, a new movement emerge/ the meat shaming. This movement has for goal to shame people who eat meat enough so they feel guilty and stop their consumption of animal products.
Shaming: a resource for change?
In society today, a new way of dealing with issues is rising: shame, guilt. If you look around the internet you can find vegan shaming meat-eaters as well as meat-eater shaming vegans.
Vegan shaming:
Vegan shaming is defined by Naturallysweetdessert as a group of non-vegan shaming vegan people for their choices.
Some of my friends are vegan and do not care about others being or not. One of them explains ” I made this choice for my life and, to be honest, it is my life and I do it for my convictions. If someone asks me, I am happy to enlight them but if they do not care I won’t bother. However, I feel like most of the time when I meet people and I say I am vegan I become the issue of their day, the one who will complain about everything they eat or else… this is because some vegans shame people for eating meat or fish.”
This is when I realised that the word vegan was the issue. Some people are vegetarian and no one says anything. One experiment was to not say you were vegan but to say “I got sick when I was young so I can not eat fish nor eggs (like salmonella)” and then later you can add “during a trip I saw people eating dog/ horse meat and the traumatism led me to not eating anymore meat”. Incredibly enough people do understand, they do not judge you, whereas if you simply say you are vegan they would.
Yes everyone should be accepted and do whatever they want.
No no one should push others to change their habits/ lifestyle/ diet.
However, due to extremism, the word “vegan” got today a really bad connotation. It can make a group of friends quite uncomfortable for no real reason, just because of wrong judgement. If someone is vegan you expect them to be one of those extreme judges.
Meat-eater shaming:
Meat-eater shaming is when a group of vegans shame people for their behaviour towards meat.
I was interested to know more about people stories and decided to ask on reddit about any experience around vegan or meat shaming. I honestly thought that I would hear more people getting shamed for eating meat than vegans but it was quite equal. However one story caught my attention.
” my friend and I went to the supermarket to buy some supply to have a barbecue. While shopping we got hungry and decided to sit to have a hotdog. We were talking about what we needed when the guy at the table next to us began to yell at us that we should be ashamed of ourselves, that we were killing animals, that we were monsters for eating meat… all of this out of no where… he then stormed out the restaurant and honestly we just began to laugh… it just seemed so ridiculous that out of nowhere, someone we don’t know yell at us and then run out.” I am wondering in that situation what the yeller was expecting… did he really believe that by yelling at them they will stop eating meat? …
Veganism is not for everyone and if you force someone to not eat meat the first thing they will want to do is eat some. Adapting school program for a meal plan including during the week, one or two vegan meals will help with an introduction to veganism.
Veganism is a really interesting lifestyle that not only touch the food but also fashion, politics and the environment. Their value are understandable and driven. But the acceptance is something which every person should work on not only vegan but meat-eaters too.
As a low meat-eater, I am impressed with vegans and love their values and lifestyle. I know I personally cannot follow an only vegan diet. However supporting each other is so important. Supporting each other to make better choices instead of shaming or trying to guilt us will be a success in changing for a better future.
Sustainable attitude towards veganism:
For a lot of vegans one of their main value is saving the planet. It is true and has been proven countless time: we cannot continue to eat meat as we do today for the safety of the environment as well as our health. However nothing needs to be drastic. If for a sustainable future change, you need to take it slow, it is fine, let’s just do one step at a time.
Here are some tips on how to react to help people understand:
If you are vegan:
- invite them for dinner in a vegan restaurant so they can see the options that exist nowadays;
- show good health and wellness;
- if they offer you something not vegan just say “no thanks”. Don’t shame them for having that in their house or consuming it;
- bring some vegan cakes or invite them to dinner several time to show the variety of recipes;
- challenge them to follow a vegan month like veganuary.
If you are a meat-eater:
- do not shame them on their health. Some vegan beginners are trying to find the best balance of food to feel their best, it might take time;
- invite them to dinner but ask them to choose a restaurant;
- do not look disgusted when they offer you a vegan meal and try… and try it do not fake try and say you did not like it.
I would love to hear your stories about veganism or meat-eaters and the shame you got from the other community. Also let me know what is your best advice for a respectful encounter between two people and how can we be more mindful of others?
Here are some specialised vegan supermarket: GreenBay, The VeganKind; but you can find nowadays a variety of products in the main supermarket chain.
Here are some of my favorite vegan products:
