Vegan bullying makes me sad

[Merle]

Hm yeah, like I said, I have nothing against having animals for slaughter as long as they are kept in humane conditions, have a reasonable lifespan, painless death as possible and are not genetically mutated or breed into a form that makes living for them painfull (like, pigs that can´t carry their own weight, or cows with gigantic, deformed Euters).
I´d still prefer it if someday soon, we are able to produce flesh without brains attached to it, and I think we´re getting there, that´d be the perfect solution.
I am bothered by how millions and billions of animals are kept in inhumane conditions, that make life a living hell, because I know that they are living beings with feelings not hugely different from my own. And I feel very, very bad for them and do not want to be part off or give any of my money to such an industry.

[AceRagz]

I don't think this will be an option that can be easily implemented anytime soon. Six years ago the cost for one lab grown hamburger patty was over $300,000. Now its $600 for a quarter pound of lab grown hamburger. It is also very dry due to nearly no fat content.

The cost is one thing the other is if people freak out over GMO foods....can you imagine how they would react to a steak grown in a lab?

[DokiDokiTsuna]

Urrg, it hurts, but it's true...and the saddest part is, it would probably take longer for the mass hysteria to subside than it would take for the market price of lab-grown meat to go down...and that's without even considering obstruction from the existing meatpacking industry...

[PabloRomero]

I don't like bullying but "meatless meatballs"? You can't expect people to not make fun of that. At least call it "Veganball" or something like that.

[aqua03]

As someone who does eat animal products yet is also passionate about animal welfare, I will say this: You should definitely try to get your products (meat, eggs, milk, etc.) from humanely raised farms. They not only taste better and are probably better for you, but I think that they are also worth the extra money (if you can afford it comfortably) just because you're supporting and helping these animals live much better and healthier lives.

I'll let my boy Adam Ragusea explain this one more in depth.

[jahillinbox]

if people had to raise and slaughter their own meat, there'd be a lot less of it eaten...and wasted

[sarrowsmith10]

People with severe allergies to things like gluten, lactose, and red meat (YES, you can be allergic to meat; look it up) live in fear every day of servers and cooks pulling these kinds of stunts on them simply due to laziness and a lack of respect.

As a parent to a child with a severe allergy, this crap makes me so very scared and until you are in the emergency room with your child hooked up to a vent and epinephrine and antihistamines being pumped into them in a desperate attempt to keep them alive, people just don't understand. Most people with allergies, don't want allergies. It's not for attention, they very simply don't want to die. Or those who are vegan due to things like dairy intolerance (its just easier to look for vegan foods, because dairy protein is in everything), it might not be an allergy that will send me to the hospital, but I'd prefer not to spend my entire night on the potty if you know what I mean.

Like how hard is it to just respect people's food choices? I have Indian friends who are vegan due to religious reasons. I have friends who are vegan for egg/dairy allergies. I have friends who are vegan for dairy allergies. Some friends who do it for animal welfare reasons and one friend who is just freaked out by eating muscle-based tissue. Who the heck cares? Let people eat what they want.

Side note: if you are friends with someone who mocks your food choices, maybe you shouldn't be friends with them any more...

[Kura]

if people had to raise and slaughter their own meat, there'd be a lot less of it eaten...and wasted

I'm not sure about less eaten since it would be normalized, unless you're talking about the room to raise them. But yeah I can defiantly see the less wasted issue. Some people just waste so much meat or parts of the animal that it's unbelievably disrespectful, and animal's life was given for that after all.

[Kura]

And while yes I understand that ignoring a request because of an allergy can come with more severe consequences you are still paying for a service and they should heed your request regardless of allergy or preference.

For the restaurants I worked in it we had to ask sometimes due to possible cross contamination issues for certain food.

One customer gave as a huge headache telling us that she was allergic to mayo, but the cook needed to know what part of the mayo she was allergic to because mayo is a mixture of things and several of those other things were ALSO in the item she wanted. Every time we went back to clarify she would get pissed and just say "I'm allergic to mayo, if you put it in I will sue you if I don't die from it." and still not tell us what PART of it was. Eventual the cook himself had to go out and explain in person that HE NEEDED TO KNOW WHAT PART IT WAS SHE WAS ALLERGIC TO OR HE COULD NOT MAKE IT, and she eventually admitted "Oh I just wanted to make sure you didn't add it because I hate mayo. You guys might put it on anyway unless I say I'm allergic." (I guess it's a commonly used 'life hack' to make sure restaurants don't put it on your food cause they want to avoid legal trouble)

In actuality... NO, he actually wouldn't have. That would result in food being returned and wasted, the meal being re-cooked and then money lost. It's a small family owned business they can't afford to play around with that shit. You could have just said 'no mayo' it's a really common request???? She didn't have to lie and say she had allergies and give everyone a hard time about it.

On the other hand my sister is allergic to milk, and when she asked for no cheese on a burger they put cheese on it, but instead of making a new one the scrapped it off, which resulted in her throat closing up and her being sent to the hospital. This was at a fast food restaurant, were I find most of the switcharoo's happen especially with diet versions of pop.

[Trevor]

I think the major difference here is that your restaurant is a small, family owned one while the fast food one is a big corporation that doesn't give half a shit if your children die from e-coli

[Cavechan]

I remember when I was in college and there was a time we were going to order a pizza and one of my classmates was saying she couldn't have cheese on hers because she was vegan. That was the only time I heard her bring it up. Some time later someone said to me that she was annoying because of how she "always talked about" being vegan. That confused me.

People on both sides can definitely be crazy. Look at any vegan food video on Facebook that's popular enough, or even a vegetarian one, and you'll see so much mudslinging it's crazy.

People should eat the food they want. If someone is not enjoying their food, why force them to eat it or make fun of them for not eating it?

The issue I usually have happens when people spread lies about food and nutrition. For example, GMO food and how you see EVERYTHING nowadays has to say "all natural" (which means nothing, btw) or "organic" this and that when in reality it's meaningless. Even better when you see chicken packaged that says "Raised without antibiotics" and then a little asterisk that says "btw using antibiotics on chickens is illegal under the FDA."

And then there's the mass hysteria against commercial farming or farming in general. These animal activist groups will make videos or take photos of what appears to be cruel, inhumane conditions but in actuality... they aren't! The best example is the sowing pens used for pigs. They are small cages that sows are kept in sometimes while pregnant and with newborn piglets. They're small and look scary, they really do. But you do some research on them, listen to the experts, and find the sowing pens are actually much better for the pigs and preferred. It keeps mom happy and piglets safe. Part of the problem is we take our human emotions and push them onto the animals. Animals have very different needs than humans.

There are still legitimate concerns about farms for sure (like pig castration is something that I'm concerned about and I try not to eat much pork because of it), but I'm highly skeptical that they are as bad as some people make them out to be.

There are definitely environmental concerns though, in particular with cows, since they do contribute to climate change.

I'm all for lab grown meat. I hope that it becomes more of a reality and commonplace.

[AceRagz]

Another tactic they use is taking footage from farming situations in countries with less animal welfare laws and protection of slaughter animals and pass it off as footage from US farms.

[aqua03]

[jahillinbox]

Any 'issue' where there are passionate sides, one side is going to show the other side in the worst light, misrepresent, hyperbolize, and/or flat out lie about something.

It's like a Fun House walk through the Hall of Mirrors out there - you can't trust ANYTHING you see, hear at face value

[Wumbl]

It's unhealthy for anybody to bully anybody over their dietary choices or needs.

This irrational anti-vegan rhetoric also does a lot of harm to people like me with lactose intolerance or other allergies. I'd like to be able to order my drink or baked goods without diary in, and not be judged or humiliated for it.

There have been times where people have made fun of me for buying a vegan option, going "oh you're not VEGAN now are you? ew..." and even if I were vegan that would be super horrible to say. It's just the fact that I have to feel shamed or singled out for ordering food that isn't poisonous to my digestive system... it bothers me.

I want to be able to order my coffee with soy milk, and not be called a "vegan soyboy" or a "hippy" or something by somebody who doesn't understand. (I mean friends can say that because it's a joke between us but I don't wanna hear that from random people, or unironically from anybody...) Like I'm sorry, Dave, that I don't want to be pissing out the arse. I'll just order the regular milk and then die on the floor of gut cramp instead.

[FlutterbyBubbles]

I hate people who get mad when I tell them I'm a vegetarian. I only tell them if they're making food for me, or if we're getting pizza or something. I just hate that people dislike me for the fact I don't eat meat, or when they taunt me by going like "oh are you upset I'm eating chicken ha ha ha". It's very annoying. I'm ok with people eating meat, but if they give out to me for not eating it, and are being a general asshole, then I do turn into one of those asshole vegetarians who points out how not eating meat is better........ it's not my favourite thing about myself but it does happen...

[Darth_Biomech]

Being called a couple of times a "corpse-eater" (By a complete stranger, in one case), I can see why people are not very fond of vegans in general.
Choosing to not eat animal products is fine, you do you (although I cannot comprehend how anybody could willingly reject cheese, component of many of the best damn dishes on this planet... Especially knowing that all but the very pricey varieties nowadays are done via bacteria, not contents of the bovine stomachs), but when you turn your choice into a preaching "holier than thou" stand and attempt to shame others for not conforming... Yeah, expect them to not be amused by that.

[jensrichard77]

Not saying what is right or wrong here.
But I don't get the full picture of a Vegan yet.

Not eating meat, because of killing. I get that.
Not eating cheese, because of milk, because of abuse of animal, I get that.

But how do we stay organic and eat crops without fertilizer from the waste of the animals? That we abuse?

[jackjonesnga]

Not vegan but jeez, that sounds like it sucks a lot. Why attack someone/make fun of someone for what they choose to eat? As long as they aren't hurting anyone then leave them alone!

[jackjonesnga]

I feel like that's a loud minority of vegans I've seen do that. A majority of them are just chill about it.