Five Things: Vegetarianism

conrad_zaar over at Livejournal gave me five things to write about, as mandated by one of the few blog-memes I always enjoy reading and writing. I am posting each Thing separately, because I am being baroque and wordy and a single post would be far too unwieldy.

(Anyone who wants to join in the fun can post a comment. I'll give you five words/phrases to write about.)

My diet is essentially vegan¹, so I'm not sure if I should pretend that says "veganism" and write about that, or confine myself to vegetarianism.

Recently I have been thinking about some issues related to veganism - most pressingly, why it is socially acceptable for people to comment on my chosen diet, demand that I justify or explain it, or "prove" to me that I have made a stupid or at least unnecessary choice, when the equivalent behaviour on my part would be seen as rude at best. I go about the business of eating as unobtrusively as I can, but it seems that some people are only comfortable with vegans they can dismiss as evangelical, militant and/or wishy-washy - so they do their best to provoke behaviour they can then object to.

The common view of vegans seems to be that they are intolerant, self-righteous hippies who make a big deal about unimportant things and constantly berate omnivorous people for their terrible murdering ways. I don't deny that such people exist, but I have never encountered one in person. The closest thing I have come across was a rather overbearing person who would bend anyone's ear about how easy it was to be vegan, and how exciting it all was; while this was irritating, such behaviour is hardly unique to vegans. Every field of interest has its socially clumsy enthusiasts who will not stop banging on. On the other hand, I have regularly endured everything from constant snippy remarks over a meal to party-derailing demands that I explain what my problem with cheese is, anyway.²

As for vegetarianism, as prompted: a vegetarian diet has plenty of benefits, but the deciding factor for me was an ethical and emotional one. I could not happily kill animals for myself to eat, and I don't think that letting the killing happen off-stage on my behalf lets me off the hook. This extends to the ill-treatment and suffering of farmed animals more generally. My switch to a vegan diet was provoked by a sudden realisation about superfluous male calves and chickens, which led to a raft of other objections that had never occurred to me previously. Other aspects of vegan and vegetarian eating, such as the environmental impact, are important but not what induced me to change my habits.

I don't think I am under any illusions about my diet. I am not saving the world and I am not sitting up on a "cruelty-free" high horse. Industrial agriculture causes a vast amount of harm, as do most aspects of my existence. The only real way for humans to avoid causing catastrophic damage to the world around us is probably mass suicide, but that's hardly a useful approach; on the other hand, I see no reason to wilfully cause harm that I can easily avoid. Withdrawing my support from endeavours that I object to and abstaining from unsuitable conduct is the least that I can do.

I should note that I consider myself fortunate. Plenty of suitable foods are available to me because of where (and when) I live, and I can afford to pay for them. I don't have health problems or idiosyncrasies that make it difficult to get adequate nutrition from a vegan diet - in fact, I have seen my well-being improve as a result of going vegan. I enjoy cooking my own food, enough to make it a priority even though it takes up quite a chunk of my resources. Many people are not similarly lucky, or simply have different values, and I do not look down my nose at those whose personal best option is not the same as mine.³

1. I haven't memorised all of the animal-derived food additives and whatnot, although I steer clear of the ones I know. [↩]
2. "What, you think that cow shouldn't be milked? Hahahaha!" [↩]
3. On the other hand, I have little patience with people who want to pretend that their roast lamb was never a fluffy baby sheep. Or who are appalled by cruelty to some animals, but not the delicious kind. [↩]