We’ve all heard it before: whether it be the unfounded claims that human survival requires the consumption of meat, protests against the apparent ‘deprivation’ of our children by raising them vegan, or that we deserve to eat meat because we reside comfortably on top of the food chain. Non-vegans seem to have all the answers.
I’ve been vegan for just shy of a year, and the battle I’ve unknowingly become part of, by publicly retracting my support of the meat and dairy industry, is one that has left me feeling battered and bruised. The vast majority of people who are not vegan boast an armoury of reasons for why veganism is extreme, incorrect or completely pointless. Before I’ve even had a chance to explain why I no longer consumer animal products, they have taken aim with their nonsensical excuses for why they won’t. And what’s frustrating is not the frequency of this happening, but the fact that I have heard these same excuses time and time again; my patience for them is wearing thin.