Today, there was a bit of a hissy fit in my recent post about vegan cross-contamination issues. At first I got a little offended and was rude, but when I toned it back and tried to extend an olive branch, I was attacked for not even being a vegan because I wasn’t out “defending my rights” by attacking other people. This, I think, is really sad, and I wanted to explain a few things.
I used to be very strict about eating out and things, but after living in Japan for a period, where not only did people not understand what veganism was, but they thought I was crazy. The best I could do was present myself as being like a strict Buddhist monk, who would only eat things like “shoujinryouri,” which is vegan cuisine for the monks that still don’t eat animal products (most Buddhist monks in Japan abandoned this tradition a long time ago, though some sects still abstain from meat).
It was really hard to eat anywhere. It was hard to eat out, to shop, to anything. This lead to me just eating not enough food, basically. I was often tired and felt a little off-kilter. If I had to go through it again, which I will soon, I wouldn’t give up veganism, but I will have to learn to be a little smarter and less stressed out about it.
In fact, I hope to return to Japan in the spring and summer to do linguistic research. Because a lot of that research will have an anthropological focus, it means I will be doing lots of eating out with pushy Japanese people. And there, part of doing research is fitting in and not challenging the social paradigm of the people you’re eating with. This means that to be a vegan, I will have to be very careful and will have a lot of pressure on me to change, which worries me.
As such, I don’t think it’s kind for anyone to be pushy or rude, whatever the cause is. I encourage people to try veganism, but I don’t attack them or bully them. Who are you going to win over that way? Probably less people than a kind, caring individual would.
So my thought: be nice to others. If you want people to try veganism, cook them something tasty and tell them why you chose it. Don’t shove pamplets of dead animals in their face and then yell “murderers” at them. You have to consider that most people don’t consider what’s wrong with their actions, so they might be will to change. But those people know that they don’t like being talked down to or yelled at, and that’s going to turn them off to your message.
Happy eating!
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Benjamin (I see you put up your full name this time), I think you handled the situation very well. It’s people like TDV that make me almost ashamed to be vegan due to the social stigma. It’s usually one of the last things I tell a girl I’m dating or new friends. Look on almost any TV series and you see a crazy vegan PETA person burning down animal labs or killing people for animal rights. I feel like this is a minority of the vegan population, but even a small amount of those, give the rest a bad name.
Note: I am not saying PETA supporters are bad. I know PETA is different from the ALF. I just feel like many of them are brain-washed. PETA does a lot of good marketing for vegans. I just feel it is too abrasive and gives us a bad rep.
Hey Christopher. Thanks for the kind comments. I actually thought I always had my name up, but I guess I didn’t! Didn’t mean to seem standoffish or something,
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Anyway, fight the good fight!
keep fighting the good fight! do what’s right for you and your diet, don’t let haters get to you. every little bit helps.
when you go to japan, make sure to visit j’s cafe! someone told me that was a vegan restaurant there. :p
Thanks quarrygirl!
I think I’ve heard of j’s cafe but never been there. I’ve actually been to one place in Kyoto called Cafe Peace that was really delicious, so I hope I’ll be able to return back there, but I’m going to be in the West (more west than Kyoto) so I’m not really sure what options I’ll have for eating out, though I’m sure I’ll figure something out. There was one place where I lived two summers ago that always made special stuff for me.
Anyway, before that comes up I’ll actually be in LA in a few days, so I’m hoping to hit up some of the places I’ve seen on your site,
Heyo Ben,
I think you position is an intelligent one. Demagoguery rarely helps a cause.
Totally agreed. I don’t think that people will ever sympathize with our cause until they can see that we are intelligent, compassionate, and sensible about it. Kindness, not controversy.
This advice is really going to help, thanks.