There’s a vegan meme that often does the rounds on social media.
It shows a pie chart, cut into wedges – each one representing ‘difficult things about being vegan’.
While things like ‘finding vegan food in restaurants’ account for tiny slices of the pie, the vast majority of the difficulty is allotted to – you guessed it – dealing with other people’s reactions to your veganism.
A big part of this is the stupid things they say – here are some of the ones we find most annoying.
1. But what do you ACTUALLY eat?
Well – let’s see. There are a handful of animals that society eats – along with their secretions.
Now my diet is ‘limited’ to the 40,000 or so edible plants that grow on this planet.
2. But you can’t eat that
No, I CAN eat whatever I want – but I have made an ethical choice not to eat certain things because of the suffering they involve.
Veganism isn’t a diet – it’s a moral choice.
3. I know someone who was vegan… and nearly died
Seriously – random people I met seem to have ‘known’ more vegans at death’s door than there are vegans in total.
I was vegan for several years before I met any others – how do all these people know so many who were nearly killed by their lifestyle??
4. Where do you get your protein?
Really?
REALLY?!?!?!
It’s 2017 and people still lack the basic nutritional knowledge to understand that plants contain protein?
5. Urghh. I’ve never eaten vegan food
Never eaten an apple? Or a banana? Or baked beans?
Never eaten bread? Never eaten oats?
I could go on… but you get my point.
6. We’re top of the food chain
But you’re not a lion, you don’t kill gazelles with your bare hands, and the pre-packed flesh department of Sainsbury’s is not an open plain.
It’s laughable to pretend that humans, who bully and abuse animals in the farming system, are in any way superior to other beings.

7. It’s just a bit of milk
It’s ‘just a bit’ of death. It’s ‘just a bit’ of torture.
It’s ‘just a bit’ of animal abuse and exploitation.
8. Vegans are fundamentalists
If by ‘fundamentalists’ you mean non-hypocritical consistent people who have aligned their behavior with their beliefs, crack on.
Producing eggs and milk causes immense suffering and death – insulting vegans because they don’t want to fund this suffering, means you fundamentally misunderstand how animal agriculture works.
READ MORE:
‘Livestock Farming Is Over’ According To Legendary Journalist George Monbiot
‘Eat More Meat To Save The Environment’: Is Dietitian Tim Noakes Right?
New Report: We Must Switch From Animal To Plant Protein To ‘Fix Broken Food System’