Thursday, June 14, 2007
Be careful; vegan's a bad word
Have you ever thought that meat-eaters think "vegan" is a bad word? I often think it's the equivalent to the word "shit" to them. A few years ago, my wife decided to do some vegan outreach by baking some tasty treats. She thought at least meat-eaters would come to the realization that vegans can eat good food. One day, she brings these incredible cupcakes to work and makes the announcement that they were for everyone to eat. Each co-worker asked her, "Are they vegan?" "Yes," Anita announced with some pride. Not one co-worker tried a cupcake. Not a nibble, not a lick. They just sat there. They were the "vegan" cupcakes. Perhaps they thought they had asked, "Are they shit?" Maybe that would be a good excuse for their repulsion. Anita's co-workers would always bring food to work, and they loved to eat. It's not like they had a repulsion to food. Then, she tried a different tact. She brought the food to work and just set it down were food is normally put. It worked. Now, her co-workers would wander the offices asking, "Who baked these cookies? They are incredible." It's the ultimate vengeance when the meat-eaters realize the vegan made them food, and they liked it. What's the world coming to? It's obvious that meat-eaters don't hate vegan food; they just hate the word "vegan." What gets me is that meat-eaters eat plenty of plant food. Yet, they always ask, "Is it vegan?" as if there is something in it that they find repulsive. It's not the same as a vegan asking if there are any animal ingredients in something. Vegans don't eat meat, thank you.
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my brother has a allergic reaction to the word vegan. I think it has to do more with the fact that i'm younger than him and he is a mainstream elitist from monterrey. where you would think that because he comes from a big city (3rd largest city in mexico) he would be more open to it. the worse part is that when he makes comments like that in front of his kids, specially the oldest (7yrs old), they give a learned reaction. He's totally closing them off from the world. Him and his wife react like if they're going to die if they don't eat meat in every single meal. argh.
ReplyDeleteI've been feeding my good ranchland co-workers vegan cupcakes for several months now. They don't complain, but do seem amazed that they all love vegan baking.
ReplyDeleteNow, that said, I'm not vegan. I'm a flexitarian at this stage, as I've not learned to get quite enough protein without some fish in my diet, and there are places I travel for work where I cannot eat otherwise. I rarely eat eggs and don't eat dairy. So I've spent a lot of time researching vegan diets and am moving that direction.
But, yes, I love feeding vegan food to my coworkers. And they love it.