Vegan Treason

Vegan Treason

Over the past five years Asha has had bouts of vegan-ism. Although she has not always stuck with the lifestyle,she is trying it out yet again this year, Jay Z and Beyonce style. Usually these dietary changes coincided with the need to lose weight, feel better, or with binge marathon documentary watching. Just try watching “Sick, Fat, and Nearly Dead,” “Fast Food Nation,” followed by “Food Inc.” Trust me, you may never want to eat animal products again; you actually may never want to eat anything again.

Here are some common vegan experiences she has:

  1. She buys a new vegan cookbook; although she has several perfectly good ones. This time it was Monette’s suggestion of Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildly Delicious Vegan Recipes for everyday of the week.
  2. Bacon is usually the gateway food that breaks her vegan fortitude.
  3. There is always someone who is genuinely offended that she has decided to stop eating meat.

The last point is something that is always puzzling. Asha, in her flights of vegan-ism, has never been a preachy vegan. She is not all “fire and brimstone shall come to thee” if she knows you eat meat. So it always mystifies her when she gets an extremely negative reaction from someone. A typical response to her vegan-ism includes“How dare you!” and “I’m going to eat a double portion of meat with drizzled gravy so you can see what you’re missing!” statements.

Apparently, Asha’s experiences are not uncommon. Vegans seem to raise a lot of ire, especially on the internet. They are viewed as pretentious and snobby. One blog entitled “How Not To Be A Vegan People Want to Punch in The Face,” wants to help vegans, you know, to not get punched in the face.

Sometimes vegan restaurants don’t help alleviate the stereotypes. While the food is delicious, item names like “You are Transformed” and “You are Fortified” (at L.A.’s Cafe Gratitude) can be annoying and plain confusing instead of empowering. Though we suppose, they sound much better than “You are deep dish pizza” and “You are family size order of potato wedges.”