White Veg Needs To Go For Own Reasons Too - Tumblr Posts
This should be a reminder that outside of (possible) cases of Indian religious scriptures, specialised eating (vegetarianism, veganism, etc) is a first world luxury many take for granted. As such, like your beliefs (whether in spiritual paths or group forms), it should be done for your own needs instead of for the groups because you’d be fulfilling your own needs, as opposed to any kind of peer pressure you may face (even you’re from the majority group). In my homelands, neither vegetarianism nor (especially) veganism would at all be easy outside the capital UB, especially during the winter months because that’s when the meat seasons predominate (in contrast to spring & summer being dairy leaning with very little meat).
If you do make the changes to your eating, let it be gradual so as not to shock your system & minimise any problems that may come up (learned that firsthand before). I support ye who do go through with it if ye do so for something other than for trends or other superficial reasons. Especially so if it’s for cost and/or health reasons, or if you’re saving the chosen ingredients for certain times.
Alright.
I was a vegetarian for 7 years, from the September after my 15th birthday to the October after my 22nd. I purposely and knowingly ate meat for the first time in 7 years last Friday.
Now, with that being said.
The vegan, vegetarian, and animal activist communities are BUILT on lies. They’re built on blatant lies, propaganda, misinformation, and faulty studies. A lot of these communities and groups are scarily cult-like, encouraging isolation and discouraging questioning.
Children like me are preyed on at young ages, when we’re most vulnerable and trying to figure out who we are and what we stand for, using scare tactics like slaughterhouse videos (many of which were staged) and edited photos of supposedly “tortured” livestock.
We’re discouraged from doubting or questioning what we’re told, guilted for every rethinking our decision, and encouraged to join incredibly isolated groups of other vegans and vegetarians. A deep sense of guilt and self hate and disgust is instilled in us; logically, I know that there’s nothing wrong with eating meat. But it still terrifies me after years of telling myself I was disgusting for even craving meat.
People who started eating animal products for any reason are viciously attacked, often by former friends from the community.
People with medical issues are told that they didn’t try hard enough and that they just needed to fix their diet.
People with eating disorders are mocked, told that our experiences are wrong because obviously eating disorders should be fixed by being vegan or vegetarian.
People who can’t afford that lifestyle anymore are told that they don’t know their own income and restrictions, that a vegan/vegetarian diet is affordable across the board and that if it isn’t, then they can survive off of things like rice, potatoes, bananas, and nothing else.
People of color and non-white people who miss their cultural foods and food practices are viciously attacked with racist comments about how “tradition isn’t an excuse to be barbaric” and that “cultures that depend on killing animals to stay alive should be left to die”. We’re also compared to other non-white vegans and vegetarians, even attacked by vegans and vegetarians from our own cultures and communities just because our experiences and needs are different.
People who feel isolated by their diet face… a lot of scary things tbh. The thing no one ever tells you about being vegan or vegetarian is how isolated it makes you from your friends and family and community. Most of us don’t have family with similar diets, so family events rarely have food that we can eat and it’s usually nothing filling. A lot of non-vegan and vegetarians don’t think to plan get-togethers and events with their friends’ diets in mind. A huge majority of restaurants and community events have no options for vegans and vegetarians. We end up missing out on so much, and when we get upset about it, other people in the community tell us that we’re better off, that our family and friends aren’t worth it, that something without vegan or vegetarian options isn’t worth going to anyway. We’re encouraged to isolate ourselves further from the “disgusting carnists” in our lives.
And people like me, who are just tired, are the worst in the eyes of militants. We’re the ones who could keep being vegetarian or vegan for years, possibly for the rest of our lives, but we just don’t want to anymore, for a variety of reasons. We’re deeply hated for our supposed lack of compassion and selfishness.
And then, when we start eating meat again, our states are taken advantage of! So much information from vegans about eating meat again depends on the idea that the initial reactions are because meat is terrible and evil. Over the last few days, I’ve been feeling nauseous and tired and I’ve been suffering from terrible mood swings and emotional instability. According to information from militants, that’s because meat is unhealthy and evil and I’ve completely lost the ability to process it. In reality, my body just needs time to adjust to a sudden and extreme diet change.
Over the last 7 years, I went from being a militant vegetarian who had plans to be vegan to a militant vegetarian who had decided against veganism to a vegetarian who was becoming more jaded about the propaganda and misinformation to a jaded vegetarian who was just tired of it all. Now I’m not a vegetarian at all and I don’t regret that.
If you’re vegan or vegetarian, do NOT depend on ARA groups for your information and opinions because I promise that when you start to dig into it, the vast majority of that information is going to be proven false. Do your own research and come to your own conclusions.