veganism: I want to know why some " non-vegans and non-vegetarians" have negative reations to veganism. I'm vegan and i have been for already 2 years. I'm suppose to write a report on why some omnivores think " veganism" isn't as healthy. I know why many people would think veganism isn't healthy, but mostly, the reasons are myths. What's your opinion on veganism, and why would you consider it " unhealthy?"|||I don't know if you're looking for a vegan perspective, but I actually have a real answer beyond speculation, so it might help you formulate that paper. The health reason is a scapegoat. There has been a score of research in the past few years debunking nearly all the health myths about veganism. The best they have now is that soy isn't the end-all be-all of health. Which, obviously nothing is; dairy is 100 times worse; and you don't have to eat soy to be vegan! (I know a vegan who is allergic to all soy products, so there.) Anyway, I think most people are aware that meat and animal products are not that healthy right now, but they have other reasons for being negative: 1.) A lot of people don't know any vegans and get all their information from the media. Vegans in TV shows tend to be judgmental a**holes who care about animals and not people (although I have yet to meet one like that, and I know a LOT of vegans, many of whom are also human rights activists)... so when someone hears the word "vegan," a red flag goes up and they are expecting this kind of person. When you expect someone to be a jerk, you will react badly to them no matter how pleasant they are. So that is the first problem. And I know this from experience. There was this one guy I knew for a few months without saying I was vegan (it just didn't come up), and he found out I was when I declined a slice of pizza. His answer was, and I quote: "You can't be vegan; you're so NICE!" And I was the first vegan he'd ever met... 2.) When someone's lifestyle makes such a strong moral statement, it often causes you to think about your own lifestyle. Since most people think it is wrong to abuse animals, it puts them on the defensive even if you are not judging them. I notice that if I identify myself as vegan when I first meet someone who is not vegan, they immediately act as though I am judging them, even though I don't say or do anything to suggest that (and most of the time I am not even thinking about their habits, I mean, they are just one in a billion). I have had people ask me, "Do you care if I eat meat in front of you?" or immediately make excuses why they are not vegetarian or tell me how they are going to try. But I never asked. But anyway, some people, who are particularly inclined to care about animals or wish they could be vegetarian but never tried or don't think they could do it, those people feel especially distressed when they are reminded that a vegan lifestyle is entirely possible, and so they react negatively to the person who made them think about it. Consciously or not. 3.) Finally I can't deny that it has some basis in truth. There are some activists (and unfortunately these are the ones people remember) who are rude to people, confrontational, judgmental and demanding. However, being vegan myself, I understand where they are coming from. These people tend to be nice to other vegans but they have trouble dealing with a world that is so far from what they want it to be, a world where people abuse animals (or pay others to do so) every day without thinking, and when you ask them to think about it, they yell at you and say they don't want to know, they choose ignorance. Or you get comments like the guy in my first bullet, "You can't be vegan; you're so nice!" It takes its toll and it's hard sometimes to resist being mean. But like I said, most vegans I know are very nice, and even the activists are quite understanding. We want to educate others because we remember what it was like before we knew the truth, or maybe even when we knew the truth but weren't ready to make the switch. But no one remembers the activists who were very nice to them because a) it doesn't make for a good story, whether to your friends or to a newspaper audience; and b) it doesn't fit in with the image they already had in their head of what an animal rights activist is. It's selective memory.|||I think that the vegan lifestyle can be very healthy, when approached correctly. What I love about vegans is that they take this diet choice very seriously. It takes a lot of effort and understanding to know what you can and can't eat, especially with so many different hidden animal products in foods. Also, I think it's honorable to be able to make a lifestyle choice like that and stick to it. Most people consider it unhealthy because it's not the way they were raised. Simple enough, right? We've raised to believe that we need meat or animal products in our diets, which simply isn't true. You can get protein from many other sources, and you can supplement vitamins and minerals you're missing out on by taking supplements.|||Because some vegans are such obvious posers and do it as a means to get attention or feel sorry for themselves by identifying with helpless animals. People do not normally have issues with vegans who simply do not eat animal products, but when you meet someone and within two minutes they tell you they are vegan(unless you are offering them a chicken wing), it is a red flag. Show me one person on that Whale Wars show that is from a happy family and I will be very surprized. It is such an obvious affectation. On the other hand I have known vegans for over a year without knowing their diet restrictions. Your paper makes some assumptions. like most meat eaters think vegans are unhealthy. Some vegans do not eat healthy, it's true, but many meat eaters eat unhealthy as well. When a 14 year old girl becomes a vegan, you can't help but wonder if it is a control issue with her parents.|||Usually ignorance (not always necessary a bad thing as we all are ignorant about some things). Most people do not know any vegans and how to eat properly on a vegan diet since they don't know any vegans themselves and were taught that a healthy diet always include animals byproducts. If they see a diet that deviates from what they were taught, it's understandable why they think that it is not healthy. Most school classes and textbooks don't cover veganism at all. Also, the dairy industry go out of their ways to advertise their products as the major source of calcium and "milk does your body good". You never see tofu and soymilk in tv advertisements saying "Vitasoy Organic Soymilk. Now fortified with calcium and minerals! Meeting 60% of your DA requirements with every serving." Then there's the Us vs. Them mentality. If they're not part of us and doing things and eat things our way, then there must be something wrong with them and their ways since there is nothing wrong with our ways. Many people aren't open minded and will dismiss whatever arguments valid or not you bring up if they're already set in their views. Now this is willful ignorance.|||Education, of lack thereof, is a big element in the opposition to vegetarianism and veganism. People have been eating meat for a long time, and believing that it is a necessary food for humans. They don't know another source of protein, so they believe that meat is the only source of protein and that people who don't eat meat cannot be healthy. Many people know at least one person who tried to be a vegetarian but got sick from not getting enough nutrients (it is true that many people who want to be vegetarians just stop eating meat, but continue eating everything else they always ate without thinking of replacing the protein source, and many people who become vegetarians do not eat even enough vegetables and fruit... I, for one, only ate brown rice and cheese and yogurt and ice cream when I first became a vegetarian, and I did get sort of sick, until I realized I had to eat some vegetables and fruit. Many questions I get run along the lines of "I want to be a vegetarian. What cookies can I eat?", and many people want to be able to subsist on packaged processed foods) The best way to answer those who react negatively to one's choice to become a vegan is to educate oneself as to proper eating habits, proper nutrition, and good nutrition-based and ecology-based reasons to observe a vegan diet. A good place to start gathering such information would be the PETA website http://www.peta.org then VegWeb http://www.vegweb from there, you can do your own googling to find the information to back up your decision. Once you have your information, most likely, people will stop challenging you, because it won't be fun anymore.|||Anything that is out of the norm is going to find some criticism. People don't like non-conformity. I don't really get it. From this board you would think that the world was ready with pitch forks and torches to come get all the vegans in the world. I personally don't think it's that bad in the real world. People aren't THAT against veganism/vegetarianism. But that's just me. I consider it to be very healthy.|||I'm vegetarian and glad that I am.Some people call me "the vegie girl" but I could just call them "The one who kills poor animal".They thinks its strange.To them its like "you don't eat chocolate"!(For an example).And being vegan is fine and I want to be vegan,well half vegan.I think that people are more shocked if your vegan rather than vegetarian because they think, 'Why?I understand that vegetarians don't like to kill animals for food,but what is wrong with dairy?Your not killing a single thing.' But I want to be half vegan because I don't really like dairy,and I think its kind of gross. People in my class think its unhealthy because they say we need it for growth which is true,but we can get all the iron and nutrients from other foods like nuts and seeds for iron. It all depends on the person and what they think.Everyone is different.But I think that vegan's and vegetarians are the most healthies. xxxxx|||I don't think it's physically unhealthy and honestly, I don't find it negative at all but I think some people think it is because it's an 'extreme' viewpoint, and like any viewpoint that's on a far end of a spectrum whether it's regarding food, politics, religion, etc., I think people feel that 'extremists' are not as balanced in their thinking as moderates. For example, vegetarians seem less extreme than vegans so I think there is less of a stigma about them. I hope that helps you.|||I think that most people think that it's going too far simply because it would be too much of an inconvenience. It's like being a strict Christian or Catholic or Buddhist - almost nobody can fully adhere to the 'rules' because there to too many exceptions and circumstances and excuses and lots of laziness etc. Adultery, divorce, eating pork, eating meat, lying, impure thoughts, etc. etc. So, people make it easy on themselves... they are 'good' only on Sundays, abstain from pork every Friday, don't eat meat twice a month, get forgiven for all their impure thoughts, etc. etc. People are just not interested in being 'hardcore' -- never have, never will be, but they like the Title, the public perception of being the member of such a club. That's why so many people call themselves Vegetarian when in fact they are not at all - they eat dairy, eggs, fish sometimes, chicken sometimes, or whatever, then they get annoyed at those that got sick and tired of these wanna-bes and created a new term Vegan, to distinguish between the real vegetarians and the wanna-bes. They think that Vegans think that they are better than the Vegetarians, but that's not what it's about. It's about integrity, if you ask me. How can you be a Buddhist and still eat meat? Well, I guess you are trying to be as much of a Buddhist as you can, but when can you call yourself a full fledged Buddhist? Even if you do not eat meat, what about the other aspects of the mind, body, and spirit? Where is that line? Can you still be a vegan and wear some shoes that have animal glue or leather? What if the artist paint you use has unknown animal ingredients in it? What about eating vegan food at a restaurant that is not fully 100% vegan? Where is the line drawn? Anyway, that's where I think negative reactions to veganism mostly comes from, if you can follow my rambling...|||In addition to people's inability to go vegan, their misinformation about nutrition, and the fact that it's outside of the norm, another reason why many omnivores spew there negativity all over the place is because they have come across some preachy and condescending vegans in their lives (maybe in real life, on the internet, or through Peta commercials - even I, a hardcore vegan, think that Peta can seem a bit pushy at times). There are a few vegans out there that give the majority of us a bad name, unfortunately.|||I have nothing against the idea of vegetarianism, per se. People can eat whatever they want. My negative reaction is towards people who: - Think that because they don't like something, nobody else should either - Are hypocrites that pretend that they do not destroy animals and/or their habitat, when in actuality they do, whether directly or indirectly - Are intolerant of opinions that differ from their own - Are judgmental and condescending towards people whose opinions differ from their own Unfortunately, that description seems to fit most of the vegetarians that post on yahoo answers. The mere mention of being a meat eater usually leads to criticism, belittling, and thumbs down from the vegetarians. Like PETA members, they don't seem to realize that their extreme but ill-informed statements only damage their credibility further.|||100 years ago, people were wondering about the vegetarianism. No one was taught that vegetarian diet was the "diet from God". The same arguments are being made on veganism today. I'm living on vegan diet (indeed my whole family, with 6y/o & 10 y/o kids) for past 7 years. To me, we yet not discovered any "side affect". In fact our body system is doing well than previous; We feel our life is better now.|||The "fact" that being a vegan diet is healthier than an well balance omnivorous diet is also a myth. And these kinds of high opinion of yourself attitude is why many people dislike vegans. They do not hate the principle of veganism, they hate pushy holier than thou vegans. That's the big difference.|||It's the meat and dairy industry, they have such sneaky strategy's to get us to believe they're our friends and their food is meant to keep us healthy, that when other ppl see other not believeing it and doing something against that, they think that we don't know what we're talking about, and that we like to starv ourselves. I went vegan for a month in an omnivore household and it was literally world war 3, no joke...but lucky for him i didn't have enough money to do vegan, but i still don't eat meat and he's completely out raged, i know first hand how negatively they think of us: They don't believe that beans and veggies have protein, they don't see that big chunk of steak on the plate and they think we're going to look like those kids in 3rd world country's, skeleton bodys. They believe that rice, beans, fruits, veggies, and whole grain breads aren't bulky enough to keep us full and satisfied, and that they don't taste good. LOL, you should've seen the look on my bf's dad's face when he had his first look at tofu! He had that grimace look on his face, like it was an alien baby first born. He was OUTRAGED... this white blob with no flavor was suppose to keep his son full and thriving?? He still doesn't believe it and it's been 3 almost 4 months. This answer will be the best for your report, because i live with the most All american, narrow minded, meat eating guy you will ever find. You will not find a man who thinks vegan is the most horrible and stupid thing to be. If you need more info for your essay, message me and i can go into better detail about what my bf's dad's opinions are :)|||Im neither. But I can say theres alot of people hating on you guys cause they cant do it. I respect you guys 110% I tried it once and failed miserably. I know this didnt answer your question but I thought I'd put in my 2 cents. Keep it up for what ever your reason behind it is. Don't let anyone tell you other wise!|||Well, my grandma always gets nervous when I go, because she has no idea of all the variety of the foods I can eat, and as the old myth, she is scared I won't get enough vitamins and proteins.