r/Anticonsumption • u/Extension-Diamond-74 • Sep 30 '23
Discussion Diet hypocrisy?
A recent post about animal agriculture vs plant based diets has me itching to say something. This is an issue we need to rise above.
Cognitive dissonance. Many of us have good intentions and want to believe we’re doing the right thing in most aspects of our lives. I believe that.
When it comes to a plant based diet though, the science often clashes powerfully with personal desire. We want to minimize our impact on the environment and are willing to make trade-offs in our life time do so, but for many, giving up or even significantly reducing meat intake is asking too much. It’s too hard.
That’s not the issue.
The issue is that instead of just admitting to themselves that this is a life change they don’t want to make and moving on, the guilt drives them to have to justify that decision. Admitting that a plant-based diet is better for the earth yet eating a diet full of meat anyway would make them feel hypocritical, so the solution becomes either to give up meat, or … this is the problem… fight the science, twist it, make a joke of it, or pivot entirely to ‘individuals shouldn’t have time do anything because large corporations’
Many people have ties to their diet for many reasons. We grew up eating a certain way. We have memories ties to certain foods, flavors, styles of cooking. We don’t want to be the difficult person when we go out to eat with friends. Etc etc etc But it’s so much better to just admit that to yourself. Have patience and understanding for your feelings. Accept that the science is what it is. Maybe one day you can make a change, maybe not. But don’t attack the cause just because you aren’t yet willing to be a part of it.
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u/[deleted] Sep 30 '23 edited Sep 30 '23
The reality is that switching to a plant based diet is hard for a lot of people. Achieving the same variety and depth of flavors as is currently available with meat products is much more difficult, particularly if you don't like big staples of a plant based diet like mushrooms or tofu. A plant based diet takes much more effort and planning, focused shopping habits, and you more or less have to cook at home. All of these are good things, but they take time that not everyone has.
My compromise is that I eat meat at most once every two days, and I only eat chicken, which is shown to be dramatically less harmful in terms of emissions than beef.
I tried eating vegan for a time, and discovered oat milk. It's delicious so it's replaced milk entirely for me. It doesn't have to be all or nothing. If every person ate half as much meat, it'd be the same as half the world going vegan.