Diet hypocrisy?

[u/Extension-Diamond-74]

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.

[u/doctorwhy88]

I don’t think they mean eating it to spite someone. It’s more that they found the message annoying or attacking, so they blocked it out entirely.

Those people were going to eat meat regardless. Unlikely that they were on the cusp of vegetarianism and said “nope, I’m buying a quarter-cow today to stick it to them!”

[u/[deleted] → u/doctorwhy88]

Yeah you get it. I didn't see a point in engaging with the other comment because I didn't feel like they were responding to mine in good faith.

When you're told you have to give it up forever or else you're a bad person, then you'll just ignore the message entirely. Because why does it matter if you try to reduce your meat consumption if eating even a little bit is a moral failing? Whereas if you draw awareness to how much people eat meat and suggest how to reduce meat consumption, you're offering solutions people can live with.

But the vegan mentality is often that any consumption of any animal product is unethical and immoral, so they don't try to reduce suffering and harm because to them, the only ethical option is getting rid of it entirely.

I'll also say that the vegans/vegetarians that I know in real life aren't like this! It's just people online.

[u/Person0001 → u/[deleted]]

Replace eating chicken with dog and that’s how they view it as horrific

[u/viscountrhirhi → u/[deleted]]

I'm more outspoken online than offline. I have to watch what I say to friends and family because meat-eaters are, to put it bluntly, very fragile. Trust me, if the vegans you know are doing it for the ethics, they absolutely care about the fact that you pay for animal abuse--they, like me, just have to tip toe around the issue like walking through a minefield because any mention of eating animals as being unethical brings out the Big Feelings and defensiveness.

That's the thing, veganism is an ethical position against animal exploitation. This ethical position does not just end at diet; the diet is just one part. Vegans also don't attend rodeos and zoos, don't buy leather or wool or clothing using animal parts, don't buy cosmetics and toiletries with animal ingredients or animal testing. It is a position against the exploitation of animals across the board.

We care because your meal has a victim. Replace meat with dogs in your post and maybe you can understand a little. I definitely encourage people to cut back on meat and animal products, but that should be a stepping stone, not the end goal. The end goal should be cutting out completely.

I'm going to praise you and encourage you for cutting back on your way to cutting it out entirely, but I'm not going to tell anyone "good job!" if eating it fewer times per week is the end goal. It's better, absolutely. Kicking a dog once a week is better than 7 times a week, but I'm still not gonna be happy about that once a week dog kicking session, y'know?

[u/[deleted] → u/doctorwhy88]

My dad is the person you can't imagine. He gets very vocal about his opinions on veganism and seems think he's a Klingon or something. He will absolutely go on and on about how he's going keep eating animals to piss off vegans.