Article-''I don’t eat animals’'

[Jamie in Chile]

‘I’ll stop saying I don’t eat meat – and tell people I don’t eat animals’

An interesting article today in the Guardian.

he says ‘I’ll stop saying I don’t eat meat – and tell people I don’t eat animals’
Is this something we should all be doing? (feel free to comment on this point without reading the article)

The article is also a fairly well thought out statement of the vegan position, with a few personal touches

‘I’ll stop saying I don’t eat meat – and tell people I don’t eat animals’: the thing I’ll do differently in 2023

I’ve been a vegan since I was a teenager – not for health or environmental reasons, but because animals are sentient beings. And I want to be honest about that

www.theguardian.com

 

[Emma JC]

I don't have time this morning to read it but I love the sentiment and think is it a great thing to say as it covers all the animals so you don't have to qualify by saying "I don't eat meat or chicken or fish etc" - could say "I don't eat animals or their excretions"

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[Lou]

Only read a few paragraphs.


If he just wants to be informative, he should just say, I'm vegan.
Less words and more clear. To be even clearer he could say he's an ethical vegan.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

I suppose if someone holds a plate of meat in your direction and you say "I don't eat meat" that could be argued to be a missed opportunity as you have only stated you don't do it and implicitly accepted that meat is a valid option by only saying no.

"I don't eat animals" is more like activism, a slight challenge or hint of something to anyone listening, but perhaps not enough to be rude and hopefully give a tiny nudge.

Of course the counter argument would be it could still rub people up the wrong way and cause awkwardness but overall it seems well judged.

If anyone responds with a counter argument or seems offended you could still say "hey people are eating now and relaxing, let's talk about this later".

 

[Lou]

@Jaime,
I don't know, if its "activism" its pretty weak. If people are offended by it - then maybe that is a little like activism - but I don't see it as a big step or of much consequence.

Stating you are vegan is not only more informative but it is also something that might open the door to further conversation.

 

[silva]

I won't ever start with "I don't eat animals", nor vegan. I get the intended shock value, and I'm not the right personality to get it across in any meaningful way, and I find that very important. I've met too many vegans who come across as arrogant @sses and the message ends up saying more about them than rethinking how you think about animals. I've also met vegans who do well to deliver more subliminal messages that linger in peoples minds and make them think, with no "LOOK AT ME....."
I'll say I don't eat meat, or I don't eat animal products and if prompted simply because knowing I don't need to it seemed so very wrong

 

[bEt]

I thought this was a very accessible and well-written article. One thing the author says is,

"I feel I’m not telling the whole story when I say I don’t eat meat."

I think this is an important point. For this particular author, the answer he is choosing to give is simply a result of being sincere.

 

[Lou]

"I feel I’m not telling the whole story when I say I don’t eat meat."

Wouldn't saying, I'm vegan, be a more complete story?

There is a lot more to it than not eating animals. There is not wearing them and there is not exploiting them, testing on them, incarcerating them.....

 

[bEt]

Wouldn't saying, I'm vegan, be a more complete story?

There is a lot more to it than not eating animals. There is not wearing them and there is not exploiting them, testing on them, incarcerating them.....

Ah, yes! It would be more complete.
But then too what one person says and what another person hears aren't always the same thing. A lot of people won't 'hear' the definition of vegan that you just gave when you say the word 'vegan'. Lots of interesting ideas and roads to go down with this thread . . . .

 

[silva]

Wouldn't saying, I'm vegan, be a more complete story?

There is a lot more to it than not eating animals. There is not wearing them and there is not exploiting them, testing on them, incarcerating them.....

To me stating that you're vegan tells that the person takes responsibility to live their own ethics. Stating "I don't eat animals" I hear a more adversarial comment that sounds judgemental.
I think "I'm vegan" has a far better chance of conversation, letting them know you have a different outlook, but not coming across like it's better than theirs

 

[shyvas]

I've always said that ''I don't eat animals'' and usually the response is ''at least that's clear''.
Where I live many people
(especially women) say that ''they don't eat meat''. However, it usually just means red meat.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

one thing that might work is something different

if people have heard "I'm vegan" a lot from different people that it might not make you think a lot and you quickly move on whereas "I don't eat animals" might be a different take that makes people think at least a few seconds

conversely if people have heard of vegetarian but don't really know what vegan is then "I'm vegan" might be more of a conversation starter

 

[Sax]

I like that it sidesteps the stereotypes and tribal identity invoked by saying "I'm vegan" and puts the focus where it belongs.

If someone offers me non-vegan food I'll usually say I don't eat meat (or dairy, or animal products depending on the situation). More often than not they'll ask if I'm vegetarian or vegan, at which point i tell them I'm vegan. If they ask why I'll tell them, but basically I let them decide how much they want to know about it.

Offering food is a friendly gesture so I prefer to keep my response light hearted and friendly in return.

I think one-on-one activism is largely a waste of time anyway. But the handful of vegans I liked and respected as a non-vegan made a big impact on me.

 

[bEt]

I think I see what Silva and others are saying --that the "I'm vegan" statement invites someone to see that you are making a moral choice.
Saying you "don't eat meat" is very mild, maybe to use with someone who isn't ready to hear more, and maybe it even implies that you accept the definition of meat as food, but won't be having any.
What is so radical about "I don't eat animals" perhaps is that it is a subtle, simple, yet almost graphic way of saying you don't accept the definition of meat as food.

 

[bEt]

I'll say I don't eat meat, or I don't eat animal products and if prompted simply because knowing I don't need to it seemed so very wrong

That seems wise, to wait for someone to ask more questions, and then offer what you can.

 

[Daniel Swords]

‘I’ll stop saying I don’t eat meat – and tell people I don’t eat animals’

An interesting article today in the Guardian.

he says ‘I’ll stop saying I don’t eat meat – and tell people I don’t eat animals’
Is this something we should all be doing? (feel free to comment on this point without reading the article)

The article is also a fairly well thought out statement of the vegan position, with a few personal touches

‘I’ll stop saying I don’t eat meat – and tell people I don’t eat animals’: the thing I’ll do differently in 2023

I’ve been a vegan since I was a teenager – not for health or environmental reasons, but because animals are sentient beings. And I want to be honest about that

www.theguardian.com

Thank you for posting.

 

[Daniel Swords]

Thank you for posting and others for replying. Saying I don’t eat animals is how I feel, but saying it to a friend or my daughter makes me feel like I am being judgmental. I will enjoy following this post but for now I will stick with “I am striving to be a vegan.” If asked why I will elaborate but so far no one has seemed interested.

 

[Brian W]

Only read a few paragraphs.


If he just wants to be informative, he should just say, I'm vegan.
Less words and more clear. To be even clearer he could say he's an ethical vegan.

Some of us don't want to be associated with the word. There's too much pomposity and self-righteousness associated with it sadly.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

Any thoughts on the word vegan and the word feminism. Feminism seemed to be a dirty word or at least one people weren't all that comfortable with but people stuck to it and for the most part it a word that causes a negative reaction I think. Is that fair? People didn't give up on feminist and feminist and eventually they sort of won...there was a few weeks in UK politics a few years ago when mainstream centrist politicians were wearing "this is what a feminist looks like" T shirts

Wondering if there is a lesson for vegans there.

 

[Lou]

Feminism seemed to be a dirty word or at least one people weren't all that comfortable with

um... I think the people who were uncomfortable with feminism were just misogynists or leaning that way.