Chef William Sitwell is renowned for his acerbic wit on television appearances as a judge on BBC’s Masterchef. He is, or rather was, editor of an in-house magazine for the supermarket Waitrose.
A vegan writer emailed him asking if she could write a series on plant based meals.
He dismissed the pitch with, “How about a series on killing vegans, one by one. Ways to trap them? How to interrogate them properly? Expose their hypocrisy? Force-feed them meat? Make them eat steak and drink red wine?”
It was a joke. Not at all a funny joke and is even less humorous when quoted out of the original context. It cost him his job because Waitrose are trying to attract vegans to their stores.
Hence the furore about free speech that has erupted in the UK. The majority opinion seems to be that he was stupid and unprofessional but did not deserve the sack.
Some of the media were tempted into the usual stereotypical images of drab vegans devoid of humour. This is where I loudly sing the praises of Earthling Ed. He was interviewed on BBC Radio 4 and asked, “Are vegans a persecuted minority?”
His reply was along the lines of: “No we are not. Vegans are angry not for themselves but towards attitudes that lead to so much suffering and death. Animals are a persecuted majority.”
Well done Earthling Ed. A brilliant response!
Roger.
A vegan writer emailed him asking if she could write a series on plant based meals.
He dismissed the pitch with, “How about a series on killing vegans, one by one. Ways to trap them? How to interrogate them properly? Expose their hypocrisy? Force-feed them meat? Make them eat steak and drink red wine?”
It was a joke. Not at all a funny joke and is even less humorous when quoted out of the original context. It cost him his job because Waitrose are trying to attract vegans to their stores.
Hence the furore about free speech that has erupted in the UK. The majority opinion seems to be that he was stupid and unprofessional but did not deserve the sack.
Some of the media were tempted into the usual stereotypical images of drab vegans devoid of humour. This is where I loudly sing the praises of Earthling Ed. He was interviewed on BBC Radio 4 and asked, “Are vegans a persecuted minority?”
His reply was along the lines of: “No we are not. Vegans are angry not for themselves but towards attitudes that lead to so much suffering and death. Animals are a persecuted majority.”
Well done Earthling Ed. A brilliant response!
Roger.
