Rant...
My sister lives with me and my family (husband and son). My family is vegan, my sister is loosely vegetarian.
So tonight I was making a grocery order. I told her I was ordering her cows milk, but that I was also ordering Ripple for her because she liked that one. She then said that was fine, but that she was afraid to stop ordering cows milk because she was concerned that if it wasn't in the fridge all the time I would start "forbidding" it.
This didn't go over well. Of course I HATE that there's cows milk in my fridge! So the argument escalated. Basically, I've been Plant-Based for over 5 years now, but I just recently became fully vegan. And being Plant-Based is very non-confrontational. Being vegan is not.
Being vegan means I'm "one of those people" that thinks a ham on the table is equivalent to a dead child. It means I think I'm better than other people.
And all I could really say was "all I wish is that you cared more." I wish that she cared more about not torturing animals then she cared about this slight difference in texture in plant milk. That she cared more about the planet then to support an industry that's disrupting it.
But, of course, that was her point. Being "that kind of vegan" means I look down on people that know better and still choose to do harm. That I think the're morally wrong, and I am right. That they are doing something cruel and evil, and I'm "better" than other people.
And I do believe I'm better for it.
That's why I do it. Because I want to be the change I want to see in the world. Because I want to do as little harm as possible. Because I want to help the planet regrow. Because I do care. A lot.
I'm not going to pretend that doing harm and not doing harm are equal. I'm not going to pretend that the torture and slaughter of animals is a human right. And I'm not going to exclude myself as "the weird one" for choosing to opt out of cruelty. I'm not going to be afraid to be "one of those vegan people" anymore, because being Plant-Based is easier.
I'm proud to be "one of those vegan people."
I'm proud to care.
I'm proud of what I've become.
And I am better for it.
My sister lives with me and my family (husband and son). My family is vegan, my sister is loosely vegetarian.
So tonight I was making a grocery order. I told her I was ordering her cows milk, but that I was also ordering Ripple for her because she liked that one. She then said that was fine, but that she was afraid to stop ordering cows milk because she was concerned that if it wasn't in the fridge all the time I would start "forbidding" it.
This didn't go over well. Of course I HATE that there's cows milk in my fridge! So the argument escalated. Basically, I've been Plant-Based for over 5 years now, but I just recently became fully vegan. And being Plant-Based is very non-confrontational. Being vegan is not.
Being vegan means I'm "one of those people" that thinks a ham on the table is equivalent to a dead child. It means I think I'm better than other people.
And all I could really say was "all I wish is that you cared more." I wish that she cared more about not torturing animals then she cared about this slight difference in texture in plant milk. That she cared more about the planet then to support an industry that's disrupting it.
But, of course, that was her point. Being "that kind of vegan" means I look down on people that know better and still choose to do harm. That I think the're morally wrong, and I am right. That they are doing something cruel and evil, and I'm "better" than other people.
And I do believe I'm better for it.
That's why I do it. Because I want to be the change I want to see in the world. Because I want to do as little harm as possible. Because I want to help the planet regrow. Because I do care. A lot.
I'm not going to pretend that doing harm and not doing harm are equal. I'm not going to pretend that the torture and slaughter of animals is a human right. And I'm not going to exclude myself as "the weird one" for choosing to opt out of cruelty. I'm not going to be afraid to be "one of those vegan people" anymore, because being Plant-Based is easier.
I'm proud to be "one of those vegan people."
I'm proud to care.
I'm proud of what I've become.
And I am better for it.