Has anyone else been in that situation where someone’s telling you how they could never go vegan? So you’ve decided to go vegan, and you’re met with a bunch of questions as to why you are.
You may or may not have asked, but the person with the questions then explains why they haven’t gone, or why could never go vegan. This post is going to cover the most annoying excuses people have to not go vegan.
I just love cheese too much
A common one, in my opinion cheese isn’t even that deep, it’s basically solid salty milk… To be fair to the average omnivore, although you may not know it, cheese, or dairy in general, is actually highly addictive.
So much so that even people that are lactose intolerant insist on eating cheese cause of their cravings, guess it’s too much to resist…
In all seriousness though, in this day and age when we know the diseases these food-like products can cause, we should make more of an active effort to curb ourselves away from these problem foods.
My friend tried and almost died
There’s always that one person that knew one other guy that went vegan and was tired, got really skinny, or got sick and felt better after eating meat… It’s true that transitioning to a vegan lifestyle cold-turkey can bring discomfort, but that’s why you do your research first and ease into it.
A lot of the time, people’s attitudes towards a vegan diet can be so closed minded, that some tend to gravitate away completely, or be so detached that they won’t even try a veggie option.
When we live in a society where people can look at a meal as “too healthy”, it makes sense why the average person wouldn’t be able to change their lifestyle so suddenly. Take time to ease into it, and have your knowledge handy to ensure you’re maintaining your nutrition.
The food chain
Another reason why people resist trying a vegan lifestyle is that some people are so obsessed with the food chain.
As we’re raised going to the supermarkets to get food, and have a choice of eating anything we’d like, people have been raised to think that we’re entitled to consume anything beneath us in the food chain.
Just because we’re able to commodify animals and freely eat them, does not mean we need to do so. That being said, a food chain is supposed to be sustainable, not destructive.
The human race does far more harm to the environment than good, completely eradicating the food chain and eating force-fed farm animals.
We were evolved to eat meat
We were all taught in school, we as humans evolved to hunt and eat animals, modernising to today’s climate of slaughterhouses and packaged meat.
The difference is, we were actually never evolved to eat meat, not in any sense. We have canines to slice apples, not tough raw meat; molars to crush nuts and a digestive system like that of other primates and herbivores.
We’re actually not evolved to eat meat, at all, despite what people think, so maybe you can reconsider your standpoint when arguing we were evolved to eat meat.
Tradition, or culture
One annoying thing is that when I’m trying to help people improve their health, by teaching them the benefits of a vegan diet, the conversation often goes back to culture.
For instance, growing up Portuguese, most of the locals live off fish, meat, dairy and wheat. It’s essentially tradition to eat anything that’s well, not vegan. Which isn’t surprising that disease also “runs in the family”.
Another example is the point that a vegan diet can help you live longer, then someone comes up with a counter point on how their granted lived till 100 eating meat and smoking every day.
What to note from this is that when our grandparents were growing up, the soils were less depleted, the air was less polluted, everything was fresher.
The type of meat people eat now is not the same quality as before, yet people still believe the common misconception that meat is good for you – Definitely not at the rate people are eating it now.
No protein
Aren’t you also tired of the question: where do you get your protein from? I am, but it’s even more annoying when people say it’s the reason they don’t want to go vegan…
I remember seeing someone just last year who gave me that answer, being 5 years older than me, physically active and still not the same size, and I’m not even that big.
If you don’t like the idea of eating vegan just say so, because there are a very many vegan protein rich foods.
God made animals to be eaten
So if I remember the biblical stories correctly (I was raised Christian), I recall people sacrificing animals to god to be viewed in favour.
To be honest it didn’t really make sense to me, and with the garden of eden being full of fruit trees, the math still ain’t math-ing. I don’t think god made animals to be eaten by people, much like how he didn’t design our physiology like that and how cows milk wasn’t made for human consumption….
It’s too expensive
A common misconception about the vegan lifestyle is that it’s expensive. It’s unfortunate because the vegan diet is actually cheaper than you think. From the food to even the leather, which consumes a lot less resources than traditional (cow) leather.
Most fruits, veg, grains and greens are very affordable. Portion-for-portion, you’re saving money when comparing it to meat centric meals. Find out more about how to save money with a vegan diet via our other post.
Here for a good time not a long time
This is one of my least favourite statements, it’s just disappointing how self destructive some people can think, live and be.
Picture this: you’ve adapted to a whole food vegan lifestyle hitting all your caloric, macro and micro nutritional needs, are active and hit the age of 80, having barely aged, with good gut health, and less inflammation.
On the other side of the fence you’ve got your friends and family that eat meat, dairy and eventually develop disorders which come with chronic meat consumption. Once they hit 80 it’s a whole different story.
Of course not all meat eaters age gracelessly, but there is a correlation between the meat eaters who live by these mottos and those who end up seriously ill in the future. For me, I’m here for a comfortable long time, I don’t believe in living fast and struggling in my old age. A well-planned vegan diet gives you a newfound energy and longevity.
But bacon tho
A final annoying reason for the list, this is genuinely one of the most annoying things us vegan have to deal with, plain disregard for any accountability.
Look: I’ve been a meat eater that eats meat, fish and everything in between. I was for 19 years without any intention to change. Naturally, I don’t like to judge meat eaters as I’ve been in their shoes.
I’ve literally been that d*#?head that makes a joke about how a vegan would have nothing to eat. When I learned about the sheer number of animals that die just for human consumption, not to mention every other purpose – At some point I realised I could reduce this (even slightly) and jokes about animals just weren’t funny anymore.
I went vegan for health mainly, but the contribution to less animal slaughter is definitely what keeps me vegan. Not contributing to an industry that feeds chronic disease, not killing innocent beings because of marketing.
That being said, I don’t judge those that choose not to be vegan, but I do try to encourage those that don’t to try eat more vegan meals. That’s not to say eat mock meats, but real, whole food plant based food that nourishes you within.
I hope you enjoyed this post on annoying reasons people don’t go vegan, hopefully you guys enjoyed my take on the matter, I feel I can be neutral on the topic. I want to take this opportunity to assure you lot that I’m not saying we should all be vegan today, I’m just saying we could all benefit from some more veggies in our life.
