Wow. I just read through this whole thread. It is endlessly fascinating to me how contentious the issue of food and diet is.
You certainly can't please everyone.
Where we live (Los Angeles) being considered vegan is almost a status symbol, and so is being "plant-based" - in certain circles at least. So, many people are threatened or feel judged by me and my husband because of how we eat and how they feel they should eat, but do not.
A lot of people I know locally call themselves vegan, but really are not - they sometimes eat meat and dairy and fish and wear leather, and so on. A few people I know say they are practically vegetarian, even though meat is featured in at least 2, if not 3 of their meals a day. I mean, sure, they
would be vegetarian - if they stopped eating meat!! A fine distinction so many seem to miss. Not sure why, but probably because they want to be known as vegan or vegetarian.
I have been judged both in my dietary choices and my labeling (or lack of labeling) of them by vegans, vegetarians and SAD-eaters alike. I know some vegans who are annoyingly preachy about their food choices, and I know some SAD-eaters who are downright bullying in their attitude and approach towards people (OK, me
) who do not eat meat or animal products.
My FIL, a new McDougaller after a recent heart attack, calls how he eats now Vay-gun (vegan
) for him, vegan simply means "eats no animal products" and he knows it conveys that message more simply than anything else.
I tend to skirt the issue. I have a medical condition that I am using diet to treat, and I started out going the medical route in explaining my eating choices (as in"Special diet for my condition." I did this mostly to get people to mind their own business a little, because EVERYONE had a BIG OPINION about what I was doing, and being sick was enough to deal with.) Even still, everyone I know labels me a vegan anyway.
My husband, who eventually came to eat this way, quite actively works to educate people about this WOE any chance he gets - especially when someone asks him about his diet or how he lost weight. He does not call himself vegan, because he is not opposed to the idea of eating animals; rather he goes into a long explanation of what he is doing and why, which is primarily motivated by personal health, but also factory farming conditions, which he IS very much against. He also will very occasionally eat some meat or dairy, but this is maybe once a year, in a situation where he has nothing else to eat, so he does not feel qualified to call himself vegan, out of respect for ethical vegans. Still, everyone he knows calls him a vegan anyway.
I can understand why people do not feel like calling how they eat vegan, especially if surrounded by people who are prejudiced against the idea. I also think anyone has the right to label or not label how they eat as they prefer. Like I said in the beginning of this post, food and dietary choices are a highly contentious subject, and can cause great disharmony.
.
