By Leigh Champanis-King
If you’re a vegan, you’ll definitely relate to these uncalled-for comments…
When it comes to veganism, people have a lot of things to say and questions to ask. Here, 9 things vegans hear whenever they meet a new person.
1. “Why are you a vegan? Do you not like meat or do you just love animals?”
This is a good question and we love explaining our choices (most of the time), just make sure you let us answer fully before jumping in with a story about the pet pig you had growing up that tasted really good come Christmas Day.
2. “What do you eat? Aren’t you hungry all the time?”
Pretty much just lettuce… Jokes! There are so many vegan recipes out there and restaurants are really starting to jump on the bandwagon.
READ MORE: 7 Best Restaurants in Cape Town If You’re Vegetarian Or Vegan
3. “Do you eat fish?”
No, that would be a pescetarian. This is a favourite of waiters when faced with the “I’m a vegan, what can I eat here?” question.
4. “I could never give up meat, I just love it too much!”
Remember, not all vegans hate meat, dairy and eggs; for some, it’s actually a difficult decision to make and a big effort to maintain an animal product-free diet. It can get a bit annoying hearing this.
5. “Plants have feelings too!”
Ha ha ha, that’s such a good point, let me start eating meat again. Not.
6. “You look pretty healthy for a vegan.”
Note: This is always said while giving you a thorough once-over… It is possible to live a completely healthy life while not eating meat or other animal products. As long as you eat a balanced diet, are aware of what your body’s needs and take supplements for things you might be lacking (such as vitamin B12 if you’re vegan), you will be fine. It’s always a good idea to talk to a nutritionist before starting a new eating plan, so if you’re unsure of anything, that should be your first stop.
READ MORE: 8 Things You Didn’t Know Were Totally Vegan
7. “You’re stealing cows’ food by eating plants.”
Kill me now.
8. Something nonsensical, said really defensively.
The thing I find most annoying is when someone comes at me quite aggressively because they feel that I’m judging them for eating meat or animal products. This is so not the case. I’ll do me, you do you.
9. “Wait, can you eat that?”
This happens whenever we reach for any food ever. We’ve done a lot of homework and can probably list the ingredients in any food you mention to us. Don’t worry, we’ve got this.
What to find out more about veganism? Read about what happened when this woman went vegan for a month and what it’s really like to go vegan…