The 10 Most Annoying Questions You Can Ask a Vegan (Part One)

I have only been a vegan for a few months at this point. While I love my lifestyle because of the health and animal benefits, I will admit it can be a hardship at times. I see the world in a different light now. People seem to be distressingly ignorant about veganism, and it's hard to tell if questions are genuine curiosity or someone looking for a fight. I've decided to make an FAQ (Frequently Annoying Questions).

10.) "What exactly do vegans eat?"

People think vegans eat three things: tofu, grass and salad. I can assure you this is not true. I eat a lot of the same things my omnivore friends go: burgers, breakfast burritos, lasagna, pizza... You name it! Just about any recipe can be modified to suit a vegan diet. Not to mention a lot of favorite snack foods are already vegan. (I'm eating Buddy Fruits, which are a delicious fruit snack, while I write this.) I do eat a lot of things I would have never eaten before, like Tofurky (much better than real turkey), tempeh, quinoa (makes an excellent breakfast cereal), and so on. Vegans tend to eat a lot more fruits and vegetables too, as well as whole grains.

9.) "Why are vegans so self-righteous and preachy?"

We've all met them: The vegans who can't seem to shut up about the murder that is in a glass of milk, and squawk about the evils of buffalo chicken wings. I know, I'm one of them. Have you heard the saying, "There is no one as fanatical as a convert?" Most of us grew up believing that meat was good for us, we needed milk for strong bones and teeth, and eggs were a good source of protein and b12. Then, one day, we opened our eyes, Maybe we watched a factory farming documentary or visited PETA's website. And suddenly we were angry. We'd been fed lies about food our whole lives by people we love and trust. Many of us become activists, hoping we can stop other people from being sucked in by the meat and dairy industry propaganda. There are some vegans who didn't grow up that way and act like they did, self-righteously turning up their noses and acting like they're better than everyone. Some of us need to realise that not everyone is enlightened yet.

8). "Animals eat other animals to survive. So what's wrong with humans eating meat?"

How fortunate a lot of us are to live in wealthy countries where worrying about food is not an issue. Times have changed a lot, and we no longer need to eat to "survive"-- a plethora of food can be found at your local supermarket. In the wild, without the conveniences of technology and civilisation, doubtless we would need to eat whatever we could to survive, including meat. Alas, we do not live in the wild like our animal friends. We live in houses where we are protected from danger. We have vast amounts of food at our disposal. At this stage in our evolution, we eat meat for pleasure only, not for survival.

7.) "Do you ever miss meat?"

I'm sure this is something vegans get asked a lot, and the answer is different for everyone. For me, the answer is yes. It's hard not to miss something that was a part of your life for 25 years. I liken it to a smoker who quits. He knows smoking is bad for him, but he misses it because it was a stress reliever and a habit. I used to eat bacon and eggs on the weekend, it was one of the few times I'd see my mum during the week and she would cook this for me. At the same time, I know my health is better and I'm not killing any animals just so I can eat.

6.) "What if you were stranded on a desert island, and you had to eat meat or you would die. What would you do?"

I absolutely cannot stand these kind of questions. They're idiotic and distract from real issues. There are quite a few variations on this theme, but most of them involve eating meat or dying. Someone asked a vegan on a FB page one time, "If someone asked you to kill 10 animals, or 10 morally upstanding people, which would you choose?" Questions like this don't have any one answer because they have too many variables (e.g., how do you know the people were morally upstanding, what constitutes morals, blah blah). People only ask questions like this to start arguments. In response to the desert island question, I'd find some animals, figure out what they eat, and eat that. Also, I'd be making damn sure I get rescued.

I hope you found this post enlightening. If you have any questions, you can leave them in the comments below.

M.