Have been seeing a lot of dialogue lately on what Vegans should and shouldn't support as a community. Honestly I feel like I disagree with so much of it this craziness of ONLY supporting Vegan business.
Come on seriously people, we should only support vegan establishments? This is utterly ridiculous. Within the vegan community there is often discussion on speciesism. (Speciesism being where people discriminate against other species.) I think the current approach many are taking is that we will soon end up with "veganism". Where we discriminate against others based on their lifestyle. Would we have separate drinking fountains for veggie and omni's? No, think not. Why would we promote the idea of only frequenting Vegan establishments. In my mind the idea would be to promote others to look towards Vegan lifestyle, not to further perpetuate the idea of vegans being a group of elitist.
One of the basic things I see lacking within the vegan movement, as with anything is understanding the target audience. Food & shelter are basic needs, people in general are very sensitive when their basic needs feel threatened. Pushing to change basic needs in such a radical manner will have most not listening with an open mind if they listen at all. Additionally people are selfish. If you want to have someone look at an idea or influence them to your view point you need to show them what is in it for them. How do they benefit. That is why the rational for being vegan to me is health, environment and then Animals. Yes, in that order. Unfortunately many other Vegans seem to think that I would most likely go back to being omni before they would. I whole heartily disagree, as I take very few prescription drugs today versus when I consumed animal products. I am personally invested in being vegan. We need to look to do the same with the general public in order to get the idea of being Vegan more mainstream.
Another piece to this is Supply and Demand. The more the demand the more there is a supply of vegan options. The more the supply, the more demand can increase for said vegan options. Those that have financial resources to invest in business need to see there is a demand, they need to see that there is money to be made in offering & selling vegan options weather that be in the grocery store, restaurants or at the local car dealer. I will gladly patronize businesses with vegan options. In my view this should help create additional offering for vegans and help other see the being vegan is easier than they may have previously thought.
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I find many reastaurnats do not cater to vegans. The chef will cobble somehitngotgether for the patron in many cases. Tough when you travel a lot. I was vegan from 72 to 81, and would accoisianlyy do fish, I actually crossed back by over for chinese spare ribs. All thse years later, I try to eat lots of veg, and seafood, but minimize red measts for special occaisions. DInner last nigt was risoota, with hen of the wood and asparaus. Loveley.
ReplyDeleteWe vegans are a passionate group. We always support vegan businesses when they available. In fact, we often go out of our way to do so. I own and operate a vegan business and appreciate the support of the vegan community. But I think it is crucial to support any business that offers vegans an option. I go out of my way to shop at my local super market. I hope it encourages them to increase the amount of vegan food they sell. Our job is not to judge, but to educate!
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