Posted as part of VeganMoFo (The Vegan Month of Food) 2014

When vegans are involved, things get a little tricky – for all of us. For non-vegans, that often looks like defensiveness or hostility due to the perception that vegans are telling them their food choices are unethical or wrong. For vegans, it often looks like self-righteousness and snobbery. So, I’m using the Vegan Month of Food – a month during which vegan blogs are celebrated and aggregated in one place – to teach non-vegans and vegans how to be nice to each other. If you can’t say anything vegan, don’t say anything at all.

Aaaanything About the Holocaust
Vegans and vegetarians, please stop saying these things.

Why?
It turns people off, offends them and makes them think you are insensitive and crazy. When you compare what happens to animals, to the Holocaust, it’s from a place of elevating animals to the level of humans. But it comes across like you’re lowering humans – or at least certain humans – to the level of animals. Most people think of animals as less important than humans. That’s called speciesism, and while it may be wrong, it is how most people think. So, when you say something that is rooted in the thought that humans and animals are equally important, it offends them. And then they write you off and stop listening to you.

What are some alternatives?

• Compare farm animals to pet animals. It’s a closer connection for people to make and it is less offensive to most people.
• Don’t say anything at all.