Posted as part of VeganMoFo (The Vegan Month of Food) 2014 When vegans are around, things get a little tricky – for all of us. Sometimes non-vegans get defensive or hostile because they think vegans are telling them their food choices are unethical. Sometimes vegans are! And that comes across as self-righteous and snobby.

So, I’m using the Vegan Month of Food – a month during which vegan blogs are celebrated and aggregated in one place – to provide some easy tips for non-vegans and vegans to use, so we can all get along a little better. As the old saying goes, “If you can’t say anything vegan, don’t say anything at all.”

“I DON’T LIKE VEGETABLES.”
Non-vegans, please stop saying this to vegans and vegetarians.

Why?
Because it’s a lie. I refuse to believe that you have tried every vegetable and don’t like any of them. And having tried them when you were ten doesn’t count. Saying you don’t like vegetables is stereotyping. You’re treating all vegetables like they’re the same, when they’re clearly not. For example, cauliflower is really delicious and versatile, while water chestnuts are the devil’s work. Don’t lump them together and bring down cauliflower like that.

There’s also the issue of quality. You can’t eat an iceberg lettuce salad at Applebee’s and decide, based on that, that you don’t like vegetables. Applebee’s sucks. Iceberg lettuce sucks. Vegetables are so much more than that! They’re so colorful! They’re so fun to cook with! They have all the nutrients you need to be healthy! What more do you want? Is anything ever good enough for you?

What are some alternatives?

• “I should try more vegetables, lest I die.”
• “I don’t like certain vegetables, and others are quite tasty.”
• Don’t say anything at all.