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.

I DON’T KNOW WHY VEGANS EAT FAKE MEAT.
Vegans and non-vegans, please stop saying this.

Why?
Vegans are vegans because they don’t want to eat animals, not because they have a problem with the taste of meat. It’s not the taste that makes us turn away from animal products, it’s knowing how animals are turned into food. It’s a pretty terrible process, and we disapprove. But we’ll eat plant-based bacon all day long. And seitan buffalo wings all night. And some the next morning before work.

Eating plant-based meats is not evidence that we miss meat or don’t really want to be vegan. It’s evidence that taste is not the reason we are vegan. The reason is that we’re smarter and cooler and neater than you. 😉

What are some alternatives?

• “Who am I to be judging what a vegan eats? They’ve clearly thought about it more than I have.”
• “Smothering plant-based foods in buffalo sauce sounds pretty good. I could get on board with that! Teach me your ways, Wise Vegan.”
• Don’t say anything at all.