Crashing Vegan Stereotypes

I get that there are stereotypes and that people are going to instantly think they know something specific about me when they find out I'm vegan. They may think I'm a granola-eating tree hugger or that I only eat vegetables, or that I'm anemic or any other number of things. Tonight I came across something I'd never heard before. On a Web site where people post questions and "experts" answer them, someone asked about the morality of eating meat. The question was in the philosophy section and most of the answers were well thought out until I got to the last one. This fellow's argument was that animals were lower than humans and of course people should eat them. He also stated that there are no proteins in a plant based diet (what?) and then he said that it had been observed that people who don't eat meat are cowards.

This guy had lost my respect way before he got to this last unfounded statement, but this statement blew me away. People who don't eat meat are cowards. Why would that be? Because we choose not to harm animals? Because we dare to express an opinion and a lifestyle choice that differs from yours? If anything, I'd say that most vegans are brave. Having a conviction and following it through? That takes courage. Being different and choosing not to go with the flow? That takes courage. Calling him out about his ignorant assumption? That took some courage too, but it felt good. I could have lectured on and on about the benefits of a plant based diet and the fact that there are many sources of plant-based protein, but I was good and reigned myself in.

I have to say that this guy really riled me up. He made some pretty ignorant statements. I fail to see how what a person eats has any effect on their level of cowardice. It just doesn't make sense. I'm truly baffled. I'm shaking my head; I really don't get this. I'm quite sure this is the craziest and most baseless stereotype of vegans I've seen or heard. That doesn't mean there aren't others that I'm not aware of.

I'm inviting you to share your tales of vegan stereotypes here so we can smash them.

I wasn't going to share the link to the question, but after thinking about it some more, I decided to add it here. Is Eating Meat Morally Wrong

I should invest in this book!

Things have been humming along here at home. We're making lots of progress in getting rid of stuff. Decluttering takes a lot of effort! The biggest thing I've found is that it's a lot easier to do something now rather than wait until later. I'm trying to do this and get the kids on board.

We spent most of the Victoria Day weekend cleaning out our front garden. When we moved in here, there was a lovely garden, but we discovered that the plant that was used as filler wasn't the best because it completely took over the garden. We have pulled it up numerous times and had a neighbour with a background in gardening tried to help us too. This year, we pulled it up, used this black cloth that supposedly blocks weeds, put some cedar mulch down and now we are hoping for the best. I planted some peonies because I just love the big, colourful flowers that used to grow in the garden we had in the house I grew up in.

Next plan is to tackle the back garden so we can plant some veggies. Being vegan, it would be nice to be able to eat the fruits of our labours here at home. We shall see how it goes.

In the meantime, I'm still culling items from the house. It feels good to get rid of stuff, especially when it can be given to someone who can really use it. Or to toss it when it's simply not good any more. I'm considering working from home in the near future, so I'm going to need a clean area to work in. Of course, I won't get preference for working from home yet, so we shall see.

And that is about it!