The power of food

1587:

What the Animal Industries may NOT realise is that strong counter-culture is forming. But, you wouldn't think so when you see the crowds at Burger King. If change is happening it's amongst people who are not queueing outside Burger King, but are recognising that animal products are dangerous as well as immoral. Food is essential to life, obviously, but not this food. Animal-derived foods shouldn't even be classified as 'foods', since they’re toxic, unethical to animals, anathema to human biology and terrible for the environment. Yet, almost everyone remains an omnivore - no doubt, seduced by roast dinners and boiled eggs for breakfast, and an inability to walk past a cake shop.

The fact is, we depend on that pleasure rather a lot. Food sensation. And we can’t get past our own tastebuds and food-fads. We’re hemmed in anyway by our eating habits - go against the norm and social relationships are affected. Whereas, by conforming, we can 'eat from the same table', and be accepted.

For people like vegans, social isolation can be a consequence of eating different foods. It often crosses my mind that perhaps people think we are trying to be better than everyone else. Probably not fair. It might look that way, because we've got something we're confident about, not gods or guides or gurus but just a plain principle about what's okay to be doing and what's NOT okay to be doing. Because we've stumbled on it - guarding (and not harming) - we might seem confident. Not to be confused with insufferable 'rightness'.

But it's something every vegan knows (what it is) and maybe non-vegans, not yet - a lifting of a weight off the shoulders leaving behind self confidence. Not enough perhaps, to combat the social isolation that being vegan brings. But it's something we do: we boycott ruthlessly. Vegans do that because it's necessary, and by remaining vegan we are indomitable. I hope that means we don't abandon boycotting when things get rough. And they go pear-shaped at the most unexpected moments, and we have to say for the 'umpteenth time, “no” - tempted or otherwise.

Although we've made war on everyone, it isn't our business what you do, but it IS my business what the exploiters do. I choose to show my disagreement with them by withdrawing my money from them. These are the people all vegans boycott.  We boycott their products and condemn them for being in the business of animal exploitation.