The compromise

668:

The omnivore mightn’t care a fig about animal cruelty. Or they might not necessarily know about it. But it needs to be said that whatever nutritive value there may have ever been (in animal-based food) is now compromised by the toxic content that is part of it all. And that isn’t taking into account the shame of it. Even if the animal is fed organic food, if it ranges free or is treated with exceptional kindness, the food taken from the animal can never be ‘clean’ since it’s all tainted by imprisonment and an abattoir death; even animals from which by-products are taken (like eggs or milk or wool) are eventually executed.

Animal foods are unnecessary to healthy survival. They serve no useful purpose, in sharp contrast to plant-based foods. For omnivores this corrupted energy source is like ‘drinking from the poisoned well’. With so much chronic dietary-related disease, you’d think the ‘goodness’ of food would be a high priority. And so it would be, if it weren’t for the consumer’s need to conform (social acceptance) and the Industry’s insatiable thirst for profits. Normality takes precedence over everything else – the normal meal always containing meat or cheese, and the meal invariably topped off with sweetened dairy products. Social conformity is more important than any show of individuality. We beware stepping outside social norms by not sharing the same foods as others at the dinner table; if, for ethical reasons, we don’t eat the same sorts of foods as other then it’s likely we’ll never be truly accepted by them. And by being shunned socially, as vegans are, there’s the danger of losing social confidence. For the sake of social acceptance, it’s likely that most people will compromise their principles in order to do as others do.

On the big issues of the day, like whether r not to eat meat, we defer attitude-change; it’s made easier knowing that we won’t be judged for it by others, because they’re compromising in the same way too.

We don’t give something up if we think we can get away with it. If for no other reason, this would be why an omnivores remains an omnivore. But vegans don’t think this way. We might miss peer acceptance but we can look forward to being fit and free of a heavy conscience. To take vegan theory seriously (enough to boycott everything with animal bits) we acknowledge both the nutritional side and the ethical side of the food we eat. People have thrived on a vegan diet since the early 1940s, so it’s not that experimental!