Philosophical Vegan Forum

Okay so I've been having a common occurrence lately, people think I'm either weird or picky! It's kind of hard to be explaining your diet to people who genuinely offer you some food. I'm aware that veganism is a fairly new concept to many people and I've been having to deal with this multiple times a day in the work place and social events. So here's my question... What is the fastest and most simple way of communicating that you don't consume any animal products and why? I politely say no to offers of meat and dairy products and people think I'm picky. Then I feel like I owe them an explanation as to why I reject them. But we all know this explanation is long and has a lot of negative feedback from those who DO consume these products. I just recently turned vegan so many people have seen me stuff my face with cheese and steaks so the change is a bit new to those around me.

HarvesterofSorrow wrote:So here's my question... What is the fastest and most simple way of communicating that you don't consume any animal products and why?

When they offer me animal products, I simply say I'm vegan.
If then they're curious as why, I tell them I'm vegan because of ethical reasons and environmental issues.
It's short and simple - and the truth.
If they are still curious and ask more question, you can take advantage to explain them in details, in a nice way - meaby you might change a couple of minds.

I typically say "thank you for the offer, however Im vegan and I don't eat [insert food]". If they ask why not, I will say "for ethical, environmental and health reasons". That usually ends the conversation, unless they are really pushy.

These situations can be pretty tough to deal with. Not because you want to accept the food, but because you know that they are seeing it as a limitation of your decisions. It's not the best situation to talk about animal issues when they are eating those products at the same moment. So those are reasons that I try to keep it as short as possible (maybe just a 'no thanks').

Volenta wrote:These situations can be pretty tough to deal with. Not because you want to accept the food, but because you know that they are seeing it as a limitation of your decisions. It's not the best situation to talk about animal issues when they are eating those products at the same moment. So those are reasons that I try to keep it as short as possible (maybe just a 'no thanks').

Definitely.

Although moreover, that you mention perception of limitations, while I have no interest in eating the icecream, or whatever it is, it's also better not to highlight limitations as somebody's first exposure to veganism (them relating it to not eating something they like)- it's much more than that.

The best evangelism is usually making delicious food of your own and then starting off from there when people are curious.

If I were to turn down icecream in that context, with them knowing I'm vegan, I might feel the need to talk about coconut icecream (which is so much better), to emphasize that there are better things to eat and get them thinking about those delicious alternatives.

It's not the best situation to talk about animal issues when they are eating those products at the same moment.

Exactly. They feel like I might be shaming them for eating those foods and I honestly have encountered people who have NO idea what veganism even is. But I will take some advise from you guys and try to ease my way into it. Thanks a lot people.