Veganism Isn’t a Problem, but Mocking Compassion? Big Problem

I read another blog by my new hero Chef Alexis Gauthier and it made me think. The beginning of the story is a re-telling of his version of events in England…and then it’s all me, baby, ranting.

According to Chef Gauthier, in late July, singer Billie Eilish made the bold decision to make her O2 Arena concerts fully plant-based. No animal products could be sold on the evenings of her shows. Fans were reportedly unhappy with the vegan food on offer, and this was used by a reporter as a springboard for a long, sneering takedown of vegans. She characterized us as sanctimonious, extreme, socially toxic, and of course, the ever popular description…annoying. Wow, right?

As those of who live a plant-based lifestyle have come to expect, this was not the first or honestly, the most creative drag like this in the media. And it won’t be the last. As Chef Gauthier wrote: “The piece in the Spectator wasn’t really about food. It wasn’t about nutrition, the ethics of animal agriculture, or even concert catering. It was about identity — about mocking the people who have made a choice that unsettles the status quo.”

Chef Gauthier is relatively new to the vegan scene, adopting the lifestyle in 2016 and converting his restaurants in London to entirely plant-based in 2021. So he sees things a little differently than those of us who have endured the barbs and insults for decades; in my case for 42 years…and counting.

But what is really going on here, that in 2025, people are still writing about vegans as some extremist fringe group of judgey weirdos? There’s something deeper about our cultural discomfort with what veganism represents. It’s not a diet, so what is it?

It is a refusal. A refusal that says that we won’t participate in the unnecessary suffering of animals if it can be avoided. This simple, tender concept is considered radical because our modern culture is built on the normalization of animal use in various ways, from food to fashion… even twisted entertainment. Our refusal to participate makes the movement extreme and confronting for some people.

By eschewing animal foods, people don’t just change what is on their tables. Without words, we invite other people to think about what’s on their own. For some that opens a door to something they had not considered; for some it feels like a judgement of their morality and that is often accompanied by guilt and sometimes anger.

So I guess it’s easier to mock vegans that to engage in the reasoning behind such a life choice: cruelty for profit; climate devastation; human health and wellness and justice for all beings. It’s easier to see vegans as “other”; people to cause eye-rolls.

Changing your food and lifestyle can be painful and hard, but once your eyes and heart are opened to the effects of animal use on health and on the planet…not to mention the cruelty needed, then change is inevitable and for so many, myself included, a rush of tenderness for the world replaces that desire for meat. I know; I know; how high minded, but it’s the truth. Once you see the world as one energy, one being, you can only do what’s best for all the beings on it.

People love their dogs and cats; they often call themselves pet parents. So explain to me the difference between loving those sweet animals, but being okay eating others. What’s okay about being complicit in the suffering of another living being? Especially when you say your pet is like family. Are cows, pigs or other animals or fish less loveable? Less entitled to their lives?

Most of the pieces that take the vegan movement to task for whatever the reason may be, never address the realities of modern animal agriculture, or the massive environmental cost of meat production, or even the well-established health potential of a balanced plant-based diet.

I read an article in the NY Times a while back that asked why everyone hates vegans. The conclusion was not really that we are annoying or loud or judgmental (as some of us can be, for sure…some are too much even for me). The reason vegans are hated is because we just might be right…about the impact of animal production on climate change, human health and on the voiceless.

It’s often easier, funnier and definitely more profitable to ridicule than to consider the consequences of our choices. It’s hard to accept that something as cultural, intimate and tied to who we are as our food choices, can also be tied to cruelty.

For me, being a vegan allows me to do several things. I can look in the mirror each day and know that I did as little harm as a person can do; I can say that I am morally consistent in how I live my life; I am not influenced by trends on social media. This is my life. I want my choices to be in alignment with my values to do no harm. Am I perfect? Lord, no.

One last thing: if you are a meat eater, this is not an indictment of your choices. That is not my place, nor my choice, nor my desire. It’s awful to feel judged or unwelcome by people (trust me; as a vegan I can attest to this being true). I would prefer people feel welcome to explore without fear of a lecture or backlash, this wonderful lifestyle. Everyone is where they are on their journey. I don’t judge you, but for some reason, it’s okay for others to judge me. But that’s okay too, if it opens your heart.

To consider, even just for a moment, a world with less cruelty and more compassion is not radical. It is in fact, something worth striving for and if that creates a little discomfort along the way to a better world, well, I am all in. As Chef Gauthier wrote, “But maybe discomfort isn’t the enemy. Maybe it’s the beginning of something honest.”