"But what about bacon?!"
I've been a vegetarian for nearly two years now (not a long time, I know) but I never get bored of being asked if I've managed to stick to it. HA I joke, it's like the most irritating thing.
It was a bit earlier in the day than when the photo above was taken that I decided to stop eating meat. In fact, it was just a little wooden boulevard walkway near the sea, a little left of this photo, that was the place. I was on holiday in Italy, Lake Garda, looking at a dead fish in the water if you want precision.
So a week later I returned home from the holiday with news that no longer was I a carnivore, but a 'weirdo' according to some of my pals. "Why?! What about bacon?!" most of them said in some level of horror. I still can't seem to drum it into them that bacon really isn't that good.
Perhaps it's the stigma around vegetarians and vegans which adds to this idea that the lifestyle isn't 'proper' - it seems to be a notion that some people can't get on board with it. Is it because people think we only eat boring, plain salads? To be fair, most images that come back when you search for "vegetarian" and "vegan" are that of beautifully organised leafy dishes. On average and from the experience of being a student, I've found Quorn is consumed more often than leafy goodness. And despite our apparent reputation as 'living memes', we really don't eat rabbit food, shame others for what they eat or work out 24/7.
The Vegan Society formally define veganism as "a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose." It is protected as a human right under Article 18 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights, so why isn't it a respected lifestyle? Are vegetarians any better off? According to the NHS, it is estimated that around 2% of the UK's population is vegetarian, and while vegetarianism is gaining in popularity with calls for the issue to be discussed on a political level, it has its sceptics.
When I was looking at the stigma around vegans and vegetarians, I found comments describing them as "A mental illness" and others which said "People are obnoxious about the fact they don't eat meat, hence the irritation against them". So some people think we do it to be superior? Yeah okay, sure. It's not that we just disagree with the unethical treatment of animals for food we don't necessarily need. In my experience, vegetarianism and veganism aren't things people show off because people tend to have a more negative reaction. Not everyone living under those labels wave it around like a flag - some might, but you can't categorise everybody in the same boat. The only way I would think of telling someone I'm a vegetarian would be if they offered me meat or if it came up in conversation. Or if I was writing a blog post about it...
Even in terms of encouragement of these lifestyles or articles that openly criticise the meat industry, some people will always have something to retaliate with. The Independent wrote this article last year which generated a fair few arguments in the comments section. While the comments are predominantly negative, it is perhaps not people's attitudes towards vegetarianism and veganism that is the main issue, but people's ignorance of the meat industry in relation to its effect on climate change. Or maybe they're just refusing to accept the fact that meat consumption levels in Western countries might be unsustainable in the long-term.
There has been a rise of the flexitarians however, a term perhaps not widely acknowledged yet. Flexitarianism, or flexible vegetarians, is said to be a popular trend throughout 2017; the consumer eats mainly a plant-based diet but on occasions eats meat or fish. It has perhaps been brought on and encouraged by the cultural change across Europe in the way we see food, but is a easier, more achievable alternative than cutting meat out completely. In 2016, 35% of Brits chose to call themselves flexitarians.
Whether the notion of flexitarianism has actually been accepted or not was perhaps challenged by the comments section of any article I came across. Most of the ones I found were a free-for-all for people to complain about all the labels. It seems that however people choose to live their life will always be questioned by others. At least someone's trying.
