Are you me? I worked in a butcher’s shop after school. For me, it was like a job in any other factory, except that the clothes smelled a bit disgusting in the evening. Curing pork belly I never made any connection and didn’t feel any remorse. I was happy to have quick and cheap access to meat. Eating meat was part of the identity in my circle of friends.

The pendulum only swung around when I lived among complete strangers for a while. But I also realize that not everyone gets that chance in life.

That’s okay. There are many people who only know their food as a bite-sized anonymous mass from the supermarket. who think that cows just give milk all the time. They don’t know how piglets are bred. That you can walk into any barn and see unfathomable suffering in every corner. Who have never heard of forceful impregnation, confinement crates, premature separation, tail docking, mulesing, torture breeding, teeth clipping, CO2 chambers, castration, steroid growth, veal crates, tethering, weaning rings, induced moulting, sheep dipping… and we haven’t even started on the illegal cruelties.

In this state of blissful ignorance, you might regard someone who associates eating a steak with rape as crazy.

I used to be like this too. And to be honest, there are times when I wish I could return to it and just dismiss vegans with a downvote as exaggerating and annoying.

I would trip over your description “a vegan restaurant that serves a bit of meat” as well, because it doesn’t make sense to call it “vegan” then.

I can understand why someone would want to prevent the term “vegan” from being watered down.

If a supposedly vegan restaurant suddenly offers non-vegan dishes, this carries more weight for vegans than if some other restaurant tinkers with its menu.

You may have already advertised the “vegan” restaurant in good faith and now they’re stabbing you in the back.

The change also shows that the owners themselves are not vegan. And then, of course, you question everything: were the ingredients ever properly screened? What about the wine? Were the chairs covered in leather? Were the candles made from beeswax?

Just imagine a “vegan” restaurant that has an advertising banner for the elephant circus hanging on the door. Outrage would be justified. But they even put fucking meat on the menu.

“Vegan” is a statement. People should not tag it on their business if they’re merely coicidentally plant-based and don’t actually care for animal rights.

It would certainly have been more conciliatory for everyone if the mods had made it clear in the thread why they were upset about the comments. On the other hand, I can also understand if they were not in the mood for the hundredth discussion and would rather take the “easier” route and delete the comment. But I also think it’s excessive to justify it with “fake vegan”. You’re vegan if you leave your hands off the animals. Semantic considerations are not necessary.

That being said, it’s wonderful that you’re both vegan and that the topic is obviously important to you. Don’t let a loose string on the jointly pulled rope divide you. We have more important battles to fight.

Vegan btw

Why is it an insane comparison?

Cows, pigs, sheeps, etc. are raped (no consent) and sexually assaulted (against their will) for dairy, meat, wool…