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Okay, so that title might not make a lot of sense, but I couldn’t figure out how to make the idea come to fruition in a title-length space. Let me try to explain it by going through my brain process…
I was just sitting here looking through my Google Plus news feed, and I saw a post about delicious vegan holiday recipes. That sort of thing is intriguing to me. I really like looking at vegan and vegetarian recipes. I’m neither, I do eat meat, but I enjoy reading vegan/vegetarian recipes, and have used quite a few of them. I’ve even gotten my red-meat-loving partner to go meat-free on many occasions. (He even enjoyed it!) Even though I’m not meat-free, I do like meat free meals, and I love seeing all the creative ways that they replace meat. It helps me to have more options in my diet. I happen to think variety is pretty awesome.
So that got me to thinking about how good recipes are a fantastic way to get people into eating different things. I don’t give a flip that a recipe says vegan or vegetarian. If it looks good and I can get all the ingredients, I’ll probably try it. The vegans may never convert me completely, but they should be happy in the knowledge that those recipes out there have gotten me to have a lot more meat-free meals than I used to have. It’s progress.
And there’s the thing… It’s a lot easier to change people through something positive. Putting out amazing recipes that are made with easily accessible ingredients is going to do a lot more than getting in people’s faces and telling them what horrific monsters they are for eating meat. And just for the record, eating meat doesn’t make someone a bad person. We meat eaters can still be some of the most amazing people. I could call vegans evil for eating all the beautiful plants, but that would just be silly. Anyway… Militant vegans will never do as much for their cause as people who put out great recipes, or those who just talk about their vegetarian or vegan ways like it’s just a choice, and they’re happy with it. (And really, it is just a choice, it’s not right or wrong or better than anyone else’s way.)
So really, quit being pushy and mean and hateful, and just put what you’re doing out there in a way that makes it look really appealing to people. Calling someone a murderer isn’t going to get them to stop eating meat, or even cut back in most cases. On the other hand, making them an amazing meal and waiting until after they have joyfully cleaned their plates to tell them that there was no meat in it, that can do something. They may well go home and try that. Same thing with recipes online. Make it appealing and you’ll get more people interested. If you really believe in your cause, then every single plate that doesn’t have meat on it is a victory. Try to remember that.
