Pride, Shame and the Meatless Patty

So I don't eat any meat, I don't eat any dairy, and I don't wear leather, wool or silk. I guess this makes me a vegan, but I shun the term. Hell, I'd probably have the term revoked if there was some crazy sanctioning body, since I gleefully use honey when I make beer.

Anyway, I'm not proud of this. I don't wear shirts that say "Vegan" or "Meat is murder." In fact, I make it a point to try to hide my diet from people. When someone asks me if I want cheese on something, I feign a moment of decision making, then politely decline. Mostly, I don't want to be in the cool kids club with the other vegetarians that think they're morally superior to everyone that eats meat.

I love meat, but I don't want to eat it. This confuses a lot of people, vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. The vegetarians wonder how I can like something so morally reprehensible (or vile, or unnatural, or whatever), everyone else wonders why I'd willingly give up something I like. I hate that "would it bother you if I ordered the veal?" is a rhetorical question, because I'd really like them to pay attention and believe me when I say it wouldn't.

I try to avoid the question of why I don't eat meat, because it's too hard to clearly communicate my thoughts through their misconceptions in passing conversation.

First, let's get past the assumptions people make about me when they find out about my diet. I'm not against killing for food. I think it is no more immoral for a human to kill a cow and eat it than it is for a lion to do the same. I don't think human biology leans more towards a vegan diet than otherwise, contrary to what much pro-vegetarian material says. I heard this morality and biology bullshit from vegetarians before.

Now with a clean slate, I can explain my stance. Institutionalized farming causes animals to suffer. Pain and anguish are biological adaptations that help motivate animals (humans included) to avoid disadvantageous situations. I have no idea if this suffering is at the same level (however you define a level of suffering) as a person's, but I know it exists. This suffering, no matter how important or relevant, can be avoided by not consuming animal products. Human biology, that of an adaptable omnivore, is flexible enough that a healthy vegan lifestyle is possible. If I needed to eat meat, I would. Since I don't, I choose to eliminate whatever suffering my diet may or may not have caused.