Lahan Sperinck writes on myths and misconceptions.
When it comes to the topic of veganism, there is no shortage of misunderstandings, ranging from diet to the resulting chaos if the world turned vegan. Having heard it all, I wanted to address a handful of my personal favourites.
We’ll be overrun by livestock if we stop eating meat.
I don’t suspect that cows would spread like wildfire and take over if we left them alone. The reality is that people are only going to make changes gradually. With gradual change comes a gradual reduction in demand for meat and therefore supply. So, it’s not looking like you’re going to get a cow and chicken infestation anytime soon.
We’re hunter-gatherers though!
The most ‘hunting’ and ‘gathering’ anyone does any more is drive their air-conditioned car to Alosra. So, I’m not quite sure what the point is. We clearly don’t understand what it means to be a hunter-gatherer in this technological age. What a lot of people don’t know is that in between the hunts of old, humans foraged a lot and ate copious amounts of fruit, vegetables and nuts (with a few bugs here and there). Not to mention that this only happened during 10 per cent of our evolution. Before that, we were even more plant-based. Either way, what our ancestors did is not why most people choose their lifestyle. If it was, we’d still make fire by banging rocks together and be living in caves.
Vegans live off of leaves and plain tofu
First off, you’d be surprised what you can make with some leaves and tofu. Second, this eye-roll-worthy cliché needs to end. Maybe there’s some truth in it, but you can’t paint everyone with the same brush. People are vegan because they care about the animals or the environment or their health or a combination of those things. Nowhere does it say that they are vegan because they all share the same interest in tasteless food. On the contrary, vegan junk food is delicious and, because it’s healthier than regular junk food, we can justify eating it more often.
Now that we’ve set record straight on a few of these overplayed misconceptions, you can confidently approach a vegan without insulting them with stories about rioting hordes of cows and carnivorous cavemen.
