Answers to Questions Meat Eaters Ask Vegans
by Andrew Kirschner
 
 
No, I don't eat cows, pigs, chickens, or any other animals.
 
No, I don't buy leather belts or shoes.
 
No, my car seats and furniture aren't leather.
 
No, I don't buy soap or any products tested on animals.
 
No, I don't buy anything without reading a label or asking questions to make sure animals didn't suffer as a result of making it and that it doesn't contain any animals or animal byproducts.
 
No, I don't buy anything made from fur or wool.
 
No, I don't drink milk or eat eggs or cheese.
 
No, I don't miss any of it.
 
No, I don't preach; I just care. I speak for helpless animals who have no voice. Their lives matter to me.
 
No, if you demonize me for standing up for animals it won't dissuade me. It only motivates me to work harder and smarter for the cause.
 
No, if an animal byproduct is in something I bought, I didn't know about it, and then I found out later, I don't stop considering myself a vegan.
 
No, you can't call yourself an animal lover or an environmentalist if you eat animals.
 
No, there is no food I can't give up. It's absurd to say otherwise. People are starving all over the world. I could eat leaves all day and night if I had to in order to survive. I'm grateful to eat anything. I don't live to eat; I eat to live so I can make the world a better place.
 
No, it's not difficult because animals, the environment, global issues such as poverty and starvation, and my health are much more important to me.
 
No, buying organic meat doesn't mean the animals didn't suffer.
 
No, I don't cheat sometimes. That would be like kicking my dog in the head sometimes. I love all animals, not just my dog.
 
No, you don't need a permit to be a vegan; just a heart.
 
No, I'm not a speciesist. I don't choose which animals I want to respect based on how they look or act.
 
No, I don't understand how people can still eat animals and support factory farming after they learn the truth about the way animals are treated. 
 
No, I don't have any health problems.
 
No, I don't go to the circus.
 
No, I don't understand how an animal shelter can host events where they charge people money to eat tortured animals in order to raise money to save abused animals.
 
No, I don't ignore animal cruelty just because I don't see it happening.
 
No, I'm not suffering from a protein deficiency.
 
No, plants don't suffer when I eat them. Spinach doesn't have a central nervous system.
 
No, I don't believe I have any more right to inhabit this earth than any animal.
 
No, I don't understand how you can pat yourself on the back for saving a spider in your house and think nothing of paying people to slaughter a cow.
 
No, I don't believe animals were put on this earth to be eaten. That's a myopic, self-important, and tired defense mechanism used by people who eat animals and want to justify selfish choices.
 
No, I don't believe any religion would want people to needlessly and inhumanely confine and torture animals for human consumption. People twist biblical references to suit their eating habits.
 
No, you don't need to eat animals to survive. 
 
No, I don't attend animal shelter events that serve animals as food.
 
No, eating animals isn't healthy. Read The China Study, The Food Revolution, or Eating Animals and educate yourself. All that's at stake is the welfare of billions of animals, the future of the planet, and your life.
 
No, I'm not a radical. I'm a normal person. I wasn't born eating a plant-based diet. I educated myself and made the transition out of compassion, rational thinking, and a desire to promote health and reduce my carbon footprint.
 
No, there is no such thing as humane slaughter. Ending any animal's life prematurely for selfish reasons (i.e. human consumption) is inhumane regardless of how it's done.
 
No, I don't eat fish.
 
No, I don't rely on religion or the mainstream culture to guide my food choices. I use common sense, science, and human decency instead.
 
No, I will never stop advocating for people to make a transition to a vegan lifestyle. Too much pain and suffering is at stake.
 
No, I'm not going to stop speaking for animals until I die and if there's a way for me to speak for them after I die, I'll do it then too.