M. J.’s Reviews > Sem tempo a perder: Reflexões sobre o que realmente importa > Status Update

Not to say you can't criticize veganism or anything else, but some arguments are poor and repetitive, also... as a biologist who was vegan for a long time I've heard and debated much of the arguments against and in favor of vegetarianism. From botanists who believe plants are conscious to bacon eater hedonists, I get tired quickly so I became the silent vegan, I would never bring the subject unless asked, at the same time I saw how elitist the movement could be, excluding people who could not afford such a lifestyle, which is rarely something critics bring up, instead people like to say how annoying vegans are personally and how a cruelty free life is impossible, arguments that take you nowhere. Le Guin takes a similar route here, which is kind of disappointing, but I still like her anyway.

I'm vegetarian for whom the "animal rights" are a very nice side perk, but not the reason I've made the decision not to eat meat any more. The issue is far bigger than "just" animals, and I very much agree with the observation that veganism can get elitist and highly monofocused. I'm also very interested in this topic in general (veg vs meat eating). Cain and Abel is my fave Bible story! 😂

What made you stop being vegan and are you just vegetarian now, or flexitarian or omnivore, if I may ask?

Berengaria wrote: "I'm vegetarian for whom the "animal rights" are a very nice side perk, but not the reason I've made the decision not to eat meat any more. The issue is far bigger than "just" animals, and I very mu..."

I was a radical vegan when I was in college which was hard sometimes, when I graduated and turned from student to unemployed I had to flex my diet to match my family's groceries. Then I got too lazy to maintain a regular schedule of going to local markets to buy fresh vegetables and the places where they sell grains, beans etc, I was very dependent on them. I'm probably a flexitarian nowadays, I try to keep my meat consumption low, I don't really like chicken, pork and most fish, coming from a poor family I couldn't be choosy, but now it's easier to avoid eating those. But at first I was an ideological veg, I was upset about deforestation and the elite of agriculture here in Brasil, they own lots of land and are always eager for more, most of them deforest to plant soy to feed livestock which they sell to other countries, it's a complex web of factors involving rich people, conservation and meat and it makes me upset and powerless, I guess trying to cease eating meat when I was 20 was an effort to "make a difference" in a way, I'm more cynical nowadays, but not less upset lol. Now I'm curious about your reasons too!