Sunday, February 8, 2015

Semantics

I read about Beyoncé's plan to partner with her trainer, Marco Borge and launch a vegan meal delivery service. My first reaction was, and still is happiness. I instantly thought of the gazillion of hardcore Beyoncé fans, I believe they call themselves the Beyhive, or something of the sort.  I was in my own world, happy as a clam, assuming the rest of the vegan world was also as joyous. After a few blissful hours, my bubble didn't just get burst, it got annihilated! There are a lot of unhappy vegans who are not only very critical of Beyoncé, but also anyone who dares to think this is a good idea. And boy, vegans can be just as mean, and bullying as anyone else. I feel very disappointed, and sad. Beyoncé does wear fur, lets get that out of the way. It sickens me to the bone. When I see someone with fur on, my first reaction is to tell them what dicks they are. I actually have done that a time or two. My point is fur is not okay, and vegan or not, the vast majority of people at least agree on that. So, I strongly disagree with her choice in that department. As far as her being a hypocrite, she has never claimed to be a vegan. When she and her husband, Jay Z (love) did a 22 day vegan diet, they spoke highly of it all the way through, and after it was over. They see vegan eating as a benefit to your health, and the environment. I have never heard either one of them really say anything about animals. I remember as they were on this "diet", Beyoncé was constantly instgramming beautiful pictures of amazing vegan foods. And they both spoke highly of the food, and how they felt. Many celebrities start a vegan diet to lose weight, or to try a trend or whatever flaky reason, and they seem to revel in trashing it when they're done, so when a celeb doesn't do that, I say high five.
The meal plan is expensive, but isn't any organic meal delivery service? I knew right away this would never be for me, but putting the name Beyoncé next to the words vegan food is a BIG DEAL. People might not get this meal service, but maybe they will try bobbing into a native foods, or veggie grill, or something of the sort. It's exposure, which is what we need. I am not a mainstream, trendy person, but we need vegan food to be mainstream. The animals need it to be mainstream There are plenty of very expensive vegan foods on the market, so the fact that this meal service is pricey is not going to start any rumors of vegan food being expensive, cause those rumors are already out there. And I don't hear vegans piping up about those companies and the price. You can't call someone a hypocrite, while being one. It kind of negates your point.
Maybe Beyoncé will evolve, and stop wearing fur. Maybe she won't. But in the right now, she is exposing vegan food to the masses, and I want to give her the BIGGEST hug. She is telling people, food can be delicious without meat. There are people who truly were raised meat and potatoes, and really, honestly can't imagine that  eating plants could be tasty, and satisfying. And, there are people who truly think the vegan diet consists of wheatgrass and spirulina salads, smoothies if we're feeling frisky! Something that I've come to realize is the world is not black and white. There's a lot of grey area, and we have to accept it, and work with it. I want the word vegan to not even exist. I just want it to be the way things are naturally. But we have a LONG way to go. And a beloved, very relevant, very sizzling hot celebrity praising vegan food so much, that she's putting her name on a meal service, I'm sorry I only see it as progress. To make the world better for animals, we need to progress.
One of my biggest frustrations with all politics is it seems like key words get thrown around, and all the words really stop anything from getting done. I hate to think of the same thing happening in the vegan community. We need to be fighting for the animals, not against each other. If you're a vegan, and you think Beyoncé's meal plan is a wonderful idea, yay. If you can't get past the fact that she wears fur, I understand, but it's still no reason to attack people who do support it. We all want the same thing, a compassionate world. There are so many different ways to spread veganism, and food is a big one. People are literally scared of vegan food. One way to get people to stop eating animals is to show them that compassionate food is so much more than quinoa and kale.
As far as I'm concerned, anyone who chooses to not eat meat, for whatever reason, is getting a high five from me. Beyoncé is a dick for wearing fur, but she's still doing a great thing for vegan food, end of story. Progress, not perfection.

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