Being vegan for many years means I have received a lot of questions about my diet choices and lifestyle. One of the most frequent questions I get asked is why can’t I respect other peoples ‘personal choice’. I feel like this is a topic that should be addressed as there are multiple reasons as to why eating meat and dairy can’t be considered a ‘personal choice’. To be put very simply: this is because it doesn’t just affect you. It directly affects other beings, the environment and indirectly affects many other people on the planet (all points which I will address in further detail). These factors clearly eliminate the ‘personal choice’ element as personal choices don’t have victims.
As activists, we often discuss the morals and ethics of decision making when it comes to eating meat, dairy and eggs with members of the public. Asking questions such as “would you kill an animal every time you wanted to eat meat?” or “would you be okay with taking the life of a living being yourself?” to which people most often respond with “no, of course not!” Sadly these people don’t recognise that every time they pay for meat, dairy or eggs they are simply paying someone else to do this for them. This is why, as activists, we encourage members of the public to align their actions with their morals. However, on occasion we do come across some individuals who respond with “yes” and say they would murder an animal. These people claim that they would be okay with taking the life of other beings and believe that their want for “bacon” (or other animal flesh) justifies this act. To be honest, the idea of someone choosing to take the life of another being for a few minutes on their tastebuds always baffled me. Even slaughterhouse workers don’t do that- they do it to earn a living and to keep their families alive, as a form of income. However, just because one is able to validate an immoral act to themselves this does not make it justifiable. A racist might be okay with committing a racial attack but they are forgetting the victim of this if they think it makes it morally okay. A robber might be okay with robbing another person but again it is not a question of whether the robber is ‘okay’ with this or not. In all these scenarios the oppressor believes their acts are justifiable due to their own wants or needs being met, but they are forgetting someone… the victim. All other forms of abuse and oppression are rightfully not considered to be personal choices as they all have victims. In the exact same way eating meat, dairy and/or eggs is not a personal choice as all of these are not made possible without an innocent animal being subjected to harm.
As well as animal suffering there is also the environmental impact of eating animal products. The amount of water wastage, harmful gasses and land use that meat, dairy and eggs produce is catastrophic. Therefore if your ‘personal choice’ directly affects the future of the planet we are living on and all the living beings on it, is it still personal? Additionally the amount of grain and crops that are produced to feed the billions of animals that are killed for ‘meat’ could feed the millions of people that are dying of hunger around the world. When your actions are indirectly taking food away from people to feed to the animals that you want to eat, is it still just a personal choice?
If you still consume animal products then please ask yourself this: when there is a cruelty free alternative for every single animal product, which are better for your own health, save the lives of animals, reduces your carbon footprint and potentially reduces the issue of world hunger, then why would you still choose to buy and consume animal products?
Please try to educate yourself on veganism and the endless benefits that this way of living has. Give it a go, you might be pleasantly surprised by how easy it is!
Be Kind 
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