Many people like to boast about their healthy eating habits. In a country where the obesity rate continues to climb, it's hard not to.
Healthy eating and active living are golden eggs for vegan-based restaurants like Boon Burger Cafe. Veganism seems to be catching on in urban centres.
I believe that institutions like these sell the idea that a healthier lifestyle is akin to some kind of individual exceptionalism. A prolonged lifestyle, of course, does not say anything about a person's "uniqueness", yet many people accept the message that by not eating animals, they will be canonized.
People often use accomplishment to boost ego. Yet our definitions of what constitutes 'accomplishment' have changed greatly over decades. The young adults of today are led to believe that a lifestyle is in itself an accomplishment. That myth will perpetuate for many years.
There is nothing exceptional about veganism, but many believe it is. As a result, there are dangerous repercussions. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) plans to erect billboards near public in schools in Canada condemning Thanksgiving. Their message is clear: eating turkey for Thanksgiving is the same thing as eating your Jack Russell terrier.
I think PETA speaks volumes about modern rebellion. In previous days, rebellion was all about challenging authority. Today, rebellion groups like PETA seek to impose a new authority. PETA's utopia is a world where every single meat packing facility is closed, every slaughterhouse is demolished, and every meat-based farm is seized. It is ego that fuels the cause of PETA.
Our perceptions of what constitutes an 'ego' are changing, and many now see 'ego' as a way to impose a power structure. If you do not think PETA is influential, think again. The New Democratic Party of Canada, Green Party of Canada, and the Liberal Party of Canada have many members who are either vegetarian or vegan. Vegans influence the policies of these political parties, and the dairy farmers, beef farmers, fishermen, and meat packers all pay the steepest price when PETA-influenced policy gets implemented to the fullest extent.
If a person who is oppressed believes that he is exceptional, he will become the oppressor. The same rings true for those who call themselves 'animal liberationists'.
I think it's good for people to know where their food comes from, and make educated choices about what they want to put into their bodies. But nobody wants to be preached to.
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