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Utilitarian Standpoint: Diet Discrimination

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By Heeta JoshiPublished 6 years ago 12 min read
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Note: I think faster than I can write or type. Therefore, grammatical errors are unavoidable. Feel free to politely point them out.

Let’s talk about something I have become recently aware about (well it was sometime in 2017 to be accurate), diet discrimination (DD). Yes friends, DD is a thing, and frankly speaking the most ridiculous of all prejudices I have ever encountered ever in my life.

My personal take on your diet choice is (whether it be vegetarian, non-vegetarian, and vegan) that for the most part, especially since the day you are born, it is not actually a choice. And whatever you choose (are influenced into) later on is 1. none of my business, 2. I could not care less.

[NOTE: Not as important but read if you wish to know why I truly believe that diet choice is more of an influence than not. My paternal aunt and uncle were raised in a devout vegetarian household, and by marrying people who are non-vegetarian, they switched to also eating meat. Then those who go from carnivore to herbivore, do so because of the animal rights movement, rather than doing so based on an informed decision of personal health requirements. But nonetheless it is a nothing but a biased theory, therefore, I could be wrong]

Yes, I said it. I am a selfish individual who simply doesn’t care about doing what’s right 24/7, especially when it comes to stopping non-vegetarianism or promoting veganism. If it was about how to eat healthy, then that would be a different story, I’d be all up for that one.

I would hope and encourage that every human being would follow a healthy diet (i.e free of fats, sugars, and processed shit stuff), whether they want to be a bunny or a wolf (i.e herbivore or omnivore). But at the end of the day, I find it pointless to shove my opinion down anyone’s throat. If you don’t mind heart diseases knocking down your door, all the power to you, (which is possible on all diet forms btw). Cholesterol, sugar, and diabetes is genetic problem within my vast East-Indian/South-Asian vegetarian family, close and far.

To put it personally, I am vegetarian because of my parents. They did not buy meat, I had no access to meat in my home, and I lived with them till I was nineteen. As such because of their influence on me, I remain a vegetarian till date

After moving out, I had total freedom over my diet, I remained a vegetarian simply because of one fact. No its not because I am religious (I’ve adopted something between atheism and spirituality, it really depends on the day). Neither is it because I respect my parents (as I said diet choice prejudice = ridiculous).

The actual reason is that I have accidentally in my teen years consumed non-vegetarian (poutine, chicken broth etc.) unawares, and I became sick to my stomach (quite literally). In other words, my body has at times rejected what I am not used to, all meat based products and some vegetables.

My body is also not used to homogenized milk, seaweed, milk tea, paneer, cottage cheese, broccoli, almond milk. So no it’s not a mental thing. I feel sick whenever I consume an ingredient my body has never had before, be it a vegetarian, non-vegetarian, or vegan ingredient (not a dish, mind you, there’s a difference).

It is, what it is. It’s up to you if you choose to believe me or not.

My Personal experiences, before we move on the my utilitarian standpoint (aka my practical belief system)-

Age Six: My friend told me, “I don’t want to be friends with you because you eat onions. Let’s rewind a bit here. When I moved to India around six-ish, my parents moved into an area that was predominantly occupied by Jain people. Let’s keep it short on this one, Jainism is religion where people don’t (at least they didn’t used to back then) consume vegetables grown under ground. Think, potatoes, onion, garlic, carrot, radish, ginger, beet. They believe that there are living breathing microorganisms (aka insects) within these veggies. Is it true? I don’t know, and neither do I care to find out. I wonder how vegans would take this though? A food for thought.

Nonetheless, these are staple vegetables of a Hindu Indian family. The sentiment of her not wanting to be friends with me was the painful part. The reason confused me tremendously (it still does), and I like many a parent adoring child went to my mummy and daddy. And the one thing my dad said was, “Those were not your friend’s words, but her mother’s.” And now that I reflect on it almost twenty years down the road, I can see how those words may very likely have been a point of conversation in their household. The mother saying something along the lines, “try be friends with people more like us, she’s a bit different, you know how her family eats onions and potatoes.” LMAO.

And no kids back in early 2000s did not used to be as smart as kids of today.

Age Ten: Around this age my parents moved to a place in Gujarat. An area where being non-vegetarian (at the time at least) was something to be of ashamed of. People who were known to be culturally (India is very culturally diverse even within the same religion) non-vegetarian adamantly denied it, because they were being teased for it in school. I specifically remember a female classmate being harassed with fish jokes because her family was known to eat seafood. She was such a convincing liar that everyone eventually believed that she didn’t eat fish. Until her mother told my “Canadian” mother that they did eat it, and my classmate was the one who enjoyed it the most of our family. I was evil enough to enjoy her humiliation but nice enough to not disclose her secret, despite her being ringleader in isolating me. Suffice it say I was a quiet bystander, but I just didn’t understand the hate for someone eating fish.

Age Fourteen: Low and behold, I came back to Canada (Thank you Lord! My atheist self was thankful enough to thank god). And soon as I made freinds, they found my vegetarainism wierd, and a good friend of mine always felt the need to ask me “Are you okay, if I eat my ham sandwich in front of you?” And I used to think to myself am I supposed to be offended when eating at McDonalds for people having their Big Macs? I would have to lock myself in my house to avoid non-vegetarianism. Talk about being impractical. After I convinced her of my non-offence, I could only thank science for my utter belief in the pyramid of food chain. But then my freinds worry about offending me slowly turned into their subtle way of enlightening me about “What, I was missing out on?” 1. You can’t miss something that you’ve never had; 2. With that ideology, people were missing out on good vegetarian food. The West is so bland in that direction, it’s a shame almost.

Age Fifteen: My family doctor told me start eating fish. I told him to talk to my dad about that one.

Age Nineteen: When my dorm roommate found out about my diet choice, the look of dislike (hate’s a strong word, disgust might work better but we’ll stick to something more formal) on her face was surprising (until I found out she was from a small town, nice people but they do live in their own world). The only option for me as Vegetarian on most days was Subway, and the girl went out of her way to tell me how my onions stank the room. Let me just clarify, she had a sub most days as well (despite the multitude of options), and her onions were cooked (toasted) onto her meat. I preferred an untoasted, undressed, unchessed, cold sandwich. Like a naked salad with bread. I could be wrong, but cooked onions do tend smell a lot more than uncooked onions.

Ah but then, it escalated somewhere with them (my roommate and her two friends) disliking me because “I hated sex.” All I can say is, silent waters run deep. Or beware of assuming that someone’s a wallflower, they just might be the fly on the wall you’ll regret.

Age Twenty-Three: I decided to go vegan simply to cut out dairy after consulting with my family doctor. It was simply for health reasons (she wanted me to give up most dairy products). I tried, honest to god, I tried really hard. But I can’t do milk replacements, I just can’t. I can give up everything but my skim milk. So once, I started working 64 hours a week, I needed coffee every other day, and I threw in the towel. But I’m still a proud consumer of vegan cheese, mayo, yogurt. I can deal being a vegan for the most part. But with coffee, cereal, and eating out, I’m a vegetarian. Sue me if you must.

Reflection: When I was trying to be vegan in 2017, I went to YouTube for recipes. And god the hate for vegans in the comment section just blew my mind. I just didn’t understand it. I thought it was commendable what these people were doing for animal rights. I also thought, and still do, that a vegan diet is more healthier than non-vegetarian diet (because NV diets for many is not proportionate and has more unhealthy fats) but both at the end of the day are scientifically impractical, vegetarianism maybe a happy medium, but it is also just as incomplete. But when I came across a vegan philosophy channel, it was then I finally understood the hate. There was actually a dark side to veganers, not the diet itself, but the people promoting it.

Now let me talk about my actual strong scientific opinions about diet choice.

I paraphrase here but you’ll get the gist. Since grade four/five I have been taught that a healthy diet consists of all these things: Chicken, Fish, Dairy, Grains, Fruits, And Vegetables (The proportion of requirement of these things ordered from low to high, aka eat more greens people). This is also what my family doctors have told me.

My Own Conclusion (perhaps not): Human beings are meant to be omnivorous, just like dogs are meant to be carnivorous, and cows herbivorous.

The Actual Problem? Over-consumption of meat for non-vegetarians and insufficient consumption of plants. Vice versa for vegetarians and vegans. The reason why our blood tests come back saying you lack this, and you lack that. Overconsumption of fats is a problem on both ends, but more so on the non-vegetarian side.

Animal Rights: Abuse of animals for fashion, I am completely against (forgive my younger self for buying her leather hand bags, and still loving them. But I do feel guilty. Love, how in the moment, I can conveniently forget where it came from. As a human being I am entitled [for a lack of a better word] to a few materialistic mistakes). Abuse of pets is a no brainer, it is evil. For food, as I said, OVERCONSUMPTION (aka hormonal unnatural growth of meat) has to end, not non-vegetarianism completely. People eating meat is NOT the problem, people eating too much, however, is a big statistical problem. But for medical advancement, if a few frogs, rats, and bunnies need to die? I AM good about it, and I will never apologize for it.

Not vaccinating your pet, or child is an abuse and a risk to their health and society’s health overall. (Side eye glance at vegans)

A baby needs animal milk to survive, most preferably their mother’s. Ever seen how baby animals latch to their mamma’s milk producing parts. Ever wondered why human women produce milk during and after pregnancy. If not, use common sense for your baby’s sake. (Another side eye at vegans).

Trying to turn your dog into a vegan is abuse. A dog is a canine. It has sharp teeth for a reason. STOP TRYING TO GO AGAINST NATURE AT SUCH EXTREMES (Headsake).

The thing what boggles my mind most is how people use science conveniently. That is, they apply science that matches their already preconceived opinion. However, they never consider and look at science that disproves their notion. Science is not hundred percent, but it does have the most assurance. Nonetheless, it very important to look at ratios of statistics. A diligent individual would consider all avenues of scientific opinion, and go with the one that has the most guaranteed empirical results. But, alas.

You might be wondering why I have dragged vegans a bit in my points. It’s because I blame irrational unpractical vegans for suffering through stigma by the hands of a pre-dominantly non-vegetarian populace. While, I know that most vegans are practical. It’s these kind of vegans who are touted as the face of veganism (because they are more vocal about their values) or perhaps the media just wants to shut them down before they can harm the capitalist meat producing industries.

But I do think that veganism is not the solution for everything. Veganism and vegetarianism is not for everyone. I respect that. I recognize that overconsumption is the actual problem. What I do see is that a lot of non-vegetarians will be aware of veganism, but won’t know what overconsumption is. Funny how that works (media).

Therefore, meat eating folks also need to not forget that just as every human being (ahem the white populace, because they get the flake for this one the most) is not racist, not every veganer is crazy.

While I realize, that common sense will take a lot more time to evolve. In the meantime social manners of keeping your prejudice to yourself will be much appreciated, thank you. At least get to know me before you make an assumption. My (vegetarian, vegan) labels do not define who I am, and neither does it necessarily parallels me to your preconceived prejudices or beliefs.

Don’t assume

If you can’t help ^ it (even I can’t) then keep it to yourself and move on (I do)

Or better yet get to know someone in a dignified way and it may just broaden your horizons.

And a heartfelt request to eat (and think) healthy. But I cannot force you out of your bad habits. No one and nothing but you yourself can. I wish the world would just realize this and stop being so judgemental on how or what I ate.

Sincerely,

HJ

See you next week in another article for the Utilitarian Standpoint (us). The story of me, a reflection of us.

humanity
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About the Creator

Heeta Joshi

#Freespirit #Humanity #Objectivity #Peace #Love

IG: heeta.joshi

Twitter: joshi.heeta

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