Kate Hawkesby: Vegan saboteurs give the cause a bad name

"Can you still be Vegan if you haven't told anyone within 10 minutes?" - one of many memes about vegans.

But why do vegans get such a bad name?

Well could it be that the extreme end of the wedge is the problem.

Veganism is often associated with activism and when that activism starts looking like vandalism, then I think we have a problem.

I'm sure not all vegans are zealots, but the extreme ones sure do get a lot of coverage. Mind you, they seek it out with the stunts they pull and the noise they make.

The latest one of course being the anti-meat stickers being slapped on beef and lamb in our supermarkets. The sticker-activists are acting illegally - the tampering means the food then has to be thrown out.

So you're disrupting a law-abiding business with your act of protest, and then causing financial loss to that business. How's that promoting veganism?

I guess we should be grateful we only have the sticker protests going on at the moment - other parts of the world have of course had it much worse. Other places have had protesters cover themselves in blood and run through restaurants, Australia recently had rush hour grind to a halt in Melbourne after vegan protesters shut down one of the city's busiest intersections by chaining themselves to cars. Ambulances had to re-route, trams were disrupted, it resulted in 39 arrests. Again, how's that helping the cause?

It appears the fine line between activism and vandalism is too often being crossed. Be passionate and raise awareness by all means, but you don't need to terrorise people and businesses in the process. I'd argue this approach causes more harm than good.

Also, read the room. We live in a time where we are on the verge of getting cause-fatigue. There are so many causes we're urged to support these days, there's barely a shop you can go into where you don't get asked at the checkout if you want to add a dollar for this charity or that one, there's not a supermarket that doesn't have someone outside it asking you to learn more about such in such a cause, or sign a petition.

Our letterboxes and inboxes are full of causes, our kids come home from school with lists of what we can and can't do (no cling wrap/no junk food/no juice). The Government wants to tell us what car to buy and where we can drive it. Cafes have taken away straws, kids' playgrounds have been stripped of monkey bars.

We are woke, but we are also in a state of issues overwhelm.

If you want to give up meat and not wear leather, please do. Be my guest.

But please also know, that we will turn vegan if we choose to, without you ramming the cause down our throats with your sticker sabotage campaign - or chaining yourself to a car.

Source: Nzherald.co.nz

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