Comments on: Must Be Tall and Handsome, Smart and Vegan

By: Kat Weitzel

Kat Weitzel — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:39:02 +0000

I am partnered with a beer drinking, butter lovin’, meat eatin’, guy’s guy. He has no intentions of giving up his fleshy ways… yet, he is the least judgmental, most intuitive, have the shirt off my back kind of person I know. Life is filled with beautiful contradictions and blurry lines. Byron Katie states that there are three types of business: “Your business, my business, and God’s business.” The only business you have control over is yours so stay in what you can control. All else creates suffering and separation.

My motto is: “Do the best you can and create space for others to do the same.” I’ve changed more lives by demonstrating in silence than I have by stepping up to my favorite soap box. But sometimes speaking with a mike is fun. ;)

By: Rache

Rache — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:58:35 +0000

Seriously, you’ve probably missed out on so many awesome people who may have even eventually turned vegan.

This article is hilarious.

I love how vegans do the math to pretend like they’re saving lives and the environment when in reality all this exotic food is being shipped in to health food stores at all seasons using fossil fuels and using resources.

I am a vegan. I eat mostly live foods. But I acknowledge the other side of the coin and that nobody is always right.

By: ¡Yo Soy Liz!

¡Yo Soy Liz! — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:42:27 +0000

Upon reading the title of this article, I was fully prepared to hate it. I have become increasingly frustrated by vegans who imply that vegans who date carnivores are somehow less worthy. I was pleasantly surprised however to find this piece offered a thoughtful, balanced look at the subject.

My boyfriend is a carnivore and while, yes, in a perfect world my significant other would not contribute to the suffering of animals, I can’t help that I happened to fall in love with one of the millions of men who have been raised in a meat-centered society and do not find veganism particularly exciting. It’s easy for vegans to forget that transitioning to a plant-based diet is not easy for most Americans. We have been inundated from birth with meat meat meat and it’s difficult to change your lifelong eating habits. Most vegans that I know have said at some point in their life “Oh I could never be vegan!” They then gradually became open to the idea before transitioning into a vegan lifestyle.

Saying you refuse to date a vegan is the same as saying you’d never date someone based on their religion, political party, etc. Which of course, many people do refuse to date people based on those things, but I just find it almost offensive to write off entire populations of people based on one line item. If you won’t date a vegan then it seems that you would also refuse to have any non-vegan friends. Hope you enjoy that life of loneliness!

Of course I try to get my boyfriend to eat healthier, and I am proud to have gotten him open to the ideas of doing meatless mondays, but I refuse to let other vegans make me feel bad for dating a carnivore. Many vegans like to think they are so open-minded, but this never-dating-a-non-vegan view is as close-minded as it gets.

By: Laura

Laura — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 02:41:32 +0000

Vegans are so sexy – meateaters are so not! But, having said that, I fell head over heals for my man, and he was a full on carnivore. I decided to accept him as is, and we just didn’t combine shopping or food for a couple of years. Then… viola! He got a brain tumor and I later got breast cancer (both of us are in our 30′s). We are both now vegan (except for the occasional meal out) – he juices for us every morning & I cook or prepare raw dinner every night. We share all food expenses & I couldn’t be more content. We support each other in these choices and, even though he’s not an “ethical vegan” the result is the same. This is truly a difficult issue for many couples and I totally relate to those that struggle combining relatively incompatible lifestyles. It is like having two religions!!

By: Diane

Diane — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:12:36 +0000

This piece is timely since I just decided last night to break off with a person I started dating a couple of weeks ago and dietary choices were a part of my choice. Right now I am just learning and starting my veggie lifestyle after a 20 year marriage with a carnivore and I would eat fish at times. This new guy loved the vegan meal that I made for him on Saturday night, thanks Vegan Table. The next day he told me that he would make me a seafood dinner. I reminded him that I am moving towards veganism, and that I told him that at the start. His response was that I would want to eat it since it would smell so good. If this guy has no intention to respect my choices when it comes to food, I can well imagine that he will be the same in other areas. Thanks for a great, and timely, blog post.

By: Anne-Marie

Anne-Marie — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 02:07:13 +0000

I must be either really fortunate or really uncompromising. It’s probably both. I’ve been an ethical lifestyle veg’n for 20 years now, and I haven’t been in a relationship with a non-veg’n for 16 years (during which I’ve had six relationships). I am simply NOT ATTRACTED to non-veg’ns anywhere near enough to be able to love them. I won’t even consider going on a date with a non-veg’n. I don’t care if they are as nice as the Pope…I need to feel like the person I love and spend the bulk of my personal time with shares my world-view. For dietary/health veg’ns this is nowhere near as big a deal–it’s just an inconvenience during food shopping, cooking, and meal times. For me it is a moral issue and I just cannot love a prospective partner if I can’t respect his/her morals (I’m hetero-flexible/bi-sexual). Strangely enough, while I will still get involved with a “junk food veg’n” (this hasn’t happened more than once, I don’t think), I find that I hate eating with them…if they only eat mock meats and processed foods, I just feel like they’re bodies are kind of “junky” and I find myself significantly less attracted to them! Lastly, as for Ingrid Newkirk’s advice that we keep dating non-veg’ns and converting them to veg’nism, I can’t do that. I date only those with relationship potential, not just for cheap thrills, so I can’t even kiss a non-vegetarian. Ew, GROSS. If you do it, I will never be able to understand or relate to you. …sorry. I’ve never had any problems finding a veg’n to date and whether to my credit or not, I haven’t been out of a relationship for longer than six months in the last 20 years. What’s the problem, folks?

By: Meghan at Making Love In The Kitchen

Meghan at Making Love In The Kitchen — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 01:14:26 +0000

This is hilarious. Being Jewish, I am forever being set up with jewish boys. I would like to officially convert to organic. It is for sure my religion and I imagine will keep me single for a while to come. Veggie boys that bathe and have ambition seem a tough one to find.

By: maggie

maggie — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:39:12 +0000

I recently became a vegan after being vegetarian almost my whole life, but I’ve never had the luxury of dating a vegan or even a vegetarian. I recently decided though that I will never marry anyone who isn’t completely vegan. My big issue is that I have a 4 year old and we fight constantly about what he should or shouldn’t eat. Whenever I settle down with someone and have more kids with him, I want us to be completely in agreement about how to raise our kids. It’s almost akin to wanting to marry someone with the same religious values as yourself. Of course, the hard part is finding a vegan guy – so far I’ve only met one and he’s a Catholic priest, so he’s off the market. :(

By: cowboyjane

cowboyjane — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:00:35 +0000

Wow, this so hit home, on so many levels. What resonates most with me here is that I am vegan and am in a relationship someone who is not and most likely will never be, vegetarian, let alone vegan. The reason: she absolutely loathes veggies, a fact I cannot fathom! Ive chosen to accept it for a very important reason that you mentioned – she totally and completely supports my choices to eat a plant based, gluten and dairy free diet. gets my reasons, moral- and health- related
Perhaps the saving grace is that we do share the same love of animals. Shes a total activist when it comes to animal rights ( I know, I know, then how can she eat them? I ask that daily!) and Im betting if I find a way to make vegan cooking palatable to her, I might be able to move her closer the my side. If not, Ill just keep setting the best example I can! Again, thanks for starting such a thought provoking discussion!

By: Lyda

Lyda — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 19:34:46 +0000

I dated and “converted” a couple of omnis, but they didn’t stick with it once they weren’t living in my home and eating my cooking any longer. Mores the pity.

I married a vegan–it wasn’t so much a purposeful decision as I fell for a vegan and we never wanted to be apart. Of course, not having to defend myself all the time (“why not honey, bees are stupid…” “why not eggs if they’re free range?”) was a big plus.