Vegetarian/Vegan/other--what's in a name

[ginnyinWI]

I'm going to go by the label "vegetarian" to my omnivore friends and relatives from now on, even though I am something like 98% vegan. Because the label "vegan" is so politically charged. One brother-in-law likens veganism to a religion. It's scary and radical, like all we do is raid animal labs with firebombs or something. And a vegan is the one who is going to corner them at a family gathering and preach the gospel of vegan! We are so extreme we couldn't possibly co-exist with normal people!

I'm tired of being misunderstood and feared. If they have guilt over the way they are eating (and this BIL should have!) and are projecting it onto me, well I say that's just not fair. I haven't preached, although I'd like to. I'm less than a year into this and others are probably thinking I won't be able to stick with it, so are just biding their time. They think it is like being on a diet the way they've been on and fallen off diets. Far from it: why would I not want to stick with foods that I love and which make me feel wonderfully healthy?

Another thing that peeves me is when well-meaning people voice their concerns that I won't have enough to eat at their family gathering. Like food is the only thing that matters. Sure I'd love to have had a huge vegan buffet with all the trimmings for Thanksgiving, but as it happened, I brought two dishes that were wonderful, and that made it nice enough for me. I don't like being singled out. I wish I had never said anything to any of them!

But anyway I'm still going to say "vegetarian" when asked, because I think people are more accepting and less afraid of someone who seems less "extreme". In a way, you could say that it is "extreme" to insist on having foods made from animals three times a day for fear of having a protein deficiency. Sillies!

As for the "other" category in my post title, if I were going to be the most accurate I'd say "plant-based foodie", or "herbivore", or "mostly whole-foods eater" but that only confuses a lot of them and they don't know what to say or think about it! So it will be "vegetarian" and if questioned further, "oh I don't eat dairy either", etc.

[WillParkinson]

1. I just say I'm vegan...

People take the name however they want, regardless of how you say it. I've only had a few people who needed to be explained what vegan was and most of them were only questioning why I was vegan and that's about it.