These are just a few of the things people say when you tell them you’re a vegetarian or vegan. Having gone vegetarian recently, I noticed that, occasionally, when I tell people about my decision, there is this sudden silence, as if it is something highly unusual. However, things have started to change in the recent years, as turning vegetarian or vegan is becoming more popular. Vegan restaurants are popping up everywhere in the city, and there is an increase in vegan products in the grocery stores. Things might be changing. But what is it like to be a vegetarian or vegan in Dublin?
When someone makes the decision to go vegetarian or vegan, it can be for a number of reasons. For third-year music and english literature student Áine Palmer, it was primarily due to health reasons, with Palmer saying that she felt better and cleaner after she became a vegetarian. After four years of experience, she says: “When I’m sick it is because I didn’t take good care of myself. Not because I am vegetarian.” In the last few years, there has been an increase in research about the health benefits of vegetarianism, including lower blood pressure and reducing the risk of cancer.
Vegan restaurants are popping up everywhere in the city, and there is an increase in vegan products in the grocery stores
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Third-year neuroscience student Aoife Stephens, however, does question if a meat-free diet is necessarily healthier. For her, the main reasons for becoming vegan were ethical and environmentally based, reasons that inspired her to first eat less meat and eventually go vegan a couple of months ago. Third-year science student Eoin Elliot too turned vegan this year after having done research on the effect of the meat and dairy industry on the environment and global warming.
Despite being happy with their decisions, all state that they would not reveal immediately to people that they are vegetarian or vegan. This is not necessarily due to negative reactions. Elliot mentions that he never had bad experiences with other people apart from the one or two salad jokes. People do to tend to ask questions like “where do you get your protein?”, but it is understandable, he says. “We are brought up to believe that protein can only be found in meat.” Palmer states that she is more irritated by that question and mentions that people seem to be fascinated about how she can survive without meat: “The protein question is one that comes up a lot. I almost want to ask them where they get their vitamins and minerals”, she says. She would not reveal it to people unless appropriate:“It is not my top secret, but being vegetarian should not be a big deal.”
In the most encounters they have, people seem to focus on the food intake. Stephens contradicts this idea, saying that she wouldn’t be highly surprised if vegans and vegetarians are more nutritionally aware of what they eat than others as they know they need to be aware of certain factors in their diet. However, she is somewhat more hesitant to reveal to people she is vegan as “there are people out there who tend to be disrespectful or get into an argument with you. There are people out there who either don’t know anything about it or know too much and start throwing statistics at you”. She has never had bad experiences aside from these arguments but adds that she knows someone who, as a bizarre joke, received a card from his colleagues with pieces of ham attached to it.
However, it seems that things are changing. Eating less meat is becoming more popular for health and fitness reasons. In addition, the news has increasingly more headlines about the negative effects of the meat and dairy industry on the environment. “You do get headlines every so often”, Elliot says, “yet they can be misleading. In an article about Mary Robinson speech at the UN about eating less meat, the evidence for her arguments are given but in the same article it is said that the Irish Dairy Board does not agree with her. People will protect their own interests, especially as Ireland is so depended on its meat and dairy industry”. Palmer also says that although there are more official reasons for eating less meat, it is a complicated thing to change in Ireland as eating meat is part of Irish culture.
“At least now people know what veganism is”, Stephens states, “yet it is hard to tell if things are getting better. As students, we live in this college bubble. Being vegetarian or vegan is becoming more popular among students, yet knowing if society as a whole is changing is hard to tell. In a way, being vegan is similar to issues such as feminism, as it is becoming more popular due to university’s education and focus on these issues, yet it is not always easy to see how it is in society”.
What seems to be missing is a true normalisation of vegetarianism and veganism on a day-to-day basis
Despite the positive change, Stephens states that “we still have a long way to go”. Change is happening, but the time still needs to come where being vegetarian or vegan becomes a normal part of society. Eoin mentions that people still have this idea that “when you are vegan, you are mad because it seems unachievable to many people”. Other improvements that can be made are things like an increase in vegan options in restaurants and making it a standard. Palmer would like to see improvement in little things, such as having a standard vegan option at weddings, cookbooks automatically incorporating vegetarian dishes and people in general eating less meat. Some progress is being made in this area. For example, things like “meat-free Fridays” are becoming more popular.
There does seem to be a positive change in society as being vegetarian or vegan is becoming more popular. What seems to be missing is a true normalisation of vegetarianism and veganism on a day-to-day basis, having people educated about the different food options and a recognition that meat and fish are not necessarily needed in one’s everyday diet. Society and its attitude towards a meat-free diet does seems to be changing, even in a meat-eating country like Ireland. There is still quite a long way to go, however, until vegetarianism and veganism become truly commonplace.
