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News Flash: Assholes Prefer Meat

August 23, 2008

“I even accept that vegetarians (and even vegans) can be (although usually are not) great lovers of food. But I reserve the right to observe that, with the exception of those religiously or medically constrained to the meat-free or meat-and-dairy-free diet, they usually do not love themselves very much.

“Like any food fad, vegetarianism (and veganism especially) is so often a smoke screen adopted to disguise a body-dysmorphic eating disorder. It is simply an excuse not to eat. [...] (Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a complaint – better vegans than fat people.)” (source)

Giles Coren is quite obviously a complete asshole.

He even has the audacity to claim “I am not in any way hostile to vegetarianism or veganism,” which is an outright lie, obviously.

If it’s not quite obvious to you, here is an itemized list of his nonsensical assholeness:

1. The key premise of veganism is that animal flesh and secretions are not food. It is like human flesh and secretions: some people eat that stuff, but there are a whole host of reasons why we should not eat that stuff. Those reasons are human health, animal rights, and environmental responsibility, for starters.
2. Anyone who claims veganism is a “food fad” or a “diet” doesn’t understand the central premise of veganism: the exclusion of the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose. It is a complete lifestyle and philosophy, not merely a dietary habit.
3. There is no correlation between veganism and a lack of love for food. Many, many, many vegans love food.
4. There is no correlation between veganism and a lack of self-esteem. Many, many, many vegans have perfectly healthy self-esteem.
5. Granted, some people cover up eating disorders by saying they’re vegan. Those people are not an accurate representation of the majority of vegans. Moreover, the majority of people with eating disorders do NOT cover them up by calling themselves vegan. They use other excuses, lies, and cover-ups.
6. Though vegans tend to be 10-20 pounds lighter than nonvegans, there are plenty of fat vegans. Vegan, despite common misconceptions, is not the opposite of fat.
7. Thin is not better than fat. Regardless of certain asshole’s preferences for women with a certain body type, thin is not better than fat.
8. Overall health has much more to do with actual diet, exercise, and other behaviors than with how someone looks and whether or not they fit the culturally promoted image of “health.”

But you know what’s truly most offensive about his “review” of a vegan restaurant? It’s that he doesn’t for one second imagine that his taste buds can’t accurately taste vegan food. I’m sure he thinks he’s cleansed his palate, but does he grasp the fact that his meat and dairy centric diet has ruined his taste buds for vegan food? Does he understand that eating meat and dairy is like smoking? It dulls your sense of taste for other kinds of food. If he were seriously reviewing taste and not merely regurgitating his anti-vegan biases, he’d go vegan for a week before reviewing a vegan restaurant. He’d truly taste the food and be a real food critic rather than a Big Food advocate and anti-vegan pundit.

Moreover, an accurate review depends upon a certain lack of bias. Meat eaters prefer meat because it fits with their worldview, not because it actually tastes better (source).

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