From veganfoodandliving.com
From gatekeeping vegan language to sharing our lives with meat eaters, here are some of the spiciest vegan hot takes found on Reddit
When people think of the vegan community, they often imagine a united front of absolute moral consistency. But if you peer into the inner circles of vegan Reddit, you’ll find fierce, high-heat debates about what it actually means to live an ethical life.
A recent thread on r/vegan asked users to share their “EXTREMELY SPICY vegan hot takes that will totally get you downvoted.” The compiled receipts prove that modern veganism is about more than what’s on your plate. It’s a complicated, and often contradictory, tangle of pragmatism, purism, and intense human politics.
From the ethics of dating meat eaters to a surprisingly vicious debate over oat milk, here are six of the spiciest ‘vegan hot takes’ from the thread.
1. ‘Baby steps’ are just fine
The thread’s original poster (OP) kicked off the discussion with a take that immediately divided the community on the psychology of change, using an extreme analogy to drive the point home.
u/Borgato posted: “I’ll go first: baby steps are absolutely ok and should be encouraged if people feel they aren’t ready to go full vegan. ‘Oh so you should be celebrated for beating your wife 2 days a week rather than 6?’ YES.”
While many users agreed with the underlying logic of harm reduction, some called out the comparison, with u/Senior_Army5086 describing it as “crazy”.
“Domestic abusers should not be celebrated regardless of the frequency they do it,” they continued.
But u/Borkato defended their view, opining that there’s a difference between celebrating an individual’s actions and celebrating their efforts to cause less harm. “A murderer should be celebrated for reducing their murders to 1 when their urges told them to commit a terrorist attack,” they asserted.
2. Gatekeeping the word ‘vegan’ helps the vegan movement… except when it doesn’t
While a surprising number of users agreed with the OP’s vegan hot take, opinions were divided on whether the ‘baby steppers’ in question could call themselves vegan.
“‘Vegan except honey‘ or ‘vegan except eggs’ or ‘vegan except cheese’ isn’t a thing,” wrote u/xLilSquidgitx, while OP u/Borkato added that this should still be celebrated, “as long as they don’t say they’re vegan.”
They’re not necessarily wrong, as it’s not uncommon for people (including foodservice workers) to take veganism less seriously after encountering a ‘watered-down’, almost-vegan. Being served honey at a family gathering because “Auntie Muriel’s neighbour’s daughter is vegan and she eats honey” is not fun.
Many agreed that the word ‘vegan’ needed to be ‘gatekept’, as misuse of the term could dilute the cause. As u/Teddy-Bloat put it: “I don’t see any way in which letting the word vegan become meaningless is helpful to the movement or the animals.”
However, others jumped in to share their experience and reasons why they use the label ‘vegan’ when they aren’t fully there yet. u/GlowyStarMoss calls themself ‘vegan’ to avoid being served eggs or dairy at restaurants. “I am vegetarian technically (but don’t want either eggs or dairy),” they said.
“I do have honey, but it’s too hard to explain to people, so in order to avoid certain foods, I just say I’m vegan. Saying vegetarian just makes people be pushy with fish, dairy, eggs, etc., and I have no idea why lol.”
Meanwhile, u/miraculum_one came in with the true hot take: “gatekeeping the word ‘vegan’ is bad in every way and in every context that involves non-vegans.”
“There are effective ways to educate people,” they continued, “but pretending you don’t know what they’re saying because you refuse to accept an extremely common (mis-) use of the word is simply counterproductive and discredits whatever you’re trying to say.”
Proper use of the word 'vegan' was a divisive subject, but most agreed that "vegan except honey" is incorrect. Photo © Rawpixel.com/Adobe Stock
3. Staying close to meat eaters helps the animals
While some corners of the internet advocate for cutting off non-vegans entirely, several users argued that isolationism is a massive strategic failure.
“From my experience it has helped me educate people on veganism,” said u/shredhedz, “I have many friends who have gone vegan/are eating less animals because of me!”
The thread OP agreed, recalling being told that the common vegan dream of moving to an all-vegan community would actually be “worse for the animals compared to hanging out with non-vegans and getting them to avoid animal products,” saying that it “really blew my mind because it’s completely true.”
Although it’s pretty mild to say that we can form close relationships with non-vegans when they are willing to learn from our ethical choices, u/Spaceward_Bound turned up the heat with this spicy take:
“It’s completely fine to have non-vegan friends with no plans on challenging their views. [I] live with three other people in student housing, they know I’m vegan, they’re not, never talk about it unless it comes up casually. We get on just fine.”
While some thought being friends with non-vegans was an opportunity to change their minds, others would rather keep the 'peace'. Photo © Dorde/Adobe Stock
4. We need to stop treating vegetarians as the enemy
The rivalry between vegans and vegetarians is legendary online, though rarely experienced in the real world. But the debate cropped up in this thread too, with commenters falling on both sides.
It started with u/Agitated_Leopard_765 stating that “vegetarians are allies,” to which u/Im_so_lucky_ agreed, “exactly. Every little bit helps.”
Others blamed ignorance of the true nature of the dairy industry for vegetarians’ continued use of animal products, with u/Foodworksurunga excusing vegetarians because “The dairy industry propaganda is very strong.”
But not everyone agrees. u/Mcjuliamc believes that “vegetarians support just as horrible of an industry as other non-vegans.”
“They only cut out one harmful industry,” they said. “Imagine if we praised lactose-intolerant people just because they don’t buy dairy when they buy meat, eggs, …”
However, the vision of a cheese-munching, milk-guzzling vegetarian may not be accurate. After confirming that vegetarians do indeed get flak from both meat-eaters and vegans, vegetarian u/TheoryCapable7894 caveated that they “think the stereotype of vegetarians eating a lot of dairy/cheese and wearing leather/animal products is kinda wrong.”
“I am a vegetarian yes, but I get all my important nutrition from plants, and do not wear leather at all by all means!”
5. ‘Owning’ pets is an ethical minefield
The ethics of pet ownership caused a massive rift, separating those who prioritise the animal in front of them from those looking at the big picture and the global supply chain.
Some believe that having pets at all is not vegan, like u/Snake_fairyofReddit, who said, “it limits the free will of an animal. The caveat is if the animal is injured and obviously needs assistance”.
Meanwhile, u/Future_Economics_849 thinks “having domesticated animals and releasing them ‘for their freedom’ is unbelievably cruel”.
Many users asserted that ‘forcing’ pets to be vegan was tantamount to animal abuse, particularly for cats. Among them was u/kiwiii66, who said: “An animal in your care should receive the best care you can reasonably provide.
“If you are intentionally shortening your cat’s life by feeding them a diet that is not meant for them, then you are an animal abuser.”
When it comes to caring for your companion animals, it seems there’s no winning in this thread. As u/Chimpnimskey questioned: “Isn’t buying food made from animals… also animal abuse?”
They continued: “Though it’s shortening your cat’s life by a couple of years at worst (and extending it, at best) with a carefully planned plant-based diet, a lesser crime than killing many chickens and fish for their cat food?”
But u/Vegetable_Doubt3996 came in hot with a solution, saying, “If you can’t purchase the proper food for your pet due to ethical concerns, then don’t get a pet imo.
“Would you get a snake or a spider and force them to be plant-based? Both are obligate carnivores and cannot digest plants (the same way we can’t digest grass while other animals can)”.
While opinions varied on whether keeping pets was okay, most agreed that we shouldn't 'force' cats to be vegan. Photo © gitusik/Adobe Stock
6. Oat milk isn’t that great
The thread wasn’t entirely focused on serious topics. The community also engaged in a lighthearted, but truly vicious, battle over plant milks.
u/betch opened the discussion with this bold claim: “Oat milk is the most vile and disgusting product I’ve ever had the displeasure of tasting. It ruins everything it touches and it’s mere existence infuriates me to my core”
In response, u/cali86 lashed out with the phrase “I bet you love soy milk, lol,” sounding almost like an insult.
“I drink soy milk because it’s healthy,” they continued, “but it blows my mind how not versatile it is because of the after taste. It just doesn’t pair well with anything other than maybe cereal. It’s terrible for cooking, with coffee, desserts, etc.”
But u/betch was ready with their answer: “Every plant milk serves a purpose in certain settings and for me, Almond milk is king. Coconut, soy, cashew, rice, hemp milk… all wonderful.
“Oat milk tastes rancid and slimy.” They concluded, doubling down on what one commenter described as an “Indian level spicy take.”
A plethora of other users disagreed, defending their favourite plant milk with reasons varying from it being the only one suitable for their allergies to just liking the taste.
However, while I’d never go so far as to insult the taste or texture of oat milk, this author can’t help but secretly agree. As a long-time lover of a soya latte, I’m tired of coffee shops that offer only oat milk as a plant-based alternative!
https://www.veganfoodandliving.com/features/vegan-hot-takes/
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