I don't eat meat and haven't for a long time, the last few years I've been vegetarian.

There was a period of time I ate vegan. I still practice some things to this day, trying to eat less processed foods, sourcing things from as humane of a source as possible and that means not just animals, but also people. That's a part of being vegan, if it exploits anything, you avoid it.

It's hard, especially living in a country that has only partially embraced it. You try and live outside that norm, outside of a big city, and sourcing what you want and at a reasonable price is a pain in the ass.

Now to my point, I never felt so much animosity as when I mentioned being vegan. People would ask me what is wrong with me, I would often get lectured on how my perceptions on the meat industry is wrong, and told how I was harming my body by not getting enough protein.

I'm not here to preach my stances.

However, that animosity wasn't just from people with typical diets. What stopped me at first was the reputation vegans had. I didn't want to be associated with that at the time, while I believe things need to change I'm also against shoving my views on someone. Eventually, I met some vegans and they were the opposite of what I heard, I asked about what they do and how they eat, and I tried it.

When I eat with someone new, and I say I'm vegetarian the response is almost always positive, except those who like to try and belittle my manhood because I don't eat meat.

However, what really affected my view towards veganism and why I eventually started saying I eat plant based was because of that scrutiny. People felt so nosy and judgemental. Then I decided maybe I should seek like minded people.

I checked out vegan subreddits, looked for other vegans to meet irl and pretty often when i would mention I'm vegan but I'm against lecturing, I would get the most vile responses. I still remember a time on Reddit that I said exactly that and was harassed by a lot of accounts telling me I was worse for the vegan movement than meat eaters because I wasn't actively pushing my beliefs. So I started to feel isolated, when I would be around some people they would say "oh you're still vegan?" And when I eventually went back to being vegetarian I still sometimes hear "I knew it wouldn't last" or sometimes flamed for the exact kind of view I'm posting now by individuals who may still think I'm a problem.

This is a long winded way of saying, I could have guessed the results of that study and I'm not surprised. I think one of the biggest enemies of the movement is themselves in my experience, and it makes me sad because I really do wish it would catch on more. I wish I didn't sometimes feel like I have to hide my diet, and I wish people wouldn't put so much value on a damn food packaging label.