“Let them eat vegetables” – TellYouGov on vegetarians
Vegetarians have been taking a beating on TellYouGov in the past week. At the time of writing, the overall score for “Vegetarians” is -49, down 202 in the past 24 hours. The most common complaints against vegetarians seem to be that they are “self-righteous” and “hypocritical”.
Other comments include:
“Just a mildly tedious way of being a picky eater”
“Annoys me that when they come round for dinner I’m expected to cook a special meal for them, but if I go to their place they’re not decent enough to return the favour”
But the veggies have been biting back, arguing that there are environmental, ethical, economic and health reasons for choosing to be vegetarian. They say that a vegetarian diet “has less impact on the environment” and “makes you more creative and experimental in the kitchen”.
Another dimension to the argument is the process of meat production. “It is not meat eating which is most problematic. It’s the processes and organizational structure of agri-corporations which is unethical. If hunting and fishing is an option, this is preferable,” said one user.
However, a recurring theme is that vegetarianism is a “personal choice” that does not hurt anybody else. In the words of one user, “Live and let live - if you want to eat veg why not - this is hardly a contentious issue.”
Elsewhere, the 5 most discussed topics in the past 24 hours are: Gay Pride, immigration, David Cameron, public sector strikes and Muslim faith schools.
Keep on tygging.
All the best,
The TellYouGov team
