Time for compassion

Vegan food is creating headlines globally as media outlets fall over themselves to push plant-based eating as a trend in order to drive readership. You cannot go a week without a UK national news outlet trumpeting vegan food as the thing to watch. Even your friendly FGV got swept up in this recent wave of interest.

As exciting as this hyper-interest in meat and dairy free eating is, one important component is missing from all the stories.

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Truly disappointing

I don’t have a lot to say about this quote from recently-celebrated recipe blogger and cookbook author Ella Woodward:

ella quoteActually, I have a few things to say.

Ella. My veganism is not fired by a desire to make people feel bad or judged. My veganism is a lifelong commitment to improving outcomes for non-human animals. My choice to not eat meat, dairy, eggs or honey has nothing to do with wanting to feel superior and everything to do with a desire to reduce harm.

It is incredibly disappointing to see you use your newly-acquired platform to take a swipe at compassionate people.

You are quoted in your Telegraph interview as saying “I’m not sitting here judging anyone” when the opposite is clearly true.

You are sitting in judgement of tens of thousands of vegan people who have pre-ordered your book, along with many of your non-vegan readers who have been considering transitioning to a full time plant-based diet (and possibly lifestyle) thanks to your inspirational recipes.

My hope is one day soon your world view broadens to include compassion for animals and also the people making everyday decisions to save them. Selling recipes based on your own personal wellbeing success story is not the only positivity your situation could bring to the planet.

Don’t sell your legacy short with out-dated stereotypes of judgemental vegans. It makes you appear close-minded, ill-informed and divisive.


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