Philosophical Vegan Forum

Something I often have trouble with is when to promote or clarify things about veganism.

For example, awhile ago in art class, I overheard these people talking about vegetarianism, and two people basically said they didn't care about morality.
I want to try to convince people otherwise in situations like that, but what am I supposed to do? If I just 'butt-in', doesn't that make vegans look preachy?

Also, more recently, a girl said during science class that whenever she saw vegan products that they were labeled GMO-free.
I don't want people to associate veganism with that, but again, what am I supposed to do?
*raises hand* "I'm vegan, and I support GMOs."
That seems ridiculous.

Awhile ago, the same girl asked the teacher during a discussion about health if the teacher would recommend a vegan diet.
If I raise my hand and talk about why a vegan diet is good, doesn't that make vegans look preachy?

What do you guys do in situations like this? Am I overthinking this?

Don't interrupt the private conversation unless they say something blatantly false, and then just correct it without identifying yourself and move on.

You could speak up and say that a lot of vegans support GMOs in class; I don't think that would be seen as preachy, just frame it positively and not confrontationally. A lot of non-vegan products say they're GMO-free too.

In the last case, just respond to the teacher if she says something wrong or negative about veganism, not to the student. If the teacher says something like "it's up to you" then leave it alone.

I think people can understand you defending veganism to somebody saying something negative, but less so interjecting on something neutral.

It would be great to have some hard data on this so we knew where the line was in public perception. After you interject, ask some of your classmates how they felt about what you said, and if they thought it was preachy or fair.

EquALLity wrote:Something I often have trouble with is when to promote or clarify things about veganism.

For example, awhile ago in art class, I overheard these people talking about vegetarianism, and two people basically said they didn't care about morality.
I want to try to convince people otherwise in situations like that, but what am I supposed to do? If I just 'butt-in', doesn't that make vegans look preachy?

Also, more recently, a girl said during science class that whenever she saw vegan products that they were labeled GMO-free.
I don't want people to associate veganism with that, but again, what am I supposed to do?
*raises hand* "I'm vegan, and I support GMOs."
That seems ridiculous.

Awhile ago, the same girl asked the teacher during a discussion about health if the teacher would recommend a vegan diet.
If I raise my hand and talk about why a vegan diet is good, doesn't that make vegans look preachy?

What do you guys do in situations like this? Am I overthinking this?

One thing I always try and do when I have a new class I find some way to introduce myself as a vegan. This lets others when talking about veganism be able to refer to me for answers. At least this in my experience at my college. With those three scenarios I agree with brimstoneSalad but, with the girl asking about veganism in health class I would talk to the girl after class. Tell her that if she still has any questions about veganism that I would answer them to the best of my ability(this would also depend on how much the teacher talked about it).

Doc's suggestions are good.

_Doc wrote:with the girl asking about veganism in health class I would talk to the girl after class. Tell her that if she still has any questions about veganism that I would answer them to the best of my ability(this would also depend on how much the teacher talked about it).

I would agree with that, too. If you can, address them after class. As nicely as you can, just let them know they can always ask you if they have any questions or want to talk about it.