This 17-year-old Redditor doesn’t care about his family’s diet as long as he can eat what he wants. So, even when they tried forcing him to go vegan, he wouldn’t give in!
Going Vegan
Four years before OP (Original Poster) shared his story on Reddit, his younger sister, who was 10 years old then, went vegan after she learned about “animal slaughter and all that kind of stuff.”
When she shared her decision, everyone in the family, including OP, who was 13 then, respected her choice. Even so, they continued eating meat and found his sister some substitutes.
A Mind-Boggling Documentary
Recently, OP’s sister showed their parents a documentary about the “environmental impacts of eating meat.” The documentary also discussed what happened in slaughterhouses where animals were killed.
A Lifestyle Change
After watching the documentary, OP’s parents decided to be vegetarians. However, they later learned that dairy also “violated cows.”
So, in the end, they decided to go fully vegan like OP’s sister.
To Each His Own
OP mentioned that he didn’t care about his sister and parents’ new diet “so long as he could continue eating pepperoni pizzas and pork burgers.”
However, everything soon started going downhill when his parents told him he should also go vegan.
OP’s Refusal
OP politely refused. But his parents occasionally suggested it again and told him he was “contributing to the problem of eating meat.”
He wrote, “I politely refused and told them I respect their choice, but I am sticking to my meat and dairy.”
Gradual Transition
The week before this story was posted, OP’s parents announced they would stop buying meat because it was a “waste of money.” It was also their way to “transition” OP to veganism.
For them, gradually removing animal products from OP’s diet would help him transition into the lifestyle.
Don’t Do That!
However, OP adamantly refused to switch to being a vegan.
He wrote, “I said I want to continue eating meat and dairy, but they were not having any of it. They told me it’s time to stop contributing to animal ‘abuse,’ and I should just give it a go.”
I’ll Fund Myself
Since OP had a part-time job, he decided to buy his own meat. He’s also doing a “cookery class” in school and is good at it, so it won’t be a problem for him to cook his own food.
So, OP did just that. He bought his meat and put it in the freezer.
You Do You
A few days before OP posted this story, he shared that he’d been eating meatless meals for a couple of days already. They had chili without the meat and a regular pizza, and that was fine for him since they “tend to eat them anyway.”
However, he wanted something different, so he decided to cook his pork burgers. On the other hand, his family had vegan burger substitutes.
What Are You Doing?
Although OP doesn’t care about what his family eats, his parents have a lot to say about his meal.
OP wrote, “I set the table and put my burger on my plate. They saw it and asked me what I was doing. I said since they weren’t going to buy or cook me meat, I would buy my own.”
Their Beliefs
Seeing their son eat meat in front of them made them flip out. They started telling OP a “whole new load of lies about veganism,” which included how it stops cancer and heart disease and prevents pandemics.
But OP just let them talk and continued eating his burger anyway.
Just Embrace It
After dinner, OP’s parents tried telling him to “embrace” the vegan diet. But OP refused again, saying he would eat what he wanted and his parents don’t have to pay for it or cook it.
Awkward Meal Times
Since then, their family’s meal times have been quiet, except when they eat meals that “happened to not contain meat or dairy.” When this happened, his parents would tell him to “just go vegan full-time.”
OP wrote, “My sister honestly doesn’t care what diet I do though and says it’s my choice, but my parents think I am contributing to ‘the problem.’ Am I the a**hole?”
Redditors’ Points of View
Redditors noted that OP had the right to choose what he wanted for himself. Additionally, people said that going vegan doesn’t 100% help the planet.
This user said, “I would say not the a**hole. You are well within your right not to hold their same values or diets. There are, sadly, issues with every industry: the vegetables they eat can be harvested from migrant workers being paid $2.50 an hour, the tofu they eat may be packaged in a plastic that will destroy the ocean, the sugar they buy may contribute to pollution due to the factories it’s made in. What I’m trying to say is your family is picking and choosing battles. Can’t act holier than you if you aren’t harvesting everything yourself, in my opinion.”
Another user wrote, “To conclude OP is a ‘relatively worse person’ purely because of their diet is ridiculous. There are so, so many moral choices in life that it’s beyond silly to make overall moral judgments based on diet. I can safely say that the parents are judgemental and controlling, and I hope OP moves out as soon as possible.”
Who do you think is right in this scenario? What should OP do next?
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This post first appeared as Parents Forced a 17-Year-Old to “Embrace” Veganism as They Did So He Could Stop Contributing to Animal “Abuse.” He Refused, Bought His Own Groceries, and Cooked Meat for Himself! on Quote Ambition.
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