Reading through the ingredients label on the back of the box, I wonder at the infinite ways this can go wrong. It can be kosher but not vegetarian. Vegetarian but not vegan. There it is: another dreaded ingredient, whey. Anyone who has dietary restrictions shares this struggle. 

According to a 2012 Gallup poll profiling adults, five percent of Americans identify as vegetarians, only slightly less than those who identified as vegetarian in 1999 and 2001. 

Gallup also found that some two percent identified as vegans. With both of these results, the terms “vegetarian” and “vegan” were not defined for the respondent but by the respondent.

For those who do not know, veganism is the practice of abstaining from consuming any animal products like meat, dairy, eggs and honey. This practice sometimes extends to abstinence from purchasing “cruelty-free” clothing choices such as not wearing leather or makeup products. People for Ethical Treatment of Animals’ slogan sums up the motivation of ethical veganism perfectly: “Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment or abuse in any other way.” “Ethical veganism” is one of the three common motivations for adopting this diet. Other motivations include dietary veganism and environmental veganism. 

As we are a minority in this population, identifying as an “ethical vegan” may not be fully understood by the general populace. My lifestyle choice is often deemed much too “extreme,” even by fellow animal lovers and vegetarians. Instantly, individuals conjure up images of radical holier-than-thou PETA activists or hippie vegans (which, granted, I may very well be) when they discover I am a vegan. The responses range from quite comical to downright offensive. Among the comical responses is the slogan: “Save a cow, eat a vegetarian/vegan.” More offensive responses come in the form of moral equivalencies. In a 2012 article in The Guardian, Sali Owen shares some of these responses thrown at her. “Why would you care about intensive cattle farming when there are children dying of malaria in Ethiopia?” One must not be so competitive when it comes to compassion. Fighting for animal rights and human rights are not mutually exclusive. 

In fact, my passion for the fundamental rights of animals and humans pushed me to become a vegan in the first place. 

After being a vegetarian for around five years, I learned more about the system of factory farming. Farm Sanctuary, an organization founded to protect farmed animals from cruelty and promote the cause of vegan living, share some of the experiences faced by farmed animals. Unlike common promotional images of perfect and natural farm life, the conditions farmed animals live in are quite horrific. Generally, these animals live in extremely confined conditions and are injected with powerful hormones intended to bring about unnatural growth and inevitably painful conditions.  The close confines of living lead to greater illness and, in turn, overuse of antibiotics. 

Oftentimes, the laws that are intended to protect these animals provide little support. 

Farmed animals generally remain excluded from state animal cruelty laws and the Animal Welfare Act, which the United States Department of Agriculture describes as “the only federal law in the United States that regulates the treatment of animals in research, exhibition, transport and by dealers.” 

The 28 Hour Law only protects animals in transit for slaughter. It is supposed to allow for animals to receive a break of food, water and exercise before traveling again, but it is not strictly enforced, according to the Animal Legal Defense Fund. Another law, the Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter Act,  requires that livestock be unconscious before slaughter, but this excludes birds, who make up 90 percent of those animals slaughtered for food. According to the ALDF, enforcement of this law is spotty, and oftentimes terrible violations continue.   

Unfortunately, the most vocal voice for animal rights in the United States is PETA, which alienates the majority of the population and frequently uses distasteful forms of protest. While PETA stands for the values ingrained in ethical veganism, it goes about alienating everyone who doesn’t follow its way of life (sometimes even alienating vegetarians). PETA creates a culture of shame surrounding eating animal products and frequently uses campaigns through their gross comparisons of animal suffering and human suffering. Although I can relate to the phrase, “meat is murder,” I don’t think anyone should really believe that it is okay to stage a protest with humans wrapped in giant meat containers. PETA should realize that these displays don’t make people empowered to become vegetarian but instead guilted into it if they are even convinced in the first place. 

Oftentimes, these displays help solidify stereotypes against vegetarians and vegans. During this summer, I experimented with the possibility of returning to lacto-ovo vegetarianism permanently—a type of vegetarianism where the individual does not consume animals but does eat dairy and egg products. As my lifestyle had become more “extreme,” it seemed as if PETA became more extreme as well. Suddenly, it seemed as if they were saying it isn’t good enough to just be a vegetarian. It seems as if everything on their website promotes “veganism” instead of “vegetarianism.” I would like to say that I returned to veganism on my own volition, but I would be lying if I said PETA’s message did not partially influence my decision. 

However, there are other organizations, like Meat Free Monday, that are going about their activism in an encouraging way. They are presenting an accessible solution—simply don’t eat meat on Monday. 

This allows for the development of an animal rights movement outside of the vegan and vegetarian community. MFM helps spread the movement instead of alienating it through fringe extremism like PETA. I don’t take issue with anyone who is not a vegetarian, but abstaining from meat for one day out of the week is an encouraging step in achieving greater animal rights. 

The most profound struggles vegans face is not by the numerous non-vegan additives found in foods but the social stigma that surrounds their lifestyle. When reflecting on the actions of animal rights groups such as PETA, I am not surprised that ethical veganism would be misunderstood. Veganism should be portrayed as through a quote by Mahatma Gandhi: “The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” In this sense, we should realize that human rights and animal rights go hand-in-hand, and ethical vegan activism should equally be presented in this way. 

Nov. 1 is World Vegan Day. Two percent of people in the U.S. are vegan, but not every individual should be labeled by one characterization.