Veganism

 Last year, my best friend told me something that put me in great shock - that she will start being a vegan. To be accurate, her mom announced that her whole family will turn vegan starting right away. The reason why it was a shock for me was that 1) My friend always had some kind of meat in her lunch box, and 2) I won't be able to have meat at her house or from her delicious lunch table. 

Personally, I am someone who can't live without meat and I was never interested in being vegan or even vegetarian. My family also, won't be able to live without meat. However, the announcement of my friend's family got me thinking about the concept of the unfamiliar concept of diet - veganism.

One of the reasons that my friend was forced to be vegan was that she was allergic to so many foods. Since she didn't know her triggers even after the allergy test, turning vegan was her last choice. Another reason was the environment. It is widely known that animal agriculture greatly impacts environmental pollution.

Since one of my closest people started a new type of diet, I was naturally interested in this topic of diet. Before this, I had more of a negative feeling toward veganism since what I saw on social media mostly showed objections toward the idea - especially since I was more exposed to Korean media which usually used veganism as a topic to criticise. 

One of my favourite Youtuber, 승우아빠, dealt with lots of vegan content on the channel. It is amazing how one influencer can change people's attitudes toward something. It is not official, but I am sure that he contributed somehow to increasing the quality of vegan food in Korea. Like this, there are more movements to show the public that vegan isn't something to avoid forever. One of the reasons, suggested by this Youtuber is that vegan food is made of low quality. From my experience, compared to western countries, it is true that Korean vegan food is not yet developed and the factors such as taste and texture affect public opinion on veganism. 

There are lots of pros to veganism. However, due to public opinion, its benefits don't get highlighted enough. With more involvement of people in spreading the positivity of veganism, the public will be more accepting of this type of diet. 

I don't have a plan to change my diet, but that doesn't mean that I don't respect the ones who practice veganism. There are many different reasons why people chose to turn vegan and these reasons should all be respected. 


Reference

http://vegan-korea.com/press/?q=YToxOntzOjEyOiJrZXl3b3JkX3R5cGUiO3M6MzoiYWxsIjt9&bmode=view&idx=1525454&t=board

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