I still feed my dog meat for dinner. And I’ll admit I have had the odd piece of brie here and there. I’m not perfect and don’t aspire to be. I’m only at the beginning of this journey. Loading This decision did not happen overnight. I educated myself. I’ve listened to podcasts, read countless articles and research papers, watched endless documentaries and then formed my own opinions on the matter. My driving motivation to go meat-free is the Earth. I’m a passionate advocate for our planet and want to do my bit no matter how small to ensure its sustainability. This is how my journey began and it has also morphed into a protest about what I perceive as the unethical and unfair treatment of animals. I simply do not believe humans need to eat meat nor should we slaughter animals just to satisfy our tastebuds.

But, that’s MY choice. I got here on my own accord and I certainly do not judge others who choose to live differently. I was living that same life less than six months ago. Up until the past week I had been keeping this to myself because quite frankly I can’t be bothered explaining to people why I no longer eat animal products. Also because I don’t want to be categorised as a ‘vegan’. I prefer to call it a plant-based diet. The recent displays of animal activism this week made me cringe. It sums up why I have kept this to myself. Then the response from meat-eaters was just as cringeworthy and at best juvenile. Knowledge is power. If you want to persuade someone – educate them.

A vegan diet can be healthy and delicious. But you won't convince people by shoving your views down their throat. Credit:Katrina Meynink Hostile protests and confrontation is not the way to get your point across. I work in public relations so I understand the use of disruptive tactics, but the message was lost because all it did was piss people off. While the disruption brought attention, it was the wrong attention. Evidence-based education is far more effective at bringing about change. We need to appeal to people’s decision-making process not get them off-side. The protests did the complete opposite of what the group set out to achieve; people responded by eating more meat and their opinions of vegans became more hostile. A quick survey of the people around me revealed they had no idea what the group was hoping to achieve and not a single person said it made them pause to think about switching to veganism or consider the plight of animals, not even for a moment.

Loading Social media was overtaken with memes about “those bloody vegans” and photos of people tucking into burgers using the hashtags #vegan #veganlife and #veganprotest to rile vegans up even more. In summary, the protests were a flop. The protests coincided with Dominion Day – acknowledging it had been one year since the documentary Dominion was released in Australia. The film gives an insight into the way animals are used and abused in various industries such as meat, dairy, clothing and entertainment.

It’s harrowing to watch and worth a view. It would have been nice to see the group invite the community along to free screenings of the film across the country. Educate them. Talk to them. Have a conversation rather than force your agenda down their throats in a disruptive and confrontational manner. I get they are passionate and I get they are angry and I 100 per cent support the cause, I just think there’s a far better way to go about it. Fellow animal lovers and herbivores, if you want to change the world you need to be kind just like we want people to treat our furry and feathered friends. Educate them. Tell them your story without prejudice or judgement of their own lifestyle choices. This holier-than-thou attitude needs to stop. This us-against-them mentality needs to stop. On both sides.

The anger and vitriol being thrown at vegans is just as sickening. People don’t know what they don’t know and I’m certainly not here to convert anyone. If you choose to eat meat so be it. If not, more power to you. However, what I would like is for people to keep an open mind and not lump us all into the one category based on the actions of an extremist group. Most of us just want the world to be a better place and hope by not eating animal products it can be. You can watch Dominion here https://youtu.be/LQRAfJyEsko.