The Hidden Horrors of Vegan Sausage Rolls

There’s a lot of doom and gloom in our modern world. Every day, we wake up to tragic stories of war, poverty, and sickness. So, whenever there’s a happy story amongst the misery, I like to hear it. Luckily for me, on the first of January 2019, there was a very happy news story: Greggs was proudly launching a vegan sausage roll. However, this news unexpectedly sent shockwaves across the UK. It seems that many people are not yet ready for a cruelty-free snack. This outrage left me with two questions:

What is so terrible about a sausage roll that doesn’t involve dead or abused animals?

Are some people honestly unable to enjoy one snack that doesn’t include animal abuse?

I’m from South Shields, a Northern town that famously once had four Greggs in their one-street high street. Newcastle does even better with a whopping thirty-one Greggs! You’re never too far from a Greggs up north. Yet, for someone like me, this has been more of a tease than a convenience. If I ever do pop in, it is usually to just buy a black coffee. As a vegan, there wasn’t much else until recently.

I’ve been vegetarian by choice since the age of eight, and vegan (on, off, and now permanently on) for the past ten years. Even as a child, I knew that factory farming was wrong. My opinion has only grown stronger over the years. This makes life challenging at times. At school, I had to go on packed lunches; at parties, I have to avoid the buffet. I always have a vegan snack in my handbag as I know that I probably won’t find vegan food whilst out. It’s no use having thirty-one Greggs if none of them sell anything you can eat! I know that I will never ever eat meat unless I had no other choice. As far as I remember, I’ve never in my life had a sausage roll. Well, I may have as a young child, but I don’t remember it, so it can’t have been that delicious!

Back in November, the television show Good Morning Britain held a debate about vegans. During this debate, Niall Boylon complained that: “You can’t invite them [vegans] out, you can’t go anywhere with them”. You know what, he is right to be annoyed here. But the reason you can’t invite us out is because most places don’t cater for us! We want to eat out! We don’t like being excluded as much as you dislike excluding us. That’s why this vegan sausage roll is a huge step in the right direction.

Greggs and others food outlets are realizing that veganism is swiftly on the rise, and for good reason. Like McDonalds and Marks and Spencers, Greggs have responded to their changing customer base by adding a vegan option. Great! This will make life a little bit easier for many people in the UK. It isn’t nice having to be constantly left out of socializing because there’s literally nothing on the menu for you.

Of course, in the grand scheme of things, this is just inconvenient. I’m lucky enough to have a choice of food. I know that, and I am thankful for it every day. However, despite my luck and privilege, I will never knowingly do anything to harm an animal. We in the first world should use our privilege to stop animal abuse rather than make it worse, which is what we are doing currently.

Honestly though, I cannot believe it has taken so long for this to happen. It baffles me that some people cannot consider eating a snack that doesn’t involve animal abuse. How messed up are we as a society if some people feel the right to another animal’s body every time they eat? During the vegan sausage roll storm, some angry people bizarrely implied that Greggs should be ashamed of their progressive snack. Personally, I think that it is they who should be ashamed, not Greggs! Can’t they let vegans have this? Greggs are not removing any other items from the menu to make way for this vegan sausage roll. This is an extra snack, so what is your problem?

Plus, as David Mitchell says, “It’s not a good look, I realise, to appear annoyed with groups of people living their lives in the way they choose without harming others — and, in the case of vegans, taking the not-harming-others to considerable lengths.”

The people complaining about this sausage roll need to have a think about the amount of animal abuse they’re causing. Throughout my life, I’ve been criticized for refusing to harm animals. But you know what? I don’t even mind! Nothing tastes as good as freeing animals feels. I know that history will prove me right on this, and I just hope that it’s sooner rather than later.

Photo by John Riojas on Unsplash

It’s not just about the animals though, even though I personally consider this to be the biggest factor. To combat climate change and world poverty, we must stop factory farming. The answer to so many of the world’s problems is eating less meat and dairy. I know that people don’t like this uncomfortable fact, but it is the truth. The sooner people accept it, the better.

For me, the real outrage in this story is the fact that real sausage rolls and sold so widely without comment. We should be commenting, criticizing, and condemning the real sausage rolls not the vegan ones. These are the ones that force so many innocent animals to live miserable, uncomfortable, torturous lives. They are ones that contribute to world poverty and global warming. Let’s point the finger right back at the people pointing their fingers at us. They are the ones who are wrong, and they need to know it.

References

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/good-morning-britain-vegan-diet-itv-adrian-chiles-niall-boylan-waitrose-magazine-editor-gmb-a8613051.html

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/jan/07/greggs-vegan-sausage-roll-brexit-britain-culture-wars

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/09/my-beef-with-vegans-says-more-about-me-than-them-david-mitchell