Vegan Bottom’s Up!
Him: “I wouldn’t buy wine that had a vegan symbol on it.”
Me: “Why not?”
Him: “I can buy what I want.”
Another weekend with a frustratingly irrational conversation about animal use.
I had gone to a local winery for a wine tasting to celebrate my dad’s 70th birthday. The vineyard manager walked us around the facility and went into great detail on all the processes involved in making great wine. 🍷
Naturally, I asked what filtration method they used, crossing my fingers…. 🤞
Our guide replied by explaining that isinglass was fish guts (wrong - it’s their bladder) and that egg albumen is used in vegetarian wine but that their wines are all totally vegan.
My mum then asked if they were labelled vegan and he said “No, because we wouldn’t want people to mistake them for organic wine and not buy them as a result.”
Incensed by this and before I could reply, Mum jumped in and said “Well, that’s stupid. How do you expect anyone to know?”
The wine guy looked a bit helpless and said Mike, the owner of Greyfriars Vineyard made the decision and there had been lots of internal discussion around it.
I pointed out that labelling it vegan is more inclusive since everyone can drink vegan wine, but vegans cannot drink non-vegan wine.
Which is when the guy behind me piped up with the comment above.
The idea of people preferring an animal-based filter over a plant-based one when you cannot tell the difference shows how divisive the perception of vegan has become. This is largely down to the portrayal of vegans in the media as being “preachy”, “militant” and irritatingly inflexible, and a threat to the livelihood of farmers everywhere.
The truth is, vegans choose their way of life with the good of everyone in mind. Avoiding animal products is a more environmentally friendly choice whether that is food, wine, fashion or cosmetics. As climate breakdown impacts get more extensive, more frequent and wider dispersed, this should be a growing concern for consumers.
The problem is the media outlets and platforms that stoke the fires of division by pitting the idea of the tofu wokerati “ruining it for everyone”.
Whilst the era of hateful communication is well and truly upon us (as demonstrated by Cambridge Analytica manipulating entire nations to vote for Brexit and Donald Trump), and Twitter has become such a cesspit that even Zuckerberg thinks he can go for the land grab with Threads, trolling of others has become a sport; a source of entertainment for those lonely and disenfranchised keyboard warriors. This is naturally spilling into our IRL interactions with strangers, and would explain the rise in violence towards women.
For vegans, this can show up in more innocent, misdirected criticism. By encouraging others to embrace a plant-based diet, we are not casting shade on your human rights. Naturally, everyone can choose what they buy, what they eat, and what they drink. If everyone took a one-day-at-a-time approach to consume in as compassionate a way as possible, this world would become a much nicer place to be for everyone!
Perfectionism is the enemy of veganism - until we live in a vegan world, it is totally unachievable!
This vineyard would not qualify for me as a vegan place - they make honey on site and have an “Elmer Fudd” character visit to stop rabbits and deer from eating the grapes. By making all their wines vegan-friendly though, they are making it harder for the animal agriculture industry to prop itself up on these tangential incomes. So for that reason, I support them in their efforts, added them to the Barnivore directory and exchanged pleasantries about wine with the ignorant boys before we left. Because us vegans, convert more people to our cause with champagne than we will with vinegar!
