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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/04/vegan-jokes-are-poor-taste-but-hardly-a-reason-to-be-pilloried-waitrose
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| Vegan jokes are in bad taste, but hardly a reason to be pilloried | Vegan jokes are in bad taste, but hardly a reason to be pilloried |
| (2 months later) | |
| Everyone has been feasting on the carcass of the William Sitwell vegan debacle to the point where it’s started to feel like a MasterChef cannibal special. | Everyone has been feasting on the carcass of the William Sitwell vegan debacle to the point where it’s started to feel like a MasterChef cannibal special. |
| For those who missed it, Waitrose Food magazine editor Sitwell replied to freelancer Selene Nelson’s suggested article on vegan food with an email saying he’d like to print a feature on “killing vegans, one by one”. After an outcry, he apologised and then resigned. | For those who missed it, Waitrose Food magazine editor Sitwell replied to freelancer Selene Nelson’s suggested article on vegan food with an email saying he’d like to print a feature on “killing vegans, one by one”. After an outcry, he apologised and then resigned. |
| Predictably, opinions swiftly polarised. Some felt Sitwell’s response was both unprofessional and offensive to vegans. Others argued it was a private email, vegan jokes should be allowed and attacks on Sitwell were an affront to free speech. | Predictably, opinions swiftly polarised. Some felt Sitwell’s response was both unprofessional and offensive to vegans. Others argued it was a private email, vegan jokes should be allowed and attacks on Sitwell were an affront to free speech. |
| I find myself torn. Sitwell didn’t behave professionally, politely or even with any awareness of Waitrose’s new vegan and vegetarian ranges. Moreover, as a lifelong vegetarian, I know how “my kind” are relentlessly ridiculed. I can only presume it must be even worse for vegans. As a sidebar, baiters have been riffing forever about hunting/eating vegetarians and vegans and other classic “jokes”. It’s all got a bit end of the pier and they seriously need to up their comedy game. | I find myself torn. Sitwell didn’t behave professionally, politely or even with any awareness of Waitrose’s new vegan and vegetarian ranges. Moreover, as a lifelong vegetarian, I know how “my kind” are relentlessly ridiculed. I can only presume it must be even worse for vegans. As a sidebar, baiters have been riffing forever about hunting/eating vegetarians and vegans and other classic “jokes”. It’s all got a bit end of the pier and they seriously need to up their comedy game. |
| However, I still don’t think that Sitwell, or anyone else, should lose his job over something like this. Not only was it a sorry overreaction but Sitwell’s old Etonian buddy, Jacob Rees-Mogg, publicly supported him – wasn’t that punishment enough? | However, I still don’t think that Sitwell, or anyone else, should lose his job over something like this. Not only was it a sorry overreaction but Sitwell’s old Etonian buddy, Jacob Rees-Mogg, publicly supported him – wasn’t that punishment enough? |
| More seriously, vegetarians and vegans need to stay self-aware. People turn against meat for a variety of reasons (often to do with animal welfare, and the environment) and for many, including myself, it can become very personal and heartfelt. However, while they take a lot of flak, it’s still a choice – we aren’t oppressed minorities and it’s undignified and inappropriate to act as if we are. | More seriously, vegetarians and vegans need to stay self-aware. People turn against meat for a variety of reasons (often to do with animal welfare, and the environment) and for many, including myself, it can become very personal and heartfelt. However, while they take a lot of flak, it’s still a choice – we aren’t oppressed minorities and it’s undignified and inappropriate to act as if we are. |
| • Barbara Ellen is an Observer columnist | • Barbara Ellen is an Observer columnist |
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