Over the last 20 years, veganism and vegetarianism have shifted from niche dietary choices to a whole cultural movement. What used to be a personal food preference became a guide to a lifestyle that cares about health, but also respects the environment, animal welfare and sustainability.
Questions like “Are they healthier or restrictive?”, “Environmentally essential or overhyped?”, “Ethically necessary or personally intrusive?” have risen into the public conversation and sparked debates in which the nourishing aspect of food has been overshadowed by arguments about personal freedom, morality, and environmental responsibility.
As the rivalry grew bigger, both sides came with stereotypes and standard scripts that are promoted and recycled every once in a while, trying to put the blame on the other.
Stereotypes about vegans & vegetarians
The public perspective on veganism and vegetarianism is often influenced by stereotypes that highlight cultural conflicts. Vegans are seen as self-righteous, judgmental or extreme, while vegetarians are viewed as indecisive or half-hearted in their commitment. These oversimplifications minimize a variety of ethical, environmental, religious, or health-related motivations into labels. These create social polarization, such as “preachy vegan” versus “ignorant meat eater.” Media portrayals, from TV shows to social media posts, have rooted these stereotypes deeper in our culture.
By presenting plant-based diets as a symbol of moral superiority or elitism instead of personal or environmental choices, marketing companies turned food into symbols of identity, community, or rebellion and buried its primary purpose, nourishment.
Recycled statements & repeated narratives
Statements about veganism and vegetarianism are so deeply rooted in our global culture that they became scripts of ongoing and meaningless debates. Phrases like “Vegans think they’re saving the planet,” “Eating meat is natural, we have always done it,” and “Vegan diets are unsustainable because of soy farming” often appear in conversations and online debates. Positive slogans such as “Eat plants, save the Earth” and “Compassion is the new cool” gained their popularity in ads and on social media. The problems arising with these repetitive phrases are reducing complex issues to catchy lines and shifting discussions about food away from facts and towards identity and moral posturing. The repeated use of these statements, whether in favor of or against veganism, raises polarization and constantly throws the blame on the other and hides complexities needed for a real conversation about sustainability.
Origins and promoters of these statements
These evergreen narratives do not appear accidentally, they are actively created and spread by various groups. Marketing firms and plant-based companies promote positive stereotypes to sell a lifestyle focused on ethical consumption, using appealing images of health, purity, and environmental awareness. On the other hand, meat and dairy companies, some media outlets, and influencers encourage doubt, portraying veganism as impractical, elitist and non-traditional. Both sides rely on emotionally charged messages to engage consumers rather than taking interest in informing them properly. Social media algorithms amplify this cycle by promoting polarizing content and rewarding posts that generate strong reactions either in favour or against. As a result, complex topics like food sustainability are reduced to viral slogans: “Go vegan, save the world” versus “Real men eat meat.”
In this echo chamber, factual discussions about farming practices, carbon emissions and global inequality are overshadowed by narratives that support ideological or commercial goals.
RESEARCH | ARTICLE and IMAGE © Prerana Subedi, Leah Gand, Anastasia-Alexia Colesnicenco
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