tristan.nz

When I was 18 years old, I was peer-pressured into eating meat.  I hadn’t eaten meat since I turned 12 and had suddenly become aware of what was on my plate.  At that time, nobody challenged me about me quitting meat.  My parents didn’t say anything.  They might not have even noticed.  They were still serving meat at the table and I was just pushing mine aside and eating the vegetables. 

Growing up in New Zealand in the 1980s it was highly unusual to reject meat.  Most of the population maintained the status quo.   We watched TV ads telling us about how much more iron we could get from red meat than spinach and it was comfortingly Kiwi to have our dinners of ‘meat and three veg.’  At 12 years old I was happy with my newfound enlightenment but kept in on the down-low, not wanting to stand out from my peer group.  I was learning how to be a teenager and I just wanted to fit in.

It all went swimmingly until I was about 18 and doing the usual 18-year-old activities, including hanging out with friends and eating late-night burgers from takeaway shops.  In those days you wouldn’t see a veggie burger on the menu at the takeaways.  The best I could do was order a burger without the meat patty.  Basically it was a burger bun with a fried egg, lettuce and beetroot. 

The problem was, my friends would make fun of me.  The group I was with would usually make a big deal about what I’d ordered and I’d have to explain why I didn’t eat meat while I was trying to enjoy my meal.  They would joke that I wasn’t a proper Kiwi and in the end it got to me.  At that age I didn’t have the strength of character to believe in myself and I gave into the pressure and let my “friends” convince me to be a real Kiwi and eat meat.  I continued to eat meat for a few years after that, before quitting for good in my mid-20s.

Thank goodness times have changed.  My children, who have never eaten meat, get a few questions but certainly don’t get teased by meat eaters.  They’re not teenagers yet but they’re already better equipped to combat peer pressure than I was at 18.

What I find interesting is that my children’s peers are naturally aware of environmental and animal rights issues.  My kids are more likely to be peer-pressured into becoming vegans than meat eaters.  Oh, what a peaceful world it would be if people pressured each other into harm-reducing activities!

However, I do wonder now if vegan peer pressure is starting to become a problem.  Sure, the virtues of veganism are obvious.  It’s worth considering and discussing the impacts of the dairy industry as well as many other industries.  But peer pressure itself can have a negative effect on people and cause them to be resentful and resistant.  I wouldn’t like to see people being scared away from adopting a vegan lifestyle because well-intended pressure is turning them off. 

I’d like to see my children growing up in a society where we encourage each other to make lifestyle changes where necessary and have thoughtful and helpful discussions about what we consume.  Idealistic?  Maybe.  Can we do it?  I think so.