Vegetarianism is a surprisingly contentious issue, that divides people to the extent that it makes the Israelis and the Palestinians look like Ant and Dec. 'Veggie Vision' is a vegetarian internet TV station, that caters to the herbivores amongst us. If that sounds like the worst idea since the pop career of Leona Lewis, that's because it probably is.
My main gripe with vegetarianism is that the whole system is so pious and faux-ethical. If you don't eat meat for moral reasons, fair enough - just don't expect everybody to bow down and follow your lead. If only people would actually get over themselves and feel secure in their own decisions that they don't need to try and force their opinions on everybody else, then maybe some headway would be made with peoples personal viewpoints. Again, if you don't like the taste of meat - don't eat it, there is no need to try and made some grandiose gesture out of it. I don't like prawn cocktail flavoured crisps, but I don't let it affect my entire viewpoint on life, because it's actually quite a trivial and dull part of my personality.
The aforementioned Veggie Vision ask the question "How can we promote veganism through the media?" on their website. There should be no need to promote the ideal, because surely it's a personal choice and therefore needless to promote it? I can understand people advertising a gig, or a play, but you venture into dangerous morality when you're essentially telling people what to do. It's purely another form of pressure, albeit this is under the guise of a support group and 'raising awareness', rather than your dangerous mate Tony offering you a cigarette. "Try it, you'll love it!", he implores, which is no different to a gang of hippies offering recipes on tofu and Quorn. Who knows, if Hitler had enjoyed a bacon sandwich in the morning rather than some boiled lettuce, the mid twentieth century might have been a much nicer time and place.
Don't get me wrong though - vegetarians are good in some aspects - mainly for looking down on, but at least it's a start. In all seriousness, a small part of me is envious that they manage to adhere to such a strict lifestyle at least food wise, and it is good that many of them are passionate about their choices, but it's the way that the zealots are so earnest, so desperate to be proved right that they can't actually accept that most people just don't have the time to care about battery farms, or whether the delicious duck they have just devoured was bred in a picturesque pond, or a fowls paradise. Regardless, if you have an opinion by all means express it, but refrain from turning it into gospel when it is purely your own thoughts.
To conclude then - the only thing that Veggie Vision has managed to distill in me is a healthy disdain of all things vegetarian, which unfortunately for them isn't what they really intended. All that being said though, I have been inspired to join PETA - albeit it the Petition for the Eating of Tasty Animals, rather than the legitimate one, but that's the way the cookie crumbles - or in this case, the beautiful beef sizzling in the oven.
