Vegans Are Having A Strange Month
Even though many point to following a plant-based diet as one of the best things you can do for our suffering planet, vegans are still faced with many protestors as well as extremely strict followers. There's a bit of an alpha/omega to our vegan news today. In one corner, we have the cheerful, living-her-best-life YouTuber Yovana Mendoza, a.k.a. "Rawvana," who has a million Instagram followers who apparently appreciate her credo of healthy body, mind, and soul. One of the ways she achieves/achieved this nirvana is via a plant-based diet. So her followers were recently outraged to discover a video of Rawvana eating (gasp) fish, which obviously is not included in the vegan lifestyle, says The Daily Dot.
In a 30-minute heavily edited apology video called "This Is What Is Happening" (which received over 800,000 views, as opposed to her usual 20,000 or so per video), Mendoza asks for forgiveness for her followers who feel "deceived and lied to." In a far cry from her usual cheerful self, Rawvana in this video is downright sedate, praising her vegan diet for helping her to fight addictions, but explains that she started incorporating eggs and fish back into her diet a few months ago for health reasons. She says that she meant to tell everyone eventually on her own terms (but got busted first). The Daily Dot points out that her "Instagram comment section, once full of praise for the beautiful photos, is now covered in fish emojis and harsh criticism." And although the YouTube video has 4,800 little thumbs-up on YouTube, it also has 19,000 thumbs-down, so all of Rawvana's followers do not seem to be flocking back to the fold just yet.
Meanwhile, at the VegFest conference in Brighton, England, a "sickening moment," says The Daily Mail. The Brighton And Hove Independent reports that an anti-vegan protestor joined the pro-vegan protestors outside the conference center—who were holding signs like "Meat Is Murder" and the like—and proceeded to go to town on a raw pig's head.
The conference organizers tell BHI that they were expecting as many as 30 anti-vegan protestors. Only three showed up, and apparently tried to go for maximum impact. But doesn't the grossness of eating a pig face just underline the point that eating meat is kind of disgusting if you look at it from a certain angle? All cows and pigs and fish have faces, after all.
At any rate, the anti-vegan protestor caved pretty quickly when he was confronted by the pro-vegan protestors. He apparently then put his pig's head away and left. Tune in tomorrow for another exciting installment of "Today In Vegan News."