Veganism

I never send messages (private or otherwise) that I would be embarassed to have made public. I just tell the truth and that can never be refuted however uncomfortable it may be to read.

So you thought that him being forced to resign might not be enough then Gabriella you STILL felt the need to complain. Perhaps him, being blacklisted or thrown in prison might suffice, publicly flogged maybe?

I am a lot of things Gabriella but I AM NOT AN IDIOT AND TAKE OFFENCE AT YOU SAYING SO.

PLAIN NASTY !

btw Who shall complain to? I AM offended !

I disagree janeainsworth it was said in a private email not sent to print !

I couldn't care one jot what me employees say behind my back. I know the truth about the sort of person I am.

I send texts and emails to family that are private. I assumed most people did. (I wouldn't expect them to end up in print) Maybe I am the exception.

Gilly I think you would care what your employees wrote if what they wrote resulted in lost business or even prosecution for hate crime. That is what Waitrose had to consider.

That is the essence of it. It’s nothing to do with veganism. It’s to do with saying and writing things that most people find unacceptable, whether it’s directed at female academics, politicians or religious groups.
Perhaps people find these things easier to express on a screen than if they had to pick up a pen and write it down, or say the words to people’s faces - what I saw described recently as ‘technology-enabled savagery’.

With the current concerns about the state of the planet We'll all probably have to be vegan eventually. I heard from a friend of a farmer talking on the radio yesterday that his farmer friend keeps a herd of 98 cattle, not sure if dairy or beef but the point is that he has to use 400 acres of land to grow food for his cattle. That 4 acres per cow!
Makes you think.

Gilly I think you would care what your employees wrote if what they wrote resulted in lost business or even prosecution for hate crime. That is what Waitrose had to consider

That is the essence of it. It’s nothing to do with veganism.

What have we become Jane ? A nation of complete airhead snowflakes who choose to take offence at anything and everything? The guy cracked (a poor) joke in a private email. so what? He's lost his job now. Should we rejoice at justice being served or should we mourn the final nail in the coffin to all freedom of expression?

Can we no longer express our private, personal view about anything? The guy did not write this in an article for the Waitrose magazine after all. Are Waitrose vegan customers really so very delicate?

For the record, I eat very little meat. Chicken and fish is about my limit. Could do without the chicken too if I'm honest. Couldn't do without milk, eggs, butter, cheese etc.

As a child I would eat any kind of meat and relished xmas when my mother made her own pork pie, roasted a huge leg of pork, turkey, chicken and delicious salt beef we had in sandwiches. I cannot recall at what point I developed an aversion to meat or what caused it.
My fridge /freezer has now for many years contained what I can only describe as being 'Sitwells' nightmare and it is my choice and we all have a right to choose what we eat without comments from the likes of him and any other would be Sitwells.













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To Grasnet Team: can we have an agree or disagree button at the end of each post please.

Have we really got such sad lives that we can get so offended by this? Surely there is so much more to worry about in the world. Tolerance and a bit of acceptance for differing views seems to be disappearing in this politically correct world. Please bring back common sense.

Although I am not a vegetarian I try and limit the amount of meat I eat. I agree wholeheartedly with what you write, Emilymaria, that humans treat animals in the most appalling and unforgivable way.

I do think though there is a place for humans to consume a little meat as our teeth show we are born to be carnivores and certain animals would eat me if they could; it's just a fact of life. However, it is the treatment of the animal while it is alive and how it is slaughtered which concerns me and makes me not want to eat them rather than how they taste. I am very against halal meat and think it should be labelled so people have a choice whether to buy it or not.

Gilly I’m happy to be labelled an airhead snowflake, if that’s what the label you put in anyone who finds suggestions of mass-murder deeply unpleasant.
cambia so which bit of William Sitwell’s email did you think tolerant and accepting of others’ views?

You know I wasn’t directing that at you Jane ! It just amazes me that anyone could possibly take what was clearly meant as a (poor) joke seriously.

I never believed that there was such a thing as being a “snowflake” until I listened to the discussion on my local BBC radio station this morning. People being offended for the sake of being offended

I know of some "militant" vegans! I see them respond to some posts on FB. My cousin's daughter is a vegan & some of her contacts are quite agressive.

I agree totally with Jane Ainsworth's point. The journalist had written to WS with a suggestion about plant-based recipes. He had replied, in his role as editor, with his "banter" about killing vegans. I am not a snowflake but I think I would have been surprised (and possibly upset) that my suggestion was treated so rudely. Why could he not just have sent a thanks, but no thanks email? I suspect the original poster is right that people do hate vegans and, because they know they are right, it makes them slightly mad. Read Deborah Ross's brilliant article in the Times this morning.

Varian. I read an online newspaper article, the other day, about a lady taking a flight who had ordered a vegan meal. Due to a mistake neither she nor one of the vegan flight attendants were catered for. They had to manage with only crisps and nuts to eat.
A large proportion of the comments posted at the end were appallingly offensive, insulting and condescending to vegans. Yes. There seem to be a lot of people who hate vegans. My son is a vegan, and has also experienced a lot of negative feedback, though he doesn't try to push his beliefs on anyone else. He has also learned not to expect his vegan choice of airline food to appear. It often doesn't, or unacceptably contains milk or eggs. It's time that airlines got their acts together.

Sorry. I should have addressed the previous remarksot to gmelon, not varian

Poor Mr Sitwell. He thought he was living in a country with free speech and a sense of humour and that what was put into a private email would stay in a private email. He must also have thought that vegans who consist of 0.7 % of the population but who are strident enough as if they represented the other 99% would take a bit of ribbing.

The whole situation reminds me of the scene in the film, 'Cabaret', where 'Tomorrow Belongs to me' is sung.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=29Mg6Gfh9Co

Anyone see Loose Women today? Boy George's comments as a vegan were interesting.

This guy was not sending a private family email he was replying in his capacity as a journalist to someone he didn’t know. Big difference. Anyway everyone seems to be offended now! ?

We all have the choice of what we will and will not eat, but I have been verbally abused in a supermarket for buying meat. I noticed the abuser was wearing leather shoes and carrying a leather bag, so I quietly pointed out that if she wanted to spread the vegan ethic she should follow it completely. She walked away without answering!

Nelgwin my daughter makes great vegan cakes for her parners vegan family.

I have no truck with anyone berating anyone else for their food choices - I don’t criticise anyone who chooses to eat meat- some of my best friends and family do- similarly I don’t wish to be criticised by anyone for my choice not to eat animal products. I do have some leather bags and shoes from my pre vegan days which I continue to use rather than chucking in landfill, so I have thought about the environmental impact. I wouldn’t buy any new animal based products if I could avoid it, but we don’t live in a perfect world - the motto should be “do the least harm possible”.

For the record, at the time if making my complaint, I had no idea that WS had already tendered his resignation and had it accepted.
I am but a grain of sand in the Sahara, a drop of water in all the oceans and seas in the world. My complaint was of no consequence, there must have been thousands (or more) of other mumurings for Waitrose and or WS to have taken the decisions they did.
I apologise for making you feel uncomfortable when reading my remark but not for the remark itself.
I'll be doubly careful not to reply to any further posts you may make after reading my comments on any thread.
Thank you for your views.