Being vegan or vegetarian for some militant folks means trying to campaign for everyone to join them or eat less meat. This is promoted as a lifestyle not a culture.

Vegans have a plant-based diet. The protein sources are things like tofu. The bean curd is an important staple in their diet. This protein also is one of the proteins for people in Asia. There are vegan recipes, Tofurky and Facebook groups to trade recipes and chat. This is important.

I like braised tofu. I tired it at a Chinese restaurant and found the dish surprisingly tasty. It went nicely with chicken fried rice. Unfortunately, the soy content means I have to be careful with the stuff. Thyroid medication does not like soy. Vegan desserts are awesome. The substitution of ingredients makes tasty, tasty desserts. Sadly, to a nameless vegan on Fecebook, my choice to eat tofu means I am appropriating their culture? She has been in the culture for three years and owns all the tofu. Culture? Yes, people do believe this madness. Never mind the actual Asian cultures that incorporate soy bean curd have been doing so for thousands of years.

This amusing saga started when a girl named Anna DelRey shared a tofu recipe with vegans. Which is nice, right? My friends mocked the hell out of tofurky when our vegetarian friend tried convincing the guys the stuff was great. Anyway, she shared a recipe with people who do not eat meat or cheese that might be tasty. People do this. An unknown gendered vegan then went and lost their mind. Here is the article from the Daily Mail.

She was first contacted by the mysterious vegan, whose identity she has protected, after sharing a recipe for ‘tofurkey’ – a meat substitute that looks like turkey and is usually made from tofu – with a vegan Facebook group.

Tofurky’s site incidentally has this motto

The Friendliest Food On The Plate. Good food is kind to people, animals, the environment, and especially tastebuds. That’s exactly the kind of food we’ve been making at Tofurky for more than 35 years.

The friendly food apparently is tasty. My holiday meals usually involve ham or turkey or a roast beast of some sort. But having options is good. Ironic when you see what the genderless vegan said.

She said: ‘Tofu is strictly for vegans vegetarians [sic].

‘You are basically admitting to appropriating us and stealing what we need for your own selfish use.

‘I’m going to request to the admin that you are removed from our group.’

A now-angry Anna responded: ‘With all due respect, I’m not appropriating anything, I’m eating food I like, you absolute f***’.

Appropriating what exactly? Silly vegan, Tofu is for everyone. The bean curd came to the states from the Orient, you numpty. Here is a history lesson. Many favorite foods have tofu in them. And Anna was restrained in her cussing. Because having a litmus test makes one a twat whatever their gender. You do not convince anyone that your three years as a genderless vegan makes you a better or happier person. If anyone is culturally appropriating anything, it is people like the genderless vegan misusing an Oriental food staple.

Funny, my friends who are vegans or the lovely, lovely people at That Early Bird who sell the best vegan bar, don’t have this problem. That Early Bird sells this yummy refrigerated treat and I must have it, my preciousssss. They share recipes and food and are super nice about samples. If anything, they might convince me to try a meatless dish or three.

This moron? All he or she will do is confirm the stereotypes of vegans, amuse or annoy humans and animals. And Tofu is plant based. So farmers grow the soy that makes up the tofu. Silly, silly vegan.

Tofu goes back thousands of years. There’s no evidence it was created for vegetarians/vegans only.

— Dino Sakić (@Dino_Sakic) March 30, 2017

And from an actual vegan, this is about as rare as vegan food on my in-law’s food calendar:

In other words, don’t be a jerk. Maybe people might listen. Sadly, the norm is acting like the genderless vegan twat and scream at anyone who uses “your food.” Our relatives in the meat, dairy and egg business thank you. If, however, you are trying to convince anyone to respect your right to be vegan, not acting like a jackass, is a good starting point. Because the antics and the claims of appropriation of a culturally appropriated food just make you look like a fool.