Re: Vegan, veggy, omnivore, primal, fasting.. just leave people in peace
The majority of this post is about people choosing different diets for health-related reasons and, basically, don't be a dick about what health/food choices other people make.
The part I want to respond to
do what's good for you, and your body, health (including mental health!) and fits your life and circumstances...
Preferably, try to do better, at least to a degree, for the planet and animals. And that's that.
I really appreciate the "try to do better ... for the planet and animals" bit.
And I just want to emphasize that. Our "personal" food choices are communal choices. They are choices that involve complex processes in the larger world. Those choices are not just about you, regardless of the framing in your mind.
Corn is grown primarily as animal feed and ethanol fuel. It requires tons of land and water to grow, far more than AI data centers do. Cows and other animals are kept in captivity, with no freedom, in incredibly tight spaces, and live lives of suffering before they are killed, either because they stop producing milk, or because it is time to harvest their muscles and fat and bones.
I think if people were cannibalizing children, nobody would accept this as a "personal choice" that non-cannibals should shut up about. I think we should be similarly insufferable about advocating against animal suffering. Most (self included) would feel that eating human children is worse than enslaving and torturing cows ... but man, is it really?
One day, perhaps we'll collectively move past being species-ist, move past looking at other species' suffering as insignificant or unimportant. Perhaps one day our collective compassion will expand.