Normally here on the ZRC blog, the most we discuss dietary matters is in our ongoing effort to dispel certain harmful myths about Zombies and their nutritional requirements (ie, that all Zombies eat human brains, that they cannot control their craving for your flesh, etc).

However today we have an example of advocates of a different sort of specialized diet using Anti-Zombie tropes and prejudice to advance their cause:

Ever worry that flesh-eating zombies might start multiplying and come after you? Well, not to fear because The Vegan Zombie is ready to fend them off.

The Vegan Zombie was started by a vegan chef looking to combine his love for horror movies and veganism. The site provides how-to videos for making various vegan meals, as well as what to do should you find yourself the victim of a zombie attack.

Yes, it’s part cooking-show, part Anti-Zombie spectacle.

But what’s the angle? Well, it seems that in this fictional universe, vegans are the Survivors, as not consuming animal products either renders you resistant to the ‘infection’ or perhaps said ‘infection’ uses any animal product as a vector… which is a rather extremely unrealistic scenario, and quite frankly reeks of fantasy wish-fulfillment:

Q: Why zombies?
A: Why not? Horror films are fun and interesting and so are zombies…even the slow ones. We thought it would be interesting to put a vegan twist on the cliche bloodthirsty zombies. We have a script for a short film ‘The Vegan Zombie’.

Q: What’s the film going to be about and when can we expect to see it?
A: The film is about a zombie outbreak in which vegans are highly resilient to infection (that’s all we can say for now).

We’ve seen this sort of thing many, many times before. Far too numerous to list here are the examples of someone taking a behavior, cultural practice, institution or, basically, any other personal bete noir and labelling it ‘Zombie’, or attempting to associate it with Zombies in the hope that the prevailing negative cultural stigma attached to Different Animation will taint their personal nemesis. (For many examples, check out our tag ‘Don’t Use the Zed Word’)

Nevermind how the Zombies feel about all this, because, to the insensitive and unenlightened out there, Zombie feelings don’t count.

Instead you get tired Zombie Apocalypse fearmongering in an attempt to demonize both the Undead (many of whom have no choice in the matter of going vegan thank you very much) along with everyone who consumes anything from an animal:

“This is the beginning of a unique group of vegans ready to fend off the flesh eating mainstream…The zombie apocalypse is coming and we will be ready. Infection will originate from within the meat flesh the people zombies consume. Vegans will be one step ahead…”

Brother. “Flesh eating mainstream”? Seriously? If these individuals think Vegans are some sort of oppressed minority, they should try Unliving as a Zombie for a few days.

Instead they’re busy making the most violent cooking shows in history, putting the Undead man down before showing you how to make french toast.

Case in point:

The ZRC of course has no particular position on veganism, beyond noting that the fringe groups who try and peddle the notion that it’s the state of the human animal in nature are barking mad. But so what if being a Vegan isn’t ‘natural’ per se? We do lots of ‘unnatural’ things (blogging?) and heck, many Zombies, strictly speaking, do not originate from ‘Nature’. So what? Unnatural stuff is often fun, get out there, Unlive a little.

[Although, if you are considering a vegan diet, do something else unnatural and take vitamin supplements. Unlike natural herbivores like cattle and rabbits, humans have no system to reliably produce some required dietary inputs, like Vitamin B12, and can't get them from plants alone.

Fun fact: rabbits eat some of their own waste partly in order to obtain B12, because, like all animals, they lack the ability to make it, and it's not found in plants. In mammals, B12 is either absorbed from something you eat (ie, another animal), or made in the intestines by bacteria. Problem: you can't just absorb it there too. Solution: redigest (or ingest) your already-eaten food, which also allows digestion of cellulose. Rabbits eat (some) of their own solid waste. Cattle chew their cud. You get the idea.

Humans, needless to say, shouldn't generally do that. Eww. So: vitamin supplements!

Additionally, you should really consult a doctor or dietician before putting any kids on a vegan diet.]

Also, no matter your dietary preferences, please don’t use them as an excuse to harass the Differently Animated. Thanks.

We rate ‘The Vegan Zombie’ cooking series as Anti-Zombie.

Tags: Don't Use the Zed Word, Mainstream Media, Youtube Mischief

This entry was posted by John Sears on Saturday, August 27th, 2011 at 7:46 pm and is filed under Zombie Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.