(photo: Market in Ramla)

The Big Brother Show is a big deal here. Everybody watches it. It’s huge with the 30-something crowd, “Sometimes its nice to just watch something and not have to think.”

In conversation with a 30-something vegan couple 

A year ago, the woman who won the show was vegan. Her diet preference had a big influence on her audience; many followed her lead and became vegans, “That’s how being vegan became popular in Israel.” Since the vegan woman’s appearance on Big Brother, veganism has spread rapidly throughout Israel and continues to grow. Most restaurants have vegan items on their menu, and many ice cream shops have vegan flavours. “It really became big in the last year and it’s spreading more and more.”

Vegans are evangelists. They love to spread the word and win you over. It’s like a religious cult. They are absolutely convinced they’ve made the right diet choice. And so should you.

“Why did you become a vegan?”

“Well… it’s both a morality issue and a health issue.”

“Tell me.”

“Are you sure? You’re eating. I don’t know if you want me to tell you while you’re eating.”

“Go ahead, it’s no problem.”

“Well, first, it’s about how they take the baby cow away from the mother cow…”

“Is that the spiritual reason to be vegan?” 

“Yes, that’s the moral reason. The way they do that is very immoral. That’s how they take the milk from the mother. She produces milk for her baby, but as soon as she gives birth, they take her baby away and then they take her milk. They feed the baby away from the mother –  and then – Khhhhhhk!” 

She slices her throat with her left index finger.

“They often kill the baby,” her husband adds.

She continues, “When they milk the mother, they pull her titties and bruise them. Can you imagine if they pulled your titties like that until they were bruised?” 

“How do you know it hurts the cow? Maybe the cow feels things differently than humans do.”

“No. You could see the bruises. They milk the cow three times a day and she gets sores that fill with puss and this puss goes into your milk. Can you imagine? You drink this puss.” 

I’m munching on a piece of toast with cream cheese and avocado. I glance at the cream cheese as I take my next bite. OK. Eating puss is not an attractive thought. One point for the vegan. 

“And then there’s the hormones. The cow is pumped full of hormones and these hormones go into your milk.”

“What do the hormones do to a person?” 

 “They make you emotional – “
 “They make you feminine. Like, you cry easier,” her mate adds.

The vegan topic lulls to an end as I think about how emotional I am. Am I OK with my level of emotion? Should I be less emotional? Is becoming vegan a secret weapon that helps people become less emotional? I think about the greater implications.

Israel’s age demographic 2014

Age structure: 0-14 years: 27.1% (male 1,084,748/female 1,035,525)
15-24 years: 15.7% (male 628,205/female 599,871)
25-54 years: 37.8% (male 1,508,860/female 1,443,898)
55-64 years: 8.8% (male 333,453/female 352,302)
65 years and over: 10.7% (male 368,318/female 466,670) (2014 est.)

Source: http://www.indexmundi.com/israel/age_structure.html (last viewed July 21, 2015)